Anna Kate these days...

I know I'm not doing the official "monthly" updates about Anna Kate that I did throughout her first year, but she has changed so much over the past couple months that I thought I would just type up a little list of what she's been up to lately! And of course, it's a good opportunity to share some of these sweet shots of her that I took at the park the other day!



~ Anna Kate's vocabulary is expanding rapidly! She amazes us every day with the words that she knows that we didn't know she knew. Really there are too many to list, but a few of her favorites that we hear all the time are: again, hold you (which really means hold me), Unner one (other one - we hear this any time she wants something other than what she has!), I love you too, Big Helper, and "Anna Tate Too!"
~ She has quite the little memory. She currently has all the words to "Jesus Loves Me", "Pat-a-Cake", and "Rock-a-bye baby" completely memorized. She also has two Bible verses memorized: "Help one another" and "A friend loves at all times".
~ She absolutely LOVES to read, and finishes the last few words on each page of most of her books. Her favorites these days are: I'm a Big Sister Now, Ellie in the Fall, Hippos Go Berserk, and My Big Girl Potty (not that it's doing any good yet...).
~ She is still quite attached to her paci. I think I mentioned this a while back, but not only does she have to have one paci when she goes to bed, but she has to have two. She calls the first one her paci and the second one her "unga" which was how she used to say "extra". She can now say the word "extra", but "unga" has stuck!
~ She absolutely loves her baby sister, affectionately known as "Caroliney" or "Caresy Bearsy"...except when she's nursing. Every time I feed Caroline, Anna Kate comes up and says, "Hold you!" In fact the other day she brought Caroline one of her beloved pacis (Caroline doesn't really use one) and said "All Done!"
~ If given the option, she would much rather walk around with bare feet than with shoes or socks on. She calls this "Free Toes!"
~She has learned to throw quite a temper tantrum lately (which we've learned is called "pitching a fit" in South Carolina). It usually happens whenever we have to stop doing something that she really likes. It's not all the time, but when it happens, let me tell you, it's a good one. Time-outs seem to work the best, and hearing her say, "Sorry, Mommy," is the cutest thing ever. She also has to tell us how she is supposed to obey (all the way, right away, and with a happy heart). And I must say, it is nearly impossible not to laugh when she says "happy heart" while sobbing!
~ She is quite attached to her bedtime routine and you better not mess with it! It doesn't take very long (10 min), but it has to be just this way: Brush teeth (while singing the toothbrush song that Mommy and Daddy came up with), wrap up in blankie and start rocking, read Goodnight Moon, pray, sing a song of her choice (one of the following: Jesus Paid it All, Swing Low Sweet Chariot, Gentle Hands, or Cherries are Ripe), lay her in the bed (with the following items: paci, unga, blankie, lovey, lamby, and sippy cup of water) and keep singing as you walk out the door. Occasionally you have to lay your hand on her chest for a few seconds once she's in the bed. And this, friends, is why we rarely ask anyone else to put her to bed...
~ And last, but not least, we finally (knock on wood) have a child who sleeps ALL the way through the night consistently. She never did this at all until somewhere around 11 months. Then she was pretty good until 17 months. But then we moved. And she spent the next two or three months waking up for at least an hour in the middle of every night. Our doctor said this was pretty normal for a child that age when they are in a new environment. But I was really really worried about how we would manage with her AND a newborn. But, God is gracious! I kid you not, the very day we brought Caroline home from the hospital, Anna Kate started sleeping through the night. As in, 7:30pm to 7:30am - without waking up! I think she's only woken up in the middle of the night maybe twice in the last month. Way to go, Anna Kate!

Well, although I am sure I could go on, that's Anna Kate's major developments lately. Stay tuned tomorrow for Caroline's 1-month post! I can't believe she's one month old already!