You Like To Move It, Move It...

{5 months & some change}
You now do a reverse army or upside-down crawl when lying on your back where you pull your legs in and then shoot upward like an inchworm. Aaah the beginning of mobility. Help. You are also a teeter-sitter in that you can basically sit up all by yourself, but after a little while you lose your balance and topple sideways in a very cute manner (we try to catch you when you threaten to fall forward onto your sweet face). Your ninja kicks are getting very fast now, and you enjoy doing a little tap dance for our entertainment when standing. You ambushed daddy when he tried to kiss you the other day and laid a roundhouse square on his nose (that's my girl!). 

Your fav game in recent days is "light as a feather, stiff as a board." Well, not so much the light as a feather part. But you seem to find it necessary to suddenly straighten and stiffen your little self when held at a certain angle. Much to daddy's elation, bouncing is now fun for you and elicits a gummy grin that he can't summon enough. He practices the (low) throw and catch maneuver with great success. You really look like you're processing everything now. Of course, you've always had that look about you, but the wheels are turning faster these days. I can see it. Daddy is not ready for you to start with the "mama, dada" yet since that will apparently signal you've reached adulthood (or, at the very least, that you're no longer a baby).

Can you hear me down there?

{MLK day}

daddy had off today, and when the crud seemingly wasn't disappearing on its own, he called the pediatrician helpline to see if there was something more we could do. she told him to take your temperature and see if you had a fever. keep in mind, though ear thermometers are supposed to function with minimal effort, daddys don't always know how to work them. so when yours couldn't get it to register and the lady suggested "taking the rectal temperature," he just removed it from your ear and shoved it in the bum (so sorry about that honey). and when that didn't work, he realized that one of the protective caps was on and felt the need to reattempt the measurement sans cap. you poor thing. needless to say, we won't be using that thermometer again. nor will daddy be taking your temperature...

and speaking of ears, i cannot apologize enough if you develop a complex about your right one. for one reason or another, it simply will not stay back. when we hold you, put you in your carseat or lean you up against anything, your right ear folds over and refuses to straighten out! mommy will continue to manually pin it whenever i take note of this occurrence but fear that at this point, it may simply be too late. short hair could be an impossibility for you, my dear. i'm just sayin.

(protruding right ear can be observed here. it's ok though 'cause you'll get hair...someday)

(and you're so cute it won't matter! love the hands on the knees in this one, btw)

iCare/Daycare

{21 weeks}

daycare sucks. not for you; for me. i hate that they take you away from me, and that i have to work and can't keep you at home and watch you myself. but i know deep down that you're probably having more fun there than you would with me anyway, and you're actually learning things i might not be able to teach you (currently, you are "working on sitting"). they even had a cute little cubby and labels in the fridge and around the room for you before you got there. however, it does not help when i come to pick you up and they're like "oh she smiles all day; she has the best smile!" and then i come over for a love break and i get no smiles!!! dangit wth. ok so this doesn't happen everytime and you do sometimes beam at the sight of us, but seriously - you could at least pretend that you're happy i'm there and anxious to come home...  ;)   mommy is just insecure, though. i know this. when i had to drop you off on monday for the first time, it took Mimi Sally a good 10 minutes to talk me down in the parking lot  (and caused her a good scare when she answered the phone) because i was too upset to drive away. it was your "mommy? where are you going? face" as i left that stuck the bubble in my chest. ouch my heart hurt to leave you. this is why daddy shall do it from now on (except under extremely extenuating circumstances). 

unfortunately, since starting daycare, you have developed "the crud." this snot-infused, Darth Vader-sounding congestion presents itself at night and causes you difficulty breathing. at least it seems like it's difficult. i call you my little love dragon because you also tend to hiss. you HATE when we use the snot-sucker (a-hem nasal aspirator excuse me) to restore your air passages, but it gets the job done. of course, even after propping you up in your crib and getting a humidifier with Vicks insert for your room, one of us ends up transferring you to our bed in the middle of the night or early morning. we should just start you there - I think you sleep better with us (funny - mommy sleeps worse. not that i mind).   :)


*disclaimer: daddy did want me to mention that he offered to take on the responsibility of dropping you off from the start because he knew how hard it would be on mommy, and this was an isolated incident. i'll be better next time, i promise. 


bonus: your mimi has a short day on Thursdays and is going to be picking you up early when she can to spend the rest of the day with her. she did this for the first time last week, but forgot that your stay would probably require a diaper change and didn't have any on-hand. consequently, you were returned to us wearing this:

why yes, actually, that is, in fact, a puppy pad. 

needless to say, i changed you at once (as soon as i picked myself up off the floor and stopped laughing). 

Your Happy Place(s)

{21 weeks}

things that make you happy: 

• letting Hanna lick your hands and trying to feel her teeth (thank you Lord that she turned out to be such a good dog and just lets you - even when you grabbed onto her lip and pulled during one particular play-session and mommy had a heart palpitation that she was going to respond negatively. give that dog a treat!).

(no, you don't have pink jaundice; we just need a different camera. sorry baby)

• lying on your back and chewing on your feet (preferably whilst naked - you also babble like a crazywoman when you do this).

• taking baths. though you've become even more active in recent weeks and splash water like an overgrown orca calf, bathtime is also one of my favorite times with you. your current inclination is to grab the washcloth and feverishly suck the liquid from its grasp. since this seemingly cannot be prevented, i try to let you do so before things get too soapy.  ;)

• putting everything in your mouth. 

• getting to sleep. you are most fussy when tired and unable to fall asleep. when this happens, you must be aided by one of your soft blankie-bears or blankie-bunny, which you grasp tightly and flail around in a stirring motion. when the stirring radius tightens and covers your face, i know you're almost down. you also like being wrapped up and rocked (but really, who doesn't? i bet i'd sleep well too if someone put me down that way!)

• not toys [yet]. you are amused by pretty much everything but the toys that were lovingly purchased for you for christmas. i'm sure you'll get there, but i was just so thrilled to realize that 6 months seems to be the start of the "real toys" and you're getting close!! [sidenote: it was upon this realization that mommy in fact went a little crazy at Target and bought up a few 6mo+ toys, thinking that with your advanced development, you'll be playing with them any time now! isn't it interesting how when you go into Target as a parent, you no longer come out with shirt or pair of shoes, but rush straight to the kids section and end up with nothing for yourself?]  ;)

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.  

Everyday Rarities

{almost 20 weeks}
caught daddy washing you in the tub the other day PATTING your pikachu to clean it. this was most hilarious to mommy, who immediately felt obligated to explain that patting may not be the best cleansing option, and that wiping with a washcloth is totally appropriate father behavior. 

i read on babycenter that you're supposed to like getting a lotion massage after your bath, so i keep giving you one in hopes that you'll grow to appreciate it..  i'm pretty sure you hate it. 

your fondness for acrobatics is becoming a challenge during changing.. i'm convinced you purposely grab your feet to discourage proper diaper application. and if you're not grabbing them, you're practicing ninja kicks. this also makes clothing administration semi-impossible. 

gave you your first taste of applesauce this week. you seem to want to feed yourself since you pretty much grab the spoon from our hands (i think you like applesauce), but as i'm sure will often be the case, there was more on you than in you at the conclusion of feeding. 

i'm still perplexed as to what kind of play you actually enjoy, but you sat in the exersaucer and swatted at things for a good 20 minutes the other day. sadly, the jumper is basically just a suspender at this point until you figure out how to bounce. however, you did roll over (from back to front!) yesterday. it only happened once, and i fear it may have been a hallucination since you've been on back lockdown ever since, and refuse to repeat the phenomenon. i know you're saving it for that second i take my hand off you when you're on the couch or bed or changing table and you launch yourself off. you're testing me, aren't you?

Ansley's Anslers

{nearing 19 weeks}

1 toy rocking horse, a pint-sized barstool, 1 jumper (well.. more like a "twister" at this point), several trips to target and countless cute outfits later: christmas = done. whew. 

since everyone kept telling us this was the year to save money, we more or less let you sleep through the festivities. sorry about that, but i promise to make it up to you in christmases to come which i'm sure will find you spoiled out of your mind and high on candy canes and cocoa (that or eating wrapping paper and playing with boxes).

most of your items probably won't be used until you're a tad older anyway (see above list), so as aunt heidi says "you'll be alright."

now, for the all about ansley section:

1. you have fans. i get requests on a regular basis for more pics of you (and not just from the grandparents). i don't know what i was thinking trying to keep up "the daily ansley." it has now turned into "the occasional ansley" and i fear the masses may riot if i don't give them more you with a quickness.

2. you are one flexible little noodle. it's not really a surprise when you grab your feet these days, but last week daddy caught you putting one in your mouth. that can't be sanitary but we'll allow it. and if we sit you up, you slump over almost in half like a little gorilla. it's quite cute. 

3. you still like to stand. unless you're sleeping or eating, it's your preferred position. i think you enjoy being up at our level, but it makes for a very tired mommy. if i even attempt to put you on your stomach, you "fake cry" (then real cry) or push up and roll right over onto your back (it's your newest trick ;)  which i'm sure you think is pretty clever. at this rate, you may just bypass the crawling thing altogether and go right to standing. yikes. if standing is not an option, you demand that we walk you around in an outward-facing fashion. it's kind of like you're riding around in the crook of our arms. you even cross your feet (and thus wiggle off any of those pesky sock-things we keep trying to apply). 

4. you put everything in your mouth. apparently this is absolutely normal for a child your age, but it's still funny. if we lay you down on your back and hover over you, your current instinct is to grab for the face and try to fit it in your little mouth (which you open as wide as possible in a birdlike manner). there is lots of drool involved, but i consider it a baby kiss and therefore love every minute of it.

(daddy demonstrating the "baby kiss")

5. you've thrown your first tantrum. whether it was teething or sleepiness or just not feeling like yourself, i don't know, but right before your 4-month checkup you started refusing to eat (or stopping in the middle of eating) and screaming loudly and angrily like a wounded dinosaur. it sounded painful (to both of us), so we as new parents obviously freaked out and rushed you to the doctor - who basically told us that you seemed fine and if you got hungry enough, you'd eat. 

...he was right... 

6. you're starting to show preferential treatment to mommy and daddy. though i secretly feel honored, i also don't want you to ignore others and am poised to discourage this behavior should it get out of hand. there are too many people who love you for us to keep you all to ourselves all the time.

7. my darling, i fear we may eventually need a paci (nuk, bink, pipe, dummy) intervention. when you are upset, it is about the only thing that calms you. so of course we have a plethora of them in a wide selection of brands and colors. we are trying to teach you to manually reinsert them yourself. i'll let you know how it goes. it is helpful to attach them to a leash, since you take pleasure in spitting one out and then whining about its disappearance. 

8. your current favorite toys are soft things with texture - one in particular that i have dubbed porcupuppy, since it looks kind of like a gummy cross between the two species. daddy asked its name the other day and since porcupuppy was all i could come up with, has taken to calling it "pp" for short. he finds this most amusing and enjoys referring to you "playing with your pp." unfortunately, after mommy sterilized porcupuppy aka pp, his spikes seems irreversibly sad and damaged. but no worries - mimi and your hero daddy won you a replacement in the movie theater claw game!  except that this one doesn't have a face, so it just looks like a hairy blue ball. 

oh crap...

9. you coo and babble like its your job. sometimes you emit strange gurgling noises. and sometimes i swear you've formulated a word (like "hi!" or "hannah"). i'm pretty sure your first phrase will be "HANNAH NO!" or "no, ma'am." the most recent casualty at her paws was one of your favorite pacis. 

10. you love hannah. she fascinates you, and you live for the rare moments when we actually let her come up and lick your hands (after which we promptly sanitize them). i think the feeling is mutual. bo, on the other hand, treats you like you have baby-cooties and will not linger within 3 feet of you for more than 30 seconds at a time. if we set you down next to him when he's lounging, he promptly (or as promptly as an old arthritic man can muster) gathers himself up, does a 180 and saunters off. jerk. (don't worry i'm sure he'll realize he loves you soon enough).

11. you are becoming my mini-me... in an i'm-so-picky-i-only-drink-my-milk-at-a-certain-temperature way. dangit. 

you prefer your milk warm, and goodness help us minions if it's not prepared to your liking. heads will roll (or eardrums burst). and of course you sleep best when swaddled (i'm sure because it's most like being cradled in our loving arms. how annoyingly sweet). but seriously, you conk right out as soon as we wrap you up and put in the plug. daddy likes to tell you "you will go to sleep, or i will put you to sleep (a la ben stiller in happy gilmore)" and then do so.