Raptor Baby

Annabelle is now 20 months old. She is definitely our little carnivore, as she loves to eat meat. I recently discovered two new teeth in the back of her mouth, so her tooth count is up to 7 now (5 on top, but still only 2 on bottom). She's also a big fan of all fruits and many vegetables. Given all the meat she eats, plus the trouble she finds and the squeals she makes, it sometimes seems like we have a baby raptor in the house.


Enthralled by a waterfall at the zoo
Bella loves water. Water is her favorite drink, an entertaining splishy-splashy toy, and even the most exciting exhibit at the zoo. She can turn on the water in the bathtub on her own, and she uses the stools to reach bathroom sinks to fill toy cups with water (and dump them on the carpet). She wants to stop at every reflecting pool and water display we see, such as the one outside our nearest library. At the zoo, she points out each animal's water dish in addition to the waterfalls and such. Whenever we pass a water fountain at a store, she insists on taking a drink.

As you might imagine, Annabelle loves bathtime, although she dislikes getting her hair washed. When she's ready to get out of the bathtub, she requests her "bee-bug" (ladybug) towel from her Godparents. She's definitely fond of ladybugs these days. Bees are also fun, because I make my hand fly around and bzzzz and then tickle her whenever she says "bee."


At the L.R. Zoo bear exhibit
Annabelle's vocabulary continues to grow so fast that I cannot keep track of it. On Easter, she quickly learned the word chocolate. She initially said "choc-y" but not deliberately enunciates each syllable. Food words certainly come with strong motivation to learn: pizza, green bean, and pear are some other new favorites. (Note that chicken, which is our most common meat dish, was already on her vocabulary list.) Bella now says truck and vroom-vroom whenever we see one drive past. I need to get her some truck toys since she's interested in them. Her woof-woof is cute, although more high-pitched and actually much quieter than any dog I've heard. She's also working on her roar.

She learned the word tiger after our friend George gave her a stuffed orange tiger, and she proceeded to identify tigers in books and elsewhere, even white tigers like the one she received her first Christmas. She has become fond of dinosaurs (another new word) and plays with the little dinosaur toys and book I bought her. Gabi always wants to know what everybody's favorite X is (X being whatever-is-at-hand), so I tell her that Bella's favorite dinosaur is the Velociraptor, in keeping with her raptor nickname, although there is some debate about whether it ought to be the Allosaurus. Sometimes I wonder if there will be a fight when Bella is old enough to name her own favorites, since Gabi is so used to dictating things for her little sister. By the way, Gabi's favorite dinosaur is the Ankylosaurus.


With Lolo outside Applebee's
Music is Annabelle's newest sign. Annabelle signs (and says) dance and music (and points to the iPod) as soon as Michael comes home from work. No matter how exhausted he is or how much work he needs to do that night, Michael can't help but smile and take time to dance with his daughter to at least one song.

Annabelle is also perfecting her pronunciation of previous vocab words. Sock progressed from "la" to "kva" and now has an "s" sound somewhere. (For some reason, when Bella says words that end in k, she often begins with a k sound.) Balloon is now "bloon" instead of "boon" -- and she emphasizes the L. It is fun to watch her play with verbal language. Annabelle composed a sweet song to let us know when bedtime has arrived. She sings, "La-ly-la-ly-la-ly-la-ly" to ask for her Lily bunny. I have certainly been blessed with children who know when they are tired (although Gabi now fights bedtime, she didn't until this year).


After a dinner of spaghetti
Annabelle continues to be adventurous as she explores everything around her. She figured out that she can push a chair to the kitchen counter to "help" me cook. She carries stools around the house to aid her in accessing items previously out of her reach. She can now climb into (and out of) her high chair on her own. I have even seen her use a chair to climb onto the kitchen table. She doesn't limit herself to chairs and stools as climbing aids, either. She tried to utilize the dishwasher as a step stool while I was unloading dishes earlier this weekend. I certainly have to keep a very close eye on her now!


Sliding at Fellowship Bible
She has certainly reached the "helpful" age where she tries to do many chores on her own that she has watched me do before. She carries her fork to the kitchen sink after meals, and she always wants to help load or unload the dishwasher (often with her unloading while I load or vice versa). She requests a fork at every meal (and sometimes a spoon), and she can use both (to some extent). In the carseat, she pulls up the crotch strap for me to connect the buckles into, and she tries to buckle the chest clip together herself. She can already undress herself (as I discovered a couple months ago when I found her naked in her crib -without even a diaper- at the end of naptime), and she's working on getting dressed.


Running at Hidden Valley Park
At playgrounds, Annabelle climbs to the top of the highest play structure and bravely zooms down the tallest slide (usually feet first on her belly, although she is learning to sit facing forward). She tries new tricks, too, such as walking up slides. If I call her name to come to me, she laughs and runs away as if I've invited her to play chase.


Sliding with Alex at the neighborhood playground
Annabelle's wavy hair is growing fast, but it is still wild and somewhat unmanageable. The fact that she pulls everything out of her hair whenever we ride in the car doesn't help. She also takes her shoes and socks off during car rides, so I often just bring her shoes and socks with me but not on her feet. However, when I'm running multiple errands, I end up putting her shoes and socks on multiple times (or she won't have shoes at some stops). She has pulled her shoes and hair clips out at the store when riding in the cart, too. Last time we went to Target, I had to go back and search the store for her headband before we left.

Sometimes I let her walk through the stores so she isn't bored enough to undress, which she enjoys but it does make our shopping trip much slower. She likes to push the cart around, so I have walk slowly steering the cart from one aisle to the next, and then I have to anchor it still while I look on the shelves for the item I need. Of course, if she were in the cart, I'd have to try to anchor her still - or at least try to hold her into her seat, since she climbs out and the buckles in those carts do nothing to restrain her. Life is an adventure with a little one around! But she is cute and totally worth it.


At the Fellowship Bible playground
I have decided to post only our favorite pictures on this blog, so I can update more regularly with all the cute stories about our girls. I will post all the good pictures on our Shutterfly page, for those of you more interested in a pictoral journey through our days rather than developmental details. Email me for the Shutterfly address if you don't want to miss out on pictures. My hope is that I will post to the blog daily, before I forget the funny things the girls say and all their new accomplishments. I'd love to hear feedback about our new system or anything else!