Lasagna, Lights, and other loves

We celebrated Annie's first birthday with Minnesota family and friends on Saturday. It was the first warm and sunny (by warm we mean high 50's) day of spring, nice enough that we took her birthday cake outside! Annie had a great time visiting (as did we!) and we all marveled that it has indeed been a year...




At a year, we find that Annie loves:

*lasagna (and cheeses and breads in any form!), and lately she's enjoyed using utensils a bit (we load them for her, most of the time, she gets it into her mouth)
*feeding Mommy and Daddy as often as they feed her
*organizing things--moving toys and whatever else she's playing with around into different piles, taking them out and putting them back into containers
*dancing, dancing, dancing--Eric's expert opinion (with no prejudice of course) is that she has very good rhythym
*bathtime--for her birthday she's received some bath toys that make her want to stay in even longer
*light fixtures--she finds them wherever we are and would like them to be turned on (and off and on and off)
*pushing buttons--on remotes, on the telephone, on the television
*brushing her hair--we always have to have an extra comb or brush on hand when we want to brush her hair so she can join us
*brushing her teeth--she likes watching herself in the mirror as she does so
*putting socks and shoes on her feet--literally on top of, we're happy she generally knows where they go...she also likes to bring us our shoes and help us put them on and off
*sharing toys and food with people she's with
*waving at people--she likes to say "hello" and "goodbye" to people coming and going from our house, to people in parking lots and on the street, to crows and dogs and squirrels
*pointing at objects and hearing their names (whether in books or around the house)
*being outside--when people are leaving our house she attempts to go with them so she can get outside (when it's a day like yesterday or when in Arizona, we're happy to comply...when it's a day like today--rainy--it's a bit more of a challenge)
*going, going, going--in all different forms
*being with her family and friends--she continues to be quite social

She's currently going up the stairs, saying it's time to move upstairs...we think the rain has subsided for a bit, so we've promised a quick walk before dinner!