My smiling Irish girl

I don't think I ever posted pics of Annie looking good in her green on St Patrick's day.  She would be happy if you noticed that she also dressed her dolly in green for the day.  We celebrated by going to "baby loves disco" in San Francisco, which involved going to a dance party at a real club in the city in the middle of the day.  She LOVED it.  There was a DJ and an elevated dance floor and flashing lights - she danced and danced and danced, until she was so tired that she laid down on the dance floor in the butt up napping position and closed her eyes.  My phone couldn't get pictures of the event - it was too dark and I had no flash, but our friends Mary and John have some on their camera, so I'll post them here someday if they pass them along.  

this is a picture of her heading out to the club

Sick

Poor Annie has been sick. She was feeling a little better today, but still not quite herself, so we hung out around the house instead of going to the park.  We don't really have a routine down for hanging out at home - usually when it is nice out we both want to be outside at the park, or out on the sidewalk kicking the ball around or pushing dolly in her stroller.  And if it rains, which is rare, we go to the children's museum in San Jose.  So with a whole day of mostly inside hanging out time today, I decided we should do some Easter cooking projects.  This was only partially motivated by the fact that Annie was recently given a toy rolling pin in a set of toys, and she had no idea what it was.  (she tried to use it as a hammer, and also a baseball bat.  so it's not like I"m ignoring ALL aspects of her education!)  Here are a few pictures from our day together.

still not feeling 100%

Helping mommy make bunny cake.  She was very excited to help and carefully held my arm as we measured, and used a spoon to stir while we ran the mixer.  This picture, though, was taken just after the cakes went in the oven - she kept saying "cake? cake?" and looked so excited!  I had to explain that we don't actually eat it until after it we bake it.

So we moved on to dying eggs. Can we make them all red??   

I think somewhere I have a super cute big/smock things she's supposed to wear for art projects.  I couldn't find it though, which is why she's wearing the old tshirt I wear when I color my hair.  

These eggs taste terrible!  Even the red ones!  Why can't we have cake now?

Independent play

Annie played by herself earlier this week for about 10 minutes or so.  I didn't want to jinx it by putting up a blog post, but then she did it again today, for even longer!  This may not seem like a big deal, but it is huge.  I'd like to say I used the time to do something productive, or even to just relax.  But honestly, I was so shocked, I just sat on the floor across the room and stared at her.  And snapped a few pictures...

Mom!  Why are you taking my picture while I'm trying to play?

Fun with cousins

Tahoe

Annie and I just got back from a long weekend in Tahoe.  I was hoping to introduce Annie to the snow, but there wasn't really any snow!  There was a little bit of old snow on the ground, but it was too iced over to be made into snowmen or snowballs.  We did find a groomed hill to go sledding on, and had a fun time flying down the hill on our huge innertube.  I didn't get a picture of that part of out trip, though - I had my hands full carrying Annie and the tube while walking on the ice, and figured it was a bad time to pull out my phone.  Annie only wanted to go down the hill twice before she said she was done, but she seemed to have a great time on those two runs and keeps telling me that sledding was fun.

We went up to Tahoe with a group of my old rock climbing buddies.  Annie was the only child on the trip, and she really enjoyed all the extra attention.  When the rest of the crew went on a snowshoeing adventure without us, she kept asking "guys?" and looking around for all her new friends.  She loved eating dinners with the big group each night.  Our house was located in a neighborhood with a private beach, and we all walked down to the lake each day to say hi to the ducks and play in the sand.  I wasn't sure if it was a bad idea to take a toddler on a trip with a bunch of friends who don't have kids, but it all worked out fine.  Here are a few pictures from our weekend:

My little traveler was even a good sport about helping me unpack the car after  the long drive home.

What we've been up to:

Sitting on big girl chairs, drinking from big girl cups

So proud!

Mom says I shouldn't eat this hair elastic, what should I do with it?....

I know!  First I'll lure Bert out with some cat treats...

Hahahaha!  Pony tail for Bert.  Annie was SO happy with this plan.  Bert was less amused.

We spend a lot of time with dolly these days, too.  Annie puts dolly down for naps, as pictured below.  Dolly always sleeps on her tummy, apparently Annie missed the "back to sleep" campaign.  Dolly also changes outfits a lot, and goes for daily walks in her little stroller.  

Debbie, before you even ask, the sweater was hand made by my mom.  I'm sure she'll make one for you, too, if you ask nicely.

18 months

Annie turns 18 months tomorrow, and I'm feeling sentimental.  I'm attaching a photo of her now, and then a few from when she was one day old.  Check them out, and you will feel sentimental, too!  How is it possible that tiny baby is ready for bike riding already?!