A visit from Magga and Papa!!

Magga and Papa came to visit Annie today! Uncles Jake and Jordan were wrestling in Springfield, so after the tournament they came to see Annie! We had a lot of fun, and Annie loved spending time with them.

In preparation for their visit, Annie took a nap (in her crib!!!) and then after Magga and Papa left, she took another nap (in her crib again!!!). This has been a great weekend and we've been making some significant strides in the sleep department. Friday night Annie slept the whole night in her crib. Saturday night was a bit different... But we didn't back down, and after 90 mins-ish she went back to sleep in her crib until around 6:30ish. I can't tell you how gratifying it is to know that this hard work is paying off and Annie is doing so well. I think the real test will be this upcoming week when we're back to work...

Starting to Stand

Now that Annie is almost 8 months old, she's been quickly adding to her bag of tricks. She can now stand and hold onto things, and this morning she starting pulling herself up! While we haven't seen her crawl alot, if you turn your back she definitely makes some stealth progress and all of a sudden she's across the room. Or under the coffee table.

After food-- our 2nd favorite blog subject: Sleeping

Oops... she did it again. That AB (Annie Bananas) has been causing trouble again. But I think it's more our fault than hers. Way before Annie was even born, we were warned: Don't let your child sleep in the same bed. Once it starts, it will never end. And then my sister remarked: you don't want to be one of those weird people who share a bed forever (no offense if any of our 3 readers fall into this category).

Well, it wasn't that dire of a warning, but we were warned, and now we're stuck. During the weekend naptimes Annie usually falls asleep on one of us, then gets transferred to either the couch or our bed. Not the crib... because the minute her head hits the mattress she wakes right up. At night, Annie has been going to sleep relatively fine, but waking up sometime early in the morning, say between 3-5am. At which point, we're exhausted and just want to sleep, so in comes Annie. And for someone who's not even two feet long, she can sure spread out.

So... this weekend we are determined to break the cycle and nip this thing in the butt before Karen and I find ourselves with multiple kids all sharing the same room in some co-dependent viscous cycle. Picture it, at that point I will have probably gained 40 pounds (from all the sleeping), let my hair grow out, and subscribe to some sort of new age BS about how this is actually good for kids, drive a rundown Volvo wagon circa 1990 and make my own deordorant.

(Again, if you drive a rundown Volvo or make your own deordorant, that's ok, I'm not judging. Just trying to avoid that same fate!)

We'll keep you posted, keep your fingers crossesd... and to my downstairs neighbors, sorry...

What's been going on?

The past week or so has been pretty busy for us. Last week there were layoffs at my company- a 10% reduction. Luckily I survived, in this current climate I'm pretty glad I don't have to look for another job. And it definitely makes you feel that much more grateful for what you have.

Now, more pleasant news... Annie is doing great. It's been fun to watch her two bottom teeth keep coming in. The more I see them the more I wonder how she hasn't cut the top of her gums or something with those little daggers poking up. The times of putting your fingers in her mouth are over as she immediately clamps down and sinks those little teeth right in.

We didn't do too much over the long weekend. Friends of ours had offered to watch Annie for Valentine's day, but by the time we got around to trying to make a reservation everything was booked. Don't people know it's a reccession? So we ended up having our friends over instead for dinner, and all had a great time. We had a Mexican Fiesta, and Karen made some awesome enchilladas and topped it off with flourless chocolate cake... tasty.

Our friends Mark and Terese were in town from NYC, so we met up with them in Harvard Square for brunch Saturday. Where I had the *best* pancakes ever. Annie was great and had a lot of fun, she loves being around people and is very silly.

Yesterday we took Annie to the park for some swing action. Although it was freezing so that lasted for about five minutes, then we decided to just go out to lunch. It must seem like that's all we ever do -- eat... I just didn't want to write about all the working out I do! Not so much...

And since we are so on top of everything we have a ton of photos to share... pysch! Here's one from last night of Annie fooling around that Karen sent to me while I was taking my Operations Management exam. I think Annie is going to be quite the cutup, considering she has the best mock semi-serious faces around!

Blog Exclusive!!!

The Fergusons are coming to Chicago!!! Karen just booked our trip, we're coming in March and can't wait! Our friends John and Alicia will be back from Bangkok, and our good friends the Cranes and Sullivans live out there. What could be better? And Annie can't wait to see her friends Lillie and Drew!

Adventures in teething

Above Annie is enjoying her organic whole wheat teething biscuits. Normally we need to put Annie in a hazmat suit before we'll give her one of these. Why? Because in addition to gumming it to death, she also attacks the biscuit with her hair, ears, elbows, and any other exposed body part. I thought about putting a tarp or something down underneath her - that's how messy those biscuits gets. Not to mention, I'm glad she doesn't have a lot of teeth because I practically chipped a tooth on the one I tried. In case you're wondering, they taste really good for being whole wheat and all.

Hilarious clip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txqiwrbYGrs

This could be the funniest thing I've seen in a long time... Poor Kid.

Highlights:
"I have two fingers... four fingers."
"Is this real life?" (I find myself asking that all the time...)
"Is this going to go on forever?" (ditto...)

What's so funny?

Annie is 7 months old. Unbelievable. It's hard to think about the way things were before Bananas. And it wasn't too long ago that Annie's favorite thing was to be swaddled so tight she looked like a baby burrito. Now, she's eating lots of different foods (she loves banana yogurt, and so do we!), she shimmy and shakes all over the floor, she responds to her name, she loves to eat - we can't even put a bib on her unless food is very close by because she gets so excited. And best yet - she laughs.

And when's she's not laughing, she's starting to imitate you. Annie loves to play with other kids, she doesn't miss a beat and has to be where the action is. It's so fun to watch her grow up and experience so many new things!

Everyone needs a Leisure suit

This morning we went out to our favorite brunch spot, Soundbites. Right across the street is this great baby boutique, Twinklstar. And thanks to the booming economy, when we walked in everything was 40% off, boo-yah!

Annie got some new outfits that I'm sure you'll be seeing soon, but Karen's favorite is this velour jump suit Annie's wearing. I don't know if you can tell, but there's a heart on Annie's bum, can you get any cuter?

All's forgiven!

We got to see Uncle Jordan this weekend. A friend of his from Norwich lives outside of Boston, so Saturday night Jordan came down to apologize in person to Annie for his Keebler Elf remark. Lucky for him Annie doesn't hold a grudge and let him off the hook easy this time. She had a lot of fun playing with Uncle Jordan and can't wait to see him next time!

Naptime Wars Part Deux -- Don't Mess w/ Mommy

While dad was in class on Saturday, mom made some significant progress on the naptime front. She actually got Annie to nap in her crib!!! Hooray! In the interest of full disclosure, this pic is actually from last weekend... This weekend she was napping in our bed, and on the couch. I still consider that progress since Annie didn't have to be resting on of us. Slowly but surely we're making progress.