Our Two Year Old

Annie was born at 9:06pm, her first morning was a rainy one. And, that was fine, as we were content to spend the day cuddling with her. Last night, we watched the video of her beginnings, and were amazed at how much she looks the same, and how much she's changed.


Even a year ago, she was such a different little girl. She was just starting to walk, to explore her world with vigor, to communicate verbally.

This morning we celebrated her birthday with family and friends, and loved watching her dance, talk, sing, so much more aware of her world. We love that she's trying to figure out her place in it, and is doing so with such sweetness. We are proud to be her parents!

Continued birthday celebrations...

We gave Annie a dollhouse for her birthday, and she's had fun over the last two days playing with the dolls and setting up the furniture. Here's Annie, Daddy, and Grandpa heading out for her birthday dinner at the greenhouse bakery, and Grandma and Annie settling down for dinner after looking at flowers and fish.




After a nice, relatively quite birthday, we celebrated with more friends and family this morning. Annie was delighted by her birthday dress from Grandma and Grandpa, and the effect of twirling on it its skirt (she's become quite the little dancer). She's also quite fond of her bedroom, especially with her new quilt (made to match her growth chart).

More festivities...

Grandpa arrived from Arizona a few days before Annie's birthday. She was delighted to see him, and has loved getting to play with him. We've been hearing a lot about how silly Grandpa is.

Annie's no stranger to silliness, one of her newest games with Daddy is going for rides on his feet.




ANNIE TURNS TWO!

On this past Friday, we celebrated Annie's second birthday. We had a wonderful day, and were in awe all day that two years have passed since we welcomed her to the world.


After a tasty breakfast of one of Annie's favorites: gingerbread pancakes, we headed to the Children's Museum. Annie was very excited to see "Clifford, the Big Red Dog" and to explore all the museum. My dad hadn't been there before, so Annie loved showing him all her favorite parts. It was a busy day at the museum, so we needed a little break in between exhibits, and found a corner to read in. Both Annie and Ella were quite happy to be read to, and got a chance to practice showing how old she is, you can see her very clear pronunciation of "two."

Our Angel...

If only we'd dressed her in a halo and wings...


All the girls again at Anna's reception...all sleepy girls mind you.


Annie and I took my mom and Ella to a nearby conservatory on a cold, rainy day. We enjoyed the new spring flower show, and walk through the Tropics. Annie's telling Ella all about the sloth up in the tree. The last time Annie and I had visited, the sloth was kind enough to move a bit and wiggle its nose for us. Annie waited and waited, but it showed no desire to move this time.


Another one of our winter escapes is the Mall of America. We love having a place to stretch our legs and look at--well, everything! I'm happy to say that when we talk about going to the mall, what Annie thinks about is "go walk around!" not shopping. One evening earlier this week, my mom, Eric, Annie and I enjoyed an evening of walking around, and Annie was quite happy to have dinner (and try the malts!) at Johnny Rockets.
Over the past few months, she's discovered the joys of escalators. In the following picture, she's just spotted one to descend on. She's also wearing my two year old birthday dress!

Backtracking now...

Early this month, my mom arrived to help us prepare for Annie's birthday (and to simply enjoy playing together!). Here is Annie decked out in her "painting clothes," she and Grandma had a morning of trying out Annie's new paints. Her hair, obviously, is getting quite long. And, she has expressing more and more interest in how it's done--one morning she's determined to only have barrettes, another pigtails, another braids...I'm enjoying it of course, and even Eric has gotten quite skilled at pigtails.



Annie's imaginative play is getting more and more elaborate, and she is very much enjoying her kitchen, making us all sorts of tasty treats!

One of the highlights of the month was meeting our new friend, Anna Justine. She was born in January, but lives with her parents (and our dear friends!) in New Mexico. They were in town for her baptism, and we were delighted to have them (and our friend Ella and her parents) join us for brunch the morning before so the girls would have a chance to meet each other. It's amazing to think that almost 10 years ago we were all moving into our great post-college home together, and now our daughters are starting on their friendship.

In the last few weeks, we've started talking with Annie about the baby. She's excited to talk about being a big sister, and to say that the baby will come in summertime (though, truthfully, talking about getting to go to the park to slide in the summertime--we are so anxious for warmth). She loves cuddling with my belly, tickling the baby, tapping my belly when she thinks that it's time for the baby to wake-up. She'll say good morning, good night, and give the baby hugs.

The morning after our brunch with Anna and Ella and families, we attended Anna's baptism. It was a beautiful service, and we were so happy to be there to celebrate with them. Here are Ella and Annie and their daddy's waiting in the narthax for the reception.

Little by little...

It's been so long since we've posted, and not for lack of stories. Annie is our two year old now, and the last couple of weeks have been full of sweet moments, little discoveries, and constant amazement at how much she is picking up. We'll break up these posts to make them feel manageable.

We celebrated Annie's actual birthday (on Friday, the 27th) with dinner at one of our favorite winter escapes--a local nursery with a french bakery in the greenhouse. Annie was thrilled to see the fish, the flowers, to get to explore in warm sunshine (no, spring is not in full force here!), and to celebrate with Grandpa and Grandma in town from Arizona.




I've not been good at belly pictures--so I'm dutifully including one here--I'll be 31 weeks tomorrow, and are in full force for gearing up for our new baby. Annie talks more and more each day about "baby" and the baby makes itself more and more known with its acrobatics.