Well, I don't know about everyone else, but 2022 felt like a very busy year! It probably has more to do with the fact that we have a very busy toddler in the home and I've been pregnant for half the year than anything else. I suppose 2023 will be even busier with a newborn AND a toddler in the home and I'll look back at 2022 and think, "What a nice, chill year that was."
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| Visiting MaRu in January |
Last Christmas we were in the Florida Keys enjoying time with my family. We got to go to Dry Tortugas, we saw manatees and alligators. We were enjoying the sun and sand while back home in Washington everyone was getting tired of the Christmas snow (which melted by the time we got back). Korben and I drove up from the Keys all the way north of Orlando to see Korben's side of the family. Abigail enjoyed being around all her cousins, but unfortunately caught her first case of cold sores and it was really bad! She was up crying during the nights (and consequently, so was I), and only wanted me to hold her during the day. She refused to eat or drink water, but she was still nursing at the time so thankfully that kept her from becoming dehydrated. We took her to urgent care in Florida and when we finally flew back home her fever spiked again and we took her to the ER. We're happy to say she ended up being fine and got over it after about a week or so.
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| Gam Gam and the grandkids |
We were barely home from our Florida vacation before Abigail and I hopped on a plane again- this time we were off to Texas to see my parents. My cousin, Laura, had moved down to Texas and for her birthday a group of us went to the local theater to see a play. My dad agreed to watch Abigail and put her down for her 7pm bedtime. It was the first time Abigail would be put down for sleep by someone besides me or Korben. The play was fun and when we got back at 10:30 my dad was holding Abigail in his arms and she was still wide awake! He couldn't bring himself to put her in her crib in the dark and leave her there. I don't even know what to say about that except that I think becoming a grandparent transforms you into a big softie.
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| Abbie being spoiled by Baba |
Even though we had missed the big Christmas snow last year, amazingly while we were in Texas we got to experience the rare Texas snowfall! We also celebrated by mom's birthday and I wasn't allowed to put her real age on the cake so I rearranged the number-candles and I don't think she minds if I tell everyone she turned 26 this year.
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| Abbie and Youthful Mumu |
Spring was slow to come to the Pacific Northwest and it was a challenge finding entertainment for Abigail during the cool, wet spring days. We had won a vacation stay in Palm Springs through an auction, and it was certain to be nice and warm. It is also pretty close to my sister Joni and it was during my dad's Spring Break so we all came out to spend some time with Joni and Greg in Southern California. Unfortunately, the owner of the vacation home had accidentally double-booked his home and he had to scramble to find us another place in Palm Springs. It was still a nice place and had an awesome pool, but the owner of that home was very particular about not having parties. When a couple of friends of ours from Ohio just happened to be in the area, we invited them over to swim in the pool. The owner immediately contacted me to remind me there could not be any parties at her place at all. Turns out she lives across the street from her vacation home. I assured her they were only visiting for a couple hours. The next day I ordered food and when the delivery car drove up, the owner came out of her house, hands on her hips, to stare at the car and me until she realized it was just a delivery car and then smiled and waved.
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| Feeding giraffes at the Living Desert Zoo |
Besides the AirBnB chaos, the trip was really nice. Oh, did I forget to mention that we also visited Joni while she was teaching in her classroom? My mom had exactly one job to do, and it was IMPORTANT. She promised she would do it. The job was to keep Abigail awake on the drive back to Joni's home from Joni's school. Abigail was finally transitioning to one nap, but if she fell asleep too early she would nap for five minutes and then decide she didn't need to sleep any more at all. This made the evening time a terrible time so it was CRUCIAL to keep Abigail awake on the drive back to Joni's place so that Abigail could take a real nap later. Did I mention my mom promised to keep her awake? Look, I think you know what happened next. My mom softly sang to Abigail, "Stay awake, little baby," in a lullaby-like tone and refused to do anything aggressive to keep her awake. I couldn't pull over and let my mom drive while I kept her awake because my mom's driving is, well, let's just say I don't know where we would end up! So again, I honestly don't know what to say except that it doesn't matter how strict a disciplinarian your parents were. When they become grandparents they melt into goop. And goop doesn't keep babies awake when they are supposed to. Which meant that Abigail napped for 5 minutes in the car and refused a real nap later. And yes, Abigail was terrible that evening. I don't think Mumu (my mom's grandma name) learned her lesson at all, but I did: Abigail's grandparents are untrustworthy!
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| The beautiful Rhododendron Gardens in Federal Way |
Back at home, Spring was still reluctant to make an appearance. I enrolled Abbie into gymnastics and she LOVED it! She's got amazing upper body strength! We did a month of gymnastics and then quit because it was expensive and also she's pretty limited on what she could do as a one year old. We might try again later. Easter was a lot of fun for Abigail, she quickly learned what to do. We went to the Spring Fair. We played with the neighborhood kids. (We have awesome neighbors, by the way. One of our neighbors is a plumber which came in handy when Abigail dropped her electric nail trimmer into the toilet and I stupidly flushed it so it got wedged inside.) We went to the zoo several times. It's so much fun to watch Abigail's excitement about life and completely random things. The first time I walked her into the aquarium I excitedly pointed to the big sharks swimming right in front of us. "Oh!" yelled Abigail. She sees them, I thought to myself, and turned to look at her pointing at the letter O on the wall, completely ignoring the huge sharks swimming by. "O! O! O!"
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| Kalalau Lookout, Kauai |
Korben's birthday is near the end of May. I asked him what he wanted to do to celebrate the big 40. He said he wanted to just stay home and have his family visit. Well, somehow Korben's wish turned into a trip to Hawaii with Korben's mom, Debbie. We were going to spend time on two islands: Maui and Kauai. Korben had never been to Maui and Debbie had never been to Kauai and I honestly can never get too tired of going to Hawaii no matter how many times I go (which is way too infrequent). It was a perfect trip (minus a hotel booking incident where we were briefly without a place to stay in Maui) and incredibly, nobody got sunburnt! Abigail learned that pineapples are pokey and that fingerling limes grown on my aunt and uncle's property are the most delicious things she's ever eaten! Debbie and Korben got some fantastic snorkeling in. I got to visit a couple places I never visited when I lived there (Fern Grotto and Makauwahi Cave Reserve). Korben had a great birthday, hosted by my aunt and uncle on their farm, despite not getting his wish to stay home. The fun trip all too quickly came to an end.
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| The Jurassic Park Trees at Allerton Gardens |
Summertime in the Northwest is perfection. Abigail and I spent so much time outdoors enjoying the perfect weather. But my parents were eager to see Abbie again and in July we flew back to Texas to enjoy a Texas summer, extra hot! My parents have a little kiddie pool that Abigail played in every day. We also found a really cool KiddieTown place in the mall. It has kid-sized businesses, like a salon, an ice cream truck, a police car, a diner, and a big playground, all wonderfully placed indoors where the A/C blows. Abigail thought it was great fun to dress up and pretend to run several businesses in the town. She loved it so much that when we had to leave she threw a massive temper tantrum, a taste of the two-year old tantrums to come! Baba (my dad) enjoyed playing in KiddieTown with his granddaughter. I think the highlight of the trip was going to the waterpark by Baba and Mumu's home, minus the part where I slid down the kiddie slide and bruised my tailbone!
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| Baba visiting Abbie's bakery |
The rest of the summer was really nice. Google lifted its Covid restrictions so Abbie and I were finally able to see the inside of Korben's office building. It's right off of Lake Union in Seattle. Korben showed us the game room and the kitchens where he gets free food, but we have yet to actually see his desk where he supposedly works!
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| A view of Lake Union from Korben's work |
We took a weekend and went down to Tillamook where I preached one Sabbath. We stayed in a super cheapy hotel that was actually kind of a perfect location because it was right next to an old steam engine that gave people rides to the beach and back. Abigail thought it was awesome! And we, of course, went to the Tillamook Cheese Factory, which has gotten bigger and fancier since the last time I was there (almost 20 years ago)! A good friend of mine from high school happened to also be on the Oregon coast that same weekend so I was able to meet up with her and her kids. It was a really fun getaway!
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| Perfect weather at the Oregon Coast |
It was around this time that I was getting kind of nauseous and discovered I was pregnant. The summer was still going on: there were berries to pick, the weather was perfect, and I had been wanting to work on stripping and repainting some furniture to use in Abigail's big girl room, but morning sickness slowed me down. I've thrown up a lot this pregnancy, which is about the same as when I was pregnant with Abigail. Abigail was either pretty upset with me for running to the toilet to puke every hour, or she was fascinated and watched with amazement as I curled over the toilet. When people talk about that "pregnancy glow" I suppose what they mean is that constant pale-green tint in my nauseated face.
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| Puerto Vallarta, Mexico |
Somehow September came upon us and we had had a Mexico trip planned with Korben's family. It seemed good to go ahead and announce to the family that I was pregnant because otherwise they would certainly discover it in Mexico. Of course, everyone was thrilled. Puerto Vallarta is a part of Mexico I have never been to before. The flights to Mexico and back would be Abigail's last free flights and that was honestly fine with me. She has gotten so big this year and sharing a seat with her gets uncomfortable. Recently Korben told me he thought his phone was broken. "Why?" I asked. He replied, "I took a picture of our baby, but my phone is showing me a picture of a little girl!"
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| The A-Team: Aiden, Addilyn, and Abigail |
We visited Puerta Vallarta during the rainy season. It was lush and green and tropical. The ocean was a little murky and choppy because the rivers dumped rain water into it, but it was still very pretty. The hotel had its own restaurants, all which advertised gluten free food. "Ask about our Gluten Free options!" every menu said. When I asked about the gluten free options they would say, "Oh, yeah, we don't have anything." I'm pretty sure I got glutened a couple times there, but it's impossible to know for sure because with morning sickness and all of our group catching Montezuma's Revenge I had a hard time distinguishing the reasons as to why I was throwing up. Abigail's cousin, Addilyn, was the first to fall for the miserable stomach sickness, followed by Abigail (a discovery I made while I was carrying her and she vomited all down my back). I was the first grown-up to catch it, no surprise. But I was feeling pretty good by the time most of the adults in our group had it.
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| Vallarta Botanical Gardens |
Despite the sickness that went around, we were still able to do quite a few cool things. The botanical gardens were probably my favorite. On the day I was really sick I stayed behind at the hotel with Grandpa Bill while the rest of the group went on a boat ride and did a little snorkeling. The hotel wasn't really a bad place to be stuck. Up on the 11th floor we had a really good view of the ocean and the entire town was decorated for Mexican Independence Day. On a day where I was feeling better my brother-in-law, Josh, took us all on a hike that had a viewpoint of the entire town. He neglected to tell me that the hike was essentially straight up, which was difficult for my pregnant body, and so by the time I reached the summit I threw up, which I am sure was greatly appreciated by all the other people who had climbed up there to enjoy the view.
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| Abigail copying Daddy at the lookout |
The end of the trip was eventful in all the wrong ways. We were at the zoo and I was sitting down when I felt a rumbling, and no, it wasn't my stomach. The animals started all making noises at the same time. "Does anyone feel the ground shaking?" I asked. Nobody except Ann, my sister-in-law maybe felt the ground shake. And anyway, it was over, whatever it was. We finished looking around at the zoo and headed back to a hotel in a taxi. At the hotel there was a massive crowd of people standing outside. I asked the taxi driver what was going on (Mexico was a great place for me to practice my rusty Spanish) and he told me they were all out there because of the earthquake. So it had been an earthquake! But we realized that the tiny vibration barely felt over at the zoo had been completely different at the hotel. Bill had stayed at the hotel and said the shaking went on for a good 5-10 minutes! We looked over at the hotel and along the walls there were large cracks spanning across several levels, pieces of stucco and glass had broken off onto the parking lot. When the hotel decided it was safe for us to go back in, we could see the hotel lobby had pieces of art decor and wall tiles on the floor. One of the elevators was out of order. We were seeing a lot of things that didn't instill much confidence in the structural integrity of the building- and may I remind you we were up on the 11th floor! I pulled out my phone and started looking for other places to stay, but as luck would have it, 4 people in our group suddenly started throwing up, finally having caught the same stomach sickness others had already had. Nobody was super eager to leave except for me. So we went to bed that night praying that the building would stay intact.
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| Wall tiles that fell during the earthquake |
Around 3 in the morning Korben and I woke up to the room shaking. Korben doesn't easily wake up in the night, so I was surprised that he was feeling the shaking too. I was strangely calm, despite believing right then that the building was falling down and went to grab Abigail. In the next room over, Ann and Josh thought a tsunami had hit the hotel and they went racing outside, Addilyn following behind, but their youngest, Aiden, left behind and sleeping soundly in the room. Debbie and Bill didn't feel a thing. I don't think if the building had been falling down or if a tsunami had hit the hotel that we were doing anything to actually keep us alive. I think the lesson here is don't have emergencies at 3 in the morning. Anyway, it ended up being just an aftershock. The building stayed up all night and the night after. Then we flew home and we could all say that we were legitimately grateful the vacation was over!
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| Enjoying the dahlias at a nearby garden |
Our fall was unseasonably warm, which was perfect because I still needed to do that furniture project in Abigail's room. Unfortunately the warm weather also brought along fire season and the air was filled with smoke so I didn't get to do the project. The smoke was still in the air in October, but it wasn't terrible for the weekend of Abigail's birthday so we had a little celebration in the neighborhood park. She still talks about her "2 year old birthday," the gifts that she got, and her birthday shirt that has a kitty cat on it. We did a kitty cat theme because earlier this year Abigail was in a garden nursery shop with me and they had a shelf of stuffed cats. Why they had stuffed animals in a gardening store, I'll never know, but Abigail fell in love with a little brown kitty cat and claimed it by slobbering all over it so I felt obligated to purchase it. The neighbor girl suggested Meow Meow as the name of the plush cat and it has stuck, mostly because Abbie was able to say the name. Meow Meow has gone on all our trips and heaven help us if we ever do lose Meow Meow. One time Abigail left Meow Meow on a toy shelf in Wal-Mart. I nearly had a heart attack, but Abigail knew exactly where she had left him. Abbie loves kitty cats and while she loves ALL her stuffed animals, she has an inner circle. All the cat stuffed animals are part of that inner circle, but Meow Meow, he gets the innermost part of the inner circle. So it was a no-brainer to have a cat-themed birthday party. Abigail loved it! She also loves being two and everything about the number two (yes, including any poop pun you want to make here). She can hold up two fingers and if you tell her to eat her food she will tell you she will take two more bites. If you are feeling old, call up Abigail and ask her how old you are and she will tell you, you are two.
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| Abbie riding her "psych-e" from Gam Gam |
Before October ended, I planned a quick trip to Texas and Florida again. I had been scanning all summer long for good flight deals, but ticket prices were outrageous. It had been a few months since my parents had seen Abbie and it had been WAY too long since MaRu (Abigail's name for Donna, Korben's stepmom) had seen Abigail. So it was important to get out there even though it meant Abbie and I going on another trip without Korben because he had to work. I was a little worried because on the last flight I had taken with just Abigail it had been a little miserable, but this time Abigail would have her own seat so maybe it wouldn't be so bad. On the flight to Texas, Abigail was the model of toddler perfection. So many people came up to tell Abbie how well-behaved she was, and she really was. We had a nice visit with my parents and even Joni and Greg were able to come out from California. Then Abbie and I flew from Texas straight over to Florida (again, the model of toddler perfection in the airport and plane) to see Donna. Korben's mom, Debbie, was also in town and we made it a girl's trip. The two grandmothers showered Abigail with toys and attention and Abbie loved every minute of it. It was a really nice trip, perfect actually. Little did I know Abbie's spectacular behavior was a set-up.
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| Visiting a fun playground with MaRu and Gam Gam |
The short version of the trip back home from Orlando is that Abigail decided her days of toddler perfection were over and she'd take a shot at being the exact opposite of that. And, well, she's pretty good at it. She ran away from me 6 times in the airport, mostly in the security line which made everything take longer. It didn't help that we had already arrived a little late to the airport due to a miscalculation I had made on how long it would take to get there. I was limited on what I could do to keep her in line. I could hold her, but my pregnant belly means she can't sit on my hip anymore and I get too tired. I also had to lift suitcases on and off the belt and that meant that Abigail had opportunities to escape, and she used them. I gashed my foot against one of the suitcases and it was bleeding. Abigail was screaming bloody murder in the airport because she kept getting into trouble. I was about in tears and knew it wouldn't take much to send me over the edge. Well, we missed our flight by one minute and that was more than enough to send me over the edge. If I had been embarrassed by Abigail screaming in the airport earlier, I was 50 times more embarrassed that I sobbed at the gate when I realized we missed the flight. But I should stop here and mention that people are really, really nice. If anything, my faith in humanity was restored by how people reacted to both me and Abigail. Also, I was flying Alaska and they have amazing customer service. Even though it was my fault for missing the flight, they made arrangements for me at no extra charge. Abigail and I were on a flight to Portland half an hour later, and then caught a small plane to Seattle just before midnight West Coast time. It was a long and awful excursion home and I swore off traveling with Abbie alone ever again. I thought it was a pain traveling with babies (and it is), but traveling with toddlers is 300 times worse.
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| A chilly fall day to visit a farm with the cousins |
If you thought that was the end of our travels this year- NOPE! We took a trip to Pennsylvania to see Ann and Josh for Thanksgiving and of course Debbie (called Gam Gam by her grandkids) was there too. We did pretty good traveling with Abigail on the plane. Two adults can handle a two year old, I guess. And considering how much traveling Abigail and I did this year, I was surprised we hadn't caught covid. So naturally a couple days after being in Pennsylvania at Ann and Josh's house Abigail tested positive for covid. Well, that threw a wrench in our Thanksgiving plans, but honestly despite all the sickness going around, we still had a really nice time with family. And I reminded the group often (this is the same group we were with in Mexico) that at least this time there were no earthquakes! We celebrated my birthday with pumpkin pie and Ann had even made a really yummy gluten free chocolate cake. Abigail was so ecstatic to be around her little cousins again and by the time I had come down with covid and was feeling terrible, I didn't have to entertain my toddler because the cousins were up to that task. By the time our return flight was scheduled, Abigail and I were feeling pretty good, but Korben was feeling crummy so we extended our stay at the ever-hospitable Enevoldson home a couple of days longer. Korben, finally feeling better, decided to take a nice, warm shower and slipped in the tub, landing on his side. It could have been a LOT worse, but he definitely bruised his ribs, a convenient excuse for him to not help with Christmas decorations when we got home. (Is this what 40 is? Falling down in the shower? Maybe I need to get him LifeAlert for Christmas.)
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| Like Father, like Daughter |
Korben, despite trying his best to break his ribs, has had a good year. He's enjoying working at Google and typically only goes into the office 2 days a week, working at home the rest of the time. I'm glad he gets to work from home, especially during my worst morning sickness days when all smells (including Abigail's poopy diapers) made me puke and all I wanted to do was sleep. For awhile, Korben was taking care of a toddler and me all the while attempting to work from home! He still finds time to go on runs and has recently gotten into playing online chess in what little free time he has. He hasn't had as much time for house projects (more to my dismay than his), but he did put down hardwood floor in the upstairs bedroom that Abbie will soon be moving into. Abigail is for sure a Daddy's Girl and has her daddy wrapped around her little finger, and Korben loves every minute of it.
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| Just another day in Mom's life |
I'm still enjoying being a stay-at-home parent, although being pregnant with a busy 2 year old takes up all my energy completely. This pregnancy has been challenging and stressful to say the least, not just on me. Into my second trimester the doctors found fluid built up in the baby around his brain and one of the lungs. It was a very scary time and we weren't even sure the baby was going to make it (or if the baby did make it, perhaps wouldn't live very long). Miraculously (and I do really mean miraculously) the fluid places disappeared, but we weren't out of the woods because they kept saying that something didn't look quite right with his brain. Eventually they told me to get a fetal MRI done, but even though most of the doctors I had been working with told me to be cautiously optimistic, one doctor I saw right before the MRI sat me down and told me that I needed to prepare myself to hear that our baby didn't have a CSP in his brain. She explained that the CSP is basically like a superhighway that connects the left and right brain hemispheres. This was devastating news. But the fetal MRI showed that the CSP is there! By the time this baby is born Korben and I are going to have gone completely gray. But we thank God every day for watching over Baby Boy Rusek.
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| Due date March 24 |
Abigail is enjoying being 2, and is definitely living the two-year-old life. Overall, she's been a very easy kid. She isn't picky (except for tomatoes which she calls "no-matoes" and grapes) and loves chomping on onions, mushrooms, pickles, radishes, and spicy foods. She likes to go to sleep early and sleeps through the night. She likes to be a little helper (and she sings, "Abbie's a little helper, helper, helper!" while she helps you do something). She is a little sweetheart, and sometimes during the day she will tell me I am kind, sweet, and beautiful. But she is more than capable of throwing a temper tantrum of epic proportions should she need to! Just the other day she got into trouble for not listening to me and she went into her room, sulking. She stuck her head out of the doorway a minute later and said, "Mommy, NO, bad!" There are times she's talking to me and if I don't respond in half a second she will hold her hand to her ear and say, "Mommy, need to WISTEN!" She's gotten really good at talking this year. She started out the year at a Curious George level of speech (mostly grunts) and is currently at an Elmo level of speech (she can talk in complete sentences, but has an aversion to personal pronouns). The first sentence I heard her say was to our naughty dog, Anyong. "Anyawn BAD, no do dat!!!" We realized that maybe we need to say more nice things to Anyong! The sweetest thing she will tell you if you are lucky is, "Abbie wuvs you wif ALL MY HEART!" She might also add that she loves Meow Meow with all her heart, or that she loves pot with all her heart. For some reason Abigail calls meat "pot." We don't know why, but she does. And yes, she's a total carnivore at heart. However, we live in the greater Seattle area and she will eventually need to learn to say "meat" instead of "pot."
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| Abigail's suggestion on what to name Baby Brother was "Sister!" |
We lost a pet this year. My Siamese, Brewster, who was at least 11 years old, suddenly lost interest in life. Tests were run and everything seemed fine, but he wasn't acting fine and completely stopped eating and drinking. I guess he decided it was time. He was such a cute, playful, and loving kitty. I adopted him from my aunt around the time I started dating Korben. Brewster always loved Korben more than he loved me. He had beautiful blue eyes and loved to be outside. Unfortunately he started peeing in the house and we never really could get him to stop, especially when we moved into our current house. He didn't adjust well to Anyong and he really didn't adjust well to Abigail. The worst he did was pee on Korben's head while Korben was laying in bed! We got his problem somewhat under control with antidepressants- something I never dreamed I'd be giving a pet- but it was never totally resolved. After he passed we thought, "At least the peeing in the house is done." No. The dogs have been marking his old spots in the house as if in his honor. We can't win.
The highlight of our year has really just been looking at life through the eyes of our two year old, who finds joy and excitement in everything. You might not think that a leaf or a cough drop or the sound of an airplane is particularly exciting, but Abigail will make you change your mind about that. Every day she makes us smile, and every day we are surprised by something new she has learned. Abigail's three things she wants to leave you with are, "See you waiter, croc-a-gator! Merry Miss-miss! Wuv you wif ALL my heart!"
Love,
Korben, Lori, & Abbie Rusek (& baby boy Rusek on the way!)
And the pets, Kepler, Anyong, and Grapefruit
Our first family cruise left out of Galveston which isn't far from where Korben and I used to live. We went out a week early to see friends and family in the area before hopping on a Royal Caribbean cruise to Roatan, Honduras, and a couple ports in Mexico. My parents came, my aunt and uncle as well, Korben's mom, and my sister (the travel agent, Joni!) and we had a great time. Royal Caribbean is very kid-friendly. We had a balcony view of the inside of the ship right where the carousel was (yes- a carousel!), which Abbie made sure to ride multiple times each day. It had an ice skating rink where Abbie tried out ice skating with all her family members who have much better balance than I do! Rodney had just learned the bum-shuffle as his preferred means of getting around and he enjoyed scooting all around different areas of the cruise ship. Our main dining area was three stories high and we were always seated on the top floor. Rodney sat in his high chair near the balcony with a view to the floors below and chucked a butter knife over the balcony. Luckily it fell onto a ledge on our floor and didn't stab an unsuspecting victim two floors below! On days off of the ship we were able to snuggle sloths, get robbed by monkeys, have parrots perch on us, do some snorkeling, and swim with manatees and dolphins. It was quite an amazing adventure and we weren't ready for it to end!
Korben's birthday is right around Memorial Day weekend which means everything was completely booked up. Luckily everyone had planned on staying for a few days longer than Memorial Day Weekend so we spent a calm weekend at out home and then after the weekend we stayed for a couple nights at the fun indoor waterpark, Great Wolf Lodge (even got a discount thanks to travel agent Joni!), and had a blast. Abigail is very fixated on going to Canada since we didn't get to go but I'm a little concerned that she thinks that Canada is another Great Wolf Lodge. Korben's mom was understandably stressed about her stolen passport because she was supposed to go to Europe in a few weeks, but thankfully Seattle is one of the few places in the country where you can get same-day passport service if you have plans to go on a trip soon so we were able to get her a new passport right away. Our family took much longer to get passports replaced, but we eventually did. The cops called Korben a couple weeks ago to tell him that they found his laptop in a a stolen vehicle. Nothing else that was stolen has been recovered despite the fact that we could actually track Korben's mom's tablet for a long time. The cops couldn't do anything about it.
It's also worth noting that Rodney very wisely took his first steps on his first birthday, right in front of three of his grandparents who were thrilled for him! Rodney was less than thrilled about it and decided he would go back to bum-shuffling for another month.
Abigail has been becoming such a big girl this year. After she took a summer dance day camp she told me, "Mommy, you need to get this girl in dance!" She does a dance preschool once a week for a few hours and she desperately wants to go more often so she will probably do that starting in January. They also teach music so Abigail can now play Hot Cross Buns on the piano. She has also sang Jesus Loves Me in church and she will sing Away in a Manger for the church's Christmas concert. She's a brave and daring girl who loves the rides at the fair! She has taken bike classes through the Park and Rec center and has ridden a little bit on a pedal bike! She also really enjoys art class and she has started to sign her artwork with her signature: AbB. Because, as she explains, "My name is Ab and then B!" We also took her to her first concert, a Danny Go! concert which she absolutely loved. She was a little afraid to turn 4 this year because she said she really enjoyed being 3, but she has since decided that 4 is fun too. She declares almost every day as "the best day ever!" Abbie's favorite thing is to be a big sister and she is a fantastic big sister. She is Rodney's biggest cheerleader and she is excited that Rodney can play and communicate with her more and more. Does she sometimes attempt fratricide? Yes. But by and large she is a big sister who eagerly shares her food and toys, and showers little Rodney with lots of love every day.
Rodney, who turned 1 in March, has really started to show his personality and it has been so much fun to watch. He has shy and coy little smiles he will sometimes give to a lucky person. He has transformed from a very bald baby to a curly-topped toddler. Anything Big Sis does is absolutely hilarious to him, even if it endangers his life. He's very much into trains, planes, cars, tractors, and boats. He was absolutely thrilled when we were on a cruise this December and said, "Boat! Boat!" any time he remembered we were on a boat. He loves to do things independently and doesn't need me to entertain him all the time, but if I leave him unattended for a minute I might find him proudly standing on top of our kitchen stove! He's recently learned how to run which he puts to good use anytime I ask him if he needs a diaper change. During this year where he was learning to be more mobile he was also falling over and hitting his head, so he wore a soft foam helmet on his head to soften the blows. For a while the bumps on his head were so frequent that Abigail even drew a family portrait where she drew a large goose egg on Rodney's head! Rodney has also been able to communicate more and more this year. My favorite thing to hear him say is, "I uhv oo!" But I think his favorite thing to say is, "ABBIE!"
