Our usual bedtime routine is as follows: brush teeth, change diaper, lotion, pajamas, turn on night light and music, shut off overhead light, cuddle with mom, lay down in crib, cover with blankets, whisper good night wishes and walk out and close door. It works very well and Annika knows exactly what's happening and goes to bed very easily. Sunday night after I laid Annika in her crib, she rolled over and waved and said "bye-bye" to me, then rolled back over and went to sleep. Last night as we were cuddling she told me bye-bye. I guess that was my cue to put the girl down, she wanted to go to sleep already Mommy!

Annika's also been very into skin to skin contact lately. Have I told you this already? Anyway, last night when I got home from work, Annika was taking a nap. Kris left for work and a while later Annika woke. She was still sleepy so I was cuddling her on my lap when she started pawing at my turtle-neck sweater. I changed into a v-neck shirt and we sat back down. Annika burrowed her face into my chest and fell back asleep for another 30 minutes or so until Auntie Krystle came over. I was worried how bed time would go seeing as Annika didn't get up from her nap until 5:45pm. However, at 7:30, we did her usual routine and she went right to sleep. Poor girl was exhausted from her big day yesterday. First her and Daddy met Grandpa Dale to do a computer disc exchange. Then they went go-carting with Daddy's work. Annika did not, of course, go-cart. She played with Beth and Ella while Daddy raced around the track. Daddy even got the fastest lap award. He was quite proud. Daddy said that Annika was cheering him on from the side, yelling "Go Daddy Go!" I'm sure Beth and Ella had some part in teaching her to say that but how cute!

As mentioned earlier, Auntie Krystle came over last night to scrapbook. Annika gave Auntie Krystle a big treat last night. She said "Auntie" for the very first time. Auntie Krystle has wanted her to say that for so long. She was thrilled when Annika said it and that she was there to hear it. As I was making dinner, Auntie Krystle and Annika were sitting in the recliner reading books. They were reading a Dr. Seuss book when Annika started counting! She said two, three, four, five, six while pointing out objects in the book! Granted, she always skips one (remember two, three, jump? That's still big in our house) but she got all the way to six correctly! That Sesame Street viewing is really paying off I think. Kris said that she also says B, C, D, E and then skips to P and Q. She likes Q for some reason. Gramme gave Annika this wooden alphabet puzzle for Christmas. Annika likes playing with that and taking the puzzle pieces from the puzzle part and putting them in the corresponding book part. This weekend she even got a couple pieces in the right spot. It is so fun to watch her learn and figure things out. We've got out the crayons and paper or coloring books a few times but Annika still tries to eat the crayons more than she colors with them so those sessions have been pretty short. She'll learn though and it will probably be before I know it!