Good Things Come in Small Packages

At Annabelle's one year well visit last Monday, we found out she weighs 17 pounds, 15 ounces and measures just a little over 27 inches. Those stats put her in the 5th - 10th percentile. She is a perfectly healthy (except for that annoying cold), petite baby girl. Good things come in small packages, right? :)

We're still waiting for that first step. She walks all over the place with her new walk behind toy and walks down the length of the couch and various other pieces of furniture, but just hasn't taken that first step alone. It will happen soon enough, I know. Believe me, I'm not pushing her. Annabelle, there is no need to rush.

Annabelle is definitely into everything these days. She especially loves to aggravate her brother by playing with his toys and attempting to eat his puzzle pieces (among other things). Her drama queen status has reached new heights lately as I am constantly removing said items from her mouth and her tiny, little hands. She screams like you wouldn't believe. Today, after I snatched a half-eaten piece of paper from her hands, she gave me her best angry look and yelled, "Duh!!!!" (When she gets mad, she makes the "d" sound. I'm not really sure how to spell the "d" sound.) She then threw herself back onto the floor in protest, crying like I had ruined her life.

Don't even think about messing with my balloon.

The other night while I was giving Jacob a bath, Heath and Annabelle were spending some quality time together playing with her new birthday toys. All of a sudden, I heard Annabelle begin to cry. This wasn't just an ordinary cry. It sounded like the "I'm hurt" cry. After several seconds, the crying stopped and Heath walked her back to the bathroom to explain what had happened. Judging from the cry, I expected to see a bump on her head or maybe a red mark. Perhaps she had closed her fingers in a drawer -- something she's done a couple times lately. No. No bump. No red marks. No pinched fingers. No injury whatsoever. That pitiful cry was all over a baby doll. Heath picked Annabelle up and walked across the living room. She spotted a doll on the couch that she wanted. When he didn't stop to get it for her, she turned on the waterworks and began to wail. As soon as Heath gave her the doll, she stopped crying and flipped on the happy switch. She is something else, I tell ya.

They Really Do Love Each Other

I realize, if you've ever been on the phone with me and heard the whining and screaming resounding loudly in the background, you might beg to differ, but Jacob and Annabelle actually do get along for the most part.

Although Annabelle does enjoy taste testing her brother's toys, she and Jacob are playing together more and more. One of their favorite things to do is chase each other around the house in Jacob's own version of hide and seek. He runs to another room in the house and yells her name until she crawls in and finds him. As soon as she peeks her head around the corner, he cracks up and that makes her laugh too. I love watching them play together.

And then there are those other brother /sister moments like yesterday morning when I got Annabelle out of bed and Jacob looked at her, smiled, and said, "Good morning, Poopypants!" I think, in this case, "Poopypants" was meant as a term of endearment. :)