All About Anna

Today Anna is six months old so I thought I would take a little bit of time and talk about what she is doing now and to sing her praises. I don't know how big she is now but she is getting really big. Noticeably heavier and longer. Her thighs are quite chunky but I think she is thinning out, especially in the neck. She still has her proper double chin but only two chins and the folds are getting less pronounced. That makes cleaning in them easier.


She feels the only way to truly explore something is with her tongue and her drool has cut down, at least on some days. She is really curious unless it involves moving beyond simply reaching in which case, few things are worth the trouble. Mommy and Daddy's things are infinitely more interesting than her own toys and she just knows one day she will be able to get a hold of the cell phone. Her hands are getting really effective at picking things up and holding on to them for the most part. She still drops stuff a lot, especially when it's becoming less interesting and she's almost done with it. Water bottles are fascinating even if the water in them isn't so fun.


Books are delicious which makes reading them to her a little bit tricky. When she isn't trying to eat the book, she turns her head when I turn the page, as if she is following along. She also turns her head when she hears sounds, especially Daddy's voice. She loves having him home. Sometimes too much so, like when I am trying to feed her. He can be more interesting than food. As can Vernell who she thinks is pretty funny.

Although apparently Daddy is not at interesting as the camera.

She rolls like a mad fool, especially in her crib. I never know, when I go to get here where she will be or which direction she will be facing. Unfortunately, this means sometimes she gets her legs stuck between the bars and that is very sad. The other day, she had pushed against the wall and moved the crib a little bit.


Mostly she eats well. Her repertoire of solids is growing slowly. Having to make all the baby food really slows down the process. Just about the only thing that she really doesn't like is the banana. I mushed one up and she made the funniest face after taking a bite. It was a really ripe banana so it might have been too ripe or the texture that she didn't like. I'll try again with a less ripe banana. Lately she has been doing this thing where she eats some and then starts crying after a few bites. I don't know what the problem is, she is definitely still hungry. If I calm her down, she will eat more so it's not that she doesn't like the food. I was thinking maybe she gets thirsty (it happened with oatmeal which was pretty sticky) but as she doesn't drink out of a cup yet I'm not sure what I can do about it. We'll have to see how she does today. I do want to start teaching her how to drink out of a cup soon. I just have to get one that isn't glass or metal (they have metal dishes here which I think is strange. The cups have sharp edges so that's right out).


She has learned that screaming will get my attention while I'm making dinner. Apparently grumpy mommy attention is better than no attention at all. I'm trying to not get so engrossed in making dinner that I just ignore her but keep her involved in what I'm doing by looking at her and talking to her. So far, it's so so.

Who says there's only one way to suck on a binkie?

She loves the Moby Wrap and gets excited when I put it on. It's a little tricky making dinner or doing dishes when she's in it because she kicks the counter. She gets freaked out when I bend over while she's in it and is just dangling. If I have to bend over, I keep a hand on her so she stays close. She also gets nervous if I toss her into the air. Maybe some day that will be fun to her. She does like it when I dance, especially when she's in the wrap. I can't tell if she likes to dance herself. I think it's hilarious wiggling her little bum and since she doesn't complain, we do that a lot when music is playing.

Her poor leg had a mark on it after this.

She sleeps through the night now, waking up at anywhere between 6:30 and 8 (at the very latest). Her naps are pretty good though not on a real schedule. I have to be careful not to have her take a late nap because the other day she was up rolling and talking to herself in bed for a while after I put her down. The late nap thing can be tricky though because she will often be tired around 5 ish and no one wants to try to keep her up for three more hours and try to make dinner when she is cranky. Someday maybe we'll get the naps more on a schedule. Of course by then, we'll probably just move and have to start the whole thing over again.

Before her bath. The baby in the mirror is a lot of fun. As you can see, Jason is working on teaching her to stand without us.

Baths aren't so much fun. We have a sink that is just right but Jason has to hold her while I wash so she doesn't slip. One problem is there is no sink stopper so we use a washcloth to slow the drain which she sometimes moves as she slides around. She can stop the drain with her bum but usually we have to move her before too long. The other problem with baths is that the water only has one temperature and it's kind of chilly. She gets all shivery and goose bumpy. There's not really anything we can do about it other than go fast and try to distract her. When she isn't being bathed, she loves playing in the sink.


And that is Anna's life right now in a nutshell. Well, I did leave out the pooping but I figure that's for the best. I don't know how interesting this all is to anyone other than family but I figured it would be better to do one long posting about her than several shorter ones.