Abigail is JOY (1/09/10)

My little one can be such a JOY. I was laying in bed thinking of my afternoon with Abigail. I love holding her and rocking her, when she allows me to. She is the source of much comedic relief to my husband and I. Although she can be quite naughty and a total handful she really does make me smile.

We were at the mall with my brother. He was off looking for sneakers and I pretty much just walked the mall. At one of the stores Abigail took to winning strangers over with her crooked smile and cute Miss America wave. After the same scene in a few other stores I bought an Orange Julius (let me just tell you how happy I was the day I saw an Orange Julius in NJ! That was complete JOY! I never saw one in NJ since we moved here when I was in fourth grade from PA.) Now, most of you know that Abigail is part gerbil or goat, not sure which, so you can only imagine what this baby did to a styrofoam cup and plastic lid. After deciding she was done with the straw she chewed her way through the cup to get to the good stuff! Normally this would make me crazy but since I wasn't on a mission I sat down and just smiled at my funny girl. She is nuts!

After cleaning her up I decided to take her to the fountain to throw in some coins. She absolutely loved doing this and the smile on her face was priceless. Of course being free from the stroller she decided she needed to roam a bit. So, three laps around the fountain we went. Her smiling her crooked smile and stopping at every person sitting down to wave at them. I love seeing the JOY other people get from my little girl.
After the third time it was back into the stroller. Of course that smiling girl turned into a writhing monster! Bring out the DumDum (Nan, if you are reading stop NOW!)! I have given this precious baby dumdum lollipops in the past and have never witnessed what happened in my life. After handing over the pop we walked into Nordstrom to head out to the car. I look down at her and watch as she pulls out the stick and not the pop. My gerbil/goat had chewed her way THROUGH the stick so that all she had in her mouth was the pop! At first I didn't know if I should laugh or give her the heimlich. I couldn't believe it! So, standing in the middle of the shoe department I preceed to "finger sweep" and the whole time praying don't choke, don't choke. Out came the pop and with it the massive tantrum! Once again, she is so crazy!

Within minutes she was over her escapade and we were in the car ready to go. She continued her cute smiling and waving through dinner and was as happy as a clam the whole way home. I was able to rock her last night and thought to myself how many people did I catch just smiling and enJOYing my little girl today? No matter how nuts she can make me at the very next moment she is smiling her trademark smile and bringing JOY as she does!