Here’s a topic I’ve been meaning about since October.  Oops.  Both Anya and Sierra love to color.  Anya started drawing some recognizable shapes (mainly happy faces) back in September that have since grown into “tadpole people” complete with arms, legs, hair, ears, hats, and whatever other feature tickles her fancy.  She still scribbles plenty as well, but her scribbling most definitely means something to her.  Sierra loves to draw, especially when she can make dots.

Anya’s first page of happy faces:

Tadpole person from October:

The girls drawing together in October:

Tadpole person from November:

The girls drawing together a few days ago:

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We took Anya to preview a gymnastics class that two of her friends are taking. She had a lot of fun and I think it will help improve her gross motor development (Anya, I love you, but holy moly girl, you trip over your own feet A LOT).

Warming up:

Sierra the spectator:

Anya in action:

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Sierra, at almost 14 months old, is still not even close to sleeping through the night. We’ve been working on getting her completely weaned ASAP because my new gastroenterologist wants me to start a medication that should not be used when nursing. We’ve eliminated all of her daytime nursing sessions without any problems – she even naps without it – but at night it’s a whole other story. Sometimes Lex can get her back to sleep, but then other times she just can’t be convinced that there’s anything else she wants in the middle of the night. The last few days in particular have been really tough. The kid really knows how to work me, though. Last night when Lex gave up and brought her into our room, as soon as she was in my arms she cried out, “Mama! Mama!” and then wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me on the forehead. How am I supposed to resist her when she does that, and then asks for milk???

Despite the rough night, our day started out pretty great. These were Anya’s first words, heard over the monitor, as she woke up this morning:

Mama! Daddy! Here comes Anya! Here I come!

There’s nothing like starting out the day laughing.

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My big girl Anya knows her phone number and address! I’d love to post a video of her singing her little songs, but I don’t think broadcasting our contact information to the whole world is advisable, so oh well. If you want to see, you’ll have to catch the live show.

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Lately, Anya has been talking a lot about how she’s going to be a real princess when she grows up and she’s going to live in a castle. She also told me that when she’s a princess she’s going to have a little brother and he’s going to grow in HER belly.

I kind of wonder what being grownup looks like in Anya’s mind. A conversation from this afternoon:

Anya – When I’m big I won’t have toys anymore.
Me – Oh? What will you have?
Anya – Grownup stuff.
Me – Like what?
Anya – (thinks for a second) Scissors!!!

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…at least, according to Sierra. She loves hats, and anything that can be put on or near her head has potential to be hat. It’s cute.

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Last week Sierra suddenly figured out how to stand up by herself, and since then she’s been walking more and crawling less each day.  I’d say by now she’s walking about 75% of the time, if not more, and getting steadier by the hour.  She’ll even start to crawl somewhere, then change her mind and stand up so she can walk the rest of the way, and she is so delighted with herself!  It’s quite sweet.

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Lex’s sister and her family came from Houston to visit us for a week and a half over the holidays. It was the first time they met Sierra, and it was our first time meeting their new(ish) baby. We managed to get one picture of all 7 kids where at least 6 of them were being cooperative:

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Anya got the Cranium game Cariboo for Hannukah (Thanks, Papa Duck and Grammy!). It became a fast favorite, and even Sierra likes to get in on the fun, even though she’s not that patient about waiting for her turn.

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