Starting the Second Year

Anna Jane turned one on January 2. I am still in disbelief. I remember Andrew's baby year very well, and I am positive it lasted longer than this past year has. I've always heard that time seems to pass more quickly as we get older, and I believed it...but not to this extent! I vividly remember the day she was born and the feelings I had when I heard her cry for the first time. This past year has been such a joyous time in our house. Andrew is still so thrilled to have a little sister and loves it when she kisses him goodbye for school or waves at him and says, "Bye!" He loves to read to her, and regularly gets down on the floor to play with her. We are so blessed.

Since I am slacking on my scrapbooking lately, I thought I'd give an update here on what fun new things Anna is doing:

Anna is very verbal. She has 26 words that she says regularly (yes, I counted!) and we love to listen to her talk. She wakes up in the morning, stands up in her crib, and says, "Mama!" if I don't hear her jabbering right away. When I pick her up, she proceeds to point out everything in her room that she knows the names of: bear, picture, Anna (in the picture), clock. As we go out into the hallway, she keeps talking, "Mama. Ball! Dada. Down!!" Some interesting words that are also in her vocabulary include: drain (in the tub), Elmo, Bible, dance, and teeth (when she wants to brush her teeth). We are so impressed!

Anna is crawling all over the place and gets into everything she possibly can. She can mess up the living room with her books and toys in two minutes flat. She can also empty the tupperware cabinet faster than I ever imagined she'd be able to. I am trying to keep "pick-up" times to three times a day, but I know the clutter stresses Tim out, so he often goes around and picks up whatever she just got out. She is quick, let me tell ya. She doesn't have her walking legs yet, but she can stand for several minutes in the middle of the room and dance back and forth to music. As of today, she has taken one step unassisted, but hasn't ventured to take that second step. I am confident that she'll be running around before long.

Anna is not sleeping through the night. *sigh* One 3 a.m. nursing session with Mom is a good night. A really good night. I know I should probably let her "cry it out" since she is obviously old enough to sleep through thte night- but I can hardly stand to let her cry for five minutes. Our house is not exactly spread out, either, so her crying is heard by all of us- and Tim gets up at 2 to go to work. Excuses, excuses....I know. But, she is only going to be young for such a short time- so I don't honestly mind the middle of the night snuggling as long as it doesn't last more than fifteen minutes. :)

Anna is a snuggler. This makes her Mama VERY happy. I get hugs and kisses all day long and I absolutely love it. Anna will play for a bit, and then she'll look up and say, "Mama!" and then crawl over, pull to standing while holding my pant leg, and reach up for me. I give her some hugs and kisses and she pats me on the shoulder and hugs my face, and then she says, "down" and off she goes again to play. I'm glad she is such a secure little girl and that she gives me lots of loving!

Anna had a great 1st Birthday party. We invited family and some good friends to Round Table for a pizza party (Anna's favorite food). She wasn't sure what to think about the cupcake we plopped in front of her, but once she realized it was sweet, her hesitation disappeared. She was interested in her presents, and very excited about the music that was playing in the game room. Here are a few pictures of our little girl at her Birthday Party:

As Anna begins her second year of life, I vow to make the most of each moment with her. Before long, she will be telling me "just drop me off at the door, Mom," like Andrew said to me last night before basketball practice. I will cherish the frequent hugs and kisses from Anna now and make sure to sneak some out of Andrew as well while I still can!