Questions, Questions, Questions

Tonight, as I sat watching Abby eat her after dinner popsicle, I realized I didn't have an idea for my blog post. Sure, I could talk about how cute she was being, or even though she didn't get her "good behavior bear" she did get a good report from Mrs. Cathy (the bus driver), but I feel like I've hashed and rehashed behavior stuff, and I've already mentioned how cute she is - a few hundred times. So, I put out an "all  call" on my Facebook page for questions. I wanted to know if you guys had anything for which you wanted answers. I got a few bites, so here goes.

Peer Questions

One of my friends asked her daughter if there was anything she wanted to know about Abby. Katie came up with some great questions - from one seven year old to another.

Katie: I like to play Barbies, would Abby like to play with me?

Answer: Abby would love to play Barbies with you, in fact, she would be right over...if you weren't so far away. 

Katie: I also like to play with my stuffed animals, my Princess Kitty is my favorite. Does Abby have a favorite stuffed animal?

Answer: Abby's favorite stuffed toys are of the doll variety. She's been collecting Disney Princess stuffed dolls for quite a while, and nearly has all of them. I think she loves to make them dance and sing.

Katie: My favorite book right now is Chester, by Melanie Watt. Has Abby read that one? What is her favorite book?

Answer: Hmmm, I don't recognize that book - we'll have to look it up. I'm sure she would love it. Abby loves to read books, but the one that requests the most is any "Brave" book. She also loves "Goodnight, Moon" and "The Snowy Day" - two of my favorites too!

Thanks for all the great questions, Katie. We'll have to get you and Abby together some time, it sounds like you would have a blast!

Tummy Update

I had one friend ask how Abby's tummy has been. This summer Abby got a tummy bug that just wouldn't quit - literally. At our wits end, we decided to make some major changes to her diet. We have stuck to that with few deviations. 

We started by cutting out all gluten and dairy. Since then we've introduced the dairy back into her diet, but we've kept the gluten out. Now, she will periodically have something with gluten, but we try to leave that to the weekends - in case she has some issues. Since the summer she really hasn't had any GI issues. There was one point in the year that she got a bug, but she was over it super quick. Before her dietary change it wasn't uncommon for her to take at least a week to cover, not so any more.

Interestingly enough we not only saw a great improvement to her physical health, but also to her attitude. Maybe it is because she is feeling better that she's behaving better, maybe she was just due for a boost in maturity, whatever it is I couldn't help but wonder if there was a connection. No matter what, she is eating healthier and feeling better. If that means I have to keep buying $7 bags of pretzels - then so be it, it's worth it.

Dreams

Another question I got was about dreaming. One of Abby's good buddies seems to be going through a scary dream phase. My friend wondered if Abby ever talks about her dreams.

Abby doesn't talk about her dreams in a direct way, but sometimes I really would love to see what she sees when she sleeps because of what she says immediately upon waking. I can't tell you how many times she's gotten up and talked about some movie we haven't seen in months, or talk about a character that I haven't heard of for quite some time. I always wonder if these characters and stories have made their way into her dreams. There are other times when she will wake up with actual people on the brain. She'll say things like, "Let's go to Carter's house!" or "Where'd Rachel go?" It makes me think that she's as active when she's sleeping, as she is when she's awake.

Something else that gives me a clue as to what she's dreaming about is her talking in her sleep. Every so often she'll yell out something like, "No!" or "I'll do it myself!" It is always so funny to hear her little voice on the monitor (which we still are using), yelling something out, followed by the silence that lets us know she's still asleep.

There are a few times when she's woken up and talked about being afraid. I'm never sure if that has to do with what she's been dreaming about, or finding herself in a dark room with nighttime noises. Dad's usually the "Go To Guy" for those moments.

Smart Answer.....for a "Smart" Question

Finally, Jason chimed in with a question as well. His question had to do with woodchucks and wood. So my darling, according to Neurotic Physiology a woodchuck "chucks" (or chews) 361.9237001 cubic centimeters of wood per day.

Thanks to all of you for your questions - and for providing amble material for tonight's post!