Sippy Cups and Suctions Bowls

Annalise has finally mastered her sippy cup. Also, the other night we decided to put some Cherrios in a suction cup bowl to see what she would do. After a few times of trying to pry it off the table, she gave up and sat and ate at the table like a big girl. It was really cute, but kinda sad for me at the same time. When did my little baby get so big????

Mixing up the O's

Munching away

"This one is for you Mommy!"

She did it!!

"Yeah, I'm awesome"

11 Months Old

I don't know where the time has gone, but our little Annalise is now 11 months old! I cannot believe that it is time to start planning her 1st birthday party! The main events of this past month were:
*Getting much better at standing and balancing on her own
*Cutting her top two front teeth (for a total of 4 teeth),
* Moving up to a front facing car seat
* Saying "Uh-Oh",
* Turning lights on and off at the switch
* Pointing to EVERYTHING
*Knowing the words light, Daddy, Mommy, nose, eye, cross, ball, fan, cracker, toys -- she oesn't say any of them yet, but if you ask her where those items are she will get them or point to them. She apparently thinks that only Mommy has eyes and a nose though because she will not point to them on anyone else.
*Trying to climb up things
* Becoming much more opinionated about things. When she doesn't want to do something she starts shaking her head back and forth and waving her hands and making a "Meh-Meh" sounds which I am sure will all too soon turn into "No".
*FINALLY holding a sippy cup (correctly without flinging it everywhere and trying to take it apart) and drinking from it on her own. We have been working on it since August and she was really showing no interest in holding it on her own, she expected everyone to hold her for her. I don't know by what miracle but on Friday she just decided to do it herself. When I saw her do it on Friday night, I swear I heard a faint Hallelujah chorus in the background......=)

Here are some pictures of what Anna has been up to lately.

Checking out her new Spongebob books
Thanks Aunt Emily!

Sitting in the entertainment center drawer which she is not allowed to do...left the room for a second and this is what I found. She was quite proud of herself.

Posing next to her favorite appliance, the dishwasher. She will come crawling from anywhere in the house when she hears one of us open it and gets very upset when we shut it.

Playing a tune on her piano

Playing basketball with cousins Samantha and Hannah

Pointing at her wonderful Halloween lights which are eyeballs. She really loves those things.

Hair Clips

As most babies with really light blonde, ok, "clear" hair, Annalise does not have much. BUT.....drum roll please........the other day I was able to get two different hair clips in her hair. She really was not thrilled, but I was. She did not try to take them out, but she just kept looking at me with the most annoyed look on her face =).

"Mommy, what did you just put in my hair?"

"Maybe if I just munch on my cracker and ignore this thing in my hair, Mommy will take it out."

"Please God, have Mommy take this thing out of my hair....."

Her prayer didn't work....I put in a bigger one =).

"I seriously HATE hair clips!"

Thank You For Being a Friend

When I was home with Anna after she was born, many times during the day I would have old Golden Girls reruns on as I was doing things around the house. I think the theme song has stuck in Anna's head because whenever I have the reruns on lately, she stops whatever she is doing when the theme song is playing and stares completely mesmerized until the song is over. Today she was being a little cranky when we were getting close to nap time so I started singing the theme song. Anna started smiling and bopping up and down. I guess she really likes the Golden Girls!

Expanding Your Husband's Diet =)

I have been making LOTS of new recipes for dinner lately. I am actually cooking my way through a pretty awesome cookbook. Anyway, I have actually gotten my red meat and potatoes eating husband, the man who thinks that the only vegetables are green beans and corn, to try many new things. Amazingly (I think he has been surprised too) he has really liked each thing I have made. Sometimes he still picks out some of the things, but I have gotten him to eat spinach when I made Turkey Florentine, carrots, peas, and lima beans when I made these yummy little things called Chicken Baskets, and tuna when I made Tuna Stuffed Tomatoes. There have been some other things that I was really surprised he ate, but by far the previous items were the most surprising. So the lesson here is, as long as you don't tell the eater what is in the food until it is served on the table in front of him, it is likely he will eat it!!!!!! Lesson learned!

10 Months Old

I can't believe it but Annalise turned 10 months old on the 22nd. She is busier than ever and always finds plenty of things to explore each day. We took her for her 9 month pictures (which are really her nine months and 3 weeks pictures) at Sears the other weekend and how different she was this time from the last! She was all over the place! As soon as the lady would get her where she wanted her, Anna would either move the prop or crawl away herself! The pictures turned out great though and I can't wait to pick them up on Friday.
Lets see....some specific things she has been up to.........
Here are 10 specifics in honor of her 10 month birthday:
1. Anna now crawls up on her knees some of the time. She still relies on her tried and true "army crawl" though for most of the time. She does creep a lot now and can make her way around the living room using the furniture. She uses her little cart too.
2. When she pulls herself up to a standing position, she has started letting go for a few seconds and seems pretty steady on her feet.
3. She loves to stand at the toy box in her room and take EVERY toy out, look at it, and toss it to the side to grab another toy. This continues until the box is empty. She thinks it is funny if you sit next to her and put the toys back in as she takes them out...especially if you use sound effects.
4. She has just started pointing at things and making a "eh eh" sound when she does it.
5. I think she might know what the work "cracker" means because when I ask her if she wants a cracker she looks at the cupboard where they are and makes her "eh eh" sound....don't know though if this has just been coincidental. She has done it a few times though.
6. I also think she might know where the phone belongs. This also might be coincidental but she did it two nights in a row. I was talking on the phone sitting on the floor with her. When I was finished talking I put the phone on the floor. Both times, Anna picked it up and held it toward the table where the phone charger sits and made her "eh eh" sound. Each time I picked her up and took her over to the charger and we put the phone in it and she smiled.
7. She has started what I call "playing with a purpose". She knows how some of her toys actually work and is entertained by some of them for a little while. Especially her Jungle Tree with the sliding animals.
8. She still LOVES to look at (and chew on) books.
9. I have been cutting fresh fruits and vegetables into small finger food sized pieces for her each night. She has loved every single one she has tried....don't know where she would get that from. She only has a mother who lives for eating fruits and veggies. I hope she continues to love them as much as I do. Other than graham crackers I hope to hold off on any other junk foods for a loooooooooooooooong time. Well, except ice cream after she is a year old. I mean, who can live without ice cream (her mommy's FAVORITE junk food).
10. She continues to be the most precious incredible gift we've ever received =).

Crawling on all fours

Still crawling

Decided to turn away from mommy....

Being under the kitchen bar is much more fun....

Wow...looking at these pictures makes me really realize how bad we need to replace the floor...hopefully next summer.....

Playing with her Jungle Tree. Right now this seems to be her favorite toy.

Still playing....like the pose??
Oh yeah, one other thing just popped into my head. Anna knows how to climb stairs. Since we live in a bi-level house, she never really has had access to the stairs. At the top they are gated and we don't spend much time downstairs unless it is winter when the wood stove is burning. Anyway, the other day I was in the computer room downstairs and Anna crawled into the hallway. I followed her and she went right over to the stairs. I wanted to see what she would do, so I stood behind her and she very methodically climb right up them without even stopping or looking back. She was so excited as she was doing it because she was squealing and laughing th whole time! One thing she still doesn't seem to have any interest in doing is drinking from a sippy cup by herself. She still waits for me to hold it for her..........I know she will do it in time though. It is not like she will be 30 and I will have to come to her house to give her a drink.....I hope =)......

Finally.......Some Teeth

After nine months, Annalise FINALLY has two teeth on the bottom.