Funny girl

Annabell is such a funny girl. She is constantly moving and going...a ball of energy. She LOVES to put blankets on her head and try to see how long she can walk until falling over. She recently wore her yokata from Ryoko again. I tried to do her hair like they do traditionally in Japan with the outfit...didn't last long with an 18 month old! Oh wait...she's 19 months today! OH MY GOODNESS! I can't believe it. She was taller than all the kids she played with today that were her age or older! Anyways, I was trying to get a photo of Annabell smiling. For some reason she thinks smiling is pushing her face forward and showing her teeth. I think she got that from me asking to see her teeth when we are brushing them. Here are some pictures of her in action. Also here is a picture of Annabell with Ford. Now when I'm taking photo's of Ford she tries to jump in them. Very cute...you can also tell on the video (which has a lot of Ford but you can hear her jabbering the whole time and try to get him to smile with high pitch 'talking'.) that she wants to get some attention or try and help care for Ford. She has been very affectionate with him lately and it's adorable, except when she picks him up by his head! Happened today! Love y'all!

P.S. She has a HUGE bruise and bump on her forehead from tripping over a curb and falling head first on to the corner of the side walk! Talk about scary...it was dented in at first but was only a skin indention. UGH...having children has made me so NERVOUS ;) !

quick updated

Annabell continues to amaze me with how much she knows and how fast she is learning new words. Yesterdays she said Library! It is her first 3 syllable word. I was asking her if she wanted to go and she said 'yes, library' she continued to say it through out the day. Also today while we were at the park she said or commanded rather 'higher' while in the swing! She also was singing the hookie pookie song at the library during class yesterday and the girl next to me noticed Annabell say 'bout' as in 'that's what it's all about'. She would say it at the end of each verse. She also says 'down' when it comes time for it during ring around the rosie. She also has started to stretch to the sky when I say put your arms up or reach your hands up...for example when she is in the swing we will do 'super woman' and she'll reach her hands out. Or in class they have a shake your silly's out song that has a stretching part which she is learning to do. The funniest act of today (so far) was when I was doing sit ups this morning, she laid down beside me and tried to do them with me! ha She gave up quickly though and decided to sit on my belly while I do them instead. Talk about tighting your abs! Well that's it...love y'all!

Growing up so fast

Annabell has recently started to truly become a little girl vs. the baby she has always been in my eyes. I snapped this picture of her because she looks to grown to me in it. It is really weird. It seems like vocabulary just really clicked in her head and now she says new words daily, which I can't even keep up with. She said "Night Night" today when I put her down for her nap.

We were at the bank this morning after bible study and she was waiting with me at the teller. She began to spin in circles and say 'wooowooowooowooowoo'. To me, her knowing that she is making herself dizzy, seems like something a little girl does more than a baby. Thankfully I still get my baby fix from her brother and my niece Briana. I absolutely love this age with Annabell though, but I have absolutely loved every stage....I just really enjoy being home with her and Ford. I am blessed. Well we love y'all!

PEE PEE in the POTTY!

To my surprise Annabell went pee in the potty last night! I was ecstatic! She was in the tub and I was getting Ford undressed in her room (I can still see her from the changing table) so he could get in the tub with her (have to make the best of time with two kids). As I was changing him she stood up and began to cry. I was thinking she was just upset that I wasn't in the room. Then she started to point at her TeeTee (that's what I call it). So I asked her if she needed to go potty and she shook her head yes, which she says all the time but has never followed through on. So I sat her on her little potty soaking wet and then she stood up after a second or two, so I told her to sit back down but then saw that she had gone potty! I was so excited for her that I scooped her up and gave her big hugs and kisses while she was still soaking wet. Back in the tub she went and I felt much better putting Ford in the tub with her knowing that she hadn't peed in it! ha! Well that's her first peeing story! Love y'all!

P.S. She said Jesus' name! YAY!

Such a good big sister!

Annabell is so helpful with Ford sometimes. She is really a sweet girl, but doesn't realize her own strength half the time. She will hug on him all day, so I have to watch her to make sure she doesn't cover his mouth and nose! She also likes to do whatever we do with him. She likes to hold him like I do when feeding him. She likes to wash him in the tub, and she likes to dress him. The dressing of Ford is pretty funny. She will get his sock half way on and then pull it off and through it as if she is too frustrated with trying to do it. She then will bring something else to try to put on him. She also likes to put the phone up to his ear like we do hers. It amazes me what kids notice and learn! Well she had time out today! She has been pulling Ford's blanket off of him when we are in the car. Today is especially cold so I firmly told her not to do it again and she went ahead. The most interesting part is that she told on herself. She showed me the blanket! I think she was looking for attention through a reaction, so I told her she was getting 'time-out' when we got home. She did not like that at all. It took me putting her back into the spot maybe 15 times before she kind of stayed near the timeout spot. Hopefully the point got through to her though.

She played with Lilia this week, and she loved it. They are almost 5 months apart and played well together, except when it came to sharing. Neither of them wanted to share Annabell's baby and baby stroller. It was a good experience though, it aloud me and Rachel to teach the girls how to share. I have been trying to put Annabell in as many social situations as possible so she can learn her interacting skills more, ie..being polite, sharing, not being aggressive, etc. She has done well, and is learning to hug softer, but it is taking a lot of supervision. She is at a very fun stage that takes a lot of constant supervision and instruction; but she grows so fast that I'm hoping to just do a good job in the small window that I have. She is growing leaps in bounds in her talking and skills, her is what I can think of right now:

• She spins in circles while singing ring around the rosie
• She jumps to me on three (been doing this for about 2-3 months) and yells "three".
  
• She knows how to run vs walking on request (jumping too)
  
• she tries to sing the veggie tales theme song (oh I forgot to mention that about a week ago I started to allow her to watch one veggie tales show a day), still no regular tv though.
  
• she can untie a shoe with laces.
• she hangs from bars at the park and can do a good somersault.
  
• She knows how to turn on the jets in the bath tub.
• 
• She can use the steps and water fountain at the library. (the video is from yesterday when she still wasn't understanding the cause and effect of pushing the lever to allow water flow, she did it well today at the library...yeah, two days in a row of library because the dance class was unexpectedly closed for mommy and me dance time today!)
  

There is so much more that I can't remember...well we love y'all! Enjoy the videos!

18 month check up

Annabell had her 18 month check up yesterday. She is doing wonderfully. Here are her stats:
-34.25 inches tall = 95%
-43cm head = 90%
-25.1 lbs = 50%

So she is tall and skinny and doing great. She does have a little cold, with a cough, so say a prayer for her please.

Ever since the binki has been out of the picture Annabell's speaking has rapidly picked up. She amazes me every day. She also learned how to say"shhhh...baby". She puts her finger over her lip and says shhhh anytime Ford is sleeping. It's cute.
We went to the library today and Annabell was by far the most obediant and compliant child in the room. I thought the librarian was going to go crazy. Parents letting there kids run crazy with out saying a word during reading time. She actually did tell one little girl to "SIT DOWN!". It actually shocked the mom I think. Annabell would get distracted by the kids yelling or running, so I would ask her to watch the teacher read the book and she would point to the librarian and become engulfed in the story. I have no idea how she learned the word teacher. It amazes me how she associates things so quickly! Annabell is very well behaved. The only time she isn't is when I don't pay attention to her for longer periods of time. She starts to scratch or pull on me or even dive onto me if I ignore her. Or she will get into my stuff and pull it out everywhere. So one thought in my mind is I need to giver her more attention. But I don't think that is the case since I spend all day with her and focus on her a ton, and when you have more than one kid you just can't give your undivided attention all day long. So this has prompted me to check out "Strong Willed Child" by James Dobson, from the library. I know she is a strong kid with a strong independent spirit, but that hasn't become too much of a challenge so far. She responds very well to discipline. But I thought it better to be prepared either way, the book has been great. Anyways. She is a wonder. I was talking to my sister on the phone and in one thought I said "she brings me so much joy!!! (she was hugging me) followed by "I will whoop your bottom". (don't worry she didn't get whooped....she had just pulled my hair and literally pulled me to the ground...but I gave her a warning and she stopped) Haha. Well here are some pictures ...Annabell wanted to get into Ford's stroller today at the library...so I aloud her while we strolled to the car. The other picture is of her at the library, and then of her and Emma at church on sunday playing the in garden. Love y'all!

Bop Pi

Well Annabell said Big Pops name for the first time on her own. I was asking her if she wanted to stay the night there on Sunday since I'm hosting a middle school girls sleepover and she said yes. Then I had said something where I mentioned Grandma and Big Pop and she said Bop Pi. So I asked her to say "Big Pop" and she said "Bop Pi". We then called Big pop and she talked to him on the phone and said it. I think besides, mom and dad, it is the first time she has titled someone on her own will. She has said "Papa" in repetition to me before, but she has never just named someone, besides other kids, on her own. I was excited to hear her say it. She also said "Abby" last night, it is the name of one of our babysitters who was watching her during bible study, but she said it in response to being asked to say it, not saying her name on her own with the knowledge of who the name belongs to. Well I just wanted to document that. Love y'all!

New words

"Doll"
"Ball" - She said this before but now she is saying it more often
"Say It" - From us asking her to 'say it' all the time
"Joel" -Neighbors new son
....that's all I can remember right now...but I'm sure I'll have some more soon. Oh and I forgot to mention, ever since she was weened from the binki she now puts her fingers to her lips when upset, like she's trying to soothe herself. but she doesn't suck. Oh and she has her "I" and "canine" teeth all coming in at once (I think those are the right names...if not it's the top and the bottom ones...ha)

Favorite show

I always am thinking of all the things I want to put on Annabell's blog and then I completely forget when it comes time to do so. Well today was a good day. Annabell is learning so fast it is hard to keep up. She likes when I sing "yes, Jesus loves me" to her and she signs Jesus' name. She also has shown me that she knows a lot of words, I'm not even sure that i ever taught them to her either. Like this evening she was doing something while sitting next to me and I asked to see her finger, and sure enough she lifted one little digit up. I don't believe I have taught her what a finger is yet. Also she loves to make food for us and play eat. Tonight she was walking around with her milk cup and would go to her play kitchen and fill it with pretend juice as she was drinking. She also is so good with Ford. When we are in her room reading a book and Ford is napping, if she hears him cry, she stops everything, runs to him, and tries to give him his binki.

Just remembered what I wanted to put on the blog. Annabell's favorite show and first show is "Madelyn". Haha. She loves to watch Maddie's blog videos and the longer the better. I think she thinks it is TV. She wants to watch and she will answer questions about the 'show' while watching. Tonight was the painting and dogs show...ha...she told me with a lot of certainty that Maddie was NOT talking to the dogs though, haha. I have some video of her watching...she had been watching for about 30 minutes (we looked at old videos too and replayed the new ones several times...she kept asking for more), so she started to get a little distracted with the key board...

Annabell loves running now. She will take off at the park. I love how she runs too, she tucks her little arms up high and twists her entire upper body to get more speed. It's so cute. Oh and it was windy today, so sorry about the noise. love y'all!

Big Girl Room

Here is a few pictures of Annabell and her new room. Well it's not really new but redecorated...kind of. We still have stuff to do, that's why it is a mess, but you can see her new bookshelf and bed. She is loving her new bed now, and doing well! Also here is a little video of her playing toss with me, she loves playing toss and was laughing at it so I caught it on film. Love ya! Oh, I almost forgot, Annabell's newest feet is dangling from the monkey bars at the park, she loves it, she grabbed on to a bar just above the slide and started dangling, she's so smart! Love y'all!

New Year with new adventures

Welcome in 09! whoo hoo. Annabell has had a great one! She gave up her binki on December 30th, and on December 31st she moved into her toddler bed! No more crib or binki! And she is doing GREAT! Since yesterday she has gone to bed and with no crying. And she went to bed with out her binki wonderfully as well. So now she is constantly told what a "big girl" she is, which makes her very happy. The only thing she has left is to be potty trained and that seems right around the corner. Today she went to the diaper changing table and tried to pull her diaper down after she pooped. I think with in the next 12 months she'll be there. I don't want to force her too early though. She has been VERY talkative lately, even more than normal. She has said "sorry" and many other words lately. Even a few phrases, like "all done". She also has figured out where the snacks are, and asks for them quite frequently.

Annabell's "I" teeth are coming in. Which means she has been biting more. She bit Ford at the airport for the first time ever, and me recently too, but now tends to hesitate before she really chomps down to see if you are going to react or not.
She has been a huge help for her daddy and I lately. She brings Ford his binki and blanky anytime that we are caring for him and need it. Well here is some video of Annabell playing in the water in the middle of winter! Our northern family will love to see this! Love y'all!