Yosemite! - Day 2

Day 2 Pictures:

Sunrise over the Yosemite Valley.

Family photo op at Glacier Point.

Anna with back pain after a long trek carrying Daddy up Sentinel Dome? Probably not. Although Daddy might have been doing the same thing...

Sunset in Yosemite Valley at the "Tunnel View".

Anna--ready for bed time--enjoying the sunset.

Yosemite! - Day 1

We just returned from a few days in Yosemite. Talk about a beautiful piece of creation. Enjoy the pictures.

Half Dome in the afternoon.

And a few pictures of the Giant Sequoias.

Painting

Finger paints here she comes!

New hat.

Hey Grandma, do you think she likes her hat?

Labor Day Hike

This Labor day was different then the last few. We, and a few other couples, hiked to a secluded beach. It was great to pull out the baby hiking pack again, and Anna didn't seem to mind the ride at all. We had a great day and hope to get back to that beautiful, quiet beach!

Raison Spice Cookies

Anna was a good helper for making cookies the other day. She loved to mix for me and there were a few times I had to have her "wash" the dishes to get the mixing bowl back from her.
I'm sure she would say the best part of baking with mommy was eating the fruits of her labor!

Big Sister in training!

Silly girl was walking around with fabric blocks stuck onto her arms.

With that look on her face we're thinking maybe she's thinking
"Baby, what baby, I don't see any baby...must not be true."
And yes, her shirt says "Big Sister". It's how we told the grandparents that we're expecting!

Practicing her stroller skills.

Okay, so she might need a little help holding the baby,
but she already knows that the bottle goes in Baby's mouth.

The Facts:
~Due in mid March
~We're not going to to find out the sex of Baby.
~I'm feeling okay...(enough about that).
~Anna hasn't got a clue what's coming!

Reading chair.

Recently Anna has decided to set herself down in her chair to read her books. I realize to most people this is not a big deal, but for a little person who has ALWAYS sat on the floor to read her books, this is definitely a step to being a big(ger) girl.

T-Ball with Daddy

Anna and I gave this to Eric for Father's Day.
This past Sunday was the first day Anna seemed ready to used it,
and as you can see, she enjoyed it.

Crayon creation.

Anna is starting to enjoy things like crayons and pencils.

I'm thinking about pulling out the paints in about a month or so
(hopefully when she's a little less likely to try eating it).

Potty training...

Someone is going to read this and think this is impossible, and I realize that it may sound to good to be true, but for all intents & purposes, Anna is potty trained.

Really. She pees and poops every day, several times a day on her little potty in the bathroom. She even has begun to tell us when she needs to be taken. And yesterday was a banner day with only one wet underwear. A 14 month old.

Never would I have thought it possible (in five years of working in a day care center, it was never heard of), until someone mentioned elimination communication... and my curiosity got the better of me and I went in search of more info.

Now of course this is not perfect and she's not full trained (we are not at all sure how to get her through the night with dry pants). When she gets involved in something that is especially exciting, new or fun to her, she rarely tells us, we just take her when we know it's about time.

All in all we're excited to see that it is possible and that with a little more work we hope to have a fully trained 18 month old...we'll keep you posted.

Just in case you are interested.
website: Diaper Free Baby

Books: The Diaper Free Baby
Early Start Potty Training

Bananas!

Unrelated to the picture, I was in the grocery store with Anna today and on our way to the produce aisle, I told her we were going to get bananas, to which she replied, "Mmmm, tasty." Well timed and appropriate for quite possibly the world's most perfect food (and arguably her favorite).

Do I have to?

"A bow? Mom, I'm not so sure about this."

In case you can't tell, she's looking at herself in the hallway mirror.

"Do I really have to leave it there?"

Watering the Garden with Anna

While watering the garden, Anna insisted on getting right into the stream from the hose. We really didn't mind and she had lots of fun getting herself all wet.

If I want to keep Anna dry and water the garden too, I water without her! It's the only way.

Good dish washing help.

Bubbles & Flies

This is the first time Anna had taken a real interest in blowing bubbles (there was one picture on the last post that was taken at the same time), and it was fun watching her try to touch the bubbles that were moving a little to fast for her little fingers to catch.

Speaking of catching things, check out this video clip of her trying to catch a fly.
I can hear the fly now "Ha! To slow, try again. And Again! And Again! Nice try buck-o!"

The noise in the back ground is more construction on the "house on the hill".

Our Outside Girl

Blowing or eating bubbles?
Tall parents = a daughter who dunks at 13 months!
Day 2 on her new climber and she's got it figured out already!

Little Guitar Hero

Anna knows she is not to touch the guitar while mom is not around. The funny thing is she seems to be willing to reap the consequences to have a few moments of sound from the instrument in the corner of our bedroom. Here's a little peek at our budding guitarist gathering her moments of music before I interrupted (which I dislike doing, but know I must!).

To funny...

Learning to use her new birthday wagon from Aunt Amy has been an adventure for Anna. She's still figuring out how to move it around and so far it's been in the living room and kitchen. We'll see where she pulls (or pushes) it next.

Sporting her "sus-sasses" (sun glasses) before going "ah-sigh" (outside) .

For the past few months, while Eric shaves in the morning and Anna is toddling around he'd pretend to shave her cheeks with the appropriate sound effects. A few weeks ago Eric happened upon her "shaving" her own cheeks with the shaver which she had found in the bathroom drawer. The only thing she lacked (besides facial hair to cut) was the buzzing sound.