How Much is the Doggie in the Window?

Here is a sweet interaction from last week... Anna Kate absolutely loves her doggies. She will squeal and laugh when they are around and has started to chase them and grab at them now that she is more mobile. This particular day, I had pulled the curtains to the side for her to get a glimpse of Emma outside, then she proceeded to pull the (magnetic) curtain rod down from the door. All so she and Emma could play through the window..

Emma mistaking Anna Kate for a bunny rabbit...

As AK gets closer, Emma gets further away. Surprise. 

If you know our sweet beagles, Emma is scared of everything. Not long after this she gave up on wanting to come inside to play with her baby.

That is the cutest face of disappointment you've ever seen. Emma didn't want to play with this little bunny anymore..

37 Weeks!

This week was more laid back from the one before, but somehow it flew by! Speaking of flying... Anna Kate will be taking her first flight this week!

One major milestone for this week... We have a TOOTH! Anna Kate took my finger one day as a teether, and I felt a little jagged tooth in there. We had little to no fussing about it all before the tooth, but after it broke through we have been very fussy and needy, and had a little fever on Sunday.

In other news, someone is becoming very quick and agile in her crawling. Just Monday morning she took a lap from the living room around the kitchen island. She is still not crawling with her belly off the floor, but she seems satisfied with her army crawl. Along with her speedy crawling, she is using more and more consonants, but doesn't seem to be amazed enough by talking to do the typical "baby on repeat ba-ba-ba-ba..." unless she is singing.

Sweet Baby Anna.

This one looks like a studio portrait... "Now, Anna Kate, look slightly to the right and up, give me a content smile.. got it!"

Those. Fingers. Always.

Such a big girl!

We're Off!

Here goes nothing! We are off on our first plane trip and our first trip out of state (if you don't count all of the lake trips to Gigi and Ru's lake house). Wish us luck!

She insisted on helping pack.

Unconcerned about the big day!

Weekend in Greensboro

This past weekend, we headed to Greensboro to see Gigi and Ru and drop off the beagles for a week with their grandparents. We had a fun time (mommy especially) getting out of the house and getting to enjoy the perks of a city, even including a date night after the little one went to bed!

Anna Kate enjoyed spending time with Gigi and Ru, and even made up with Ru for being mean to him last weekend. Let's hope she can continue that trend and enjoy the menfolk she meets and already loves in Michigan!

One funny story and then some pictures! So, on Saturday during what should have been Anna Kate's long nap, we all headed out except for Ru to get some errands done. Ru was working in the garage when he heard howling... on the baby monitor! Bailey, who is infamous for opening doors, flipping baskets, climbing on anything, had opened the door at the top of the steps and was sitting outside AK's/the grand kid/Robert's old bedroom howling loudly! Needless to say, she woke the baby... about an hour early from her nap. The best part is that the dogs are pretty much quarantined to the basement, so Bailey just knew her baby was in there (she has never done this at home!). When we got home from running errands, Ru and Anna Kate were in the recliner watching some TV, both happy as can be!

Anna Kate was pretty tired when we got there, so when Daddy tried to play with her on the toy car she just laid down and let him pull her back and forth!

She loved this bean bag! She would immediately relax when she was placed in it. Guess we may be looking for a (not neon blue) bean bag for the living room!

Always interested in touching everything..

Hanging out with Ru after nap time. He makes the best faces.

Betcha can't guess what she's looking at...

Lately

So, here are some photos of things going on around here lately. Of course I didn't take photos anywhere we went last week, so you'll just have to live with photos in our living room..

Before making a delicious pumpkin bread, someone had to get their hands on the pumpkin!

I wish I could get this excited about a pumpkin. Oh wait, I do... just once it meets pumpkin spices.

Who is surprised that this is what happened?

Making lots of noise in the kitchen!

She was singing along to the beat.

"Hey Dad, can I see that camera for a minute?"

"Hmm, how do you make this thing turn on?"

If you've ever been around this baby and a TV, you'll know why this is funny. She cannot keep her eyes off of a TV if it is on. We don't watch a lot of TV in our house as it is, so she thinks it is a special treat to watch anything. Even the Wii menu.

36 Weeks!

This week was fun around the Rotman house! We got out and went and did a lot- our first group play date at the park, the usual Bible study with Meck at the Y, playtime at Nana's while Mommy tutored, lunch out with Richard and Shanda, a day in Taylorsville with Gigi, Ru, and all Anna Kate's great grandparents on Mommy's side, church and lunch afterwards with Nana and Aunt Lisa, and then a big day yesterday visiting good friends in the hospital. Whew, that's a lot of fun for a little girl.

So, in all of the madness, Anna Kate has shown tremendous change in her temperament (really since getting over her bronchiolitis) and was even complimented the last three times she spent in nursery. She is becoming much happier, most likely due to being able to move very quickly and chatting up a storm. Her babbling has finally taken off, and is most prominent when she eats... because that is when she is happiest. Speaking of eating, that girl can eat. Most meals consist now of 3 ounces of purees, water, and various finger foods. She has been known to also eat a full size yogurt after eating lunch and would eat a whole stick of cheese if you let her.

The last news of the week is that Anna Kate officially pulled up this week! She had been reaching around and pulling in the bathtub, but the day we posted the videos of her in the bath, she pulled to a complete standing position in her little tub. She hasn't found anything in the living room to pull up on yet since it is all pretty tall, but she is getting ready!

Wow, you would think with all of that writing that she wrote her first book this week... anyways, here are the photos! This is another one of the precious items my mother kept from when I was a baby. How cute is she in this sweater?!

My sweet little one!

She's getting into this modeling thing... not really. It takes a lot of photos for one good one.

So dramatic.

I wish I could say she was looking at something with wonder. But really I was waving her lovey above the camera to get her to stop playing with the tags on the boppy.

Bathtime!

So, in recent posts I have made reference to Anna Kate splashing in the tub, and trying to pull up. Well, since we are on the verge of moving out of the baby tub (tear!) for safety reasons, I decided I needed to get some more footage of our little princess in the tub. You are welcome, it is adorable.

Sweet sweet baby girl

"They call this a killer whale?!"

Someone is into everything these days... 

Pure joy for bath time!

Here is  a video of her enjoying her bath:

Pictures for Gigi! Throwback Thursday Edition.

So, a while back we visited Ballantyne to see Uncle Robert, Aunt Laura, and Cousin Avery. Well, our real mission (while visiting was fun) was to fulfill Gigi's birthday wish of having a picture of her two granddaughters together. At first, this seemed like an easy and fun task. Find cute outfits, put baby and toddler in chair, on blanket, have them look cute... well almost all of those happened. Except maybe the last one.

So these are pretty cute...

"Quick, they're in the same frame, take pictures..."

Closer...

What 90% of the pictures look like..

We agree, Avery. What a silly idea.

Once again... "They're in the same frame, take a picture!"

"No, Anna, don't eat the grass. Yes, Avery, Daddy can absolutely put that flower back together. Charger, get out of the picture!"

One day, we will try this again. And be prepared with a sense of humor.

8 Months!

This past Sunday, Anna Kate turned 8 months old! I cannot believe how fast time is flying (have I said that before?). It is almost time for the holidays, and then we will be on the fast track for the little miss to turn one!

This month, Anna Kate has become one curious little girl. She is a speedy "creeper-crawler" (videos to come) who can get just about wherever she wants to go in a room. She is hands-on, and then mouth-on everything, which has made her a great eater! She now prefers to feed herself more than be spoon fed, and loves to drink water from her sippy cup. Bath time is one of her favorite times of the day- splashing, playing with toys, and trying to pull up on anything and everything in the tub. She also experienced her first illness this month.

Since we went to the doctor, we also have some stats (even though it is not a check-up month): Anna Kate weighs in at 16.1 lbs (36th percentile) and measures somewhere around 28 inches (self-measured).

Fingers, lovey.. this is Anna Kate about 18 hours of the day.

"Hang loose, man! I'm 8 months!"

A-dorable.

This is AK's new "trick": holding her hands together. She sometimes gets very excited when she holds them like this and waves them up and down. It's too stinking cute.

"Ummm one plus one is... hold on, let me think..."

Contemplating what she would like to accomplish in month 9. She's a planner like that.

Just so everyone can see how big the little princess is!

35 Weeks!

Week 35 has come and gone, with nothing terribly notable to talk about. Anna Kate finally got over her respiratory issues (after a second trip to the doctor) and we spent most of the week inside recovering, with the exception of a trip to the outlet mall with Nana on Friday.

Baby girl continues to pick up speed when crawling, sits up for longer periods of time, and loves to feed herself. Speaking of feeding herself, Anna Kate's current favorite foods are: sweet potatoes, puffs, cheese, and any fruit. She doesn't seem to have too many foods that she doesn't like (she even enjoys spinach and other green goodies!) but if I had to choose one she "doesn't like" it would probably have to be avocado- we are still working on that one.

Little sweet pea.

Oh, those big brown eyes!

"I am SO excited not to be sick anymore!"

Is it just me, or is she starting to look more like her Daddy? 

She doesn't understand the concept of a fake iPhone..

Daddy trying to show her how to answer.