The 13th month (+2 weeks)

Been to busy to do anna's month update, but not much has changed. A bulleted list of anna's day:

1. 5:30 anna wakes up. 5:45 we can't handle the crying anymore and get her out of bed. Some mornings (like this morning) it was 5:00 and 5:15 respectively
2. Anna's first word of the day is usually dad. Pronounced "Da". Never Ma.
   
3. Anna's next word and sign of the day is "bu" which means book! I got her out of bed at 5:15, it is 5:55 and she is still reading books. She jibber jabbers like crazy as she reads them. Sometimes she laughs while reading. She still LOVEs her books. Especially ones with animals in them.
4. She eats breakfast with us - often using utensils. She is especially good with a fork these days. She can sign more but often just screams when she wants something. Would drink a gallon of whole milk/day if we let her. Loves berries. Is afraid of anything hot. Likes to drink out of our cups.
5. 8:00 Wave bye bye to "Da"
6. She stays in her pajamas until 10:00. She gets super messy at bfast and we usually go for a run to the park right after bfast - so I keep in her jammies until we get back.
7. She signs shoes. And loves putting them on to go outside. She is not yet bringing them to me when she wants to go out though.
   
8. She loves her jog to the park still. Although she no longer sleeps. Usually she takes along a book. We are starting to meet people in the community since we go every day the same way at about the same time. I feel like I live on sesame street or something. We see our neighbors Teresa and Doris who call her "little annie" (Teresa is from New Jersey - imagine the accent). Some days we see our hippy neighbor dan and his dog and hippy wife. We used to see our friend Jesse pushing Zachie, but he got a job so no more. We see our new neighbor who works on his house all the time. I dont remember his name and now it's too late. I hate that. We see Jessica at the fruit stand and Sara and Levi at the park. Usually on the woodhaven trail we see a pregnant lady who reads while she walks her german shepherd. I think she might have had the baby - I haven't seen her in a while.
   
9. She is a daredevil at the park. We stop at 3 and sometimes 4 parks on our jog. I can't make the whole route continuously (it's about 5.5 miles). Also anna grunts as we pass parks. Grunt is the wrong word, she screams.
10. She likes to re-organize the house. While I shower she usually entertains herself by moving my socks to my underwear drawer and her shorts to her diaper drawer. She also likes to put clean clothes in the laundry baskets and push them around. It makes things exciting. Or really annoying. Depends on how tired I am.
11. She hates riding in the car. We still have her backwards. But we put her forwards once to see if it made the ride any better. It did not. So back she sits scrunched legs and all. (if you aren't aware they changed the recommendations - kids should be rear facing until they are 2). We just worry about her little neck and that big head. So anyways she pretty much screams the entire drive of wherever we go.
    
12. She still loves "babytime". We try to go to the tigard babytime every monday. (10:30am) We have been going since she was about 5 months I think. She loves to read the book they give and sing songs with the other babies. She's the oldest one now - probably time to move to toddler time.
13. Her lunch now has more variety. I love it that I can feed her a PB sandwich and she can eat it. Molars are glorious (although they sucked coming in!)
14. Naptime, glorious naptime! 12-1:30 pretty much everyday. Put in the nuk and put her in bed. Usually no screaming. I've noticed she sleeps better on overcast days. One reason I'm looking forward to the winter. Words cannot express the beauty of naptime.
15. 1:30. Screaming. That's how she always wakes up. The books about kids/sleeping/ect say that if your kids wakes up crying they didn't get enough sleep. I try to let her sleep more - but after 15 minutes her crying gets violent and she throws herself against the sides of the crib. I figure going back to sleep on her own is not going to happen at that point.
16. More books. nuf said.
17. More Bob. unless its hot - then we hang out (usually with friends). Please note that up to this point we do try to clean the house and do at least 1 load of laundry. Not always successful depending on how "helpful" anna is being. Some things we play: crayons, blocks, nursery rhymes with actions, puzzles, sandbox, watch animal clips on you-tube, call family on skype.
18. Dorothy's house. She loves my neighbor Dorothy's house. She has a bunny. all day long she looks out the window and points. When we go outside she points at dorothy's house. So we usually make it over there sometime before dinner to visit our best friends Dorothy and TJ and the bunny (i dont know his name). Dorothy always gives anna a treat. Nothing like positive reinforcement!
    
19. Dinner. This usually involves a trip to the backyard to gather foodstuffs. Usually Anna flirts with neighbors dog "brodie" while I look for something to cook up for dinner.
20. Dinner - the cooking part. Could also be read as more screaming. According to books I've read you are supposed to be able to train your kid to play by themselves so you can do what you need to do. We're working on it. Lately I just stick her in her crib if she's at my feet screaming. Sometimes I can cook one handed and explain to her what is going on. I like it best when its that way.
21. Dinner - the eating part. Soon as richard comes home anna looks and points at him and says "Da!" cute. We eat dinner. Usually she is naughty and throws her bowl and spoon on the floor or at the wall. We are working on it. Doesn't she look so innocent in her booster chair in the picture above?
    
22. Bath - If we eat outside we just hose her down. No. We only did that once (maybe twice). She likes the bath but hates having her hair washed. She loves to splash a rag. She gets real giggly and cute. She likes to stand up but for some reason listens to me when I say "SIT ON YOUR BUM" in a stern voice. So that's good!
    
23. Put Away. I learned the sign for this and try to teach it to her. We put the toys away before we go to bed. Sometimes I'm too exhausted, but I'm trying to make sure to do it anyways. She is getting to where she will put all her toys on a bag or box for me if I'm there handing her the toys. Hopefully someday she learns.
24. 7:00. freedom. Usually just goes down without screaming. This past week has been pretty rough due to molars coming in. But usually shes a good sleeper. Last night we had had enough at 6:00. that's pretty early but it's nice that she'll go down when she's tired at night.
    

Words cannot express how fun it is to watch her grow and learn. She is always trying to be so helpful. Last night we were cleaning up the yard and she kept trying to pick up the 5 pound box of fertilizer. Eventually she moved it 1 foot and then dropped it and fell over and cried. She gets frustrated easily. She loves to see animals in books but is terrified of anything that makes noise. She is usually pretty happy aside from the expected screaming times listed above. She has gorgeous blue eyes and curly blonde hair. She loves to play with her friends and see people. I guess you could sum up anna at 13 months with 3 words: blonde people-loving bookworm.