I can no longer think of her as a baby

As Heather has mentioned, Annie is definitely growing up. Quick. Everyone who has had children already know this, so my intent is simply to express amazement, appreciation, wonder, awe and fear.

Recently, Anne has gotten into an independence kick, wanting to do everything on her own. Her list of achievements practically doubled over the last week as she has conquered climbing out of her crib and even into her crib (not many children willingly climb into bed *grin*), opening and closing doors, and even the start of dressing and undressing. The one skill yet lacking from this list is using the toilet, but we have high hopes; her cousin Ella recently took on this project with a lot of fanfare and success, and perhaps some erratic quantum effect of remote osmosis will kick in for Anne.

It is simply amazing, as a parent, to witness these advancements. I chuckle to myself when Anne adamantly demands to do something herself, only to give up half a second later; she can take more time declaring that she can do it than actually trying to do it. On the topic of closing doors, Anne does not merely play around. She opens a door when she wants to go in or out of a room, and politely closes the door behind her. Aside from having to finally get some of those quasi-childproof doorknob covers, we are having to teach her that some doors should remain closed, some doors will be locked (and impossible for her to open), and some doors require a knock. To add to my astonishment, I think she understands that.

The climbing in and out of bed thing is a little more worrisome. It was quite startling when she simply climbed out of bed, opened her door and started walking around the house after a nap time. Heather told me all about it, and I was proud of Anne, but realizing that some things need to change. For starters, it is not safe for Anne to climb in and out of that crib; she can easily get 4 feet off the ground, and I would hate for her to tumble on her head. Not to mention it makes it difficult to enforce nap time if she can get out whenever she wants. We decided to disassemble the crib and put a mattress on the floor as her new bed. The first night was a little rough for her as she kept rolling off, but Heather addressed that issue by providing some boundaries (a little mattress gate can do wonders). I am not sure if the doorknob covers will be the perfect solution for enforcing nap time; Anne is known to cry for an hour or more on end, stubbornly refusing to settle down and go to sleep. We will have to tackle that one at some point.

I am simply excited to see how Anne is growing up. She touches my heart each day with longer sentences, new words, concepts and ways of expressing herself. This morning for breakfast, I decided to do something a little different and we ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at her little table. When I sat down with her, she giggled, raised her sandwich up to me and said, "Cheers!". I kid you not. That was awesome!

A couple weeks ago, Heather and I were trying to decide who would drive. Our little girl, all of 32 inches or so, pipes up "I have keys? I safe driver". Heather and I cracked up! People say that children are like sponges, but reality smacks you in the face when you get to witness it first hand. There are many times when Anne, who will appear to be oblivious to a discussion, will simply jump in and say something relevant. I think she knows what P-A-R-K spells now, and it will not be long before she picks up on other words like I-C-E-C-R-E-A-M. It is scenarios like these that I start to think about getting Anne a foreign-language teacher, or teaching her about databases. *grin* I am glad she is participating in a dance class. I am thrilled that she is a happy little girl, full of life and spirit. She makes me proud and intensely full of joy.