First of all - Abby update: no results from the labs yet. The lab had to culture the sample to isolate bone vs. liver, so that apparently takes awhile. Hopefully we'll receive some results soon. Good news - Deren weighed himself and then himself w/Abby yesterday. She was 16-17 lbs, which is way up from last month. Just carrying her around she seems heavier. So good news! Praise the Lord! We started her on soy formula last Tuesday. I was worried she would have a reaction, because at least one sibling (Jacob) is allergic to soy. But so far she is doing well, and likes the taste of the soy formula much better than the nutramagen. Another bonus is that the soy formula is almost $20 less/can. (woohoo!)

Second, I wanted to take the time to write about some happier moments from the past week. We rec'd valentine's cards from my parents on Friday. Rachael divvied them up - "Jacob - balloon" (his card had some balloons on it), "Joshua, - firetruck, "Abby - baby", "momma - heart." Guess you had to be there. She is turning into such a little helper (when she isn't in one of her 'moods' - those who know me well would know what I am referring too!). Earlier on Friday my mom called to check up on us. After we got off the phone I tucked Rachael into her bed for a nap. I asked her "Who loves Rachael?" She said "mamaw loves Rachael" then "papaw", then "Grandma loves Rachael" and then "Jesus loves Rachael."

Jacob continues to play the role of big brother. Abby was playing in the bowls from the tupperware cabinet while Jacob was eating dinner on Thursday. I kept noticing Jacob walk back and forth from the table to Abby. I walked over to Abby to see how she was doing. Jacob had provided her with some potato chips. Then he brought over some applesauce, one spoon at a time, and dumped it in the bowl she was playing with. Finally he sat down next to her and shared his chocolate chip cookie with her.

It looks like Abby is inheriting a lot of Joshua's personality, which means, Look Out! She has yet to pull herself up to standing, but that hasn't stopped her from lobbing rubber duckies into the toilet. She will bypass any toy if she detects something dangerous to play with in the immediate area. She loves her bathtimes, and she is becoming an outdoor queen.

As for Joshua, the weather here turned very cold on Saturday. But that hasn't stopped him. He grabs his coat, chases you down with it, and (silently) begs to be outside. He was sick with a strep throast on Wednesday, and stayed home from school the rest of the week. By Thursday afternoon he was feeling better, and wanted to play in the front yard. Rachael was napping, but Abby saw the door open and scooted (she doesn't crawl, she sits on her bum and scoots around the house) to go outside also. They had a great time. Abby scooted up and down the sidewalk, eating everything in her path. I went in and got her a waffle. She dumped it out on the sidewalk and ate it from there. When I related the story to Deren that night his responses were in the nature of "She ate that?! You just let her do that ?!", etc. But Abby apparently had fun, because every time she hears one of the doors open she scoots as fast as she can to go outside.

Joshua is on a quest to crush all the dead leaves in the neighborhood. He's already mulched the backyard, hence, the fascination with the front (and other people's houses). And now that the dead leaves are getting scarce, he is trying to find suitable substitutes. For example, you give him a potato chip or a piece of crispy bacon to eat, he crumbles it in his hands, then eats the bits off the floor. I came back from errands yesterday and noticed some dried leaf-looking stuff on the bedroom floor. Joshua had found the dried flowers from our wedding, and decided to test their crispiness.

Joshua has also taken to frisking people who come to the house. He's particularly fond of cell phones at the moment, and has no pause diving his hands into strangers' pockets in search of his quest. We had some friends stop by the house last Tuesday to pray for Abby. While Joshua frisked everyone, Jacob ran around in cirlces yelling "Moobee moobee" (aka movie), and Rachael ran after Jacob laughing maniacally. At one point one of the women pointed to Rachael and said "What does she have?" (in terms of disability). I'll admit, the noise level at this house can be overwhelming to someone expecting a subdued time of prayer. On Monday, when we rec'd the initial news of Abby's lab results, my neighbor Monique was here. We grabbed Abby, laid hands on her, and started to pray. Meanwhile, Jacob took that moment to turn the table lamp into a basketball hoop. Monique and I intially tried to ignore him, but with the lamp flying around the living room, and kiddos cackling harder and harder, we had to stop our praying and round up the miscreants. I remember being so thankful for that lamp flying around - one moment I was crying, the next laughing along with their antics. I guess times like that autism can't be all that bad..