Development

Sometimes, as parents, we worry about our child's development. I try not to worry too much and figure she's probably just fine but even I have the occasional concern. Why isn't she talking yet? Are those supposed to be words? Why can't she point out her nose? Does she even know what it is? She walked all the time in CA, why won't she at home? Is she eating enough? Is it strange that she tries to pull up on buttons rather than push them? And on and on.

It doesn't help that we left our What to Expect the First Year book in India and haven't been to a doctor since before we left (long story). I try to covertly gauge her development on other kids around us but we all know that's usually a bad idea.

Fortunately, on the plane ride home from CA (which she did very well on) something happened to help me feel better. Anna walked up and down the aisle several times so that we got to know a lot of people on the plane (such a social butterfly). When we weren't walking, I was letting her play with a Pringles can. She figured out how to open it with her teeth and was working on trying to close it. I don't think she was able to fully close it on her own but got pretty close. Well, a guy who was sitting near us happened to be a doctor (not a pediatrician, a kidney doctor but still) and wanted to guess how old she was. He thought about it for a while and said that based on her fine motor skills, he guessed 15 to 18 months.

I worry sometimes that she doesn't play with enough toys and is behind somehow. Often times, she doesn't really know what to do with them when she does play with them. So even if he was rounding up to make me feel better, I guess she is learning all that she needs to and I don't have to worry about it so much.

A New Look

As you can see, I changed my blog's look. And let me tell you, it was harder than you would think to chose something then to change the colors of the fonts to have it all match. For the background, I went to a website called The Cutest Blog on the Block where I got the previous one too. They have lots of free backgrounds along with the option to have one made specifically for you for a fee. It took so long to choose something because not only were there lots of options (and I'm the kind of person who has to see what all the options are before I decide on one) but also, they were all so cute. And not in a good way.

Now don't get me wrong, I like cute things as much as the next girl but I'm not into scrapbooking (I'm more of a slip it in the pocket and maybe write a caption kind of girl) and these were very scrapbooky. Plus, with the title of the blog, I do try to have a vaguely urban feel to it. The black and white of last time was pretty much the closest they had to sleek (what I was going for). This time, I was thinking of something bold and bright that could pass for an Ikea Fabric. I realize I could probably find a different website for more backgrounds but then we get into too many options.

Then was the added problem of not choosing something that anyone else I know has and it had to look good with my city skyline picture. This all added up to a bit of a tall order. I'm starting to understand how my sister, Kristen, feels. She has the gift/curse of knowing exactly what she wants. Everything from clothes to home decor to food she can picture what would be perfect then has the daunting tasking of going out to find it. I remember once, when she was living at home, she was hungry and wanted something "fruity and foamy and frothy and icy and light". As this was before Jamba Juice, I think she decided on an orange julius.

Like Magic

I am not that careful with keeping Anna's clothes clean. She's a fairly neat eater so I've been known to not even put a bib on her if what she is eating isn't particularly messy. Even if it is, I may just push up her sleeves rather than roll them up and inevitably they fall down at some point in the meal. Fortunately for me (or for her so she isn't always wearing stained clothes) there is spray and wash (or shout or the like). I have decided this is practically magic the way it works.

The other day, we were at Target. It was around lunch time so I got some food including a drink of Hawaiian Punch. Anna drinks from a straw pretty well so I was trying to give her some out of the full cup with a short straw. Naturally, she ended up with Hawaiian Punch on her shirt (apparently even when you think the lids are on tight, they aren't). I was bummed because I liked that shirt and was afraid I would have to toss it (this wasn't a small amount off to the side, it was two big stains front and center). I figured I would try spray and wash the next time I did laundry which happened to be the next day. To my surprise and delight, it all came out!

Then while we were in California, we were all eating dinner and I unthinkingly gave Anna a tube of Crystal Light with a small container in it to play with. I figured she would like the way it rattled. Well I forget that she is as old as she is and can open containers like that. It didn't take her long to get the little container out of the larger one and use her oh so helpful teeth to find out what was inside (I also forget about the damage those little teeth can do). Next thing you know, she is having a ball with the dark red , super concentrated powder. We tried to rinse it out as best we could right there but once water hits that stuff, it just seems to get worse. I was sad, again, because I really liked that shirt, again (see picture). This time I used Shout when I washed it and you can't see it at all on the yellow stripes. You can kind of tell if you already know it's there on some of the other stripes but not enough to worry about. Yeah for stripes.

I feel like I'm writing a testimonial for a commercial but seriously, how did parents manage before? I guess either they were constantly replacing clothes, dressing their kids in stains or only feeding them (or even keeping in the house) non-staining foods. Oh the things you can do with cauliflower. I like this way much better.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Tonight Mom and I went to see my brother Ben's play. A bit of background. Ben is in school to be an actor. He is currently in his last year at a well known acting conservatory, called PCPA, that is about 45 minutes away from where my parents live. As it is a two year program, he will come out of it with a certificate which is appreciated in the theater community but is applying to schools to get a BFA for starting in the fall. The school does performances where usually the teachers are the leads and the students get the smaller and ensemble parts. Ben has been blessed and lucky to be a number of different productions while he has been there. Right now, he has been able to get the part of Lysander in A Midsummer Night's Dream which is a big deal. To brag about him for a bit, after this they will be doing Les Miserables and he will be in the ensemble and understudy Javert.

Back to this evening. Last night and tonight were preview nights and it offically opens tomorrow. So this evening, as my last evening in CA, my mom took me to go see it. It was great!


The theme was Bollywood meets Cirque de Soleil. Everyone wore Indian clothes and the fairies were blue and juggled. It even opened and closed with Puck upside down on a rope (We have a grease man - Ocean's 11). The set was very simple yet effective with two green platforms that primarily the fairies climbed up on.

The mechanicals' play at the end was HILARIOUS. In the past, they had always seemed more like bumbling idiots to me and not that funny to watch but these ones did well.

Ben is the one in the light colored tunic to the right.

Then they did a big Bollywood-style dance number complete with shiny confetti coming from the top. For some reason, it was really funny to see them all dance like that. More so than when Indians dance like that.


It was strange though because that felt like the end but then there was a fairy dance number but this one was slow. Then there was the last part with puck on the rope again. The three endings like that was awkward but oh well. All in all it was a great night.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Anna and I are now in California to get away from our apartment while Jason is gone. It seems to be a good thing we did too because Anna was already starting to miss Jason and it was only a couple of days. Being here, though, she doesn't seem to mind. I guess the different place and all the cousins to play with is helping to distract her.

But getting here required 10 hours of travel with just me and her. I was a little nervous about it because every other time we flew, Jason was with us or she was much younger and not nearly as active. Fortunately, it was the best possible flight I could have hoped for. The first part was from Philadelphia to Phoenix which is about 5 hours. Initially, we were in the middle seat with people on either side of us. I was worried even though the people seemed nice. In looking around, I saw a row that only had one guy in it and was thinking about asking the flight attendants about moving there when one of them offered it to me once we got in the air. She even told the guy not to let anyone else sit there because it was for us.

Once we got in the air, we moved and not only did we then have an extra seat for her to sit in (which she enjoyed) but the guy we were sitting with was great. His name is Matt and he has three kids of his own (10 to 4). Naturally Anna liked him and he seemed to like her too. They would play together, he shared his headphones and even put a movie on his laptop for her (she didn't watch it but still). Basically a great seatmate. Anna took a nap, we walked up and down the aisle and played with the flight attendants in the galley. So even though it was still a long flight, it was doable.

Then we had a three hour layover in Phoenix. I was worried about this part too (obviously I chose the flight based on price rather than schedule) but it turned out ok. I think it was good to have some time outside of the plane. We had lunch and enjoyed a little play area while I talked on the phone to a friend of mine. I had brought the stroller with me so we were able to walk up and down the long concourse and Anna got another nap. And even though our flight was delayed, we had fun playing with some other people in the waiting area including another baby.

The last flight was an hour and a half. By this time, I was getting pretty tired (especially since I got up at 5 am to do all of this) and was a bit less patient with her wiggles and she was getting tired of being in planes. There weren't any open seats this time but the woman accross the aisle from us (who has two kids, 9 and 7) played with her almost the whole time. Then we visited the flight attendant and next thing I knew, we were beginning our descent. It was the shortest hour and a half flight ever.

Birthday 2

Even though we had a little birthday party with Jason on Wednesday, I couldn't let Anna's actual birthday go un-celebrated on Saturday. So we had a little party for her. This turned out to be a good thing for me. Jason left on Friday and I spent the day moping. Poor Anna was really stir crazy by the end and neither of us needed another day like that. So, this was something to get me out of the house, cleaning, and interacting with others (something I quite enjoy but rarely initiate).

I wanted to keep it simple and low-key (she is only one after all). When I invited people, I even avoided the word 'party' because I didn't want them to think they had to bring a present. So I invited 3 little kids about Anna's age and we had the kids play while the moms talked. There were also two older kids and they played our game cube. Then after a while, we had cake. Anna still didn't get the whole blowing out the candles thing but at least she didn't try to touch the flame this time.

In spite of my low-key talk, I still decorated with balloons and streamers. When I was at Target earlier getting stuff, I just couldn't resist. I thought about putting balloons on the outside door but refrained.

It was fun watching the kids play with each other. At this age, they are starting to interact but aren't very good at it yet. At one point, Anna sat on another little girl's lap (they are the same size, it was hilarious). And they kept pushing, taking toys and stealing food. As the kids started getting peckish, one parent would bring out their snacks and all the kids would gather around the snacks. Jana, as she was passing something out to each of the kids, mentioned it was like feeding pigeons in the park.

Poor Anna isn't used to being around so many kids at once. She was getting pretty overwhelmed but took it well. Before we brought out the cake, she had climbed onto a crate that we keep blankets in and just sat and watched. Then, after the cake, she didn't want to get down. I thought she was still eating at first but realized she was just sitting there with her hand in her mouth. In spite of that, I'm sure she had fun with all the kids.

Happy Birthday Anna!

Note: We were able to borrow a camera but don't have the cable that connects it to the computer. So, we have pictures of all of this but they will have to come later.

Yesterday was Anna's birthday. Unfortunately, Jason is in Abu Dhabi and missed it. So, we had a little party with just the three of us on Wednesday before he left. During the day, Anna and I went to Target (there's a handy bus that goes there) to get her a present. I've decided to loosen up a bit on my anti-toy policy and get her one. I had no idea what to get other than something not too big or expensive and plays music. On nice thing about this age is that she can help you choose the toy and you can know if she likes it right in the store. So we headed off to the baby toy aisle. She had a lot of fun playing with all of them (why buy them when you can just visit the store and play with them every now and then, oh right, so you don't have to go to the store) and we both got a little over whelmed with all of the choices. I finally decided on a truck that plays music and has things to hit on the top with a little mallet by VTech. So far, Anna isn't too big on the mallet.

I made a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Unfortunately, I forgot to get candles so we used an emergency candle and stood it up next to the cake (I didn't really want a giant hole in the middle). Anna didn't really know what to do with the candle. She thought it looked really cool and tried to reach out and grab the flame a couple of times. In the end, I just blew it out for her. Ironically, when we put the piece on her tray, she blew on it like it was hot. Needless to say, she loved the cake. She already knows the best way to eat it is to eat off the icing first then go with the cake underneath. She was very clean about it all (she is generally a clean eater) and ate it all. There were only a few crumbs left over when she was done.

After the cake, we had her open her present. Once we got it out of the box, she went to town. Unfortunately it was late so she didn't get much play time that night. It's funny, she likes it but mostly she just wants it to play the music without having to do anything so she can dance. Toys don't seem to work that way. They keep wanting her to push a button or something and the songs are so short, she barely get started on the dancing before it ends. Sadness all around.

Peek-A-Boo

It seems just after I post about what Anna is up to, she does something new that I have to mention (partly to tell people and partly because this is as close to a journal as I'm going to get). So this morning, while I was getting dressed, Jason put Anna on the bed and started playing peek-a-boo with her and the blanket. After he stopped, she decided she wasn't done and started playing by herself. It was the first time she has been in control of the blanket and it was so cute! She madeher face that she makes when she knows she is being cute and looks at you just waiting for you to notice it. Talk about personality.

Free Stuff

I love free stuff. Especially good free stuff. Yesterday I went to the library and they had two large carts of free books. I decided to take the time to look at what they had. Mostly there was the usual bunch of romance paperbacks and hardbacks that I didn't recognize at all. In spite of that, I did find a couple of things worth taking home. The best was that I found a copy of the second and fifth Harry Potter books, the last two that we need for our collection. Woo Hoo!

New Tricks

Anna seems to have started doing a bunch of new things lately. Amazing how once we stop moving around, she is able to focus on increased development. As we still are without our camera (we are both getting worried), I can only tell you about them.

She is dancing more and more and really enjoying music. Apparently, yesterday when Jason was watching her while I was at the Stake Women's Conference, she was getting a touch fussy but cheered up and started dancing when he turned on some Beatles music. She knew the songs already because Jason sings them to her sometimes when he is putting her down for naps.

At meal times, she now very deliberately drops food off of her tray. Unfortunately it's not when she is done eating, it's more for fun and drives me crazy. She knows she shouldn't too because she looks right at me, holds the food off of the side briefly and drops. The little pill. Also at meals, when I try to feed her if she is done, she shakes her head 'no' and sometimes bobbles her head like they do in India. And she has taken to blowing on her food. Even if it is cheerios. Then she wants me to do the same.

She isn't walking anymore than she did before. We try to get her to take a few steps but inevitably she just crawls. She doesn't seem too interested in walking even if she can stand unaided for longer periods of time.

While she doesn't try to go too high, she has gotten into climbing. I let her play in the cabinet with the pots and pans and she likes to climb in. Today she even climbed up onto the upper shelf in the cupboard. It was too short for her to even sit up straight though so she was doubled over and had fun until it was time to get down. She can't get down and so far she doesn't try, which I appreciate as that will undoubtedly result in a fall. One place she can get down from is the couch. Generally, she turns around to do it but has successfully slid down facing forward.

And she has more teeth. She now has all eight of her front teeth and is working on molars. So far, there are two - one on the top and bottom on one side. These have been pretty traumatic for her and neither of us are looking forward to more.