Yoga

This week I decided to start doing yoga in the mornings while hoping Anna entertains herself.  Yesterday she hovered around me, occasionally sitting on me.  Today however she decided to sit or lay on me at every chance.  When one video would get done she wanted another, even though she was not watching them.  I am hoping she might try some of the moves like downward facing dog.  We shall see.
I have been getting more diligent about her signing.  Really working on her to ask up and down on chairs and help, mama, dada and please.  I saw a little progress yesterday and hoping she remembers them today.
I also found a molar yesterday!  It is on the top left, so was hard to find.  When John was trying to feel it last night she chomped on him.  No fingers in her mouth!
The weather is supposed to be in the fifties today and I am thinking about getting the dogs out.  I think we all need to get out of the house.  Walk, local park or dog park.  That is the question.  We gt outside for a little bit yesterday.  Everyone was trying to lay in a sunbeam and Anna was checking on the birds out front.  Some days she can sit for a while and watch them.  Hopefully some will stick around for summer.

Mango Banana Muffins

Having bought a pack of mangoes at CostCo I found we were not eating them fast enough.  Thinking of banana bread, I decided to look at mango baked goods.  I came across a recipe for mango muffins.  After reading comments about the ingredients I decided to add banana to mine and decrease the baking powder and milk.  I left aside some chunks and pureed the rest of the mango with a small, really ripe banana.

Success!  They came out nice and tall, golden and yummy.  I think I may try adding cardamom next time as another person suggested.  Anna has eaten several and it is nice to be giving her some good fruits as well.  I like the moisture level and they are firm, yet soft.  A good density.  Anna enjoyed watching them in the oven at the end.  She wanted one right away, but had to blow on it to cool it down (this usually involves blowing on her finger after touching something).
We had mixed weather yesterday of rain, sleet and snow and several inches of snow overnight.  We have spent the day watching all the birds and squirrels.  Anna enjoys pointing out the birds.  She looks for them up in the trees and follows them when they go by.  She is getting to be a good little birder!

Our little birder

The weather has been cold here this week with little flurries and a big storm expected.  I have been putting seed out on the buttress of the house as well as the window sills so that the birds get close, entertaining us and the cats.  Yesterday I was pointing out a cottontail to Anna and she went and pointed out a house finch up in the tree to me!  Our little birder is seeing the birds!  This morning she had walked into the dining room and was quiet for a few minutes.  What was she up to?  Looking out the window at the birds and squirrels!  So much fun to share this with her.
With the weather being cold and not getting outside, Anna and I built a fort in the living room.  It is a sheet taped to the mantle supported by some chairs.  She thinks it is fun to dive under it and play chase around it.  We have also been going upstairs to chase each other in circles.  She finds it very funny with lots of giggles and squeals when I surprise her.  I got her good one time and she jumped and fell on her bottom laughing the whole time.  I try to be noisy when I chase her so she knows I am coming, but I got her that time!

10 months!

It is amazing how time has been flying.  It seems like the other day that she was starting to crawl and now she is able to get everywhere.  We have been enjoying some great weather here and getting outside everyday to swing.  She loves that and will point at the swing and say, "Ah!"  That means she wants to swing.  We use the front yard so we can talk to people and the dogs come out as well to run around. Lots of soccer and swinging!  I let her crawl around some, but it is rough with all the acorns!  We do spend time picking up acorns, me making sure she does not eat them.  Good times!

Deerfield Fair

Anna's first flight ended up with our plane changed and us running to our gate.  We met a very nice lady who has Great Danes, is grandma to a GSP and used to work for Hallmark.  Anna even wanted Glenda to hold her after we had been riding together for a few hours.  She and her husband were on the way to Maine.  We were also delayed in Baltimore, so Anna got to crawl around and expend some energy.  I am glad I had my Boba carrier, it made the day a lot easier!
We visited Great Gram (Meme), went apple picking with her cousins, went out in the fields at the Farm and hung out Uncle.  We had a quiet evening with her Meme and Bapa and stayed at Grandma and Grandpa's where she would crawl on them before bed.  They had new floors in the kitchen to crawl on and Aunt Rebecca to bug, as well as all the dogs and cats!

John, Anna and I ran over to UNH on evening to meet with our friends Drew and Becca and had a good time wandering around the campus.  John and I had not been in over 5 years and so much has changed!  Lots of new buildings and remodels on old buildings.  The lawns are still beautiful and we enjoyed a nice fall night.
So, Anna had fun visiting NH again and getting to go to her first Deerfield Fair.  She ate veggie subs and broccoli and cheese soup and all kinds of carbs :)  She enjoyed looking at the animals, the people, showing off her pumpkin hat and banging on the glass behind the baked goods counters.  We did quite a bit of visiting, but unfortunately not as much as we hoped.

Pumpkin Hat

I finished my first knit for Anna!  It is a cute pumpkin hat finished just in time for Fall and heading to NH.  We got some cute pictures outside.  I put a jacket on her even though it was about 80 degrees.  A pumpkin hat without a jacket looked wrong :o)

9 months!

Anna is now 9 months old! It has been going quickly. John and I have fun looking back at earlier pictures and seeing how much she has changed. She has gotten longer, leaner and much more expressive. She loves to smile and now has a look of determination when she is working on walking along the couch.
And practice she does. She will crawl over to the couch or the ottoman and walk along talking as she goes. She will stick her tongue out at times very similar to John in deep concentration. And her brow furrows too. Very cute.
I also like it when she is on the other side of the ottoman then sits. Then I see this hand come up, "Eh?" Then another hand, then the top of her head. It is funny to watch. Busy this week out for walks, visiting with friends and practice, practice, practice!
And if you are wondering, Fenway is still obsessed with the fish tank.  Silly cat!

The ants go marching...

Saturday we spent a beautiful day at Powell Gardens. The garden was hosting a Tomato and Pepper festival with tastings and samples from some local stores. We arrived around 11 a.m. and stayed until about 4 p.m. We grabbed lunch, Anna having a little of everything, and sampled fruits picked fresh from the garden. Anna really liked the fresh cantaloupe and banana melon. The banana melon was good. It taste like a cross between a cantaloupe and a honey dew. John and I tried a Paw paw and agreed it tasted like room temperature brie. Not too appealing in my fruit.
The tomato tasting was fun. We each got a plate and loaded it up with fresh cut heirloom tomatoes, fresh picked basil, fresh bread (Anna loved it), olive oil and homemade salsa. We should have skipped lunch! A local exotic snow cone company had samples of Watermelon/Basil and Pineapple/Serrano Pepper. They were okay, but not my tube of ice. John liked the Pineapple/Serrano Pepper. And there was yet more to taste!
We sampled yummy olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette, a locally made salsa and a chef's homemade sauces. John was having a good time sampling! Our favorite thing after the fresh tomatoes and basil was a local chef's homemade ice cream. He had a strawberry/red pepper sorbet which was nice, but John's jalapeno ice cream was excellent. So very creamy and smooth with a nice little burn in your throat. Unfortunately, he only made it for Saturday.
We then wandered the grounds, watched the butterflies, just missed seeing a snake eating a frog, enjoying the weather and just relaxing. Anna took this as a good opportunity to nap.

We enjoyed looking at the giant bug art through out the Gardens made from wood. A lot of twig bending and shaping. They are so much fun and visit every year. It was a great relaxing day, just what we needed.

We have a crawler!

Anna has been getting around on her own by spinning, belly flopping and sitting up. Today we finally have crawling for distance! She was covering a four foot span in one go! Her technique still has a long way to go, but she has the idea and can now cover more ground. Look out cats! Thanks to Pepper for coming over and giving her tips!
If you notice a pooped Fenway in the background it is because he just realized we have fish in the fish tank and has been staring at them ALL day. They have been there since May. Silly cat.

Time to lower the crib!

John and I were just talking the other day about when it would be time to lower the crib to the lowest level. We figured it would correspond with her pulling herself up. Well...guess what she did this weekend? Guess she was listening to our discussion!

Otherwise we had a quiet long weekend. We went to the dog park on Saturday and hiked around and spent the rest of the weekend getting things done around the house the best you can with an 8 and a half month old baby.

Teething, hiking and baby steps!

So moments after this photo Anna decided to scoot off the rocking chair. I gave her my fingers and she stretched until her toes touched the floor then took a few steps towards me! It was walking holding me, but the first time she had decided to do so, how fun!
We tried homemade sweet potato risotto this week. Anna and John really enjoyed it and I found it good, but needing a little something. I will work on it.
We went hiking at the dog park again this week. The weather was great Friday, mid to high seventies and not a cloud. Had to get out. The dogs had fun and we enjoyed the fresh air.

She is still doing uh-oh. It is funny when she is sitting playing by herself and you hear, "uh-oh" as she had dropped something. She still takes tentative crawls, just no distance. She does get all over the living room by kneeling, moving forward a bit, then sitting up.
She is taking good naps with her teething and eating a lot. She likes cold cucumbers to rub on her teeth (there are two there!) and other cold fruit as finger foods. Not too cold however!

Uh oh!

Anna has decided to pick right up on that phrase. I think it is a phrase that corresponds with eating food. Baby drops food and parents say, "Uh oh." Anna thinks it is great. She has been mimicking us for a while. A "hi" here and "all done" there. But with "uh oh" she is doing it on her own. John was changing her this weekend and she had her diaper. She dropped it over the side of the changing table and, "uh oh." She is tending to do it whenever something drops, then she is back to her old, babagaga babadada mumumamama.
And she now has a teeny tiny piece of her lower right tooth sticking up! She is growing so fast. So far she has been handling it well. Just sticking her finger in her mouth a lot.

It was a dark and stormy night...

I am not sure how many people read the old Peanuts comic strip where Snoopy tried to write a novel, but they often started that way, a la novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton. Well, the weather Friday night was very dark and stormy. Then Saturday John was able to catch the funny shot of Anna playing with a flashlight. Very scary-story face.
Another new thing in her life is the eating of bread. Nom, nom, nom, she says, very good. She really enjoys bread, but she still offered to share with me. How nice of her! I have used my new bread machine and made white bread and today some delicious whole wheat. Yum, yum, yum!

Eight months!

Anna is now eight months! How the time has flown. She is moving around like crazy and climbing some of her toys, but still not crawling. She can stand well and this week has started to wiggle and wave her arms to music. When her music table plays certain songs she looks to us to see if we are singing with it.
She likes to "talk" to us all the time and definitely understands some of her signs and a lot of what we ask. Eat, more, all done, Ally, Milo, kitty (I think that may be her favorite). When I ask her where the kitty is she whips around to find them. When they come into the kitchen and she is eating she cranes her neck to see them and calls them with a loud, "Ah!" She mimics here and there and has started to make sounds she hears on her music table (I heard quacking today).
She enjoys patting the animals and watching them play. She will often try to move around to touch whoever is closer. I figure when she does crawl it will be towards one of them, or the phone.
Anna has been having fun visiting with all the kids we have seen lately. She likes to talk to the babies about her age and watch the older kids to see what they are doing. She really observes them and pays attention to everything going on around her.
We have had some small but neat milestones. She is getting very good at putting food in her mouth and often insists upon it. She enjoys playing peekaboo, pulling up a towel by herself to play (we call it "Where's Anna"). And this week she has figured out how to put a ball into a hole on one of her toys and even retrieve the ball if it gets stuck. Great to see her use her problem solving skills this young!
John and I are having great fun with her. She brings new surprises each day and continues to be a happy baby.

Busy Bees!

Since coming home Anna and I have been very busy. There was an ice cream social for our neighborhood the weekend we got back. We were able to meet a few people and swap info. We also started to hang out with my friend Amber and her daughter Pepper (who is two months older), going to the zoo Thursday mornings and squeezing in some play at their local pool. Pepper has been demoing crawling for Anna and how to climb legs. We have visited with a couple of neighbors as well and have been really filling up our weeks.
I also had a big surprise when the Kean family from Florida called the night before my birthday. I asked where they were heading to and Shannon announced they were 2 hours from KC! I was very surprised and happy. We let Anna sack out and made up the bed and cleaned up from dinner. What a birthday surprise! John got to meet their son Cates (17 months) and they got to meet Anna.
Their dogs came along who were best buds with Ally and Milo and they all acted like it had been no time since they last saw each other, versus 2 and a half years! It was good to see the girls and they were very happy to see us (thanks for the kisses!).
We went out for breakfast on my birthday, then came back here for the kids to nap. Shannon and Justin also caught up on some sleep from driving all day on Thursday to get here. We grabbed a nice meal down at the Plaza and walked around to check out the fountains and exercise Cates. We came back home, put the kids to bed and enjoyed some yummy ice cream cake. What a great day!
The rest of the visit went well even though the heat came with them. We explored Brookside, Union Station, Powell Gardens and Hallmark. There was lots of driving around to different areas and hanging out. Shannon also brought Anna a bunch of clothes to borrow and to keep. Thank you so much!
It was a great birthday surprise and a lot of fun to see our good friends. I still cannot believe we now have kids!

New Hampshire

Our trip to NH was great and very busy. We celebrated birthdays, saw fireworks at Scott's and a lot of people finally met Anna. She went to the ocean for the first time and enjoyed the saltiness of the sea weed. Yum! She was okay with the water (sun warmed) and we found two small lobsters thanks to Jenn and Ethan.
Her Baptism went well. She did not cry at all during the ceremony and enjoyed being held up above Father's head for the presentation to the community. After she was great staying awake for the party and swimming in Winnisquam before sacking out on her Aunt Patti.
Our adventure ended with a long ride home, through Pennsylvania this time. The cats were not too crazy when we got back, but they do expect us to play with them like the Triplett's did!
Thank you to everyone for helping out and getting things ready for us. Thank you for having us and welcoming Anna!

Niagara Falls

On our way out to New Hampshire for Anna's Baptism I had the great idea to stop at Niagara Falls. John had never been and Anna would be able to say she has been. We asked a nice lady who was working the tolls and she told us it would take us less than 30 minutes to get there. Great, we could drive up, get out run up for a quick look and photo op, then leave.
Well, we got off for the exit to go through Buffalo. Okay, maybe this added a little to our trip, but it was a pretty drive and the weather was great. Sunny, in the 70's. We followed the signs and slowly gathered more traffic. At the next toll the gentleman told us which exit to get off. As we get off it looks like nothing I remember. Complete chaos and tourists everywhere. Kind of like Daytona Beach. We drive around and finally pay to park in the state park parking lot.
We take out the dogs and Anna and follow the signs to the Falls. This lead us to a barricaded stairway and the Visitor's Center building. We ask a lady who worked there how to get to the falls with the dogs. She said to just go through the building.
Inside the building is crowded and we have to go down a narrow (for the number of people plus dogs) staircase which took us through the food court and outside. Not the most direct route.
Finally we head over to the Falls. Nothing is at all like I remembered. Milo thinks they are quite interesting and is curious about getting closer for a drink. We take a look, some photos and decide to hit the bathrooms while we are there. While I held Anna and the dogs I noticed a better view of the Falls. We head over to the area under the observation platform and get a better view. We take some more photos, enjoy the sun and spray then head back to the car. We go back to the parking lot by heading towards an area people are coming out of. It was much shorter, a lot less crowded and all outside. Come to find out there was another way to the Falls. It even had a small sign. Next time we will know.
Did I mention that July 1st is Canada Day? That explains all the cars from Ontario...

Big girl talking!

So this weekend was a little busy. Saturday we checked out a ice cream festival, but I decided we should wait until Anna was older. We then spent some time organizing this and doing some house tidying. We then headed to the neighborhood block party (lots of babies!)for a little bit before going to a belated birthday party for Travis next door. Anna's first birthday party! Sunday we did some planting and yard work. Hopefully my fig survives!
Today Anna decided she is feeling quite chatty. She has had occasional, very short, talking bursts, but tonight she went crazy. Ba, da, ga, blah blah. And her voice sounds older too. Pretty funny! John was able to record it. She really moves her jaw a lot. She will keep going if you blah blah back. Need to work on her responding to us talking normal now!

Photo baby

Anna and I did an at home photo shoot. I found some things we had around the house and set her up. Unfortunately, she was sleepy and it was hard to make her laugh and take the shot. I even held Fenway with one hand and snapped photos with the other. You would think that would warrant a laugh...
So, here are some of our shots, even a few "glamor" shots with pearls Meme gave me and Anna's tutu from Easter. The tutu is great for make believe down the road.































The funny thing is the rest of the day she hung out in her diaper, beat up on her mobile and roll, roll, rolled. Did I mention she likes to roll. Left and right. Spin a little, watch the cats, think about going straight, roll. Then there is the deep darkness under the chair-and-a-half that is calling her name. Spelunking in her future?

Sweet Potato

So it has been hot here and Anna, the dogs and I are all getting a little stir crazy. Hard to convince myself to get up early to go walking. We will see.
Have some funny pictures from today eating sweet potatoes. The first I was feeding her and thought it looked too funny and had to take a picture before I wiped her mouth. The second photo was how dirty she was eating supper with Dad. Such a serious face! Keep cool everyone!