What A Year

This year has gone by so fast.  It’s been a year of firsts. First steps, first day of preschool, first works of art, first face painting, first parade, etc. It amazing how much Annabelle has changed in one short year. 

Annabelle was a cute Lady Bug for Halloween.  We took her trick or treating at the “Boo at the Zoo.”  She got a lot of candy that Daddy enjoyed eating. 

Annabelle, so cute wearing Daddy’s hat.

Annabelle’s favorite word lately has been Snow!  She loves to say the word snow but refuses to touch it and just wanted to stay by the front door when I took her out to play in it.  Someday I’m sure she’ll change her mind. 

For Thanksgiving we went to Kansas to visit the Sargent side of the family.  The farm across the street had 2 camels and a zebra.  I know, weird huh!  Annabelle loved them as long as someone was holding her and was a least 5 feet away from them. 

We had a very special Christmas this year.  It was a very rare white Christmas and Annabelle had some fun news to share with everyone.  You’ll have to read her shirt though. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  It’s going to be an exciting 2013.

What a fun summer!

Annabelle has learned a lot of new words.  Her new favorite for about a month now is Hi.  It’s really cute when she wakes up in the morning and all you here is, Hi…Hi………HI…….hi…..Hi……..Dada, Hi!  

We took Annabelle to get her 18 month pictures taken but she didn’t want to smile for the camera.  Every time we put her in front of the back drop she would start to cry.  As soon as we would walk away, she was fine.  The only good pictures we got were with her sitting on my lap.  Too bad she wouldn’t give us one of her pretty smiles.

As soon as we got home from our photo shoot and I got my camera out, it was all smiles.  She can be such a little stinker.     

We’ve been to the Zoo several times now.  I think she’s starting to take more of an interest in the animals at the Zoo and not just all the people.  She loves to observe people.  I wonder what she thinks sometimes.  The birds are still her favorite since they move around more than some of the other animals and seem to get her attention.  Here’s my sweet girl playing in a log at the Zoo. 

Annabelle loves to climb on stuff.  She will bring a chair, stool or whatever she can find and will use it as stairs to climb onto anything Mom and Dad have said are off limits.  This is Annabelle climbing onto one of her toys.  Silly girl!

We stayed the weekend in Estes Park for Labor Day and Annabelle had a great time.  They had a little park with a swing she liked and lots of horses and ponies that Annabelle liked to look at but not touch.  She even saw a bear in the river right next to our cabin.  I think out of everything she had to do there though, collecting rocks off the road was her favorite thing to do.  My Great Grandma Annabelle was a rock collector as well.  I guess she inherited more than just her name.  

In a couple weeks Annabelle will be walking and/or wagon riding in her 2^nd Alzheimer’s Walk.  This year she has her own personal page to raise money.  If you would like to donate to Annabelle’s page you can go to

http://act.alz.org/site/TR?px=6810789&pg=personal&fr_id=1362&et=CFILkTLx2xI6JJRILUavUA&s_tafId=7585

Hope you all had a great summer!

Not a Baby Anymore

It’s been a couple months since our last blog post.  Since then a lot has happened.  Annabelle caught her first illness right before Easter.  She got Roseola but we were lucky that her fever broke and her rash mostly went away by Easter. She wasn’t contagious to adults and older kids so we were still able to see Grammy and went to Aunt Shells for supper.  So overall it was a good Easter. 

We’ve been on the lookout for a toddler friendly bracelet and her Great Uncle Jeffrey found one and sent it to her.  It went perfect with her outfit for her friend Lillia’s fancy tea party.  If only I could get her to remove her sunglasses.  She insisted we keep them on. 

See how proper she is!  She even holds out her pinky.

Annabelle started school 2 days a week last month.  We enrolled her into a good preschool where she can start working on her socialization skills.  Every day they have art, music, indoor gym and 2 outdoor play times.  When she’s a little older they’ll start teaching a second language, baby yoga and she can enroll in dance there.  This summer they have what they call water days one day a week.  The kids come to school in their swimsuits and play in the sprinkles, baby pools and water tables.  So far she loves it!  She doesn’t even cry when we leave her there.  She just waves goodbye.   This is Annabelle playing on her first day of school when we came to pick her up.

Of course as soon as she started school, she got her first cold.  That was no fun!  Her hair is now getting long enough where we can start to do something with it.  Or should I say, have to do something with it.  It drives me nuts when her hair is in her face.

Her new word lately is Tickle.  She loves to tickle and to be tickled.  She has also said down, usually as we are walking down the stairs.  She has several new teeth and is working on another.  She is growing up so fast!  When we look at her now we think, “She’s not a baby anymore.”   Now she’s an official toddler.  It's a lot of fun watching as her personality comes out and she becomes a little person.    

March 2012

Annabelle now loves to go for rides in the tricycle we got her for her Birthday.  At first, she only liked to ride it in the house.  But after a few tries outside, she now loves to ride it around the neighborhood.

Annabelle got a family membership to the Zoo for her Birthday.  We can now take her whenever we feel like going.  Daddy, Grammy and YaYa were the first ones to take her.  I thought her favorite part would be the monkeys but I’m told her favorite part was the birds.  I wonder if she understands that she doesn’t have to go to a Zoo to see birds? 

In some ways Annabelle is a little tom boy.  She loves to play with trucks, trains and to go outside and get dirty! 

In other ways she’s a little fashion diva.  She loves to wear hats, shoes, sunglasses and even likes to use links as bracelets and gets mad if you try to take one off.  I’m on the lookout for a little tiny bracelet that she can wear all day and is toddler safe.  If anyone knows where I can get one of those, let me know.

Annabelle is becoming a pro eater now.  She loves strawberries, peas, scrambled eggs, cheese sandwiches, and Daddy now has her addicted to macaroni and cheese since he let her have some of his.  She’s even had spaghetti.  

She also likes to climb into things.  One day Mason found her sitting in her drum.  Another day I found her in one of her toy bins. 

Her most favorite thing to do though is go to the park.  She also doesn’t seem to mind when Daddy picks out her clothes.

Oh, there is one last thing she started doing now….

 

 

1 Year

It’s crazy to think that one year ago we brought home this tiny little peanut that just slept, cried, spit up and pooped.  Now we have this little girl that is 98% of the time smiling, laughing and is far from being a baby.  It’s amazing how fast it goes by and how much they change in such a small amount of time. 

We had a small party for Annabelle on her Birthday.  Since she loves dogs so much, we made it a dog theme.  I think she really liked it.  She got a new tricycle for her Birthday.  So far she only likes to ride it inside.  As soon as we take her outside in it, she starts to fuss.  I’m not sure if it’s the bike or if maybe she doesn’t like the chill in the air. 

Annabelle took her second plane ride a week before her birthday.  We bought a seat for her this time hoping it would be easier.  She did better on the flight there than the flight home. On the way home she just wanted to sit on my lap the whole time and take the booklets out of the seat pocket in front of us and throw them on the floor.  At one point she threw one at the lady across from us.  That was the end of that.  How embarrassing!  Luckily the lady was very forgiving and didn’t seem too annoyed.   

We have moved past the 1 stair mark.  She can now zip up the stairs!  We now need to make sure we don’t forget to latch the gate.  We’ve been working with her on how to get down the stairs by turning around and going down on her belly.  She does pretty well until she gets inpatient and tries to turn around and go down head first.  Hopefully she’ll catch on quickly. 

Her second tooth popped through her gums the day before her birthday.  Luckily she hasn’t been too cranky while cutting her teeth.  Hopefully it will stay that way.

She’s not walking on her own yet.  As soon as you let go for her to try and walk, she gets scared and slowly lowers herself to the ground to crawl.  She does really good zooming around as long as she has something to hold on to. 

Here’s other pics from the last month.  Enjoy! 

11 Months Old

You will never guess what showed up for Annabelle on Christmas Eve.  Her first tooth popped through her gums!  She’s still working on getting it to come in all the way, but it’s on its way there.  I guess she got her Christmas wish after all.  

Speaking of Christmas, Annabelle got sooooo many gifts.  We can’t even walk through our living room without stepping or tripping over a toy.  I’ve decided to hide a few and will rotate them out so she doesn’t have too many out at one time.  That seems to be working pretty good so far.  It’s even helped to keep her occupied while I’m logged in for work.  When she gets antsy, I pull out a toy she hasn’t played with and she’s occupied for a little while.  I don’t think I can fit anymore though, so we’re hoping she won’t get any for her Birthday.  (Hint…Hint…Grandma’s and Grandpa) 

She’s getting pretty good at standing without holding on to anything for several seconds before she gets scared and grabs onto something or sits down.  She also walks pretty well along stuff.  I’m thinking she’ll probably be walking by her Birthday.  I’ve been wrong before, so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. She’s also really good at helping Daddy with her diaper laundry.

Do you think she’ll be a drummer when she grows up?

Or maybe she’ll be a train conductor?

She has also climbed her first stair.  That’s all she did though, was one stair.  This little girl has no fear and I'm picturing a tumble in the future.  We have baby gates up, but I’m sure a tumble will come at some point.  I just hope it’s not a bad one. 

That’s all for now.  We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a safe and happy New Year!

In Loving Memory of Grandpa Steve

As many of you know, Mason’s Dad had a stroke after Thanksgiving and was in a rehab center until he passed a few days before Christmas. This post is special, just for Annabelle.

Annabelle, you probably won’t remember your Grandpa Steve, but we want you to know how much he loved you!  The day you were born, he was one of the first visitors to come see you.  We didn’t even have a chance to call anyone and let them know you were here.  He was already at the hospital ready to see you before Mommy was even taken to the recovery room. 

He made sure to come see you at least once (if not a couple times) each week.  He was convinced your favorite color was red and even bought you a little hat he found in the store, just because it was red and he was sure you would like it.  He also enjoyed getting down on the floor with you and helping you play with your toys. 

Every time he saw you, he lit up.  You made him so very happy and he was so proud to be your Grandpa.

In Loving Memory of Grandpa Steve.