Just Some Things To Remember

I have been thinking a lot lately about the many things that Anastyn is doing and how I am not doing a very good job of writing them down when they happen. There are some things that she does, that are just soooo sweet, and I absolutely want to remember them!

She is just getting too big!

-loves giving kisses. She kisses all of her toys - over and over again. Last night I told her to kiss her giraffe good night, so she would kiss it, then start to walk away, then turn around and go kiss it again. She did this about 10 times - it was really pretty cute, though! She also will always give kisses good-bye and goodnight. She used to give sweet open mouth kisses- not slobbery though- now she always puckers. Nathan and I sometimes miss the big wet kisses!

-always waves bye-bye. When I go to get Anastyn up in the morning, as I am walking to her crib I always see her waving to her piggy. She holds her hand really close to it and does this sweet little wave, she also waves to her blanket if it is in there, she always does this before she stands up to have me pick her up. If we leave a room, she likes to wave to the things in the room. For quite some time now, she would wave everytime she heard a vehicle of any kind. It is pretty sweet because if we are in the yard, she stands out there waving at any car going by.

-blows kisses. She has blown kisses for a while now too, but she used to kiss the back of her hand and just hold it on her mouth. In the last few weeks she has started kissing her palm and releasing the kiss to us. LOVE IT!

-signs. Anastyn does signs for more, thank you, please (love this one, she sometimes rubs her hand across her belly), food, eat, hungry, drink (on occasion), all done (this is a favorite of hers)

-actions to songs and phrases. Jesus Loves Me - she points up for Jesus then to her self for loves me, This Little Light - she waves her light around, blows it out (she blows through her nose though), and hides it under a bushel, Itsy Bitsy Spider - she puts her fingertips together for the spider and raises her arms as it climbs and waves her hands in the air for the rain coming down, Wise Man Built His House - she will sometimes hit her hands together, but she mainly loves the rain came tumbling down and she waves her hands in the air for the rain. If You're Happy and You Know It - claps, stomps and snaps her fingers. Jesus Loves Me - she will put her arms up like she is showing her muscles for STRONG.

-knows body parts. She can point to her/your mouth, cheeks, nose and eyes, sometimes ears. She knows her hands, head, knees and toes/feet. She likes to wash her own feet in the bath tub, she does a pretty good job, too! She has gotten her shoulders a few times, but usually skips to the knees and toes (when singing the song). We are working on her belly/ belly button.

-mimics. She mimics most of the things we do. She brushes her hair, rubs her hands together for lotion, tries to jump if you jump, claps her hands, stomps her feet, tries to make the same faces that you do, if you make a sound - she tries to make that sound. She always coughs if anyone around her coughs. She also makes a sound ( similar to a cough, but different) if someone sneezes. If I blow my nose, she blows through her nose or sniffs. If she hears people laughing she does this cute little fake laugh. She does it alot in church, if people kind of laugh during an announcement or something, she always laughs once it starts to get quiet. I think it is kind of cute! Pretty much anything we do, she tries to do. The other day, I filled her sand/water table up with water from the hose, a few days later, we had the hose out and she took it over to the table and held it over it like she was filling it up.

-animal sounds. Lion - roars, Cat- mow, mow (personal favorite), Pig - she snorts very well, Horse - she does the horse sigh (lips together -blow through mouth? not sure how to describe this one), Elephant - puts her arm by her nose and makes a small sound - she hasn't quite figured the sound out yet, Dog- pants, Cow- mooo, Duck - ack, ack, Bear - growls, Rooster - some form of errr-errr errr-errr errrrr, Monkey - ahh, ahhh (when prompted)

-everyday things. she blows through her nose to smell a flower and blow her nose. When you tell her to blow on her food - she also blows through her nose! She loves to get in the refrigerator and pantry - she always picks something out and wants some of it- milk, water, pickles, yogurt, bluberries, raisins, meat sticks - she will pick it up or point if she can't reach it, bring it to you then sit down so she can have her snack. She LOVES lotion right now. She will bring you the bottle and holds her hand out for some. She then rubs her hands together and is ready for more.

- words. Hi, mama, dada, hot, hat, I love you, go, good, na-na (banana),Yay, UH (this is uh-oh, she just never says the oh part. She is constantly dropping things, then says "UH". It is kind of funny, we always finish by saying " OH" for her). She tries to repeat words we ask her to say, we have a little work to do in this department though!

When she is tired, if I am lying on the floor, she comes and lays close to my head, grabs a handful of hair and sucks her thumb, like she is going to take a nap right there

She loves to bring you books and have you read to her.

She loves pushing the doorbell on her little dollhouse. She always laughs really big when she does this.

When she is sleepy, sometimes she sneaks into her room and tries to pull her pig out of the bed through the rails. You can always tell when she is having trouble because she starts fussing, which then turns into a scream. We have rushed to make sure she was okay multiple times, only to find her in a struggle with her pig and the rails of the crib. You just can't help but laugh at her desperation!

This isn't something she does, but I need to remember. She has 4 teeth that are in fully. She got the bottom two first (central incisors), then the top two (central incisors). Now the tooth to the right of her right front tooth (lateral incisor) is making its way through. I believe she is working on the left lateral incisor as well.

The things I love the most about her, are sometimes the most frustrating too. She is extremely independent. She knows exactly what she wants, and how she wants things done. She refuses to hold your hand - unless she needs help with a step or something has scared her. She can't be easily distracted. If she wanted the yogurt out of the fridge and you give her the cheese, she lets you know ;) She DOES NOT want me singing certain (bedtime) songs. She fusses the whole time I am singing them, and stops as soon as I stop. When she wants to go outside, there isn't a toy that can take her mind off of it. On the other hand though, I love that she likes to figure things out for herself. I hope that her strong-will will help her be a strong christian one of these days and help her hold to her values. I love that her mind is working to help her form her opinions and will teach her to be creative. She is a precious blessing and life would not be the same without her. What an awesome first year! So many more blessings and great things to come!