Happy Eleven Month Birthday Ann Maxwell (one day early)!
It has been a busy month for our little walking machine! In just a few short days Ann Maxwell has gone from taking a few uneasy steps to literally walking around the house! It is an amazing transformation to watch! She has learned how to steady herself, adjust her balance, walk around obstacles, and stop and start without a base to grab onto. I'm so excited, yet also a little sad, to see her going from baby to toddler right before my eyes. It's very interesting, though, because as she has gained newfound independence (as if she needed more with her determined spirit), she has become more affectionate towards Chris and me. Instead of walking away from us she is almost always walking toward us for a hug or a kiss. This melts our hearts like I can't explain! Ann Maxwell has never been a cuddler, but suddenly we find ourselves the recipients of several unsolicited cuddles a day. It is just about the most wonderful thing in the world! Check out this walking prowess below...
Aside from walking we're also planning a birthday party! Ann Maxwell's first birthday falls on a Saturday, so we are getting to celebrate with our friends and family on the actual birthday, which is great. Our house simply can't accommodate all the revelers, so we are going to the zoo! We are planning a small party with cake and snacks at the Memphis Zoo Jungle Room. Then everyone can go and enjoy the afternoon on their own exploring the exhibits. Pray for good weather please! Although we have an indoor space, it would be lovely to have a beautiful day to enjoy outside as well. No matter the weather, though, we are counting on a day of celebration. It has been the best year imaginable, and we are grateful to be able to celebrate Ann Maxwell's birth and all the joy she has brought into our lives.
Last weekend we took a family trip to Nashville. Chris was speaking at a seminar there, so we decided to take a few days to get out of town. This was a much needed break from our routine, and we had a great time. We stayed downtown at the hotel where the seminar was held and ordered room service and slept in, etc. Chris' presentation went well, and he was even asked to speak again at another event. After that we enjoyed dinner at our friends, David and Nikki King's house. Nikki fixed a great gluten-free meal for us, which was a real treat. David and Nikki have two sons, Will (2 1/2) and Drew (1). Ann Maxwell was her usual social butterfly self, and jumped right into playing with the boys. She had an especially good time playing with their Super Why toys and playing chase (crawling) with Will. We then spent an afternoon at the Opryland Hotel enjoying strolling through their indoor gardens (since it was too cold to do much else). Ann Maxwell loved all the plants, and of course all the people. She even stayed in her stroller 95% of the time! She had so much fun on the trip she wore herself out and slept all the way home, which if you know us at all, you know any sleep in the car is rare and precious!
"Hey, look at all the people!'
She was mesmerized by all there was to see at Opryland,
particularly the towering trees and the waterfalls.
At the waterfall with Daddy - She could have stayed there all day!
One of those sweet, unsolicited kisses I was talking about
Also this past month we celebrated Aunt Elise's 21st birthday! We went to New Albany for a family party and had a good time celebrating and visiting. Ann Maxwell started laughing hysterically when we lit Elise's birthday cake candles. I guess she thought it was funny!
Happy Birthday Elise!
Ann Maxwell also had her first official playdate recently with Helen Grace Toohig. Helen Grace's mom, Sha, and I went to college together, and they live just around the corner from us. Helen Grace is about 7 weeks younger than Ann Maxwell, and is incredibly adorable and very sweet. Sha and I had a great time visiting, and Ann Maxwell had a good time exploring their house. However, I don't think Helen Grace had as much fun because Ann Maxwell decided that pointing out Helen Grace's facial features would be a good idea. She also "patted" her on the head rather roughly and said, "baby," many times. Helen Grace decided she had had enough of Ann Maxwell's antics and was rightfully a little upset with her new friend. Ann Maxwell was undeterred and kept attempting to "love on" Helen Grace. I promised Sha the next time we got together I would wrangle Ann Maxwell a little better! Here are a few photos I stole from Sha's blog of the girls in a back and forth battle for those beloved puffs... Why do babies love those puffs so? I know mine certainly could live off of them!
A few extras... Ann Maxwell has now added "Elmo" and "uh-oh" to her vocabulary, and her version of "Bit" is now unmistakably clear. We're so proud of our little walking talking princess. Sometimes Chris looks at me and says, "She's like a little person now." I'm not sure what he thought she was before (haha), but he's right, she is growing up. We've purchased a new carseat that can be used forward to rear-facing. Since the studies all say to keep your child rear-facing for as along as possible I'm going to install in that way first and see how long we last. She's been doing so much better in the car lately that I think we might make it a few months at least before we have to turn it around. We'll see! Little Bit has begun approaching Ann Maxwell lately (shocker!), and even seems to initiate playtime with her. They pat at each other and seem to be becoming friends at last! Ann Maxwell has added two upper teeth to her two lower teeth. This of course makes eating french fries a blast! I know, I should not be feeding her fries, but it's just every so often and for a little treat, I promise. She still eats her green beans, etc., and loves them. As usual, she is happy and curious all the time. She can be very demanding of attention or go play by herself for a half hour without looking up for me. She is drawn more and more to toys that resemble people and animals and less to other things. She likes to carry around her dolls. She recently got a little keyboard shaped like a cat. I had to use it to bribe her through Target one day, so we ended up coming home with it. I was going to get her one for her birthday, but oh well. She seems to really love making music with the keys, plus it has programmed buttons with rhythmic sounds and different songs. It even meows like a cat with certain buttons. It is her newest toy of the moment. Ann Maxwell also loves to play in the refrigerator. Every time I open it she is at my feet and trying to look in with me. She also loves to pull everything out of my kitchen cabinets, and I mean everything. The kitchen constantly looks like it's been ransacked, but it seems to make her happy. It's the only way I can get dishes or cooking done, so I've locked up the dangerous cabinets and put non-breakable things in the others, and I just let her go.
One last thing... Today I decided to let Ann Maxwell try to feed herself with her spoon. I've fallen down on the job on this task and basically been too content to take on this challenge with eating. So I decided today we would try to learn. Everything was going well, so I turned around to get a juice cup. Literally, in one second the whole thing went south. I just had to laugh. There was nothing else to do. I think you'll see what I mean...
And a few still shots of the fun...
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