Stuck

Just when I thought I had the back room childproofed, Anna learned how to climb up the lone stair... and has no idea how to get back down once she's up. Watching her struggle is painful, but Josh keeps encouraging me to let her go so she'll learn. This has resulted in several falls (some flat on her face) over the past few days. Sigh.

New Photos

We received a special request for more Anna photos, so here you go. First, a picture of her in the new bathtub with a hair style created by Josh. You'll see a couple duckies floating around in there. She can't get enough of them and she definitely knows that their "home" is the bathroom. If I put her down in the upstairs hallway, she immediately yells "duh duh", flies into the bathroom, and picks up the first duckie she sees. Too cute.

And just in case you thought you'd never see a picture of Anna and mom, here it is. Since I'm usually the one behind the camera, there's been very little photo documentation of my presence (despite logging a solid 84 hours on the job each week). Josh took this on Sunday morning before we left for church.

Oreos

Josh has officially secured his favorite parent status by introducing Anna to Oreos. Sigh. Anyways, here are some other photos of us taking Anna for a walk around the neighborhood this past weekend:

The Bathroom Is DONE!

Before

and

After



It's been 64 weeks since we bought our house in Rhode Island and finally, the previously showerless upstairs bathroom has come to remodeling completion. The actual project from start to finish only took six weeks, but even that seemed long. Having strange men in my house day after day, watching Anna's nap routine destroyed, and stressing out about money and the final project outcome made the weeks drag on. As with most home remodeling projects (especially on houses that are almost 100 years old!) we had our fair share of issues. The floor wasn't level, the walls weren't square, the steam radiator couldn't be fit back into the final design, etc. The crazy mishaps continued right up until the end when they were installing the marble vanity top and the undermount sink cracked off and smashed through vanity drawer #1. Truth be told, we still need to fix that issue, but I threw the draw in there because I was so anxious to post this blog. Problems aside, I absolutely LOVE the bathroom... and apprently, so does Anna. She had her first bath in the new tub and was like a maniac, crawling back and forth and splashing water everywhere.

This Is What Uncles Are For

So, we had ourselves a little Heebner visit this weekend. Anna loved the company and, quite frankly, seems to be going through a bit of withdrawl today. Anyways, Ben snapped this photo of Timmy doing what Uncles were made to do... give you stuff you're not supposed to have.

All Sorts of Adorableness

Anna finally figured out how to move the gate that we have cordoning off our fireplace and TV. This morning I found her standing up on the fireplace ledge, attempting to scale the bricks. New security measures had to be implemented. Though some of Anna's new skills make the mom job substantially harder, there are other things she picking up that are completely adorable and make it all worthwhile. She now understands what "give me a hug" means and will wrap her arms around you when you ask. She also has her own special version of a kiss -- essentially pressing her open mouth against your cheek. It's pretty darn cute. Anyways, we had a nice sunny day today so we played in the back yard for a while and went for a walk in the wagon. We finally go to break out the floppy summer hat! (For the record, those are my sunglasses)

The World Through Anna's Eyes

I'm continually amazed at how friendly the world becomes when you carry around a bubbly, chubby-cheeked girl. Anna's ability to disarm complete strangers with her smiles and giggles is a sight to behold. There's something about that double dimple smile that makes people completely forget themselves. Harried waitresses stop in their tracks to say hi, random strangers on the street rubberneck and comment aloud (most recently in downtown Boston we heard,"Mama mia! look at those cheeks!")
... I've even caught super serious looking business men making googly faces at her. Obviously I'm biased when it comes to Anna's particular cuteness factor, but that's the effect that most babies have, right? It's sort of sad that as we grow older, we basically stop engaging strangers altogether. I suppose it's just a fact of life -- those social norms pressing down -- but it certainly is refreshing to see the world through the eyes of someone who doesn't know any better... and to watch how the world responds.