H-Happy Beedew!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY my little 2 year old! I can't believe it's only been two years - honestly it feels like you have been part of our family for so much longer!

I loved this morning that when I came in to wake you up (thank you for letting me sleep past 5...), you instantly jumped up and ran to give me a hug! I said, "Happy Birthday, Sweetie!" And, since we've been working on letter sounds, you are frequently sounding like a stutterer. You said in reply, "H-Happy Beedew!"

I remember your birth so well; you definitely took your time coming, but we couldn't have been more pleased to have such a healthy happy little girl!


Who would have known what an amazing big sister you would turn out to be?! You are such a sweet spirit, and we love your energy, intelligence, humor and occasional mischievousness!



Here are a few things about you as a two year old, Anna, that we will want to remember for a long time!:

*You are big and strong for your age
*You already got your two year molars, plus all the teeth normally preceding them.
*You have amazing coordination and play on structures that would freak out most mothers.
*You just learned how to do a somersault and do it with pizazz.
*You LOVE to dance and request almost every afternoon that Mama put on her dance music so we can dance around like crazy monkeys.
*You are a very good eater and love fruits and veggies probably the most, then chips.
*You are just starting to play 'pretend' and create such entertaining performances.
*You kiss your sister every chance you get, and sometimes try to ride on her back.
*You are very obedient and love to please your parents.
*Every time you say 'Jesus', you fold your arms.
*You have such a contagious laugh and smile.
*Your favorite songs are: (in order) My Little Ladybug (one Mama made up), 1-2-3-4-5 (one Mama made up), If Your Happy and You Know It, Pat-a-Cake, Rock-a-Bye Baby, Apricot Tree (or whatever it's called...), and Itsy Bitsy Spider.
*You are afraid of flies and hate being tossed up or anytime you feel like someone might drop you.
*Your favorite movie is Mulan, even though you can't say her name.
*You are such a helper around the house, and frequently help make your own meals.


For Anna's birthday, we played it pretty low key, she had a playdate with her cousin, including an hour brunch, an hour at the splash pad, and an hour at the mall. They had a blast together!



We love you, Little Monkey!


(Sorry it's fuzzy.)

Intentions

Okay, it has been a while. It seems like every day I think to myself, "Oh, that is such a cute picture! I can't wait until I can post it on the blog as soon as I get a way to transfer it onto my computer since Anna's juice dripped into the usb port of my phone!" Yes, I think that exact thing every day. Anyway, finally I stole Jared's high-functioning phone and swapped memory cards. I know. I'm a genious... Here's the update:

Emily just had her 6 month check up today. She is very healthy, 50% for both height and head size and 80% for her weight. She's a chunk, it's so cute. She totally looks like a used car salesman in this picture. Ha ha!



She just started eating rice cereal and veggies this week. She is doing so great, and by day 2, she had stopped with the tongue thrusting. Now she uses her hand to help shove everything in. Very messy to say the least, but its good for her to get that coordination down. :) Speaking of putting things in her mouth, she is officially a thumb-sucker. It is interesting that Anna seems to be VERY much a Gardner, right down to sticking her tongue out as she works hard on something. And Emily seems to be as Birch (or Irish) as they come. I sucked my thumb for quite a while, and Emily had that down pretty early. I watched as she fell asleep the other day after her bath and captured a few cute moments.



Emily is sitting up by herself now. I feel comfortable setting her upright on the floor with some toys and walking away. I'll go switch the laundry downstairs or something, come back up and she's still sitting and playing with her toys. Its a fun stage. She's also really grasping and examining her toys. She's super fast, too. I will dangle a toy in front of her and its like a reflex as she hurries to grab it!


She absolutely adores tummy time. She scoots around in all directions by one method or another, but no crawling yet. It also looks like her eyes will be staying blue. Anna's eyes started having some green in them by this age. Not that you can see color in this crappy quality picture, but it totally represents their relationship. These girls love each other so much. P.S. If anyone has a fantastic camera they are looking to get rid of, um, just send it on over. I am tired of fuzzy colorless pics! :)


Anna is more active now than ever - it's crazy how strong and curious she is! She now helps me make meals, change Emily's diaper, clean house and do yard work. This is how I found her one evening after she helped me do dishes. Luckily the sink was scrubbed clean already!



She LOVES playing outside and requests frequently to go to the park, especially with her new best friend!



Anna's Mommy has made a really awesome new friend and her daughter is just a few months younger than Anna. They love each other and request play dates frequently. Anna loves swimming in the new kiddie pool we got her and especially loves squishing into her boat with her new girlfriend. :)



They are so cute together.



The only other thing that comes to mind about the girls is Anna's new monologue skill. When I was teaching her to say 'please', I would encourage it, and then quickly reply with, "Sure!" when she asked. Now, she will say, "Movie? Please...SURE!" Of course, it is in Anna language, which I think only I understand, but it cracks me up because she does it for just about everything now. At least she has pretty good manners, saying please, thank you, your welcome, covering her mouth when she coughs, and covering her bum when she toots. I love motherhood... ;)