Separation Anxiety

Annabelle has reached this point where she is starting to experience separation anxiety. There are times during the day where I cannot step away for a second before she starts crying for me. It would be really sweet if it wasn't so tiring. If I walk into the kitchen and she can no longer see me, she'll start whining and crawl into the kitchen looking for me. Once she sees me she'll book it over to my leg and pull to a stand on it and yank on my pants until I pick her up. It's actually pretty cute...but ask me about it again in a few weeks and I'm sure I'll feel differently.

This weekend we went to Goody and Poppy's weekend house in Kilmarnock, VA. It was a nice weekend away. We did come home to a new brushing of snow.

Pictures from Gymboree

I actually remembered to take my camera to Gymboree yesterday. Here are a few of the pictures (I took a bunch)...


Crawling through the tunnel:


Playing with the balls...

Busy, Busy, Busy....

Sorry again for the delay in posts! Annabelle keeps me on my toes during the day. She is a very inquisitive little baby and is pretty much into everything.

Some friends and I have started a babysitting swap. My friend watched Annabelle yesterday for 2 hours. I grocery shopped and went to Babies R Us all by myself. I know it sounds boring, but it was bliss shopping alone in the middle of the week. I don't know what I'll do next week...Today I watched my friends baby. She got a pedicure and went to Target. It was interesting watching 2 babies at once. I got a small glimpse of what having twins could be like. Wow.....maybe 1 baby is enough??? :-)

Tomorrow we have Gymboree and then mom's coffee afterwards. The weather is getting a bit warmer so all of that darn ice is finally melting. I can't wait for spring!

On Monday we had Annabelle's 9 month appt. She got 2 shots (Hepatitis B and Polio)and they tried to take a urine sample. That is a very interesting endeavor...it's this weird bag that they somehow attached to the vagina. She didn't like it very much. She did not deliver, so they said we'll do it at the 12 mo appt. Annabelle is now 17lbs (25% percentile), is 26.5 inches long (25% percentile) and her head is 17.5 inches around (50% percentile). The doctor was pleased with her progression and was impressed that she was already cruising. She has been in those percentiles pretty steadily since birth. She may be a peanut, but at least she's consistent!

Crappy Week

Well...it's been a pretty crappy week. The snow from Tuesday turned into ice. I mean ice,too. You can't step through the snow..it's frozen solid. Then Tuesday night at around 11pm Paul got really sick. He spent all night Tuesday and most of Wednesday getting sick. Because of things, I didn't feel comfortable taking Annabelle out in case we were carrying germs. So, we skipped Annabelle's friend Megan's Valentines Day Party on Wednesday and then Gymboree on Thursday. It's hard to get out anyway because everything is frozen. Paul has finally recuperated...poor guy. There has been a nasty bug going around...a stomach virus called norovirus. He was back up to fighting speed yesterday morning.

The school system closed for 3 days...including today. Our swim class follows that schedule, so, class was cancelled today. We will be going to Zoe's first birthday party today and it's a Valentine's theme so hopefully Annabelle can still give out her valentines.

Here is a picture from yesterday. We took the sled out.

Snowy Day

Today it's snowing...it was supposed to be a big storm. But, it's turned into a smaller storm. Goody and Poppy gave Annabelle a sled for Valentine's day. Here is a picture of her in it. Check out the goofy look on her face.

So, we decided to hunker down and not go anywhere!

Another milestone reached!

Annabelle has reached another milestone...cruising. She has been doing this for about a week. Crusing is basically pulling oneself up onto furniture and then using that furniture to get around. She moves from one piece of furniture to another with ease. This is usually the from the coffee table to the couch and vice versa. She does this in both the living room and front living room. Another favorite is from the changing table to the leather chair.

Apparently, this milestone is normally reached at 11 months or anywhere between 9-13 months. So, Annabelle doing it at 8 months is really early. Another indication she is a smart girl! I'm not making it up...I promise! :-)

Frigid Temps

Boy...is it cold out there! We've been reluctant to get out of the house, but finally did it yesterday. Annabelle and I ran a few errands then met up with a friend of mine for lunch. Last night I had mom's night out. A bunch of us went to a wine bar called Tallula's (http://www.tallularestaurant.com). It was nice to get out with just the girls. Paul had a good time playing with Annabelle and gave her a bath.
Here are some pictures from yesterday:

Yes, it's patent pending:


Look at my teeth!

Finally, those darn teeth.

I forgot to mention...Annabelle finally has her bottom two teeth. They have been there for about a week. I think that had to be the longest process ever. She started teething around 3 months and it continued off and on until now. Geesh! Some of Annabelle's friends started teething and within a week had 2 teeth. You just never know.

Today we went to playgroup at Heather and Leah's house. Mom forgot the camera, but her friends had some so be on the lookout for some pictures from today. Here is a picture of her taking a nap today. She puts her butt up in the air...it's hilarious.



Also, here is a video from a few days ago. You will have to copy and paste the link.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1600450119010178520&pr=goog-sl

Mac N Cheese

One of THE most confusing aspects of parenthood thus far is when to start solids, how much to give them, etc. This especially applies to finger food...when are you supposed to do this? Most of my friends are further along in this process. I am just so scared that she'll choke. But, I got brave today and gave her some mac n cheese that I made in the meals for munchkins class. It had cauliflower mixed in with it. She seemed to really enjoy it, albeit a lot of it ended up on the floor much to Bailey's enjoyment. Here is a picture:



Our little fashion diva:

Time Flies!

There is a phemonena that occurs when you have a baby...time disappears right before your eyes. I never really experienced this pre-baby, well except while on vacation. I just realized it's been a few days since I posted and thought it had only been one or two days...but man, it's been 4! Where did the time go??? On Thursday we went to Gymboree. We usually have our class on Wednesday but I'm switching to the Thursday class so we can hang out with some friends. On Friday we had swimming. I love swimming! That really poops out Annabelle. I had my team in training run on Saturday. We did 6 miles and boy did I feel it! This was the first time since starting training that I actually was sore after a run. Guess it was a good workout. Then, of course, Sunday we hung out all day at home and watched the Superbowl festivities.
Today is our slow day of no activities. I think we'll run some errands. I've been itching to go to a scrapbook store for a while, so I think we'll do that. Here are a few pictures from yesterday.

Annabelle and her first purse:


Dad and Annabelle getting ready to watch the big game: