Anecdotally Anna

Anna (at almost 14 mos. now) has a few things, antics, and tendencies about her that crack me up, steal my heart, and/or really dance around on my last nerves lately. Any which way she goes though, it's all in day's work for the girl.

Some pieces and notes about our days with Anna:

- Anna's recent and first favorite book is a bath book called Busy Bath, that we don't ever use in the bath actually. Also, she really digs a touch-and-feel alphabet book called B is for Bear and a Disney babies book called Simba and Nala at Play.

- She never got cradle cap or went through a drooling stage...until now. We have been suffering with her through both for weeks - with no end in sight yet.

- She goes from sitting to standing on leg power alone. She does not use her arms to get up and this always draws a surprised and impressed comment or two.

- She will request (by finger point): a banana - and then eat only half; bubbles - and then pay no attention to them; her pooh ride-on toy - and then abandon it once she pushes it 2 feet.

- She does this thing where she hunches her shoulders inward and forward, splays her arms out behind her, and then hurries forward. She looks a little, no - a LOT - like an albatross trying to take off.

- She is our resident small-scale moving company. At every possible turn, she picks up and walks around with and then relocates both of Noah's step stools or pushes the slide in his room to the opposite corner.

- She give kisses by planting her open mouth on your cheek or mouth. If you let her linger, you'll get a little tongue, too. Yecth!

- She has turned into a real purse-lover. She has this little black one my parents gave her that is just her size and she recently discovered how to put things in it (plastic coins, a ball, or her red beanbag) and then take them out again. When she puts it on her arm or over her shoulder, she grins her toothy grin and raises that arm into the air to keep it in place while she walks to another spot to empty and reload it again. Uh-dorable.

- She has welcomed having her teeth brushed. In fact, a toothbrush is a real relief for her to chew on when her gums ache. The only drawback is that she drools in triple-time then and I have to change her shirt. And I fret and fret that she is going to fall down with that thing in her mouth.

- She also welcomes having her hair brushed. She brings her brush to me to brush it and then she wants it back to brush herself. Problem is, she uses the hard side and when I try to correct her hand position, she clenches it in her fist and screams like I am taking it away. And then I crack up laughing. So she does, too. And that is my open window to finagle it to the right direction in her hand. By then she has lost interest and I get to brush her hair again myself. Which is good - because that flaky cradle cap she has is driving me bonkers!

- She can be relied upon to start her own round of applause and say "Yaaaaaaaay!". And she expects you to join in. Usually after she has climbed up the slide in Noah's room, or when she has followed a direction successfully, or when she is praised.

- She will stand there and dramatically cover her wide-open mouth with her wide-open hand and squeeze her eyes shut and cry and cry and cry...and then open the eyes to see if you are watching, and if you are, she goes on some more. Steal. My. Heart with the full-sized drama on a pint-sized frame. Still not gonna give in to your tantrums, little girl, but I will give you full credit for trying...and for cuteness.

- She is OBSESSED with the tags in her shirts, tagless shirts included. They drive her crazy and she constantly pulls and yanks on them. I tried and tried to not have to start cutting them out for her (for consigning purposes later) but in the end her sanity was more valuable. Ironically, now she will pull and fret over what I can only surmise are phantom tags. They aren't there anymore, and yet she still will not relent!

- She is committed to having her shoes on as often as possible. And once she has them on, she is committed to making sure the rest of us do, too. She will bring us our shoes and socks one at a time if she has to. And the times when she does not have her shoes on, she is also satisfied to carry them around and chew on them ... which I am not too keen on.

- She enjoys digging through the Tupperware cabinet. She has also re-inspired Noah to do the same with her.

- She can't resist knocking down any sort of tower that Josh or Noah build. She rushes over, swishes her hands in and over said building projects, and makes this gleeful squeal-gurgle sound.

- She will color for longer than Noah.

- She loves getting a bath.

- She can understand and respond to/obey the following:
Take it to Daddy/Mommy.
Go put it in the trash.
No!
Are you hungry?
What do you want?
Do you want to go upstairs/outside?
Let's go to Noah's room.
Get down.
Where's your milk?
Come here.
Are you tired?
Did you poopy?
Let's change your diaper.
Are you done?
Give me kisses.
Go get (fill-in-the-blank).

And in true Anna fashion, she still cries a lot. Thankfully, she smiles and laughs a lot more, too.