I guess this will be the first of many posts about Annalise and all of the fun / cute things she says and does every day. For so many who do not know this bright and sunny girl, these may not be nearly as darling or funny as they are to her Dad and I. However, some day when I'm old and have died hair (I won't be gray), I can read these things and laugh, because _I_ know Annalise.
Lately she talks a lot to inanimate objects, and pretends that they talk, as well.
She had a strip of tortilla during dinner, and held it down the middle, then shook it so the edges jiggled. She said, "'Daddy, look at me! I'm flapping my wings like a bird!' Said the tortilla." It is clear that story time is wearing off. She uses the word "said" in the most interesting contexts!
A few days ago at breakfast, she was eating some Kix in her milk. To make her meal more well rounded, I added some grapes into the mix. The following conversation ensued: "I have a good idea, grape. You can play hide and seek. You will hide in the Kix, and I will find you!" She then dropped the grape beneath the cover of milk, and covered both eyes. "One, two, three, ready or not, here I come!" She removed her hands, reached in for the grape, and pulled it out. "There you are, grape! That was a pretty good hiding place!" I guess the theme of both stories is playing with her food. :)
We always walk to the library for story time on Thursdays. It's often quite an ordeal, but I can't bring myself to take Nick to work and pick him up when the library is just kitty corner from where I live. It seems to always rain on Thursday. This last Thursday, even though it was raining on the way there, it had stopped by the time we were walking home and was just exceptionally windy. Annalise insisted on walking and pushing the stroller. (When she's in the mood, she can walk the entire way.) One of the tags on the stroller was flapping like crazy in the wind above her head. Addressing it, she said, "Stop that, Wind! Stop blowing that little flag on the stroller! Stop it!" I said to her, "Honey, the wind doesn't have any ears. It can't hear you." (This seemed like the best way to explain that it was an inanimate object.) She said, "The Wind doesn't have any ears, and it doesn't have a mouth, and it doesn't have a nose, and it doesn't have any eyes, and it doesn't have a forehead, and it doesn't have any eyebrows, and it doesn't have a face!"
Lately she has told me about where things "live." For example, "I will go over here to my bookshelf where my books live!" The other day at Target, she kept on trying to climb out of her stroller. I told her to put her bottom in the seat. She responded by saying, "My bottom LIVES in the stroller!" That's right!
The other day Annalise decided she would try and dress herself. Of course, this involved taking the clothes she was currently wearing off and selecting a new outfit. She went through several outfits during the course of this story. To my utter amazement, every outfit matched perfectly. She then brought out the new clothes and laid them out so they looked like a person on the floor. She announced, "I made me!" This began the process of trying on all of the clothes, and getting very frustrated. She would get most of something on, and then decide that it was too hard. (After much trying and grunting.) She would then move on to the next item. "The shirt is a little bit too hard for me. I will put on my pants." Each time she nearly had a meltdown when she couldn't get it completely alone. If I ever offered to help, she had a meltdown. It was very difficult to watch. Ultimately, only the socks on the first outfit were successful, and even those were tricky. At one critical juncture with a stuck pinky toe Annalise shouted out in frustration, "Come on, Sock, Give me a hand!" She ended up with 2 socks and a diaper (which had never come off.) She then announced, "This outfit is a little tricky for me. I will get another one!" She proceeded to bring out another matching outfit, and the process continued. Finally, I helped her ever so little, and she was able to be successful. However, when she was dressed, she immediately remembered that I had helped her and threw a tantrum. *sigh.* Not much else a mother can do.
I have been putting off potty training Annalise. I tried once before she was 2, and she did pretty well, but I thought it was too much of a hassle so after a few days I gave up. Then, I got sick and could not even imagine doing it. My plan was to wait until she turned 3 and the baby was about 3-4 months old. Annalise had other ideas.
The past few days, she has been forcing me to change her diaper ever few minutes, it seems like. (Not really, but a lot.) Every time she wets just a little bit, she runs for me to change her. The other day, she ran up to me and said she wanted to go potty. In total shock, I agreed. I put her on the potty and left her there a few minutes, thinking she would not be able to go and just wanted some attention. Then, I hear... Tinkle tinkle tinkle... gush... trickle... "I'm all done, Mommy!" Sure enough, she went in the potty. I wanted to put her old, clean diaper on, but she ran to her underwear drawer and said, "I don't want a diaper, Mommy. I want one of the pants that are by the socks!" (This would be the undies.) So, in the next couple of days I took her to Target and bought her a little potty. Turns out she still wants to use the big potty, so 15$ wasted. Oh well. It does double a stool. (Too bad I already have one of those.) So, today has been her first undies day. She has stayed dry all day and has gone in the potty 3 times, each time telling me she needed to go first, and then going. Convincing her to get her undies back on is a bit of a trick. (She likes a bare bottom.) It's hard to do anything that requires convincing a toddler to do something of their own free will, but it does seem that once they decide to do it, it's nearly done.
I have offered before for Annalise to say the prayer by herself, but she always refuses and wants help. Last night, Nick was saying the family prayer. At the end of it, she insisted that she say the prayer by herself. She knelt down and put her little head into her folded arms along the side of the bed. Because of the muffling bed, we couldn't catch the whole prayer, but we did hear the following: "Dear Heavenly Father... mumble mumble mumble... Family... mumble... Daddy... Medicine, so he will feel better... mumble... good nigh' night... mumble... return my books to the library and get new books... mumble... In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen!" I'm sure the medicine reference came from the fact that Nick has been sick, and Annalise and I got him some Tylenol at the Grocery store. I'm not sure where the library reference came in, since that wasn't one of our activities that day, but I guess it left a strong impression. It was a sweet moment for Nick and I as parents. I know that I felt the spirit in the room very strongly. My child's first entirely original, heart felt prayer. I know that in my mind, I was praying that the Lord would hear this prayer, answer it with the Spirit, and would hear every prayer ever again uttered by those little lips. I know He heard last night's prayer, because I felt the spirit, even through the muffled mumbles. Perhaps especially through them.
On a related note, usually when we put Annalise to bed, we walk out of her room with her begging for more songs. (She has a HUGE repertoire, and wants all of them as long as she can get you to sing.) Thus, Nick and I were utterly shocked the other night when we put her in bed, put her blankets on her, and she responded by saying, "I'm all snuggly in my bed!" As we were walking out the door, she said in a very sweet tone of voice, "Thank you, Mommy. Thank you, Daddy." We also thanked her, and looked at one another in utter astonishment. One of the better parenting moments.
Yesterday we were running late for a play date, and I let Annalise get a drink of water. She accidentally spilled it on herself and soaked herself. In my rush to get out of the door, I got a little frustrated while I was changing her to new clothes. When we got to the car, I said, "It's ok. I know it was just an accident, and you didn't mean it. I'm not mad at you." She responded with, "It was an accident, Mommy. I didn't mean it." I said, "I know. I'm sorry I got frustrated with you." Then, to my utter astonishment she said, "I'm sorry that I spilled water on my clothes, Mommy." We both agreed to be happy, and we were. :) I was just amazed that she knew how to appropriately apologize for something she had done.
The play date was a lot of fun. We got together with Kira, Annalise's best friend here in Memphis, and her mom. The two girls are really learning how to play TOGETHER instead of side by side like they used to. They both decided to strip down to their diapers and then ask us for a black dress. (Definitely a coordinated effort.) They talk to one another, understand each other, and respond. They both love princesses. (Annalise has been known to say, "Kira, do you like Cinderella, too?" To which Kira responds, "Yes. Let's play with this Cinderella puzzle.") They climbed into Kira's crib together and pretended to sleep together. Then, they discussed it and agreed to throw out all of the blankets to make room for jumping. The two of them then literally jumped for 20 minutes or so, screaming things like, "We're jumping! Me and Kira are jumping in the crib! Woah, that was a big jump! Kira, do you like to jump? I _love_ to jump!" It was adorable. They also put the doll between them and held hands and played "Ring around the Rosies" for a long time. Annalise led most of the singing, but Kira chimed in with several "Ashes, Ashes." It really is fun to hear the girls talk to each other and like each other. I only wished that I would have brought my camera.
The other day they were at the library together for story time, and April (Kira's Mom) and I had were on the other side of the children's section. The girls were looking at the fish. We had not taken our eyes off of them. Suddenly, Kira looked up and realized the two of them had wandered off. She said, "Annie! Where are our mommies?" Annalise looked around and said, "C'mon, Kira, let's find our mommies!" April and I had a good chuckle. Then, the two girls held hands and walked over to us, where they saw us waving them down.
Annalise has an amazing memory. When we read a book just a few times, she can tell a lot of the story, and often has it memorized. I am always amazed at the many things she has memorized. She also loves to sing, and sings all the time. I try to get this performance on video, but the moment I bring out the camera, she won't sing any more. I'm sure there are more that I can't think of, but I am trying to think of some of the songs she knows. She sings all of the words to:
Lately she talks a lot to inanimate objects, and pretends that they talk, as well.
She had a strip of tortilla during dinner, and held it down the middle, then shook it so the edges jiggled. She said, "'Daddy, look at me! I'm flapping my wings like a bird!' Said the tortilla." It is clear that story time is wearing off. She uses the word "said" in the most interesting contexts!
A few days ago at breakfast, she was eating some Kix in her milk. To make her meal more well rounded, I added some grapes into the mix. The following conversation ensued: "I have a good idea, grape. You can play hide and seek. You will hide in the Kix, and I will find you!" She then dropped the grape beneath the cover of milk, and covered both eyes. "One, two, three, ready or not, here I come!" She removed her hands, reached in for the grape, and pulled it out. "There you are, grape! That was a pretty good hiding place!" I guess the theme of both stories is playing with her food. :)
We always walk to the library for story time on Thursdays. It's often quite an ordeal, but I can't bring myself to take Nick to work and pick him up when the library is just kitty corner from where I live. It seems to always rain on Thursday. This last Thursday, even though it was raining on the way there, it had stopped by the time we were walking home and was just exceptionally windy. Annalise insisted on walking and pushing the stroller. (When she's in the mood, she can walk the entire way.) One of the tags on the stroller was flapping like crazy in the wind above her head. Addressing it, she said, "Stop that, Wind! Stop blowing that little flag on the stroller! Stop it!" I said to her, "Honey, the wind doesn't have any ears. It can't hear you." (This seemed like the best way to explain that it was an inanimate object.) She said, "The Wind doesn't have any ears, and it doesn't have a mouth, and it doesn't have a nose, and it doesn't have any eyes, and it doesn't have a forehead, and it doesn't have any eyebrows, and it doesn't have a face!"
Lately she has told me about where things "live." For example, "I will go over here to my bookshelf where my books live!" The other day at Target, she kept on trying to climb out of her stroller. I told her to put her bottom in the seat. She responded by saying, "My bottom LIVES in the stroller!" That's right!
The other day Annalise decided she would try and dress herself. Of course, this involved taking the clothes she was currently wearing off and selecting a new outfit. She went through several outfits during the course of this story. To my utter amazement, every outfit matched perfectly. She then brought out the new clothes and laid them out so they looked like a person on the floor. She announced, "I made me!" This began the process of trying on all of the clothes, and getting very frustrated. She would get most of something on, and then decide that it was too hard. (After much trying and grunting.) She would then move on to the next item. "The shirt is a little bit too hard for me. I will put on my pants." Each time she nearly had a meltdown when she couldn't get it completely alone. If I ever offered to help, she had a meltdown. It was very difficult to watch. Ultimately, only the socks on the first outfit were successful, and even those were tricky. At one critical juncture with a stuck pinky toe Annalise shouted out in frustration, "Come on, Sock, Give me a hand!" She ended up with 2 socks and a diaper (which had never come off.) She then announced, "This outfit is a little tricky for me. I will get another one!" She proceeded to bring out another matching outfit, and the process continued. Finally, I helped her ever so little, and she was able to be successful. However, when she was dressed, she immediately remembered that I had helped her and threw a tantrum. *sigh.* Not much else a mother can do.
I have been putting off potty training Annalise. I tried once before she was 2, and she did pretty well, but I thought it was too much of a hassle so after a few days I gave up. Then, I got sick and could not even imagine doing it. My plan was to wait until she turned 3 and the baby was about 3-4 months old. Annalise had other ideas.
The past few days, she has been forcing me to change her diaper ever few minutes, it seems like. (Not really, but a lot.) Every time she wets just a little bit, she runs for me to change her. The other day, she ran up to me and said she wanted to go potty. In total shock, I agreed. I put her on the potty and left her there a few minutes, thinking she would not be able to go and just wanted some attention. Then, I hear... Tinkle tinkle tinkle... gush... trickle... "I'm all done, Mommy!" Sure enough, she went in the potty. I wanted to put her old, clean diaper on, but she ran to her underwear drawer and said, "I don't want a diaper, Mommy. I want one of the pants that are by the socks!" (This would be the undies.) So, in the next couple of days I took her to Target and bought her a little potty. Turns out she still wants to use the big potty, so 15$ wasted. Oh well. It does double a stool. (Too bad I already have one of those.) So, today has been her first undies day. She has stayed dry all day and has gone in the potty 3 times, each time telling me she needed to go first, and then going. Convincing her to get her undies back on is a bit of a trick. (She likes a bare bottom.) It's hard to do anything that requires convincing a toddler to do something of their own free will, but it does seem that once they decide to do it, it's nearly done.
I have offered before for Annalise to say the prayer by herself, but she always refuses and wants help. Last night, Nick was saying the family prayer. At the end of it, she insisted that she say the prayer by herself. She knelt down and put her little head into her folded arms along the side of the bed. Because of the muffling bed, we couldn't catch the whole prayer, but we did hear the following: "Dear Heavenly Father... mumble mumble mumble... Family... mumble... Daddy... Medicine, so he will feel better... mumble... good nigh' night... mumble... return my books to the library and get new books... mumble... In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen!" I'm sure the medicine reference came from the fact that Nick has been sick, and Annalise and I got him some Tylenol at the Grocery store. I'm not sure where the library reference came in, since that wasn't one of our activities that day, but I guess it left a strong impression. It was a sweet moment for Nick and I as parents. I know that I felt the spirit in the room very strongly. My child's first entirely original, heart felt prayer. I know that in my mind, I was praying that the Lord would hear this prayer, answer it with the Spirit, and would hear every prayer ever again uttered by those little lips. I know He heard last night's prayer, because I felt the spirit, even through the muffled mumbles. Perhaps especially through them.
On a related note, usually when we put Annalise to bed, we walk out of her room with her begging for more songs. (She has a HUGE repertoire, and wants all of them as long as she can get you to sing.) Thus, Nick and I were utterly shocked the other night when we put her in bed, put her blankets on her, and she responded by saying, "I'm all snuggly in my bed!" As we were walking out the door, she said in a very sweet tone of voice, "Thank you, Mommy. Thank you, Daddy." We also thanked her, and looked at one another in utter astonishment. One of the better parenting moments.
Yesterday we were running late for a play date, and I let Annalise get a drink of water. She accidentally spilled it on herself and soaked herself. In my rush to get out of the door, I got a little frustrated while I was changing her to new clothes. When we got to the car, I said, "It's ok. I know it was just an accident, and you didn't mean it. I'm not mad at you." She responded with, "It was an accident, Mommy. I didn't mean it." I said, "I know. I'm sorry I got frustrated with you." Then, to my utter astonishment she said, "I'm sorry that I spilled water on my clothes, Mommy." We both agreed to be happy, and we were. :) I was just amazed that she knew how to appropriately apologize for something she had done.
The play date was a lot of fun. We got together with Kira, Annalise's best friend here in Memphis, and her mom. The two girls are really learning how to play TOGETHER instead of side by side like they used to. They both decided to strip down to their diapers and then ask us for a black dress. (Definitely a coordinated effort.) They talk to one another, understand each other, and respond. They both love princesses. (Annalise has been known to say, "Kira, do you like Cinderella, too?" To which Kira responds, "Yes. Let's play with this Cinderella puzzle.") They climbed into Kira's crib together and pretended to sleep together. Then, they discussed it and agreed to throw out all of the blankets to make room for jumping. The two of them then literally jumped for 20 minutes or so, screaming things like, "We're jumping! Me and Kira are jumping in the crib! Woah, that was a big jump! Kira, do you like to jump? I _love_ to jump!" It was adorable. They also put the doll between them and held hands and played "Ring around the Rosies" for a long time. Annalise led most of the singing, but Kira chimed in with several "Ashes, Ashes." It really is fun to hear the girls talk to each other and like each other. I only wished that I would have brought my camera.
The other day they were at the library together for story time, and April (Kira's Mom) and I had were on the other side of the children's section. The girls were looking at the fish. We had not taken our eyes off of them. Suddenly, Kira looked up and realized the two of them had wandered off. She said, "Annie! Where are our mommies?" Annalise looked around and said, "C'mon, Kira, let's find our mommies!" April and I had a good chuckle. Then, the two girls held hands and walked over to us, where they saw us waving them down.
Annalise has an amazing memory. When we read a book just a few times, she can tell a lot of the story, and often has it memorized. I am always amazed at the many things she has memorized. She also loves to sing, and sings all the time. I try to get this performance on video, but the moment I bring out the camera, she won't sing any more. I'm sure there are more that I can't think of, but I am trying to think of some of the songs she knows. She sings all of the words to:
- I am a Child of God
- Hark the Harold Angels Sing
- Silent Night
- Away in a Manger
- Jingle Bells
- ABC's
- "I love you, you love me" (from Barney.)
- Teach me to walk in the light
- I'm trying to be like Jesus
- Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam
- The Wheels on the Bus
- I love to see the Temple
- I have a Family
- Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
- Old MacDonald
- I'm a little Teapot
- Ring around the Rosies
- Here we are Together
- She is learning Hokey Pokey
- Peas Porridge Cold
- Pat 'a Cake
