I can get into this present thing....

Here is a shot of Abel opening up his presents. He has really gotten into ripping pieces of paper into tiny pieces of paper and wrapping paper is the PERFECT toy. He got some really great toys. I don't know how he feels, but I am personally looking forward to new toys at our house!

Christmas in Chicago

We met members of my family in Chicago to celebrate Christmas with my immediate family since we were going to kind of be all over the place on the actual holiday. Out of the 12 of us several of us ended up feeling a bit under the weather, so it was just a few of us. It was still lots of fun. We shopped up and down Michigan Ave., played in the hotel, had brunch at the Drake, and just enjoyed the season. Abel also picked up one of his latest words...BUS. Every large car is now a bus!

DJ Abe Hits Manahattan

It's taken me forever to post pictures from our trip to New York, but here are some. Abel was awesome. He behaved on the plane, dealt well with delays, and was able to motor around the city while we tried to squeeze in as much as we could in 2 days. We met my parents out there and were able to visit with them, see some friends, and show Abel New York for the first time. He took it all in...he's really a great people-watcher. Ryan snapped this picture the day after we returned. Abel was clearly inspired by his weekend in NYC!

Sleeping Everywhere!

Remember how Abel slept through his first two swim lessons? Well, he definitely has an issue with being over-stimulated and choosing to just fall asleep! He slept everywhere in NY. In the cab, the train, the park, Times Square...and many more places! I just started snapping photos so there would be proof one day! The two I posted are him in Times Square and him on the subway. Too cute!

Central Park!

Central Park is by far my favorite place in New York. I spent many many hours there walking, running, and just having quiet time in between different gigs while we lived there. It was a BLAST taking Abel there. We spent a large majority of the day on Saturday walking from about 86th Street down to 59th. We saw all the sites....but the new thing for us was the playground. We didn't spend much time on any of the playgrounds while we lived there, but boy did Abel love playing! He swung and slid all by himself! Good times!

Abel's First New York Pretzel

For whatever reason, I always loved the big thick pretzels the vendors sell on the streets of New York. They're not even that good, but I ate them anyway! I kind of forgot about them until we walked past a vendor and I decided Abel and I were hungry! Here we all are enjoying the pretzel!

Happy Birthday Abel!!!

It's been a whole year...and a VERY fast one at that. Not a day goes by that I'm not so excited to have Abel as a part of our family. He's completely awesome. At this point in his experience, he's eating pretty much anything we put in front of him (although I think he might have gotten a little stressed at all the chocolate icing on his hands!), almost standing totally on his own, and walks with help from us. He motors ALL OVER the place on all fours...and he's very independent. He's all boy....he loves cars, trucks, motorcycles, lawnmowers, balls, and building things. He loves music. He dances whenever he hears music. "Hey There Delilah" by The Plain White T's immediately calms him down in the car, and if you're ever up for some serious jammin', he really rocks to "Stronger" by Kanye West. He'll sit and read with you for a very long time. His favorite author is definitely Eric Carle. The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, and From Head to Toe are the favorites. He'll sit and do puzzles for many minutes at a time, and he's the absolute best to cuddle with at the end of a very long day. So happy birthday Abel Bates! Cheers to an incredible second year of life!