Sunday, November 15, 2009

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Birthday pictures







Yes, that's right. Kurt gave Anna a beginner's engineering set for her birthday. Kurt gets so excited for each project. Oh, and Anna really likes it, too.
And finally, just for old times sake... Anna at 7 months. Look at all that hair! (oops, I mean, look at all that scalp!) Cutie pie. That smile never changes.

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Five

She's a big girl now. You can tell because (drum roll, please) Anna didn't cry at her birthday party! We got together with a handful of friends at a local play area last weekend and she had a blast. Even at the finale as we dragged everyone out of the bounce house and said goodbye, she didn't put up a fight.

Of course, she was really excited that I bought WAY too many cupcakes and we had to take them all home with us, too. That might have had something to do with it.

With five comes a lot of excitement for Anna. She's started reading, on her own. She got dozens of books for her birthday and is tearing through them with total abandon. Her first chapter book (which she reads TO me) is Junie B. Jones and The Stupid Smelly Bus. I think she mostly loves this because she gets to say 'stupid'. Believe me, there's a giggle every time. We also just started Charlotte's Web, which I am reading to her. After all, it's wonderful that she can do it herself, but you can't beat curling up together to sink into a story. I love it as much as she does.

Anna loves her workbooks, too. Her writing is really improving and she's starting to grasp the idea of money. I don't know if this is exactly a good thing, but we'll take it. Today we went to buy her a booster seat for the car (she's totally outgrown her car seat) and she wanted to pay for it with her little tub of random coins she's collected. You can't imagine the look of disappointment when I told her that wouldn't be enough!

Her check up went great, the expression on her pediatrician's face when he asked about reading was priceless. Anna, as always, giggled. She came in at 42 inches tall and 36 pounds, two inches up from last year. Somehow, even with the impending shots, she still thinks the doctor's office is AWESOME. I had to shush her a few times because she was laughing so loudly with Silvia that they were startling babies in the hallway.

I general, five and these months leading up to it, is wonderful. She's smart and happy and so inspiring. One of her favorite things to say is, "A long time ago, when I was four...".

I feel like it was a long time ago, too. I know it's beyond cliche, but time just slips by so fast, doesn't it?