In an effort to post something on my blog between weekly menu plans, here are some things that have been going around in my head and our home.

I’ve been feeling musical lately. I’ve started trying to practice piano again—not just sit down and play, but really practice and work on something difficult and get better at it. I manage to do this for about 20-30 minutes after Anna’s nap while she’s sitting in her high chair eating raisins and graham crackers. It takes about 10 minutes to warm up, so I only get a few minutes to actually work on something, but it adds up, and I’m making slow progress. I’m working on Felix Mendelssohn’s Praeludium in E minor. It’s a rich, fluid piece, fairly short, a little challenging without being insanely hard. I’m done trying to learn stuff that’s so incredibly difficult that only professional musicians play it, and stick with pieces I actually have a shot at playing well. Maybe I’ll play it for you someday. But probably not. I’m just doing this for me, to remind myself that there’s still some talent buried in there somewhere.

David’s parents visited us this past weekend. Anna doesn’t see them very often, but whenever they come, she warms up to them in just a few minutes and is all over them. How many adults does it take to accompany a toddler to the park? Four. To storytime at the library? Four. None of us wanted to miss out on anything! They enjoyed getting to see Anna do the fun things she likes to do, and Anna loved the captive audience and undivided attention all weekend!

I’ve been trying to get back into the exercise habit. A few weeks ago I heard about the “Miles for Milestones” 5K on October 31 and thought it would be a good goal to work towards. I’ll be satisfied if I finish in 31 minutes; happy if I finish in 30. Now if the weather will just cooperate that day. It’s at 8 A.M. (Why do they have these things at 8 A.M. in the cold-weather months?!? Wouldn’t 10 A.M. or noon be much nicer?) It will be chilly, which is fine if it’s dry, but I’m not running in 40-degree rain. I don’t have the right kind of clothes for that anyway.

I think I want to paint the kitchen and living room. I haven’t told David this yet. Hey, honey, I think I want to paint the kitchen and living room.

Is there any way I can tell you just how enamored I am with Anna? She is one amazing kid. She’s been especially sweet lately. She is such a blessing! She is so funny sometimes. The other day in Wal-Mart we were stopped next to the milk, and she smiled, stuck out her tongue, and went “AAAAAAAEEEEEEEHHH.” I looked up to where she was looking, and there was a picture of a cat on a big sign hanging over the pet stuff. Yep, that’s how she makes her cat noise. I hope I can get her animal sounds on video sometime! They’re too cute.

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We took Anna on her first trip to the zoo yesterday! It was a little chillier than I had hoped, but we’re running out of available fall weekends and we wanted to get a trip in. We took our friend Abby along with us since Abby’s parents needed someone to keep her for the morning.

Here are David and the girls…

… looking at the giraffe:

This fun little guy scampered out to say hello and totally posed for the camera:

Anna and Mommy in front of some kind of deer-like critter (you can tell I learned a whole lot, huh?)

Me with both the monkeys:

A fine rhino:

Who doesn’t love chimps?

I tried to get a shot of a zebra’s rear for Becké, but they were too far away. Sorry, Becké.

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Are you building a fort?

Anna LOVES to get into the pantry, select a few various grocery items, and set them out on the kitchen floor. (more…)

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… in her new polka-dot panda pjs?!?

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It fits perfectly on our fingertips! And apparently it’s hilarious!

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In my 16 years of living in Conway, I have somehow never been to the little Faulkner County Fair until today. I took Anna this morning (and met up with our friends Rae Lyn and Elizabeth) to see the dog obedience demonstration and walk through the barns with all the animals. She loved it! She’s good at recognizing farm animals in her little storybooks and making their sounds, so I wanted to give her some real-life experience. We saw the cows, goats, sheep, chickens, and rabbits. (The pigs were blocked off, perhaps because they seemed a bit temperamental.*) The goats were so friendly! They were our favorite and made me want one for the backyard. (Don’t worry; I know better.)

*Update: David just informed me that the pigs were probably blocked off because of the swine flu. I asked if he was serious. Yes, he said, it’s happening in county fairs all over the country. They don’t want the pigs catching it from people.

Update again: Our friend Jennifer got to see and even pet the pigs this evening, so I guess it was just a temporary closing.

There were lots of school kids there to see the dogs:

The goats—so sweet and cute!

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Eighteen months, that is, not years! Whew! Although there are some similarities, namely that she thinks she’s all grown up and independent and can do whatever she wants, while her mom and dad sometimes have to convince her otherwise. Oh my, the 18-year birthday will get here way too fast. But, for today, we’ll relish the 18-month one.

Anna is an indescribable joy to us. Despite my previous comment, she really is a very sweet, happy child. She smiles and laughs a lot, loves to dance to music and do motions to the songs she’s learned, loves to interact with people, mimics everything we do, and learns new things constantly. Whatever did we do without her? I don’t know!

Happy half-birthday, sweetie!

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My brother let me play around with his Nikon D60 last weekend. It takes some great pictures, but at the same time I realized I have a lot to learn. Here are some pics of Anna and her cousin Addie, with their daddies and Mammaw and Pappaw.

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… when Anna looks at me just right, it’s like I catch a glimpse of what she might look like as a little girl. The baby face disappears for a just a moment and I can almost imagine a grade-school Anna, like an age-progressed photo or something. I can’t really describe it, and there’s no way I can catch it on camera. Is that weird? Have any of you other parents experienced that?

It will be all too soon before I find out if I’m right. :(

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I realized I haven’t written much about all the cool things Anna has been up to lately. So here are a few.

1. She is so good at putting things away and following directions. We can tell her, “pick up the book and put it back on your bookshelf” or “pick up your shoes and go put them back where they go,” and she will (usually) do it. She can put some of her own laundry away—she puts her pajamas in her pajama drawer, and she takes the stack of little washcloths to the bathroom and puts them in the cabinet. She’s amazing! (However, since putting things away is a much slower process than getting things out, don’t think things are always tidy around here.)

2. She loves music. When I start a CD, she will start bobbing her head up and down. She can hear the the faintest jingle of the ice cream truck when it is still several blocks away, and she will drop everything and start clapping and dancing. Her favorite song right now is “If You’re Happy and You Know It.”

3. She eats about one good meal a day. I never know which one it’s going to be. And sometimes I find a food she loves and she gobbles it up, then the next day she won’t touch it. Toddler diet, I suppose. She likes (in a rotating fashion) raisins, applesauce, cheese, oatmeal, breads and crackers, rice, beans, scrambled eggs, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and yogurt.

4. She is getting pretty good at using a spoon and fork to eat.

5. She’s still not trying to say many words, but she can make a variety of animal sounds when prompted. Or, rather, her version of them. If you see her, ask her what a kitty cat says. It’s funny. She sticks out her tongue and makes this high-pitched utterance that sounds more like a sick alley cat. I taught her “meeeoooow,” but I guess that’s what it sounds like to her!

6. She likes to pick out her own books to read. This used to take forever while she went through every single book on the shelf and found just the right one, but then I figured out if I grabbed 3 or 4 and let her pick from those, she’s happy with that.

7. She’s not the littlest kid at the park anymore. She has grown a lot this summer!

8. She does great when we drop her off at church. The past two Sundays, she didn’t even make a peep when we handed her to her teacher. She has fun playing with new toys and other kids.

9. She likes to pretend to put on lotion. She’ll touch the pump, tap her hands together, then pat her face, arms, legs, whatever. She’ll also pretend to put the deodorant under her arm if she gets hold of it.

10. She might be a little O.C. Tonight as she was walking through the living room, she noticed that the corner of her Aquadoodle mat was turned up, so she stopped and straightened it out. When she was putting her pajamas away, the drawer wouldn’t close all the way, so she had to open it and poke the clothes down further and close it again. Twice.

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