6-29-12

Oh my!  I haven't posted since the 19th, which isn't terribly long in the big scheme of things, but boy has this family been busy!! 

Andy has been gone since Sunday with the teenagers doing Re-Wired - a conference involving local missions.  He's here in town, so each evening we went up to the church to eat dinner with him, so that he could see Anna Claire (and she could see him!).  Glad to have him home today though. 

Mom came to spend the week with us while he was gone, and I think she's trying to pack a memory into every moment she's here!  I can't get over how that woman can chase Anna Claire!!  She's a beast!  Not to mention that Anna Claire goes into "Nana mode" and becomes an absolute wild child!  I don't think she hardly stopped running the entire visit!

Monday we went down to Malvern to visit a local farmers market that I heard was really nice, and it was!  They had all sorts of stuff - pickles, preserves, fresh fruits and veggies (of course).  All beautiful!  Neat place!  We bought two crates of corn (4 dozen each) and a large bag of shelled butter beans, along with a small container of fresh figs, which we discovered that Anna Claire loves when the owner offered her one and she ate the whole thing and TRIED to eat the stem until Mom took it away from her!  That girl is such a good eater!

Talking is finally starting as well....she's really saying lots of words and phrases.  Sometimes I don't know what she's trying to communicate and we both get frustrated. :(  This week alone I bet she has started saying five to ten new words.  Drive, write, draw, moo (cow says), Nana (much anticipated!), Elmo, and she has been repeating some of the words that she said only once or twice before, such as outside ("side"), book, etc.

She's finally calling Andy "da-da" again, which is a nice change from everybody being Mama! :)  She's also pointing at pictures and naming the people in them - Mama, Da-da, Nana.  Sometimes random men that she doesn't know become Dada or women become Mama - cute!

At dinner Monday night, Davidson Granberry was playing with Anna Claire, saying "My Daddy" or "My Mama" and touching our shoulders, trying to get a reaction from her.....it backfired....instead she ran to Nana and said, "Mine!!" (meaning, My Nana!!)  So much for Mom and Dad!! haha!

She's dancing to songs on Yo Gabba Gabba or Sesame Street and trying to do the motions.  (Adorable!)

She's learning to accept that we determine bedtime.  Andy or I will say, "It's time for night-night - do you want Mama or Daddy to put you to bed?" She will reach for one of us and then we will tell her to say bye or give a kiss, and she will do it and allow herself to be taken to bed without another peep! :)  What a great kid!

A couple of working through items....she HATES having a shirt taken off or put on.  Whines and moans EVERY time.  Drives me nuts.  I think it got stuck on her head once and traumatized her, but now she's a bit of a drama queen about it.  Also going through a phase where she detests getting a bath because she doesn't want her hair washed.  She won't help - won't look up, won't let you use the cup to keep it from her eyes, so we just have to drench her.  On a better note, the past two days, I've used a washcloth and that seems to be working better, but on some level, she's just got to adjust - baths are just part of life, right? :)

She does love to eat though - not picky at all.  She has funny habits of course, but at least we aren't dealing with a "pizza/chicken only" child.  She takes after her Daddy and has a wide palate!  She eats cottage cheese and pickled okra at the BBQ restaurant - all kinds of veggies - loves lo mein at the Chinese restaurant and spaghetti....oh my, how she loves spaghetti!!  But we can't give her garlic bread or else that's all she wants!  Plus, to make it even worse, she uses her teeth to peel off the buttery sections, leaving the hull and then wants another piece!  NOT a healthy habit!! :)  Charles and Mary Anne Miller, a sweet senior adult couple at our church were laughing at her Tuesday night - they said they enjoyed watching a child who was such a good eater.  I think she was wearing half a plate of butter beans, sweet potatoes and black eyed peas on her face that night..... ;)

She's our darling though - I worry a little about her feeling unloved or neglected when the new baby comes (sigh.....still no name.....) but I suppose lots and lots and lots of children have learned to adjust to a sibling and she will survive too.  :)