The 14 Month Anna

It has been so long since I have updated Anna's web journal. We have all been so busy lately. Shortly after Anna's one year birthday we moved into a house up the road from our old apartment. It is great because we now have a yard for our sweet Anna to run around in.

Anna's first birthday was a lot of fun. Her grandparent's from both sides came to visit her. We got her a big Costco cake, which she loved after she knew what it was for. The evening of her first birthday we took her swimming for the first time in the hotel pool, she loved it. We have a little fish on our hands, she could have stayed in the water all night. It always gives me such joy to see her happy and doing things she loves.

She has developed a lot since my last update. She started walking well at 13 months, at about a year she was practicing, but she perfected it around 13 months. She can now say Mama and Dada, although she doesn't say it much. For the last month or so taking her into a store has been a nightmare. She will sit in the buggy for about 5 minutes, then she decides she wants out and screams so loud. I have to take her out and carry her while pushing the cart around, it is not easy. I would just leave her in there and let her cry it out so she realizes the screaming will not get her what she wants, but it is way too embarrassing as everyone stares.

In the last couple months I have taken Anna to The Children's Museum and she loves it. It is so cute watching her interact with the other kiddos. I have to pull her away from all the exhibits so she can get to all of them. I am thinking of getting her a membership for her second birthday.

Anna's weight is still too low. When I took her for her 1 year well visit she weighed almost 17 pounds which puts her in the 3rd percentile. She has also became a very picky eater which makes things really challenging. I have been adding carnation instant breakfast to her whole milk to give her essential vitamins and extra calories. I am crossing my fingers she will gain more weight by her next appointment in mid August.

We had to take Anna to the emergency room about a month ago because Andy was on call and I was home alone with her on a Sunday. She was running a fever of 103 and crying non stop. Tylenol and Ibuprofen would not break her fever so I called her pediatrician and she told me to take her into the ER. I took her to the hospital Andy was on call at and he got to stay with us b/c things were slower at the hospital. They ruled out everything except a bladder infection and wanted her to stay there till she urinated to test her urine. We went in at 8pm and didn't leave until 12:30 a.m. They said she mostly likely has a bladder infection and gave her penicillin. It was a draining night to say the least.

Anna is now into cartoons. It is so cute watching her get excited when she sees animals on the t.v. The girl is such an animal lover.

Anna at Ten Months

Anna is almost eleven months, I can't believe she will be a year old in almost a month. She will be a toddler, it seems like I have had an infant no time, soon she will be a toddler. I am sure she will be walking in no time. She has been pulling up on everything for about a month now. She is very hard to keep up with, constantly on the go. She is now experiementing with standing with out support; however, it isn't working for her yet. I am sure she will be walking in no time and boy will I have my hands full.

She loves popsicles with a passion. Everytime we have one her eyes light up and she comes to us sticking her tongue out. It is getting much harder getting her to eat her other baby food. she doesn't seem as interested in that, she smacks it out of my hands when she is done and it goes everywhere.

When we are in public she loves seeing other kids. Every time another kid goes by she gets a huge smile that crinkles her face and she shouts out little noises of excitement. She is a very social baby, I hope she stays that way. When she is in her stroller she is so cute she loves to sit straight up and check everything that is going on, she doesn't want to miss a thing.

She is still a tiny one. Her pants size is much smaller than her shirt, I have had a hard time getting her to gain weight like the pediatrician recommends. She looks and acts very healthy so I am not too concerned.

Andy's 29th Birthday

Anna loving her first taste of cake.

Anna and her Dad dancing, so sweet.

Anna squinting as her daddy blows out the candles.

Today Andy turned 29, time is going way too fast. Andy didn't want to do much for his birthday, I finally convinced him to at least go out for dinner. We went to the Fox and Hound Pub, then came home and had some cake. We gave Anna some and she loved it.

Anna has learned to knock down barriers we have set up for her, she is getting too smart. I have been feeding her foods that are a little thicker than she is used to and it hasn't been a problem so far. She still wont sit up on her own, she knows how to, she has done it before, she would rather crawl and move around. She is now taking baths in the big bath tub, which she like, she did a lot of splashing around and played with her toys. She has not been sleeping good through the night the last couple weeks, she wakes up at least 2 times a night and eats during one of them. She also likes to wake up for the day pretty early in the morning. She has been trying to play with Newton, she sees her daddy playing with Newton with her bib, today she has been taking the bib and waving it in front of his face laughing, it is so cute.

The Clapper

Our cute little Anna now knows how to clap. It is so cute hearing her little hands hit making a tiny little sound, she loves to do it. She woke up at 3 a.m. one morning clapping. She isn't sitting up yet, I have been trying to teach her and she doesn't want to learn she likes to move too much, she doesn't see the point of sitting still, there is so many other things for her to do.

Secret Life of Bees

This book is a must read I loved it. I can't wait to see the movie now, I just hope the book does not put it to shame. It is very sad a touching, thanks mom for recommending it and getting it for me, I hope you like it Meg.

Christmas with the Van Brocklin Family

My poor sick Anna with her cold, I hate seeing her sick

Anna and her grandma Van Brocklin and Daddy (this pic came out blury for some reason

Anna and her grandpa Van Brocklin

Anna and her great grandma O'Brien

We just got back from Wisconsin on Monday, we celebrated Christmas with the Van Brocklin family and had alot of fun. Anna enjoyed opening and playing with all her toys, she also liked interacting with Andy's Aunt and Uncles dog Rosco, as well as the other children on Christmas. There was quit a bit of snow the first few days but it got better as the days went by, except for lingering fog that made driving home one night from a fish fry really challenging for his parents since the visibilty was only around a foot. Anna was such a champ at travel, we were afraid she would get fussy but she didn't.

We got into Wisconsin at about 11 p.m., our flight was delayed two hours because they had to shut the Milwaukee airport down for a couple hours due to the weather. On Tuesday we spent Christmas Eve with Anna's great Grandma Van Brocklin, she cooked us a wonderful dinner and we exchanged gifts. On Christmas Andy's parents had the whole family over and we ate, exchanged gifts and went downstairs to the bar for some drinks. Friday we went to Kopps (Andy's favorite restaurant b/c of their custards), then we went to a fish fry that night. Saturday Andy's parent's babysitted Anna while we went and saw the movie Yes Man, it was a cute movie and we were glad to get out and see a movie which we do not get to do much, when we got back we found out our poor Anna had a cold :(. Sunday we watched football and then ordered pizza that night. It is so funny because Anna slept in her pack and play so good there but does not sleep as well at home, it takes a lot longer for her to fall asleep at home than it does for her to fall asleep there, it took her 5 minutes there, I was amazed. Anna's cold is finally starting to clear up, I hope mine will clear up soon.

I wanted to post a pic with Anna and her Aunt Tracy and great grandma Van Brocklin but those pics are on a seperate video card that I am a having a hard time uploading.

Anna Bullying Kelsey

Back From Virginia

We got back from Virginia on Sunday, we went to celebrate an eary Christmas with them. I had so much fun but time flew away too quickly as I expected it would. Anna had fun too, she loved all the attention and toys she got. Here are some pics from pur visit. Andy would not let me post all of them because he didn't want anyone to see her Christmas dress she will be wearing to Wisconsin for the Van Brocklin family visit. A couple of the pics were when we got back. She is wearing the cute shirt her Aunt Megan got her.