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.