Sippin'

We're officially down to one bottle a day.

Awesome.

And we're now bouncing in our bed during nap time, instead of napping.

Umm....yay?

Easter Egg Hunt

In case you were wondering, she liked it! Actually, this is the worship time before the actual egg part. She liked it best. Music, balloons, kids, dancing... pretty much everything she loves in the world.

Excited to see her friends!

With Emma... who was sticking the stickers, while Annabelle was eating them. They made a good pair!

Sippy Cups And Graham Crackers

They got to me today. See, everyone says to cherish every moment. This blog is my attempt to do that. I don't care if others care about Annabelle's daily activities. I do.

Today, Annabelle had snack time. A sippy full of milk (formula) and graham crackers broken to bits. It's only taken me a week to wean Annabelle to sippy cups (except bedtime, because I'm unwilling). I leaned up to her little face and told her just how proud I am of her, and she leaned forward and rubbed her nose to mine. And I cracked. I had to walk away and look at her from the hallway with tears in my eyes.

Sippy cups and snack time and shoes and standing in her crib. Need I say more. I'm cherishing this moment. Because before long it will be regular cups and eating without my assistance and tying her shoes. I'm even cherishing changing her diaper because before long she won't need me.

And as sweet as she is, I went back in the kitchen for another nose rub, and all I got was a hand in the face.

See, that's why I cherish.

Blogsy

For Christmas I received an iPad! Besides Annabelle, it is my constant companion. It may also be part of the reason have struggled to keep up with blogging as it is not easy to do through the iPad.

But they just released an app called "blogsy", which I am currently trying out. As I am not much of a blogger, I will probably not get the chance to use all of it's nuances, but I already enjoy how easy it is to post something.

So here's to more thoughts from me!

Weaning

For some reason, I never thought about it. I mean, I had to wean from the pump, but that was fairly uneventful and didn't involve Annabelle.

And there in lies the problem. I forgot about the bottle. The other day I decided it was time. She's eating three meals a day and will drink from her sippy cup. I read somewhere that you can just try to go cold turkey. And as Annabelle has transitioned easily in the past, I thought this would go easily too.

But the problem isn't her. I mean, she'd clearly prefer the bottle, and eats much more when I give it to her. But the problem is me. I'm the one laying in bed at 11:30 at night considering if it is really necessary just yet, or if I introduced the cup early enough, or if I should just go right to the cup, or if I should just wait until she's one. And the bottom line is, I'm bummed.

I haven't grieved that she's growing up. Every stage of her development has been more fun than the last. And right now, she is the star of my world (and really, anyone else she encounters). But she'll barely sit in your lap long enough to get one sock on her. Except at bottle time. I will miss that time so much. And at 11:30 at night, I feel it warrants a short, but therapeutic cry.

Sunday night, as we were literally walking Annabelle upstairs for bedtime, the sirens went off. We knew there was a storm coming, but didn't expect that. Being the worrier that I am, I turned us right back around and asked Joel (maybe forcefully) to put up her pack and play. She usually has no problems sleeping there, but that night she wasn't having it.

This posed us with a slight problem. For those of you that don't know Annabelle personally, she's not much for relaxing in your arms and drifting off to sleep. No, it goes more like the battle to keep a slippery, wet fish in your hands.

And that's how it started. I laid down on the couch with her with the tv muted so that I could keep an eye on the storm. She would watch the tv and then glance over at her dad and then watch tv and then writhe her body around to see the lightning through the windows and then watch the tv. Slowly I started to notice she was giving up.

So I began to hum "you are my sunshine", which is the song I always sing to her at bedtime. She would lay here head down on my chest and begin to make noises, as if mimicking the noise she could hear from my chest. It made me giggle. Which made her fake laugh in hope that I would giggle again, which I did, and the cycle continued for long enough that I could recognize, and memorize, what was happening. My heart warms now just remembering.

And she eventually fell asleep. And I held her until I knew I had to put her in her bed.

And even though I will miss our times with the bottle, I am praying for times when there will be no bottle, but only a need for safety, or warmth, or just plain cuddle time. And though those times may only come once in awhile, they will be ours alone.

My girl's a reader!

Not quite yet, but she's a page turner, so we're heading in the right direction. This video may be long and boring to some, but I know we have family that will appreciate it! I am proud of her... but especially love the cheesy smile she keeps flashing for the camera. I actually think she's squinting her eyes due to the bright light coming out of the camera. This is just two videos from last night of her reading, and then crawling.

Weekend getaway

Potbelly roast beef.

Caribou.

Lou Malnati's deep dish. Free appetizer.

Flaco's Tacos (amazing find).

Tuscany in little Italy. Butternut squash ravioli with browned butter and nuts.

Dunkin' Donuts.

Italian beef sandwiches with the Lullo's.

Is it bad that I judge a successful trip on the quality of food consumed? Based on the above menu...our trip received an A+!

Annabelle and the city of Chicago are now BFF's. She loved it so much she chose not to do much napping, but was an incredibly well behaved and happy girl. I continue to be proud and impressed by her everyday!

Joel and I got the gift of going out on a date on Saturday night (thanks to Auntie Carrie!). We boarded up on the Blue Line and headed towards Little Italy where we had a fabulous dinner at Tuscany's. Then we ventured to the Redhead Piano Bar. May not seem like a big deal to most, but due to many trips to the Hard Rock Cafe with my family in younger years, I had always wanted to try it. Very fun!

All in all, we came home well fed and exhausted. And closer to each other.