Little Things: Anna 26 Months

Anna's Joe Dirt photo.

Strawberry smoothie party.

Playing music in a tutu.

Since Sarah was born, and more particularly since Anita left, Anna has been incredibly particular about things (she was before but she's taking this to new extremes, I think). The gate must be shut at the top of the stairs the instant you walk up, Pink Noisy Cat has to lie on the couch just so before a nap/bedtime, etc., etc. This is the behavior that I'm linking most to Sarah's arrival since Anna really doesn't seem to mind me holding Sarah (what must seem like all the time to Anna) or any of the things I have to do with Sarah. Anna likes to "help" me change Sarah's diaper by picking out which one she'll wear and she likes to tell Sarah what is on the pages of the black & white books I've set up by the Gymini. If Sarah is crying, Anna thinks I should sing "Hickory, Dickory, Dock" to soothe her. Anna lies on the Boppy and says, "Are you nursing?" although she doesn't seem particularly interested in anything when Sarah is actually nursing and does well playing on her own when I'm otherwise occupied with Sarah.

If you tell Anna that we can watch Music Works Wonders after dinner she'll say "ready to eat dinner" I guess in hopes to get things moving right along.

Today I had a phone call and Anna was drinking orange-pineapple juice form a cup and straw and spilled it all over and she exclaimed, "you spilled orange-pineapple juice on your H&M khakis!" I love the specificity of it (she used to like to get into detail about where you are when you sneeze (i.e. "mommy sneezed in the car on the way to the mall"). I was proud of Anna when she needed paper towels (after she took off her H&M khakis, of course) and started cleaning up the mess on the floor.

Anna pretends that there are strawberries in her room and runs around with "a whole handful of strawberries" and gives me some "big, juicy strawberries." Today she had a big strawberry on her back (like the mouse in The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear). The strawberry patch in her room is "Strawberry Vale" from Bear Wants More. She picks the strawberries by wiping her index finger on the floor and walks around with open hands "holding" the strawberries.

Anna's dollhouse is still a big hit and the baby, "Ursula," in it has a lot of the same interests as Anna. She'll watch one of Anna's movies on the TV in the family room, ride in the stroller, eat pizza & strawberries in the highchair, and even uses the same line of Pampers Anna uses. Anna has a Polly Pocket that is the mother, I think, although Anna calls her Polly and she (Polly) pushes Ursula in the stroller and sets up the movies on the TV.