Annada Marie Vergo

Annada and I with Chicken.

Marc and I took Annada to see the musical “Click, Clack, Moo!” She loved it! There is a part where the cows sing about how they are dreaming of electric blankets with boas. Later that week Meme sent Annada a pink boa! So Annada loves to pull the boa out and twirl singing about electric blankets.

Taking Annada to the theater reminded me of when I would dress up and my parents would take me to see shows or ballets. Those are some of my favorite memories.

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Annada loves to help Daddy. So when we scored a new free dishwasher, Annada wanted to be the one to install it.

PS: Here’s the amazing dishwashing story. Our dishwasher has been slowly dying. Marc tried everything to fix it. We had just resigned to buying a new one but hadn’t told anyone, when Marc was talked with some construction guys down the street. They were ripping everything out of a house condemned because of Chinese drywall. The owners had just bought brand new top-of-the-line appliances. The construction worker looked at Marc and said, “Don’t suppose you could use a new dishwasher? I hate to throw it away but I have to because they claimed insurance.”

Um.. yes we could. And wow. Thank you God.

Annada has become a happy biter. If she gets really excited she may chomp down. I’m not even sure she means to bite. I think she just starts chomping and if I am in the way… ouch!

Tonight we were playing hide n’ go seek before bed. The final time I found her I picked her up and Annada was squealing with excitement. Somehow on the way up Annada bit me.

Now bitting is a serious thing – it has major playground consequences. I worry that Annada will bite for joy but hurt and scare another kid accidentally.

So I laid her on the changing table and showed her the red spot where she bit me. After talking about why biting is bad I asked her if I should do something to help her remember. (Admittedly, I was probably asking for too much.)

Annada looked thoughtful and slowly said, “If… I… bite.. Mommy… it… would… be…”

(Long Pause – I thought, wow, she’s really trying.)

“AWESOME!” Annada threw her hands above her head and gave her most devious grin.

(It was so hard not to laugh.)

Marc sets up these neighborhood “band” events. He’s pretty much the coolest dad ever.

Annada loved going to the petting zoo with Meme.

Annada was eating a kiddie ice cream cone for a snack today when Annada noticed Aunt Erica’s bowl was bigger than her cone.

“But your cone is much cooler than mine.” Aunt Erica said.

Annada paused for a moment.

“How warm is yours?” She replied.

Annada just got back from a week with Meme and Pepe. I got a gate pass to pick her and Aunt Erica up. I was sitting at the gate trying not to stare out the window (a watched plane never lands) so I saw it come in from the corner of my eye.

“It’s here!” I yelled out without even thinking. The business men sitting around me jumped a little then gave me their best, leg crossing, first-time-flyer dismissal. But I didn’t care. And when Annada ran out and gave me a hug I could hear the “awwww.”

After the hug her first concern was to find Daddy. He’s in Omaha with his family, so she was a little disappointed (but she had seen him that morning).

All afternoon she was super cuddly and loving.

I was making her bedtime snack when she wrapped her arms around my legs and yelled, “I love you so much!!” Then gave me kisses. I said, “I love you so much!” And gave her kisses. Then she did it back – on and on for about 5 minutes. It was awesome. I love Annada!

It’s been a couple of years in the making. But Annada now has a special home under the stairs! She has two kitchens, a baby doll bed and reading nook in there. Marc and I have spent time over the last couple of years, slowly painting and finishing the space.

Annada calls it “my home.” As in, let’s go home Mommy so I can go play in my home!”

Annada was so excited to pick Daddy up at the airport that she wanted to wear her “special Pepe dress.” We ended up waiting over an hour for Daddy’s plane to land and Annada spent almost the whole time with her face pressed against the glass looking for him.

When she saw him, she turned and ran next to him (he was on the other side of the glass barrier). She had her eyes glued on Daddy, so she ran right into a column. It was beautiful determination, the way she jumped up with tears in her eyes and started after Daddy again.

Marc made it around the corner and scooped her up. I am so proud of both of them!

Annada is back to 100% and doing great.

At the petting zoo.

Never before has Annada just laid on the coach.

Annada is sick, probably with the stomach flu. Let’s just say I’ve been doing a lot of laundry.

It’s almost like having an infant again. All day today I carried her around. She was so limp I couldn’t tell if she was awake without looking at her eyes. If I set her down, not even her fingers would move. Just the whites of her eyes.

This morning she woke up crying. I picked her up, gave her some water to drink and laid her down on my bed. She put her head on me and just laid there for over an hour. I rubbed her back and hands.

After an hour I offered her some more water (we have to take even water very slowly). She looked at me, and in a very soft sad voice said, “Make me better Mommy.”

Oh I wish I could!

This afternoon she was able to keep down some ibuprofen and perked up a little. She still laid around, but she was talking more. We went back to laying on my bed, but this time her soft little voice made requests of what to rub: “Ears… back… hands…” And most often, “I need soda, Momma.”

She is such a trooper. She tries her hardest to aim into a bowl and is usually gripping one. She isn’t complaining. And she makes sure that anything she gets (like soda or a popsicle), I get too.

Laying in my bed.

Annada and I went to the Magic Kingdom today. It cemented my belief that Epcot is a much better place for toddlers. Most of the time Annada was either scared by the rides or stressed by the crazy number of people around. But it was very bonding for her and I! I love going somewhere and getting the whole day to talk and hang out together.

Annada’s favorite part by far was, “Going to Pooh’s house and making tea for my friends!” There is a tree house as part of the line for the Pooh ride. We spent about 30 minutes there and every time a new kid walked in Annada would set to making them “tea.”

Annada started a new game today too. She would say to me, “You be Annada. I be Mommy.” Then she would give me LOTS of hugs and kisses. When I would say, “Okay Annada, let’s go to the jungle cruise.” Annada would reply, “I be Mommy. You be Annada. Okay. Let’s go to the jungle cruise, Annada.”

PS: Here is a bonus one. The other night Annada prayed, “Dear God. Thank you for grandma. Thank you for grandpa. (Who were staying with us.) Thank you that I am happy! Amen.”

Tonight Annada and I were praying together before bed. She said:

“Dear Jesus, Daddy says I am wonderful. Mommy says I am wonderful. Jesus says I am wonderful. Annada is wonderful. Daddy is wonderful. Mommy is wonderful. Amen!”

I’ve had an upset stomach. So I’ve resorted to the BRAT diet. This morning Annada asked me why I was eating a banana for breakfast.

“I am hoping it makes my tummy feel better, Annada,” I replied.

Without missing a beat, Annada responded.

“I need hot cocoa for my throat. A ring pop would make my leg feel better (she has 2 spider bites). I need a cookie for my tummy. It will make it feel better.”

Speaking of spider bites, Annada is very concerned about hers. They are pretty minor, but I think she is a little disturbed that a spider bit her.

I have been teaching her that “Bites are bad, nibbles are nice.” That is to help her understand why it is okay for me to nibble on her toes but not okay for her to chomp down on other kiddos. Annada also likes to pretend she is an animal and give little nibbles to me and Daddy.

So Annada told me, “Mommy, you tell the spiders bites are bad and nibbles are good. No bitting Annada.”

Today as we were walking to work she even looked around then said loudly (to the spiders I think), “Spiders, only nibble Annada. No bitting.”

Annada and I had fun passing out our valentines today. Everywhere she went, she showed off her new V-day outfit (thank you Meme!). And it was even cuter in person than in the pic.

My favorite moment today was as I was putting Lexi to bed. Marc is in Denver with the MAZE outreach so I babysat for the Handys. Annada had been looking forward to seeing Brennan all week. And tonight it seemed that Annada is starting to understand how to share. Annada and Brennan were so kind to each other.

I was rocking Lexi before bed. Brennan and Annada tip toed separately into the darkened room. Then one-by-one they crawled into my lap too. The four of us sat and rocked in the dark for about ten minutes. Annada was even holding my hand, totally relaxed. Happy Valentine’s Day to me :).

I’ll try not to leave any spoilers, but now Annada says, “The turtle pooped and the cow pee peed!”

Last week we took Annada to a Manatee Festival. It was at Blue Springs – a natural spring. The water is warm, so the manatees follow the river to the spring in the winter (otherwise they would freeze).

The manatees captured Annada’s heart. Every night she prays, “Dear God, Thank you for manatees!” At home she pretends she is underwater and there are manatees swimming around her. She pretends markers are baby manatees and gives them to me to nurse (she saw a baby in the springs). She even said she would rather go see the manatees again over Disney World.

Running in the grass chasing her shadow.

If you look closely, you can see a manatee.

We decided to walk the trail (about a mile) to the spring’s source. As we started off, Annada was running down the trail chasing her shadow. After the trees got thicker, though, Annada’s shadow disappeared. Annada started crying, “My shadow, my shadow is gone!! Help me, Mommy. Help me Daddy. My shadow ran away!”

She was truly traumatized. It was hard to get her to leave the spot because she thought her shadow would be close to where she lost it. I got her up ahead to where there was sun and tried to explain that she needed sunlight to see her shadow. I don’t think she really bought it, though, because the rest of the day she kept a sharp lookout for her shadow and started to worry every time it disappeared.

Annada's Christmas dress from Pepe.

No one is a blunt as a 2-year-old. When Annada does not want me around she is clear, “Mommy, go away!” Or, “Mommy, you stay on the carpet.” (A trick I use when I want her to stay away from the stove.) She has no problem telling me, “No mommy. I don’t want to play with you. Don’t touch me. And shut the door.”

At the manatee place Annada wanted to get off the path and into the forest. She told me, “I go mommy. It is okay. You can get another Annada.”

But I can easily wait it out, because when Annada is sweet she is amazing. And most of the time she is “my Annada” as she says.

There are a few Annada-isms that really melt my heart.

– Annada will run up to me while I am laying on the floor (usually after Jazzercise), throw herself into my arms and yell, “My mommy is home! Mommy, you are my mommy!”

– At night Annada loves to give me kisses before bed. Kisses on my hand are bunny kisses (from a Baby Bug story), rubbing noses is an eskimo kiss, fluttering her eyelashes on my cheek is a butterfly kiss and licking (or pretending to) my cheek is a leopard kiss (she saw a leopard clean her baby). She likes to say, “Mommy, kiss my neck! Kiss my cheek! Kiss my knees!” then laugh when I kiss her.

She also likes to nibble. As Annada would say, “Not a bite. Bites hurt. Nibbles are gentle.” She nibbles my nose then says, “Mommy, I take the teeth out!” Then she gives me a little kiss on the nose.

– If I am distracted, Annada will come take my hand and lead me to her toys saying, “Mommy, please play with me.”

– Before bed we have long told her, “God made you. He made you wonderful!” At some point we switched to asking, “Who made you Annada? Who is wonderful?” Annada used to say, “God made me. Annada!” Now she says, “God made me. Mommy is wonderful!”

– Annada likes going grocery shopping. She has figured out that Publix = better food to eat. So when we run out of something she asks to go shopping. She will say, “Annada shop with Mommy!” And if she gets grouchy in the store she will say, “Annada wants to whine! Mommy, we shop together.” (Thank you Meme!)

Annada has begun saying so many awesome things a day that I can’t keep up! But here are few highlights from today:

Or-gan-ate-ted

Meme and Annada went through her books and organized them. Annada is very proud of keeping her book basket clean. Each night before bed she shows me the basket and says, “I or-gan-ate-ted the books mommy!”

Daddy has a soft spot for letting Annada run to the playground in the morning in her pjs.

Neo-pole-a-tan

I let Annada pick out ice cream last week. When I asked her what flavor she wanted she said, “The one with both of them.” I explained that it was called Neapolitan.

Tonight was a left over night. I asked Annada what she wanted to eat and she told me she wanted an ice cream cone. I told her she had to eat her peaches first. When Daddy sat down she explained the system to him, “I eat all my peaches then I get NEO-pole-a-tan!” (You have to draw out the neo part to at least two seconds.)

She's a double-fisted carrot eater.

All About Manatees

Tomorrow we are going to a manatee festival. To help cheer Annada up (who has been so sad because Meme left – complete with laying her head down on the couch and moaning), I was talking up manatees.

At first Annada called them “mana-mermaids.”

Then we watched a couple of You Tube videos about manatees.

It is traditional for Annada to talk about everything that happened that day at bedtime. Sure, it is stalling, but it is also pretty wonderful so we encourage it.

Tonight I got an earful:

“I want to talk about Manatees. They swim in the water. Naked. They have babies. They nurse their babies. I saw a manatee nursing! Woman gave manatee baby a bottle. She had a swimsuit. I have a swimsuit. I swim in the bathtub with grandma. She had a swimsuit. But manatee is naked. I go see a manatee. Daddy go and Meme go. (Me: No, I’m sorry. Meme is in Texas.) I talk to Meme on the com-pew-tur. I like to talk about manatees. I take my baby to see manatees. My baby needs a diaper. I put it in the trunk. Okay, Mommy? I take my baby and put diaper in the trunk?”

Her first prayer

As I was laying her in her crib, Annada suddenly called out, “Wait. I want to pray.” It was the first time she has asked to pray on her own so I was excited to hear what she had to say. Normally she softly repeats after me adding in names of people she is thankful for. (As in, “Thank you for mommy, daddy…)

Tonight, she loudly exclaimed, “Dear God. I go see manatees! All done.”

It is mutual.

Nicely Done

This morning Meme was still here, so she told me this story.

Annada is working on saying, “May I please have _____?” Instead of, “I want _____.”

Today, Annada starting telling Meme, “I want gum! I want gum! I want gum!” Meme looked at her with her “okay. are you asking?” eyes.

So Annada paused, smiled and said in a very sweet voice, “I want gum Meme.” (Pause. The smile disappeared.) “I said it nicely!”

Mommy is Stuck

Annada has decided she doesn’t like to see me and Marc hug (or Meme and Pepe). When she see us hug, she starts to say, “No Daddy! Let go of Mommy! That’s MY Mommy!”

This makes us hug longer.

The other day Annada was protesting our hug when she suddenly burst out, “Mommy is stuck! Mommy is stuck! Get free Mommy!”

Annada's first snowman.

Tonight I looked over at Annada and she seemed lost in thought.

“You look thoughtful,” I told her.

“No!” snapped Annada. “Not thoughtful. I am GORGEOUS!”

I walked over to Meme, who is here watching Annada while Marc and I take a seminary class, and told my mom what happened.

Annada over hearing us, spoke up, “Very, very gorgeous.”

Annada had her 2-year-old check-up today. She is 36 inches tall and 26.6 pounds. And super healthy!

Picking oranges with Grandma while eating a cucumber from the farm. Life is good.

I had to wake Annada up early to go the doctor’s appointment. When she first woke up, she glared at me from the bed. Then she groggily said, “I get a sucker.”

“Yes, Annada, you will get a sucker after your appointment,” I replied.

“Okay, I get up.”

(She remembered getting a lollypop from months before!)

At the beach with Daddy.

Annada loves to chew gum. The other day she asked me for some gum. “I don’t have any gum,” I told her.

“I buy you some gum, Mommy,” Annada replied.

“How will you buy me gum?” I asked.

“With my money.” (A)

“How do you get money?” (M)

“I use my oil and water. See, here is my water.” (Annada points to sippy cup.) “I buy my Mommy gum.”

Looking at the treasures Annada collected outside.

A couple of weeks ago Annada walked outside with Daddy. She paused, took a big breath and said, “It’s gorgeous today!”

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Annada was a busy girl tonight. She was well behaved, just on the go. At one point she was jumping up and down pulling on her monkey balloon saying, “Silly monkey jumping on the ceiling!”

I caught her eye and laughed. She looked back at me and declared, “I feel feisty tonight!”

Thank you for the doll Great-grandma!

We love you Annada! You are an amazing gift from God.

Playing with ornaments at the Lake Hart Christmas party.

The last couple of mornings I have come in to rescue Annada from her crib to find her huddled in the corner naked.

It is such a sad sight. She is so cold. We wrap her up in a blanket and she just balls up in our arms until she warms up. This morning as I came in she looked up and said, “Mommy, Annada is cold!”

Have no doubt, we are putting her to bed fully clothed. But by the morning she has taken off everything – including socks – except her diaper.

Tonight as I was getting her ready for bed she said, “Annada take off her pjs.”

“Annada, you are going to be cold!,” I replied. “Oh,” said Annada. “Wait.”

Which I take to mean she will wait until I am gone!

Yes. Annada is wearing 2 crowns. Total birthday crown loot: 4 crowns.

Annada’s 2nd birthday party was today.

Ahhh….

9 toddlers + strawberry cake + fun = mountains of laughter

And tired parents.

As Annada said, “This is fun Mommy! I am happy!”

And a couple of hours later, “Momma, I want to go home. All done. Party again tomorrow.”

Details to come when my brain is back online. :).

I love this picture. A few days ago I took Annada to the beach.

When I set her down she started running. She ran, happily yelling, “Run in the sand! Run in the Sand” for almost 45 minutes. She wore me out.

Then she suddenly stopped, picked her hands up and said, “Annada tired. Mommy hold you.”

I took this picture of our toes in the sand after she had slowed down.

I miss her.

(Annada called today. She said, “Hi Mom. Annada at Meme and Pepe’s house. I love you. Bye bye!” Except there were long pauses in between sentences as she played. She’s a happy girl.)

She's already eating and driving at the same time.

My parents gave me a new bread maker for my birthday. I traded my old bread maker for this car. We are all very happy :).

Yes, yes they are.

At the New Smyrna Beach Publix

Even more so if you are with Grandma.

This morning I woke up to, “Mom! Mom. Take Annada to the beach. Annada go to the beach!”

What could I do?

Or as Annada would say, “Happy birthday!”