19 WEEKS

This past week was seemed like it lasted soooooo long...but in a good way. Daddy had a four day weekend so we got to spend a lot of time together.

Anna tried some new baby foods this week. She really liked peaches and sweet potatoes...she didnt like beef and gravy at all. She is really good at eating her baby food. She will open her mouth real wide when she sees the spoon and will often lunge forward at it. She does pretty good keeping most of it in her mouth...but when it does escape she still uses her hand to push it back in. Its so fun to watch her eat. I love the different faces she makes as she is eating. Sometimes it looks like she is making a face like "ewwwwww...what was that"...most of the time she does this on the first bite. Then she gets excited.

This weekend we went to the beach. Anna played in the sand with Daddy. She loves move her feet around in the sand. She also loves to look at the ocean. We tried to get pictures of Anna and us....but it was a little difficult because she kept looking towards the ocean. I guess we could have made it easier by turning around...but we wanted the ocean in the background.


We also went to the pumpkin patch. It was surreal to think that last year when we went to the pumpkin patch Anna was still growing in my belly. Anna liked the pumpkins she wanted to hold her pumpkin but...even though it was little it still was too big for her.


Anna is also getting better at rolling over. She likes to rollover from her back to her stomach but hasnt quite got the stomach to back down yet. Its fun to watch her rollover. She will rock on her back until she gets enough momentum to roll herself over. However, she still isnt really a fan of tummy time...so when she does rollover...she often gets fussy real quick.
Anna is sleeping better at night...but sometimes has a hard time falling asleep at first. She can be totally exhausted but will fight sleep. Sometimes holding her helps...most of the time it doesnt. Last night she woke us up a few times whimpering (like she was about to start crying). When I looked in her crib she was asleep. So I just said "shhhhhh its ok Anna" and she would stop. She does this during the day sometimes too...it makes me sad. I wonder what is she dreaming about that makes her want to cry. The only part that makes me feel good is most of the time she stops as soon as I talk to her.
Anna has become very interested in faces this week. Both William and I have noticed that she likes to grab our faces. She smiles when she does this and sometimes she has that studying look on her face.
She still loves her flash cards and gets so excited when she sees them. She loves to hold them and look at the pictures. It also seems that ABC's are still is still her favorite song (especially when i sign as I sing).
Anna got her first Halloween card from MawMaw and Granddad Durrette. We gave it to her opened and she had so much fun holding it and waving it around. When we took it from her to open it, she got upset until she saw the picture of the cat on the card. She smiled so big and grabbed the card and wouldnt let it go...eventually we had to take it from her because she decided she wanted to try eat it.



Everyday Anna seems to change...its so amazing watching her grow...in a few more days she will hit her 5 month bday...I still cant believe it!

18 WEEKS

18 weeks! Wow! It doesnt feel like its been two days since Anna was born. It feels like just yesterday but then I look at her and see how much she has grown. How smart she is becoming! How she is growing into a unique little girl.

This week Anna has continued to wake up in the middle of the night to eat. I think she is going through a growth spurt because she seems to be more hungry during the day as well. Anna tried baby food bananas for the first time this week. She made the funniest face when she first tasted it. It looked like she didnt like it at all. But when she was offered more she gobbled it up. She LOVED it! Now we gotta pick another kind for Anna to try. I think the next one might be beef...I dont think she will like it but I dont wont to just give her the sweet kind at first. Maybe if we mix up she will like the "not so good ones" too!




Anna and Daddy had an scary but exciting moment at the beach. While Mommy was out surfing Daddy noticed a huge shadow in the water really close to the shoreline. Daddy was really nervous...his first thought "SHARK". Daddy didnt know what to do...should he yell for Mommy to come in...but that would mean she would have to come near the shadow...or should he let her stay out and hope the shadow went the other way....so Daddy watched the shadow as it continued to approach the shoreline....all of a sudden...the shadow poked its head out of the water. It wasnt a shark...it was just a monk seal. Daddy took some pictures of it.



Anna also taught Daddy a new game. As we were driving back from the beach Anna started to cough. But it was a fake cough. Daddy was sitting in the back seat with Anna and asked her what she was doing. She faked cough again. So Daddy faked coughed and then Anna fake coughed...the played this games a few times before Anna tired of it. We both though it was so funny that she was copying Daddy...and that she fake coughed to get attention.

Anna still likes to play peek-a-boo whenever you change her diaper. She will grab her pants and pull them over her face until you ask where is Anna? Then she pulls them off and smiles. I want to get this on video but always forget the camera whenever we change her.


Anna did something else that amazed us this past weekend. We came downstairs in the morning and Daddy sat down with Anna on his lap. He noticed she was looking around. Then she started looking over his shoulder. We thought she might be looking for Mommy but noooooooo....when she saw Roxy she smiled. She also looked at the cat cage for the cats! So smart! She loves the animals!

Peek-a-boo!

Anna has picked up a new game! Yesterday while I was changing her I placed her pants up by her head. Anna rolled to her side and picked up her pants. She then rolled back to her back and put the pants over her face. So I said "where's Anna?"...and as soon as I said that she pulled the pants away from her face and smiled. She then put the pants right back on her face...so again I said "where's Anna?" and again she pulled the pants away from her face and smiled. She did this four or five times before she stopped.
She is such a smart baby. William and I have played peek-a-boo with her but not alot because she never really reacted to it. I just think its so smart that she picked it up.
So leason learned even though she may not react to a game...it doesnt mean she isnt paying attention and learning!

17 weeks

We had so much fun this past weekend. Daddy had a four day weekend (friday-monday) off and we went to the beach everymorning. The first three mornings we went to White Sands beach and Anna and Daddy watched Mommy attempt to surf. Mommy did pretty good each day she caught 3 good waves and was only in the water about 30 minutes each day. Anna loved the beached. One day after surfing we took Anna over to Iroquios Point beach. We were hoping the water would be calmer so Anna could play in it. It was a little bit calmer. Anna seemed to really like when the water would come up and hit her. She would watch the ocean as if she was waiting. When she got bored she reached down and grabbed a handful of sand. Luckily she didnt put it in her mouth! I think she would have but at that moment the water came up and hit her and she dropped the sand. She didnt squeal her happy sound but she didnt cry...so I think she enjoyed it...but was wondering what everything was. On Monday we went to the North Shore to watch the big waves. This time Anna spent the whole time in Mommy's lap kicking the sand. I think she liked the way it felt on her feet because everytime I tried to scoot her out of the sand she wiggled her way back into it.





Anna has continued to find her voice. Her new favorite activity...screaming! It would probably be annoying to someone if we were out at a restaruant or something but I think its hilarious. I just laugh at her. Its not an upset scream or anything like that its more just a scream to her herself...and boy does Anna love her own voice!

We have started putting Anna in her crib...which is hard for Mommy. I liked having her close. I liked being able to her breathe or feel her movements. So...the crib is right next to the bed. I am doing ok with it. I really like it when she has her binkie because I can her her sucking on it. I often find myself waking up when I dont hear it...most of the time its because she has let it fall out of her mouth. Anna is doing good with sleeping in her crib. We still have her sleep on the little mat so she cant roll over. She likes to "talk" herself to sleep...often "talking" Mommy and Daddy to sleep too! She loves to hug and pet her pink hippo as she falls asleep. Its so adorable to look in the crib, hear her "talking", see her eyes slowly closing and her hugging and petting the hippo. I take the hippo out of her crib once she falls asleep just because I am a nervous Mommy.

Anna has started a new habit....MIDNIGHT snacking! Not so fun for Mommy and Daddy. She wakes up anywhere between 1-3 hungry. So I get up feed her and she falls right back to sleep and normally doesnt wake until about 6:30. Its not bad. Honestly I kind of like it because I know she is ok

I love Anna's hair...the curls continue to pop up out of nowhere.


Anna is starting to really enjoy tummy time! She also likes laying on her back and playing. She is still working on the rolling over...She however has another talent. Somehow she turns her body and her feet end up where her head was and her head where her feet were.

Anna also loves her flash cards. She loves to take them from Mommy...look at it for a bit and then see how it taste! She gets so excited when she sees her flash cards. She really pays attention to what is on the card, its so cute to see the concentration on her face as I say the word and she looks at the card.

Rolling...rolling...rolling

OK....maybe just ROLL...Anna rolled over last night for the 1st time! ok...maybe she kinda fell over...but its the first time she completed the roll/fall. Everyother time she would get to her side and roll/fall the same direction she came from. But last night she kept going. I dont think she knows what she did but thats ok...I couldnt be prouder. Now we will wait to see when she rolls again!
Oh I forgot to mention about Anna's doctor appointment. She weighed 12lbs 10 ounces and was 24.4 inches long. The doctor said according to her growth chart she is going to be "tall". Not sure where she got that from...not sure if the doctor paid much attention to the gene pool in the room...but hey at least she seems to have a chance to be taller than Mommy!

16 weeks

Ohhhhh what a busy week we have had. On Oct 2 Anna officially turned 4 months!!!! Whooohooo happy 1/3 birthday! We celebrated by letting Anna try cereal for the first time....very milky baby cereal...and the results...SHE LOVED IT! She grabbed at the spoon and would pull it to her mouth. She ate the cereal so well. Only a little bit "slipped" out of her mouth but when that happened she would shove her fist up to her mouth like she was trying to push the cereal back in. It was so cute...then all of a sudden she started to cry. When I held her I could tell she wanted milk...I think she was scared she wasnt gonna get the milk anymore so she cried. Once she started to drink her milk she was happy again. We only tried the cereal once because she kinda had a little rash the next day...not sure if it was from the cereal or just her little random rash popping up again..So we decided to wait until the rash went completely away. I dont think she was allergic to it but better safe than sorry.


This weekend Anna got to spend time with a babysitter. Melissa did great with Anna...and from what Im told Anna did great too. She said she didnt cry or get fussy unless she was hungry or needed her diaper changed. Im proud of Anna because everytime I picked her up she was wearing the same clothes...which means she didnt have one of her infamous blowouts. Leaving your baby with someone new is rough. I was nervous. I trusted Melissa but its still a little rough just cause you miss her so much...you wonder what she is doing...how she is doing...you wonder if she misses you. Sadly I dont think she much missed me. But I would rather she did like she did than cry all day. It does make you feel good to know your baby is happy and well taken care of.

Anna is doing great with sleeping at night. She has gotten away (knock on wood) from the 4- 4:30 feeding. She now sleeps until about 6:30. We get up at 6:30 eat, get dressed and go running. She loves her new stroller. I think she really like the fact that she can see more. Although she still like to take a cat nap during the run. Im so paranoid...that everymorning I douse her with sunscreen to make sure she doesnt get burnt. She has such fair skin, I dont think I would forgive myself if she got burnt.

Anna is still as vocal as can be. She loves to scream and "talk" most of the time she is awake. I love "talking" with her. She seems to really enjoy the interaction and will scream louder if she doesnt think she is being paid the proper attention.

We are excited for this weekend. Daddy will have a four day weekend...and we are planning on soaking up some beach time.

week 15

I forgot to mention how my little girl is an amazing problem solver. I think it was last week we were riding in the car and she started to get fussy. I looked in the mirror and noticed her binkie was between her legs and she couldnt reach it. It was so cute watching her try to reach it. Since we were in traffic I couldnt pull over to give it to her. So she continued to be fussy (her fussiness is like she is yelling (but not loudly) at something). So I continued to watch her. I then saw her do what I thought was the most amazing thing. See we have one of those things that wraps into the binkie and you can attach it to the baby's clothes so the binkie doesnt fall on the floor. Well she grabbed the ribbon and pulled the pinkie to her other hand. She then grabbed the binkie with her other hand and proceeded to try to put the binkie in her mouth...a task she is working on as most of the time she tries to put it in backwards. But I thought that was so amazing. Such a problem solver.




This past week was a little busy for us. On Saturday we went to a baby shower and Anna was such a good baby. She ate...slept and tried to talk to everyone. She did really good when other people held her. I was so proud of her.




Yesterday we went to the grocery store...Anna talk for the first thirty minutes we were there then crashed. Its so cute...she will be talking, talking, talking and the next thing you know she is knocked out. She woke up for the last thirty minutes of shopping and just spent the whole time looking around. She loves the baby bjorn. She will look all around at everything and then look up at me and smile. I love her smile!

This week was the first time that Anna really reacted to Roxy (our dog). Roxy came up to her and Anna started to laugh. It was the cutest thing. She would squeal when roxy came close to her. She "noticed" the animals a couple weeks ago and even tried to "pet" them but this was her first time really reacting to one of them. Again so cute.