Anya's car

We bought a car for Anya. I know this may seem a little premature but it isn't exactly what you think. We actually bought a bigger car for us- but in essence it is for Anya and her imaginary future siblings. It was difficult for both Myles and myself to sell the Subaru but it was necessary. We wanted to buy a new 2010 Subaru Outback but we decided to go big or go home. It's big for us- our Toyota Highlander- not a huge car in comparison to other SUV's or (god forbid) mini vans, but none the less we feel as if we are driving a semi around town.

We took the new car on it's first car trip this weekend to the Hood Canal cabin. We both admitted that it was fabulous to pack and VERY comfortable to drive. So we are happy with our purchase and will be contributing more moola to the oil companies!

We have spent a lot of time recently with friends and family. Anya had several playdates with Lydia when she and Kate were in town recently. We went and visited a new addition to our friend group- Mira Bhatia- a darling little girl born to Anna and Sachin. We spent the weekend at the cabin with Jeni and Scott. Thankfully they slept out in the extra house because Anya was up by 6:15am both Saturday and Sunday morning. When she gets up the house gets up... she doesn't have an inside voice, especially in the morning, but it is mainly sweet giggling and lots of babbling. As parents we think it is endearing even at 6am but to others not so much!We have had lunch out several times and had our friend Zola (and parents) over to brunch.
Brunch is a wonderful invention for parents. This meal allows you to get one good nap under the baby's belt and then head out for the day to enjoy some good eats. We have rediscovered brunch and enjoy it very much!

Anya is saying Dada regularly and still only says Mama when she is whining or wants something like milk/food. She is waving bye bye, claps on command, and uses baby signs for milk, more, all done and ittsy bitsy spider. If she is cranky and crying in the stroller or car I sing song after song and she quietly listens, but if I stop the crying will resume. We taught her to "cheers" with her sippy cup last weekend and she loves it. Her favorite thing to do though is laugh. She laughs to make you laugh and it is contagious. She smiles at everyone in the grocery store and will try to get their attention so she can grin at them. People love this- they come over and talk to her which is exactly what she wants. If they don't look her direction she will loudly say "ga" until they do. Needless to say we take snacks to the store to have something to put in her mouth since she can be a bit vocal and doesn't understand how to be quiet- nor should she!

I have included a lot of videos because frankly they are easier to take now then still pics. She doesn't sit still so trying to get a good picture takes hours I swear.

April Fools

10 months! Where did the time go? Last year at this time I was having baby showers and eagerly anticipating the arrival of our daughter. What a difference a year makes.

If you follow this blog you might have noticed I'm not writing as often. This is a direct side effect of having such an active baby. When she is awake she is moving which means I am not sitting at the computer writing quips about how cute she is. In general the days of sitting are over. I am interacting with her, chasing her, catching her fall off the stairs, and trying to stimulate her little mind. She is learning so much right now. She imitates everything and is testing her environment and her mother.

Up to this point we have avoided using "NO" and try to say uh uh uh to keep her from doing something we deem dangerous or unsavory. Amazingly it has worked thus far. She doesn't touch the dog food or water simply because she knows it is off limits. Same with the wine rack, going down stairs, and decorative items. I'm not naive, I know this won't last, but at least for now I can allow her to crawl into the dining room and know she won't go straight for the wine bottles (unlike her mom).

She is really fun right now. She will gut laugh at the silliest things. Putting her hand in your mouth is apparently hilarious- don't know why. Peek-a-boo is a favorite game and any sort of singing interactive song is welcome;"Itsy Bitsy Spider" is a favorite as well as "If Your Happy and You Know it". She is also very ticklish so it is easy to elicit a giggle whenever she is getting her diaper changed or looks like she needs a few zerberts (SP)?

Anya is itty bitty herself. She is barely 16 pounds but man is she mighty! When she stands up she can roll on the top of her feet to her toes to the ball of her feet to get to her standing position- she has very flexible ankles I guess! She loves to climb up and over obstacles like the legs on chairs, or any raised surface that she can feasibly get over. She ends up high centered from time to time and occasionally does a face plant but she has nearly mastered this maneuver now.

Amazingly she is still sleeping through the night. She has nights when she sleeps from 7pm to 7am without a peep, and others where she makes a little noise but falls back asleep. It is incredible to get a full nights sleep. I am currently up at 6 am writing this while she is still asleep! (see section about me not being able to get anything done while she is awake if you are confused as to why on earth someone would wake up at 6am to update a blog.... )

Sleeping like a baby!!!

IT HAPPENED!!!!!!!!!! The Holy Grail of parenthood (or mommyhood in my case.....)

She slept through the night without needing to be fed for 13 hours!!!! The best part is she has been doing it for a full week now. I'm a new woman- rested and ready to conquer the world...... well maybe just rested, but that's beside the point.
She will wake up, stir, make a little noise, and then magically go back to sleep. It is wonderful and totally worth the wait. I was sure the first time it happened that it was a fluke and surely wouldn't continue, but she has proven me wrong.

She has also become extremely predictable with her napping schedule. This is nice for a couple of reasons: I can plan around her sleep schedule, she gets good solid naps in her crib, oh and did I mention I can PLAN something...... Ahhhh, some parents feel a schedule is too rigid, I think it gives us more freedom.

Anya is celebrating St Patrick's Day today. She is wearing a shirt touting herself as "Daddy's Lucky Charm" and ate some Irish soda bread for breakfast. She asked for "green milk" but I think we will stick to the soda bread for now.

We went to the Coal Creek YMCA today (where I teach) and used their pool for the first time. It was very warm and Anya had a blast. We practiced in a life jacket so she will be used to wearing one when we go to Hawaii in May. It is amazing how they flip them right over onto their back. Anya was hanging out, floating on her back with her head resting in the flotation cushion. I think I want an adult version of that- it looked really relaxing!
Anya has been spoiled and had grandparents, friends, and neighbors watch her while I teach classes. I started teaching at the Y because they have an awesome family environment and great childcare. Little Miss Anya however has been reluctant to accept being left in the child care. We have had good days and bad (the bad resulting in me leaving the Pilates class I was teaching twice only to return with her for the last 15 minutes with her "assisting" me.) So needless to say, I can't be taken out of a class I am leading to tend to my slightly distraught daughter. To acclimate her I have been taking her during times when I don't teach so I am accessible when she has a melt down. This seems to be working so far. We also have had grandma accompany us to the Y during my teaching hour and leave with Anya when she gets tired and needs a nap. I'm sure by the time she is 3 it will be no problem to leave her while I teach! Sheesh!

Cruising and bruising at 9 months

Anya is a BUSY girl. Thankfully she is fairly good about entertaining herself but we have to watch her every minute because she tends to stand up and fall over a lot right now. She will be quietly sitting playing with her toys (Boone's gross dirty toys- but whatever) and then the next moment she is across the room pulling herself with Herculean strength up on the coffee table tottering around reaching for the remote control. She has stood on her own two feet without holding onto anything several times but we aren't close to walking yet. I think we have about another month or so.

As I have mentioned before, one of the mom's from my PEPS group and I trade off with child care. I take her son Harry on occasion and she takes Anya for me sometimes. It really works out well and both kids get used to sleeping other places and playing with each other. They know each other now and get excited to see one another. Belinda has an awesome double stroller and I took Anya and Harry out for a walk which resulted in both of them falling asleep. Too precious!

Sleeping is always such a fun topic so lets discuss her latest escapades. She stands in her crib, flops herself down like a WWF wrestler and rolls with abandon. This maneuver can be done playfully or as part of a nasty tantrum depending on the day (or night). She has a tendency to reach over head and grab her mobile that seemingly should be out of reach but I have witnessed her standing straight up in the middle of her crib, arms overhead, swaying with the mobile. Time to remove it I guess. Probably one of the most hilarious things Myles and I have witnessed in relation to sleeping would be her "sleep crawling". Similar to sleep walking Anya can be spotted crawling banging her head repeatedly in the crib while fast asleep. We hear a bang followed by several more bangs and peek at our video camera monitor and see her sleep crawling. She makes a few snuffly noises but never cries and if she were awake she would let us know so we have deduced that she must be sleep crawling. Who knew babies did this sort of crazy stuff!



Naked time is a favorite activity and as long as we keep her on the hard wood floors clean up is easy! There really is nothing cuter then a butt naked baby, buns in the air, crawling around the house.

With the nice warmer weather the past few days we have taken Anya outside to explore a little more. She loves having her bare feet in the grass and playing with the lawn and leaves in her fingers. Inevitably though grass, leaves and dirt all end up in her mouth (maybe she will be a vegetarian after all!!!!) LOL

Mamanama and the tooth fairy

You might be asking.... what does mamanama mean, well according to Anya that is what I am called. It is endearing but she tends to use it only when she is cranky and wants me to pick her up off the floor or get her out of her crib. When I figured out that she was actually asking (whining) for me I had a moment I have to admit. We are rapidly approaching 9 months and I can't believe she is growing up so fast. So much happens this first year, it is like everyday something new occurs but you don't really realize how far she has come until you browse through pictures or pack away her old clothes.

Myles isn't chop liver. She says da da da da and is starting to associate that with him but it is slow going. She is beginning to understand things however. If I ask, "where's Boone?" she looks for the dog and starts chasing him.

One of her grampa's favorite games is dressing Anya in her overalls and grabbing the back flying her around the house. She LOVES it. She kicks her legs like she is swimming and really gets excited when we chase Boone around the house (Boone likes this game too because he is safe since she is airborne).

Most the time Anya spends on all fours but give her an object taller then herself and she is all about standing up. The sliding glass door in our kitchen, the oven, the dishwasher, the computer tower, the couch, her crib, the coffee table, railings, chairs, baskets...... you get the point. If she isn't standing up she is falling down. Thankfully she has discovered a reasonably safe way to plop on her butt and hit the ground crawling.

We spent the past weekend up at Hood Canal as a family. It was lovely! The weather was gorgeous- we went for a hike on Saturday taking Anya in the Ergo carrier. She slept the whole way up but enjoyed the views once we arrived on the top of the mountain.

About two weeks ago Anya got her first tooth. It is on the bottom and will be closely followed by her second right next to it. She also has one coming in on top- so how is she handling all this? Usually OK- she has starting waking at 6am instead of 7am much to my dislike. She drools all the time, so much so she gets a little rash on her chin sometimes. But for the most part she is her normal happy BUSY self. She has me on my toes now chasing her everywhere and wanting to explore. We have fun and I am so happy to be able to stay home with her and watch her grow- it is truly a blessing to be able to experience this time in her life. I thank Myles regularly for working his tail off to make this scenario possible, Anya thanks him too in her own sweet way.

The Joy of Soy

After our little "run in" with Yo Baby we thought it would be wise to visit an allergist to determine if little miss Anya is in fact allergic to dairy. Today was the day and the verdict is in.....
The allergist spoke to me about past food allergies for Myles and me (Myles was allergic to milk as a child, I was allergic to eggs) and then we tested Anya for dairy, eggs, salmon, and peanut. The last two were simply because we eat a lot of fish in our home and both are common allergens. She tested positive to the first two- dairy and eggs.

Thankfully the allergist believes that since she has had both eggs and milk in baked goods (pancakes, waffles, bread etc) we should continue to keep those sorts of things in her diet. So no, we will not have to scour every food label to make sure milk and egg didn't touch the food. This in itself will make life easier. It would be especially hard going out to eat when she is of age to eat in restaurants and try to determine what foods she can have without and milk or egg in it. At this point we have side stepped that hurdle- fingers crossed please.

Also good news, I don't have to change my diet. I am still breastfeeding Anya and have drastically limited my dairy intake after discovering her allergy on our own. Since she doesn't really have any horrible side effects that we know of from me eating/drinking dairy the allergist thinks it would be best to keep this in her diet as well.

On a completely separate note, another mom (someone I met in my PEPS group) and I are trading child care. I take care of her son Harry (he is about 3 weeks older than Anya) and she takes Anya from time to time. We are trading off for a few hours 1-2 days per week. She is going back to work on a sub basis and I can get some work done from home or make appointments out without having to worry about Anya interrupting. It is ideal and great for the kids. I had Harry on Monday this week and Belinda is taking Anya on Friday. They really do like each other and it is fun to watch them interact.

Don't tell Belinda but I think I have it easier. Harry doesn't crawl yet so he is sooo much easier to watch than Anya- she is in for it on Friday! :) Soon en0ugh they will both be mobile though and the situation will become more challenging and more fun!

Cold, colder, coldest

Last weekend we took a trip to Mt Baker with Gramma, Grampa, Uncle Scott and Aunt Natalie. We met our friends the Abernethy's and Rosenlunds as well. I was very excited about this trip for multiple reasons. First, I missed the ski season last year (it is frowned upon to ski while pregnant). Second, I wanted Anya to spend some quality time with her grandparents and Uncle and Aunt. And third, I knew I would have lots of help with "little miss" as I have come to call her. We rode up with my parents on Thursday and Myles drove up after work on Friday. On Friday I watched Anya as everyone else enjoyed a beautiful day up on the hill. Not to worry I had two beautiful days ahead of me right? WRONG! Saturday my parents volunteered to watch Anya and we headed up in the rain to ski (this is never a good thing especially if you are only 30 minutes from the hill). We lasted about 2 1/2 hours before we decided it was too wet and the snow was really mushy and warm. Oh well, we enjoyed some skiing with friends and family and even had a beer in the lodge.

Saturday night we had everyone over to our cabin for dinner. I started to feel lousy but trudged right through it. By the time we went to bed I was feeling really crappy and Anya was breathing labored with a nose full of snot. She had been sleeping very well in her pack and play up to this point. Both Myles and I hardly slept listening to the poor girl snore and snortle every few minutes. By Sunday morning it was still raining on the hill but that didn't matter because we were heading home with a sick kid and a sick mom.

Visions of our bed and Anya in her own room played in our heads as we started the 3 hour drive home. Anya slept nearly the whole way which was much better then the crying fits we endured driving up with my parents. Arriving home we unpacked and turned on the heat. As we continued to unpack our cold house was not warming up.

Here is where it gets really fun.

Myles messed with our furnace for a good hour before he admitted he could not fix it and we had to call a repair man. We packed ourselves back up (because a 55 degree house is no where for a sick baby and sick mommy to hang out) and went to my parents.

At this point the repair man was coming Monday and we figured we would be back in our house after our Boat Show presentation on Monday night. NOT SO!! The repair man had bad news- our furnace had bit the dust. After our seminar at the boat show we returned to my parents to sleep again. My dad was also sick with the same thing Anya and I had so we were all quite a group. Long story short we just came home yesterday (Thursday) so it was a full week of Anya not sleeping in her crib. Things got pretty harried at my parents with her naps not working and bed time a challenge. Poor thing woke up 6 times on Tuesday night (so that means mommy did too for those of you not catching on).

Our house is warm and we are officially 24 hours back into our groove and life is much better. Both Anya and have finally started to feel a bit better, but poor daddy has it now. Grampa is on the mend but Gramma has it now too.

Quite a week- I have to say I'm glad it is over. My parents were so gracious to have us bunked out for so long and I know it wasn't a picnic for anyone. A sick baby reeks havoc on all lives she touches! BEWARE!!!!!

On other news, Anya is climbing the stairs like a champ. She has no concept that she could fall down them and you have to be behind her the entire time but she gets VERY proud of herself when she gets to the top.

She also plays with Boone. His nasty, smelly, slobbery toys are preferred especially if they are still warm from his mouth. She chases him around and he plays keep away eventually allowing her to play with his toy. It is hilarious to watch. Anya might have some doggy tendencies though. After watching and learning from Boone she carries his toys around in her mouth as she crawls. She also rolls around in his bed just like her best dog friend. She thinks he is her big brother!