Anna at 15 Months

Things Anna is doing:

-Trying to say quite a few words (and generally knowing what she's referring to when she says them)... some of her new words are:

toy= "doy"

snack= "nack"
uh-oh

shoe= "choo"

water= "wa-wa"
duck

banana= "anana"

Bible= "bie-ba"

(along with the words she has been previously saying such as mama, dada, bow, ball, book, bird, woah, wow)

-Consistently doing sign language for "all done", "more", "eat", and sometimes "thank you".

-When Anna hears the garage door, she now starts saying "dada", unprompted... she knows that means he's home.

-Walking pretty well, and pretty fast... we moved her up to the "walkers" class at church.

-The open dishwasher and the open refrigerator are like a magnet to Anna... she comes quickly out of nowhere to start climbing in.

-Still very interested in books.  She would like you to read to her all day long, if possible.  She's much more interested in books than toys.

-Able to point to her ears, hair, head and mouth.  We're still working on the nose.

-She likes to pat her belly (she learned this from her Grandma, who also likes to pat Anna's belly).

Anna's hand kept finding its way to Matthew's head, in several different photos.

Anna at 14 Months

Things Anna is doing:
-Repeating several words when she hears them, such as "uh-oh" and "Dora" (although she usually won't to show off)
-Able to identify and say (when she wants to) bow, bird, book.
-She can do sign language for "all done" and "more".
-When you ask Anna where her ears are, she can grab them, or their general vicinity.
-When you ask her how old she is, she can sometimes hold up a "1".
-Walking!  Still kind of unsteady, but getting better all the time.  This serves her well, because now she can carry around her books with a lot more ease (compared to crawling).
-Anna will toddle into her room, reach through the crib rails to grab her blanket (at this point it can either her purple one or yellow one).  She likes to carry it with her through the house.
-More engaged in books... we seem to spend quite a bit of the day reading books together.  She knows where to reach for the "touch and feel" component of her books.  She's also now into books with lift-a-flaps.
-She was just introduced to Spaghetti-O's by her Grandma, and she loves them... she would like to eat a whole can, if she could.  Same goes for mandarin oranges.  And she would like to eat a whole lot more banana than is probably healthy for a 22 lb. person.

Fun at the sprayground.

Anna attended the Mizzou vs Toledo game on a 98 degree day.

Apple-picking to benefit the Food Bank.

Anna enjoys playing with our ladybug and bumble-bee yard decorations.

Anna at 13 Months

Anna's stats (belated 1-year-old doctor's appointment):

Height= 29 inches;  50th percentile

Weight= 21 lbs, 8 oz;  60th percentile

Head circumference= 46 inches;  75th percentile

Tooth count=  still 4

Things Anna is saying: 

-Anna (aka annana, nanna, or anna);  Mama, Dada,  duck-a-yuck-a-duck,  a lot of various other made-up words/sentences

-She's repeated me saying "bird, bow, and la-la-la"

Things Anna likes:

-Going outside.. she will crawl to the door, look at you, and if you don't understand and take her outside, she will fuss.  She especially enjoys crawling around on the rocks in front of our house, and picking them up one at a time to examine them.

-Being read to...  She can now bring a book to you (crawl, clunk, crawl, clunk, crawl, clunk) and then thrust it towards your face, while making direct eye contact.  Her favorite books to read are those with a touch-and-feel component, and without very many words per page.  Anna enjoys turning the pages herself.  She also prefers to read the same book approximately 10 times, and will keep picking it back up and giving it to you.

-Being tossed up into the air, and caught :)

-The pat-a-cake song.. she enjoys being able to clap along

Other information

-Anna is adding a different waving technique... opening and closing her hand..

-She is now waving hello (not just to wave).

-Nursing has been discontinued.  It seems like she has a lactose intolerance (only when drinking milk, not with cheese, etc.), so we are currently giving her soy milk.

-Taking her first steps... at 13 months and 1 week, Anna is now taking up to 5 little steps at a time.  She currently thinks that walking involves clapping... this is because any time she is walking, we are clapping, so she claps too.

Anna sat on a horse for the first time.

Anna cuddling with her Grandpa at the parade.

Watching the parade at the Cheyenne, WY Frontier Days (outfits made by their Grandma)

Anna playing with her friend Ayla.

At the St Louis Zoo

Anna at 1 Year!

Information about Anna at 1 year:

-Teeth count= still 4.  She has been drooling more and biting things lately, so I think she is working on some more.  Her top two front teeth are coming in with a big gap in between... so cute!

-Starting now, Anna is going to be gradually transitioning to cow's milk... I'm just planning to switch out one feeding every couple of weeks.  A little sad, but her teething/biting is a good incentive, lol.

-Anna is generally sleeping through the night (11 hours), after some successful sleep training :)

-So far, we haven't been as successful with eliminating her daytime finger-sucking, although this is still a work in progress.

-Anna is starting to do high-fives.  She likes to do approximately 10 to 20 in a row.

-Anna is "cruising" along different surfaces, and can stay standing for a little bit after letting go.

-She is now waving!  This is a fun new development :)

-We have colorful refrigerator number magnets where Anna can reach, and Anna has a favorite-- the number 1.  She will choose it almost every time, and will carry it with her when crawling around.  Another thing she likes to carry around these days, is her little laughing stuffed caterpillar.

-Anna is climbing.  She can climb up onto our fireplace, and also climbed out of our jogging stroller (when it was stopped)... I will be strapping her in from now on!

-Anna enjoys snuggling up to stuffed animals, blankets or pillows.  She cuddles up with the purple blanket her Grandma Burkle knitted for her, at night.

-Anna is without a doubt associating "ma-ma" with me and "da-da" with Ryan.

-She got to celebrate her birthday with three different celebrations and three different cupcakes.  Turns out, she LOVES cupcakes!

 

Celebrating Anna's birthday

                    

Opening presents!

 

Showing how she can wave...

 

Biking on the MKT trail



Fourth of July Parade



Cruising...

Climbing...

 .

Anna giving high-fives

Anna showing off her two front teeth!

 

Anna makes special efforts to seek out the #1 off of the fridge, and then carries it around with her.

 



 Cupcakes #1, #2 and #3!


 

Before...

After...

Anna loves cupcakes!





Anna at 11 Months

Things Anna is doing...

-Clapping (she's figured out how to logistically, but not yet put it with being happy).

-"Dancing" to fast paced music (bobbing her head and body)

-Pointing

-Shaking her head "no"-- then Ryan and I shake our heads "yes" and then she laughs and keeps shaking her head "no".

-Getting up at least once at night... our parent's as teachers representative told us that at her age, she doesn't have to eat at night... so we are starting another round of sleep training.  She also said that now is a good time to try to break the finger-sucking-for-comfort habit (and that it will only get harder to change it later).

-Crawling!  We installed the outlet protectors and the top-of-the-stairs baby gait in a hurry.  She is also easily pulling herself up on everything, and is occasionally climbing up onto a raised surface (fireplace, etc).  It is endearing that she chooses to crawl to you, now that she has a choice.

-With her new mobility, she can now better choose how she would like to sleep... a lot of times it is on her stomach with her bottom stuck up in the air. :)

-Eating most solid foods-- her favorites are currently blueberries and pasta, and would like to eat a lot more of them than is healthy, probably.

 

How Anna now chooses to sleep...

 

 

 

These growth photos are getting a little harder all of the time, lol :)