The Harbor Church Preschool

Anabelle started Preschool at The Harbor Church Preschool in Lomita this January.  I couldn't be happier about her experience there.  She has grown so much since this picture was taken.    

Thanksgiving 2012

We had a great Thanksgiving in Vanderwagen this year.  We had family come from California and Colorado and had a full house.  Just the way Thanksgiving was meant to be.  There was beautiful weather and deliscious food.  We went to El Morro and hiked to Inscription Rock, as well as a few hikes around the house and of course, Black Friday shopping too!

Boo/Moo

Branding

ABQ Zoo

We took Daddy to the Albuquerque Zoo for his birthday

Happy Easter

Today was Anabelle's first Easter and we had a great day. It started yesterday while Anabelle and I colored eggs. Well really I colored eggs while she squirmed in her high chair while I tried to convince her this was really fun. It was!

Then this morning Anabelle and I hid eggs and when Daddy got up the two of them did a Easter egg hunt. She just giggled and laughed every time Daddy found an egg and put it in her basket. Then we let her sit and play with them for a few minutes. I'm pretty sure she didn't break all of them...

Then we got on our Sunday best and headed to church. It was a very good service and she was a good girl in the nursery. I could hear a baby crying when someone opened the sanctuary door and even though my buzzer wasn't buzzing, I couldn't resist the temptation to go check on her. She was asleep in the arms of one of the helpers in the rocking chair. So sweet!

Then we got home and got into our Sunday cozies and had a great day hanging out at home. I made a ham and fresh green beans for dinner. And now baby is snoozing, I'm blogging, and Trace is watching Bill Engvall. Perfect.

Thank you Jesus!

9 Months

Today Anabelle is 9 months old. I just re-read my post from 7 months, I'm just in awe at how she is growing in the blink of an eye. Trying to cherish every moment.

The first part of April she got her first top tooth. It was a long process just like the bottom but now it's happily poking through and her smile is cute as ever. Now that she has a top tooth she likes to grind it, eeek! The second top tooth is finally broke through a couple days ago. She was fussy the night before and the morning but this one was much smoother. She's so cute with her 3 teeth, I can't wait until she has a complete 4 tooth smile.

She is also doing much better with eating solids. She still doesn't like baby cereal and doesn't open wide for any baby food but she will eat baby food carrots, pears, applesauce and some others a little bit at a time when she feels like it. My best trick is to put some Puffs on her tray and when she goes to put one in her mouth (which she can do by herself now) is to quickly get a spoonful of food in first. She tolerates that most of the time and I still let her get plenty of puffs in. But she has become much more interested in what we are eating and will almost always take a sample. Trace has to share almost a whole bowl of stroganoff noodles with her the other night and she really likes my turkey sandwiches. So we are just going slow and trying to give her as much as she will tolerate. She is making progress drinking from a cup when I help her hold it and we found a sippy cup that she is just starting to take to also. I can acutally see/hear her taking real drinks of water. She still likes sitting on daddy's lap after lunch and dinner in hopes of a piece of kit kat or some other sweet he might be willing to share with her.

She has become more vocal, up until 2 weeks ago she still had only her own sing-song voice. But lately she is making more syllable sounds. Mamamama, yayayay, ssssss, and some other babbling. Dadadada hasn't made it on the list yet but Dadadaada tries to encourage it daily.

She is developing a great personality and is very social. She will let almost anyone hold her and she is constantly giggling; at herself, you, the air :)

Sleeping is not any better than in my last post. I'm a walking zombie. Everyone has been so nice at sharing suggestions and we haven't tried the full blown Cry-It-Out yet and nothing else helps either. Just mommy getting up every 2 hours and holding and nursing her... this has got to get better! Praying my next update shares great improvements!!

Still doing better in the car than the first 6 months but no where near liking car rides. A friend gave us a couple "kid" cd's and she seems to like those, Dad's not that crazy about them :)

Today on her 9 month day, we went to the park for an Easter fun day. The Lions Club (where Trace is a member) were serving hot dogs to the kids so Anabelle and I went to check it out. Here is a little video of her playing in the grass.

Can't believe we are only 3 months away from her first birthday...