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!