Getting to the Point

The past week has been a good one for Anne.  She got her sixth tooth, so she now has all of her front teeth.  She learned to put all of the shapes in her shape bucket.  We show her which hole the shape goes in, but she rotates it and tries it until it goes in.  She started pointing at everything she sees.  The other day at Walmart she kept pointing at different people.  The cashiers found it especially amusing and liked to point back at her.

Yesterday, Anne decided that walking was better than crawling and now tries to walk everywhere first, before reverting to crawling.  It is amazing how quickly she is learning.  Whenever she holds a phone now, she puts it up to her ear like she sees mommy and daddy doing.  Today she picked up the kitchen timer and held it to her ear.  She understands new words, like "kitty" and "nap" and "vacuum cleaner" (which is sitting in our bedroom and she never fails to point at it when she sees it).

We bought Anne a rain coat the other day, and it is so darned cute that I couldn't decide which of the many photos to post.  So I posted most of them.  And a few cute videos too.  You can't blame a mother for thinking everything is cute, can you?

Anne pointing at the trees.  Hurry up, Spring, so we can go out and play! 

Anne points at you!

Anne caught walking between furniture.  She looks kind of guilty.

Seriously.  Do these photos need captions?

Laughing video.

Anne pets a kitty (our neighbour's cat, Monster).

One Small Step for Anne...

Anne started stumbling a few steps last Friday, but it wasn't until this evening that she really started walking.  All of a sudden she can do it.  Repeatably.  Out of nowhere.

She also learned to clap and to crawl backward down the stairs last weekend.

Anne vs. Vacuum Cleaner

Yesterday I decided to vacuum the family room.  At first, Anne was very scared, but Jeff held her and she was ok.  After a couple of minutes of watching me vacuum the couch, Anne decided she needed to investigate this vacuum thing.  She slowly made her way closer and eventually touched the vacuum a few times to see if it would bite.  It didn't, and after that she was cautious but seemed ok with it.  On one hand I am unreasonably proud that she was brave enough to come and touch it on her own even though she was afraid of it.  On the other hand, having a brave baby will undoubtedly have its downside in the future.

Anne is now ten months old.  On Saturday she started pointing at things.  She points at people and photos of babies and pictures of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse.  She hasn't yet figured out to point at the things she wants.


On Monday Anne got her fifth tooth, finally one of the top middle teeth.  Soon she will no longer look like a vampire.

Over the past week or so Anne has been very close to walking.  She will often take a step or two between supports, but has not yet done what I would call full out walking.  I think we are very close.

Anne has mastered climbing the stairs.  It still makes me nervous though, so I make sure I am within arm's reach.  She is learning quickly how to get back down, but she still needs a bit of help to turn around at the top and sometimes to put her legs down to the next step.


This weekend, Gus, Greta, and Max visited us for a few days.  Max and Anne were adorable together.  Anne was fascinated by Max and watched him the whole time.  Whatever toy he was playing with was what she was interested in.  Max didn't like this very much, but tolerated her fairly well.  I have a really adorable video of the two of them at dinner on Sunday night (see below).

On Monday night we took Anne and Max to a local pool.  It was a really great setup for kids, with a gradual shallow part, floating balls, and a slide.  Max did a great job of the slide, but when I tried to go down with Anne in my lap I went a** over teakettle.  I ended up scraping my knee and spurting and spluttering.  Anne however held her breath just fine when she went under and was unaware that anything went wrong.

On Tuesday we took Max and Anne to an indoor playground.  Anne really enjoyed the balls, and both Max and Anne loved the great big slides they had.

All in all it was a great weekend and we were sad to see them go.

And now for the usual barrage of photos and videos:

Anne sleeping with her big bum in the air.

Max and Anne playing with the balls at the indoor playground.

Anne playing with the TV remote this morning.  Love those jowls.

Anne cuddles her stuffed penguin.

Anne gets excited over the baby's hat.

Anne and Max at dinner on Sunday.

Anne pointing at Mommy.

Peekaboo with a ball.

Should Have Done a Bowl Cut

Anne's hair was growing too long.  It was in her eyes and she had a Gollum-like rat tail that was dark at the tips and light at the roots.

Anne's hair pre-hair cut.

Gollum-like rat tail.

Rat tail is light at the roots and dark at the tips.

After weeks of Jeff's cajoling I finally agreed to a hair cut.... or at least a trim.  (One day you're giving your baby her first hair cut and the next she is going off to university.  You have to be careful with those hair cuts.)  However, rather than forking out the $12 for a Baby's First Hair Cut special at the local salon, Grandma B and I thought we could do it ourselves.  We tried to distract Anne with YouTube videos while Grandma held up her hair and I cut it with some slightly curved baby nail scissors.  I bet you can guess how well this worked.  Unfortunately it wasn't until after the hair cut that Grandma and I remembered we should wet her hair to make it easier.

Afterward, Grandma tried to comfort me by telling me that hair grows in at different rates, so the short parts won't be so obvious in a couple of weeks.  I know it's only hair and that it will all grow out, but I'm also sad that I cut off the hair that my baby was born with and that she will never look the same way again.  Without the tips of her hair, her hair looks a lot lighter.  We only trimmed the bangs and rat tail, so there are still some longer, darker bits in the middle.

A deceptive side-shot of Anne's new hair cut.

Those layers are a feature.

Anne's rat tail.

In other news, Anne is progressing in leaps and bounds.  She is an expert at walking with a toy.  She can stand for much longer periods of time, and will even try to take a step from a table toward a person.  She still requires support a lot, but she is getting quite good.  She is able to climb up the stairs, and we are trying to teach her to go back down them but progress is slow.

Anne doesn't talk yet per se, but she does say "mumumum" a lot, mostly when she is upset.  Recently, her favourite noise to make is a spitting/farting noise.  She particularly likes to do this to entertain guests, or just to entertain herself if she is bored or should be napping.

Anne understands several words now, including "book", "baby", "kisses", "cuddles", "come here", "mommy", and "daddy."  She will give kisses when requested, especially to her doll or to pictures of babies.  She understands the word "no", however whether she chooses to listen to it or not is another matter.  I am certain that she understands more than this but it is hard to quantify.  For instance, the other day I quoted a line from one of her favourite books and she went over and found the book on the book shelf.  It is just amazing how quickly she is developing.

And on a completely unrelated note, her is a photo of the new diaper/wipes pouch and change pad I made to match my diaper bag.

Interview with the Vampire

I wanted a photo of Anne's two top teeth, just to document that she actually got the teeth next to her front teeth before her front teeth.  Unfortunately, Anne doesn't show her top teeth.  Ever.  Grandma and Grandpa G were visiting this weekend, so I asked Grandma G to hold Anne's lip up while I took the photo.  Here are the results:

Grandma's first attempt at getting Anne to show her teeth.

Anne's vampire fangs.

I felt like I should add a normal photo to balance out the scary monster photos above.

Anne seems to have forgotten how to wave, but her new favourite action is throwing both of her arms up above her head when you shout, "Touchdown!"  Here is a cute video of Grandpa G and Anne doing the touchdown action:

Also, here are some photos of Anne in her new rocking chair that she got from Aunt Mel and Uncle Don for Christmas.  She really likes to sit in it as you rock her back and forth.

Anne and her doll.

Touchdown!

Today Anne had a loooong morning nap.  I finally decided to go wake her so that we wouldn't be late going over to a friend's house to see some other mommies and babies.  However, when I got into her room she was snoring with her big bum in the air and she was so cute I just couldn't wake her.  Instead I took a video:

9-Month Weigh-In

Anne had her 9-month check-up at the doctor's on Monday.  Apparently she is still a large marge with a big head, but not quite a basketball player.  She weighed in at 22 lbs 4 oz which is between the 90th and 95th percentile.  Her head circumference is 46.8 cm, which apparently is more than the 100th percentile.  I assume this means her head is larger than future babies' heads as well.  Her height is 72 cm, which is down to the lowly 75th percentile as Jeff's and my genes duke it out.

And here are some fun photos and a video of Anne:

All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth

And now for our Christmas recap.  Rather than going over our whole busy two-weeks of Christmas, here are the highlights:

• Anne and I got to spend a whole week relaxing with Aunt Laura who was visiting from Alberta.  We miss you already Lo!  Come home soon!
• Anne got to meet and even pet Grandma and Grandpa G's cat, Gertie.  Sorry Max!
• Anne spent a lot of time with extended family and enjoyed three turkey dinners, one tourtière, and one roast beef dinner.  She was showered with lovely gifts that filled our car to the brim.
• Anne got her fourth tooth, however she still does not have her two front teeth.  Instead, she has the teeth on either side of her front teeth.  This would make her look rather like a vampire if you could ever get her lip up high enough so you could see them.  
• Anne got to play with her cousin Max.  She is now big enough to be interested in Max's toys and Max doesn't really seem to like it.
• One day in the car Anne started playing peekaboo.  She holds a blanket in front of her face and then pulls it down with great delight while you say, "Peekaboo!"  She can do this for a long time without getting bored.  A long time.    
• Anne got a sled for Christmas from Grandma and Grandpa B and went on a sled ride around the block.
• Anne learned to walk with a toy cart lent to us from Uncle Gus and Aunt Greta.  (See previous post for video.)  Anne instantly loved it and her face just beams whenever she pushes the cart across the floor. 
• Anne learned that she can get the whole B family to raise their arms above their head just by raising her own arms above her head. 

And here are some fun photos:

Pretty baby.

Funny face.

Anne in her new sled.

Dad pulling Anne on the sled.

Sledding in a winter wonderland

Boppa reading to Max and Anne.

The view from Grandma and Grandpa G's deck on our Christmas (December 27).

Max showing Anne his new vacuum cleaner - his favourite gift.

Max unhappy about having to share with Anne.

Max and Anne playing happily together.

Gramma playing with Anne.

Tower sequence photo 1

Tower sequence photo 2

Tower sequence photo 3

A funny face.

Anne on Christmas morning with her new crocodile.

Uncle Conor reading to Anne on Christmas morning.

Now that is a thunder-thigh.

And here are some fun videos:

Boppa reading to Anne and Max.

Mom's useful Christmas present.

Squealing Anne.