Annie likes hanging out on the floor... and the 'spite poop'

A few weeks ago we noticed Annie would all of a sudden just lay down on a rug, or the floor. We thought this was kind of weird. Then we learned that at daycare Annie had graduated from sleeping in a crib to sleeping on a mat (I'm not 100% on how going from a nice mattress to a mat on the floor is an upgrade, but I digress). Also, a few times at bed time when we go into Annie's room, she will walk right in, go to her crib, and then lay down on this shag rug that is in front of her crib with Elmo and get ready for bed! We then tell her that she doesn't have to sleep on the floor at home!

Now, you're probably wondering, what's the spite poop? The spite poop is a phrase that Karen and I have coined to describe what Annie frequently does when we put her down for a nap. We get everything ready, change her diaper, give her her pacifier, Elmo, the works - then put her down. Then about 10 - 15 minutes later we'll hear her either: a) playing in her crib, laughing and running around, or b) crying. And sure enough, 9 times out of 10, she has pooped. And when her diaper's dirty, she can't sleep, natch. So we call it the spite poop, because she has a real habit of doing this in the morning and afternoon before her naps. And this is regardless of whether she has already had a BM recently, I swear she can poop on demand. This morning she did the trifecta. She threw her pacifier and Elmo out of the crib, and she had a spite poop.

This is Annie's new trick. She can now pull herself up on the coffee table, and then stands! Karen sent me these pics while I was in class. That Annie, she sure is always into something! And she is also very fast at getting herself on top of the table... we're going to have to make sure everything is tied down now that we've got a climber on our hands! D'oh!

Annie's first photo shoot

This past weekend was Annie's fist photo shoot! I didn't want to look like I was trying to cannibalize on the photographer's action, so I only took one photo with my phone. Although, after I saw the pricing sheet I wished I would have taken many more... Anyways, Annie was great throughout the whole thing. She was very playful and didn't cry the entire time. Although most of the time she didn't smile either, but it's the small victories you have to take comfort in! The photographer was great with her, and I think out of all the photos she took we're going to have some really good ones. Annie had her picture taken on Sunday, and it was pouring the whole time, and we got snow! Unbelievable.

Saturday was beautiful. Karen was at a friend's baby shower, so Annie and I took our show on the road. We went downtown to meet our cousin for lunch, and had a great time! Annie was a champ the whole time. She got a little squirrely before we sat down, and right before we left, but other than that no major issues. And it was great to catch up with Holly!

Annie goes to the park and then terrorizes Whole Foods

Last weekend, which will probably be remembered as the last nice weekend, we took a nice long walk along the Charles, then went to Whole Foods. Although after looking at the photos, I'm thinking they were from different days since Annie is in different clothes... This is what happens when you wait too long to post!

Anyways, the weather was cool, but sunny. And since Annie loves going to the park, the slides and swings, we thought we'd venture out farther and go to a new park along the river. She loved it! Especially the covered slide, where a certain someone may have almost knocked Annie onto the ground when she came down the slide... But I won't name names...

At the grocery store (whenever that was...), Annie took her spiked hair on the road and terrorized the place! It's amazing the things you know, but forget to apply under new circumstances. For instance, I know Annie loves to grab things off from tables, and pull anything down that she can get her hands on. But when we're at the store and she's in the cart, I completely forget about the fact that if she is too close to the aisles... Those little hands just start compulsively grabbing whatever is closest! So that always makes things very interesting...

I'm not condoning this, but it's hilarious...

Magga and Poppa visit (weeks ago... and Jordan)

A few weeks ago Magga and Poppa came to visit. The boys (me, Poppa, and Jordan) went to the BC / Wake Forest game, where the photo above is from. The ladies went downtown, out to lunch (I think?) and did some shopping. Annie has needed some new shoes for a while, so Karen and Magga found some and she got two new pairs! And if you hear this story from Karen, she'll tell you that I made her buy 'boy' shoes.

They are not 'boy' shoes. All I said, was if we were going to buy two pairs, let's make one neutral-ish, so in case our next child is a boy, we can re-use some of this stuff. And not everything, but more expensive items (shoes, jackets, etc.) once in-a-while could be neutral and not always pink. Besides, why should we continue to pass on society's gender stereotypes? And then Karen says, well in that case if our next kid is a boy then you shouldn't mind if he's wearing pink shoes! Snap.