11 Months

Here's our little girl at 11 months. I can't believe it's been almost a year since Anna was born. I'll probably be saying that a lot this month! She has six teeth and two more breaking through on top. She's getting more and more curious - especially about anything behind closed doors or drawers. She's also cruising around the furniture and using her little walker - practicing for the big day.

January was our breakthrough month in terms of sleeping through the night. So far we've had 31 days of Anna sleeping from 6:30pm to 7:30am - but who's counting? Ahh...I almost forgot what it was like to get so much sleep!

beets

Anna recently decided it's more fun to play with your food than eat it. Coincidentally, it was the same night we introduced beets. What a mess!

sump pumps

To be honest, I didn't even know what a sump pump was before we moved into this house.  But after this past weekend I can fully appreciate what they do and especially what they don't do when your power is out!  We were without power for almost two days and our back room flooded.  Just when we thought the whole living room was about to go under we got a generator - the last one in town - and the sump pumps kicked in.  Thank goodness.  

We managed to have a good time despite the circumstances.  Our friends came over and we played games and drank beer by candlelight.  What else is there to do when the power is out? 

 

Always exciting living in a flood plain...

Yikes!

Anna managed to stay warm.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! It's hard to believe the holiday season has already come and gone. It's even harder to believe that Anna will be 10 months old in a few days. Where did the time go?

We spent Anna's first Christmas up in Truckee this year along with my parents, Emily, Ben, and their cats (who Anna is obsessed with!). The weather was perfectly snowy and sunny and a good time was had by all. Anna was more interested in the wrapping paper than any of her gifts but we kind of expected that! She's becoming more and more active these days and definitely keeping us busy. Her little legs are getting so strong and she's loves to pull herself up into a standing position whenever she can. We've heard her say "ma" and "mama" a lot lately and I'm pretty sure it's only when I'm in the room - or maybe that's just wishful thinking!

Anna taking her sled for a spin!

Modeling her new outfit from Grandma J

Reading with Daddy

Snuggling with Giraffe

First Crawl

Here's a clip of Anna crawling for the first time. It happened a couple weeks ago during "diaper free time" when I think she was feeling a little less encumbered.

Thanksgiving

Wow, so much to talk about! The past couple weeks have been very eventful. First, Anna started crawling a few days before Thanksgiving - finally! [video to follow as soon as I figure out how to edit on our new computer] Her first attempts were kind of shaky but she's now crawling around the house and exploring like an old pro.

We celebrated Anna's first Thanksgiving here at our house with Grandma J, Jack, Emily, and Ben. Anna loved all the attention from Grandma J and was happy to show off her new crawling skills! Here are a couple pictures:



A few days after Grandma J went home we hopped on a plane for Casey's wedding in East Lansing (one of Todd's buddies from high school). Anna did really well on the plane rides but didn't sleep very much so Todd and I were busy keeping her entertained. We stayed with the McKay's whose two little girls, Georgia and Ruby, were gracious enough to share all of their fun "big girl" toys. Anna loved watching the girls! I can't wait until she's a little bit older and can interact with them more. Sadly, we didn't take a single picture while were there but we did take home some fun memories.

Anna's nine month check-up was yesterday. She's in perfect health and is now a little over 21 lbs and 29 inches tall. Her top two teeth are just visible beneath the surface so I'm sure they'll be popping through any day now.

Swingin'

First Halloween

Yesterday we went to a Halloween playdate in the city. It was hilarious! I have to say that Anna's costume definitely stood out among the dogs, cows, and pumpkins we saw. Originally we were going to go trick-or-treating with Glenn, Shannon, and Ella but realized Anna's 6:30 bedtime would make that impossible so we stayed home and passed out candy instead. Here are some pictures of our little goldfish...

Weekend with Nana & Papa + Yosemite

When my parents were in town they watched Anna for the weekend while Todd and I went away for our friends' wedding (Congratulations AV and Sonia!). I hadn't been away from Anna for more than a few hours, let alone two days, so I was pretty freaked out about it. I knew it was going to be harder on me than Anna and I literally had to run out of the house after saying goodbye so she wouldn't see me crying. The first night was definitely the hardest, but by the second day we were both starting to relax. She was totally fine! My mom and dad sent constant updates and pictures to my cell phone which was a huge help. I feel like I say this all the time, but what did we do before cell phones?!

We got back on Sunday and then the five of us left Monday morning for a quick trip to Yosemite. It was gorgeous this time of year with the fall colors and diminishing crowds. Anna did really well during the day and was totally mesmerized by the surroundings. The nights were kind of a different story. I don't know if it was the hotel room, the altitude, or what, but she was up every one to two hours and nothing seemed to make her happy. Todd and I haven't had nights like that since she was two weeks old! I forgot what it felt like to be so tired.

It was a busy couple of weeks but so much fun. Now we have Thanksgiving to look forward to, which means a visit from Grandma J who hasn't seen Anna since she was three weeks old! I have a feeling she might be just a little bit excited to see her granddaughter :-)


Nana and Anna - happy to see eachother!



Hiking around Yosemite Falls



The spoon provided hours of entertainment at the Ahwahnee Lodge



Nana and Papa


Half Dome at sunset

Emily and Ben's other big news...

Okay, I've been dying to talk about this for weeks... Emily is pregnant! She's about 11 weeks and due on May 10th. I'm so happy! I'm excited for Anna to have a little cousin, but mostly I'm excited for Emily and Ben to go through the whole pregnancy and birth process. I think what happens once you have a baby is that you want all of your friends and family to go through the same joys because they are impossible to describe. Emily and Ben started their own blog "le petit croissant" to document the experience. Check it out!

Congratulations Emily and Ben!

I'm thrilled to say that Emily and Ben were married last Thursday, October 18th, at City Hall in San Francisco. Emily and Ben are pretty non-traditional so it was no surprise that they wanted a simple, civil ceremony to celebrate their vows. The sun came out after a week of rain and lit up the rotunda to create a setting that was absolutely stunning. We followed up the ceremony with a nice, long lunch filled with champagne and lots of laughs. We were so happy to be able to share in their special day.

ba ba ba ba ba

"Ba ba ba ba ba" is the constant chatter at the Youngs house these days. I love her little voice! Maybe someday soon "ba ba" will turn into "mama" or "dada?"

In other news, Anna's second tooth is already making an appearance, she just got over her first cold, and is now topping the scales at 20 lbs! She's not crawling yet but I have a feeling she's getting close because she's starting to pull her knees up underneath her.

Here are some recent pictures.

Playing with Natalie

Natalie loves Anna's bouncy seat!

Daddie's little girls

DFT = Diaper Free Time

Piano Practice

First tooth! This time I mean it...

Anna's first tooth has finally broken through! Now the past few weeks of fussiness and changing sleep patterns are starting to make more sense... or it could be a growth spurt, or the fact that she started solids, or the fact that she can sit up now and wants to do it all the time. I think I'm finally coming to terms with the fact that there is no "normal"at this point in her life. It's kind of liberating.

p.s. If you're a regular reader of the blog you might remember an earlier post on August 3rd in which I said the same thing - "first tooth!" Well, I tried to show my dad last month when he was in town and the tooth was gone! Our pediatrician thinks it was probably just a little cyst on her gums which is fairly common. I meant to post a retraction but never got around to it. This one is for real!

Sitting like a big girl

She likes it.

The introduction of solids was a success! After dumping half the bowl of rice cereal on her tray (lesson learned: don't put the bowl within her reach), Anna really seemed to enjoy her first meal. She opened up wide and grabbed the spoon as if she were ready to feed herself! I think she swallowed quite a bit even though it looks like she was wearing most of it. Here's a little video clip. Enjoy!

Six Months!

I can't believe Anna is already six months! She had her checkup this morning and she's now up to 19lbs 4oz and 27 1/2 inches long. Our pediatrician said Anna was "solid, not fat." Gotta love that. Speaking of solid, we're introducing solid foods this weekend. I think we'll start her off with tasty mix of rice cereal and breast milk. Doesn't sound very solid to me! I can't wait to see her reaction. We'll be sure to have the camera ready.
Here's a video of Anna in her new jumperoo. The thing is pretty ridiculous but she loves it!

babies, babies, babies!

More friends with babies - YAY! Our friends Julie and Tyler welcomed their baby girl Natalie into the world last Saturday and Will and Sarah welcomed their little Alexander into the world on the 8th. Everyone is healthy and happy. I'm so excited for them!

Anna meets Grandpa Ed and Grandma Carol!

Last week Anna finally got to meet her Grandpa Ed and Grandma Carol! We met them up in Truckee and had a fun weekend with perfect weather, lots of good food, and a fantastic meteor shower to top it all off.

Grandpa Ed holding Anna while we made breakfast. She was very content.
 

Anna is already trying to figure out how she can get Carol's visor in her mouth!
 

Looking very serious at Donner Lake.
 

Watch out - she's mobile! Anna scooted all the way under the couch on her back.
 

5 Months

 

Anna will be five months old on Monday. I can't believe how fast the time is going by! She loves to laugh and look at herself in the mirror. She screams a lot which then makes her laugh some more (and us too!) She can roll over from her back to stomach but hasn't quite mastered the stomach to back. She wants to put EVERYTHING in her mouth. She's not a big fan of the nap but is a pretty good sleeper at night - usually going to bed around 7:00, up at 4:00 for a feeding, and back to sleep until about 6:30 or 7:00. I can deal with that.
The most exciting development this week is her first tooth! It's coming in on the lower left-hand side. I think it might be one of those pointy guys. Usually it's more common for the two bottom teeth to come in first but I guess our little girl likes to be different.
You might also notice I've resorted to a short "mommy" cut. Guaranteed to keep little hands from pulling out your hair!