Past 7 days in review

We have had an eventful week. Annabell went on her first boat ride, she loved it! It took her about 10 minutes to warm up to the idea of the boat but once she did she couldn't get enough. She was so comfortable with walking around that I had to keep a close eye on her. She would hold her hands up in the air like "super woman" when we were driving.
Annabell has discovered the McDonald's playground and loves it. I think it's her favorite place to eat now.
We
went to lunch with Brad on Wednesday and took her there. I love how much fun she has climbing up and down the tubes. I don't love so much all the dirt she acquires on her hands, knees and clothes from playing there. Probably not the most sanitary play equipment.
Annabell is really shooting up, she seems to get taller and taller but no meat on her bones. She is so skinny.

Annabell now goes to the potty a minimum of at least once a day, but more likely 2 times. She lets us know most of the time when she needs to go. I snapped this picture of her, she was so funny, she asked me for a magazine so she could read while on the toilet, she cracks me up!
We also went to the pool on Saturday. She enjoyed it but was scarred of the water! I couldn't believe it because she has never been scarred at the pool. She didn't like going under or anything. She did however warm up to it near the end...but then it was time to go.
Last but not least Annabell is officially much more "girly" than her mother. She brought me ALL of her bows and one by one asked me to put each one in her hair, then she proceeded to say she "want"ed my necklace. She always is caring around a purse and trying on high heels! She loves hair styles and jewelry.

Her vocabulary continues to boom. I can't keep up with it at all. She is now starting to say complete sentences. Like "I want that" "I love you too" etc. Well that's all for now, love y'all!

Play Date

We went to my friends house yesterday and Annabell was able to play with her son Josiah aka Jo-Jo. They played pretty well together. The funniest part was Annabell was all over him. She wanted to hug, hold hands, and cuddle. She wouldn't leave him alone. He pretty much ignored most of it and was a good sport. Here are some pictures. She also got to play with him some today... she was calling out "Jo-Jo" every time he walked away from her... too cute! Here is also a picture of Annabell playing at her art table. She started saying cheese because she saw the camera so I snapped one. Also here is some video of her picking up her mess that she just made...She started to cry when I walked into the kitchen as if she already knew she was in trouble. I thought it was funny because when she was cleaning up she decided it would be easier to eat most of it then try and put it in the cereal box. I tried to capture that on video, but only got a few bits. Love y'all!

Uh-Oh!

Just a quick note...last night at dinner we were all eating and Annabell said "uh-oh" and grabbed at her diaper. We didn't think much about it and I mentioned to Brad that she was probably going to the bathroom. And then it dawned on me, she's probably trying to tell us she needs to go to the bathroom. So I asked her if she needed to go potty and she happily shook her head yes! So off we ran and she sat down and went #2 and then #1. She stood up and looked so amazed and was even more excited to see Daddy and I cheering for her. she began to clap for herself and was so happy.
Then this morning she asked to go to the potty shortly after breakfast. She told everyone on Skype (Aunt Kari, KK, and Papa) that she went to the potty. Then she went again per her request this evening! She is so happy and proud of herself! I am also pretty happy, since this is self motivated, so I guess we are now in potty training stages. I guess our 1st goal is to see how long we can keep her diaper dry...we'll see. Love y'all!

shower

Annabell is a character. I usually will take a shower and she will hang out in the bathroom with me while I shower...how ever this time she had other plans...I started the shower and went to get something and when I came back this is what i saw...i rushed to get the camera, and I couldn't help but laugh... enjoy!

Love y'all!

So much energy

Lately Annabell has been a BALL OF ENERGY. I kept trying to catch her on film this afternoon, when she would literally run in place and then run in circles around the house. She is hilarious, she makes us laugh so much and LOVES making people laugh, if she gets a reaction out of someone stand back, because what ever she did to get you to laugh she will do 10x more and 10x bigger. Her vocabulary continues to grow. She hasn't been able to say her "F" sounding words very well, for example she says "Bord & Bork" which is Ford and Fork. I have picked up on it though and we are trying to work on it. She is also in the testing me on everything stage. She is a good girl, but if I draw the line she likes to put her pinky toe across it to see my reaction. I have been try to be consistent on making sure she doesn't get away with it though, which is tough since she likes to do it on the smallest things. She means well though and seems to just be genuinely curious what will happen rather than disobedient. And sometimes it simply is her just not listening too well. She gets so caught up in playing that she doesn't hear me sometimes, which is hard because I typically have Ford in my arms and need her to listen to my voice and obey me rather than having to get up and get her attention. All in all though she is doing great. She is understanding more and more....she now knows when bed time is coming and gets upset, only for a second or two though.

She is such a character to Ford. She jumps, sings, dances, bounces, and anything else to make her brother laugh. His eyes are always watching her. He seems amazed at all she can do! She a very good helper with Ford. Here is some video of her wine-down time before bed...she was funny tonight, running from place to place. You can see Ford just starring at Annabell while she bounces...it's a long video but she says hi to some of her cousins and some of her friends that look at the blog on occasion...She didn't say hi to everyone though....we'll have to get that on the next video...love y'all!

Verbal EXPLOSION

(she wears my shoes daily) (Silly Girl)


Annabell must of had the "Ah-Ha" moment in her head when it comes to understanding how speak. about a week ago she started to say everything. I can't even keep up with the amount of words she is saying daily. She is noticing and saying the most random words too, ie... eye ball, juice, thank you, and more. She has started to carry around 2 of her dolls and a blanket every where. When I went to open her door this morning she was standing by with all three in her hands. She calls the 2 dolls with baby faces', "baby" and the cloth doll that she always slept with "dolly". She does everything with them and loves to sway back and forth while holding them.
Well her daddy came home from Haiti on Thursday and she hasn't left his side at all. Every time he is home she wants him, non-stop. Which has made it difficult at times for Brad. She just wants to cuddle and he has a sprained shoulder and cold. But he is a great dad and insists on holding her. Another word Annabell has learned is "no". This has come into handy and been frustrating at times. She is learning not to tell us "no" if we tell her to do something and doing quite well with it. The most exciting word for me this week has been when I asked her to go pick out a book for me to read to her and she said "bible" and then went and picked up her bible! I was so excited because we hadn't worked a ton on it. It makes me realize I have to think about everything I say and how I say things these days because she understands more than you would think.
Annabell had so much fun at the Edison Day Parade. She was so patient since I had to tend to Ford. She started to cry because I couldn't quite hold them both close enough with the sirens going off, but my friends Grandmother held her and she enjoyed that time. She reminded me of my Nanny, so it was cute to see Annabell take so well to her.


Annabell has no fear; but for the first time I have noticed her being aware of her surroundings. We went to the park today and I went down the Big slide with her (it's probably about 13-15 feet in the air. She then climbed up the jungle gym and went toward the big slide, but carefully looked down at how high she was and then when she walked by 2 big openings that she could easily fall from if not paying attention she got on all four and crawled by to be extra cautious. Then slid down the slide on her own! This makes me more comfortable with her playing on her own.
Today Annabell also used finger paints for the first time. She preferred using the brush though. When she was done she said "nine" which is something she has been doing for a day or two...sounds German to me..ha...and then waited patiently for me to clean her off. Her patients have also been improving now that she is understanding more.
Lastly we have been having a lot of fun with hair styles lately. She allows me to do her hair and I love doing different styles..I took a few pictures of her hair from the other day. Love y'all!