Well, aside from the snow first thing this morning (in mid April?!?) we had a great day, which involved church, egg hunts, kite flying, family and food!
Firsts
Anna’s First Valentine’s Day!
(I’m aware that it’s technically the day after Valentine’s Day…)
Yes, that is a shirt with a sheep that says “I (heart) ewe”. A Christmas gift from Uncle Dan and Aunt Genevra. Though I would totally have bought it myself if I had seen it! After all, that’s what mommy knitters do!
Would you believe this little girl has been mistaken for a boy every. single. time. she’s worn this shirt?!? What, only boys can wear green?
And The Verdict Is…
It tastes as good as it looks!
We were going to wait another couple of weeks to start Anna on solid food, but she was going to take matters into her own hands – quite literally – if we didn’t start feeding her. Any time I hold her on my lap while I eat she tries to grab whatever it is I’m eating, or sticks her fingers into my bowl or onto my plate and tries to taste food! A few days ago she actually started crying when I prevented her from eating the piece of peanut butter & jelly sandwich she snatched off of Carrie’s plate!
So we decided that a couple extra weeks weren’t going to make that much of a difference, and I stocked up on yummy first foods: avocado, sweet potatoes and rice cereal, and we started with the avocados today. I’ve only ever bought avocado in guacamole form, so I was a little nervous about whether the ones I bought would be the right ripeness, but this seems to have been the perfect avocado.
Anna thought so too!
Anna’s First Christmas & Christmas Wrap-Up
Anna was, I think, the perfect age for a first Christmas. Not quite mobile enough to get into everything yet, but interested and engaged and awed by the lights, the colorful wrapping paper, and the fabulous new toys she could put in her mouth. She’s just thrilled beyond words to be able to roll all over and find a new toy wherever she lands that she can drool on and stuff in her mouth for a bit before she gets bored and rolls around in search of something new.
Carolyn got her Handy Manny tools and costume from Santa, and couldn’t be more thrilled with them. She’s been using the old-school Fisher-Price phone that Aunt Jeannie got for Anna to pretend to take fix-it calls (I get to play the caller – usually I have a squeaky baby that needs oil!) She also seems to really like her new Sleep Fairy CD – as in, for three nights in a row now she’s asleep before the CD ends. Oh, how I hope this lasts! And the Tinkerbell movie was also a big hit.
Denis and I? We treated each other to new Wii games: Mario Kart for him and Animal Crossing for me. Because, you know, we have so much free time to play games! But they’ve been a fun distraction at odd moments over the last few days.
All in all, this has been a very fun Christmas, and I’m looking forward to the next several weeks with not much to do or worry about beyond our everyday hectic lives!
Anna’s First Thanksgiving
Lots to be thankful for this year, especially these two cuties:
After watching some of the parade on TV, we spent the day at my grandparents’ house, cooking, eating, and chatting…and eating some more!
Isn’t Anna’s turkey onesie cute?!? I love orange!
Choirs of Angels…
…are singing today.
Anna slept (in her crib, no less) from 8 PM last night until 6 AM this morning. And she woke up happy – I heard her over the monitor: “Ah! Ooh! Ahhh-oooh!” I woke up feeling like I’d been run over by a truck, on the other hand, because I just got hit with a head cold. But at least I got some sleep!
I credit the sleep sack I dug out of the box of Carrie’s old stuff last night (yes, I’m a bad mom for not washing it first.) The house got a bit chilly last night (I refuse to turn the heat on as early as October 1st!) but Anna was nice and toasty warm when I went in to get her.
First Smile :)
OK, I have independent confirmation that Anna really did smile at me today. I think she’s smiled at me once or twice before, but it was a fleeting thing and I was too sleep deprived to be sure. This time, I said “hello, baby girl!” as I was holding her in my lap, and her whole face lit up in a smile while she was looking directly at me.
(And no, Denis, it wasn’t just gas!)
First Bath
I have no idea how long it will last, but Anna is definitely a very mellow child. She sleeps through everything – dogs barking, Carrie squealing…and, now, her first bath!
She did wake up once I toweled her off and made her hair all crazy!
First Sit & Knit and Finished Sweater
I didn’t think to get out the camera so there’s no photographic evidence, but Anna came to her first Sit & Knit tonight at the shop. I dressed her up in the cutest little green dress with a fuzzy sheep on the front. She pretty much slept the whole time, and I actually had (just) enough hands-free time to weave in the ends and sew the buttons on her sweater:
Here’s the project page on Ravelry, but here are the vital stats for those not on Rav (yet).
Pattern: February Baby Sweater (Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Knitter’s Almanac)
Yarn: No Two Snowflakes Bellini
Needles: US 3/3.25 mm
Size: There’s no sizing information in the pattern, because, as EZ states, “babies come in all sizes”. I’m thinking it’s around a 6-9 month size, which should work with sleeves rolled up starting when it gets cool next month all the way through spring.
I plan to make a matching hat and socks, and I should have plenty of yarn left for a pair of socks for Carolyn too! (I just have to actually find the time to knit them all…