It is difficult to believe that two years have passed since Anna arrived, and yet when I look back at the thousands of pictures we've taken, it's hard to believe that so much has happened in that relatively short amount of time! Anna is thrilled to FINALLY be two years old... we've been talking about it for ages now!
The summer has been a wonderful chance for Brian and me to spend an immense amount of time with Anna. Brian's workload was light for the summer so we had lots of family walks and afternoons at the playground. We purchased a bike trailer so Anna could ride along with Brian, and even Mommy was convinced to join in on the family bike rides (occasionally). We were happy to host all of the Perones for the Fourth of July and celebrate Anna's cousin Logan's birthday in California. Anna continued to enjoy swimming opportunities over the past few months – she has absolutely no fear of the water and laughs at her poor mother who gets so stressed out when she immerses herself in it over and over again. Although very wary of sand when we first moved here, Anna has embraced the many sand-bottomed playgrounds here at Stanford and has the opportunity most days to fill and spill pails and dump trucks with sand. Let's just say I've never vacuumed so much in my life! Anna has some regular playmates in our neighborhood and has been learning a lot about cooperation and waiting one's turn.
Anna got to travel back east this summer for a long visit with Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop. It was her first plane ride with just one parent to amuse her, but she did a great job and did not bother the other passengers too much :) While in Philadelphia, she got to visit a fire station with Pop-Pop – a highlight of the trip. We also took a trip to Sesame Place, where we got to meet some of Anna's favorite characters: Elmo, Abby Cadabby, Zoe and the Count! We were able to meet up with lots of family members, most notably new cousin Nicholas.
On the developmental front, Anna's speech continues to develop at an amazing pace. Her sentences stretch to seven, eight or more words. She is still sorting out those pesky pronouns but has definitely made some progress. She has learned all of her consonant sounds (b says bah, for example) and we're working on differentiating vowel sounds, which are a little trickier. She occasionally gets to use the iPad; we've found some great apps that coach spelling simple words like “cat,” etc. It is amazing to watch a not-quite-two-year-old drag letters into the correct order to spell words! We are in close proximity to two libraries which we've visited quite often this summer. Anna loves getting new books each week and Mommy and Daddy are pretty excited about the variety as well! By the end of the week Anna is able to “read” the simpler books from memory – amazing! Physically, Anna has made some strides as well. She has mastered stair climbing which she had a late start on – our new two-story place got her trained very quickly. She loves walking backwards these days (usually an attempt to get Mommy or Daddy to chase her). Her climbing skills scare her mother and father half-to-death but certainly are impressive.
We are working on two important milestones right now: sleeping in a big girl bed and potty-training! Brian converted Anna's crib to a toddler bed this week. It's going pretty well but she is definitely exploring some new found freedoms that go with the loss of a crib. On the potty-training front, there is not too much to report other than Anna is very interested in it and is a pretty good sport about “trying” to go. Hopefully we'll have some more successful attempts soon.
This is Anna's last week of summer before she starts preschool! She will begin at The Roberts School next Monday. We had a play date there a few weeks ago and she did wonderfully. She warmed right up to her teacher and the other kids, even though most of them were about to move up to the 3 year old room. Anna will be the youngest in her class, but the teacher feels she will be able to keep up with the other students. They have a gymnastics program there once a week so Anna will be thrilled to take that up again.
Anna's 2
nd Birthday was celebrated quietly today with just Mom and Dad and some cupcakes. Grandma Jean arrives tomorrow and over the weekend we will have more of a celebration. She's received many generous gifts from her family members, but the “big” present from her parents was a bicycle! After some research we decided to go with a balance bike which will likely prevent training wheels from being necessary later.
We are so happy to have such a inquisitive, bright-eyed daughter who constantly makes us smile with her incessant singing, silly antics, and playful nature. She is a loving little girl who is going to make a wonderful big sister. She has been diligently preparing for her baby brother's arrival by mothering her favorite new doll, Luke, with whom she is, quite frankly, obsessed. Our lives have been blessed the last two years, and we are so grateful we have so many more years ahead on our journey with Anna!
Click on the picture below to see the album!
