On Abigail's 2nd birthday, I made a cake and attempted to photograph her with the cake. What has become one of my favorite photos of her could never have been staged. She accidentally stuck her foot in the cake before I could snap the photo and then began licking the icing off her foot.
Here is my princess on Easter Sunday shortly after she turned 2. She's growing up, but I can still see the baby fat rolls in her arms. Cuteness!
As you can see from our photos thus far, we traveled much even after having Abigail. That drastically slowed when Abigail was 2, but we had one more family trip. This time we were in Atlanta for shopping, relaxing, the zoo and the greatest aquarium (much better than what she had seen at the aquariums in Maui and Charleston). (Coincidentally, it occurred when our family of three became four. This photo was taken just before I was placed on bedrest in my pregnancy with Cooper.)
When Cooper came along, Abigail wasn't phased much, but she did love her "Bubba" as you can see the beginnings of what has become great playmates (and often sparring mates).
Maybe Abigail wasn't phased much by Cooper's arrival because she had the constant attention of her Aunt Kelly Ann who lived with us throughout the summer. They are quite a pair!
Another godsend to Abigail (and our whole family) that summer was Maggie! She came into the family as Kelly Ann's friend, became our babysitter and was eventually unofficially adopted by us! We love our Maggie, and Abigail especially was (and is) smitten with Maggie.
Grandad sent another delivery during Abigail's second year that I was never pleased with: Abigail's first harmonica. I remember hiding that thing anywhere I could, on top of the fridge, in the couch cushions, in drawers, and she always seemed to get a hold of it again. She would go to town with that stinkin' thing. It was loud, annoying and everywhere. She's had several harmonicas over the years, and I continue to hide them when I can. Maybe she'll end up being a cute and skinny John Popper (Blues Travelers) one day, and I'll feel guilty for trying to squelch her harmonica genius, but until then, I'll keep trying to remove the annoyance.
Another obsession in Abigail's first few years was horses. She took any chance she was given to ride a horse, donkey or pony. This small horse was a ride at the Columbia (SC) Zoo.
My favorite occurrence in Abigail's year of being 2 was potty training! It took a long (and messy) weekend, but we got the first Hardy child out of diapers. Yea! It probably won't be an accomplishment she'll look upon proudly and list as her favorites when she's older, but I'm still proud of this.
In the fall, Abigail was finally old enough for children's choir at church. She loves to sing and never missed the weekly practice. This was her first performance before the church congregation. I was just glad she didn't flash her panties or pick her nose. When they're 2, it's the little things we're proud of.
Our travels did slow, but they didn't completely stop when we became a family a four. We made a trip to Texas during that year, along with a trip to Williamsburg (VA). Abigail was entertained by the historical reenactments but more so enjoyed the company of her great-grandparents on that trip. With this closing out her third year of life just before she turned 3, that brought the number of states she had visited or lived in to seven. I hope she'll always continue that and see the world and all the beauty and awesomeness God has created for her!
No comments:
Post a Comment