Happy Halloween! Our little ballerina will be greeting all our trick-or-treaters tonight with me. I'll be dressed up as a 1950's era mom (in my knee length dress with the flared skirt).

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend! Saturday was a busy day for Annika and I. We went and had portraits taken in Annika's ballerina costume. The girl would not smile to save her life. So, I have pictures (thank goodness they were free) of her in a pile of leaves with a sourpuss face on. It's really quite cute, actually. Of course, I would say that. Could she be anything but cute? After pictures and shopping, we headed to little Emma's birthday tea party. It was quite fun dressing up and acting all proper and lady-like. Annika behaved beautifully too. You hardly knew she was there she was so quiet. Of course, that was until we were getting ready to go so I took her out of her booster seat. Then she was off to explore and get in trouble. Luckily there were many hands to watch her while I packed everything up. And to show just how small a world it really is, when Annika and I walk into the tea house in St. Paul on Friday, who do we see but a Pampered Chef friend of mine from Burnsville and her daughter. Too funny!

Yesterday we had a nice relaxing day at home. We watched football (miserable Vikings!) and played and took long, peaceful naps (both Annika and I!). I also got a bit of cross-stitching done. I'm still working on Annika's Christmas stocking and I don't get much time to work on it so I'm always thankful when Kris is home so we can share the parenting and household duties and I get some to work on it.

Yesterday I was poking around in Annika's mouth and found her first molar poking through! That may have been why she took a longer than usual nap yesterday and why she's been waking up once or twice during the night lately. Other than that, she's been her normal, happy self.

And she's added words to her vocabulary. She can now say ball and what sounds like wow. She says wow with the correct inflection in her voice and at the right instances. She's just too cute. We're starting to introduce different kinds of balls (like football, soccer ball, basketball, etc) and yesterday I asked Annika where her football was. She found it and brought it over to me! She walked right past the kickball and picked up the football. She's one smart little cookie!

Yesterday, Annika said her 7th word: cheese. She and I like to share a stick of string cheese each afternoon when I get home from work. Yesterday, while home with Dad, she walked over to the refrigerator, pounded on it and said "cheese." Kris was happy to give her some. At least she's not saying "Doritos." :) She said it again last night when I got home and I was of course, amazed. How this tiny little thing talks and runs and climbs and signs is just amazing to me. Of course, as her mother, I'm about as proud of her as anyone could be. My heart fills to the brim just thinking of her. I can hear her and Daddy downstairs just now saying "cheese" and giving each other kisses (Kris is making loud kissy noises). Doesn't that just melt your heart? I'm a puddle.

Annika and I had a nice evening last night at Amanda's house. Amanda has a kitty that is not very nice at all so I had to hold Annika most of the night. Then, the kitty went into the laundry/bathroom area and Amanda shut the door. Now Annika could run free, but of course Amanda's house isn't baby proof so I was constantly running after her taking things away and setting things up on higher shelves. Everyone needs time with their girlfriends though, you know?

Sorry for the long hiatus again. I tried to post yesterday but Blogger wouldn't let me in. Anyway, we had a lovely day on Saturday which started out by Annika saying her 6th word: shoe. I was in the basement Saturday morning working out and when I came back upstairs I was still wearing my running shoes. Annika squatted in front of me, poked my toes and said "shoe". I looked at Kris and exclaimed "Kris, she just said shoe!" He said "no, she didn't, she was just babbling." I told him to listen closer and sure enough, she poked my toes again and said shoe, twice. I was so proud that I scooped her up and smothered her with kisses. Annika now says baby, kitty, puppy, mama, dada and shoe. Kitty and baby are her favorite words to say. Kitty comes out sounding like titty though which is hilarious to hear out of her little mouth. She also calls all her stuffed animals and the dog baby instead of just her dolls. But if I ask her where her baby is, she runs over to her purple doll (from Jen - hi Jen!) and grabs her. So, she's learning.

Saturday afternoon we went to Mankato for the football game. My cousin plays for Mankato and I wanted to get down there all season to watch him play. When I looked at the schedule last week, I saw that Saturday was their last home game so Kris and I made sure we got down there for it. It was a good game until the 4th quarter and they ended up losing. My cousin played terrificly though. He even got to catch the ball on a trick special teams play.

Sunday, Annika had lots of visitors to play with. Amanda, Dean, Uncle Mathias and Grandma and Grandpa F. all came over.

Tonight Annika and I are going to have dinner with Amanda and Mary. Tomorrow, Grandpa Dan, Marcia, Uncle Mathias, Auntie Krystle and Pierce are coming over for dinner and Thursday is Auntie Krystle's CAbi party. Annika has a big week ahead of her!

Saturday we're going to get pictures taken of Annika in her Halloween costume. She's going to be a ballerina. Sadie's is running a Halloween promotion so I get a free 5x7 and 4 wallets. If anyone wants any other pictures, let me know and I'll order more. Then, that afternoon, Annika and I are going to a tea party to celebrate Emma's 1st birthday! We have to dress up in silly play clothes for that which is going to be so much fun! Yep, we have a busy week ahead of us. That's pretty much the way it always is though, right? :)

Ok, yes, there's more.

Annika has started saying Mama. Unfortunatley, it's more of a mamamamamamama babble as she's walking around. I keep saying "yes, honey" or "what, Annika" when she does it so she learns to associate the random babble with me.

Monday night I gave Annika a bit of string cheese. She proceeded to chew on it a little bit before wandering over to the dog. Then she gave the dog a little nibble of it. It was very cute and nice of her to share. After the dog was done, Annika finished what was left. Yuck!

Monday night, Annika was being crabby so I laid her down on her back and was playing with her tummy. Still being crabby, she started kicking me. So, I grabbed her ankles and started swinging her legs up over her head as she laid on the floor. She thought this was a hilariously good time and started giggling and laughing. After a while, I stopped. And Annika did the sign language sign for more! So I continued to pump her legs over head until she quit signing for more. It was so cool to have her communicate with me though that I had to call Kris at work and tell him. Turns out he hasn't been signing to her at all lately and I sign very rarely. So, she picked this up a while ago and just decided she needed to use it Monday night! She's used it a few times since, once asking for more milk. She's also taken to making the milk sign when she wants to nurse. And yesterday when she was done with dinner, she kept swiping her hands back and forth across her high chair tray but didn't hit any of the food. I'm wondering if she was trying to sign "all done" which is when you take your hands in front of you and then swing them to the sides. See, she's amazing. I told you so.

Today, I tried Annika's Halloween costume on her. Annika's going to be a ballerina. I found this cute little tutu at Target this summer for only $12.99 in an extra-small. I was hoping it would fit her this fall and it almost does. The straps are a little long so I'll tie them together in the back. And it's a spaghetti strap tutu so she'll wear a white turtleneck underneath with white tights. She looks so adorable in it! I wonder if I should go get pictures taken at Sadie's in it!?! That would be so cute! Of course, I'll take my own pictures but I'm not the world's great photographer you know. Anyway, I think Annika's set for Halloween. We don't have trick or treating plans or anything, we'll just greet the kids at our door. I have yet to buy any candy though. I'm trying to hold off so half of it doesn't get eaten before October 31st rolls around!

My daughter is amazing.

The end.

Annika is developing by leaps and bounds lately. Yesterday Gramme taught her to say "sshh" with her finger over her mouth. They were playing with Annika's baby and Gramme told Annika it was sleeping so they had to be quiet and then they "sshh"'ed. When I got home, Gramme told Annika to "sshh" and then Annika put her fingers up to my lips to tell me to "sshh". It was too cute!

Gramme said that Annika doesn't seem very ticklish, so I showed her how I really get Annika going. I turn her so that she's standing on my lap facing away from me and then I put my chin in her rib cage and move it around. Annika shrieks with glee and laughter. I stop and then Annika stands there and slightly leans back to find my chin and we do it all over again, many times,until Annika has had enough.

Monday night during dinner, Annika used a fork for the first time. She stabbed a piece of fruit (peach, actually) and put it in her mouth. I was so excited for her and clapped and cheered. Annika thought I was nuts. She practiced with her fork last night too. Yay big girl!

I think Annika said "kitty" last night. She was in her high chair eating dinner when Tigger came down the stairs. She pointed to Tigger, said what sounded like "kitty" and then went "tst, tst". "Tst" is a noise we make at Tigger when he's doing something bad like jumping up on the dining room table. Annika has apparently associated this sound with Tigger and now makes the sound whenever she sees Tigger. Too funny. She is so smart!

Last night, Annika went to sleep shortly after 8pm, woke up around 1:30 and then didn't wake up again until almost 8am! And when she did wake up at 8am, she babbled and played in her crib until Kris went to go get her. How lovely! And perfect! Now, if she'll stop with the waking up during the night entirely, I'll be in heaven. I did hear her wake up this morning around 6:30am but she put herself back to sleep. I about jumped out of bed to do a happy dance but instead snuggled with Kris and went back to sleep. :)

Annika has figured out which button is the "off" button on Kris's computer and she likes to use it. Little stinker.

Yesterday, they did some landscaping around our house. We now have bushes in front of the garage and on the side of the house facing our neighbors. It looks really good. The only problem is the rock they used is a different color than the rock they put in the hole between the front door and garage. If they don't switch one of them out this week, we'll talk to the contractor about it on the 18th, when we have another walk through with them. Wow, that was a long sentence. Sorry.

Next week is Kris's last week of coaching. I think it ends with Tuesday's last game. I hope he enjoyed it (I think he did). It will be life back to normal for us then. No more babysitters in the afternoons for Annika. I wonder if she'll miss her time away from Mommy & Daddy.

And with that, I'll wrap up today's update. I'm off to freshen up so we can go have lunch with Auntie Krystle today!

My baby is so precious, I could cry. She just does the cutest things! For example, yesterday she goes over to the dog (Mara came home on Saturday!) and wrapped her arms around Mara's neck and gave her a big hug, complete with her head resting on Mara. Mara just stood there and took it (along with the other, less nice, things Annika has done to her.) And whenver I say "circles, circles" she twirls. And yesterday we snuggled on the couch and watch Baby Monet together. Kris asked how I get her to sit still and cuddle like that. I think it was because she was getting tired for a nap. That, or she likes me better. Kidding!

Last night, Annika only woke up once! She went to bed at 7:30pm and woke up around 1am. Kris was still up so he turned on her night light and told her to lay back down and go to sleep - and she did! Then, she didn't wake up until 7:30am! I didn't have to get out of bed once last night! That hasn't happened in months people! Annika has gotten so easy to put to bed lately. Tonight, we changed her diaper and put on her pajamas, then we read a few books. Then, I held her in my arms and rocked her for a few minutes. Then, I put her in her crib, with her night light on, gave her her lovey, covered her with her blanket and told her that momma loved her and it was time for sleep. After a mild (very mild) protest, she went to sleep and I walked out of the room. I just can't believe this is the same kid who used to have to be rocked to sleep. I'm so proud of my little bean.

I'm going to be changing the template soon for this page so if things are crazy for a bit, please forgive me. I'll try to get it back to normal as soon as possible. First, I have to back everything up and burn my archives to CD-ROM. I should have done that months ago. I would hate to lose everything I've written about Annika's babyhood. At least I have everything printed out through May 2005. I'm off to print out the rest and then save, save, save!

First off - the good news. Kris's grandmother is much improved. She's out of the ICU and back complaining about her arthritis. You can not believe the sigh of relief we let out here.

I uploaded a bunch of new pictures tonight. I also added a new album titled "12 Month Photos". These were taken on September 5th at Sadie's at the Mall of America. It's where her 6 and 9 month photos were taken too. I just went and picked up the CD of pictures today. We got our prints the same day (within an hour) but the CD takes 24 hours and I'm just now picking it up! Aren't the pictures cute?!? I'm happy with how they turned out. We're going to go back in late November/early December for a family portrait for our Christmas cards as well as a picture of Annika in a cute Christmas dress.

And that's it for tonight. I'm going to go finish my glass of wine. :)

Kris's grandmother was doing a little better yesterday. I haven't heard an update today yet. Keep praying people!

Last night, Annika was being especially cute. That's tough to do too, what with the radiating cuteness that comes from her. :) Anyway, she was wearing socks on the wood flooring and slid down onto her but when she tried to bend down and pick a toy up. Instead of crying or getting mad, she rolled over on her belly and started gently kicking the floor, playing. I got down on my belly and faced her and gently kicked my legs too. She though this was hilarious and kept kicking while watching my feet. We did this again a few minutes later and this time she needed to get up and investigate my feet. She ended up sitting between my legs and I kicked them and then laid down between my legs and cuddled. What a silly little thing!

I also got her giggling good last night by tickling her with my chin. I would press my chin into her ribcage and then move it up and down. She just giggled and giggled and smiled. It was the best part of my week. :)

Yesterday was a sad day for us. We went to visit Great Grandma B. in the hospital. She has pneumonia and the flu and isn't doing very well. She's been in the hospital since Friday. They almost lost her twice over the weekend. They've decided not to do any more heroic measures and that if this is her time, it's her time. She held her own yesterday but there are some subtle signs that things are slipping. Please say a prayer for Kris and his family during this difficult time. Me, being the weepy, emotional self that I am, cried a few times yesterday (um, and right now). I tried not to. I was trying to be strong for Kris since this is his grandmother that he might be losing. He is so blessed to still have all four grandparents with him. I was just so sad for him, for Great Grandma, for Great Grandpa, for all Kris's family and for Annika. Annika, too, is so lucky to have all four great grandparents in her life and I'm sad that she might lose one before really getting to know them. I guess I'm just sad. Kris and Annika might go down to visit again today. Hopefully, Great Grandma will pull herself through this (with the help of antibiotics and painkillers of course).

I think Annika's on the road to recovery. She's still stuffed up and has a runny nose but we think she's on the upswing.

Saturday Annika went to her first Augsburg football game of the season. It was homecoming and they were having a football alumni picnic so, of course, we had to go! Annika didn't get much of a nap that morning so she got really crabby during the game. She was also bored and wanted to get down and play. You can't do that on bleachers though, especially the old, dangerous kind at Augsburg. So, Annika and I spent some time down on the sidelines walking and in the buildings out of the heat and such.

Yesterday, we didn't even leave the house. Kris worked on getting the garage door opener installed while I watched Annika, picked up the house and did 4 loads of laundry. It was a nice day actually, very low key.

Not much else is new here, how about you?