Anna

Dear Anna,

Today you are a month older than one year old.  My how the time is flying!

You are still not even remotely interested in taking even one single step for me.  Not one!  You would rather get down and crawl six inches and then stand back up then take one teeny-tiny little step to Mama.  Though I’m actually convinced it’s not that you can’t walk, it’s that you’re too smart to walk.  Because, after all, why walk when people will carry you everywhere?!?

On the other hand, you are more than willing to sign and try out words.  You are incredibly verbal, and besides your favorite word, “book”, you have “uh-oh” down – although it comes out as “duh-doh”, which is just so darn adorable.  You have names for us: Daddy is “da-da”, the dogs are “da-da”, Carrie is “da-dee”, and I’m “ma-ma”.  On the signing front, you can sign “milk”, “more”, “all done”, “water”, “banana”, “book”, “cheese”, “dog”, “monkey”, “bath”, “sleepy” and “chicken”.

You seem to be having a hard time deciding whether you need one nap or two.  If I put you down for a morning nap, you aren’t really interested in an afternoon nap, but then you are insanely crabby by about 5:00.  If I try to keep you up until the afternoon nap we can’t go anywhere at all in the morning, because you immediately conk out in the car.  I’m hoping you figure out how much sleep you need pretty soon here!  If you like, I could take one of those naps for you…?

We’ve had a busy, busy summer so far, and I think you’re going to be a little confused when your big sister and best friend ever gets on the bus for school in a few weeks.  You are absolutely delighted just to be in the same room with her, so I know you’re going to miss her.  So will I, but we can both be waiting for her to get off the bus every day, and we’ll find other things to do with ourselves all day!

Love, Mommy

Dear Anna,

Today you are a whole year old.  It’s hard to believe how quickly this year has gone, but at the same time you really seem like you’ve been part of this family forever.

I can’t think of one new thing you’ve tried this month besides chocolate.  (And truth be told, you’ve had a bit of that before.  But officially, you first had chocolate in your birthday cupcake yesterday.)  It’s only because we ran out of new foods for you to try a long time ago.  You are one adventurous eater, and all you have left to try at this point are nuts and shellfish.

You don’t have any more real words yet, but you have several “proto-words”.  For example, you say “da!” a lot,  but generally in a context where you could mean “dog” or “duck” or “daddy”.  Signing is hit or miss.  You can sign things like “milk”, “more”, “water” and “all done”, but you frequently prefer to just yell at me in the hopes that I’ll figure out what you want instead.  Maybe that’s less work?  I don’t know…it’s certainly frustrating for both of us!

You do a lot of standing now, just standing without holding onto anything, so you can use both hands to play with things.  I’m thinking it won’t be too long before you decide walking is much better than crawling because you don’t have to put the toys in your hands down before you can go somewhere.  But I’m not exactly in a hurry, because you get into everything you possibly can as it is.  I’m ashamed to admit this, but if it looks like you have something in your mouth, I can say “Anna, what have you got??” and you crawl over to me and open your mouth to let me pull it out.  Clearly this happens far too many times a day since you are so well trained!

You’ve also started bopping to the beat.  Even though you don’t walk yet, you love to dance while you’re holding onto a table or a couch or someone’s hands.  You’ve always loved music – when I sing to you at night you giggle at me sleepily and try to grab my mouth, like you’re trying to figure out where the music is coming from.

Today was a pleasant day.  We spent the day with Nana and Poppy.  Daddy made you french toast for breakfast, and then we just sort of hung out for most of the day.  You were wearing a handknit dress made by one of my friends and I took a ton of pictures of you for the day.  We gave you your very first doll (and like your big sister, you essentially ignored it – but she grew out of that pretty quickly and I bet you will too).  And then we went to Great-Grandma’s house for dinner.  Did you know that the two of you share a birthday?  That’s where you got your middle name!  So you blew out the candles on her cake together, and then we came home and put you to bed.

This past year was full of sweet baby snuggles and squishy, kissable cheeks.  I am so looking forward to seeing how you grow and change over this next year – what you have to say when you find your words and where those chubby little baby legs take you.  It’s been a grand adventure so far, and I’m ready for the next chapter.  I love you!

Love, Mommy

Dear Anna,

One more month until the big first birthday!  Time flies when you’re having fun!

You haven’t tried too many new foods this month, let’s see…tuna fish, raspberries, yellow beans and sunbutter (like peanut butter, only made with sunflower seeds).  But you’ve tried many new table food versions of things you’ve had before.  You adore Grandma’s mini-meatball soup (aka Italian Wedding Soup).  Actually, you adore anything I let you have in a suction-bottomed bowl with a spoon – you just think that’s the coolest thing.  Especially when you eventually pry the bowl off of your tray!

I think your first official word is “book”.  You say “boo-uh” and lunge towards the pile of books on the shelf next to the chair when we sit down to nurse in the morning and at bedtime.  And you say it consistently enough that I think I’m going to declare it your first word.  You also say “dis!” and “dat!” when it seems like “this” or “that” would be appropriate, so I’m wondering if you actually are saying those words too…?

You’re not walking yet, but you are climbing – stairs, that is.  And you know you’re not supposed to, because you look back at me with your stinker-pants face like “See, Mom?  See what I’m doing?!?”  You do that a lot, really, and one of your favorite games is to crawl away from me into a room you’re not really supposed to be in, look back to make sure I’m following, and then crawl as fast as your little hands and knees will go until I pick you up from behind and you squeal with glee.

Speaking of squealing.  Baby!  You and your sister need to tone down the high-pitched shrieking!  You would make most opera singers weep with jealousy – I’m shocked we haven’t actually had any broken glass yet.  You know, everyone always waxes poetic about the pitter-patter of little feet, but nobody warns you about the high-pitched shrieking and squealing of little girls…

In a few short weeks we’ll be celebrating the fact that we all made it to your first birthday – and I have to be honest, I think we kind of got off easy.  You’ve been, so far, an extremely easy baby.  You slipped into our lives and it wasn’t so long before it felt like you’d been here all along anyway.  I’m sure we’ll have challenges and changes ahead, there always are, but this part where I’m your mama?  That’s the easy bit.  Thanks for choosing me to be your mama, thanks for choosing us to be your family.

Love, Mommy