Sprout Spot: January 2007

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Yes, Eee-sus loves you

Anna's favorite books right now are Jesus and the Children, and Jesus Loves Me. It is so cute to hear her walk into her room and ask for "Eee-sus" over and over.

Now I'll admit, the first few times she asked I wondered if she was tricking her mommy. You see, she would play play play all through nap time and when I would walk in with a not so happy look on my face she would smile at me and ask "Eee-sus?" while reaching for her bookshelf. My first thought was, "Nice try baby!". And I was pretty sure she called a man at the mall Jesus a few days ago, so I didn't know if she really knew what she was asking for.

But her love for these books continues throughout the day now, so it must be for real. I also noticed that this morning when we got to church she looked up at the building and started to yell out eee-sus over and over. I wonder if she is starting to remember that church is a place where she hears Bible stories? It sure seems that way by how excited she gets.

Tonight I was reading those favorite books before bedtime. The Jesus Loves Me book is just a little board book and each page has a line from the classic song. Normally I sing and she listens. But tonight she actually tried to sing with me! It was so painfully cute that I had a hard time getting the words out because I was simultaneously laughing and crying over how sweet she was. Her version went something like, "Yeeeeesssss, Eee-sus, yes, mommy eee-sus!". Music to my ears :)

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Farewell, old friend

Well, we finally did it. The pacifier is gone for good. Yippee!

The week before we got rid of it Anna gave it a name, "boppies". We don't know where this name came from but when she started asking for it all the time we knew we had to act fast before she got any more attached than she already was. I had read online that some people poke holes in it or gradually cut off the tip of it until their kids give it up on their own. The idea of it being her decision sounded good, but in the end we just went cold turkey. For the first two or three days she would ask for it whenever she went to bed or we got in the car. It was pretty sad to hear that tiny voice asking"Boppies? boppies?" over and over, but we would just tell her that boppies was at home, or boppies went night night. Usually distraction worked just fine.

After just a few days she no longer asked for it and I knew we were home free. What were we so afraid of?! It wasn't that bad at all really, and now it's been over two weeks. My big fear was that she would start waking up at 5am, but she is still sleeping in until at least 8 most mornings which makes mommy very happy :) Naps aren't as good as they used to be, but I think part of that is just her being so active and so curious these days. Sleep is a waste of time when there is so much to do and explore!

As I was downloading this picture, she walked in the office and just stared at the screen. I panicked but looked at her and said "What's that?". She smiled and quietly said "boppies" and then ran off to play with Ruby.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Baby exercise

Today Anna and I worked in the childcare rooms at church. Normally they put us in the same room, but I was happy to find out that they have finally separated us. She is much happier when she doesn't see me! On the way home she fell asleep in the car and decided that was all the sleep she would need for the day. After some talking, and then yelling, in her crib I got her up to play. We decided to go for a walk and get some fresh air....and just maybe tire out some little legs ;)

She looked so small to me walking down the street. She's still short enough that I have to bend to one side to hold her hand and she probably takes 3 steps for every one of mine. Cracks or uneven sidewalk have to be climbed, not just stepped over, when you're Anna's size. When we got home she wanted to keep playing in the yard and the only thing that got her in the house was a "Hey, want a banana?". Luckily after that snack she was the one asking for a "night night". :)

***p.s. That "night night" never did actually happen!

Monday, January 22, 2007

Heredity or Pure Luck?

I think Anna is the most beautiful child on earth. Those eyelashes, that skin and yes, that crazy hair. When she wakes up from a nap her hair is a giant ball of frizz on top of her head, usually with one crazy curl sticking straight off of the side. She also likes to rub her head on the floor, the couch, Ruby's pillow, or anything nearby, thus creating even more frizz and craziness. This usually happens after we have already attempted to tame and fix her hair so we can leave the house without her looking too neglected.

So where do you think she got this crazy hair? Daddy, mmm nope. Mommy? Here's a picture (bad quality!) of two pictures of me when I was just a few months younger than Anna is now. What do you think? Is it heredity, or is she just lucky?

For comparison, here is Nathan with his silky smooth baby hair blowing in the wind. Hee hee.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

So polite

I am one of those people who says "sorry" a lot, even when I shouldn't. For example someone can cut in front of me somewhere, and I will be the one saying I'm sorry. Or I'm sorry it's raining, there's a long line, my baby is screaming...all things I can't really control.

Anna has really started to imitate us and saying she's sorry a lot is no exception. Usually she will say it when she's pushing her little doll stroller around and she bumps into something like the wall or a table. She will normally say sorry to someone else though, like Ruby or Mommy or Dada.

Today after Bible study we went to lunch and then shopping with friends. As we were leaving we hit a giant pothole in the parking lot and Anna yelled out from the backseat, "Oh sorry Ruby!". Good thing she was wrong again!

**And for my friends that I haven't seen in a while, here's the newest picture of the ever-growing belly. He's kicking up a storm these days and we can't believe we're already heading into month number 6!

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Traumatized

Today Anna and I went to the Noah's Ark playroom at our church. It's a big playroom filled with fun activity centers, a little (two-story!) play house and a big jungle gym type thingy. Everything in there was age appropriate and even the fake rock walls were soft and squishy in case anyone should fall down. I thought for sure she would love the chance to run free and play with out being strapped into a stroller.

When we got there I saw that it was much more crowded than we had anticipated, probably due to the cold weather. But all of the kids seemed to be about Anna's age and I thought she would still have fun. Her little buddy Kendall ran right into the room laughing and playing but Anna sort of hung back and then slowly walked around checking things out. Then she would walk a little, but run back to where Ashley and I were. Next she just stood holding onto my pant legs. And finally she would take about three steps and go into a very dramatic swoon as she fell to the floor crying into the carpet. Even the other moms were laughing at how dramatic and slow-motion her fits were. I tried to give her a chance to get up on her own, but then she would just look so sad and other moms would look at her like, "Where is your mother?". So after a while we left and had lunch where she could feel happy and secure munching away on her old favorite, a banana.

I guess I forget that she isn't normally in a large group setting and she may need a little time to warm up to so many kids and so much activity. I think we will try again and I'm hoping next time will bring more playing and less nose blowing on the carpet.

Monday, January 08, 2007

Practice makes perfect

Even though Anna has no idea how Noodle will change her life, every day we see signs that she is gearing up for her role as Big Sister Extraordinaire. Lately you can ask her if she wants to make any of her toys a baby and she gets very excited. This morning when I walked into her room she handed me her Elmo doll so I made him into a "Baby Momo" for her. It's so funny to see how differently she treats her toys when they are wrapped in a blanket. She's very gentle with them and she's very careful with how she handles them. They almost never get thrown to the floor! Even though she's still a baby herself, it's awful cute to watch her "baby" something else. We think Noodle is going to be one lucky baby brother.

Saturday, January 06, 2007

Happy Sad Girl

Yesterday Anna got to play with her new color wonder markers for the first time. If you don't have children, let me tell you these are a wonderful invention. They are markers that only mark on a special paper. That means there's no worries about getting marker on clothing, walls, furniture, etc. The only downside is that when you draw on the special paper, it takes about 3 seconds for the lines to appear. This was way too long to wait for Anna, so the coloring wasn't such a hit with her. However, the fact that the marker tops came on and off was very exciting. Her crayons don't do anything like that! So she spent most of our art time taking the tops off and putting them back on. At one point she put the wrong color top on one of the markers. I was pretty impressed when she looked at the top, looked and the marker, made a confused face, and then switched them around until they all had their matching tops.

Rae Rae and Baxter appreciate fine art

On a sad note, this little sprout is not all better like we thought she was :( She went about two days without getting sick, but this morning she woke up very sad in a very messy bed. Whatever this virus is, it seems to be just like last time where it comes and goes for a few days. Hope it goes for good very soon!

Monday, January 01, 2007

Happy New Year....sort of

We had a great New Years Eve hanging out with family, eating yummy food, and talking all night long. Anna slept a little in her pack and play, but woke up crying just in time to celebrate the new year with us (and Rae Rae of course).

But today has been a less happy day for our little sprout. Ever since breakfast she has been unable to keep food in her tummy for more than a few minutes. She's very droopy and sad and she's sleeping more than she's awake. We hope it's just a 24 hour virus so that she can be back to her old self soon. She may not look too excited, but she wishes you all a happy 2007!

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