Tidbits

- We got Anna some little sunglasses. She wears them really well, not even taking them off when we go into stores. I was a little bit worried because she was so old when we got them but I think the fact that Jason and I wear them all the time helps her to see that they need to stay on her face. She can even put them on herself. Sometimes she'll put them on up side down but if we tell her they are and to turn them around, she will. She is so smart.

- Anna has learned how to open doors, at least the kind with the handle-type doorknobs. So a closed door is not the impediment it once was. Ironically, she can only open them if she has to pull it towards her but hasn't figured out pushing the door open yet. So she can get out but not back in. There are definite pluses and minuses to this arrangement.

On the hammock with her cousin Brennan on the 4th of July

- A while ago, we took her to the doctor. He turned out to be the dad of a girl that Jason and I ran with in high school. His partner is the doctor that Jason went to when he was little. It's always a little strange being home again.

- At said doctor's appointment, we learned that Anna is in the 30% in weight, 60% in height and 75% in head circumference. I'm not too surprised because her clothes always get too short before they get too tight and it's almost impossible to get some things over her head (don't get me started on baby clothes proportions).

I'm ready Mom, you can let go.

- Also at the doctor's appointment the doctor was saying that this is a hard age for kids because they know what they want but can't articulate it yet. For the parents, it's like caring for a stroke victim and for the kids, it's like playing charades with an idiot. Frustrating for everyone involved. I think about the charade comment when Anna is being very insistent about something and I have no idea what that is.

- Anna has decided against sitting in a high chair even though she isn't quite tall enough to sit at the table. She often stands on her chair to reach her food or she will put the bowl or plate on the chair with her. This means that quite a bit of our meal is spent in putting Anna back on her chair until she is done eating. For some reason, she feels a need to sit to fold her arms for the prayer (which she does quite well). I don't know why but it's dang cute.

In a tribute to Philadelphia, Anna does her best Rocky pose.

- Jason is working hard to find a job in two different markets. He is looking in Boston for a long term job (so if anyone knows anyone who lives or has lived in Boston, preferably an architect but we aren't picky, let us know). On top of that, he is looking around here for something short-term on a contract basis so we have some money coming from somewhere. Talk about switching mental gears.

- We are staying at my parent's house while they are away on a cruise. It's really quiet here. The first day Anna took a three hour nap! Plus, she is needing me more to entertain her. I thought getting out once a day would be enough for us but she has been needing to get out more than that. We are spending at lot of time at the little park down the street.


- I'm doing a diet with Kristen. I haven't been weighing myself though so I didn't really know how it was going until we got to my parent's house and used their scale. I think I've lost 10 pounds (I don't really know where I started). When I told Jason, he was not surprised. Apparently he notices my weight loss before I do. Strangely, when I was eating ice cream last night (not on my diet but oh well), my cheeks looked kind of gaunt. Strange considering my chin often looks fleshy to me.

- We found a web site with funny t-shirt designs. Some of them are really funny so Jason saved pictures of the designs and made a collage background out of them. One of my favorites says "Free Tibet* with purchase of another Tibet of equal or greater value". We giggle whenever we look at them.

Disneyland!

Disneyland

For my birthday on Monday, we decided to go to Disneyland. Neither of us had been since we were in high school and I really wanted to take Anna while we are so close. Although I really wanted to go, we almost couldn't seeing as we don't have a job and the income that goes with that. Then on the Thursday before, I was out with some other girls in the ward for a girl's night and it came up that we wanted to go but wouldn't be able to. They were all sufficiently bummed for us (they all have jobs) and one, who had just moved up here from Southern California, told me about a friend she has who lives down there and can get three people into Disneyland for free (her husband used to work there) and would totally get us in as long as she was in town. Well, she was and she did.

We stayed with my cousin, Michiko, who lives about 10 minutes away and has a daughter who is 15 months old. She came with us and it was great having another adult there who was more familiar with the park than we are. Plus, Anna thought Cosette (the daughter) was great.

There were a few downsides to our trip. A company had rented out the park so it closed at 6 instead of 8. That was annoying but we found that by then we were good and ready to go (we are so not hardcore Disneyland fans). Of course that also meant that we didn't really have time to see California Adventure. Oh well. Then Space Mountain and the Haunted Mansion were closed for getting them ready for Halloween. I was kind of bummed because we both like both of those but even without them, it was fun.

In front of the Matterhorn

Dumbo ride

We finally got into the park at about 9:30 and went to It's a Small World first thinking Anna would like it. While she did like being on the boat before and after going in, she was a little bit overwhelmed inside the ride. She just leaned back on my chest and stared. Fortunately she perked up for the Nemo 'submarine' ride. The bubbles across the porthole really did it for her although the fish swimming were also a hit. The other thing we did that she totally loved was the Tiki Hut. She got so into those anamatronic birds and flowers singing. It was really cute because she kept looking to Cosette for confirmation that it was cool and did not get why she wasn't having as much fun as Anna felt she should be. Then after her nap, we woke her up to go on the carousel. She wasn't so sure about it until it started moving and then it was pretty dang cool. From there, she was interested in the Dumbo ride. We had to wait a little bit and she loved watching the Dumbos going around and up and down but when we got onto it, she wasn't so sure. We thought about doing the teacups after that but figured three rides in a row that spin might be a bit much for her so we opted against.

Buzz Lightyear (Jason level 3, Ellen level 2)

Tiki Room (sorry for the poor picture, it was dark) Anna loved it all

Since my cousin was there, we were able to have her watch the kids while Jason and I went on rides she couldn't go on. So we did Autotopia where I bumped Jason's car in front of me. Fortunately none of the workers were looking. We also did Indiana Jones and Thunder Mountain Railroad. I also did Splash Mountain on my own. Jason doesn't like the big drop (he's not really a roller coaster kind of guy) and Michiko wasn't interested so I went alone. It was handy because they have a single rider line so you don't have to wait in the big line. Of course, this way I ended up in the front of the little log thing and was soaked by the end. Good thing I had linen pants.

Autopia looking cute

Anna did great the whole day. Before I knew the park was going to close early, I thought about going home for lunch and having Anna take a nap and then going back later in the day. Of course the early closing nixed that idea. Fortunately, Anna fell asleep while we were in line for Pirates of the Caribbean and slept for a good hour before we had to wake her up to do rides for her. She was patient with the lines and waiting and didn't even mind waiting while Jason and I did our thing. We borrowed a baby leash thing for when she wanted to walk around (which she used when we were waiting for lunch) and we wanted to keep her close. We may need to get one of our own because it is handy and totally cute to have a little dog strapped on her back.

Riding Carousel

Then that night after we went home exhausted and had dinner, Michiko made me a birthday cake. Then, the next morning, she watched Anna for us while we went to the temple (I'm telling you, this girl needs a medal for all she did for us). So we had a great trip and a great birthday.

Learning to be a Person

Anna keeps doing things that make me chuckle and wonder where she got that from. Then I think about it and realize I do the exact same thing. Two examples have hit me lately. Anna loves to dance. I don't remember if I ever talked about this or not but once we were in Philadelphia on a busy pedestrian area and there were some people dancing on roller skates on the sidewalk. Anna walking right into the middle of them and started dancing herself. It was so cute. The roller skate people stopped and watched, joggers going by stopped and watched and she was oblivious to it, just enjoyed the music. Rather than lessening as she got older, she has simply mixed up her style.

I thought it was really funny that she was so into dancing until I realized that I dance with her all the time. When we would be out and about with her in the Moby wrap, I would dance with her feet if we had to stand still. Before making dinner, I would often dance with her in the living room (she would laugh and laugh). When she was sitting in her high chair eating, I would dance in front of her or we would watch Dancing with the Stars together. So really, no surprise that she is into dancing.

The next thing is singing. Anna has gotten into singing. She doesn't really sing actual words but she totally has pitch and tone. She will do hand motions while singing so she obviously is thinking of actual songs and often dances at the same time. Yesterday in church, we told her it was time to sing and she started right up even before the organ did. It was pretty funny.

Here is a little video of her showcasing her talents. As you can tell, she has no reservations in singing.

I don't know why it took me so long to realize it but today it occurred to me that I sing all the time too. I pretty much always have a song in my head even if I don't sing it out loud (Jason has been known to hum part of a song just to get it in my head). Even so, I often sing out loud. In the car I especially like to sing along with the music turned up quite loud (so I can't hear myself).

Kristen pointed out that she is learning from me (and probably Jason too) what it means to be a person. Apparently it means a lot of music, at least in our family.

Tact

Recently I have been thinking and observing long-term interpersonal relationships (like with siblings, good friends or ward members) and have realized the importance of tact. While I was never brave enough to do it, I used to think that you should just say what you think and if the hearer has a hard time with it, that is their fault. I would often quote the scripture "the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center" 1 Ne 16:2. Basically, I didn't care about feelings and even sometimes though I was helping them by not beating around the bush or sugar coating hard things.

Then I noticed I would get kind of offended and defensive if someone would talk to me that way. I would have to remind myself that they were right and work hard to be able to take it as constructive criticism and try to learn and improve rather than just bristle. That combined with talking to others and sharing experiences helped me to see how important it is to more carefully choose my words or even just keep my mouth shut. I find with myself that I usually know that what I am doing is wrong or at least not what I want to be doing and am working on it. Having it pointed out to me doesn't help and just makes me feel frustrated that I am still working on it.

A little while ago, I was watching a movie, Evening, with Kristen. There was a point in the movie where these two sisters are talking about the direction that one's life is going and the other one expressed a concern that if she keeps going the way she is that she will end up completely alone when she is old. Naturally, she starts to cry. Kristen commented that while that may be true, and she must worry about that a lot, what is gained by saying it out loud? That really hit me. What is the point of hurting someone's feelings just for the sake of saying something that may be true but not helpful, just hurtful? More often than not, it is better to either not say anything at all, or say something but with kindness, love and a real desire to assist. Hopefully now I can incorporate that lesson into my own life.

Elfin Forrest

Not far from here there is a little forest of miniature oak trees. When Jason was younger, he would go there with his family and they would climb all over the trees. They are especially fun because the branches go really low to the ground and make it like a fort.

So we took Kristen's family to go play on them. The place has changed a bit in that they put in a boardwalk type thing to walk out to and around the trees. They had also put up some fences to block off certain areas for rehabilitation. Unfortunately, that meant that Jason's favorite trees were fenced off so we couldn't go in them but we found some more that were also good.


Once we got under the canopy, the trees were great for climbing on. The branches seem to grow sideways instead of up and there are branches close to the ground for even the youngest kids.


We even got to crawl under this branch to get in (there was also an over or around option but under was more fun). Who could ask for anything more?

Ocean Caves

A little while ago with went with Kristen, Hilary and their families to some caves carved out by the ocean. They are way down at the end of the beach and it was a bit tough walking everyone down the whole beach to get to them. Even so, I think we decided it was worth it.


Fortunately we got there at low tide so we could get to them. There is a point that you have to go around and when the tide comes it, the water goes past that. We were there once when it was tough getting out because the tide was coming in and we had to wade through the water. Not this time; although we did end up wet by the time we left.

That is one sandy bum.

There were several caves and fun rocks to climb around. The caves were narrow and deep and most of them smelled really bad. At least one had a dead seagull in the back and the ones that didn't were really musty. Needless to say, I didn't go too far into any of them.


Jason went ahead with the older boys (pretty much everyone down to Eric) and explored fast. The womenfolk and younger kids moved more slowly enjoying the rocks on the way. We had a number of guys coming back to us telling us about cool things that we just had to see.


While the older boys kept going, the younger kids played on the beach. I think this was one of the first times Anna played in the water itself. I was impressed with how little she minded getting wet. The water here is cold and kids aren't usually interested (heck, I'm not usually interested) but she had a lot of fun running out when the wave went out then back when it came in.

Zoo

Note: We finally got a bunch of pictures off of our camera and Jason edited them for me so that I can just type and add. So for the next bit I will be talking about things we have been doing this summer. Hopefully this will help me blog more often too.

A little ways from here is a little zoo. Sadly, Anna hadn't been to a zoo before. There is a big, nice (I think) one in Philadelphia (the nation's first zoo) but somehow we never managed to get to it. I was frusterated too because I figured that Anna would love the zoo. Now that we are here, we figured a small one would be a good start so she wouldn't get all overtired and stuff.

Sadly, just before we went, their tiger had died (they have replaced it since then but we haven't had a chance to go back and see it). So we kept it pretty simple with the smaller animals.

I think her favorite were the flamingos. Here is her pointing to them and making sure Jason sees them. You can almost hear her say something like "Look Daddy, pretty birds!"

Along the pretty bird line, were the tropical birds. Also good.

There was also this way active monkey (it was kind of hot, not many of the animals were active) that would climb around in front of us. I never know if she remembers the monkeys in India but I like to think she does.

It was a fun little trip to the zoo. Now that she has been to one her size, maybe a bigger one won't be too overwhelming.