So Big!

Anna's learned a couple new "tricks" lately. The cutest one is that when we ask her, "How big is Anna?" she has learned to put her hands up to show us "so big!" I love it. Of course, when you ask her almost anything she does that too. She'll also start clapping when you ask her to do Pat-A-Cake, so that's something. Her noises are adorable, and the "Oh, wow"s are one of her favorite exclamations right now. She can also wave and say, "Bah Bye," which is super cute. I'm loving my time home with her, but it's very quickly coming to an end. Oh well, that's life, I guess.

Her two little bottom teeth are slowly making their way up, so at least she won't be celebrating her first birthday with a toothless mouth! She's having tons of fun playing with her new toys, and she especially loves to throw them (much to my delight). Grammie got her this wiggly worm that dances to music when you push a button, and Anna pushes it over and over again. At least it's a fun song that I keep hearing over and over! She also points to everything now and jabbers with such meaning, it really makes me wonder what she's trying to tell me. Still no walking yet, but she can stand for a few seconds without holding on, she squats and stands back up with no trouble, and she gets around beautifully. Once she remembers how to sleep nicely in her crib through the night again, everything will be perfect!

So This is Christmas...

Anna's first Christmas was very busy and very fun! We started it off on Christmas Eve at Uncle Mike and Aunt Emily's house up in Crystal Lake. We had a lovely brunch and opened lots of presents! There were too many presents to actually list, but they were all good. There was enough time that we all got to rest a little bit before heading to the cemetery for the second part of the festivities. The weather was pretty yucky - cold and rainy - but it at least let up for the outside portion of the day. Tim's family always gathers at the cemetery before they start celebrating, because his cousin Paul was killed in a car accident several years ago. We listen to some tuba Christmas music (he played the tuba) while sharing some memories and a prayer. I hope that when Anna gets older it will help remind her to bear in mind that Christmas is an important time to think about others, especially God and family. Back at Uncle Mike and Aunt Terry's house, the Kniola family gathered for a huge feast of homemade Bohemian/Polish goodies, including pierogies, mushroom soup, many kinds of breads, ham, and roast beef - yum! Anna was a big fan of the cheese pierogies, that's for sure. Then there were even more presents, and then it was pinata time. It was getting late, and it's a long drive home, so we had to leave shortly after that. It wasn't a fun drive home for Tim, because the rain was just pouring down at that point. Not very Christmasy!

The next morning Anna got to open her presents from us and Santa. Santa brought her a big Radio Flyer wagon! She loved the box :) I got Tim an Ipod Touch, which I'm pretty sure he liked a lot. Then we headed over to the Lyczaks for more presents and fun. Anna got a ton of new toys, included her first rocking horse from Auntie Loonie, and her first riding toy from Grammie and Grampy! She also got her very own remote control, which she absolutely loves! We had a nice breakfast, relaxed, went to church, played with our new stuff (I got lots of new Beatles goodies!!), then ate another feast! We managed to watch Christmas Vacation without falling asleep, and then it was time to go. At this point, the rain had turned to snow, so we did actually get a White Christmas (just a little late, that's all). Anna seemed exhausted, but she was just too excited about everything to fall asleep once we got home. She stayed up, played more, then finally fell asleep with Daddy.

Anna had a wonderful first Christmas, and I'm glad everyone did such a great job of making it so memorable. She is at such a perfect age for it too, because she was able to help open her gifts, she got excited when she saw them, and then she was able to play with them too! It was the best Christmas in a very long time for me, that's for sure, and it's just the beginning for Anna!!

11 Months!

My little girlie is 11 months old today! It's hard to believe that it's been almost a year since she came into our lives. What a difference she has made too; she adds such spirit and happiness to our home. We didn't do anything particularly special today. It was snowing a lot, so we had to forgo our walk, and I got a bit of cabin fever. We went to the grocery store, which was packed, but luckily I knew what we needed and it didn't take forever. I don't like grocery shopping much, but it is more fun when Anna's sitting in the cart, squealing and babbling at the top of her lungs! Then when we got home Anna finished her vegetables that she didn't finish earlier and took a long nap. By the time she woke up, Daddy was home! Now they're playing together (or rather Tim is playing with her Mozart cube as she crawls/cruises around...) while I update her blog.

Some fun things about Anna right now: when she crawls, she smacks her hands down really loudly on the floor. It's so cute, and you always know when she's coming!

She discovered my foot massager today; she loves how it spins around and lights up.

Her new favorite thing to do is open cabinets and take things out. What a fun game to play, especially since she has a knack for favoring the cabinets with the most dangerous products in it. Might I point out that I have had installing the cabinet locks on Tim's to-do list for over a month now. I guess I'll have to go out and get the easy-to-install kind, since he's a slacker.

Tomorrow we should be going downtown to visit Grammie and eat lunch, so that will be fun. The weather's supposed to be awful (sleet), but hopefully the weathermen will be wrong.

Santa

I forgot to mention in my last post that Anna went to visit Santa yesterday! We went to Yorktown, because I was a little skeptical of the North Riverside Santa. We had to wait an hour, but the Santa there is just gorgeous - real beard, very sweet and all. Anna did quite well and smiled and everything! When we were discussing which photo package to get, she started to cry, but I think that was only because she thought we were going to leave her there or something. Poor little kid. Anyway, I was happy that the experience was so successful! We got a great picture, so once I scan it I'll be able to post it.

Christmas Preparations

We are eagerly anticipating Anna's first Christmas, and it's just amazing how fast it is approaching! Obviously she doesn't know to be excited, but she can tell that things around her are different. She loves all the decorations, and she somehow has singled out her stocking as being her favorite (how can she tell? I don't know). She's always staring and smiling at it! Of course she loves the tree and all the pretty lights and ornaments. We've done a decent job of blocking it off with presents and the ottoman and all so that she can't pull it on herself, because that really scares me! As for her presents, she is getting some practice with ripping paper, so we'll see what happens on Christmas morning!

We celebrated Grampy's 60th birthday today! We had a delicious meal, with meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and corn, then he opened all his presents and liked all of them! I think that's unprecedented. He got a scarf from Laura, a neck/shoulder massager from Stephen, a Northface fleece from Mom, and Sharper Image binoculars and reading glasses from us. Then we had coconut cream pie - yum! So a very nice day for him, I think. It will be even better once Dan gets here! He's scheduled to come in Christmas Eve (there's supposed to be sleet and rain that day, so hopefully there won't be issues with his flight) and spend a month with us before heading back to Korea! I'm excited to see him again and finally have him meet his niece for the first time!

Something that has surprised me is that Anna hasn't taken off and started walking yet. I thought for sure that she would have taken her first steps by Christmas, but she is proving to be very cautious about it. For now she is content to cruise and crawl, and I know I shouldn't be in a hurry for her to run around, but I can't help but be a little disappointed. I am, however, very happy that Anna is so careful with her movements; I think it has thus far minimized her tumbles! So we'll see when this little girlie finally decides to take off...

Road Trip!

Last weekend we embarked on Anna's first real roadtrip to go see her Uncle! We drove on Thursday night, and that way we both only took one day off of work and Anna could just sleep on the way. It worked out pretty well, except that we got to St. Robert at 3:30 am! Plus Anna seemed a little unwilling to go right to sleep once we got settled in our hotel room. However, it was worth it when we got to see Stephen the next morning! We got to Ft. Leonard Wood very early, because we wanted to get good seats. It was so cold, and they didn't unlock the doors to the theater until the last minute, so that was a little annoying. It didn't even matter that we got there early, because they escorted us to the third row anyway! Having a dad who's a Command Sergeant Major really pays off! It was so great to see Stephen marching out, looking so young and trim! What a difference a few months has made! Afterward we took some pictures and drove on to Branson, where we went to the Dixie Stampede and ate way too much food. Anna enjoyed the horses (and enjoyed having pork for the first time - yum!) The next day we went to the Titanic museum, which was really really neat and had all sorts of cool artifacts and interactive exhibits. After we finished we were planning on going to Silver Dollar City for the rest of the day, but it was CRAZY crowded. Instead, we decided to go to a cave, and it turned out to be very enjoyable! The property also had some nature trails, so we walked along one of those for a little while and saw some beautiful Missouri mountains. The Ozarks are just lovely, and I bet it would be nice in the Autumn (ha ha). We also played some mini-golf there, but it got way too cold to finish. We ended our day at Lambert's Cafe, home of the throwed rolls! The food was delicious and all-you-can-eat, so it was a great way to end a busy day. The next morning we drove home, but Anna didn't enjoy the long ride very much. We got home at about 8 pm. So overall it was an incredibly busy weekend, but we had a great time and enjoyed seeing Stephen again! Now he's home for Christmas, and Dano should be coming too!

Missouri

Tonight we are leaving on a weekend trip to Missouri! We decided to leave a little late in the hopes that Anna will sleep in the car (one can only hope that that will work). First we will be in Saint Robert to see my brother's graduation from boot camp. We haven't seen him since August, so this is very exciting! Then we will head over to Branson for the rest of the weekend, which is interesting because none of us has been there before! We have lots planned, including the Dixie Stampede, Silver Dollar City, and the Titanic museum. My dad is also super thrilled that we will be eating at Lambert's on Friday. Apparently they throw rolls at you. I will post more - including pictures - when we get back!

Gobble Gobble

Anna just experienced her first Thanksgiving, and what a fun day it was! On Wednesday, Grampy came over and watched her so that Tim and I could get a lot of the preparations done (we always host Thanksgiving for our two families). We were so efficient that on Thursday there was very little running around and stress. Anna slept in a little too, until about 8, so we were able to get the stuffing and turkey going without having to worry about watching her. My parents came over, and we were able to just sit and look through the ads in the paper without having to get a million things done. I'm now a big fan of mashed potatoes in the crock pot - easy and delicious! Anna took an unusually long nap right before everyone else showed up, so we were pretty much done eating by the time she woke up. She had some fresh pumpkin that Tim made her, then she played a lot. Her and Aunt Carrie had a great time looking at books together. Grammie and I also took her for a walk a little later, and she ended up taking another nap despite how cold it was outside. That must have had an effect on her bedtime, because she was not interested in going to sleep at nine like usual!

I ended up leaving to go to Downers Grove before she fell asleep, because my mom, sister, and I did some Black Friday shopping early the next day. It was the first time that I have ever been gone when Ms. B woke up, which is quite sad. She apparently did great though and got to have some fun alone time with Daddy. They both met us in Downers Grove in the morning for a nice breakfast, which was very welcome after hours of busy shopping. It was quite a successful outing though, so I'm proud of myself! Her day has mostly consisted of playing with Daddy, even though I've been home for half the day, because I'm feeling sick for the first time this season. I just hope she stays healthy and doesn't catch whatever I have.

Like Mother, Like Daughter

I woke up this morning and heard my little Annie stirring in her room. I heard all sorts of delighted little noises, like "Oh!" and "Gee!" and because of the way our house is set up, I can look into her room and see her crib while I'm lying in bed. When I looked over there, I could see her little head moving around in there, which meant that she was sitting up. When I went to investigate what she was doing, I see that she is sitting there "reading" a cloth book to herself. She was as happy as can be about it too!

That's her new favorite thing now: books. Just like Mommy! Daddy's not a fan of reading, so obviously she takes after me. And she's at the point where she doesn't automatically put it in her mouth; she puts it in her lap and turns the pages. I absolutely love it! Her favorite book right now appears to be Goodnight Moon, and I can't blame her. It's a good one.

Baby on the Move

Anna has really started to perfect her cruising skills. She's not a super fast mover - actually, she's quite deliberate with her movements - so it hasn't become an overly stressful situation. On the contrary, she seems more content than ever now! I can leave her for a minute and she's still happy; she never used to be that way. She is also beginning to learn how to bend down to get something without flopping onto her bottom (she still flops sometimes though). Oddly enough, now that she has become good at standing and cruising, she crawls with no trouble. However, she really only uses it as a means to get to an object onto which she can pull herself up!

Yesterday I only had a half-day of school because of parent-teacher conferences, so I was home around noon. Grampy, Anna, and I took advantage of the unusually mild November weather and went for a nice, long walk. First we got some lunch at KFC, then we wound our way through Riverside, which was peaceful and gorgeous. Anna slept for a good portion of it, but she was due for a nap anyway. It was the perfect way to start our weekend! Anna fell asleep around 9:30 last night, and she didn't wake up until 9 this morning! Getting to sleep in on a Saturday hasn't happened in a long, long time, so we are all in good spirits right now at the Pachla house! Now we are watching some Looney Tunes cartoons (she now actually watches television like she understands what is going on - hilarious) before we head to a birthday party.

Cruising

I have never seen my little girl so motivated to work on a new skill. She has taken her new ability to stand on her own and is doing it whenever and wherever she gets a chance. Today she spent a lot of time practicing how to "cruise," or walk along furniture. I set up the living room so that she could go from her little piano to the couch to her walker to the ottoman. She got a kick out of being able to go from one to the other, and it's so cute to watch her trying to figure out how to do it. Looking at the pictures, you can just see the determination in her face! Tonight as I was washing up, Anna was sitting on the floor at my feet and started grabbing at the bathtub. Sure enough, she managed to pull herself up there too. She even managed to stand on her own for a second, without holding onto anything, before I freaked out and grabbed her! I should have waited to see how long she could do it, but I didn't even think before I reacted! Oh well, I'm sure she'll have plenty of time to practice that skill too. She is definitely going to give us a run for our money in the very, very near future!

First Halloween!

Anna finally experienced her first Halloween! She was the prettiest pumpkin ever, of course. The weather was quite cold, but we were happy not to get rained on, for a change. We went shopping for a while in the morning, met Daddy at Chef Shangrila for lunch, then got some groceries. Then we were all ready to go out for Anna's first time trick-or-treating! We went to a few houses on our block, then a few on the next block. Then it was time to say goodbye to Grammie and Auntie Loonie, who walked with us for a bit. We decided we should go see the Gilberts, since we thought they'd enjoy seeing Anna all dressed up. After that, we went back home and relaxed. Anna was exhausted! Tim was feeding her applesauce around 8, and she fell asleep in her high chair! I thought maybe she'd wake up while I was changing her into her jammies, but crazily enough, she didn't even stir! So that was a first - she's never fallen asleep that early! So overall, I think it was a fun but tiring day for us all!

Gearing Up For Halloween

Last weekend we spent some time getting into the Halloween spirit. Being Anna's first one, I have been pretty excited to be able to experience this with her, not to mention having an excuse to act like a kid again! Saturday we went to an event sponsored by the Berwyn Park District, called "Safely Spooky Night." It's a free event at Proksa Park where local businesses give out candy, spooky creatures roam around, a huge bonfire took over the baseball field, and there were even hayrides (which I was very excited about, until Tim told us we didn't have time to wait in line). Anna is too young to be scared by any of it; she actually found everything funny, rather than scary.

Afterward, we went to our friends Matt and Lynette's house for a party. There was a lot of Beatles Rock Band to be played, as the entire Abbey Road album was just released for download. That was fun, but we ended up missing this cool game that the others played while we fed Anna. I don't even think I could describe what the game was. Oh well!

Finally, on Sunday, we went to Six Flags for Fright Fest. We ended up getting season passes since they're so cheap right now. That meant that we didn't have to worry about trying to get on as many rides as possible, which was good because it was very crowded that day. We went on the Whizzer, the Eagle, the Ricochet, the Octopus, the swings, the carousel, the observation deck, and saw a Halloween show. We also walked through this area called The Necropolis, which was pretty fun. Anna loved all the scary creatures! Luckily we were already on our way out when it started to rain!

So, although the weekend was incredibly busy, it was very fun! I think Anna's going to really enjoy this time of year when she gets a little older.

9 Months!

It's my little girlie's 9 month birthday today! It's difficult for me to believe that she's now been outside of me as long as she was inside! Unfortunately, today wasn't the prettiest day to have a birthday, since it's been chilly and raining. Yesterday she had her 9-month check-up, and she passed with flying colors! She weighs a hair under 19 lbs, she's 27.5 inches tall, and her head is 44 cm around -- the 50th % for everything, so she's as well-proportioned as they come! They had to draw blood from her arm for an anemia test, which made her extremely unhappy, and they also gave her a couple shots. Poor girl! Not to mention that she has to go back in a month to get her second flu shot, since for some reason babies have to get two. She's a trooper though; we gave her some Kix to snack on, and that made her happy again!

On Monday she started clapping her hands together, which is very exciting for me! She's been banging her hands on everything for a long time, plus she'll bang two toys together with no problem, but she refused to clap her hands until now! Her standing/pre-cruising is progressing nicely. I'm curious to know what will come next...

One of my favorite things about Anna right now is her sense of humor. She loves to giggle all the time, mostly at funny noises. Auntie Loonie discovered that she likes balloons, Grammie has found all her tickle spots, and I make her laugh with goofy things (like waving a blanket or her pants over her head. For some reason she gets a total kick out of that). For the past couple months she has been a Mommy's girl, so I can only hope that she stays that way :) Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!

Standing Banana

Yesterday my little Banana did something she's been trying to do for a very long time: pull herself up to standing. At least a month ago she actively started grabbing onto things (like the laundry basket) and trying to do it, but she was never able to figure out what to do with her feet; they always just seemed to get in her way. Then yesterday I was putting new batteries in her Sesame Street radio, and then I look at her next to me... and she's holding onto my shirt, standing there with a smile on her face! I couldn't believe it! She proceeded to do it two more times, probably just to make sure she could. She's definitely way more excited about this than rolling over, which she did about one time before deciding that she had had enough of that.

The last couple days she didn't sleep as well as usual, so I was wondering what was going on with her. She was waking up at 4 am when she generally sleeps until at least 7. Then she finally hit this milestone, and, sure enough, she slept perfectly last night! Her doctor has mentioned before that sometimes when babies are on the brink of a big development it can mess with their sleep routines, and I think she might be right! So I'm proud of my little Squirt, and I'm guessing that cruising... and *gasp* walking... are just around the corner! Where did my newborn go? Who is this big girl??

A Weekend Full of Pumpkins

Saturday we spent some time at Countryside Park for a fest they were having. They were giving away pumpkins that you could paint, there was bingo, some games for the kids, music, dancing, and food. The park was pretty neat too, so Anna got to play there for a while. I painted her pumpkin to look like a vampire, so that was fun. We didn't win any bingo, but we really wanted to that win the $5 McDonald's gift certificate. The other prize was free Burger King fries, so we kept hoping that we wouldn't win on one of those rounds! Ha ha.

Sunday we took a trip to Malta, IL for Anna's first pumpkin patch experience. The weather was pretty cold - in the 40s - so we had to use Anna's new Winter coat, which is way too big for her right now. She's really not going to like Winter much, since she won't have easy access to her thumbs. The orchard was pretty neat; it had a country store with all sorts of yummy treats (including some fantastic hot apple cider), so we looked around there first. We got some cherry salsa, which it turns out is AMAZING! Then we walked out to the pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkins. It was way too easy, as there were tons of gorgeous pumpkins. We got a big one for Tim, a medium one for me, and a little one for Anna. Then Anna took a nap while Tim and I went apple picking, but for some reason a lot of the varieties didn't have any apples on the tree. We still got plenty, but they were varieties that I don't really know, so hopefully they will taste good! The last thing we did was ride on the apple train, which wasn't actually a train at all (you'll have to see in the picture). It was lots of fun though, and Anna was laughing the entire ride! That was a great end to our lovely trip. I was glad that Grammie and Auntie Loonie got to come along with us too, and they kept Anna entertained on the car ride, which is always nice!

Auntie Loonie Time

Anna's "Auntie Loonie" had the week off, so we spent a lot of extra time over there. Thursday evening she worked on her crawling skills a lot (still going backward though, but she's trying so hard to figure out the forward motion!), then she went home and had a bath. She finally gets bath pictures with water in the tub, thanks to Tim taking over the camera. She's also figured out how to splash in the water and make a big mess, and I'm not sure if she figured that out from swim class or from me showing her how. Could be a little bit of both. Either way, it's pretty funny, even if it is a little messy.

Today I got home early, thanks to Teacher Institute day, so we went over to Auntie's apartment again and took a nap, did a little shopping, and got the best Thai food around! We started watching a scary movie, but I guess Anna didn't like that and started to fuss. She was in a silly mood for a lot of the evening; even though she was supposed to be in bed, she was acting so cute I just couldn't be mad at her for staying up. Earlier she was giggling at the balloons in Jewel, and then she was giggling at me "bonking" my head against hers and falling. She has one of the best senses of humor, and it's so cute to see the things she finds amusing. Her attention to detail is amazing; she's always finding something to investigate... and eventually put in her mouth. This weekend, as long as it's not too cold or rainy, we should be heading to a pumpkin patch, so more pictures will be coming soon!

Progress With Standing

Anna is definitely on the verge of being able to pull herself up to standing. She gets her entire upper body off the ground, but then can't seem to find the right position for her feet. I helped her out a little bit this afternoon, and she was able to do it! She's already pretty decent at standing while holding onto something, but she's moving onto the next step pretty quickly. While I'm not in a hurry to have her running around and getting into everything, it's fun to see the progress she makes.

She was "reading" her Haunted House book today that Grammie got her, and there are some lights and spooky sounds on the last page... so she kept opening the book to the last page to hear/see them! It was too cute; she really figures things out quickly. She also has a knack for taking an interest in things that don't belong to her. For example, she loves remote controls and camera straps, and once she has it in her mind to get to them, there's no stopping her. I'm in for a fun toddlerhood with her! She is just as happy and sweet as can be though, so I can't complain. People can't believe that she is always so easy-going and smiley, but that's the way she is.

First Post

So I have no experience whatsoever blogging, so I guess you could call this an experiment... Anna's just over 8 months old now (8 and 2 weeks, actually), and she is at such a fun age right now. She sits up very well, although she has just recently started to flop into a crawling position as she's sitting. Her crawling skills are developing, and although she pretty much just scoots backward right now, I'm impressed that she's gotten that far. She's never been a huge fan of being on her tummy, so I didn't think she'd ever have an interest in crawling. Plus she never got into rolling over much... she has been holding her weight since about 2 weeks old though, so she's a strong little girl. Some of the things Anna loves are:

Funny noises, especially when Mommy makes them. She squeals and giggles with delight every time!

Squash of any kind. It's her favorite food right now. She also tried Kix cereal for the first time today and loved it. She can feed herself pretty well.

Taking walks. She likes the stroller when she's with Grampy, but not with us (or at least not tonight). She likes it when I take her in the Baby Bjorn, and I like it better that way too!

Music; her favorite song is Yellow Submarine, but every time there's music playing she starts to "dance" (bob her head and sway from side to side or front to back). It's sooo cute.

Anyway, she just went to bed, which is a bit late for her, but she's sleeping well through the night again (about 9:30-7). Still no teeth, but I'm not complaining! I guess that's enough for a first post, so I hope I remember to keep this updated.