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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