Annabel is 19 Months Old!

Our baby girl just keeps getting bigger & bigger and growing up more & more every day. I don't need to be reminded that she is now closer to being two than she is to being one, now that she's past the 1 1/2 year mark at 19 months old! We're so proud of our sweet, smiley little girl! She's learned so much this past month- she amazes me every day!

Annabel has a few new words and letter sounds, and honestly, I can't wait until she figures out some more. She's on the threshold of wanting to communicate more and not really being able to just yet; it's incredibly frustrating for her. She wants so much to tell us what she wants or what she wants to do or how to do it or whatever and if we aren't catching her drift, she gets super frustrated and upset; it's so hard and sometimes even heartbreaking because I want so much to help her, but sometimes I just have no clue what Annabel is getting at. We keep trying though.

Annabel thinks every word starts with a "t" these days. She'll walk up to me, want to get around me, and say over and over "t, t, t" and I'll say, oh you mean excuse me, you want me to move, and she's all excited, nodding her head and saying yeah. Or she'll walk up to us standing, reaching up, and saying "t, t, t" wanting us to pick her up. Of course none of these things starts with "t" but we figure out her not-so-t words most of the time. I should say she does occasionally get it right, such as when she indicates she wants a turn with a "t" or asks for her favorite thing- treats- with a "t". Annabel also asks to watch that video of her on the train ride from the carnival we went to in Michigan- she goes up to my computer and she's all "t, t, t" which means she wants to watch the train video. And of course the TV is indicated with a "t" when Annabel wants to watch it! So, you see, every word may start with a "t" to Annabel and some of those actually do start with t. She's figuring it out more and more!

Annabel also says "ro" a lot- this fits anything from roll to round, such as when she's rolling playdoh or wants her Wheels on the Bus book or wants to sing and play ring-around-the-rosie. But her newest and cutest expression/word yet is "bah-bah" done with one finger held up, to say "I'll be right back." It's super cute the way she does it- we love it and get such a kick out of it. She's been doing this for a few weeks now, pretty much right after she turned 18 months. She loves to play picnic on the floor in the basement and when she gets up to go get more food, she'll say"bah-bah" and hold up one finger, then she'll go get more and come back- she will do this over and over. She thinks she's so cute- and she would be right!

Annabel also points to herself more these days. She's very aware of herself now and I love it. She points to herself if we ask where Annabel is or she'll tap her chest and raise her arms up to indicate pick me up. I think it's cute how she notices that she's her own person and I also think it's great that she can indicate herself when communicating with us.

One of my favorite things that I have noticed this past month is that Annabel has begun to delay her gratification for things occasionally. She loves to watch videos of herself on the computer and she knows how to push the spacebar on the laptop to make the video play again, but when the video is over, she will hover over the spacebar with this grin, in anticipation, waiting for the moment of her choice, aaaaaaand then she will push the spacebar and she'll be oh SO pleased with herself, clapping and smiling even bigger. She thinks she's so clever- she is that, too. I just think it's cute to watch her anticipating and delaying her excitement over little things like this. That's a huge step and a huge realization that she's made.

Another cute thing Annabel will do is throw her arms out to the side to say "ta-da!" She does this when we finally get what she wants- ta-da Daddy figured it out, or ta-da I did it or whatever the case may be. It's cute. Sometimes she will say "t" or just "da" or mostly she will just smile and be so excited.

Annabel loves songs and music of any kind. She loves to dance. When Daniel gets the "dance floor" out Annabel just loves to spin around and around on there or just do that cute super-quick stomping dance. Her favorite songs are pretty much anything with clapping motions or even stomping. She loves The Wheels on the Bus, If You're Happy & You Know It, our music class's Hello Everybody song, our nature class's Goodbye Song where you clap stomp hug and then wave byebyebye (to the tune of The Wheels on the Bus), Ring Around the Rosie, and that Ram Sam Sam song I've mentioned before from our music class. It's a pretty good guess that if Annabel is clapping at some point while playing, one of these songs must be in her head and she wants you to join her in singing that song...you just have a few guesses, but really any one of them will do just fine! She's perfectly happy to play and clap along to any song! Our music class session is over and of course this past Monday, the last day, Annabel participated the most she's ever participated in class- on this last day mind you. It was so cute to watch her though- I love that she's now familiar enough with the class songs, the class routine, the teacher, and so on that she's comfortable and excited about music and participating. We can't wait to start our Holiday Music class in December, and then I think we'll continue again in January with the new session. We'll see! Annabel sure loves music!

Annabel also loves puzzles. She's even better at doing them now; we've seen huge improvements in just a short time already. She matches the pieces very well, and now she even turns the pieces to get them in a little better, although she's still not always getting them in exactly, she's closer though. Annabel loves to sit and do puzzles. This keeps her quite busy. I'm glad the library has them available for checking out, because this means we can do some different puzzles from time to time! Annabel thinks it's pretty great that we can bring the library's puzzles home, too.

I mentioned that Annabel will indicate the TV with her "t, t, t" sounds and pointing. She'll get everything you need- the remote, a blanket, she'll point to the couch so you can sit down with her, and then she's quite happy! She's a snuggly TV watcher- she'll sit right up next to you, or in your lap, and watch together, and she loves to be curled up under a blanket with you. It's so cute and so sweet. She'll watch anything Daniel is watching, but she loves Curious George and Mickey Mouse.

Annabel still loves to play with Daniel. She thinks he's just the best, even if he isn't always the most cooperative. I will say she teases him just as much as he teases her! But they are starting to play together a little more again (this comes and goes), which I love. Annabel likes to hold Daniel's hand. She loves when he helps her and once he starts she doesn't want him to stop, she'll follow him around asking for more help and more attention. It's cute. Daniel helps her with her coat, or her car seat buckles, or he'll find her toys for her, or he'll give her food, and such- and she just laps it all up! Sometimes though, Annabel gets incredibly frustrated that she can't do what Daniel is doing all the time, even though she wants to and sometimes even he may want her to but we're not letting her because she's too young or whatever- but we work through it all. Anyway, I'm just glad to watch the sweet moments my kids have with each other. They love to hug each other these days and Daniel even kisses Annabel's bumps when she gets hurt or even just on her cheeks any ol' time- she insists on both cheeks kissed, too (lapping up that attention when she can!) and they blow each other kisses and feed off of each other's attention and antics, too. It's all such fun to see!

I feel like I can finally safely say Annabel sleeps so much better than ever now. She nurses only once a day now (my own weaning, I will say, certainly not her idea, but she's been fine with that and has gotten better and better about it each day) and I think even that is dwindling; she's mostly nursing for comfort because I don't think there's much there anymore! She wakes up once in the middle of the night, usually around 3 AM and she needs snuggles then (no more nursing then though, which took some adjusting for her, but we're all good now!) and then she'll sleep until anywhere from 5-7 AM or so. If she gets up anytime before 7 and won't go back down in her room, she snuggles up with us in bed and we love it. We all get more sleep this way! Then she'll usually sleep until she hears Daniel on the monitor at which point she pops up and she's ready to go get Daniel. This all works for me just fine!!

Annabel is even doing a little better napping in her bed lately, usually when Daniel naps. Both of them are taking short naps lately though; I think Daniel may be close to dropping his naps and I fear Annabel will do the same shortly thereafter. On the days we're out and about and heading home just before lunch time, Annabel sometimes falls asleep in the car then and we can still swoop her in the house to her room in the car seat. The days of doing this swooping are numbered because it is time to get Annabel into the next bigger car seat. Anyway, if she naps at this time, that's her nap for the day- you'll get no more out of her, even if it was only a half hour. She's just not a baby that has ever needed a lot of sleep. I'm glad for what I do get, especially when it's at the same time as Daniel!

One other fun bit of news is that Annabel put her own shoes on for the first time today! She loves to try to get herself dressed and will get so frustrated if you try to help her. She tries and tries to put her own socks on- it's so cute to watch her concentrate, to watch her try to catch her foot. But today, she put her own shoes on in the car. She'd taken her shoes and socks off as always while we were heading home and I could hear the velcro being pulled open and closed. And when we got home, I went to get her out only to see that she had her shoes on! She was SO proud of herself. They were on the wrong feet, but her smile was just so big, her excitement was so contagious. It was the cutest dang thing! She had them off before I could get a picture, though!

So that's the latest news with Annabel! Whew- it was a busy month for her! She's just doing great! We're so proud of her and we all love her so much! Can't wait to see what she learns this next month!

Fall Photoshoot

We had our Fall Photo Shoot with Uncle Jason a few weekends ago. A friend on Facebook had done some pictures at this place called St. James Farm (we later went on a Halloween morning hike there, too- I posted about that already)...it caught my eye because of the caboose they have there. I knew Daniel would think that was pretty cool, so we took Jason on an adventure there and I think the pictures turned out great! So many to choose from, too. We focused mostly on Daniel, for his 4 year pictures, but we also got some great ones of Annabel, the two siblings together, and of course our family, too! And now I must get busy framing...one of these days! Enjoy tons of pictures! Thank you, Jason!

 

 

 

 

Jason gave us so many choices- original photo, black and white, and an effect. I have to say I love this picture of my kids and I really don't know which way I like it best, so here's all three!!

 

 

 

 

One of my faves! A great smile!

 

I like this one, too- I love how he's looking at the dandelion.

 

Dandelions are Annabel's favorite! We knew they'd catch her attention!

 

Fun tossing leaves!

 

This is another favorite of mine...just that natural, candid, pure joy captured so beautifully!

 

Family fun!

Great family pictures!

 

And of course what's a family picture without someone (Daniel in this case) being silly!

 

I love this picture, too!

 

 

Daniel had a bean in his pocket (from those pods you see him carrying in the other pictures) and he kept making sure it was there!

 

 

I also love this picture of my two wonderful, adorable kidlets!

 

Silly Time!

 

 

 

Halloween Fun Ain't Over Yet!

So, it seems that Halloween ain't over till the candy & goodies are gone and done being played with! The kids are having a ball! Annabel discovered her new favorite treat- Kit Kats! Daniel is having fun enjoying a different treat every day. Not sure what his favorites are- he seems to like 'em all!

Here's Annabel enjoying a Kit Kat bar!

 Grandma Mary Kay got a treat bag for us from her neighbor and in it were those fake teeth. Daniel wanted nothing to do with them, but Annabel LOVED them! She had them in for the longest time, sending pools of drool down her chin like you wouldn't believe, ick, but she didn't seem to mind one bit. She had a lot of fun with them! Silly girl!

Halloween Morning Hike

Now that nature classes are over, we're back to doing our own spontaneous, and free, hikes. We did one on Halloween morning with our nature class friends, Jen and Asher. It was chilly, but we had a great time. We headed to St. James Farm, which is where we did our photo shoot with Jason for Daniel's 4 year pictures. Daddy even came with us since he'd taken Halloween off and he had also wanted to check out this park again, too. St. James Farm closes for the winter, so I'm glad we went again now. We definitely want to go back in the spring- that place is huge! With Jason, we headed west into the grounds for our photos, so this time we headed north a little more to find some trails. We chose a trail that was short enough for the little ones; it went around the perimeter of a field, and it turned out to be an awesome choice of trail because we saw a big deer as we headed farther onto the trail. The deer just watched us and watched us, he didn't seem the least bit worried, so Ben and Annabel actually got pretty close to him, while the rest of us trailed behind, following the pace of Daniel and Asher. Ben said the deer was a pretty big buck, maybe an 8 pointer- so it was a pretty cool sighting for us, not something we see hardly ever where we live! Of course we stopped for snacks at some point, we had fun running through the leaves and chasing each other. Annabel had fun collecting sticks and seed pods. She felt the need to clear off the gravel road for some reason...so she was collecting things and then tossing them off the side of the road. It was pretty cute to watch her all bundled up, mittened hands trying to pick things up. Anyway, it was a great hike even if it was chilly and we all enjoyed the fresh air, and Jen and Asher are such fun company, too! We're glad Daddy came with us, too- that made it even more fun!

Annabel sure took advantage of Daddy's presence...he carried her, a lot!

Annabel and Daddy heading up the trail to check out the deer!

Running in the leaves!

I love this picture of Annabel and me! Ben said it reminded him of my Facebook photo- maybe it's time to change it, to this one (I still have a picture of 8 month old Daniel and me in Colorado!).

Annabel works on cleaning off the road!

Annabel runs after Daniel and Asher! I love her little shadow in this picture.

Preschool Costume Parade!

Last Tuesday was Daniel's Preschool Costume Parade. Daniel was very excited about the parade and had been looking forward to it! It was pretty cute to watch- we had a lot of fun! Daddy took some time that morning off to come with Annabel and me- Daniel was beyond thrilled that Daddy would be coming; that alone made his day. And even Grandma Cheryl, Grandpa Gary, and Grandma Mary Kay came to see the parade- Daniel was just so excited to have all of us there to see him in his parade, you could tell he felt so special and so proud.

The preschoolers paraded down the hall into the lobby area, around the lobby circle twice, and then they stopped for group pictures. You could tell the preschoolers were all a bit confused, wondering where to go, looking for their parents, not so much paying attention and staying in the line as it circled around...it was pretty funny. Cute kids and cute costumes...I loved seeing them all- reminded me of my teaching days! Of course Daniel's was a hit- with the kids and with his teachers both. In fact, Mrs. Sandercock later told us that she was talking to the Lunch Bunch Kindergartners after that parade morning and they all said the garbage truck was their favorite costume! Very cool! Daniel was also able to tell me what his friends were dressed up as, so that gave me a few faces to place- I liked that.

I mentioned before how much Annabel loved seeing all the costumes, and she was just as entranced watching the parade. You can just see it in her expression in the pictures below. She also absolutely LOVED finding Daniel as he paraded around- she could point him out each time he came around. It was so sweet. We put her in her costume, too, just for fun, and so the grandparents could see her costume.

After the parade, we packed up Daniel's things back in the classroom and headed out to lunch at Choo Choo Johnny's because kids got free meals if they wore costumes early last week! Woohoo! So that was a fun outing for us, too. We had a good lunch and good time playing with the train table, pretending to drive the cars, riding the little train, and of course watching the train on the ceiling track. We sure had a busy morning!

Mommy and Annabel waiting for the parade to start!

 So sweet!

 Here comes the parade!

 Just look at Annabel's sweet, entranced expression as she watches the parade! Love it!

 A great shot of the back of Daniel's garbage truck costume!

 Group shot!

 Costumes = Free lunch at Choo Choo Johnny's!!

Fun playtime while waiting for food!