A few things for the record...

I haven't written in a while because significant other was in China and Christmas prep!!! Shawn has taken the little one out shopping so I have some alone time to write. I wanted to get these little tidbits down so that we don't forget. Annie is growing so fast and changing every day!!!
Bullet style:
- Shawn said "Oh Great" last night and Annie copied him but it sounded like she had a thick scottish brogue. Did we ever laugh!!!! She is copying EVERYTHING we say so it is time to be careful as she repeated a few words that I had said that can't be written here!!!! As well, when something happens I say "AAAAAHHHHHHKKKKK" and she has started using that expression with the same amount of energy as I use when something happens that she doesn't like!!!! I am so thrilled that she is expressing her emotions and we are really encouraging it, whether they be sadness, frustration, happiness or contentment.
- If Mommy has a little burp, Daddy gets blamed by Annie EVERY TIME. I love it and we laugh hysterically after she does it.
- Annie is addicted to Elmo or "Lelmo". Thank you Ricci and Ozzy for the Tickle Me Elmo - she loves him!!!! The Elmo Christmas Countdown special plays at least twice daily in our house and we can sing all of the songs off by heart. Annie also gets very excited when Grover arrives - every time!!!!!
-Yesterday Annie said "Mommy...Me" as in "Mommy look at Me" for the first time. She was threading her legs through the back of her play chairs. Yes, she is very daring.
-Annie is helping in the kitchen. She says "see, see" and gets her play chair to stand on. She also says "stir" which means anything from helping beat the eggs to stirring the tofu stir fry on the stove the other night. Our girl LOVES to cook and that is great because we do quite a bit of it in our house. This is the first week that we have actually included her in the cooking process - before she had little jobs like arranging the drying rack and wiping the counters.
-The little play kitchen that we picked up in the summer is a wonderful thing. Annie eats her snacks on it and yesterday for the first time, she was using the oven part as an oven or microwave. She put her water bottle in it, closed the door and then said "Bing". We use the timer on the stove quite a bit so I wasn't sure which appliance she was using but was it ever cute!!!!
- Annie notices when new gifts arrive under the tree - every time. Our relatives and friends are sending us gifts through the mail and I open the boxes when she is napping. When she gets up she runs in and says "oooooooooooooo", noticing all the new pretty parcels under the tree. Interestingly enough, she isn't really interested in opening them yet - we may be in trouble next year once she figures out this is what you do with them!!! As for the tree itself, I went and found some unbreakable ornaments this year so that if the tree falls over, it is fine. I gave her some ornaments and curled some wrapping ribbon that are specifically Annie's ornaments. She takes them off and puts them on the tree at her whim. It is really cute. Otherwise, she really hasn't shown an inclination to climb it like Shawn was afraid of, rightly so as Annie will climb anything.
- Another new word is "nap". For a while now, Annie has placed her head on one of our pillows on our bed, pulled up the duvet and called out "BOOK!!!" . She then directs us to lay down beside her and read (yes, she is VERY bossy!!!!) so I know that I have been a good influence- about the reading that is, ha ha!!! Anyway, yesterday she curled up on the couch under a blanket with a pillow and said "nap" then "Elmo...Santa" so that I would put on her favorite show. This was after she ate a peanut butter cookie that she absconded from the cooling rack, ate the top of a hello dolly with the big rice spoon (which she removed from the rice maker), poked her finger into black cake AND poked her finger into a mincemeat tart. This was all done in a VERY short period of time because when the child is quiet, I KNOW I need to check into what she is up to!! Yep, she was on a sugar high and danced in front of the Christmas tree singing to herself for about 10 minutes before she "crashed" on the couch. It was hilarious!!! I couldn't help but laugh. Oh and when I caught her with her "fingers in the pie" so to speak, she gave me a Cheshire cat smile and said "mmmnnnnnn"!! So funny. Annie has a great personality and she has a wonderful sense of humour.
-All cuteness aside, she had her first two meltdowns in public because I wasn't following her directions. Annie threw herself down on the shop floors both times and screamed. I remained calm and chatted with her while she calmed down. The cool thing was, instinctively I didn't even care what people around me thought, only that my little girl was having a rough time and I needed to be there for her - even though I caused the problem by holding the basket the wrong way the first time and helped her steer the cart the second time!!! Annie has to do everything herself these days which is great.
-Annie is attaching to us in a very secure way. When I watch other children her age interact in public and with their parents, they are doing exactly the same thing as Annie. It is wonderful to know that our hard work to become a family is starting to pay off. When Shawn came home from China, she did regress but we expected that. It only took her a few days to come back emotionally to her present state. Great to see. Annie knows that we always come home and that Mommy and Daddy are here for her whenever she needs us. Now, if we can go out on New Year's Eve without issue, all will be well.

I also wanted to ask everyone to say a prayer, white light, whatever you do, for my Uncle as he heals from his double lung transplant and for our dear friend Terry who is healing from a quadruple bypass. They are both doing very well but a few extra prayers, positive energy etc always helps!!!!!!!!



MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sweetie...

A lovely lady that we know is making Annie cute little pants. I wanted to help and cut them out from the pattern that Irene made. Annie loved the fabric so much that she wanted to be wrapped up in it. I made her a little toga and don't ask me how I knew how to do this!!! She had a blast playing around and hamming it up for the camera!!!

The Christmas season is in full swing. Thank you Shirley and Ricci for a great night the other night. I enjoyed being your "date"!!!!!!! Annie was perfect and slept right through. So much for being worried about leaving her!! Thank you Angela and Gary for being wonderful babysitters!!!!!

The tree is up and Annie chose silver as her theme. I wanted non-breakable ornaments for her first tree so we went shopping and she LOVED the silver ones. It looks gorgeous. I decorated it while she was sleeping and surprised her with it. Annie was surprised and said "WOW" when she first saw it. Now she "instructs" me to turn the lights on every day. And Shawn was worried about Annie and the tree!!

Speaking of Shawn, he should be home from China next weekend (we hope as they are trying to extend his time there) and we can't wait to see him in person. Skype just doesn't do it.

I also want to ask for prayers, white light, good thoughts etc for my wonderful Uncle Ken. He had a double lung transplant two days ago and has made it through the first 48 hours. We love him sooooooooooooooooooooooo much and can't wait to see him back on his bike, cycling through Canada!!!!!!!!!!!!!