Christmas tooth

Annie's first Christmas... or maybe more appropriately "The first Christmas with Annie" for the rest of us, was SUPER FUN! Well mostly anyway. A few days before Christmas, Annie came down with an ear infection, pink eye, and her first tooth all on the same day! And the crazy part is she was no worse for the wear. She was happy and mobile as ever! The downside to teeth: Biting. Need I say more?

Christmas Day we woke up late as a family (THANK YOU ANNIE!!) and ate some breakfast together. My hope is to make Christmas breakfast a fun tradition for our family. This year I had to make three separate breakfasts as egg-free, dairy-free didn't sound appealing (understandably) to Michael. So I made one cheesy ham omelet him, one dairy and egg free waffle for me, and apple oatmeal for Annie. Then, we sat around the tree, anxiously waiting for Annie to figure out the box in front of her was for ripping into. We didn't think this would take long because she is a box-opening-specialist, but for whatever reason she needed some goading. All it took was tearing the corner of the pretty paper and it was on! Annie LOVED her new little talking-singing-spanglish kitchen. We got to spend good time with both families (Shields and Purse) over the holidays which was really nice! I spent the first day back deciding which toys to put out for her and which ones to hide and bring out later!

Annie has perfected some signature moves recently. One of which I like to refer to as the "death roll". I believe this is what alligators do to kill their prey. This is also what Annie does to kill her mother. JUST when I get an especially messy diaper off, Annie starts twisting her entire body in an effort to turn around and stand up. Baby wrangling is the next class on my to-do list. I will win!

Annie also has learned an especially adorable trick. While she helps me with (unfolding the clean) laundry, she will usually grab a garment, pull it over her head and wait for mommy to play peek-a-boo! What is even funnier is that sometimes the garment is underwear. I can't wait to get a picture of that...

Thanks to her Grandma Shields (THANKS A LOT!) Annie can climb stairs. And anything else that is knee-height for that matter. Annie is CRAZY full of energy. With an attention span of about a half second, Annie gets into everything! She will go from one "no no" to another, spanning the room from the stairs to the electrical outlet, to mommy's phone, to her purse, to shoes, to the dog, to the dog's toys.... Nevermind that she got a million really cool toys for Christmas that light up and sing! You see, toys are for children and I have a monkey.

I can't believe we have entered a new year. As I look back, we have much to be thankful for! Great friends, loving family, and the biggest blessing we have ever received--our little Annie--have made this last year one to remember! Annie is looking more and more like a little toddler and acting less and less like my little baby! I cherish the moments she still allows me to snuggle with her and rock with her as I know those are going to be few and far between soon. Every stage has been a blast and we look forward to whatever surprises come in 2011!

The Dreaded Little-Girl-Face

I am not sure how it happened or when it happened, but Annie has traded her chubby baby face in for a little girl face! She doesn't look like a little baby anymore. She doesn't nap like a little baby anymore. She can get it herself, thank you very much! It happened WAY too fast! Yes, yes. I know. You, your mom, and your grandma probably told me yourselves it would happen way too fast. I'm still shocked though.

Well, for those moms out there who have been through a week of sickness (which I like to refer to as the Purse Family Plague) I now understand even MORE why mother's get a special day of the year. We started two weekends ago with Annie getting a lot of nasal congestion which then led to a couple of nights getting up really often with her. Since Annie doesn't like to take naps anymore, that meant I was WAY behind on the old sleep-o-meter. Then, I got the stomach flu on Thursday. That was SO miserable. I threw my back out while trying to run to the bathroom with what surely is an 18-lb child now. So then, I was carrying around a double plastic grocery bag while crawling back and forth to the bathroom, waving a scarf behind me hoping Annie would find it fun to chase me there so I could keep an eye on her. After calling everyone I knew during the day to see if someone was willing to brave the plague to watch Annie so I could puke in peace, I finally called Michael who was swamped at work and couldn't come home until 4:30pm an I'm just not sure how I got to the end of the day! One good night of sleep (I mean like 15 hours in a row) and I was good as new for work the next day. Then, poor Michael threw up for the first time in years all day long and caught what I had! Sunday, I went to work and ended up coming home with a fever, chills, and a sore throat. I think I have filled my quota. God, can we take a little character-builder-break? I know I have a long way to go, but this seems like a bit much!

On to more important things. Annie is SO close to walking. I am not sure when she will feel motivated enough to give it a whirl though because she can crawl-skip at a pretty fierce clip. I feel like she does something hilarious every day and in my sleep deprived state, I can't for the life of me remember most of them! She definitely knows when she is getting into something she shouldn't though. The dog inevitably tracks in a leaf or some dirt by the sliding glass door in the living room and Annie LOVES to teleport herself there before I realize what is going on and pick up the tiniest piece of it. When she sees me racing towards her to prevent it from getting in her mouth, she squeels, shoves it in her mouth as quickly as possible and bolts on the other direction. When I catch her, she throws her hands up and down in defeat. So dramatic.

She has adapted her mouth to suit her needs in a variety of ways. Annie has learned that if she has to get from here to there, her hands are used up for the crawling and she must use her mouth if she wants the toy to go with her. I am amazed at the size of things that have fit in her tiny mouth. She also uses her mouth to help her pull up on furniture and things. Hey, every little bit of leverage helps! She loves to give open-mouth slobbery "kisses". Much to my delight as a nursing mother, she has not, however, learned how to sprout a tooth! There are no teeth in sight, in fact. Thank you Santa!! All I want for Christmas is NO front teeth. Now THAT is a song in the making.

Annie loves to help mommy and daddy with the laundry. Every time I fold something and stack it neatly, she sees this as an opportunity to unfold it. And throw it. She is especially tickled by socks, which she waves over her head in pride before launching them behind her. She really enjoys emptying things. Does anyone know how to get her to enjoy putting them back?

One thing she does NOT love is her snowsuit. When Annie is in it, the overstuffed suit keeps her almost completely immobile. She can't grab anything because the ends of it cover her fingers like a mitten and she can't bend her arm to get to her face because the arms are so stiff. Usually, she just lays there in defeat, with a disgusted, "are you SERIOUS?" look on her face until we arrive to our destination where she can finally take it off.

I am looking very forward to Christmas this year. Some of my relatives will get to meet Annie for the first time and I am also thinking she will have a blast unwrapping her presents. And my presents. And your presents. Better get the camera charged up...

It has dawned on me lately that I haven't taken any professional pictures of Annie since she was a newborn. I am embaressed to say it almost but there always seemed to be some unforeseen expense that snuck up and stole the opportunity from me. And now, Annie has a parenthesis-like rash around her mouth that is bright red so I can't take them this week. Hopefully soon! I feel like a bad parent not having any good professional pictures of her yet!

I have been thinking a lot lately about our next big steps in life. One being the planning(or not planning) of our next child, should we be so blessed to do this again. It pops into your mind, you know, when your baby stops looking like a baby. Do you plan to have them 2 years or so apart to get through all of the diaper-changing-sleep-deprivation-disorganized-mess-survival-mode-hard-on-your-marriage stuff in a whirlwind of 6 years in a row or do you space them like 4 years apart and get used to the child tying her own shoes and feeding herself breakfast just in time to start the whole cycle again? I guess God will allow what He thinks I should do for my family. I hope I am a good listener!

I have also seen a need arise for discipline to begin in tiny little ways. My friend at work told me recently she was embaressed when her son told his teacher that his name was ___ No ____. He actually thought his middle name was No! I feel like as many times as I have to say "No" to keep her from chewing on a lamp cord, pulling off my glasses, sucking on Cubbie's toys, or rolling over while I am trying to change her diaper, she is going to be confused about the meaning of this word. She is definitely too small for sitting in the corner or a spank(which I am not sure about doing anyway). I am going to read some books on the topic, send some in my direction if you know of a good one!