The author of "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" must have had a 2-year-old

You know the classic kids' book, "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie?"  My child is the mouse.  I am completely convinced the author had a 2-year-old who inspired that book because it is seriously my life these days.  Anna is just SO easily distracted by little things that it takes forever to get her to do anything or go anywhere.  And she also has to do EVERYTHING herself, which also means it takes three times as long.  She really is a ton of fun 90% of the time, but boy, oh, boy, there are some days when she REALLY tries my patience.

Let me walk you through our morning today as an example.  Around 8:00 a.m., I hear her knocking on her door (she can't open doors yet), and I go to get her.  We snuggle for a little bit, then I tell her it's time to change her diaper so we can go downstairs and eat breakfast.  I tell her to go get a diaper; she pull three out. She says, "Two diapers!"  I tell her she has three.  She counts them about 10 times.  I tell her to choose one to wear, she stares at them for about two minutes saying "choose one, choose one" over and over. (FYI two are exactly the same, and the one that's "different" has a picture of a monkey swinging on a vine instead of a monkey holding a leaf).

Finally, I pick one and tell her to put the others back, she says, "No, I want this one!" and grabs the other diaper that looks exactly like the one in my hand.  I say fine.  I tell her to come lie down.  She comes over and notices the tag on the changing pad.  She points to it and says, "Tag!" (a word she just learned).  Then she spends another two minutes trying to tuck the tag underneath the changing pad, with no success.  I help her.  She gets mad because she wants to do it herself.  She finally succeeds in doing it by herself.  I tell her to please lie down.  She doesn't.  I try the "puppy trick" and tell her to pretend to be a puppy and lie down so I can rub her tummy.  This time it backfires because she suddenly is reminded of her stuffed puppy and has to go get it from her bed.  She brings the puppy over and lays HIM on his back and rubs his tummy.  She notices her puppy has a tag.  She points to it and yells, "Tag!"  Then she pulls out the tag on the changing pad (that she spent two minutes tucking away) and yells, "Tag!" She points back and forth to both tags.  "Tag. Tag!  Tag. Tag! It's the same!"  I say, "Yes, they're both the same, good job!"  I then rub the puppy's tummy and say, "Good puppy!  Can Anna lie down and be a good puppy too?"  She finally lies down, and I change her diaper.

I then tell her it's time to eat breakfast.  We head into the hallway, and she sees the bathroom.  She immediately wants to wash her hands.  She climbs on her stool and I help her wash her hands.  She notices the medicine on the counter and immediately wants some.  I tell her she doesn't need any because she's not sick anymore.  She then remembers the "momter" (thermometer) and wants to take her temperature.  Luckily, the thermometer is downstairs, and I tell her so.  We go down the stairs.  I pull out two kinds of cereal and ask which kind she wants (she's forgotten about the thermometer by this point).  She says "oatmeal."  I tell her no, we're having cereal today.  I ask again which kind she wants.  She picks Life.  I pour two bowls of Life and set them on the table.  I pull out her chair so she can climb into it by herself.  She sits down and I push in her seat and put her bib on.  She looks at her bowl of Life for a second, then pushes it away and says, "Krispies!" and points to the Rice Krispies on the counter.  I tell her, "No, you picked Life.  We're eating Life today."  She cries for about a minute.  (I give myself an internal reminder to stick to my guns and not give into her every demand and also pray desperately that she'll just please eat the cereal in front of her because I really, really don't want to have to put her in time out over cereal.) She finally picks up her spoon, takes a bite, says, "yummy!" and eats happily.  Crisis averted.  I breathe a sigh of relief.

About three bites in, Anna gets frustrated with her hair falling in her eyes and cereal.  I ask her if she wants me to put it in a ponytail. She says yes.  She almost never wants her hair done, so I quickly go upstairs and get her comb and hair ties before she changes her mind.  I fix her hair while she eats. She eats most of her cereal and asks for more.  I give her more.  She takes one more bite and then announces she's finished.  She climbs down and goes into the living room where she finds the thermometer.  She tries to unzip her pjs so she can take her temperature.  She can't get the zipper down.  I try to help her.  She gets mad because she wants to do it herself.  She struggles with it for a few seconds and then finally gets it unzipped far enough to put the thermometer under her arm.  She drops the thermometer down her pajama leg.  She starts crying.  I fish the thermometer out of her pajamas and give it back to her.  She finishes taking her temperature.  It's now 9:00 a.m.  I already want to pull my hair out.

The bad news?  The rest of the morning was equally terrible, and by nap time, I was almost in tears. The good news?  I laughed out loud probably 15 times writing this post.  I hope you got some good laughs in too.

Now go find a copy of "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" and imagine the mouse is Anna and laugh some more.

Baby #2

I'm obviously way behind with updates on our family news, so as everyone probably already knows, we are having another baby--a boy!--in less than 5 weeks.  Here are some pictures from when we announced we were having a baby, and then later when we revealed the gender.

I have definitely hit the "I'm-ready-to-be-done-being-pregnant" stage of pregnancy.  My mom has a theory that God purposefully designed the last month of pregnancy to be completely miserable because it makes us forget how awful labor is and actually ANTICIPATE labor so we can be done with pregnancy. :)  I think this pregnancy has been harder than my first.  I battled nausea for 20 weeks instead of 12.  I've had more back pain this time around...probably due to the fact that I've already gained almost ten pounds more with this kiddo than I ever did with Anna. And he is currently sitting really low, so I have a lot of pelvic pressure/pain which isn't too fun.

But laying aside all the unpleasantness of pregnancy, I'm starting to feel pretty excited about having another baby.  I knew I wanted my kids to be fairly close in age, so I was excited as soon as I found out we were having another child.  But it took me awhile to really feel excited about having another BABY.  The newborn stage is honestly not my favorite.  I know so many people love newborns...how they cuddle with you all the time and the "newborn smell" and all that.  But while Anna's newborn stage was incredibly special for me (getting to be a mom for the first time and feeling all the love and emotions that come with that), I think I've enjoyed every subsequent stage of her life more than the first.  I just enjoy babies more when they can actually smile and giggle and interact with you.  (And also when they sleep for more than three-hour chunks at night).  But as it gets closer to my due date, I'm feeling more excited about holding a newborn baby--MY newborn baby--again.

And right alongside my growing excitement is a fair amount of increasing nervousness.  The thought of having an infant AND a toddler overwhelms me just a little bit.  Some days, I feel like we're barely able to manage Anna.  Those days I think, "How in the world are we going to take care of TWO kids??" Sometimes, I start thinking through different situations, like going grocery shopping, and how it will be with two kids. (Should I get the baby all buckled up and in the car and then take care of Anna?  Or will it be easier to get Anna all situated in the car and then give her a snack or something to keep her happy while then get the baby ready to go?  Then when I get to the store, do I get Anna out first?  Or is it better to get the baby out first and then Anna so she can't run off?  And putting the baby's car seat in the shopping cart is definitely not going to work because it will take up too much space. Is my best option going to be using a baby sling? Is that going to be annoying to put that on and take it off every time?? Etc, etc)  I get stressed thinking about it!  But then I remember how I felt going anywhere with Anna when she was a newborn and being so paranoid that she would CRY (heaven forbid) while I was at the store and I wouldn't be able to get her to stop and people would think I was a terrible mom and all these other ridiculous thoughts.  And then I think about how she threw a royal tantrum the other week in the middle of Wal-mart, and I didn't even bat an eye!  And I remind myself that it will be challenging at first because it will be new, but then it will get easier and easier.

Two kids. We can do this, right?

Eight signs you're too obsessed with how cute your kid is

I know all parents think their children are the cutest ever, but sometimes I worry I'm a little overly smitten.  Here are eight signs that hint you might be too obsessed with how cute your kid is.

1.) Rather than feeling annoyed, you beam proudly every time someone stops you at the grocery store to tell you how adorable your little girl is. Even if it's the fifth time that morning.

2.) On the flip side, you feel slightly affronted when you have ten-minute conversations with people and they don't mention even once how beautiful and amazing your daughter is.

3.) You spend more time, money, and energy on her clothes and hair than you do your own. You might leave the house wearing yoga pants and no makeup, but she will always be in cute, coordinated outfits with a matching bow in her hair.

4.) Your blog, Facebook page, and camera's memory card are almost entirely dedicated to pictures and videos of your child.

5.) You feel a little hurt every time people exclaim, "Your little girl is SO cute!  She looks just like her daddy!"

6.) And when someone actually does say she looks like you, you take it as the highest possible compliment to your own beauty.
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7.) You can't help but laugh when she's eating dirt or throwing a temper tantrum because, somehow, even that is cute.

8.) You're a little nervous for your future children because, honestly, how can any other baby possibly be as adorable???

So what do you think?  Too enamored or normal parent behavior?  Any other signs you would add to the list?

Happy Mother's Day everyone!

12 months old!

I am really late posting this, so it's actually more like a 12 1/2 month update.  I don't think I'll keep up with the monthly updates for Anna's second year.  Every three months or so will probably be more practical.  But even though this one is really late, I need to do it because I feel like Anna has really changed a lot in the last several weeks!

One of Anna's biggest changes is her desire to explore.  Up until about a month ago, she had been pretty content to stay wherever we were at.  Not the case anymore!  She is off and about, exploring everything and finding new things to get into every day.  One of her biggest discoveries is climbing the stairs!  She used to pretty much leave them alone, only attempting to climb them to follow Derek or I when we went upstairs and usually only making it a few steps. Now she climbs all the way to the top any chance she can get.  We don't have a gate yet, but we'll probably end of buying one because we're getting pretty tired of chasing her up the stairs.  She hasn't tried to go down them yet---she'll sit at the top of the stairs, acting like she wants to try, but isn't sure how to go about doing it.

Anna said her first official word this month! "Dada!"  The first time she said it and definitely meant Daddy, I was sitting with her in her room before Derek left for work.  He came and poked his head in her doorway and as soon as she spotted him, she said "Dada!"  She says it now almost every time she sees him. (I'm working every day on coaxing a "Mama" out of her, but so far, no luck haha).

Anna also recognizes and responds to lots of words now.  She knows hi, bye, and night-night.  (She waves when she hears all three.)  She knows "yay!" (Smiles and claps).  She dances when you say "dance."  She will point to her "nose" and sometimes her "mouth" and "tummy".  She knows "book" and "baby" and "puppy."  She knows "hungry" and starts doing a little puckered-lip pout if you say it and she wants to be fed.  She knows "come here" and "more" and "all gone."    She also knows "no-no" but doesn't like to respond to that one much. We're working on that.  :)

Anna graduated from her infant carrier to a new convertible carseat. (Thanks Grandma Karry!)  It's pretty big and just barely fits in the back seat of our little Malibu.  But she seems to like it. The car is still one of her favorite places to sleep. 

Snuggled up on a long car ride from Mitchell to Bismarck last weekend.

Anna loves to stand now and pulls herself up any chance she can get.  She is pretty pro at walking along all the furniture.  Just in the last week, Anna has started standing up by herself without holding onto anything.  She can only hold it for a few seconds, but it's exciting!

Now for the not so fun stuff.  Anna's increased mobility and independence have made meal time more of a challenge.  She always wants to hold the spoon herself and gets mad if you try to do it for her.  She does not like to sit in her high chair anymore and is constantly twisting around and trying to wiggle her way out.  She also has decided throwing food on the floor is a super fun game.  And she knows we don't like it.  She looks right at me and slowly moves her fistful of food over the side of her highchair. And as soon as I start to say "no," she lets go.  Little stinker!  We laughed when her doctor gave us a little sheet on "What to expect at 12 months" and it said, "Your child will start to test parental response to actions such as throwing food on the floor."  At least we know it's normal!

Anna has also just started to throw little tantrums when she doesn't get her way.  It's usually over the silliest little thing.  Yesterday, I took away a gum wrapper she found on the floor and she immediately threw herself face-down on the floor and started screaming.  Sheesh!  It was only a wrapper, kid! Luckily, her little fits never last long.  She quickly gets distracted by something else!

Anna is starting to get her first molar, and it seems to be more painful coming in than her other teeth.  She's been having a hard time sleeping at night because of it.  I don't know if that's unusual, to get a molar this early and before her canine teeth come in?  It is definitely poking through though!

While there have been a lot of changes, some things are still the same.  Anna still loves dancing, clapping, and waving.  She still jabbers away all day long.  And she is still super social and makes friends wherever she goes.  It's kind-of ridiculous sometimes.  For example, over Christmas, we went out to eat at a Thai restaurant with Derek's dad.  We were sitting up front and Anna kept smiling and waving at the hostess.  The hostess eventually came over and asked if she could hold her, and then she held and played with Anna for probably 15 minutes!  Another instance was when we flew to South Dakota last weekend.  Anna kept smiling and waving at the lady next to us.  The lady was really nice, and by the end of the flight, she had Anna sitting on her lap.  No stranger danger yet for this little gal!

Here's a little video of Anna.  I was trying to get her to hug and kiss her doll, but she was more interested in the camera. :)

Anna sure does have her own, unique personality.  She is happy, silly, fun-loving, and independent.  I love it!  I can't wait until she can talk and tell us everything that goes on in that little head of hers.  I'm sure she will have very interesting things to tell us!

11 months old

Anna is 11 months old, only one month away from finishing her first year of life.  I know I say it every month, but seriously, how does she grow up so quickly?  I'm so grateful I decided to start this blog and record pictures, videos, and memories of Anna's babyhood because it's gone by so, so fast.

Anna had another eye appointment in November and her doctor is still really pleased with how her eyes are doing.  That was such good news.  I was looking back at pictures from right before her surgery, and I forgot how bad they were.  It really is amazing how perfectly straight they are now.  That was definitely one of the feathers on our thankful turkey!

She's hasn't started walking yet, still crawling everywhere, getting into everything.  We bought locks for all the cupboards and put covers over all the electrical sockets in her reach.  Thankfully, she hasn't seemed interested in climbing the stairs yet, and she's mostly left the Christmas tree alone so far.

Have I mentioned yet that Anna hates the vacuum cleaner?  Remember how she used to love it?  Well, now she's terrified of it.  For a long time, she would bawl her head off every time I turned it on.  She doesn't usually cry anymore, but she stares at it with wide eyes and quickly crawls away any time it comes near her.

One new thing Anna has started doing this month is giving kisses.  But only if you're really lucky.  She loves making the kissy-lip face.  But when you go in to give her a kiss, 9 times out of 10, she'll turn her face away or cover her mouth with her hands at the last second, giggling.  She thinks it's so funny!  It's also funny because now any time Derek and I kiss each other, she will make the kissy lips at us!

We had our first big snowfall last week.  She liked to look at it through our back door window.  I brought a little handful of it inside and let her play with it on the kitchen floor.  She held it in her hand for a few minutes, then of course put it right in her mouth. :)

I promised I would post a video of her dancing.  She seriously does this ALL the time.  Derek and I were commenting the other day that there are some things she does because we taught her or encouraged her, but some things are totally and completely Anna.  This is one of those things.

Another funny thing Anna likes to do is look at herself in the mirror.  We have this big mirror just sitting against the wall because we haven't gotten around to hanging it.  And now maybe we'll just leave it where it is because it will seriously entertain her for a good twenty minutes.  She will make all sorts of funny faces at herself, it's hilarious!

Well, that's about all I can think of!  Here are some pictures I took the other day of her next to the Christmas tree.  She is such a cutie!

10 months!

Maybe it's the fact that we're into two-digit numbers, but 10 months seems REALLY OLD!  I can't believe Anna's only two months shy of a year!

Here are a few of the new/funny things Anna does.

Anna finally figured out the crawling thing a few weeks ago.  She gets everywhere and into everything. We're quickly learning which parts of the house are NOT child-proof.  Her favorite forbidden items to play with are electrical cords, plastic trash bags, and any important papers left lying around.

Anna also learned how to pull herself into a standing position.  We were giving her a bath a couple weeks ago, and she started pulling herself up on the side of the bath tub (not a very safe place to stand up for the first time!).  Derek immediately went and lowered her crib to the lowest setting.  Sure enough, the next morning she was standing up in her crib.  I know some babies have a hard time with the sitting back down part, but she never seemed to have any trouble.  As I'm typing now, she is actually pulling herself up on the couch for the first time!

She is still loves to jibber-jabber.  Her favorite things to say are "Ba-Ba" and "Da-Da."

Thanks to Derek's encouragement, she loves buzzing her lips.  She does it ALL THE TIME.

Anna still loves baths.  She figured out how to squeeze her bath toys and make them squirt water, so that's been fun...and wet.

She finally dropped the third nap, and is down to one morning and one afternoon nap.  Since dropping that third nap, she's been going to bed earlier, usually around 8:30 (yay!).  She sleeps between 11 and 12 hours at night, waking up at least once or twice to nurse.  I'm really liking her current sleep schedule, and I hope it keeps up!

Anna's hair is getting so long and thick, and it is definitely starting to curl in the back, especially when she wakes up from her naps and her head is a little sweaty.  Anna loves to play with her hair, especially when she's falling asleep.

She has four teeth now. The top two are really big and there's a big gap between them!  You can only see the top ones when she smiles really big, and it is super adorable.

See those top teeth poking through?

Her cheeks are slimming down.  Sad. :(   I love those chubby cheeks!

She still loves food. Some of her favorites are bananas, canned green beans, crackers, Cheerios, and ice cream.

She is starting to wave bye-bye!  We've been working on that one for awhile, and she's just starting to really get it.

I also taught her how to turn the light switch off.  She wants to do it every time we leave her room, even when the light is already off.

When she first wakes up and she's happy, sometimes she will snuggle up to me for a few seconds and make this purring noise.  It's so adorable.

She loves music and dances to it by wiggling her shoulders back and forth.  I need to get a video of it!

She still loves riding in the shopping cart, but now she wants to face forward and tries to twist around.

At Home Depot. Doesn't she look so chill?

When she's sleepy, she starts to tug on her ear.  That's usually the first sign that she's tired.  If there's a blanket on the floor, she'll crawl over to it, lie down, and snuggle up with it on the floor.

Every day, our baby girl seems less and less like a baby and more and more like a little girl.  I think it's the combination of her long hair, big front teeth, and not-so-chubby cheeks that make her look so grown-up.  Even though I love seeing each new stage, it's always a little sad to think about how fast she's growing up.

Mommy's Little Shadow

Anna is crawling all over the place now.  She can get from one side of the room to the other in less than a minute.  And she loves to follow me.  The other day, Derek took Anna into the living room to play while I was cleaning up dinner.  Pretty soon, she was crawling into the kitchen.  Derek said (in an slightly jealous voice), "She wants you, not me."  I scoffed, "No, she just likes crawling on the kitchen floor, she does it all the time.  She'll probably go for the Cheerios on the floor."  But a minute later, she had bypassed the Cheerios and had crawled right up to me and laid her head on my feet.  It was SO sweet.  Up until that point, I never felt like she preferred me to anyone else (unless she was hungry).  It was the first time she wanted me and only me.  I felt so loved. :)

She's my little shadow now.  She follows me when I'm getting ready or making dinner and sits at my feet playing with toys or hugging my leg.  And I totally love it.

Baby Snuggles

So Anna usually goes right to sleep as soon as I lay her down for a nap, but for some reason, she was having a hard time falling asleep this morning. So I went and picked her up and she immediately snuggled up on my chest and closed her eyes. That hardly EVER happens. Usually the only time she likes close body contact is when she's nursing. So I was relishing the moment. I sat and rocked with her until she fell asleep...and then a little longer.

My roommate Mary used to say when anyone was grouchy, "He/she just needs some good kissing!" I think baby snuggles go in the same category. It's seriously good for the soul.

Nine months old!

Month number nine has been a big one for Anna!  Here are some of the highlights.

The biggest event for Anna this month was, of course, her surgery.  You can read all about that here.  We just went back for her follow-up appointment Thursday, and her doctor said her eyes are looking really good!  He seemed really pleased with how well she's doing.  So that is good news!

Anna had an appointment with her regular pediatrician this week as well.  She weighs 17 lb, 8 oz (38th percentile) and is 27 in long (45th percentile).  I was a little surprised that she is on the smaller side because she wears mostly 12 month clothes now.  But her head circumference is at the 80th percentile! She's got a big noggin. :)

Anna is officially a mobile baby.  She gets around pretty good with her army crawl, laying flat on her belly and pulling herself forward with her arms.  She is so close to full-on crawling.  She gets on her hands and knees and rocks back and forth, and she can pick up her hands like she's about to crawl.  But as soon as she tries to move her legs with her hands, she falls forward onto her face haha.  She also likes to push up on her feet with her bum in the air...like the downward facing dog position. :)  Here's a video of her on the move.

She learned a few weeks ago how to get from a sitting position to a crawling position.  Just this last week, she finally was able to get from a crawling position back to sitting.  I've gone to get her from her nap a couple times and found her sitting up in her crib.

Anna got her first top tooth this month. It's a BIG tooth, almost twice as big as her bottom teeth. She's up to three teeth now, with a fourth on it's way.

Anna can turn the pages of books all by herself now!  In fact, it's all she wants to do.  We usually have to speed read the book because she's ready to turn the page faster than we can read it. She does better with the board books, but she can turn paper pages without wrinkling them too bad. :)

She is starting to like watching the T.V.  She used to watch it for only a few minutes and then go back to whatever she was doing.  But now if I put a cartoon on, especially if it has music, she'll sit and watch it for ten or fifteen minutes.

Anna's hair is long enough to pull into pony tail on top of her head.  The front was getting so long that it was in her eyes, so I the other day I tried to trim it.  I wish I hadn't.  She was so wiggly that I didn't cut it very straight.  She'll just have to wear it in a pony every day to hide her uneven bangs!

Here are some of my favorite things Anna does.

1. Every time she does something new, we say "Yay, Anna!" and she claps and smiles really big. It's so cute!

2. When we go into the garage and open the garage door, she gets so excited!  She starts wiggling all over and flapping her arms up and down really fast.  It's so funny!

3. When she's crawling/scooting around on the floor, sometimes she gets tired and stops, lays her head down, and takes a little "breather."

4. She likes to "dance" (bob her head up and down) to music.

5. She loves playing the piano.  Both her little toy one and Mommy's big one.

6. She loves naps, and she goes down really quickly.  I just lay her down with her pacifier and blanket and she goes right to sleep.  It's awesome.  She still takes three naps a day.

Here are some of my not-so-favorite things.

1. She now HATES getting dressed.  And getting her diaper changed.  It's a battle every time.  She fights me the whole time, trying to roll over and crawl away.  Seriously, you'd think I was doing something horrible to her.  In fact, at the doctor the other day, she cried more when I was putting her clothes on than she did when she got her flu shot!

2. She likes to spit.  It's actually kind-of cute, but it's definitely not a habit we want to encourage!  One time we had pizza for dinner, and we had fed her some olives.  When dinner was over, we were sitting on the couch playing, and all of a sudden, she spit little chunks of olive all over me.  Gross.

3. Anna loves all technology.  I can't sit next to her when I'm texting or on my computer because she will try to grab it out of my hands and push the buttons.  If you get a call from my phone and all you hear is baby babble, don't be surprised.  She's called quite a few people already!

4. And a couple of times this month, she's woken up around 3:00 or 4:00 a.m., wide awake, wanting to play.  Ahhh!  The last time it happened, I just left her in her crib and went back to bed.  She was fine for a little while, then cried a little, and then went back to sleep on her own.  So that was good.  I hope it doesn't become a trend, though!

Well, that's about all!  Here are a couple more pictures!

Sad face. :(

Haha I don't even know what to say about this face.

She loves looking out the window!

Eight is Great!

Anna is eight months old!  Crazy, I know.  This has been a really fun stage—maybe my favorite so far.  Anna can sit and entertain herself with toys for a good chunk of time.  She can't crawl yet and get into things.  She can go 3-4 hours between feedings and naps...which means we can be out and about for longer periods of time.  She still goes to almost anyone without a problem.  She loves to play and interact. And, hallelujah, she is sleeping 7-8 hours at night!  And she's just so darn happy! Everyone comments on what a happy baby she is.  She is almost always smiling!

I haven't weighed Anna in awhile, but she's probably around 20 pounds.  She seems to be a little bigger than average based on her clothes' size.  She is wearing 9 month clothes and fits a few 12 month things.  She still wears size 3 diapers.  Her hair is getting really long, especially in the front, but I don't want to cut it.  I think I'll just brush the bangs to the side or pin them back until they're long enough to pull into a ponytail.

Anna is rolling over both ways like a pro.  I always lay her down on her stomach to sleep now.  I think that's why she sleeps so much better.  Sometimes she'll start crying in the night, and by the time I go to get her, she's shifted positions and is back asleep.  That never happened when she slept on her back.  

Because she tries to roll over, diaper changing is a challenge!  I'll hold her feet with one hand trying to wipe her clean, and she'll try to twist her little torso onto her tummy.  So then I'll try and pin her stomach down and leave her feet free...but that usually means a foot in poo.  She is also starting to reach down and grab her diaper while I'm changing it.  Not cool.

I think Anna is still a month or so away from crawling.  She is starting to scoot a little bit, but she can't push up onto her hands and knees yet.  She moves the most in her crib...she uses the bars to push off with her feet.  I'm not in any hurry for her to crawl though.  I like being able to put her down with her toys and go to the bathroom and not wonder where she'll be when I get back!

This month Anna started sitting up in the grocery cart!  It was so fun to watch her the first time.  She was just smiling and smiling and looking around at everything.  She loves the new view!  And I like having more space in the cart!

Anna said her first recognizable word this month..."Da-Da." Ok, she doesn't actually say "Da-Da." It's just meaningless babble that happens to sound like "Da-Da."  But Derek gets all excited and praises her for it.  So it probably won't be too long before she makes the connection between the word and the crazy guy cheering ever time she says it. :)  She also loves to say the "Ssss" sound...except it's kind-of with a "Sid the Sloth" lisp, haha.

Anna is starting to clap!  When we cheer and clap, she will get excited and put her hands together too.  When she gets really excited about something, she bobs her head up and down, throws her hands in the air, and shuffles her feet back and forth.  So adorable!

Here are some of Anna's current favorites:

1.) Food—she loves almost everything we give her.  We mostly let her finger-feed herself...which means most of it ends up on the floor.  But she loves it!

First time eating spaghetti!

2.) Bath time.  She takes a bath about every other day.  After she gets scrubbed down, we let her splash and play with her toys to her heart's content.

3.) Roughhousing with Daddy.  He's turning her into a little daredevil.  He will throw her in the air, hang her upside down, and balance her with one hand.  It makes me nervous sometimes, but she just laughs and laughs!

4.) Books.  She has to touch every single page.  I'm trying to teach her to turn the pages, but she doesn't really get it yet. :)  We mostly stick to the board books right now so she doesn't rip the pages!

5.) Her blankets.  When it's nap time, I usually lay her down with her pacifier and blanket.  As soon as she gets that blanket she grabs it with both hands and buries her face into it.  It's so cute!  She'll usually fall asleep that way.

6.) Her box of toys.  It doesn't matter how many toys we place in front of her.  She always wants to reach in her little toy box and pull all the rest out too.  It's so fun to watch her.  She'll pull out a toy, turn it over and over in her hands, examining it from each angle.  Then she'll put it in her mouth.  Then after a few minutes, she'll put it down and reach for the next one.

7.) Things that aren't toys.  The remote.  Our phones.  Plastic bags.  Paper.  I think this is true for most babies.  Why do we spend money on toys when they're just as happy with an empty water bottle?

8.) Taking evening cat naps and then staying up until 10:30 or 11:00.  Mom and Dad aren't such a fan of this.  We try not to let her nap in the evening, but sometimes we decide we'd rather deal with a happy, well-rested baby until 11:00 than a grouchy, overtired one until 9:00.  She's so cranky when she's tired!

Anna doesn't like...

1.) Her eyepatch.  She will turn her head and push my hands away every time I go to put it on.  Then she'll rub at it like she's trying to take it off.  After a few minutes, she seems to just forget about it, and it doesn't bother her anymore.

2.) Getting dressed.  You'd think she'd be used to it by now!

3.) Being left alone.  As long as she can see you, she's fine.  But as soon as you leave the room or move to where she can't see you, she will start crying.

4.) Other babies crying.  I was in the mother's lounge at church the other week with another mom and baby.  Whenever the little girl would start crying a little, Anna would just start bawling.  I think it was scaring her!

5.) Nursing when other people are around.  She wants to see everything that's going on and won't focus to eat.  I have to nurse her in a quiet room with no distractions.

Well, that's a pretty good update...I always feel like I'm writing a novel every month, but there are so many things I don't want to forget!  Here are a few more pictures.

She didn't like the hood and tried to pull it off!

Watermelon!

I know.  I can't stand how cute she is either! :)