A Better Deal on Shoes

Just as the sales lady at Stride Rite told us, in three months Anna outgrew her shoes. Previously in my blog I mentioned the Stride Rite shoes and the sticker shock my husband and I had over them. To us, we feel it is important for Anna to have at at least one good pair of shoes to run around in (plus her foot is too thick to fit well into the shoes at Target), so we decided to check out the Stride Rite Outlet while we were at Myrtle Beach. It was a hit - we walked out of there with 3 pairs of shoes for a decent price including a pair of $15 tennis shoes. I'm guessing they are all last years shoes, but Anna is 14 months old and I'm not too worried about her being out of style :).

Here is Anna in her "funky" shoes...

Pow-Pow-Powerwheels

One of Anna's Christmas gifts from her Mimi was a hot pink electric Power Wheels car. Anna looks absolutely adorable riding along in her car.


The car has a stick out of the back that allows the parent to control the steering and movement of the car and then the stick can be removed so that Anna can do it herself by pushing the button on the steering wheel. Right now she is content to just sit and hold on.

This gift though has made me wonder... is there such thing as "too good" of a gift? After several trips out in the garage to get in our real car with Anna crying because she cannot ride in her little car, we finally covered the car up with a blanket.

Merry Christmas!

Spreading Christmas Cheer

With only a few shopping days left until Christmas, many people were out and about today at the stores. We went to a local department store to pick up a few items but when we went to check out, the line was extremely long. Erik took Anna out of the shopping cart and walked her around the store. It was fun to watch the frustrated shoppers' faces turn to smiles as Anna walked around in what I'm calling her "ice skating princess" outfit and waved hi to everyone.

A Poop Story

Every parent and child has a poop story that they retell at times, this is ours... My husband is off of work for the rest of the year and so we were having a nice relaxing morning eating waffles and getting a little exercise thanks to the newly found Wii. All of the sudden my husband hollered help, there's poopy on the foot. I walk over to the family room with many questions - Hmmmm, did the dog poop in the house and Anna stepped in it? I don't see any poop??? My husband then informs me that the poop is on the inside of her footed (thankfully!) pajamas. ?????????? I was even more confused - apparently my husband had noticed Anna was playing with her footed pj's and when he went to see what was going on he realized the foot was really squishy - ewwww!! So we race Anna upstairs to get her cleaned up and put her in the bathtub. The whole way up the stairs I was thinking about the current pack of diapers that we were using which have not been overly sticky and have been coming off of her - - I was ready to complain to customer service. My husband lays Anna down in the bathroom floor, unzips her pajamas and what do you know - - there was no diaper!! In the excitement of daddy being home and getting Anna out of bed, he forgot to put a new diaper on. Poor daddy!

A Visit to Santa

On Monday I took Anna to the local mall to see the Santa. I dressed her in one of her many Christmas outfits and off we went to finish up our shopping and get Anna's picture taken. Many of Anna's friends were terrified of Santa and cried, which incidentally made for cute pictures, so I was not sure how our time would go. We got in line and Anna enjoyed looking at the lights and mechanical reindeer (Santa had instructed me not to let her see him until it was time for her picture). When it was Anna's turn I took up to Santa and dropped her in his lap while she was still facing me. Anna turned around and saw the man in the white beard for the first time and was stunned. We never got a good smile for the camera but she didn't seem to be scared either. It was so cute!

Our Trip to the Beach

This past weekend we met my father-in-law and his wife at Myrtle Beach to spend a long weekend together and have our Christmas. Anything I have ever written about Anna not traveling well, I have to take back after this weekend - Anna was absolutely wonderful!! She slept through the night, napped and agreeably went along with everything we did. The only thing she did not do with her punctual regularity was potty (which made for an interesting diaper change in the back of my car one night!). I am still so proud of her and ready for the next family adventure.

While we were there, Anna opened presents. She got a Leapfrog Baby which should be fun to play. It will require lots of parent/Anna time since she's not quite old enough to understand what it wants her to do at this point.


We tried walking on the beach but it was rather windy - brrrrrrr!


Anna enjoyed giving a few high fives...


And just had a wonderful time altogether.


Thanks Opa for taking us to the beach!

A Holiday Tradition

One of my husband's family traditions over the Christmas holiday is to make chocolates. This year we've dipped pretzels, graham crackers, cherries and even pineapple, yum! Here's a picture of Anna enjoying a chocolate covered pretzel.

What's in a Name?

In keeping with the Christmas season, our pastor is going through the different names we call Jesus during the Christmas season. This past week, the pastor talked about the importance of the name we give our children - that the name we give them impacts who they are, their impact on others and their character. He even said that studies find that children with an unusual name are 4 times more likely to be juvenile delinquents. I'm sure there are more factors in the name study (including parenting!) but it does bring up a good point about praying through and giving thought to the name we give our child. The sermon comes with perfect timing as we are in the process of coming up with a name for our baby girl.

The sermon is currently at http://www.crossroads.org/sermon_series.htm but will probably change on Monday.

Pregnancy Round 2

It's amazing how a little knowledge and previous experience can relax a person, or at least me, during a second pregnancy. I am now 20 weeks, halfway through my pregnancy and things are going so well.

First Time: I read my weekly "What to Expect" update and could you tell you at any minute how big the baby was and what developmental phase she was going through.
This Time: What did I do with that book?

First Time: I ate everything listed in the books as good pregnancy foods and made sure to eat from all of the food groups; hence weight gain early.
This Time: I'm eating healthy in moderation so just starting to gain weight.

First Time: I was careful not to lift anything and the people at work made sure of it!
This Time: I have a 25 pound daughter to lift up and down.

First Time: I took a break early from exercising and was out of breath the rest of my pregnancy (not to mention several months afterward).
This Time: I have my daily walk and gab session with my mom friends and my weekly Aqua class which are helping me to feel great and have plenty of energy.

First Time: I was never really sure when the baby was moving all around and keeping me moving; is it the baby or is it gas?
This Time: I feel my little girl moving all around and keeping me up at night.

First Time: I would worry over things like: how hard is it to change a diaper? Should I get an epidural?
This Time: One epidural please!

First Time: I went to the bathroom every 15 minutes.
This Time: Ok, some things don't change.

Getting Ready to be a Mom of Two...

It's fun to watch people's reactions when we tell them we are expecting another baby that will only be 18 months younger than Anna. Mom friends in our play circles get wide eyes - I think realizing that they too could be pregnant with another (and they just aren't there yet). Moms of two welcome me into their midst and are ready to share anything they learned along the way. And lately, I've been around several moms that are pregnant with their third and they just encourage me to keep going :).

This past weekend we invited several of my coworkers and their families over to the house for an annual Christmas party. Two separate families each had two girls that were about 18 months apart (give or take a few months). How fun it was to see them interacting and entertaining one another - and for me, to see them all dressed up! I got a short glimpse of how things will be one day with two girls and it made me very excited.

Nursery Play

On Sunday, my husband and I took our monthly rotation in the nursery. Since I'm pregnant, we decided to sign up for the infants rather than be with the toddlers since our thought was there would be fewer germs. We didn't have any babies show up, so we ended up watching the Crawler room which is the room Anna is currently in. This was the first time I was able to watch Anna play in the nursery. Many times when we pick her up the nursery workers tell us she was very good (which usually means she didn't cry and they had to hold her the whole time). We got there early to sign the children into the room so Anna had the run of the room. She knew exactly where the toys were and how they all worked. It was amazing to watch her pull toy by toy off the shelf and make it do whatever magical thing it did. Anna is one of the older kids in the room and one of the best walkers (in my mommy opinion :)) so she will soon need to move to the next class, but I think being older helped her have a better time. Often times in our playgroups Anna is the youngest and cries when someone takes a toy she is playing with - here in the nursery there is no one to bother her and so she can play and do her own thing which I think she greatly enjoys. Perhaps it will work out very well that she will be one of the oldest kids in the class once she starts school.

Anna's New Room

This weekend my husband and mom spent most of the time painting two of our upstairs rooms. WIth the arrival of the new little girl, Anna will be moving into a room further down the hallway from our master bedroom. The room she is moving into was my husband's office, so the office is moving into the guest bedroom. The walls are painted, the furniture is moved and all looks great. There are just a few little details and the closets to take care of. Each night we have been taking Anna into the room to play for a few minutes before bed so that she can get accustomed to being in there before we actually move her (probably in January). Anna is a trooper when it comes to change, so I'm hoping the room change and the change to the new crib (yes, we are now a 2 crib family!) will go smoothly. I guess even if it takes a month or so, we have a few months before the baby will be here.

It's a....

I had my second ultrasound today so the family joined me at the doctor's office to find out if Burckart #4 is a boy or girl. The tech spent a lot of time going through each part of the baby's body and telling us that everything looked normal which was a blessing. As she went through each part, I realized that my focus for this appointment was what gender the baby would be and it never occurred to me how important the ultrasound was to determine that everything else was developing as it should. At last it was time to find out the gender.... it's a GIRL!!

Date Night with Daddy

On Tuesday nights when I have my prenatal swim class, Anna gets to stay home and play with her daddy. Here are a few pictures that my husband took of our busy little girl playing with every "toy" she could find. I think she has a lot of my personality in her (yikes!) for in one picture she is even organizing the DVD's - she's going to love the label maker I asked for for Christmas, hahaha!!

Playing in the Leaves

Here in Raleigh the leaves have finally turned and started falling from the trees so this weekend we decided to do a little yard work. Anna loved being able to play in the back yard (which is usually off limits because of the dog poo and prickly bushes). She explored the entire yard and whenever daddy had the leaf pile big enough, she would run into it and play. The past few weeks I have been continually amazed at what a big girl Anna is becoming. She can reach counters and shelves that were once unreachable. She can walk wherever we go without stumbling. She can communicate, in her own way, with us and tell us exactly what she wants (or what she doesn't!). I guess she is getting ready to be the best big sister ever!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Daddy's Little Steelers Fan

Anna got a Pittsburgh Steelers cheerleading outfit for her birthday and wore it yesterday to cheer them on.

Squeak... squeak squeak... squeak

A friend of my mom's came home from Atlanta with some shoes for Anna. These were not just any shoes, they squeak with every step she takes - YIKES! They are called Mooshu Trainers. When we first put them on Anna she took one step, heard the squeak and then was afraid to take anymore steps. It was rather funny. Thankfully she only paid $1 for them, for I'm not sure how often we will let Anna wear them.

A brand of shoes that I really like are Puddle Jumpers, especially the Polka Dot collection. They fit well on Anna's foot since they tend to run a little big.

A Weekend with the Cousins

This past weekend we made a quick visit to South Carolina to visit with one of my cousins and her family. This was the first long car trip (~4 hours) and overnight trip we have made since Anna was 7 months old. We left in the morning after breakfast - in the past Anna would take a morning nap during car trips, but since this is no longer her "schedule" she was in need of entertainment for the few 2 hours. We tried out the DVD player which worked for a little while, but Anna was still very antsy in her seat. We decided to stop for an early lunch to let her get out and stretch her legs and fill her belly. This worked great because once we were back in the car, she slept the rest of the way.

My cousin has a 2 1/2 year old daughter who had been asking for Anna to come visit for a several months and so Anna had an immediate playmate.

The next obstacle was going to sleep in the pack n play. Anna has never slept well in it - and acutally doesn't get many opportunities to try. We even planned this trip to one stay one night for fear of not getting any sleep over the weekend. Anna went to bed great with no fussing since she was exhausted, but decided around 11:30pm to start crying out in her sleep every minute. We tried holding her, rubbing her back, putting her in our bed (gasp!), but nothing seemed to work. Around 12:30am Anna was wide awake and ready to play, not good. My husband took over at that point and Anna slept soundly from about 1:30 until time to get up at 7:30pm.

The next morning it was time to play a little longer before we headed home. There was one final obstacle to go. At one point Anna rubbed her cheek on one of the chairs since she was getting tired and her cheek broke out in a rash. We are thinking the rash was a reaction to cat dander. I took Anna upstairs for awhile away from the cat and the rash went away. It was soon time to go for Anna was exhausted and fussy so we loaded up the car and headed for home. Anna was asleep by the time we hit the interstate and slept over 2 hours.

It was nice visiting with my cousin but I have to admit that there's a part of me during every trip that realizes how much easier things would have been if we had just stayed home. I know I can't let obstacles stand in the way of visiting with relatives or taking a vacation, but sometimes I sure would like to :(.

What a Memory

I don't know if this is normal, but Anna has a great memory - especially for treats at stores. For the past month (as I've mentioned before), everytime I go to the grocery store Anna is quick to spot the balloon area and point. Tonight we entered through a different door and tried to keep her away from the balloons. None the less, Anna pointed to the balloons. Last weekend we went to BJ's and Anna was going crazy pointing and saying 'dis', 'dis'. I had no clue what she wanted, but turns out the last time she was there with her daddy she saw the car and he told her she could ride next time. She's amazing! The Bj's worker was amazed as well and kept going on about how smart Anna is. Maybe this is part the age since Anna points at everything, but either way I'm going to run out of quarters soon! :).

Happy Halloween

Here's my little Anna Panda all dressed up and ready for her Halloween get together with her friends. It has finally gotten colder here in NC which is good so that Anna doesn't sweat in her costume. We do not have any plans for tonight except to hang out around the house and hand out glow sticks and candy to the neighborhood kids.

Milk

Part of being one year old includes the transition from formula to milk. Anna has done great with the switch! She drank the cold whole milk the very first time I gave it to her. Per the doctor's request, we also transitioned from bottles to all sippy cups. Anna was getting a bottle when she first woke up, after her nap, and before bed. Now I give her a sippy cup with milk (about 5 oz a time) with each meal. She does not always drink it all which the doctor said is fine since it is just an extra source of fat and does not provide the iron that formula did. The only side effect we have had was a little diarrhea for the first two days (which is typical), but this has gone away for the most part.

I was most concerned about not giving Anna a bottle before bed because I thought it was a crutch we were using to get her to sleep at night, however ever since we stopped giving her a bottle before bed, she has actually been going to bed easier (knock on wood!). Other doctors at the practice are not as concerned with getting rid of the bottle right away, but for us, making this transition early was a good choice especially with a new baby on the way.

Baby Dedication

Today we had Anna dedicated at church. At our church we do dedications rather than infant baptisms since we believe each individual person must choose Christ as their Savior before being baptized. A baby dedication is when parents take their children on the stage before the congregation and present their children to God and the congregation. Today was Anna's day. The life verse we chose for Anna is Proverbs 16:3 - Commit your plans to the Lord and they will succeed.

While it is a wonderful and meaningful time, I must admit that taking a one year old on stage before 1000 people while a pastor talks and prays was very nerve racking. Prior to going on stage, Anna was participating in the praise and worship with us. She had fun for a little while and then started to get fussy - oh no! After a long 10 minutes, it was time to go on stage with the other kids and parents who were being dedicated. Anna screamed out a few times, not crying, but just making sure she could be heard. We had our hand full of goldfish for just such an occasion and used them at times. We were probably up on stage for 5 minutes, but it felt much much longer. As soon as the dedication part of the service was over, we took Anna to the nursery where she could be free to run around and talk all she wanted. When we left church today, my husband and I both had the same thought - next time we will do this when our child is an infant and sleeps through the service :).

One Year Appointment

Anna and I got up early (for us) and hit the doctors office for Anna's one year checkup. It was a rough visit with a finger prick to check her Hemoglobin levels and then three shots (Prevnar, MMR, Vari Vax). Once again, Anna was way more upset by being held down than the actual pricking. Everything looking good and Anna even shot up in height.

Weight: 24 lbs 1.5 oz (80%)
Height: 30.25 in (80%)
Head: 47.75 cm (95%)

The main discussion this time was regarding nutrition. The doctor would like for Anna to go ahead and switch to whole milk and to receive 6 oz. in a sippy up 3 times a day with her meals. This will be a big transition for us since Anna is accustomed to having a bottle when she goes to bed at night. It will probably take us a little while to adjust. Anna also has 2 upper molars coming in. The doctor showed them to me and they looked painful (puffy and blue around the gum). No wonder Anna has been drooling so much lately.

Anna's Chair

We got Anna this chair for her birthday from Pottery Barn. We put her in it to read books and for snack time so that the puppy doesn't eat all of her snack.

Good Morning Birthday Girl!

We had a wonderful and busy day today! Of course I had to get a picture of the birthday girl first thing when she woke up.








Then we had our birthday walk with friends.












Then we went to playgroup.









Then we had a yummy lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches and cupcakes.









Then we went to the new Marbles Museum in downdown Raleigh. They had different centers for Anna to play in including a post office, grocery store, farm, hospital and even a fire engine. Anna enjoyed the grocery store the best because she could put vegetables in her cart and take them out..... then put them back in her cart and take them out again. While the museum was really neat, Anna was one of the youngest kids there and would probably find it more interesting when she is a little older.


And finally we ended the day with a potluck dinner with our bible study where we celebrated once AGAIN with cupcakes. I know Anna will not remember her first birthday, but I will :).

Goodnight my sweet Anna

Tonight as I rocked Anna before laying her down to sleep, I reminisced about our first year together. Just a year ago, at midnight tonight, I woke up with contractions and Anna was on her way. I thought about how a year ago I worried if I would know what to do as a mom - how do I change a diaper? how does this breastfeeding thing work? I worried whether or not I should leave work for good; what am I going to do all day? Those fears have all gone away and are replaced with a sense of satisfaction that this first year has been wonderful and tons of fun! Tonight I put Anna in her car seat facing backward for the last time and I thought about the first time I put Anna in her car seat to leave the hospital - what a scary and fumbling experience. There are so many thoughts and so many memories (and thankfully so many pictures!) to reflect upon. Tomorrow starts a "new" phase - my little girl will be one year old. Tomorrow we will celebrate!

1st Birthday Party

Yesterday was Anna's first birthday party! We decided to have a family party to limit the number of attendees but still ended up 16 people. Anna wore the cutest little outfit courtesy of her Mimi who works at a children's clothing store.

We had a nice lunch and then it was time for cake. I made cupcakes for the adults, but Anna had her own little cake thanks to a program Harris Teeter (local grocery store) has where they give a free cake to children for their first birthday. We sang 'Happy Birthday' and then I put the cake in front of Anna to do with as she pleased. For some reason I thought Anna would dive right into the cake or smash it on the floor, but instead she slowly and deliberately picked the pink icing off of the cake and ate it.

After the sugar rush, it was time to open presents. Anna was not interested at all in opening the presents, but was really interested in some of the toys inside.

Poppin'Pals


Bee Bop Band


Finally it was time for the party to end and Anna to take a nap. What a wonderful day!

Anna goes to the Fair

Yesterday Anna got dressed in her overalls and we headed to the North Carolina State Fair. The Fair is filled with rides, livestock, and of course anything you could possibly want fried. This year's specialty was fried pb&j sandwiches. Anna did great! She loved watching all of the people and bright lights. We saw cows and chickens and were careful not to touch anything after the e. coli scare a few years ago. Our fried indulgence of the evening was an apple fritter than Anna and I shared.

Brushing my teeth and having so much fun...

Part of Anna's after bath routine is to brush her teeth. She actually does a fairly good job by herself running the toothbrush over all of her teeth. She likes brushing her teeth so much that she often cries whenever she has to give up her toothbrush!

Playing in the Yard

This is going to sound strange, but I think yesterday was the first time ever in Anna's life that we took her outside to play in the yard. Maybe it's because she is now walking and has shoes or maybe I was afraid she would get sun burned this summer??? She thought the grass was fun and kept trying to pull it out of the ground. Here are a few pictures.

Recalls

With all of the recalls in the past few months for kid's toys, cribs and most recently, infant medicine, it is hard to buy anything for a child with the confidence that it is safe. As a parent it is important for us to keep our eyes and ears open to new recalls (such as through the website www.recalls.gov) and to watch our kids with any new item to make sure there are not any potential problems with them.

Where has the morning nap gone?

For about a week now Anna has been skipping her morning nap. I have still been trying our usual routine of rocking and then laying Anna down after our morning walk, but now Anna just plays in her crib. This is the about the same age that many of Anna's friends stopped taking an afternoon nap so I'm guessing it is inevitable. Without a morning nap, we are more easily able to make our neighborhood playgroup - but on those other days, I selfishly miss the morning time to myself to read and make my game plan for the day. Anna now starts her one nap of the day around 1:00 and has been sleeping 2 1/2 - 3 hours. I guess its now time to catch up with those friends we haven't seen in awhile since their kids wanted to play while Anna was sleeping in the morning.

Word Recognition

It is amazing to watch Anna grow. Each day I feel like we learn something new whether it be verbal or motor skills. As Anna explores more, the word "no" is becoming one that is heard fairly often. Many times just saying the word "no" will cause Anna to stop what she is doing and turn and do something else. Just yesterday I noticed that Anna was recognizing the word "kiss". I say "give me a kiss" and she opens her mouth wide and leans forward for a wet kiss. "Bye bye" elicits a waving of the arms and she definitely knows who "da da" is. It makes me want to teach her everything!

Best Buds

Anna in her shoes.

Anna's New Shoes

Last night we went to Stride Rite to get Anna a pair of shoes. I had been forewarned by other friends about the cost of the shoes (more than I pay for a pair of my own) but like them, I felt that Anna needed at least one good pair of shoes. I also prepped my husband so he wasn't sticker shocked :). It was such a "big girl" experience - they measured her feet and whenever she tried on a pair of shoes, she would walk around the store (so cute!). We ended up with a pair of brown and pink velcro shoes in a size 5. The lady said that as long as Anna didn't go through a big growth spurt, the shoes should last about 2 1/2 to 3 months (THAT'S IT?!?) . Overall, it was a great experience buying Anna's first pair of shoes.

Anna is going to be a big sister!

That's right! In April, Anna will become a big sister and I will be the mom of 2 kids (yikes!). I've had several people ask me if there has been any difference in this pregnancy versus when I was pregnant with Anna and there has been. With Anna, I was still working and so most of my days were spent sitting at my desk in front of a computer. Whenever I got tired, I could take a little break or take a nap during my lunch time. This time while it's great being at home, I'm also trying to keep up with an 11 month old who is getting more mobile by the day. I try to take at least one nap a day while Anna naps and so the housework, errands and blogging have suffered over the past few weeks. I am also trying to exercise more this go around by keeping up with the daily walks with my mom friends. This time I also know more of what to expect and so I'm not running to my What to Expect... book with each change.

Dinner with Friends

On Sunday, we had 3 of Anna's friends over for dinner with their parents. It was pure craziness in an hour and a half, but lots of fun!! We ate in shifts - the ladies, then the guys - in order to keep up with the little ones.

Eating meals out with a nearly one year old is getting more and more challenging. While it is a lot of fun to put Anna in the high chair and feed her big girl food, any meal that lasts longer than 20 minutes is sure to end in squeals.

Ma-ma at last!

Yesterday Anna had a new word of the day, 'ma ma'. I've been waiting (and coaching :)) for it and finally she said it! She said 'ma ma' over and over again which melted my heart, but whenever I acknowledged and repeated the word back to her, she would switch to 'da da'. I'm not sure that she knows who is who but she really likes the reaction she gets when she says the words. It's so cute!

Flying

Tomorrow Anna will be going on her first airplane flight. I've asked numerous friends who have flown with their young children for tips and I finally feel prepared. Since the flight is only an hour and a half we opted for Anna to ride free on our laps rather than purchasing a seat for her. I'm hoping the excitement of being someplace new and all of the people will provide some entertainment. Thankfully we are not having to travel with many "things" and a friend of ours loaned us a car seat cover that we can use to check our car seat with our luggage. I'm sure we will get some looks when we get on the airplane from people hoping we don't sit next to them, but oh well :).

2:00 p.m. update......... Change of plans :(. We are no longer traveling this weekend.

Water Class

Anna and I went to our first water class today through Healthy Moms. The class is at a local indoor pool and is for children older than 4 months. Anna loved being in the water - especially being thrown up in the air and then splashing back into the water. We did the hokey pokey and many other children's songs. After 30 minutes, Anna was about done since she did not take a nap before class - hopefully next time we'll get a nap in and she'll be happy through the entire 45 minute class. Once class was over, Anna crashed in her car seat and I realized that I had gotten a good workout in the process as well. The class was a lot of fun and I look forward to future ones.

Mmmmmmmm, Cupcakes

Anna waits patiently for her first cupcake to finish baking. One great feature of our new oven is that the door does not get hot or even warm, so Anna is able to get close to it while I'm cooking. The oven is a LG stand alone range (LRE30451). Once the cupcakes cooled, Anna enjoyed eating one - minus the chocolate icing of course.

Happy Labor Day!

Our family had a nice Labor Day weekend filled with lots of grilling and time with family and friends which is always nice. Anna got to spend some time splashing around in Mimi's pool and enjoying grandpa's Saturday night steaks. Anna even started clapping and waving bye-bye, not on cue of course :).

Taking Steps

Anna has been getting more adventurous by the day with taking steps. Yesterday she progressed up to four steps. It is so cute (and so wobbly!)

My First Experience in the Nursery

Our church wants all parents who put their kids in the nursery to help out one Sunday a month and this weekend was my husband and I's Sunday to help out. We signed up for the Waddlers room which is kids who are walking. It was lots of fun but also lots of craziness. It gave me a new appreciation for the parents who are in there with Anna each weekend.

Shopping Carts

The TV was on while I was at the car service department today and there was a brief news story about shopping carts at stores. Apparently stores are looking for ways to sanitize the shopping carts since, when tested, they had more germs on them than door knobs and public toilets!! The shopping cart cover is a keeper!

Happy 10 Months Anna! And a few random notes

It is hard to believe how much different life is today than it was 10 months ago. So much has happened and Anna has changed so much since she first entered the world.

Anna and I had a few errands to run today and I made a few observations.

1) People are more likely to talk to you if you have a baby - maybe its because Anna was really happy that there was a 3 year old in the waiting room of the car service department and kept squealing VERY LOUDLY that people couldn't help but to notice Anna, but I learned a lot about a couple of strangers grandkids. It was nice and made the time pass quickly.

2) People tend to want to help more if you have a baby - it was time for us to checkout at Target and the lines were backed up a few carts in each lane. I quickly scanned the lines to see which would get me out the quickest and happened to catch the eye of one of the workers. He opened up a new lane and ushered me in, very speedy service.

Snack Time

Hot, Hot, Hot

The upstairs air conditioning in our house decided to stop working as Raleigh hits a high of 101 today. The guys came to put the new air conditioning unit in today and since the attic access is in Anna's room, she's been unable to sleep in her crib. We played hard all morning and around 11:00 (an hour and a half after the start of her normal morning nap) Anna crashed on the couch despite all that was going on around her. It's fun being able to watch her sleep.

Anna & the Blue Balloon

I was at the grocery store today and Anna was fascinated with some balloons that were attached to someone else's cart. She continued to squeal through the store and so I decided to pick up a free balloon on my way out. Anna loved watching it float around the car and couldn't keep her eyes off it once we got home. I tied it around her walker so that it would be on her level and then the fun began... or at least until she started trying to bite the balloon. I think we'll pass on the balloon next time to the grocery store.

Popping Up

When I returned from NY, Anna had learned something new... She can now go from sitting to standing all by herself without pulling up on anything. She will then stand there for a few minutes, maybe do a few squats, and then sit down - - doing all of which with a toy in each hand, of course. Some of my friends' kids did this right before walking!

As I'm getting ready for playgroup, I've been thinking. Since all of Anna's friends are older and "further along", it is easy for me to want Anna to do all of the things they are doing, but I need to remember that Anna is a few months behind them and she will do those things soon enough.

Fun with Da Da

Anna had a wonderful weekend with just her and her Da Da. She played and played and slept very well. She even tried a few new foods - hushpuppies and grilled cheese (at least that's all I'm aware of :)).

Girl's Weekend

My wonderful husband will be holding down the fort this weekend as I head to New York with family. I know he, Anna, and Cassie are going to have a wonderful time together! I will miss them.

Prayers for the Miles Family

My sweet friend Julie is being induced tonight. Her son Ethan, who will soon be welcomed into the world has HLHS (Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome).

More info about HLHS and baby Ethan can be found at http://ethanscottmiles.blogspot.com

Lima beans, turkey, mac & cheese, peaches, pears, cheerios

That is what Anna had for lunch today....

As I talk with other moms in my neighborhood group, the biggest challenge for many of us right now is feeding the little ones. Of those I know that are around the 10 month mark, most of them have given us moms the "no thank you" when we try to feed them baby food with a spoon. Anna's version of "no thank you" was a forceful arm trying to knock the spoon from my hand :). So if they are not eating baby food, then what? Though the doctor gave me some direction as to what Anna can and cannot eat, I still have trouble. There are many meals where I stand at the refrigerator and try to find something that Anna may eat. Many nights I will try 6 different items before I feel Anna has eaten enough. I am excited that Anna can now eat most of what we cook for dinner which will cut down on our grocery bill, but it is still rather confusing!

Anna & Cassie

Anna has a whole new level of fascination with the puppy - she can't seem to leave her alone. Wherever the puppy is, Anna with crawl over to her and I know she is getting close because I will hear this low growl - from Anna!! Anna has also started "feeding" Cassie from her high chair. Whenever there is something she doesn't want, Anna holds it in her hand over the edge of the high chair and Cassie is quick to help her make it disappear. This has all been cute lately, but I'm sure that it will soon become an issue and the word "no" will be heard around out house a lot.

Balancing Act

Anna is now pulling up on things and then letting go and balancing herself for a few seconds. I think she is impressed with herself as well because she starts smiling and waving her arms. Good thing diapers are a little padded for sometimes she falls down to her bottom with a thud.