Daddy Videos

About once a week, I meet up with a student and help him work on his summer assignments. This lets me get out of the house and it lets Mark have some uninterrupted Daddy time with Anna Kate. Last week he managed to take some really adorable videos... so here is a glimpse into the active world of our 15 month old...

Here is Anna talking on her "cell phone". We bought her an Elmo touch phone for Christmas, and apparently this is what Mommy must look like when she is talking on the phone. She will just walk around holding the phone to her ear (or head) smiling. Sometimes it sounds like she says "Hiiiiiii" when she picks up the phone.

And here is our sweet girl emptying the pantry. One of her favorite things is to get in the pantry and choose something to eat. We rarely, if ever, give her the food she asks for, simply for the fact she would eat all the time and we prefer for her to have sit-down snacks and meals. One day she got out a Nature Valley bar (out of a Sam's size box) and I told her those were Daddy's. So on this day, she was getting them all out and bringing them to Daddy. At the end she gets out some cereal and tells Daddy it is time for dinner... NOW.

'Round Here

Here are some photos of random happenings around the house to whet your blog whistle. Is that a thing? Anyways, here ya go, Grandparents... now you can stop missing her so much!

Giving Bailey a "hug". You can see the pure joy in Bailey's eyes...

Thanks to Daddy, this toy is pulled out often. She will climb in and whine so you will push her.

Helping Mommy fix beans. It started out cute and almost helpful and ended with Daddy taking her out of the room so we didn't find beans everywhere.

I'm sure this is her tasting a raw green bean. It went as well as you would expect.

Just a semi-blurry picture of a baby chilling in a bean bag. She is definitely starting to have opinions and showing her little toddler attitude. One day this week I was laying on her beanbag, awaiting the next book selection (because let's be honest, there is only so long you can sit cross-leg on the floor after reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear for the hundredth time) and she started pushing my face, then pulling my hands.. so I moved. She then took my spot on the beanbag and giggled. Trouble.

And for my non-Facebook family and friends... Here is Anna Kate sitting on her water table. And yes, she did this herself. Did I mention this girl is trouble?

Basket Baby

Sorry we have been a little MIA from the blog. Most of you know our whereabouts, but for those that did not, we did a "tour de wedding" leaving Friday morning for Colombus, OH for Mark's cousin Ben's wedding, returning early Saturday morning to North Carolina for a rehearsal (Saturday) and wedding (Sunday) for one of Mark's oldest and closest friends, Anthony. We clocked in close to twenty hours driving, many outfit changes, two hotels, and four nights without sweet Anna. It is good to be home. Big thank you to Gigi and Ru for taking Anna Kate up to the lake, especially since she was a snotty barrel of fun with croup.

But, on to the cuteness. Before leaving, Anna found a new love for crawling into and sitting inside baskets. We try to keep our living room and other rooms not looking completely like the house has been taken over by a one year old by providing lots of baskets for books and small toys. Add this talent to her opening door talent, and I'm sure we will be introduced to all sorts of ways Anna can get into trouble that we can't even imagine right now...

Her first basket experience. I was too slow with the camera, as she was sitting criss-cross-applesauce drinking her water...

"Baskets are obviously for sitting in!"

"Where's your tongue?!"

You think I missed my girl?

And this would be Anna in her suitcase after I emptied it from her long trip. She put all of her stuffed animals and close by toys inside before climbing in to hang out.

Crazy Daddy!

In honor of Father's Day... here are some videos Mark is dying for the world to see of Anna Kate and her Daddy. In case you didn't know, Mark can make anything fun, especially for a child. And, since we didn't get out the camera this weekend, these will have to serve their purpose as a reminder to Anna as to how fun her Daddy was when she was 15 months old. Remember that, 15 year old Anna. Remember.

Anna has had this little car from Gigi's house for months. She enjoyed it at Gigi and Ru's house, and then we brought it home and she wanted nothing to do with it. One evening, helping Anna stay out of Mommy's hair during dinner Mark gave it a (very fast) go again and she LOVED it. Turns out we have a little daredevil on our hands, which is really no surprise. Also, this is a killer work out, so if you think it is cute, come on over and push her...

This is one of Daddy's favorite "lazy" baby entertainment tricks. Our driveway, much to Mark's dismay, is on a slight incline towards the house (hello drainage problems). This does makes for a fun push activity that sometimes makes Mommy a little nervous..

Happy Father's Day, Part Two!

While Anna loves her Daddy, we can't leave out all of the men we are so thankful for who have gotten us to where we are today! 

Dear Ru,

Thank you so much for all of the sacrifices you have made for me to be where I am today. Whether it was working hard so Mom could stay home with us, agreeing to coach girls soccer (which turned into a many many year long coaching career), coming in from fishing so that we could go on a million tube rides, or even these days, doing yard work and giving up your weekends to be here with us. I can never thank you enough! Anna will thank you someday too, but for now, she just wants you to share some more of your food! Kinda reminds me of myself, wanting another Gatorade after practice... Oops!

Dear Grandpa,

Although I wasn't around for some of the sacrifices you made, I am well aware of how those challenges have affected us today. Long hours at the shop (wait, those aren't over!) and moving far from home provided me with the man I now call my husband and Anna's daddy. Thank you for giving him his work ethic and loving spirit. Anna sends you a hug and kiss on Father's Day... from over here. We can't wait to give her a hard time when she is older and finds out just how fun Grandpa really is! I mean, he is just like a bigger Daddy who is allowed to feed her ice cream, right?!

Dear Paw,

Happy Father's Day! I am so grateful to have you in my life today. I love being able to share Anna with you and Nanny and to be able to learn so much from you still. I sure hope Anna loves all of your jokes as much as I do, and I am sure she is going to love the garden you and Nanny have tended to so well. P for perfect!

Happy Father's Day Uncle Rob! Thank you for giving us Cousin Avery and doing everything first so that we can always ask you! Oh, and for taking all of the baby junk back when Anna is done with it. Because I know you love closets full of baby stuff...

And to all of our grandfathers who are no longer with us, we love you! We can't wait to see you someday in heaven and we know you are proud of the choices we have made and our sweet Anna. She would have loved you all so well.

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

Dear Daddy,

Happy Father's Day! Here are some reasons why I think you're the best Daddy in the whole world...

-You share your food with me.
-You play "washing machine" with me in the ball pit. Sometimes it makes me dizzy.
-I like that you let me get way dirtier than Mommy does. Mulch is the best toy, I'm glad you agree.
-You're the best at pushing me in my cars. Even if I sometimes have close calls with the wall. Or the couch. Or the dogs. It's my favorite when we get close to the dogs.
-I think it is funny when you hide and jump out at me.
-You share your food with me.
-I like all of the silly games you make up. Someday I'll find out that not everyone's Daddy is so creative.
-You work hard so Mommy can stay home with me. I do miss you when you're gone, though!
-You help me make the best messes. And you don't make me clean them up. Let's keep that rule forever.
-My favorite part of the day is when you get home and everyone gets so excited. Emma and Bailey go crazy!
-Did I mention that you share your food with me? I like that. A lot.
-You make bath time extra fun. Whenever Mommy gives me a bath I am always looking for you to play peekaboo!
-I love you very very much, and I am so happy you are MY Daddy!

Love,

Anna Kate

Father's Day 2014 and 2013...

Sweet Baby Love! 15 months and 3 months.

Daddies are for Hugging and I love my Dad!

That One Time on the Lake

We have always said that Anna was going to be a water baby. Mark and I were both raised loving the water and the lake. Really, with Nana and Grandpa living on the lake and Gigi and Ru having a house on another lake, the lake is how we spend our summer. And why not? NC is hot in the summer. Last summer we didn't have too much water success with baby Anna Kate. But... she was a baby. This year we seem to be hit or miss. Water table? Love. Baby Pool? So far, hate. Walking in the shallow lake? Love. "Swimming"? Hate.

This past Saturday, Mark had off work and his request was to spend some time at the lake cottage lot. We packed up everything and headed out with high hopes of a nice morning before coming home for nap. Anna Kate was not into it. At all. First I tried wading in with her, but as soon as she got wet the tears came. Then we tried out the paddle board. That went okay, as long as it was Mommy with her. Tried out a baby float. That may have been the low point. It was laughable, but seriously, this girl is going to have to get used to the water! She was, surprisingly, very content sitting in her baby Adirondack chair eating pretzel sticks. Well, I guess the eating part isn't surprising...

She was fairly content during this part of the morning.

"Look at Daddy!"

One of her tricks includes "where is your tongue?". This at least got a smile out of her, even if Mommy looks ridiculous!

Here you can see she has figured out how to not be put down. Dig. In. Fingernails.

15 Months!

Don't worry, we didn't forget that Anna Kate turned 15 months... well, we kinda did. Just on the day. I guess we are getting to that point. Don't have to tell the whole world she is 15 months, two days, and 3 hours. She is one. We know, we know. But humor me for a little while longer looking at monthly photos and reading some statistics. Or don't read it and look at the pictures. I'll never know the difference.

Anna is about 22 pounds these days according to the bathroom scale. No idea how tall she is. And she wears hats, so her head is head sized.

At fifteen months, Anna can:
-Walk quite well, and enjoys testing out her speed until she meets the floor.
-Open doors with levers. AKA almost every door inside our house.
-Say (loosely, obviously... we just understand these. Average bystander doesn't) Mama, Dada, That, This, Dog/Doggie, Ball, Book, Cookie, Water, Yes, Bailey, Emma, Duck, and others. These are the ones we hear frequently.
-Throw balls across the room. And toys.
-Eat almost any food if provided to her in a proper size.
-Follow simple instructions such as "put lovey in the bed", "sit on my lap", "bring me a book", etc.
-Has party tricks that she is very shy about showing, even to the camera: Where is your head/belly/tongue?

Her favorite activities include:
-Eating. Begging to eat. Following you into the kitchen to make sure you're not cooking or eating.
-Walking around the house in circles.
-Following the dogs. Should be noted, this is not the dogs favorite.
-Opening cabinets and emptying them. Emptying baskets. Drawers. Dryers. Anything really.
-Riding on anything with wheels. Fast. (video to come if you haven't seen it already!)
-Playing in the mulch.
-Swinging, especially at the park.

Typical Anna pose... Fingers in the mouth!

Also, this shirt is actually a 6 month dress, if that doesn't show you how tall and skinny little miss is.

See? Dress at 6 months!

Love this photo of my sweet girl! She looks so big!

Example of Anna emptying something- a wipes box made into a toy for her. This has been a staple for the past few days. She even puts them back in when she is done!

Her "trick", the best I could capture. "Where is your head?"

New Play Area!

I mentioned in this post that we were working on making a fresh new play area for miss Anna.

Our yard is lacking some large shade trees, and while the back yard stays semi-shaded in the early to mid morning, it is full of sun in the afternoon. We had already hung a swing from under the deck, and had dreamed of leveling off and cleaning up under the deck for many years. We kept putting it off, hoping the house would sell and we wouldn't have wasted our money and effort, but as Anna keeps growing and we keep living here, it just made sense to bite the bullet and make the improvement! Then, Gigi and Ru found Anna some awesome play pieces and we knew we needed to find a way to make our own shade.

Enter Saturday. I had been sick for a couple days, but we had access to a truck for the long weekend, so off Mark went. One load of fill dirt, two loads of mulch, and two trips to Home Depot later, we had a pleasant area to play. With the addition of a hiding sun shade (it rolls up into the underside of the deck), Anna and I can now play all afternoon!

Big thanks to Nana and Ru for helping spread mulch. Someday we think we may enjoy yard work as much as our parents, but... probably not. Gigi was holding a baby and trimming bushes while Ru helped Mark spread mulch, and Nana jumped at the opportunity to get out in the yard and work since they have been renting and missing a yard of their own. I was definitely the weakest link that weekend!

Baby Jail! Note... all of the toys are outside the play pen. Guess who did that? Not Mommy!

Round one, fill dirt.

Who wants to come play?

Playtime!

No cool stories to go along with these photos... Just some cute shots of Anna Kate having fun. Isn't that all you really want to see anyways?

This sweet girl LOVES her magnets. Momma loves that she has a distraction that is in the kitchen..

"Dis"... "Dog"... "Bay"

"What's with the camera, Mom?"

Heading out to the water table with Dada!

But seriously. Can you handle this cuteness? I cannot.

"I have a cup of water!"

Checking out an airplane overhead. Bein' cute.

Trying to "catch" the water.

There was a lot of "dancing" and screaming involved in this activity.

Just so you can get the full visual of the redneckery in the front yard. Haha!