Separationally-Challenged

Daddy is still resistant to your growth. I mean I'd like to keep you a baby as long as possible, but am aware that at some point, Peter Pan, everyone has to grow up. So I said to your (normally intelligent, fairly rational) father "I mean I'd like her to stay little too, but what what do you want to do, block her development?" His answer was a firm and immediate "yes." Okaaaaay...

Then as we prepared you for bed, he tells me "I love that I can just tap her on the bottom randomly and it's not weird because I'm her dad." He is so going to purposefully embarrass you when you get older. Can't wait for that.  ;)

Speaking of love taps, you (little miss bright eyes) have been contracting quite the attitude lately. Mia says it's because you're so intelligent that you're reading us and trying to figure out how to get what you want. I just think you get frustrated and don't know how else to communicate. But honestly, there are times when you freak the h out. The most notable example stems from your recent love-affair with Bo. Though he remains wary of your tiny presence, Bo has grown more tolerant as of late. He graciously allows you to pat, climb, pull and mouth him with as much zeal as your little body can possibly possess. You love to play the "mess with Bo until he lumbers off and then chase him to another location and repeat" game. I'm not sure Bo knows you're playing. If we at any point interrupt this bonding (by picking you up), you thrash and whine and twist about as though set on fire. I would think you were in pain if I didn't know better. Current tactics to disarm this bomb include distracting you with whatever toy or person is available, removing you from the room/situation, and bribing you with food. Just kidding about the last one. Taking you away seems to help, but it's tough. It's crazy to me that we're having to deal with this already. Aren't you supposed to stay a baby a little longer? I may be starting to see daddy's point of view on this whole not growing up thing...

Maybe with our own stubborn selves, we should have known you'd be strong-willed. But if this is your first challenge, bring it on. We will nip it in the bud, my little diva. A battle of wills. 'Cause you know what princess? We can out-stubborn you. 

I'm sorry to do it and you may hate me for it sometimes, but you can't always get what you want. If you cry sometimes, though, you might find you get what you need.... 

(I'm joking. We will always try to meet your needs. That's what parents are for.)

The other side of this strange, misshapen parenting coin is that you've also been experiencing bouts of separation anxiety. You have a few favorite people in the world and everyone else is just scenery. Scenery that does not hold the baby...

The preference tier is as follows:

1. Mia

2. Daddy / Bo

3. Miss Alecia and/or Miss Nevona

4. Mommy

5. Granny

etc. (you get the picture)

For one reason or another, Mia is the absolute apple of your eye. To you, no one is more glorious and deserving of your love than your Mia Sally. Well, daddy might run a close second; but if your beloved Mia is around, you only have eyes for her! We discovered this during our week at the beach when you would cry for Mia if mommy took you and reach upside-down-backwards in search of her embrace. 

And hey, where's the "I don't love one parent more than the other; I love them both equally" filter, kid? Aren't you supposed to be born with that? At times when daddy hands you off and I want nothing more than a hug or snuggle, you scream bloody murder (and a pathetic "dadada" on a loop) to return to your fave. I'm sure this makes daddy feel good, but I have to secretly squelch the tears because admitting it hurts my feelings is ludicrous. You don't mean anything by it, I know. But I want so badly for you to love me. I mean I'm sure you do, but I'm emotionally high-maintenance and need the reassurance. Blessedly, daddy and Mia understand and give mommy extra hugs for support. And daddy had a wonderful suggestion of greeting one another before we greet you. That way we can show you the correct hierarchy. It's mommy and daddy; then you. I think the theme here is "this is our world, and we're fitting you in."

And now (since I've mainly written about your noncompliance so far and am feeling a tad guilty because it's really such a small part of your world), I'd like to share some of the things I love about you at almost 10 months(!):

• When you pull up on something and then turn around and wobble a step or two towards me I get so excited (but then I realize that walking = toddler and you're not my little baby anymore, and it makes me less anxious... ). Daddy's probably thinking of any way possible to keep you from taking those steps, but I'm afraid it's imminent.

• You're eating everything (thank daddy for that) with your pinschers, which is basically the most adorable way I can think of to get your dietary allowance. We like to lay it out on the tray and let you go for the gold. Puffs and breadcrumbs turn up just about everywhere, but I'm sure some of it actually lands in your mouth...   The most recent of daddy's ill-conceived food tasting choices? Dorito cheese straight from the finger. Am I on television?

• If you happen to be sleeping and wake up to a face you love (see list above), you burst into that shining smile and start waving hello. That floppy little gesture just melts me to pieces.

• Evidently, you can now produce dog sounds. Miss Nevona shared with me today that you have the "ruff ruff ruff" down pat. You are becoming quite proficient in jibberish as well. I bet you and Bo have secret conversations..

• Often when we play, you create your own obstacle course just so it will require you to climb over us and back again. You particularly enjoy shimmying monkey-style up daddy's chest while he's sideways and rolling over to his back. Gymnast? Maybe. Daredevil? Clearly. I'll start practicing the fastest routes to the hospital.

• At daycare, you have a sleep mat (on account of the pulling up in your crib thing). Daddy and I find it impossible to buy that you actually fall asleep there and stay still, but your teachers insist. When daddy picked you up yesterday, they divulged that you were so ready to nap at 2:30, you voluntarily dragged yourself over and laid down on your mat without prompting. Aw!

• You're loving water (aside from the ocean waves, but they scare me too so we're not counting that). Daddy waded with you at Aunt Jennifer's 30th birthday Tie-Dye and pool party, which was your first time in a big girl pool. You do have precisely 9 bathing suits—several of which are bikinis that may or may not be wildly inappropriate for a baby—so I certainly hope you continue this water infatuation. I'll put some beach pictures up asap.  :)  

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• You also have a preference for water from a plastic bottle (sadly, I am not kidding—but I think it's because you find it necessary to envelop the opening while drinking). If it's not in the bottle, a straw will do the trick. And despite daddy's major sippy-cup resistance, he is happy to teach you to use a real cup. Observe:

• You dance. Not that I'm shocked in any way, considering the 2 bachelorette parties, 2 weddings, numerous dance dance revolution battles and countless super baby dance parties of your "youth." And you love music. Granny contends that country is your fave. Traitor. You are my baby, right? I'm hoping to catch you on daddy's phone because corroboration exists only on the camcorder at this juncture. But it is too too cute. 

No, you're not in that video, but I'm just sayin'.. I won't be surprised if they contact you for the next one.

In other news, Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Jay recently welcomed your future crush, Graham Nance Weaver, just over a week early on June 9th. 

Isn't he great at his job? (sleeping)

He is as little, beautiful, and sweet as can be, and I have to apologize in advance that you will not be allowed to date him, as apparently this would be awkward for your father and Uncle Jay. (You can take it up with them). But I'm sure you'll be great friends and you can show him all sorts of good stuff like how to fling pacis and eat sand. Jake still has your heart for the time being anyway.*   ;)    

*I really am joking about these things. But it's only because I so want you to bond with your non-related cousins. I know you're all very popular in your own circles, but mommy and your aunts are kinda close. So if you wouldn't mind humoring us, playing with one another and at least trying to be pals, we'd greatly appreciate it. And I bet you'll have some great stories when you're older (you know, when you're all about to graduate from UNC).

Love, Love, Love

When you hold your baby in your arms and look into her eyes, and thinking about how much you love her and how incredibly amazing she is is so overwhelming it brings you to tears, you know what having a child is really all about and exactly what a miracle it is. 

And how awesome is it that you when you think of how much you love your baby, you finally completely realize how your parents love you? Strange that you couldn't really know until then. I guess that must be what this "club" is all about, and why other parents are so happy for you and excited when you have a kid. Other relationships change and life in general may be a bit different (dogs really become dogs; work is a bit less important; you may not throw down or rock it out like you used to), but what an incredible new lovemonkey you get! And isn't it cool that no matter what kind of day you're having or how awful your mood, just seeing your precious little one's face can make it all go away. There's no way you can be mad at your baby! (yet ;) Haha.

I just have to thank you God for this perfect, precious blessing. I promise to do my best to raise her in your image, and to always try to let her know how much she means to me. If ever there were a living example of Your love, it must be this.  

The Daily Ansley

{almost 12 weeks}

yikes 4 weeks. shameful. mommy needs to get on the ball and write in your journal more often! sorry babydoll. well a lot's been going down the past month, so you'll have to excuse my tardiness with this entry. you've logged a record number of hours with the grandparents lately, as daddy and i have taken on the task of painting the entire downstairs and upstairs hallway. they love it, though, and even request more time with their precious ansley. thank heaven for grandparents. seriously.

in other news, you've started producing more drool than your mouth can contain. this is alternated with spitup, and you are now soaking through at least 2 bibs a day. speaking of which, mommy made the big leap and started back to work 4 days a week when you were exactly 10 weeks old. it was sooo hard for me to leave you the first few times, but i was brave and only cried a little bit. miss darlene watches you from 8:30 to 5:30 tuesday through friday. she says you're good but "only take 30-minute naps." mwahahahaha we've totally spoiled you letting you sleep on us during the day. oopsie. i can't help it - it's the best feeling in the world. a baby sleeping on your chest is just the sweetest. someday you'll see. 

(gee what a lovely drool bib you have!..either that or you've been doing some serious working out)

the grandparents have gone a little crazy with the outfits, but you are moving into some seriously cute ones, which will require me to change and take a picture of you pretty much at 30-minute intervals throughout the day. oh well! unfortunately, you now have less hair than the day you were born so i especially love putting you in headbands (my little blair waldorf), as your hair is currently falling out faster than it's coming in. and man, oh, man, we cannot get enough of those smiles. how i love your beautiful smiles. especially when you get so excited that you squeeze your fists and wiggle around. it's literally the cutest thing. can you even imagine how in love with you we are? it boggles the mind. 

we had a breakthrough the other day when daddy held up an object and you reached out and grabbed it. you solely practice this trick with your left hand (woot! go lefties!!! secretly hoping you're left-handed), but we'll take what we can get. it's quite entertaining. still not so much loving the books, but you will sit and watch daddy play video games like a champ (yes, i'm sure call of duty: world at war is incredibly mind-enriching for our little one daddy...).

(You're trying to eat your Zaboomafoo. I think your eyes are the same size in this picture!)

you're also making some pretty awesome noises at the moment. little short screams and assorted coos. we have some great conversations with your incoherent babbling little self. 

halloween was our first big holiday, and we did it up right with no less than 3 costume changes. you were asleep most of the night, but woke up in good spirits and loving your hula costume!! pretty sure you preferred it to the lion that i made into a lioness with the use of a pink ribbon, but you were so cute in both. 

we just found out the other day that marisa and marc are having a girl AND that aunt jennifer is pregnant!! mommy came home and told daddy who proudly trumpeted that "he'd started it." jaclyn and chad had baby jake just a few weeks ago, and we are way too excited for you to have more little "cousins" to play with! and i'm calling it right now, somebody's kids are gonna get married to somebody else's from our group. it's like, inevitable. just do the math.   :)

My Boo

{5 weeks}
Your main form of communication right now is by grunt, which momy & daddy take to mean you're having tummy issues and are unable to go potty. Poor baby! We asked the doctor about this and of course he says it's normal and there's not much we can do. That led us to try several OTC and natural remedies. My favorite is the "Colic Calm," which has a lovely tar-like color that totally turns your mouth black so you look rather goth when we administer it. And if some dribbles out, you look like super-zombie-baby. (Don't worry, we took pictures).  :)

You don't like us to get anything done (preferring instead to feign sleeping for 15 minutes and then call for us - wide awake). You heart your paci and have a hard time calming down without it. You still love walking outside, which we try to do as often as possible with the fall weather being so nice right now. You're eating well - sometimes even from the bottle (yey!) and actually even started on the 2-hole nip (something we discovered after a couple 40-minute feeding sessions with the single-hole one).


You're not so much into us reading for you just yet, but we try to do it anyway. Oh and sadly, you do have the baby acne.


Milestones in the past couple weeks:
• You keep your own head up pretty darn well, and can follow objects we move in front of you.
• Daddy is convinced that you're partial to Journey because you watch his phone when it plays (don't tell him, but you watch it for Britney, too).
• You flail your arms wildly about when you're surprised or scared. It's pretty cute.
• You definitely recognize mommy and daddy's voices.


Daddy has been coming home for lunch to see you, and we've already attended our first party together (Aunt Loryn's birthday in Winston). That was at 4 weeks! You did pretty good - daddy fed you, Aunt Jaclyn rocked you to sleep, and you stayed asleep most of the rest of the time.


This past weekend, mommy & daddy went solo at Uncle Jay's 30th birthday party while you stayed with Granny Mac. She said you did great. But I have a confession: that wasn't the first time we left you with the grandparents! Mommy & daddy did get out for a 1-hour date when you were 2 weeks old, and you stayed with Mimi Sally & Zade Adam when we celebrated Aunt Jenna's first home purchase when you were 3 weeks.


Got you 2 princess dresses & a bunch more books (though I don't know why... haha) at our neighborhood garage sale this weekend. Love you so much. Still waiting on that smile...  :)

Aliens Among Us

{stork watch: week 25}

We've breached the threshold. Lying down the other night in MiniMac's favorite chair and in her favorite position, I looked down at my belly and actually saw her move. Jon and I were so captivated by the strange alien poking, we probably sat there for a good 30 minutes just staring. It's kind of like a little fishy disturbing the "water." She's still being rather sneaky, though. And only with certain people. She'll let the grandmothers feel her, but my dad has yet to catch her in action. She seems to be playing hide-and-seek with Aunt Heidi (and she's really good at the hiding). I'll feel her rolling around one minute, and the second they reach out a hand she converts to stealth mode. Unfortunately, shoving and verbal threats seem to have no effect at this point.