Today was Anna’s 3rd birthday! David took off and we went down to The Wonder Place in Little Rock. (I had been there once before with Anna, but it had been a while.) She had a blast! I think she liked the tree house thing the best, climbing up and down the stairs. We don’t have stairs at our house, so I guess it’s a novelty. :) But she also went shopping, played in the sand and water, and lots of other things.
Something must happen around 3.
The babyness has disappeared. That distinctive run/walk of toddlerhood is long gone. The broken sentences have become full paragraphs. The drama is on. Independence is gaining ground.
I can do babies. I can do toddlers. But kids? I don’t know what to do with kids. But I’m figuring it out.
And she’s a pretty neat kid.
Today is Sarah’s 5-month birthday! We were busy busy busy today, visiting my family this morning, going to the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Little Rock this afternoon, then a girls-only dinner party with some friends tonight, but I managed to snap a few pictures of her right before bedtime. :)
Let’s see… she is smiling and talking lots, laughing a little, grabbing hold of everything, drooling a river, sleeping through the night… oh, and rolling over! From tummy to back, that is. She eats about 5 times a day, sometimes 6. (No cereal yet; we’ll start that in another month.) She’s taking 3-4 naps per day, mostly short ones, but sometimes she can be convinced to take a long afternoon nap. She’s at the age where we have every baby apparatus out right now; she is big enough for the exersaucer and bumbo, but still likes the swing and bouncy seat, etc.
Without further ado, here’s that great smile:
Well, just like that, Anna is done with her crib. I know, most kids her age have long since switched to a bed, but Anna liked her crib, slept well in it, and never tried to climb out of it (although she certainly could have if it had occurred to her). Why mess with what works? Well, it stopped working. We’ve had a heck of a time getting her in bed lately, dealing with melt-downs and crying fits until 11, 11:30, or even past midnight. Couldn’t figure out what was wrong. Night before last, about midnight, David managed to get something out of her indicating she didn’t like it dark. Ok, no problem, we’ll leave your lamp on. (And why didn’t you say something about this a month ago? Or even 3 hours ago, for that matter? Hmph.) Last night, she didn’t even want to get in her crib. She didn’t like her crib, but couldn’t tell us why. Who can explain the whims of a (nearly) 3-year-old? So she slept on a blanket on the floor. (She didn’t even want to sleep on the crib mattress on the floor.) So, we decided, NOW is the time for the bed switch. Today.
I was skeptical whether she would actually take a nap in it, but she did. I went in and woke her up a little after 6:00, and she was hard asleep. I guess she’s a little sleep-deprived! So far she’s doing ok tonight.
There’s nothing sweeter than a newborn baby. Except perhaps a 4-month-old baby.
Really, I think babies get a lot more fun at this age. Newborns are sooooo tiny and fragile and make you go “awwww” at their tininess and fragility, but honestly, they can be fussy little critters and really don’t have that much to do with you. Sarah is such a doll now. She smiles, talks, and loves to play little games and sing songs and read books, and watches everything around her.
Do any of you parents have this problem: your baby is smiling and cooing and has all the charm turned on, then you point a camera at her, and you suddenly get that deer-in-the-headlights look? Sarah seems to smile when someone is interacting with her and making eye contact. So it takes multiple people to get a picture of her smiling–one to hold the camera, and one or more to engage her and make her smile!
So some of these were shot solo, but they are still cute I think, and some were with help. We have Nana and Granddad here from Colorado to help celebrate her “birthday” this month!
This year, we were prepared with proper snowsuit and boots! Our friend Emily, who has outfitted Anna with numerous bags of clothes after her 3 girls have finished with them, gave us the snowsuit. My mom got Anna the boots yesterday at Wal-Mart. Yeah, with everyone else who was buying milk and bread. I hope it wasn’t too crazy. :)
Sarah is interacting more and more each day with us and with the world around her. I’ve been reading her the occasional book ever since she was born, but of couse she didn’t really look at them… until lately. Now she has her attention on the book as we read to her. It’s pretty cool, and I try to make sure she gets read to every day. Anna loves to help too!
Anna does! Anna has been learning how to button her own PJs (these happen to have nice big buttons on them). She’s been trying for a while, but a few days ago she got it. There she was… quiet, serious, putting every ounce of concentration into getting that button through that hole… and when it went through, I think she surprised herself, then the surprised look turned into joy and then pride. I praised her as she held up her hand for a high-five. :)
She’s getting quite independent these days. She can actually get herself dressed and undressed for the most part, go potty and wash hands pretty well by herself, get her coat and mittens on and off, and of course, get us things we ask for or put things away. It’s kind of nice, actually. (Except when we’re in a hurry and I need to help her, and it’s “No Mommy I do it myself!”)
Sarah turned 3 months old today!
Here is the sleeping beauty waking up:
Reading a book with Mommy:
Just a swingin’:
And rockin’:
Tummy time:
Isn’t she a beauty?
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