Our adorable baby girl is a baby no longer. Anna turned two last week and today, we celebrated with a loud, unorganized party at Chuck E Cheese!
Here are a few things that I want to remember about Anna at this age:
1. Anna has started asking "why?" to a few things. This makes me chuckle. I usually keep answering the questions until she moves on to something else. Tonight in the car, though, I answered her a few times and then tried to move on and talk about something else. This tactic did not work. I tried ignoring her and she said, "MOMMY! I said, 'WHY?'" Very cute. Slightly annoying, also...but mostly just cute.
2. Anna is very specific about what she wants and when she wants it. She has a good memory about what she has asked for and will check to see if we delivered on our promises. I asked her last week what she wanted for her birthday and she told me she wanted some puzzles. So, every time I mentioned her birthday, she would remind me of the puzzles. Today, before her party, I let her open one of the gifts we bought for her. She opened it up and nodded up and down and said, "Yep. Puzzles. That's right. Puzzles." Oh, she makes me laugh.
3. Anna is very snuggly. I love this about her. She snuggles in tight every afternoon before her nap and asks for songs. She has a funny little obsession with one of my freckles and asks to see it so she can touch it during these snuggly times. I find this to be both odd and extremely sweet at the same time. At night, before bed, Anna also likes to play with my face and hair and put her fingers in my mouth. She hugs and kisses all of us on a daily basis and I hope it never ends.
4. Anna is demanding. I know most two year-olds are...but she seems to take it to a level I had not expected. Today, she was helping me make cupcakes for her birthday party. She yelled, "It's MY turn, Mommy!" when I was frosting and decorating. I told her that it was nicer to say, "Please can I have a turn, Mommy?" She mimicked me the first time and from then on it came out something like, "PLEASE HAVE TURN!" in a curt little, demanding tone. I couldn't help but chuckle at this as well.
5. Anna is a fantastic little singer. She has well over twenty songs memorized and can often be heard belting them out. Her favorites lately are the Veggie Tales theme song, Jingle Bells, Jesus Loves the Little Children, and of course, her ABC's. I finally managed to videotape her singing the Veggie Tales song at the top of her lungs. Good stuff.
6. Anna loves to categorize things. She likes to know the names of all of our friends and family (middle names included sometimes) and who goes with which family. She says, "What's Ben's daddy's name? Jake. Yep, sure is." "What's Mommy's name? Sarah Jane. Yep, that's right."
This amazes me.
7. Anna likes to pray. This is my favorite new thing that she has started doing. At mealtimes or at bedtime lately, she has started saying the prayer for us every few nights. Her prayer last night was my most recent favorite:
"Thank you God my birthday tomorrow. Thank you God my party tomorrow. Anna go doctor tomorrow. Amen."
Anna is such a precious gift to us and I am so thankful for her presence in our lives. I have opted to postpone grad school for two years so that I can focus on nurturing my two children and be more involved in their lives while they are still young. I don't want to miss out on these days that I will never get back. Praise God for the gift of my children!
Monday, January 05, 2009
Saturday, January 03, 2009
A Day of Remembering
My thoughts were filled with memories of my Nathan today.
I was listening to music on my computer today and came across one of the songs that was played at his funeral.
I bumped into an old acquaintance at the gym this afternoon who asked about my children and their ages. I mentioned our son, Nathan, who would have turned seven this month.
We were at the toy store this evening, looking for birthday presents for Anna. I picked up a personalized child's cup and saw Nathan's name.
January is always a difficult month. Especially for Andrew. Tonight at bedtime, he came out of his room in tears, telling us how much he had been thinking about Nathan today. My eyes welled up and I told him I had been remembering him, too. He cried and cried, telling us that if he could have anything in the whole world, he would just want his brother back for the rest of his life. Anna looked concerned and ran over to hug Andrew, saying, "It's okay, Andrew. It's okay." She rubbed his back when we had family prayer time tonight and hugged him extra tight.
I do think of our Nathan often. I think of how warm and soft his chubby little cheeks were. I think of his soft, strawberry blonde curls that I kept running my fingers through, over and over. I think of how very much he looked like my dad, and wonder what he would have looked like now, as a seven year-old.
I long for my child. I long to hold him again, to press him to my face, to snuggle him close and tell him how much I love him. I want to see his eyes look up at me and hear him say, "Mommy." I want to hold his little hands and kiss his little cheeks and sing to him.
I know I will see my sweet son again someday when my life here is over and my eternal life in heaven begins. I don't know if he will be the same sweet baby I held for such a short time, or if he will be completely different. I will only cling to the promises God has given me in His Word and know that someday we will all be together once again.
I love to listen to the song "Held" by Natalie Grant.
This is what it means to be held,
How it feels
When the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive
This is what it means to be loved
And to know
That the promise was when everything fell,
We'd be held.
I feel God holding us still. I feel Him reminding us that this life is but a temporary one and that our hope is not in this world, but in heaven with Him, where there is no sickness or sadness or tears.
I was listening to music on my computer today and came across one of the songs that was played at his funeral.
I bumped into an old acquaintance at the gym this afternoon who asked about my children and their ages. I mentioned our son, Nathan, who would have turned seven this month.
We were at the toy store this evening, looking for birthday presents for Anna. I picked up a personalized child's cup and saw Nathan's name.
January is always a difficult month. Especially for Andrew. Tonight at bedtime, he came out of his room in tears, telling us how much he had been thinking about Nathan today. My eyes welled up and I told him I had been remembering him, too. He cried and cried, telling us that if he could have anything in the whole world, he would just want his brother back for the rest of his life. Anna looked concerned and ran over to hug Andrew, saying, "It's okay, Andrew. It's okay." She rubbed his back when we had family prayer time tonight and hugged him extra tight.
I do think of our Nathan often. I think of how warm and soft his chubby little cheeks were. I think of his soft, strawberry blonde curls that I kept running my fingers through, over and over. I think of how very much he looked like my dad, and wonder what he would have looked like now, as a seven year-old.
I long for my child. I long to hold him again, to press him to my face, to snuggle him close and tell him how much I love him. I want to see his eyes look up at me and hear him say, "Mommy." I want to hold his little hands and kiss his little cheeks and sing to him.
I know I will see my sweet son again someday when my life here is over and my eternal life in heaven begins. I don't know if he will be the same sweet baby I held for such a short time, or if he will be completely different. I will only cling to the promises God has given me in His Word and know that someday we will all be together once again.
I love to listen to the song "Held" by Natalie Grant.
This is what it means to be held,
How it feels
When the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive
This is what it means to be loved
And to know
That the promise was when everything fell,
We'd be held.
I feel God holding us still. I feel Him reminding us that this life is but a temporary one and that our hope is not in this world, but in heaven with Him, where there is no sickness or sadness or tears.
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