Thirteen Busy Months

Anna is a busy busy girl.  The only time she is still is when she's asleep, and even then, she rolls and wiggles.  She is also learning so much.  It seems like every day she has a new trick to show me.

When we're upstairs, she always "runs" into her room to climb into the glider.  She is so quick about it  too. Come to think about it, she's really quick in every thing she does.  One thing she is super speedy about is climbing the stairs.  When I'm up in the kitchen, she'll be playing in front of the couch in the family room, and before I know it, she's up in the kitchen clinging to my legs, or emptying the cabinets.

She is obsessed with wearing all her necklaces, and lanyards, and purse all at the same time.  She'll say "pretty" as she puts each of them on.  And then she runs around the house with them all jangling as she toddles.

She is also very caring.  She will hand me her "babies" (baby doll, Raggedy Andy, elephant, bear, or any other stuffed animal that is nearby) and then all of the blankets nearby so baby won't be cold.  Then when my arms are full, she will want me to hold her as well, but I CANNOT put down any of the blankets or babies.  If I attempt that, she will hop off my lap and hand me whatever I just put down, and then climb back up into my overflowing lap.  She also puts baby in her Bumbo seat, and then sits on top of her.

I am really excited about her Halloween costume this year.  I am not going to tell you what it is, you'll have to wait for another post in a few days to see what it is.  But I can tell you that it is going to be pretty epic.

One Year Old

Alright, I'm a few days late, but that's what happens when Grandma and Grandpa come to visit!

We also just went to the doctor today, so there were no statistics to report before.  Little Miss Anna is now 28.5 inches long, landing in the 30th percentile.  She weighs 20 pounds 2 ounces, settling her into the 35th percentile.  Still growing like a champ, according to the doctor.  She was also quite impressed at the toddling Anna was doing around the office when she walked in.

She had a great birthday.  Grandma and Grandpa Nigh came to visit.  We had a great time.  We went shopping, ate out (milk in a fun carton, which was squeezable!), had a doughnut, all kinds of things that were new, fun, and a bit spoilish, but what are grandparents for?!  When Dad got home, we Skyped Nainai and Yeye so they could see the first experience with cake, and the presents being opened.

Anna is walking EVERYWHERE.  A few days after she took her first steps, she figured out that she could get up where ever she was and walk.  She has been doing it ever since.  She does laps around the church building looking for babies.

She talks a lot too, with some words that we can actually recognize.  She says "thank you" when she hands you something, "hi" whenever she feels like it, "kitty" when she sees any small animal, "puppy" for any larger animal, "baby" when she sees her doll or a baby.  When she eats, she will just babble, unless you have a camera.

Eleven Months

It's been quite a month!  Anna has gone from a step here or there, to walking between the coffee table and the couch, to taking ten full steps all by herself.

She is so busy.  She goes through about two dozen different toys in an hour.  She still has her favorites, but she plays with all her toys.  Anna is a whiz at climbing the stairs.  She is even getting down them on her own, but in her own way (of course).  She refuses to scoot down them backwards, because mom and dad don't go backwards so why should she.  She sits down, and scoots down one stair at a time. 

Thursday when Joe came home from work, Anna threw herself into his arms to welcome him home.  Then she decided that she needed me, so she wiggled out of his arms and took a few stutter steps, and then full steps back to me.  It was awesome!  She can walk!

Last week she woke up in the middle of the night every night, and would not go back down easily.  On Saturday, I noticed that there was something sharp on her upper gum-line, so I investigated further.  She has a tooth! No wonder she was miserable.

New Discovery

Anna has discovered that her toys can fit inside other toys.  She has been putting small toys inside bigger lids, boxes, cups and other  containers all week.  My favorite new "game" she thought of this week was the Cupped Binkie.  She played it for quite a long time.  And she played it again yesterday, and Daddy played it with her!

Ten Months

It is so much fun to see Anna grow and learn new things.  I can't believe she is so big, and she is becoming more independent.   She will sit on the floor and talk with her stuffed animals, she will giggle for no reason that I can see.  She is talking more and more.  The other day Joe was home, and Anna was carrying on a conversation with herself, and Joe was shocked that she was putting different tones and emphasis and inflection in her babbling.

Anna is figuring out more words, and Joe and I can actually recognize them.  She now says "kitty", "Andy", and of course "Dada", "Mama", and "nomnomnom."

Last week, Anna decided that she needed to find Dad during the day.  She walked up to the kitchen: "Dada?" no answer, so she went upstairs and banged on the bedroom door: "Dada?" we went into the room: "Dada?"  She was so disappointed that he wasn't anywhere in the house.  She sure does love her daddy.

She is even more mobile now than I think she should be.  She stands all by herself, and doesn't fall very often, she normally slowly squats down.  She is so quick with her odd crawl I can barely keep up with her.  But, when it comes to the stairs, she prefers to hold fingers and "walk" up rather than crawl up all by herself, even though she is more than capable.

The only small problem with her being so mobile, is it is almost impossible to get a picture of her sitting still.  When she sees the camera, she wants to come get it, and she gets pretty close.

This month, Anna got to meet her very first farm animals.  Joe's work had their summer party at Thanksgiving Point.  So we went up and enjoyed the Farm Country exhibit before dinner.  Anna wasn't quite sure what to think of the huge creatures that made loud noises.  The cow's head was bigger than her, I think she was convinced that he was going to eat her.  She was excited to try and touch the goats though.  We ate dinner on a blanket in the gardens at the Point, and Anna quite enjoyed rolling around on it, and onto the grass.  It was a fun day.

Craftiness

So, with the invasion in Pinterest I have been a bit more creative, thanks to other people's pins.  And I thought I'd share a few of my projects, and one that was gifted to me (or Anna rather).

                                                        The tutu my mom made for Anna

                                                           The hooded towel I made

                                                                     Sensory bags

Nine Months Old

I can't believe Anna has been here for 9 months.  It seems like only a few weeks ago we were bringing her home.

But, even though I think she is so big already she doesn't seem to think she is big enough.  She seems to want to be bigger and more advanced than she is.  She wants to be able to run around and keep up with the big kids.  She is getting closer every day.  She is a champ at climbing the stairs.  She is also an expert at standing up using anything and everything.  The other day she even stood without support for a second.

She is such a happy girl.  And she lets everyone know when she is excited.  She squeals with delight when she sees something she loves.  She claps when she is happy, even in her sleep.  And she smiles almost all the time, and giggles.  Oh how I love those little giggles.  She even chuckles at nothing that I can see.  When she is playing by herself she will randomly giggle.

One of her favorite things to do is walk.  She takes hold of your fingers and takes off, even before you are ready.  She wants to go, and she is going NOW!  But, when she is done she just plops herself down, leaving no doubt in your mind that she is done walking and you can pick her up and continue on your way.

Her favorite toy the past few weeks has been Raggedy Andy.  She will talk to him, hug him, crawl around with him, and fling him around her head.  When she is upset after a fall, she will cling to him and me.

The Doctor says she's growing and developing very well.  Anna is now 17 pounds 4 ounces placing her in the 25th percentile, and 27 inches long landing her in the 40th percentile.

Eight months

Anna is just loving learning new things.  She can crawl, although hers is not a normal crawl.  She wants to be able to walk, so she makes sure that one foot is flat on the floor when she crawls, so it's more like a crab walk than a crawl.  She can pull herself up to standing using anything that doesn't move as she pulls on it.

She had her first flying experience on her eight month "birthday."  She flew like a pro!  She didn't cry during take off, slept for the whole flight, and didn't cry for landing.  The flight back was a bit more rough: a screaming baby in the back of the plane, stewardesses talking loudly right next to our seat, people running into the arm rest every (what felt like) half hour, and the middle arm rest kept falling on her feet.

We were in Wisconsin because great-grandma Kath died after a battle with cancer.  It was nice to have every one meet Anna.  It was a lot of fun to spend some time with cousin Eliana.  They were instant friends.  When Eli was walking in front, Anna sped up her walking, holding onto my fingers, to catch up to her.

Seven Months

Miss Anna is quickly becoming her own little person, with a big personality.  She prefers to sit on her own, and grab her own toys.  When she is in her bumbo, she arches back, pulls her legs in and kicks herself out of it.  She loves being outside and looking at everything that goes on.  When there are lots of kids at the park, she watches them intently. 

She has recently decided that since she smiles so much, she should make a frustrated/mad face every once in a while.  It is so cute.  

She is becoming quite efficient in getting to where she wants to go.  It's not a full crawl, but she's getting really close.  She is best at crawling when she is mad, but it's backwards.  But when there is a toy in front of her that she wants, you can be sure that she will get there in no time.

Six Months Doctor Visit, and Other News

I've heard it said that babies don't have the best memory, well I'm not convinced.  Today we went to the doctor's office for Anna's 6 month check-up.  She SCREAMED whenever I wasn't holding her.  Even when she was just getting weighed, she screamed.  She is not convinced that the doctor has her best interest at heart.  But, despite the loud protests, Anna did very well.  She is growing "like a champ" and is learning well.  The doctor even seemed impressed that Anna was trying to figure out how to crawl, so she might even be ahead of the learning curve.


She now weighs 16 pounds, putting her in the 55th percentile, and is 26 inches tall, landing her in the 70th percentile.  That is two inches in two months.  Our little Anna is growing like a weed.


In other news, she is sitting up all by herself like a pro.  She prefers to be sitting on her own, as long as she can see either Joe or me.  If she's not sitting, she wants to be on her belly trying to crawl so she can catch up with the cat.

Rice Cereal

Anna has ventured into the world of solid food.   And she LOVES it!   She tries to grab the spoon or the bowl, but usually just ends up with her hand in her mouth, but she tastes it anyway because it has some cereal on it.

Five Months Old

Today Anna has been on the earth for five months.  It doesn't feel like it's been that long, but at the same time it feels like we've always had her.

She had learned that she LOVES to roll over, and is really good at it.  When we lay her down on the ground to play, we look over a few seconds later and she's on her belly.  Sometimes I wonder if I set her down like that or if she flipped herself over that quickly.

 She is also growing so fast.  Onesies that were too big for her a couple of weeks ago fit her really well now.  Pants that were too long now are just right.  It is so much fun to be able to pull out new clothes for Miss Anna.

She is a bit of a punk though.  Whenever I pull out the camera to capture a giggle, or her huge smile she stops and just stares at the camera.  But, I guess I will forgive her since she is so cute.  She is even cute when she is upset and crying. 

Bath Time

Anna is starting to love her baths more and more.  She wasn't so sure of them at the beginning, but now she relaxes easily in the warm water.  This last bath, she discovered that her feet taste REALLY good when she's in the bath.  It was SO funny that we ran and grabbed the camera to capture the cuteness.

Best Friends

Anna has decided that she and Rowan are the very best of friends.  The past couple of days whenever Anna sees Rowan, she gets this huge grin on her face, giggles, and reaches out to pet him.  He has even let her pet him a few times.  It's so cute to see her little hand get swallowed up in the fur.  She usually runs the back of her hand along the fur, then rests her palm on him.

Mad Skills

Anna is getting really good at picking up her toys. She has her favorites, and she lets us know when she wants something else.  Gravity still gets the better of her sometimes, she doesn't understand why her toys drop out of reach when she lets go.  She can even pick them up when she is laying down and they are slightly out of reach, she just rolls onto her side.

Four month Doctor visit

Today we went to the doctor.  Anna was slightly concerned, not sure if the doctor was friend or foe.  By the end of her exam, she just wanted to snuggle with mommy.  But then we had to lay back on the table and get ouchies in the legs.  (You've got to hate shots!  It's like a rule.)  She was a champ though, only screamed for a minute during and after all the shots.

Now for the fun part: the stats!  Anna is 24.5 inches long, putting her in the 70th percentile.  She weighs 13 pounds 12 ounces, landing her in the 60th percentile.  Our little girl is getting so big! 

Catching up

It's hard to imagine that just 4 short months ago, Joe and I were coming home with little Anna for the first time.  We've already had quite a few adventures.  From screaming all night, to being on bili-lights, to sleeping through the night.


We've had our first Halloween, dressed as a candy corn.  We even went to the Halloween party at church, and slept through the whole thing.  Even with all the screaming kids.  All the teenage girls fell in love.  I don't think we'll have problems finding babysitters.


Our first Thanksgiving was really laid back. Anna didn't eat any turkey, but she was just short of two months old.

Christmas was quite exciting.  All kinds of paper to crinkle, bright colored toys, and a new nightlight that makes stars on the ceiling and walls.  She even got a book narrated by Grandma Nigh.

I had been putting off letting Anna sleep in her crib.  It was just so HUGE compared to her.  But I finally decided that when she turned 3 months old, she would sleep in her crib.  And she did!  Joe put her down in her crib that night, and she slept till around 6am the next morning.  She has been sleeping really well in her crib ever since.  At least at night.  She refuses to take naps in her crib during the day.  But, we have a space heater on it's way to the house, and hopefully that will help her take naps in her crib.

Anna is teething, and so drools all the time.  She also is constantly gnawing on anything she can get her hands on (or her mouth).  When she sits in her bumbo she leans over, and gnaws on the side.  When there isn't a toy or seat available to get into her mouth, her fist is always a good option.  She recently discovered individual fingers!  She hasn't found her thumb yet, but I'm sure that is coming soon.

She prefers to stand, instead of sit when we hold her.  One day I got tired of holding her up, and so decided to try putting her in her jumper.  She LOVED it!  So, we turned on some fun music and she jumped constantly for half an hour.

Anna loves bouncing.  When she's laying on our bed, Joe bounces her up and down on it, and she laughs nonstop.  She has the most infectious smile and giggle. 

That's all I can think of for now, but I'll be checking in regularly with more adventures.