Annie in 2K9

Here's Annie trying to grow her mermaid tail...

This is one of my all-time favorites! So funny.

So far Annie's new year is off to a great start and she has been up to a lot of new tricks! Annie has been pulling herself up on everything and is standing up a storm! This started a week or so before Christmas and she is now a pro. She is very brave and loves to stand by herself. She can hold her pose for quite some time and will even try to dance while standing! She LOVES to dance- even when there is no music on! We always laugh because she dances on command. All you have to say to her is, "Annie, Dance!" and she will! She doesn't do much more than hop and wave her arms all over the place but it is the cutest.
Annie also loves to talk and scream! My guess is that when she starts talking, she won't stop. Dada is her favorite (albeit only- ha) word right now- it's very cute.
We recently took a little vacation to FL and Annie was excited to be able to swim! She loves swimming. Whenever we take her out of the pool, either at swim classes or elsewhere, she gets very upset. She is a little fish!
Annie has also been eating like such a big girl. No more baby food for her. She'll actually refuse to open her mouth for baby food now which makes me laugh. She loves to eat what we're eating (or try at least). Her latest favorite is bananas! She gets very excited when she sees something that she likes! Of course, we're not worried about her eating habits at all, given that at her 9-month appt., she was just about 25 pounds and 30 or so inches! Such a petite flower :)
She is growing up very fast- it's crazy! She is so fun and happy that part of me can't wait to see her little personality and hear the things she talks about. She is going to be very smart and hilarious, I can just tell! In the meantime, I don't want to rush anything. We're just enjoying her so much! She is the world's greatest (I'm not biased...)!

1st Christmas in the books!

Annie's cute Christmas portrait :)

I just love this picture...

Well, I feel like Annie is just taking off into BIG Girl Land! She is growing like crazy. She is crawling at what seems to be 90 mph, waving 24/7, eating lots of table foods and almost refusing to eat her baby food, knowing who people are (if you ask her, "Where's so and so?" She'll look at their picture or them if they're in the room), saying more consonants, etc. Annie is such a happy little girl- she is always full of smiles! She's full of kisses, too. She loves to lay big, wet ones on you! It's cute...
Her first Christmas was tiring but fun. She, of course, didn't understand the whole Santa or present concept but she ate a lot of wrapping paper :) She was such a good girl. It was a special few days for us.
We're just so in love with her- I can't get enough. She is just the best baby- always in a great mood and with a smile to give. I'm a borderline obsessed mother.... ha ha.
Happy New Year!

Top tooth emerges...

This morning, we discovered Annie's 1st top tooth! Very exciting....
She was actually grinding her little teeth together in her sleep (how we realized it had popped through) which was very strange.

She is getting to be such a big girl. Last night, she pretty much hauled and crawled herself out of the bathtub. She's a little rascal.....and DETERMINED! They do teach them how to crawl out of the pool at swimming so I'm guessing that besides being a normal thing for an 8.5 month old to do, this might have had something to do with it!

Happy Birthday to Uncle Dan! I love you.

Nosy, nosy, nosy...and Merry Christmas!

Well, pretty much right after I posted the last entry, our little muffin started crawling- the REAL way! She is on the move and loves knowing what everyone else is up to! She'll peak around doorways and crawl into other rooms to see what we're doing if we put her down elsewhere. She doesn't want to miss a trick!
She doesn't seem to be very into the Christmas tree which is a good thing given that she is also starting to pull herself up onto things.
She is just so happy and enjoyable- we wish we could freeze time every day. Annie is also quite the singer- always singing at the top of her lungs :) She especially loves it when Daddy sings "Patience" by Guns 'n Roses to her (not kidding but wish I was)! We might have a hair-bander on our hands....
As you can see from the photo, Annie had her first visit with creepy, mall Santa last night and loved every minute of it!

Catching up...

Sorry I haven't blogged lately! (Not sure who I'm even apologizing to!) We have been so busy so it has been hard to find the time.
Annie is doing wonderfully! She had her 6 month appt. on October 30th (even though she was just about 7 months old) and everything looked good! As usual, she was in the 100th percentile for weight and 99th for height. She weighed 23 pounds, 3 ounces and was 28 3/4 inches long. She is so big! We have noticed that she has really started to even out though- you can tell she is getting longer/taller.
Annie is eating well. She definitely has her favorite foods, including applesauce, mashed potatoes (a girl after Mommy's own heart) and squash! She also loves her puffs- those are a real treat for Annie.
She isn't crawling, per se, but she is on the move. She gets where she wants to go, that is for sure. We have started babyproofing! She inches around more than anything but is starting to move her arms with her legs. I think she is realizing that it's much quicker to crawl! She can tend to be a little lazy so it's funny to see her work for what she wants! One thing she will do whatever she can to get at is the TV remote. She just loves it! It's funny.
We love listening to her talk- and she is a chatty one! She always has so much to say and loves to see how "high" she can get her voice to go. We might have a singer on our hands....Memere would be very happy :)
She has been sleeping well and loves just hanging out in her crib, or anywhere for that matter!
It's amazing how big she is getting, so fast. It's fun to watch but I hate it at the same time. Not to mention, she's heavy! Mommy better have some serious guns soon.

I'm anxious to see how she does with Christmas stuff- she'll probably lose her junk with all of the lights :)

Annie's 1st Halloween!

The family's 1st Halloween

Our little bee!

Annie joined her uncles, Jack and Patrick, for some trick-or-treat fun this past weekend! She didn't seem to care (or didn't realize) that she was in her costume which was great. Hopefully things will go as smoothly this coming weekend when she dresses up again for her first Halloween party with her friends!
Her costume was very cute- there was even a giant stinger in the back. So funny.

Annie has been really working on those top teeth. She seems to be uncomfortable at times but never really shows it. We hope they show up soon, for her sake.

She's just the greatest little girl and we have so much fun with her!

Busy Girl

Annie has been a very busy girl these days! Last weekend, she hit the road with Mommy and headed to Quincy to visit one of her potential husbands, Padraig. We had a fun time! On Sunday, she did the "fall" thing with Mommy and Daddy, picking pumpkins at Wilson's Farm. After that, she went over to Londonderry to meet up with her friend, Mairin, who was also picking pumpkins with her Mommy and Daddy. They enjoyed looking at each other :) In keeping with the theme, both Mommy and Daddy's decided it would be a good idea to stop off for some pumpkin beers, as well, before heading home. The Mom's are clearly addicted. Annie and Mairin were very jealous (refer to photo)!

This weekend, Annie has a date with Daddy tonight and is off to the UNH Football Game tomorrow complete with a tailgate! No doubt, she and Mairin will try to drink the beer again!
Sunday, Annie dresses up for the first time ever in her Halloween costume! Not sure if she is going to like it, but we'll find out!

No new teeth but closer everyday to crawling.....