Tomorrow, when Anya wakes up, she will be one year old. How time flew by so quickly, I will never ever know. But oh my. This has been the most cherished, sleepless, messiest, happiest, craziest year of my life. I am so happy to be her mama.
Sometimes blogging stresses me out because I want my words to flow eloquently and be flawless of any typos or errors. Tonight I just need a space to ooze all my thoughts. Because PHEW I am feeling allllll the emotions after putting that little sweetie down to sleep.
Anya is such a fun, happy baby. I know I have that description of her on repeat but it's true! She is so full of life and laughter. Like tonight during dinner, for example. We are sitting there, just the two of us (daddy isn't home til late on weeknights) and she was just HAMMING it up! She's been doing this thing lately where she attempts to suppress her laughter. Kind of like when you tell a joke and you are waiting for everyone's reaction and you're sitting there going "ehhhhhh?!?!?!?!" behind your big goofy smile. Hahah okay. Bad description probably. But she is a little comedy star in the making, I'm telling you.
I just want to compile a list in no certain order of all the things that make Anya, Anya, at this time of her life:
- She is SO close to walking. I think she knows she can do it, but she continues to crawl because she knows she can get to her destination quicker that way. She is a little fire cracker, that girl. Always going going going. Always busy with something. She has the need for speed.
- However, when we help her walk by holding her arms above her head, she giggles hysterically the whole way. She can't make it that far usually because she collapses to the ground in a fit of giggles! Hahah her little legs give out on her because she is so amped up on the fact that she's moving freely without clinging to the wall.
- Sometimes we catch her standing solo, holding onto NOTHING and I swear she doesn't even know she's doing it hahaha. Her attention is usually so wrapped up in whatever toy/ object she is holding and admiring that she doesn't even realize she's let go of whatever she was using to help her stand up! She'll do it for like 5 seconds and then her mind comes back to reality and I can just see her thoughts going "whoops how'd that wall/ couch/ drawer get away from me". The first time she did it was in the tub holding her little rubber duck and I was just like UHHH ANYA?! And she simply looked up at me all pleasantly like "what? nothing unusual going on here!"
- She is an amazing sharer. She LOVES to give me anything she has. Whether it's all her toys, books (more on that in a minute), food, or even something that she grabbed off the counter that I was using. Haha and what's most funny about the last one is that she is so pleased with herself for being "helpful". Like here mama let me strain my whole body to snag that mirror for you that you were using to do your hair! Even though it was clearly already in my reach, much more so than hers.
- Okay. Books. The girl is a BOOKWORM. And I love it!!! She gets so excited about every single page. When she turns the page she lets out a little "Oo!" and her whole body tenses up with excitement. It's even more joyful when the book has animals in it! ESPECIALLY cats. It's crazy to me that she can recognize a cat no matter how it's illustrated on the page but cats really light a fire in her soul. Best part though? She tries so so hard to make "meow" sounds come from her mouth. When she sees a cat she immediately looks at me in anticipation. I'll say, "Anya what does a kitty say?" and she starts smiling as I go "meeeoowww" and then bust up in laughter. Then she gets real serious and I can see the cogs turning in her brain, trying to figure out how I make those sounds with my mouth. So far, she's got the "ow" part down really well. It is so much fun to watch her learn and to see how happy she is when she accomplishes something new. She also loves pretty much every other animal and animal sound. Dogs are a close second to cats. She also loves monkeys and can imitate my monkey sounds pretty well, which is fun for both of us.
- Another fun thing about books is she has a book that has a rose on the first page and I've successfully taught her to smell the flower and it cracks me up every time!
- Sometimes when I am trying to get something around the house done and not focusing on what she's doing 100%, it'll get quiet and I realize oh boyyy what did she get into? But then I'll go around the corner and find her with a few books in her lap, happily turning the pages and staring at the pictures. Phewww those moments melt me. She is such a good, smart little cookie.
- Her next favorite thing would be this little wooden nativity set that I pulled out during Christmas and am never putting away haha. She is so attached to them and it fills me heart to the brim when I watch her play with the little figurines. She always has at least 3 characters in her hands. I wonder if she's already playing pretend with them? When do imagination abilities develop? I feel like there's no other reason she'd lay on her stomach playing with them for so long! Another funny thing about it is she is most attached to the Mary figure and my parents have a "little people" nativity set and she was most attached to the Mary at their house too! She really could pick it out of a line up! It was the most impressive thing. So it's just hysterical to me that she loves the Mary at our house the most too. It's just so sweet and I don't want to forget it.
- Food. That girl can put it down! Literally she will sometimes eat as much as I do during meals and I can't figure out how she does it! She could eat an endless supply of blueberries and cheese though. Those things never fail us. Chicken too, actually! Haha if berries aren't on her plate, the meat is the first thing to be devoured. Veggies are a bit trickier. It's not that she won't eat them. They just don't hold her attention very long. And her preferences change often. She'll eat lots of peas or carrots or squash for several days and then want nothing to do with it randomly. So I have to be more strategic with getting those down her!
- She has started pointing while you carry her, showing you where she wants to go.
- She can flip a light switch on and off and she gets such a kick over being in control of the light/ darkness. You have to do this sparingly though, because once she does it one time, she'll want you to hold her up there for an hour so she can do it over and over and over again haha.
- Lots of our house is already baby proofed (also me-proofed tbh) because she can open so many things (drawers/ cabinets) and it causes extreme chaos. Just the way she likes it haha.
- She has 3 teeth on the bottom and 4 cut through all at the same time on the top while she was sick (poor girl). The top ones are still pretty small so you're lucky if you catch a glimpse of them, but they are definitely there!
- She has the best laugh ever. And has become more ticklish so you can believe I'm taking advantage of that so I can hear that laugh as much as possible. She's most ticklish under her chin on her neck and loses it everytime I clean her up after meals or snacks. She is such a goob hahah.
- She's also become just a titch more cuddly and we LOVE it! Like after naps she'll take a second to rest her head on your shoulder when you've rescued her from the crib. Or if you're holding her in a store or church or somewhere and someone starts talking to her she kind of shys away into the crook of your neck which is funny because she literally is so social and not shy at all. I think she just knows it's cute and it'll make people love her even more!
- She also "snuggles" on cue if there's a soft stuffed animal, fuzzy blanket or frankly... carpet.. in sight. haha! It is so freaking cute.
- Along with her being a bit more cuddly, the other morning, Kendal had gotten up with her before he had to leave for school and brought her to me in our bed and she laid her whole body down on my stomach and relaxed for like a whole 30 seconds while a rubbed her back! It was magical. I hope she continues to get more cuddly as she grows. She's gotta figure out back rubs/ scratches are priceless sometime... right?
Those are all the things that came to my mind right away. I'm sure after I publish this I'll think of a whole other list of things, but I wanted to make sure I remember some of these precious moments forever.
It's impossible to think an entire year with her has passed by already. But even though I can't help but be a little sad those special moments of Anya being a tiny baby are gone, I am just so thankful she is healthy and growing. She's truly thriving and I feel so lucky that I can sleep soundly at night knowing that she is safe and perfectly on track.
