Has it really been this long?

It's been an incredibly long time since I've written anything, but it's not because I haven't thought about it. It just always seems like something else comes up and I never get here. C'est la vie. Abigail is 11 months old and John is 3 1/2. I'm almost done with my maternity leave and so many other things have happened since I last wrote, but I feel the need to document things these days because it's just nice to be able to look back.

Abigail has been a dream baby. She has been a good sleeper from the start without any of the problems that John had. I used the Baby Whisperer sleep training from the beginning, and when I think back, I really did put in a lot of work when she was very young, but with absolutely no "crying it out" she goes down for naps AMAZINGLY and she's starting to sleep through the night every now and then, but with increasing regularity. As long as she has her pink bunny, life is good. At three months old, we were able to get in to see the lactation doctor for a poor latch, and she put me on domperidone to increase my breast milk since Abigail had only gained two pounds since birth (dropping from the 90th percentile to the 15th). She saw a pediatrician at about 10 months because she had continued to drop after she started solids, but he said that everything was looking good since she's hitting her milestones and is happy and not to worry about her weight - and that she should be able to start going longer stretches at night without eating. Yay! And now that she's 11 months, she's babbling like crazy, laughing whenever anyone else laughs, and starting to walk. I love her so much!

John has been going to preschool since he turned three (he calls his teacher - Miss Nella - Aunty Vanilla) and it's amazing how much he's soaking up. He knows most of the letters in the alphabet, a lot of the sounds the letters make, and I'm starting to get him to read simple books to me. Thankfully, the kindergarten classroom has lots of books and the teacher has agreed that I can sign books out of her library! He loves to play outside and his favorite place to play is in the sand box. Dump trucks, diggers, shovels, and buckets are all he really needs to be happy for a LONG time! Aunty Jenn's dog Sophie usually comes over to follow him around and keep him company, which is nice. Soon Abigail will be more able to join him, but she's not quite there yet. He is generally a good kid, but it can be a challenge to discipline him in a way that lets him know that his behaviour is not acceptable but still let him know that you love him.