Annada Marie Vergo

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.