Everything in her path

Annika has a new hobby - it's called CHOMPING. I've been ignoring the signs of teething for a few weeks now, but it's tough to ignore now that anything she touches winds up in her mouth, and then is blown to smithereens. My finger, Chris's finger, her fingers, the burp rag (yummy!), her blankets, her rattles, her toys - I think you get the picture. Her chomping is accompanied by loud grunting noises. She's basically rabid.

I would show you a picture of her "going to town" as we say over here, but it's kind of unflattering. How about this?

Nico's baptisim

This weekend, Annika attended her first religious service (and not her last, don't worry!) Little Nico Negrete was baptized, and quite a baptism it was! Nico looked spectacular in white, and only cried just a touch during the service. Then afterwards, family and friends went to Nico's house where we ate, drank and were merry.

Annika was very good, despite the fact that she woke up at 4:30 that morning and would not go back to sleep (very unusual for her). Her daddy refused to leave her in the crib wide awake, so they both got up for the day. (Notice how Mommy didn't have the same experience). Because of this, Annika slept through most of the after party which is also unusual for her - she tends to take 20-30 minute cat naps, as opposed to 2 hour marathons. It is also important to note that she looked adorable in a new dress.

You asked for it

Milestone madness. Little Annika is impressing me with her developmental achievements daily. Here are some updates -

1. She smiles quite a bit. Her smile is essentially her mouth wide open - looks like she's about to scream, but the corners of her mouth turn up enough that we can call it a smile. Things that make her smile - Mommy or Daddy making faces at her, the fish tank and her play mat. Sometimes her own reflection makes her smile.

2. She laughed - once. We were playing peek-a-boo for the first time (previous attempts were aborted quickly when she started to make the cry face), and she was sooo excited. Lots of big mouth smiles, and finally a little giggle! We have only heard it once, but I am excited for more.

3. She rolls! I was kind of hoping it would never happen since I didn't want to have to watch her every move on elevated surfaces - like the bed and changing table - but she rolled yesterday! The experts say that rolling occurs usually because the baby wants something - a toy, etc. However, I am pretty sure Annika just wanted to roll. She was on the playmat and I was watching her. With a few grunts and lots of attempts to swing her body around, about 10 minutes later she was on her tummy! When she got there, her arm was still pinned underneath her, so finding that uncomfortable, she propelled herself back to her back in one fell swoop. She tried a little bit again today, but I am getting the impression that she was happy to do it once and feels no need to do it again. At least today.

4. She reads! OK, not really - but she does allow me to read entire books to her. We read The Very Hungry Caterpillar and The Cat in the Hat. She actually stays still and listens to me for both books - and Dr. Seuss is long! She also touches the butterfly at the end of The Very Hungry Caterpillar which is so cute.

Those are the latest and greatest accomplishments. I'm sure there will be many more.

It's in the name

I just love Annika's name. I do. I'm not ashamed! My husband was fond of the name, if not as ecstatic as I was - though he did (for all intents and purposes) get to pick her middle name (which I also love). However, it still surprises me that some people have a tough time pronouncing it or spelling it, or sometimes just are completely confused.

Perhaps I should have expected that from the fact that it doesn't break the Top 100 in the U.S. for girls names? Perhaps I should have expected that when we chose a clearly European name? Or maybe I should have had a clue when the majority of folks we shared the name with pronounced it "Anne-ika" (as opposed to Ahn-nika)?

We chose the name for a few reasons - 1) we wanted something not too common (check), 2) something classic sounding (so it seemed to me) 3) and something that was easy to pronounce and spell. Hahahahaha - I really thought it was!

But the name is making some strides! Annika Sorenstam is the top women's golfer in the world (sorry Michelle Wie). Even Barbie plays Princess Annika in a straight-to-DVD movie (her prince's name is Aidan). It was even a victim's name in Law & Order: SVU!

I suppose the only person's opinion who matters is Annika's herself. I can't wait until she can tell us what she really thinks! And if she mispronounces her own name, I will laugh! :D

Featuring...

I get a lot of questions and comments about Annika's features. Questions consist of "what color are her eyes?" "Where does she get those fat feet??" Comments consist of "Wow, she really doesn't look like Chris" or "I can't believe she has red hair!"

I know it's hard to see what she really looks like in pictures, so let's take a moment to break down my gorgeous daughter's features, one by one...

Hair: Currently her hair is a reddish/blondish. My suspicion is that as she ages, it will become an auburn...like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman after she takes off the blonde wig. For those of you who know my hair well (and I know there are legions of you), her hair is basically my highlights - I have reddish/strawberry highlights that is mostly Annika's hair.

Forehead: She has a huge, protruding forehead. OBVIOUSLY it's to make room for her ample brains.

Eyes: This is the question I get the most - what color are her eyes? When she was first born, she had a newborn's inky blue eyes but they have started to transform to a lovely hazel. I know many in my family were looking forward to some baby blues, but nope - she's her own person! They say that eye color can continue to change up to one or even two more years - so keep asking the question, because the answer could change!

Body (torso): She's chubby, what can I say? Though it appears that her body type is a long torso/short leg variety.

Legs: More chubbiness. They also resemble chicken drumsticks. Mmmmmmm...chicken.

Skin color: OK, yes, she tends to resemble my lighter than light skin. The good news is that the tone of her skin is less pink and more yellowish - so I am holding out hope that she will tan! Now, let's not go blaming me completely - she is 3/4 Caucasian!

So if there are any other features of my beautiful daughter you'd like details about, just let me know. The thing is, the whole package is wicked cute and beautiful. And she gets prettier every day! That ain't no lie!

My favorite Italian

Chris has a nice setup at his job at the Santa Clara Valley Water District. He works what they call "9-8-9's" which means - I'm not clear on the complexities - that he gets every other Friday off. And occassionally said Fridays coincide with Holiday Mondays. And this is why Christopher Columbus is my favorite Italian.

Anyway, we used this long weekend to go see Annika's paternal grandparents who reside in the greater Sacramento area. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that a set of Chris's cousins would also be joining us this weekend - the Arientes, who have wonderful taste in clothes and food. And then, the weekend got more wild (appears to be a theme) when we got to see the newest addition to the Solis family - baby Ally who was born last week, weighing in at a whopping 6 pounds, 8 ounces. I have never held a baby so tiny, because we know Annika was never, ever that small (and never will be, that's for sure). She was sweet and adorable and hopefully slept that night since she slept pretty much the whole time the family was visiting.

We also got to see the Mahers who read this blog, but don't vote in polls. (Hi Tina!)

The best part about this weekend was that Mommy & Daddy got to spend some much needed alone time. Grandma and Grandpa Hakes were just wonderful with Annika and were happy to be rid of us, I think. :) We were able to go shopping and even gambling! (Don't ask if we won.) However, though it was absolutely great to see and speak with Chris for longer than ten minute stretches without interruption, each time we came back to our baby, I just couldn't believe how much I missed her. I find that I appreciate and love her so much more every day, and it just grows when she's out of my sight. My baby girl is just the most perfect, gorgeous thing, and it was a blessing to find out that being away from her is a gift, but being with her is simply precious.

I'm gushing, so I'm going to stop now. (Ridiculous beanies courtesy of Uncle Ben).

Weekend gone wild

The goal as of late has been to keep weekends low key so Annika stays on a decent schedule and doesn't get too excitable. So even when we actually have plans, they're pretty low key.

This weekend, Cool Aunt Tori came to visit. Cool Aunt Tori was in Mommy's wedding and is one of my best friends of all time...I think we've known each other for 15 years? Jeez! Sometimes I only feel like I'm 15 years old, let alone have friends for that length of time....but I digress.

Continuing her streak of a) being good for company (people she sees more than once/week like Godmommy Lisa don't count!) and b) enjoying people with darker hair (again, Lisa, you don't count), Annika quite enjoyed her Tori time. She was in wonderful spirits most of the time they were together, and Tori's flexibility allowed for Annika to maintain a very solid schedule and not get too "worked up" as we like to say at Casa Hakes. Annika also discovered her affinity for America's Next Top Model after watching four hours in a row on VH1. (Social Services - please don't take away my baby!)

Then on Sunday, Annika went on her first charitable mission. The Hakes Family joined Team "For Angie" (in loving memory of a wonderful lady, Angie Santos) at the annual Walk D'Feet ALS in Los Gatos. Though she didn't actually "walk" - for obvious reasons, and for the fact that her eating time coincided just perfectly with the start of the walk - she was there to support Angie's friends and family. It was a great excuse to get her outdoors, too, which is not as often as I'd like. Now, according to me, Annika was an angel for the event, but you might want to check with Daddy who actually sat out the walk with her to feed her with a cold bottle...you can imagine that's her FAVORITE. Oh yeah - and as I understand, there was poo as well (you ask for poo, people, and you get it!)