Wednesday, January 25

Two Thirds of a Year Old

I was chatting with a friend at work this week.  Anna came up and he asked, "When was she born?  October?"  So I guess I'm not the only one for whom time flies because it doesn't feel like it has been so long as eight months.  But maybe that is just because my body has already blocked out the first few months where I was a zombie for lack of sleep.  I won't forget those months or the precious cuddle time I had with my very dependent child but wow is she different these days from those first weeks.

My daughter is eating everything.  Her food intake evolution was almost more related to us changing than her.  We became less worried or fearful of different foods as we became more educated and as she became more interested.  She still makes funny faces when we give her something she isn't thrilled about but is willing to eat anyway, like her dad.  She got her tastebuds from me, though, her newest favorite food is macaroni and cheese.  She eats cheerios after almost every meal, she loves participating in the eating process.  We let her nom on just about anything she can hold like carrots, apples, and teething biscuits.


She is very good at holding herself up in the sitting position.  And has started sitting up on her own this month.  However, we haven't actually caught her in the act.  She is just too fast for us.  She is also switching her crawl over to hands and knees instead of elbows/arms and thighs.  The change is gradual and her failures are just as adorable as her successes. 

In her 8th month in this family she survived her first cough, learned to crawl, dealt with a mustached father, got her second tooth, stayed up super late to watch the ball drop on New Year's Eve (that stinker!), learned to sit up, has tried unmushed foods, like apples, and has felt falling snow.

My Anna loves laughing with her nose.  I guess you could call it a snort.  It is sometimes hard to tell if she is mad (just breathing fast and hard) or laughing her little face off.  But the way she crinkles her nose to make the noise is just adorable either way! 

  

I think she is still in love with music.  She'll dance to just about any music she can and loves to beat on things with her hands: desks, windows, tables, our brick hearth.  She is constantly exploring her surroundings.  And daddy is constantly telling her "no!"  I love watching her explore.  I'm more inclined to just remove the temptation.  She loves toddling around in her car, and she always finds something to play with, like my belts hanging on the door.  They must be the best because they are flexible, but still make noise, and apparently tasty too. 

We just had our first large snow of the year, and our first intense shoveling.  We took Anna out to feel the snow coming down, to touch and taste it.  She was pretty apathetic, but I sure love seeing it outside.

Wednesday, January 18

PEZ-tastic


This past weekend Jacob and I had some friends over.  We haven't seen our friends the Hustedts since early December since they took a long vacation from Med school last month, including a cruise with their family and a wedding.  The Ramos' also took a good bit of time out of town, going to a sealing as well.  We were excited to get together and hear the details of everyone's vacations.  Daniel brought over a new game and we passed Anna around while Ella napped.  It was also good to have some relaxing fun after a full two weeks of Jacob and/or Anna being sick.  I'm very happy to have my healthy family back, and also my friends!  How in the world did all 8 of us fit on our little love seat?


We of course couldn't get enough of our buddies and Anna is always up for more time with her baby bestie, Ella!  So Monday, we joined up for a bit of lunch at Five Guys.  Apparently, Anna isn't ready for fries.  She couldn't get that potato out of her mouth fast enough.  She has been OK with everything else we've offered her, but was not a fan of Idaho fried potatoes.  We also toured the local PEZ factory/museum and got some sodas at the Foxon Park Soda factory.  The latter of which is just across the street from our Walmart.  What a sweet little find.  We are always up for a little bit of simple fun, especially with friends.  Below is another group shot, and yes, we are sitting on enormous PEZ shaped benches. Totally rad.

Wednesday, January 4

2 Front Teeth

Anna got what she wanted for Christmas, well if she had even known what Christmas was or that she was going to get something. Her little bottom teeth have been tearing up a storm of cheerios and teething biscuits, and sometimes the occasional board book. I've stopped feeling around for more teeth because I might get bit! Jacob witnessed Anna eating her own feet today and laughing hysterically, what a crazy munchkin we have.

Sunday, January 1

Christmas Morning in Connecticut


My parents came up to visit for Christmas.  We made cookies, hung stockings, and stayed entertained by little Anna.  Her Aunt Rachel and Uncle Jonathan spoiled her rotten with a couple of stuffed animals.  She loves to eat their faces, we think she might be giving them kisses but also might really be into raw teddy bear meat, hard to tell.



Anna had fun on Christmas morning opening her gifts.  In her eyes it was more like grabbing fun shiny paper to shove in the mouth before mom stole it from her hands and she had to go back for more.  Anyway you look at it though, she was opening presents and finding something new to play with every minute all morning long.


Earlier in the week, Jacob told me he had coaxed some crawling out of Anna but I had yet to see it.  But the tempting, and noisemaking, toys she recieved on Christmas were enough motivation to get her mobile for good.  It is a tough army crawl with the arms accompanied by some very uncoordinated leg movements.  We really can't leave her alone for a second now, she is just everywhere!



My mother also noticed that once Anna had some stuffed faces to control she "talked" a lot more.  I think she is always making noises, and dancing.  I'm so grateful for our families who made Anna's first Christmas so wonderful with toys, clothes, ornaments, and wrapping paper to eat.  I hope you had a wonderful holiday as well.

Saturday, December 24

Lucky 7

Anna is now seven months old!  She is stable when we put her in the sitting position and loves holding on to the shopping cart when we put her in it.  Her favorite toy is her set of stacking rings.  The top most one rattles and she can easily grasp all the pieces, including the stand with all the rings on it.  I guess she is just practicing for weightlifting.


She has her first tooth!!  It showed up a week ago.  She hasn't been very upset about it but her discomfort showed itself in the need for cuddling especially before bed, and sometimes in the middle of the night when she woke up crying.  I loved getting extra snuggle time with Anna as she is very active and independent and getting more and more so with the early gift sent from the grandparents in Virginia, a little walker car.  Just call her a Flintstone, she loves walking around and dancing.  I swear she just might be a Rockette, if she doesn't grow too tall that is.  But right now she enjoys just being a rocker to any kind of beat she hears, or if there is no beat she'll join in if others are dancing.


Also adding to her mobility, Jacob witnessed her first crawling "steps" earlier this week.  Ahhhhh, break out the baby-proofing.  She is very happy, and full of laughs when she wakes up and when I come home and whenever she rides on our necks.  Oh man, is that her favorite!  Other favorites include munching on books, her baby rattle from the hospital, the color yellow, and sweet potatoes (mashed).


We hope the rest of her teeth come in without too much pain and that she continues to get all the rest she needs.  We are also excited to celebrate the birth of Christ tomorrow.  Merry Christmas everyone!

Tuesday, December 13

Catching Invisible Butterflies

Anna has been getting more and more social.  It is so much fun playing with her and interacting, like she was with Daniel last week.  Here she is talking with Jacob.  And if you want to see her practicing catching butterflies with her hands jump to 1:00.

Sunday, December 11

Baby Driver's License

My parents decided to spoil Anna even before Christmas came this year.  Last week we recieved a new baby car from them in the mail.  It comes complete with reflector headlights and a spoiler and of course a full dashboard of light-up and musical buttons!  She was mesmerized by her first exposure to electronic toys but fell in love with her new aquisition even more when she found out she could use it to explore.  We love seeing her dance to the beat, she thinks dancing is the best.  On Friday, at date-night Institute, Daniel, Jacob's good friend and daddy to Anna's baby-best-friend Ella, encouraged Anna to find her groove by rocking side-to-side.  Anna joined him every single time she saw him doing it.  She cracks us up.

Anyway, here is a little video of Anna enjoying her new ride.  We should probably remind her that talking on the cell phone while driving is illegal in Connecticut.



Sunday, December 4

Tasty Half-Birthday


Anna turned six-months old on Thanksgiving this year.  We had a rad time spending it with our friends the Hustedts.  They invited us over for a potluck dinner, along with several of our hostess' cousins and another couple from the ward.  We had the yummiest sweet potatoes ever and enjoyed every bit of the wonderful meal.  It was a lot of fun meeting new people, passing Anna around, seeing her "play" with the little one year old boy there, Ian, while chatting and laughing over food.



Anna is constantly learning and it is so much fun to watch.  She has a few limited modes of locomotion, rolling, turning, and scooting backwards while on her hands and knees (the last one is not always on purpose).  So even being in the same room as her isn't enough supervision any longer although she is happy to play with herself on the ground, and always has been, sometimes she ends up in the craziest places.  In fact, one time we were sitting on the couch when Jacob nearly jumped in the air.  Anna decided to munch on his big toe!


We've started letting her play more often in our plastic baby cage, for our own safety you see.  She loves it more than I ever expected.  We can stand her up at a panel and she will hold on to the side and play/chew/dance until her wiggles win and she falls into our arms.  But she also loves the play panel with a huge mirror and some gears to twist etc.  She has also gotten better at sitting when we put her in that position.  She will hold onto her legs to stay upright.


Anna has now discovered her hands and loves to watch them as they open and close.  Jacob refers to it as Anna catching invisible butterflies.  She sleeps on her knees with her little tush up in the air and has caught onto eating.  She has tried squash, sweet potatoes, but is pretty averse to new foods like her mom, but once she has eaten something a few times she'll dive in after that.

I am thankful for this cutie in my life, and the man who takes care of her every single day.  I'm also grateful for the wonderful friends we have up here in the foreign land of Connecticut.  Happy 6 months little one!

And just for fun, here is a little video, out of focus and full of extraneous conversation (it was a party!), of Anna dancing her heart out with our friend Mattie.