20 Months!

I sort of got too big for my blogging britches with my last post, I guess.  Being so proud of myself for posting not once, but twice in one week!  And now it's been weeks since then and I haven't found the time to write anything.  Or haven't felt inspired to write anything worth sharing, really.  But now the time has come to document another month of our sweet girl's life...and that, my friends, is certainly worth writing about.

Annie has continued to grow and amaze us with how much her little mind retains and stretches.  It seems she learns a new word or phrase or game or song every day.  And she is quite a challenge to keep up with as she gets faster and stronger and even more energetic than she has been before.  Going out with Annie almost always involves laps around the restaurant or stints of her crawling under the highchair or fastening the buckle on the chair repeatedly.  She isn't content to sit for long and is always looking for something to get into or explore.

Her speech has continued to take off this month, with the additions of three syllable words like "animal" and "butterfly."  She speaks in two to three word sentences pretty much most of the time now.  And is a little bossy about it, giving me and David instructions or telling the dog what he can and can't do.  "No, puppy!"  is one of her favorites, as is "Mommy/Daddy, sit."  Fortunately, she realizes she isn't completely self-sufficient and uses the request, "Mommy help" quite often.  And who am I to deny that one?

Annie also continues her love affair with music, insisting that we have family dance parties regularly and requesting that we sing her favorite songs repeatedly.  I think if Annie were to make a request and dedication on the radio it would be for the Happy Birthday song.  We sing it at least three times each day, at her request ("Happy!" she instructs) - once at breakfast, once on the drive to school, and at least once in the evening.  She likes for us to sing the line "Happy birthday to..." over and over, with her telling us what family member, friend, or pet to dedicate the song to each time. It can go on and on, but she is so delighted with every new name, it's a lot of fun to watch.

In another attempt to prove to us just how fast she is growing, Annie has shown us that she is quite capable of dressing herself - or at least partially dressing herself.  She can put on her own dresses, hats, coats and for the most part, shoes.  And what she doesn't do all on her own, she helps us with - putting her foot out for her socks, lifting her leg up for pants or tights.  It won't be long before she's doing those things on her own too.  (sniff, sniff...sniff)

Happy happy girl.

So cool.  I mean, seriously?

In addition to her love for books and blocks and stuffed animals, Annie has added baby dolls to her list of favorite toys.  She spends long periods of time laying blankets on the floor and wrapping up her babies in the them.  She also wants her stuffed animals to sit at the dining room table while we eat.  "Bebra" (the zebra) and "Hop" (the bunny) have joined us for breakfast and dinner in recent days.  And "Emmie mouse" (Minnie to you and me) frequently finds herself perched on Annie's highchair tray at meal time.  The girl comes by this honestly, I must admit.  I used to sleep with about 20 stuffed animals at night because I didn't want any one of them to get its feelings hurt if I left it out.

Catching up on some reading at a local book store.

 Finally, the more she grows, the more we see Annie's personality take shape.  She is shy at first when she enters a new place or meets a new person or finds herself the recipient of a lot of attention - but give her a few minutes and the flirting begins.  And once she warms up, watch out!  She's all over the place...and eating up the attention.

Ever the little helper - feeding our cats.

 It seems daily I am reminded of how fortunate and blessed we are to have been chosen as Annie's parents.  I don't take it for granted.  And I try to remind myself of our blessings even on the days when she is pulling on my leg and whining for no reason or having one of those toddler moments when nothing suits her. Or when she suddenly throws herself in the floor in a display of diva drama.  Even in those moments, I know we couldn't have hand picked a better match for our family.  A more perfect piece of our family puzzle. She's our girl, and we love watching her grow.