Christmas Morning

Christmas celebrations

Today was the Thornton family Christmas, and both Abbey and Ethan had new clothes in honor of the occasion (and of the Sunday before Christmas). We wanted a family photo, but Abbey wasn't very cooperative. She wanted to play with the other kids playing ping-pong, not sit for a boring photo!


A few minutes later, much happier:


And here's Ethan and his mommy:

Birthday Video!

Off to bed early

The aftereffects of their second H1N1 shot and seasonal flu shot.

Putting up the Christmas Tree

The Saturday after Thanksgiving: time to put up the Christmas tree. I had a lot of "help" from Abigail this year. Next year, with two toddlers, should be really challenging!

Both Ethan and Abbey like the lights, and Abbey enjoys pointing out all the ornaments.

Happy Second Birthday Abbey!

December 4th was Abbey's second birthday! There's no original or creative way to say it, but it really is amazing that she is two years old already. For this birthday, we had a party for her: her grandparents on both sides came (mine via Skype). Many presents were unwrapped (the trainset was her favorite) and much chocolate cake was eaten.

One year ago. Two years ago.

On a late fall day, (November 14), Abbey was helping Debbie do the gardening:



Ethan was observing:

Napping

This is from November 5, a day when Abbey wouldn't go down for her nap at a reasonable time. Instead she fell asleep just before I got home at 5:00.

More Sibling Fun

Taken just last night (October 25, 2009): Abbey's playing ring-around-the-walker with Ethan.

Sibling Play

Abbey can be possessive of her Legos sometimes, but mostly she's a good sport and lets him play with them too. She'll even bring him toys (sometimes).

Silly Abigail

These would be a pair of her underwear, which makes a perfect bonnet.


And this is her Lego bucket:

Corn-shucking

Taken August 18, 2009: I was prepping the north side of the house for some touch-up paint, observed by Ethan, while Abbey was learning to shuck corn.

New hobbies for Abigail

Sunday morning finery: matching dress and cap!

Cooking is another new hobby: here she's helping Debbie make the cornbread.

Her big sister hat, which she got when Ethan was born but refused to wear.

Abbey's been getting into drawing and coloring: our daycare provider says she enjoys it much more than most children her age, and will color for much longer.

Ethan and his toys

He's just getting old enough to where he's starting to interact with toys now. He was using the ring to learn how to rotate his wrist.


He's getting good at sitting up, too. He still needs a little propping but it won't be long before he can do it all by himself.

Sleepy Time for Ethan

He's not too choosy (yet) about who rocks him to sleep.

Sister and Brother

Here's some together photos that haven't made it online yet:

Abbey loves trying to play with Ethan.

Sometimes they do sort of "play" together. She's getting to be pretty good with him.

Bath time!

This is from the 4th of July: see how everyone has their patriotic colors on?

Bedtime

Abigail loves reading books!


I think Abigail is trying to say "please put me to bed!"

Father and Son

Anthony and Ethan get some good cuddle time.

Summer Activities

This is Abigail's first corn-husking experience.

Abbey helping in the kitchen

Learning to bake...

Ethan learns a new trick!

This is from late June: the first day that Ethan rolled over (half way, anyway).

And a few more from the zoo...

Smile!

He does love to smile! It's a very cute, whole-mouth smile. :D

Look how big Ethan is getting to be!

Petting the goats

We ended our day at Binder Park Zoo with a visit to the Children's Zoo, which included this petting enclosure, with very friendly (which is to say, they ignored us) pygmy goats.

Going to the zoo

Abigail with daddy on an old jalopy
These Pygmy goats are just her size!

Here we are in the African market.

Abigail enjoyed feeding the giraffes; anything that allows her to get up close and touch the animals