She's Walking!!

It's been a long time coming, but last night Anna finally walked. Out of nowhere, she stood up and took about eight steps across the room -- as though she'd known how to do it all along, but was just holding out on us! I managed to catch a few awkward steps on video this morning. This video also shows her practicing one of her new favorite words: no. She says "no", "down", and "sit" all the time now.

In other news, Josh and I celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary on Saturday night. (Unfortunately, we forgot to bring a camera to document our rare night out.) Josh's cousins Laura and Kimmy came to visit for the weekend and watched Anna for us while we enjoyed an over the top dinner downtown. Sometimes it's nice to be married to a spender!

Our Beach Babe

This summer we're taking advantage of having some really nice beaches within 30 minutes of our house. Anna loves everything about these day trips to the shore -- the ocean, the sand, the people, the snacks... Her face in this photo says it all. She's completely fearless. Even a getting toppled over by a wave and inhaling a mouthful of salt water doesn't phase her.

Little Corny... But Still Pretty Cute

We took our first stab at professional photos a couple weeks ago. I patiently waited for a day when Anna got a nice long morning nap, thinking that would be the key to smiles and cooperation. Turns out, the long nap worked against me. Anna had way too much energy and would hardly sit still. It was nothing short of a miracle that the photographer got at least a few decent shots. Sadly, all of the "good" photos had some corny element like the white plastic heart or -- sigh -- the super gay forest scene, but once I saw Anna's cute little face up on the order screen, I had to put my photo pretention aside and order a few.

Thanks Em!!

When we got back to RI, there was a HUGE box from my good old UM friend Emily, full of birthday presents for Anna. While I think Anna's favorite part was throwing the purple packing shreds across the room, she definitely liked the fuzzy Elmo card and couldn't stop looking at her first set of "crayons". Personally though, my favorite was the cheetah print bib. Only Emily could get something like that past the Josh inspection. Thanks for all the goodies Em! ...and as long as I'm posting, here's a cute photo from the PA trip that I forgot to include on my last blog. This is Anna and her "cousin" Becca on the float at Josh's Grandmom's pool. Anna was totally fearless in the water:

Anna's Little Friends

Well, another trip down to PA is over. We squeezed in visits with so many family and friends -- some of whom hadn't even met Anna yet! Here's a great photo of Anna & her buddy Gabriel playing in the sprinkler pool. Nan was nice enough to drive up from VA and stay for a couple days. Thanks Nanner!! Our two kiddos loved the sprinkler pool and played really well together. That being said, Gabriel wasn't big on the idea of giving Anna hugs:

Anna also got to spend some time with her cousin (er, second cousin??) Eowyn. We took the girls out to lunch at the Lederach Tea Room and despite the fact that it took almost an hour for our sandwiches to come, they were perfect little lavendar frocked angels. (Ahem, is "frocked" not totally a word that Eowyn's mommy would use?)

On Tuesday we spent some time with Kathy, Nicholas and Matthew at Mason's Mill Park. Here are Anna & Nicholas with their sippy cups. Cute! I also managed to snag a photo of Anna in the sprinkler showing off her new skill -- standing up on her own!! (Notice how excited Nicholas is for her in the background!)

I also got a great video of Anna in the sprinkler:

And here are a few other random photos from our trip that I'm posting just because they're super cute:

Holding a hair curler and a zucchini for no good reason

Shades

PJ's

Packing to go home

Father's Day

Hi Josh... Anna and I miss you and can't wait to hang out next weekend. I tried to get Anna to actually say "I love you daddy" or at least "DAAAA DEEEE" on video, but no luck. This pic is the best we could come up with. Happy Father's Day!!

More Cute Photos

Why is it that I can't seem to get enough pictures of a Anna with cookie goo on her face? She doesn't look too happy in this photo, but trust me, this was the only time she stopped smiling during the entire cookie episode.

Yesterday, Anna spent part of the 180 degree afternoon in her new splash pool and LOVED it. I took about 400 photos, but narrowed it down to a few of the more internet-appropriate ones. Don't miss the nose-picker shot. Classy kid.