Daddy's Shoes

Playing with daddy's shoes is such a fun activity. It's especially fun to unlace the shoe strings so that daddy has to quickly relace them in the morning before he heads out the door to work. :0)

19 Months on the 28th

How did we go from this...

to this overnight???

It sure seems like it's happened overnight. We hardly remember what it was like to hold our tiny baby and now she's so busy she won't even let us hold her for more than 2 seconds. The Lord is teaching us to treasure every moment as they are gone before we know it!

Library Fun!

We love going to the library! Our library has a lapsit every week in the morning for babies birth-24 months and they do finger plays, sing songs, and read a story. Anna has so much fun and we really look forward to it. She dances to the music, claps her hands, and tries to do the motions to the songs or finger plays. They put little shakers or finger puppets or picture cards in a small bag that go with the songs and stories and she loves seeing what's in the bag. They provide the words to the songs and finger plays for the parents so you can sing or read along and take it home and do the activities at home. After we're done, we pick out new books to take home (Anna likes to grab 10 at a time off the shelf) and she plays with the puzzles and other games they have out in the toddler area. They've started offering the lapsit on Tuesday ngihts as well so we're hoping daddy can go with us soon.

What are you doing???

As I was getting lunch around, I realized it was a little too quite so I went to investigate and guess where I found Little Miss Ornery? In the computer chair looking right at me with a huge, innocent grin on her face. She's realized she can climb on just about anything so we've been catching her on things or into things she shouldn't be lately. I'm sure taking her picture just reinforced the behavior although I'm also pretty sure we'll get another opportunity to deal with this. She makes it so difficult not to laugh sometimes!! :0)

"Hi Mom!"

"I'm so innocent!"

"I'm so ornery!"

Reading with Daddy

Anna loves books, always has and probably always will. If she ever catches you sitting still-Beware! A book and a toddler in your lap will soon follow. It's so fun to catch her "reading" to herself or her baby or whoever wants to listen. She especially loves books that repeat and we'll hear her repeating the same words or phrases over and over while she reads. It's definitely one of the wonderful parts of this stage.

Exhausted

This is Anna on a typical Sunday when we get home from church. She plays so hard in the nursery and then falls asleep in the car on the way home. We were unsuccessful at waking her up this past Sunday when we got home even after taking her coat and sweater off. She was definitely a wore out little girl.

Our first snow!!!!!

All ready to go play in the snow in cousin Grace's borrowed snowsuit that she wore 10 years ago...wow!

Cheeeeeese!

This is so much fun!! This was Anna's first time playing in the snow and she loved it.

Miss rosy nose and cheeks - it was quite cold out with the temperature right at 20 degrees and the wind chill making it feel like 10 degrees but it's worth it to be a bit chilly to play in the snow a few minutes.

Anna had a few wipe outs walking on ice and just getting used to her boots. She fell head first right into the bushes, grunted, then got up, wiped herself off best she could, and kept right on going. Didn't even shed a tear!! :0)

It's soooo cold, time to go in!!!

No More Thumb

It's been a little over a month now since Anna stopped sucking her thumb. She got a sinus infection in December and due to not being able to breath through her nose, she couldn't suck her thumb. We'd been through this before but this particular infection took about 14 days to clear up and I guess she just forgot how to suck her thumb when she was finally able to again. We thought for sure she might pick the habit back up but so far she hasn't. While we were overjoyed that the habit was broken at a young age, we really do miss seeing her cute way to soothe herself. Whenever she got tired or uncomfortable, she would pop her right thumb in, wrap her pointer finger around her nose, and play with her ear with her left hand. So, while I was reminiscing through old photos, I thought I'd share a few with everyone else. Time just goes by too fast!!

First picture of her soothing herself to sleep at 4 months

4 1/2 months

5 months

The first time she ever laid her head down on my shoulder... so sweet!

10 months

11 months

13 months

The last picture we have of Anna sucking her thumb at 16 months.

18 Month Check-up

Anna had her 18 month check-up last week and is doing well. She weighed 25 pounds, 14 ounces and is 33 inches long. She was in the 75th percentile for length and 50th percentile for weight. She always freaks out when the doctor starts checking her ears, nose, etc. so we try to play doctor at home regularly to get her more comfortable with it. Of course she likes being the doctor and us being the patients! We've been blessed to find another good pediatrician (the power of prayer!) and Anna seems more comfortable with her than she has with the others. I'm sure it helps that she wears a bottle of bubbles around her neck. :0)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

There's definitely not a lack of fun and laughter at our family gatherings. Jen made us all pretty scarves and of course we had to model them in our Happy New Year hats. Mommy and Anna even have matching scarves. We hope everyone had a safe and fun new year celebration and that the Lord blesses you greatly throughout 2007.

Anna and Kenley

Anna and her cousin Kenley are so fun to watch play together. Kenley was born just a year and two days after Anna and it's just amazing to think that Anna was the same size a year ago. They grow so fast in just one year! We're looking forward to seeing the girls interact and play together more in the years to come. Anna will be showing Kenley all of her tricks soon.

Hang on Kenley!! Anna thinks she has a real, live doll to play with.

O.C.D.

Yes, that stands for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder which Daddy says Mommy must have because she's anal about everything being in just the right place. Well, we've begun to wonder if Anna doesn't have the same thing as she's starting to show certain "mommy characteristics". For example, while playing on a blanket at Grandpa and Grandma's house, she was constantly making sure the corners and edges were laying just perfectly. We had to take a picture of her being so picky. She burned a lot of energy making sure the blanket was laying just right at all times. Daddy is praying she grows out of it.

Baby Gear

As you can see, Anna has had tons of fun with her new baby gear these past few days. Even Elmo fits in the stroller and can go for rides. She seems to really like Elmo so Aunt Jen brought us cousin Andrew's Elmo doll to borrow. He's almost as big as Anna but that doesn't keep her from "mothering" him.

Christmas with Mommy's Family

Christmas with Mommy's family was lots of fun. Each person gets one gift so that we can focus more on spending time with one another than on opening lots of presents. Cousin Wesley (with help from Aunt Jen) got Anna a box full of baby doll gear. Anna's been quite busy taking care of her new baby doll by pushing her in the swing, feeding her in the high chair, and pushing her in the stroller. She also enjoyed dancing with her baby and Grandma, watching her new movie with Uncle Nate, and playing blocks with Grandpa.

What would we do without a family picture at Christmas?

Front: Aunt Jen, Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Heather

Back: Uncle Nate, Mommy