Breakdance

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It's showtime!

Hello! Annabel had a rough week last week, with her two top middle teeth pushing through and a double ear infection. She was not her usual happy self, but fortunately I think we're through the worst of it. We're still waiting on those darn teeth, but she doesn't seem as bothered any more... they are so close, we can see them! Anyway, all that is fine and good, but of course the big news is that Annabel is starting to walk. We have some videos below of her walking... each one is about 3 or 4 steps. Unfortunately, we missed her best performance of the night. She was standing up holding her walker, when out of nowhere - without any prompting - she just started walking towards Nate. He was about 5 or 6 feet away, and she made it all the way over! So then we got out the camera, and of course she didn't give us a repeat performance... but we did get something. So I hope you enjoy!

We got some 'big girl' hooded towels, just like her friend Maggie's.

This one is a princess towel - so cute!

Look at our big girl! She loves to stand.

Here she is walking.... we were also getting ready for bath time, which explains why she has less and less clothes on in each video. I can't believe that she is walking.... doesn't seem possible that she's that big already!

Here is a video from after bath time.... she started playing this game yesterday, and I think it is the cutest.

We're in trouble now...

Annabel took her first steps today! We got a solid 5 or 6 steps when she was carrying a box of kleenex and not thinking so much about the walking. I think we have some time before she starts taking off on her own, but we'll just have to wait and see. I'm just so happy that we got to witness the first steps at home, and it didn't happen at day care! We'll get video when we can...

Hooray for table food!

Getting Annabel to transition from baby food to table food has been a challenge. For the most part, she just showed no interest in any of it for the longest time. Thankfully this week we have finally turned a corner.... she still doesn't eat a lot, but at least she munches on most of what we give her. She had a particularly good time with the pasta fagioli soup that we made. It's messy, but at least she's eating!

I love this picture because of how blue her eyes are.... so sweet!


This shirt is from Annabel's new friend Riley - Thanks Riley!!! She loves it :)

This picture shows all four of Annabel's teeth (if you can't see all four, click on the picture to enlarge it). Her two middle teeth are close to breaking through, but they don't seem to be in a hurry!

On Saturday Brooklyn came over while her parents went out for Valentines Day (they watched Annabel and we went out the night before). I'll get pictures of the girls at Brooklyn's house soon... they had a lot of fun together this weekend!

Annabel learned a new trick - she clicks her tongue a lot now... the angle is a little funny because if I hold the camera up and she knows I'm filming then she just stares at it.

As far as tricks go, Annabel is picking new ones up every day. On Friday night, she decided that she would just start standing on her own. Now she enjoys letting go of things and standing for extended periods of time. She's going to be walking before we know it!

Bad Blogger

I can't believe it's been almost two weeks since my last post... how shameful! Well, I will reward you all for your patience by posting a bunch of pictures and even a video or two.

Quick Annabel update - she is all over the place! She can pull her self up on just about anything, is babbling up a storm, and also finding her temper. She's mastered the temper tantrum back-arch. It doesn't come often, mostly when she's over tired. Such fun! She has four teeth now, with two on the way... thankfully her two top middle teeth are going to be here soon, to fill the hillbilly gap between the two existing top teeth. :) She dances a little, which you can see in a video at the bottom. She continues to be an absolute joy every day....

Well, we've been up to a lot, and a full update would be long and boring. So I'll just give you the pictures and fill you in with captions.

Annabel and Grandma - Annabel doesn't like to sit still for pictures anymore, so we went through about 10 shots to get this one, where she's not quite smiling but we decided it was good enough!

We spent superbowl Sunday with Amber, Nathan and Brooklyn. I like this picture because you can see Brooklyn in the background. Getting the two of them in a picture looking happy at the same time is very difficult!

Brooklyn showed Annabel how the walker works.... Annabel kept up pretty well!


I don't remember when we took this... I just love the big cheesy grin. She loves her walker... last night she was very tired and cranky, and the walker kept her happily entertained.

We went to Chicago to visit our friends Leah and Bob, and their daughter Maggie. The next several pictures are from our visit.... this one is of Nate singing kareoke to Annabel. She was a big fan!

Annabel and Maggie in the tub... At first they both just looked at eachother like "what are you doing in here?"

Annabel after bath time... she loves her bath!

This is Maggie's "Cheese" smile... so pretty!

We put the girls to bed and had a babysitter stay home with them while we went out... this is me and Annabel just before bedtime

Me and Nate out at a bar in Naperville

Me, Nate, Leah & Bob - a bunch of crazy party animals (I think by midnight I was ready to go to bed)

Play time the next morning

Here's a real smile from Maggie - what a cutie!

Annabel has 'rediscovered' her tongue... she loves to play with it.

After visiting w/ Leah and family, we went to see Nate's aunts and grandma on the way home.... Here Aunt Patty teaches Annabel how to surf the internet. Annabel was enthralled with the computer (which of course she never gets to play with at home)

Annabel with her Great Grandma

Ok, here are some videos.... this one is of Annabel dancing with my mom.

This one is just a little play time with me and Annabel. She has learned how to use her tongue to spit and make fun noises.... it's really great.... she drools all over the place!

Ok - that's all for now. Gotta get to work, lunch is over!