Happy Mother's Day!

May all you mommies be as lucky as I am, and may you all be reminded of how far you've come.

Bigger house, smaller wallet

Some of you may know that our house is undergoing a remodel. The plan is to add an extra bedroom, extra bathroom, remodel the master bath and kitchen and a few other things here and there.

So far, it hasn't been so bad. The workers are outside most of the time, framing the parts of the house that are exterior to the current interior (does that make sense?). They come early every morning and wake up Annika, who says at that moment, "I don't like the construction workers!" But as we leave each morning, she gives them a big smile and says hi. Fickle pickle, that one.

We get some commonly-asked questions about our remodel - I'll do my best to answer them.

Q: Why are you doing this?
A: Our house feels small with a Momma, Daddy, Baby and her four thousand toys.

Q: Why don't you just move into a bigger house?
A: Many of you may be familiar with the Bay area housing market and school districts. Long story short: We're priced out of our own area, and remodeling is actually more cost effective. Oh, and I live five minutes from work.

Q: Does Annika understand what is happening?
A: Oh yes, for the most part. In fact, this weekend we need to move her out of her room into our office/toy room because they need access to that side of the house. She is pretty excited about living in her toy room. She also thinks it's very nice of the construction workers to "make us a bigger house."

Q: Will you be living in the house throughout the remodel?
A: Heck no! Much, much love to my ridiculously generous in-laws.

Q: Will your house be totally "fly" when it's done?
A: Heck yeah!

Q: Have you ever used that Port-a-Potty in a pinch?
A: EW!

Q: So, you're making a bigger house, with an extra bedroom and bathroom...ummmm....do you have something to announce today?
A: No, I do not. Bur for the record, Annika says that she would like a baby sister, and "you (meaning Momma) can have the baby brother."

Annika's first wedding.

No silly, Annika didn't get married! Uncle Tony did.

Loved the dancing. Loved the cake. Loved the veil. (Yeah, that's the real one...don't ask).

Congratulations to two amazing people who don't read this blog!

Confessions of a bad Momma

I'm not a perfect mother.

Confession #1: I let Annika eat "bad" food. Yep, that's a french fry you see dangling from her perfect pink lips. And you know what...it's not her first trip to the french fry rodeo. She eats fried chicken with more ranch dressing than at a salad bar and sometimes simply uses the chicken as a ranch transfer system where she just licks, licks, licks. I tell myself...maybe some protein is finding its way to her by way of chicken crumbs?

Confession #2: She watches TV. A lot of it. She can quote some (ok, a lot of) SpongeBob episodes. She can sing most words to Diego's opening song, even the Spanish ones. She knows that Momma's favorite TV show is Scrubs and that JD can be a moron. She expects the TV to be on. I'm so very proud. (that's sarcasm)

Confession #3: I give in. She wants something...a lot of the times she'll get it. I will proudly proclaim that I'm probably the one person who pushes back the most in her life (a-hem, Chris), but come on...she says please and tells me I'm beautiful...what is a Momma to do? Well, I'll tell you what a Momma is to do - Baby gets to stay up for another two episodes of SpongeBob!

Confession #4: I buy her a lot of crap. For a short time, there was even an unofficial rule that she could get one thing every time we went to a store.  Every time. Not that she was asking for designer jeans, but well, expectations were set. We've (sorta) broken her of that habit, but she gets a lot of stuff. Cute rockstar sunglasses at Gap?  Check. The 15th bouncy ball from the drugstore ball bin? Check. A Halloween sippy cup with a witch on it that scares her? Oh yeah - check. 

Confession #5: I like to go out with my husband. Without the baby. 

Confession #6: I still call her Baby. (sub-confession: I'm ok with that one.)

I write these confessions as a cathartic measure. But maybe the dirtiest confession is that I'm ok with these mistakes (most of the time...someday she's getting brussel sprouts with dinner without ranch!) Annika is so amazing and knows we love her, and that I think is the most amazing achievement in parenting - making sure that kid knows she's loved. But for all you mommies out there who maybe have a few confessions of your own...perhaps you can look at this list and feel a little better about yourself.  

Or maybe you do everything right. If so, please write a book and provide detailed instructions.  Thanks.

Giving the people what they want

It's been a while since I've given you an Annika update. Let me break the silence!

Annika is officially a little person. Maybe that sounds odd to you "non-parents" but there is something to be said for someone who can verbalize their wants, ambitions and opinions vs. someone who simply enjoyed the rhythmic musings of a wooden stick and a copper pot. The shorter point is: I can relate to her.

She asks so many questions. LIKE ALL THE TIME. But I have (nearly) endless patience for them, because it helps me understand what interests her and understand what she's observing all around her. She asks a lot about skeletons lately. She wants to know why we have them. And why they're inside our bodies. And why doesn't her stuffed monkey have a skeleton?? (Try answering that one).

She's also afraid of monsters, specifically the monsters in the shadows in her room at night. We've tried to tell her they are friendly shadows and that The Unicorn and Mr. Bear are there to protect her all night (two of her larger skeletonless stuffed friends) and that we would never let a shadow do anything to her. But she doesn't buy it. They bother her. And I understand so much. I was so fearful as a kid. No real reason, I just was. It's worrisome only because I don't ever want her to be afraid of anything, and I want her to trust 100% that we will protect her.

The fears lead to some nightmares. The most vivid and specific she's related to us is about the giant clam that ate her. He was big. He ate her. She screamed, "No No!" Why is a giant clam trying to eat my baby!

Happier news is that she has taken very kindly to her new big girl bed. She likes to draw. She loves to play with her dolls. She loooooves her Daddy. He is her best friend. She loves him so much. She wants him to read her bedtime books. She wants him to change her diaper. Blah, blah, blah... :) I'm not jealous! (Usually).

Every day is a new adventure and there are literally no words to describe how much I love her. I hope that if she decides to have kids some day, she'll understand at that moment what she means to me. I can wait until then.

Just another Sunday night

Halftime

Don't Stop Believen'

The holidays in brief

What Annika Says is Her Favorite Present: Baby Jaguar.

Her Real Favorite Present: Car ramp.

How Many Hours it Took to Get to Grandma & Pop's House: (not including layover in Santa Monica) 9.

How Many Hours it Took to Get Home: 6.

How Many Presents Annika Opened: Too many to count.

How Many Presents We Bought Her: 5.

How Many Cookies Did Annika Put Out for Santa: 3.

How Many Carrots for the Reindeer: 3.

Who Actually Ate Said Cookies & Carrots: It was a group effort.

Most Memorable Moment: Watching Annika take in all the presents under the tree on Christmas morning.

Second Most Memorable Moment: When she begged me to remove her "itchy" (yet perfect) holiday dress.

Best Playmate: Joshua Henry.

Most Exhausted Playmate: Daddy. 

I'd like to thank my parents for hosting us and spoiling us, my brother and his new wife for being the "fun" aunt & uncle, my husband for driving all over creation and my baby for going with the flow, not (yet) showing signs of over-spoiling and being too cute.

Tis the Season

Annika's first Christmas presents of the season came in the form of a Santa Clara University sweatshirt (that's where I met her Daddy!), a Candy Land game she actually can play and a Dora inflatable house ball-thingie from Godmommy, Lisa, Gabs and Nico came. Annika and Nico actually played with each other and everything.

Much fun was had. Chris even bought egg nog ice cream. 

Tastes better than it sounds.

Little known Annika facts

- Annika likes to play with cars. I think we're going to get her a car garage/ramp thing for Christmas.

- She hates to be wrong. If you ask her to do something that she a) doesn't understand or b) doesn't think she can do, she'll either decline, look away or proclaim, "I can't do it!" If you push her a bit, she'll sometimes try to address the task at hand, but she doesn't like taking chances. She 100% gets this from me, because, man, I hate being wrong. (Try not to gasp.)

- Yellow is her favorite color.

- We read her at least two books every night - one on the floor and the other while she's in her bed. She gets to choose who reads: Mommy or Daddy.

- She cannot - and I mean cannot - stand getting water in her eyes. To the point that if she cries, she begs you to wipe away her tears. I'm keeping a watch on this in the event it's actually a medical issue, but I'm thinking that it's actually a case of the drama queens. Chris bought her goggles for the bath. We're having mixed results with that.

- Annika is fascinated by balloons. When she sees one, she must have it. But when she gets it, she either starts to cry or won't let it go. She then gets disturbed when she's in the same car as a balloon. It's all rather strange.

- Annika's favorite song is "Sexy Back." (Note to CPS: Please don't take her away.)

A big girl's bed

She told us that she was too big for her crib. Multiple hundreds of dollars later, we present you with...Big Girl Bed: The Movie & Accompanying Photographs.

She's old

I honestly can't believe how old she is. Not in age, mind you...she's technically not even 2 and a half. But she looks old. She looks like a 4-year old. How does a 4-year old look, you ask?  Old...?  Mature?

Not that she weighs as much as a 4-year old or is as tall as one...she just feels old. What do they call it?  An old soul.

She has a new trick where she repeats everything you say in a form of a question. i.e. "Annika, you can't have that piece of candy." "Can't have that piece of candy???" I call it playing dumb, because she fully understands what you say, but maybe she doesn't want to really know. When pressed on an issue (Annika, what do you want for dinner?) she'll suddenly say, "I don't know!  I'm just a baby!"  Maybe she's picking up on the fact that we treat her beyond her years (less than 2.5 of them) and sometimes needs a break. Me too.  Sometimes I'm just a baby, too. 

Happy Halloween!

Traveling shoes

Annika is a good traveler. We took her to North Carolina last week to visit her GG (Great Grandma) and Uncle Erik (Chris's good friend from college). She powered through a 16-hour travel day getting to the East Coast (losing those three hours is painful), infrequent naps and nothing but Cheerios for three days. But she was awesome. Her GG thought so too. We aren't able to get out there very often and GG doesn't want to travel too far these days (can't say I blame her, traveling is rough!) so this was a special time for Annika to get to know her GG.

Uncle Erik has two adorable (and big!) dogs that Annika quickly befriended. They fell in love with her immediately and if they ever sensed she was in trouble (i.e. complaining because Chris refused her second request for a candy bar) they rushed to her side and barked at the offender. Awesome. We also got to spend some quality time with Erik's wife of one year, Sophia, who makes me wish we lived closer to them. They were wonderful hosts and it's just lame that we live 3,000 miles away from each other.

Also found out that Annika is essentially "between" sizes in Crocs which are a key part of her wardrobe. Never fear - we still cram her feet into the smaller pair she owns. She's ok with that because they're yellow and her favorite color.

Croup-a-cabana

My baby has the croup!

Midnight Saturday morning, Annika woke up with a crazy-sounding cough...we later heard the doctor ask us if it sounded like a seal. Oh, it did. Chris immediately jumped out of bed (he's quick like that) and went into her room where she was just starting to realize that it was hard to breathe. She was sobbing, we were sobbing (on the inside). Chris walked her around the house for a bit to calm her, with little effect. Within minutes I was looking for the phone as her cries got louder and the cough more distinctive. I started to think she might be having an asthma attack. Kaiser has a great nurse advice line which for some reason was...closed! Closed?

I asked Chris if we should call 911, but he said he thought we should go right to the emergency room. My only hesitation there was that if you arrive alone without an ambulance, then you might have to wait longer. But Chris thought the ambulance would be too slow (you can tell we've never called an ambulance) so we started to get ready to head to the hospital.

We raced to the hospital (not too fast, don't worry) and realized that they just opened a new hospital and we didn't know where the entrance was. That was sort of funny. Not really. At this point, I was sitting in the back seat with Annika to keep an eye on her and to make sure she was still breathing. We still weren't sure what was going on, so I still hadn't ruled out choking, and wanted to make sure she could talk. She nodded a bit and said "no" a few times when I asked things, so I was relatively satisfied that choking wasn't the issue.

We arrived at the hospital as she started to cry and cough again, barely being able to take a breath in. It was terrifying. Her wails were so loud that the sick people in the waiting room became silent, listening to the little baby with a bad sickness. I wanted to cry. We were behind a woman who had pain in her legs (pain in her legs?!) and as Annika continued to cry and cough, the nurse pushed the leg lady aside and immediately tested Annika's blood pressure. The nurse asked me quickly "Does she have a history of croup?" I said no, knowing only a little what that was (a bad cough?). They ushered her to a screening room right away while leg lady stood aside. I guess we didn't need the ambulance after all.

Annika couldn't stop crying for much of the beginning of the ordeal. They took about 5 minutes to check her out and then told me they were going to register her. I had visions of her little self in a hospital bed and I almost lost it, but just tried to stay calm. Chris tried to comfort her while I handled the paper work.

In her room she was scared and wanted to leave. At this point, I still didn't really know or understand what they thought she had...I assumed croup, but still didn't have a handle on what exactly it was. (Left my Mayo Medical Bible at home...woops).

When the doctor came in and calmly explained their diagnosis, we came to understand what she had - croup, an imflammation of the airways often caused by a cold or flu virus that gets a little out of control - and we relaxed a bit. She wasn't crying as often and didn't appear that she would have to stay overnight at the hospital.

The treatment was a cool mist mask to soften and enlarge her airways to relieve the cough and help her breathe. Well, feel free to tell me how to convince an already scared toddler that a mask with crazy mist coming out of it is a good thing...well, we failed to convince her. She fought and cried and couldn't understand. So we just decided to calm her and take our time. Thank goodness her curiosity won out as when she calmed, she wanted to get closer to it and we eventually saw the difference in her breathing.

The last hurdle was to take some steroids to fully enlarge her breathing passage to get her some rest that night and to ease the cough. The medicine tasted awful - and though I didn't actually taste it, I could smell it, and the mere smell made me queasy. My poor little girl. She forced it down though and in less than 10 minutes, she was dancing to music on my iPhone. We are so lucky to have that little girl.

She is well on her way to recovery, though she now has a nasty regular-sounding cough - especially when she sleeps. But she's in a good mood and is very patient with the limitations that her sickness presents (i.e. no park, sandbox or pool).

She has been so brave and I can't even tell you how scary and terrifying even the slightest of sicknesses can be to a parent. Well, all of you parents understand, but I just thank God every day that she is as healthy as she is.

Video treat

Recall this!

Imagine my shock to discover that many of Annika's favorite toys were recalled.

Annika received Dora's Talking Dollhouse for her birthday, and it's been her favorite toy ever since. Chris and I had planned on a tricycle for her birthday, but she is long in the torso and short in the legs, so she wouldn't be able to use it right away. We walked by the Talking Dollhouse during a trip to Toys R Us, and a light bulb went off for me. "Pretend" games with dolls (my dolls of choice: Barbies) were my personal joy growing up, and Annika has such a developed imagination that I really liked the idea of continuing to feed that imagination at a reasonable price. It was win-win!

We promptly realized that the Dollhouse was really a Money Pit. Her favorite characters like Diego and Swiper ("No Swiping!") were not included. Furnishing for the home was limited to a purple couch - so we needed a kitchen set, bathroom fixtures and more. We also realized that Dora's parents recently welcomed twins to the family, and we had to get them, too.

It became Chris's mission to fully accessorize the manse once he realized Annika was in love with it. He would watch her walk Boots around (her very favorite) and stick Dora in Mommy's face and demand to "play Dora!" It was actually so sweet to watch Chris really want to encourage Annika with what was turning out to be an educational toy.

I was sickened and saddened after learning of the recall. In the article I link to, Mattel's action is "praised" by a consumer advocacy group for their quick action. Well, I'm not sure if I find it quick enough if my daughter has been playing with these toys for a month. In addition, the recall program is a joke. After you go through their (slooow) website to identify the offending toys, you're asked to "click here" to start processing your request for shipment labels so that Mattel can examine the toys to determine if they're affected. Oh, and the page never loads. Then you have to wait 6-8 weeks to get a voucher to get similarly-priced merchandise.

Wow! Lucky me - we get to tell Annika that she can't play with her favorite toys any more because they may make her sick, then we get to wait 2 months to get vouchers to buy more cheap crap from a brand I no longer trust. Yes, Mattel, you sure deserve all that praise. We really appreciate your swift action.

Out and about

We just love putting her hair in pigtails (ponytails?). This addresses my quandary from a previous post...she is getting better about allowing us to put her hair up but when she's out and about she prefers to let it hang loose. Fair enough. I can compromise. Life with a 2-year-old is all about compromise.

Annika had her 2-year check-up last week and the doctor, a rather reserved chap (WARNING: BRAGGING ALERT) offers up this gem: "Wow! She is really talking very well. Very clearly and in sentences. I rarely see this with a child her age, and generally I hope that they can speak 50 words. Her vocabulary is very impressive!"

A moment of silence for her burgeoning genius.

She also weighs in at 30 pounds and is 34.5 inches tall. To spare you an Internet search, that means she's about 80th percentile in weight and 75th for height. He said that tracks nicely and "whatever you're doing is working." We'll also pull her off whole milk and start with lowfat. It starts so very early.

The Negretes took us for a free ride (no pun intended) to Gilroy Gardens this Sunday. Most people outside of Northern California (and let's face it - most of us within NoCal) have no idea what Gilroy Gardens is. My understanding is that the place makes no money, but for toddler-aged kids; this place is perfect. Not too crowded, rides built for the little ones, and nicely manicured landscaping. Maybe the last part isn't so interesting to a toddler, but I found it pleasing.

What I found a little odd about the place is that there was a walking garlic character (apparently named "Gil") with very short arms. Annika happens to worship anything in a big puffy/fuzzy suit (see Chuck E Cheese and Lou Seal) so she was all over it. I am also pleased to report Gil did not smell of garlic. He gave her a high five and was quite friendly. Little Nico reported that he had purple shoes.

I told Chris that taking Annika to theme parks and/or other family outings to engage and entertain her makes me feel more like a parent. It feels responsible and selfless to find activities uniquely designed for her. It also feels good. I just love watching her have fun. (P.S. Also makes up for quite a few trips to the mall & Starbucks).

But seriously...

Garfield asked me yesterday to give her an update on me...not Annika. What does that even mean?? But seriously folks, there is no me without Annika anymore. She is my life, my love, my everything. Doesn't mean that I don't do things without her...I go to work everyday, I sometimes go to dinner with my friends sans el bebe and Chris and I even manage to sneak away once in a (great) while. But we always want to go back. We are in love - with each other and with her. Ok, ok - enough cheese.

To illustrate some of this, Chris and I had a short weekend together in May to attend my brother's wedding. I like this picture because it looks like we actually enjoy each other's company...don't worry; it's all for show. I kid! But seriously folks, we do enjoy each other, though our alone time is limited and the strains of full-time jobs and a full-time baby sometimes get to us. We are absolutely not perfect, but we definitely try to get it right. If someone could carve me out enough time after work to make dinner, play with Annika, give her a bath, put her to bed, provide some lovely chat time with my husband and get me to bed by 9:30 - CALL ME!

So you don't go Annika-less, here's a picture of her at the Apple Store in Palo Alto when I was there for the iPhone launch. Man, that was crazy. But seriously folks, I am so lucky to have a husband (and even parents - if you squint, you can see my mom in the background) who rolls with the punches and simply handles the business when the demands of my job literally keep me from handling the demands of my real life. That weekend was Annika's birthday, but everyone's patience and understanding really got me through it. I don't even think Annika noticed that I was working...which was awesome. We even managed to squeeze in a party. And a lot of presents.

Garfield - enough rambling. To answer your question: I'm (but seriously) doing great. Thanks for asking.

I'm not old!

Annika, how old are you?

I'm one.

Nooo! Annika...how old are you?

I'm one.

Annika! You're two!!!

I'M NOT OLD!

True story.

She is older, and of course, wiser. She needs longer legs, though - still can't pedal the two (yes, two - it's a theme) tricycles she received for her birthday. She asked us to sing her the happy birthday song twice...yes, yes, a theme I tell you!

I'm sorry for the delay between posts. Nothing delights me more than telling you about her triumphs, but it's been a rough month. Never fear - there is light at the end of the iTunnel.

Random updates: She speaks in complete sentences...she can swim on her own (with a delightful inner tube-like device that makes her feel like she's swimming)...she heard Uncle BB's voice on the answering machine and knew it was him, despite the fact that she's only seen him twice in the last 6 months...she's going to North Carolina in August to see her GG and Uncle Erik...she wears a 2T...she is a Daddy's girl...she loves to bounce on the bed with Grandma...she always asks where Pop is when he leaves the room...she still pinches Nana, but Nana loves it...only Papa can get her out of the car...Uncle Ben makes her giggle...Nico is her best friend...Braden is trying to kill her (don't be alarmed)...no plans for a brother or sister (right now at least).

Much love!

It's been a while...

...but she's still cute.

Heard around the house

Annika's linguistic prowess continues to amuse and amaze us. I thought I'd share with you some of her greatest hits:

"You make me feel better."
"Don't sit on the book, Momma!"
"What was that?"
"Where did he go?"
"Daddy's at work!"
"Daddy is sleeping."
"Daddy is funny."
"Don't cry, Momma."
"Are you sad, Momma?"
"I like you."
"I don't want to change the diaper."
"I don't want to brush the teeth."
"Smells like poo poo."
"Nana is at the house."
"Pop is in the bathroom."
"Where are the jellyfishes???"
"Don't sing!"
"Don't touch me!"
"Don't tickle me!"
"Sing!"
"Tickle!"
"I love you, too."

"You are nice, Momma."

Annika actually said that to me today! Wow. It really does only get better.

I love you, Baby Girl! You're nice, too.

Baby wire

There's a lot of things we do right. I won't go into those things because there are soooooo many (uh huh). But there's one thing we do wrong. It's called baby wire.

Annika loves USB cables, cell phone chargers, HDMI cables, power adapters....just loves them. She either refers to them as "that's mine!," "baby wire" or "the cord."

Maybe you're thinking "she's on her way to becoming a computer engineer!" And though that may be the case, I can assure you that her interest doesn't stop at merely being in the presence of these precious goods. Oh no - she usually has to wrap them around herself. Sometimes around her neck.

My parents visited this weekend and I think they were pretty appalled by baby wires. And I was too, at first. But they give her so much joy. Is that so wrong? IS IT?

On the brighter side, she also is obsessed with "wipies." In fact, we can sometimes use them as a treat. As in, "Annika, if you brush your teeth, I'll give you a wipie." She stands below you jumping (which is more like an awkward prance) and begging...sort of like a doggie.

I would say that she's weird, but I remember who her parents are and I let it go.

Bad hair day

Dudes, what am I supposed to do about this kid's hair? It's all over the place. It's thin, it's wispy and she refuses to wear hair clips. Seriously, anyone have toddler hair advice? Because I'm listening.

In completely unrelated news, Annika counts to 20.

Why my baby isn't "the most beautiful"

Chris's Aunt Joan (who is beautiful in her own right) commented on the last post, "You should have entered her in Regis & Kelly's most beautiful baby contest. She would have won, hands down!" Aunt Jo, we did submit her (picture we used to the left) - in 2006! And she didn't win. I'll give you a moment to recover.

When I first heard about this contest a year ago (we submitted her in January 2006), I actually - with every fiber of my being - really believed that Annika had a shot at it. I'm comfortable with admitting that I have, ahem, rose-colored glasses when it comes to my Tiny, but I knew that I could take a pretty good picture of her cuteness and capture it well enough to make a compelling case for world domination, ergh, I mean for "the most beautiful baby." In fact, not only did I hold a mini photo shoot after I learned of this contest, I also perused my arsenal of the cutest photos I had. In addition, I turned the images into a slideshow set to music (James Blunt's "Beautiful" - no one has ever accused me of being subtle).

I sent the picture waiting to be contacted. And nothing. I went on the site a week or so later and found that the top 5 finalists had been named...and Annika wasn't on the list. The travesty. The injustice.

I have a theory as to why she didn't make the cut. When the finalists were posted on the site, I was literally quite shocked. Now, I'm not going to contest the cuteness of the finalists, they were pretty cute. And you have to assume they'll include a fair mix of boys to girls - i.e. 3/2 or 2/3 ratio, so Annika's chances were already nearly cut in half. Also, the contest's rules ask for "babies" 6 to 48 months. Now, I am no pediatrician, but a 48-month old baby is way freaking older than a 6-month old. And they look a lot different - more hair, more defined features, more lithe bodies. In fact, when I think 'baby', my mental cutoff is probably about 24 months (that means 2 years to non-parents). Basically, comparing an actual baby to a grown child will net strange (and not necessarily accurate) results. I think a 4-year old "baby" is stupid. Sorry. I said it.

Also, I wanted to note that although they leave the ultimate "winner" to the viewers (through an online vote of the final five) I don't think it's a coincidence that the winner in 2006 was a little boy was definitely not the cutest of the bunch but just happened to take the best magazine cover shot. (Part of the prize is to be on the cover of Parents Magazine). I'm not crying foul or anything...but come on!

Anyway, the ultimate winner wound up being a little boy who was probably 2 and a half. He was cute, I guess. They had only one "real" baby - a 10-month old little girl that looked exactly like Annika. I swear she did. And while I watched the live broadcast of this very special episode of parental competition gone wrong, I also noted that this 10-month old had none of the personality that Annika had at her age at the time (8 months). Fine, this little girl was cute. But beautiful? Beauty is more than red cheeks.

I realized at that time that this contest was ridiculous and certainly not a measure of anyone's worth. (I might have known that before I entered her, but that's not the point). Annika is beautiful for so many reasons that a digital image would never - could never - capture her sense of humor, her fear of balloons or her sticky fingers. Everything that goes into Annika is beautiful, and I am much more beautiful for having her in my life. Regis and Kelly are stupid! Yeah, I said it.

So, perhaps you ask - is this why you didn't enter her this year? Heck no! I hadn't heard about it! I told you no one ever tells me anything.

Annika in 2008!

Chatty Kathy

Annika likes to talk. Annika likes to yell. Annika has a lot of things memorized.

My little girl

Why does my 20-month old baby look like a 4-year old in this picture? Stop growing!

Wake up, People!

Um, hello. Why didn't anyone tell me about this?

Best weekend ever

This post won't be all about Annika. So proceed at your own risk.

Last Wednesday (February 14 for those who are keeping track) Chris and I exchanged presents. I gave him "semi-private" golf lessons since he has an awesome set of golf clubs that he never uses, and he is hesitant to play because he doesn't think he's very good. The "semi-private" part comes in where his wife gets in the way and takes a lesson with him. I know you're thinking "Let the man have something to himself!" but really - I promise - he actually wants me there. Isn't that great?

Chris came to have lunch with me at work that Wednesday and arrived with red roses. I was shocked at how beautiful they were since well, it was Valentine's Day and roses aren't usually of the highest quality. They were awesome, lasted quite a while and turned a few heads at work. Yes, I am spoiled, I know...and I still haven't got to the best part.

Wednesday night we exchanged those presents. Annika loves presents so she was there while we opened. I also gave her a little something (a tiny pink purse with red hearts) that she opened with gusto. Then her daddy handed her something and told her to give it to me. It was a wrapped set of papers an she hurried over to hand it to me. She said, "Open, please!" I was surprised that there was something else beyond the lunch and the flowers...but I wasn't complaining.

Chris had booked a two-night stay at the Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay. I have literally talked about going there for 4 years. And it was as awesome as I expected. The weather was perfect there (surprising, because Half Moon Bay is known for being much colder than the rest of the Bay area) and we had a coastal view room with a window seat! I love window seats! We went to a fancy dinner and went to downtown Half Moon Bay and just hung out and relaxed. So yes, Annika wasn't invited and though we talked about her about 98% of the time, I think it was long overdue. One of the many things people forget to tell you when you have kids is that it's pretty darn hard to find time to be with your spouse. Half Moon Bay was just what the doctor ordered.

So you may be asking, what did I do to deserve this? Absolutely nothing. All I did was pick the perfect guy.

Deshi

There are some interesting/weird things that Annika does. The one that makes me laugh the most is "deshi." For about three months she said "deshi" for things she didn't know the words for. Deshi usually meant "What is this?" but sometimes it meant "Oh, I know what this is" or "Come over here" or "My feet smell." Basically, we had no idea what it was, so we tried to fill in the blanks.

I haven't heard her say deshi for a few weeks now. This makes me sad. There are so many quirky things she does that make me smile, and before we know it, she's onto the next thing.

We have a baby book that I blow the dust off of about every three months or so, and then it's a mad dash to remember everything she's done. I usually get a kick out of my old baby book(s) (yes - my mom had two...I have no idea why) and recently discovered that I really only started talking around 20 months. Annika has been chatting for much longer, and it's things like that I want to be able to tell her. "Annika, even though you get D's in school, at 18 months you were totally super smart. Check out this baby book for proof..."

It became clear to me recently that this blog is an extension of her baby book. My intent had always been to keep family and friends updated on her life - especially those who live outside the Bay area. But now I believe I am writing this for her - so she has a taste for how much she means to us and to learn a little more about herself along the way. Now I need to figure out how to print this out before the Internet becomes obsolete. BECAUSE YOU KNOW IT WILL.

Keeping promises

A quick photo retrospective of the last few months, starring Annika. If you would like to read the latest on the little girl, check out my post below.

Annika likes to laugh. Annika likes books.

The big idea with this pic was to get a cute one for our Christmas card with an "I heart Santa" T-shirt (courtesy of Godmommy Lisa) but we never really got one that screamed "Send this to everyone you know and love."

Annika on Christmas Day:

I don't wanna hear it!

Just like the subject line says...no need to go into detail about the long pause between posts. JUST GO WITH IT.

Now that's out of the way, let's talk about our favorite subject: Annika.

Annika continues to entertain me and Chris way too much. We basically talk about her all the time. She never ceases to amaze and impress, and we are bursting with too much parental pride. Is that normal?

Christmas with the baby was great. All three of us were sick during Christmas week, but we powered through and managed to have a lovely Christmas with my extended family. We were able to spend special time with Pop and Gamma as well as Gamma's parents which was a treat for Annika. She loves new people and absolutely loves the attention new people bring her.

Annika continues to worship SpongeBob. She is almost 19 months old. I'm pretty sure the appropriate age for that show is 4-8. Is my baby advanced? Absolutely. Is she that advanced? That's up for debate. In either case, you'll have to pry SpongeBob out of my withered, carpal-tunnel laden hands if you want me to take it away from her. She loves "Bob-Bob," Mr. Krabs, Patrick and even Squidward and when she's beyond hysteria, Bob-Bob never fails. Lazy parenting? Maybe. I really prefer to call it "parenting for the 21st century."

Chris counted her teeth recently and she has 16. Her teeth came in so fast and really, very little trouble associated with the pain of teething. As usual, Annika is a great sport about pain. Though that's changed just a bit now that she knows what a "boo boo" is and delights in telling you she has one and also demands comfort re: "kiss it!." I'm usually surprised that continues to work.

Developmentally, Annika can say three-word sentences (examples include "What was that?" "Kiss the boo boo!" "Daddy get up!") and knows about 80 percent of her ABC's. She can also count to 10 though she's developed a short cut which includes skipping the unnecessary numbers five and six. Next stop: She's taking her SATs in April.

Love to everyone who's been checking this thing for the past six weeks. Some of you may know that I have a new job (which is awesome) but leaves little time for blogging and even less for sleeping. I used to be able to work from home on Fridays which is a luxury I sacrificed for a kick-ass company, so I must tender my working-mom apology (read: excuse). I'm going to post pictures in the next few days (save your guffaws for when I actually don't keep my promise).

Annika is Filipino

A lot of people (and by a lot, I mean anyone who sees Annika in public places without her dad) have no idea that my little Tiny is one quarter Filipino. Sometimes I forget. But when we hang out with Chris's side of the family, I am reminded. I used to be the only sore thumb in the group (well, there's Dave, too), but now I have company with Annika. Score!

Here's a pic with Annika's gorgeous second (or are they first cousins, once removed? Can someone please explain that to me?) cousins.



Annika is learning Tagalog. She knows how to say "smelly" "talkative" and "wait a minute." She has a good accent too, I am told. Pretty soon she'll be able to call me names in a language I cannot understand. I suppose that's better than understanding the names she is calling me.

I am so glad Annika has such a large, loving family. My family is awesome, but small and spread out throughout the U.S. She is so lucky to grow up with them and they are so, so good to her. Just please don't teach her any swear words in Tagalog before she's 35. (Not that I would ever know).