Somersault

Throughout different points of the summer, I noticed Anna attempting to do a somersault. It made Dave and I a bit nervous as she goes down at a strange angle that looks uncomfortable if not dangerous for her little neck. When I saw her start, I would usually go and guide her through it trying not to discourage her but simply give her some pointers.

Well, the other night, we had been out all day and had just gotten home. We had spent most of the day at a pumpkin farm so we were all a little dirty and itchy from the muddy play area and hay ride. So we headed right upstairs for a bath. Anna followed us into our room and without any warning, did a perfect somersault!

It was getting late considering Anna hadn't had a nap and I wanted her to take a bath before bedtime, so I was feeling a little rushed. This took me right out of my goal-focused mind set and back into the moment. It was a really good feeling! Go Anna - my little gymnast!

Fashionista

Anna loves clothes. I tend to let her pick out her clothes in the morning as it's yet another way to get her to use words and increase her vocabulary and improve her articulation. I just bought her some new pants: pink, brown and striped. So I gave her a choice of one of these three. She chose the stripes - blue, red, green, yellow, pink stripes. Then I started pulling out solid colored shirts to go with the colors in the pants. None of these would do, however, as the same day I bought the new pants, Fava (Grandma) bought her a Halloween shirt - white and orange stripes with two black kitty cats (Anna loves kitty cats!). So she pulled this shirt out and requested it. I tried to sway her; even suggested she wear the brown pants (a little better) in place of the striped ones. But she wouldn't budge. So I took a deep breath, laughed and ran with it. She won't always want to dress this way, I hope! :-)

Luckily she didn't give me a hard time about what I chose for her to wear on Friday, which was picture day. According to her teacher, she thinks her school picture will come out well. I'll let you know. Here's hoping!

Anna picked out another doozy this morning - the striped pants again and another striped shirt - different from the Halloween shirt (she wore that yesterday). This one is brown, pink and dark pink. Oh, and pink socks! She wanted to wear a head band as well, but it kept falling out so we left that at home (she requested a yellow one, but she doesn't have a yellow head band so I'm not sure what she was thinking of!).

So if anyone needs any help picking out what to wear in the morning, give Anna a call; I'm sure she'll have some lovely suggestions! Well, original, anyway!

Stickers Part II

In my last posting I wrote how Anna was still having a hard time peeling stickers; well, not anymore! Ever since I moved them to where she can reach them, she goes into the drawer often and picks out her favorites. She tends to take an entire sheet and stick them all over her clothes (at least it's not her arms and hands anymore - that was beginning to leave marks!). I've started to find stickers that have fallen from her clothes all over the house. The other day, I even found one in the girl's room at her school! Anna is quite the accessorizer!

Stickers

Anna loves stickers. I used to keep them up high and save them for bribery! Now I put them in a container on her table in her room although she still asks for permission before going in. I've tried to explain to her that the toys in her room are hers and she can play with them whenever she wants (within reason, of course!). She tends to ask permission (in her own way) to remove toys from the lower shelves of her bookshelf. We're working on it!

This morning she wanted a balloon sticker for her hand. I reminded her that she can go get the stickers herself. She did and then came back to me in my room where I was still getting ready for work. She has a hard time peeling the stickers still so I tend to help but this morning I decided I need to 'force' her to do it to impress upon her that I know she can do it if she tries a little harder. As soon as I impressed upon her that I was busy, she went to work. Within 30 seconds she was placing the balloon on her arm! It's so nice to see how proud of herself she is!

Hello

Uncle Jimmy and Nay Nay gave Anna her very own phone (white with pink polka dots, no less). She loves it. Mostly she says 'hello' into it, but since it's a real phone, we've actually called Mimi on it a few times. It doesn't have a speaker phone on it though so Dave sits near her with the cordless so he can talk as well. Anna is so used to phones looking like the cordless ones that she still just thinks of her phone as a toy and she leans into Dave's phone in order to continue talking to Mimi. It's pretty funny watching her holding the black phone up to ear as she jabbers away!

'Feh'

I changed the sheets on Anna's bed the other day and in the process moved her guard rail a little bit too much to the center of the bed making the space where she can climb narrower. She noticed it and asked me why it was like this. I explained that I moved it by accident while changing her sheets and had to fix it (which involves picking up the mattress so I wasn't anxious to do it!).

Last night when she climbed into bed, she kept saying 'feh, feh'. I told her I was sorry but I couldn't understand what she was saying. She then motioned to the rail and I knew immediately what she was getting at. The fact that she pursued it again told me this was important to her so I obliged her. I was shocked that she even noticed it but happy that she was able to convey her wishes without much struggle!

This Morning

Anna decided to come down to breakfast in her white boa and only her white boa! She didn't want to get dressed yet so I decided it wasn't worth the argument. So Anna ate her breakfast in her boa and nothing else. Not sure how she wasn't a bit chilly but she wasn't complaining!