Annada Marie Vergo

Grandma calls this Annada’s natural habitat – our front yard.

Annada recently discovered her shadow. Here she is waving to it!

Thanks for the cute outfit, Meme and Pepe!

Thank you for the balloon, Grandma and Grandpa!

Annada has a boyfriend! Or at least a boy who’s sweet on her. Diego is a tall, dark 2-something Annada meets at the playground. Today it was pretty adorable – Annada followed Brennan around and Diego followed Annada. Then every once in a while the order would switch and Annada would follow Diego and Brennan would follow her. It is neat to see how these older men look out for Annada (who looks at them with awe – especially when they go down the slide unassisted).

Diego likes to give Annada these gentle kisses on her head. I think it is great – affectionate kiddos are just passing on the love they have received. But it embarrasses Diego’s mom sometimes – especially when he tries to kiss Brennan. “Only kiss girls,” she reminds him.

Annada has her first chore: starting the dishwasher. She loves it! I will tell her it is time to start the dishwasher and she rushes over to push the start button. Then then she claps for herself and says “yea.” I love how Annada uninhbititedly cheers herself on – and makes sure the rest of of are cheering too.

She also flushes the toilet for me and gets her shoes if I tell her we are going outside. Annada seems to understand almost everything I say now. I can even tell her we need to get her jacket and she will start climbing the stairs. (Of course, anything that gets us outdoors is easy to teach.)

Annada is a climber. I put this step stool by the futon and she climbs up and down it many times throughout the day. The tricky part is that she has gained about 8 inches of trouble. For example, the box her toy instruments stay in is tough. So she will push it from her room, across the hall and up to Daddy’s nightstand so that she can play with his clock radio. Or she will use the oatmeal container in the pantry to find otherwise off-limits snacks.

Her most recent achievement, though, has been unlocking my cell phone. A few weeks ago I thought the times I caught her with my phone unlocked were accidents. But since then, everytime she has my phone I hear it start beeping.

So I locked it and watched – sure enough, as soon as she had the phone she turned it on and pushed the buttons to unlock it. I looked through the phone to see if I could make a longer passcode, but I can’t. So this week I had an appointment with hjhjhj at 10 am and Annada made several prank calls. So far she only calls Daddy, but if you get a call with babbling on the other end, feel free to tell her hi.

Thank you for reading to Annada, Grandma! What a treat.

Grandpa teaching Annada how to use a computer. Careful Grandpa, she is a fast learner!

Annada may not have a big brother, but she does have a boy who shows her how it is done. Every Thursday Annada’s goes to Brennan’s house (thank you Emily!!) while I go to YearOne meetings. Annada thinks Brennan is the greatest. In fact, this afternoon she completely forgot she was crying about more crackers when I reminded her Brennan was coming over soon.

I believe Brennan has taught Annada sign language. Annada started signing “all done” around 10-months-old. But it all started after Brennan had come over. Marc and I had been trying to teach her the sign for months without any progress. We do it one way, Brennan does it another. Sure enough, after their play date Annada started signing “all done”… just like Brennan! Plus last week Annada started signing “please.” The first time she ever did it was when she and Brennan were teaming up to ask for animal crackers – she watched him and started signing please too!

Brennan has also taught Annada how to play with her fridge animals, slide down stairs and open the trash can.

Annada has a spot in the pantry where I put her snacks. She frequently goes through them, pulling out all the snacks until she finds the graham crackers to bring me. She’s learned how to sign “please” (meaning: give me!) and “more” in addition to “all done.” So she will bring me the crackers and start signing for more.

If I look at her and ask her to say please, she will sign that and try thrusting the crackers at me again. If I ignore her, she starts pulling on me and signing “all done” (as in, “Mommy, stop what you are doing”). But what really makes me laugh is when she REALLY REALLY wants something, she will start going nuts flipping between all three signs as fast as she can.

Once she has had a couple of crackers I put the crackers on the counter so she stops asking for them. If she is still hungry, I will start making a real snack for her. Today I cut up some apple slices. Annada happily walked around eating her apples and then went back to the pantry. She couldn’t find any more cracker bags (there are a couple, I usually give her one or two crackers from each bag she brings me) so she just sat there for a moment. Then she picked up the dried apples and brought it over.

I’m kinda stingy about the amount of processed food she can eat in a day, so I told her no. She started to pout but then paused, looked at me, pointed to the apples and said “abble.” I held up a new apple slice and she pointed at it and said it again! Since then, it is clear the new word for today is apples :). By tonight it is even sounding more like “apple” than “abble.”

At Annada’s favorite spot – the playground. At about 3:30 the moms tend to take their toddlers to the playground in my neighborhood. All of the kiddos are obsessed with wood chips. This is a classic game for them: “Pick out wood chips to put on the green circle things.” They even work together!

Annada went Putt Putting every day. She loved to find the lose bricks and carry them around.

Grandma and Annada played 18 holes together today.

Annada used her hands more than the club. But if anyone got the ball in the hole, Annada would clap for them!

She also liked to walk around and drop the balls in the hole – and then wait for us to clap for her :).

Annada likes to “help” Grandpa work. Grandpa can’t resist it when she lifts up her arms to get picked up.

Marc and I snuck off to a date at Animal Kingdom while Grandma and Grandpa cared for Annada back at the Cay. (Finding Nemo The Musical.)

Dancing to the DJ’s music at the pool. It was pretty clear Annada’s dancing made his day.

Annada loves Grandma’s shoes.

Splashing in the pool with Grandma. Annada even has a little tan now!

Annada liked going to the edge of the pool and splashing.

We played at the pool so long, the sun went down. So we warmed up by the fire. Thank you for the vacation!

Beach Babe

Falling asleep in the pool.

Awww, Grandma and Grandpa are dancing!

Shopping for groceries with Grandpa

Since she first learned how to crawl, Annada has had a fascination with the street. One of the little girls in our neighborhood told me Annada wants to be in the street because “that’s how you get places. She doesn’t want to be trapped.”

Probably true. So, like the childproof cabinets in the kitchen, Annada is bumping up against disappointment. Honesty, most of the time she tries to do what we ask. Sometimes she is puzzled by the boundaries, sometimes she forgets. But recently she has been testing them :).

I try to work on one new rule a week at a time. We’ve been on, “you must stay on this side of the line” (that separates the driveway from street) for a couple of weeks straight.

It’s pretty funny. Earlier this week we were walking back to our house. Annada was doing really well staying out the street. Until some other friends stopped their car to talk to me. We were talking for about two minutes when I saw Annada stop, turn toward me and stare for a moment. Then her right foot started inching toward the street. It was so deliberate even my friends noticed.

I reminded Annada to stay on this side of the line and she stood absolutely still for a few seconds. I went back to my conversation, watching out of the corner of my eye. Pretty soon that foot started scooting again. Then she started walking sideways (a new skill!) toward the street. We stopped talking and just watched as she picked up speed. (Their car was blocking any possible traffic.) When she reached the street, she turned and broke out in a gallop down the street while laughing with joy.

She was so happy it was hard to ruin her fun. But I ran after, scooped her up and brought her back on the grass. She just sat there, bottom lip out, looking wistfully at the road.

(Here she is testing the line. She puts a foot over and looks at me.)

Annada climbing the slide by holding my hand. Her collection of bamboo leaves is at the bottom of the slide.

Annada loves playing outside. She stands at the gate in the hallway and points at the door. Today I came downstairs with a shirt and Annada turned and ran away. I thought she didn’t want me to get her dressed, but a couple of seconds later she came running back with her shoes! She thought this was a chance to go outside :).

One of her favorite things to do outside right now is climb up the slide. If she is holding my hands, she can get all the way up. If not, halfway up she loses momentum and slides down. Either way, she giggles the whole time.

I wanted to update you and let you know Annada is feeling much better. She ate dinner last night and a whole banana today. Her face has color and she is happily stacking toys as I write. She still needs more fluids but I am confident we are heading in the right direction.

Annada has recently become my mirror. It is pretty amazing how many little things throughout the day she notices. For example,

– She has started brushing her baby doll’s teeth.

– She gives her baby doll kisses.

– When she puts her baby doll to bed, she pats her on the back before leaving (and I thought Annada was asleep when I left).

– She “talks” on my cell phone – even holding it on her shoulder like I do.

– After the colds in Denver, she will go get toilet paper then walk around sniffing into the tissue.

– She likes to take my pen and “write” in my journal.

– I have been singing and doing the hand signs to common songs for a long time. I didn’t really think she cared because she wouldn’t do the signs with me. Meme gave her a singing book for her birthday and she sits on the floor doing the hand signs to the songs!

– Last weekend Annada and I got the stomach flu. At one point Marc was watching Annada for me and I (very dramatically, I admit) laid on the floor and moaned. I few minutes later I had to laugh when Annada copied me exactly! (She is still kind of sick – and has lost over a pound. Would you pray for her drink more and hold down food? Her doc – who is the BEST – thinks she got sick enough to make her e. cells flair which makes her sick which makes her e. cells flair… Not serious, but she is getting dehydrated which needs to turn around soon.)

– Annada has learned to nod yes or no. Sometimes when she says (or nods) no, I nod yes and ask her again. It seems to work. Annada must have noticed it working because she has started using the same trick with me! And at the doc’s today she used it so seriously with Dr. Nielsen that the good doc had to lean over she was laughing so hard! (She purses her lips and her eyebrows go way up and down – she’s hysterically serious.)

– Annada has this new dance in which she sways her hips side-to-side. It’s funky. And yes, you guessed it – I caught myself doing it when I cook :).

Pepe, I love you. It is sad to leave.

Thank you for the rides, Grandma and Grandpa. We had so much fun all week!

Mom and Dad’s banner got lost in transit, so they made this very “cool” replacement. It was pretty hysterical picking out the stuff at Rite Aid in the middle of the night. They even made candy trails to lure students to their both.

This is where I slept. Okay – this is where I slept the nights I didn’t sound like a seal and got to sleep with mom. A year ago I could sleep in the diaper changing part. Now I can touch both ends stretched out!

Free to explore Mom and Dad’s stuff in the hotel room I began to show off how closely I am watching. Mom was a bit shocked when I started walking around with shopping bags and “talking” on her cell phone. Hmmm…

As the cutest attendee, I would walk around the conference center waving to students and saying, “Hi, Hiya!” When no one was looking I would try to sneak up the escalator. I made a lot of new friends. But if someone tried to pick me I didn’t know, I would run back to Mom, Dad, Grandma or Grandpa. (Way to go, Annada!)

Here I am kicking a soccer ball around at the airport. I found a soccer ball the day before and ran all over the conference center traveling with it. Daddy is excited to coach a little girls soccer team!

It’s my party, I can cry if I want to. Fortunately the tears are short lived.

I’m not feeling well. Good thing there are birthday cupcakes to help.

Tim, Wendy and Keira

Meme, Mommy and Uncle Kevin (and, one of Annada’s favorite things, a birthday balloon)

Grandma and Aunt Rona

New PJs.

I like birthday cake.

Tea with Aunt Abbie.

My second sled ride was with Daddy.

Please, please, please take me inside! (Don’t worry – we are heading back.)

I do NOT like snow, Dad!

Uncle William and Aunt Lucy

Najat and Daddy – that girl is brave!

It’s cold!!! With 12 inches of snow. Whenever we ask Annada if she wants to go outside, she emphatically shakes her head no. Smart girl :).

Annada was content to sit in her seat for about 10 minutes. After that, I learned that it is much harder to travel with a toddler than a baby. But she pretty much charmed the whole plane when Daddy walked up and down the aisle with her. “Hi! Hi Ya!” she would smile and say to each person who looked at her.

I love the St. Louis airport. There are dozens of abandoned gates to explore. The first empty gate area still had the tables to be a gate. That made it a perfect “toddler playground” where Annada about 6 other toddlers ran around. Annada loved climbing up the stairs and trying all the doors.

We started Annada’s birthday off by opening presents. Mommy and Daddy got her the Little People Zoo and Stables. Both make music, which she loves :).

Then we went to the park. It’s 60 degrees. 2 days ago it was 85. I guess we are just getting ready for Nebraska. It was fun to be there with Marc. Annada liked having two slides to choose from and more wood chips than she could possibly examine. But she gave it a valiant effort. I’m not sure what makes one wood ship more special than another, but she looks through them carefully and only picks one or two to save.

Then, of course, there had to be cake. 🙂

Happy Birthday Little Princess! We love you very, very, very much.

A few days ago I was really tired, so I laid down on the floor while Annada played around me. I was half-alseep, half-listening when I heard paper rustling. I opened my eyes to find Annada ravaging my journal, which she must have climbed up part of the couch to get.

I reacted by sitting up quickly, which caused Annada to throw the journal over her back (pages flying – just like out of a movie) and run away. As she ran, she yelled, “Oh!”

It was pretty adorable. And it must have worked, because it is her new go-to method of escaping. This morning Marc and I were sitting on the bed talking. I leaned over to make sure she was okay to find her taking apart my breast pump.

“Oh!” yelled Annada, as pump parts went flying and little feet took off running.

This morning Annada and I were playing in my bedroom. She walked down the hall into her bedroom so I took the chance to jump into the bathroom. I had barely sat down when I heard rustling by my bed.

There is no way Annada got back that fast, I thought as I kicked into high gear.

I stuck my head out just in time to catch Annada pouring the last bit of my previously full cup of water carefully into the clothes folded by the bed. She was just walking along, spreading the watery goodness she had grabbed off my nightstand. She looked at me and smiled. Ah, yes. That is why I don’t drink anything but water anymore.

Oh! Hi Mom. Did you know I can crawl all the way into the cabinet? There are all sorts of things hidden in the back to play with. Dad even has a stash of trail mix back here. He’s been holding out on me!

Why walk when you can run?

Ah, a nice relaxing meal out with a toddler. To Annada’s credit, once we took away the serving spoon she was using to flick food off my plate, she spent a long time talking to the lights above her. It really was a fun night.

Besides, when you are this cute, what is a foot on the table?

It may have been a week since her birthday party, but this little princess still knows exactly where crowns belong.

Wow, she’s grown! I don’t think she is going to fit in the snguli much longer. That and she has learned how to get her arms out.

Now that Annada has learned to say “yes” with her head, she is trying all sorts of new expressions. She likes to tilt sideways and say hi. The best part is, even strangers will turn over side ways and say hi back. At dinner tonight, after about the 10th time we stopped to turn sideways and say hi, Marc and I realized that she has us well trained!

Today Marc taught her to move her head side-to-side when he “raps.” (“You better watch out. Things are going to get sticky. And then I will blog about you on my Wiki!”) I’m hoping this comes in handy over Christmas when William is around!

Annada is showing me the wood chip. She likes to find new things and then show them to me.

Annada is experimenting with who she is right now. She says “No” (or more often, “NoNoNoNoNo”) and shakes her head up and down for yes. She has developed some strong opinions. So, here are a list of the hot trends in the Vergo house:

No:
Veggies without butter or olive oil
Being separated from the birthday balloons for any reason
Getting a diaper changed
Any assistance in eating or drinking
Avocado chucks
Pants
Hair bows

NoNoNoNoNoNoNo:
Daddy putting on his pants (a sign he is leaving soon b/c he normally wears shorts)
Mommy walking to the door
Being pulled out of the refrigerator or dishwasher

Yes:
Bites of the avocado Mommy is eating
Cheese
Climbing up the pantry shelves or stairs
Omelets
Putting one or two toys away when asked
Playing hide and go seek
Oranges
Reading books together
Sneaking bath tub toys when not taking a bath
Crown
Tilting her head to the side and saying Hi
Putting objects in containers (keep track of your keys and cell phone!)

Ah-Doh (YesYes!):
Banana
Black olives
“I Love You Through and Through” (Book)
Slides
Dancing
Giving hugs

On a side note, Annada is hard to slow down. I counted 7 bruises on her shins/bottom, a bump on her head and a small bruise on her cheek. She has mastered walking and is moving on to running into walls. Most of the time she just gets up when she falls and I have to stop her to check if there is a new bruise. Marc asked me recently, “When does Annada grow out of trying to kill herself?”

We were driving home from Marc’s office Christmas party when Annada said her first phrase… “kill you.”

Merry Christmas!

Oh, yes. This is Nathaniel’s fault.

Nathaniel and Bill (YearOne interns) were in the back seat with Annada as we drove home from the party. We were teasing Nathaniel when he jokingly threatened to kill us. He turned to Annada, sitting peacefully in her carseat, and said in a overdramatic way, “I’ll kill you!!”

Two seconds later we hear, “Kill you” in the cutest little voice ever.

She looks pretty dangerous to me. As the interns say, “She’s got big, pointy teeth.”

Today Annada did three new things that made me laugh out loud:

1) This morning I pulled her up in bed with me while I tried to adjust to being awake. She stood up on the bed and noticed it gave in a little. She paused for maybe 5 seconds then began jumping wildly up and down and giggling to herself.

2) Annada found the crown from her birthday party. She walked around with it for a few moments and then pulled out her hair bows and put on the crown. Several times I tried to fix her hair, but every time she would pull out the bows and replace it with the crown.

3) Annada is becoming increasingly skilled at climbing. She likes to stack objects so she can get to higher bookshelves, my computer, etc. But she hasn’t quite connected her feet with herself. So she uses her feet in the stack, pulls one out and gets painfully stuck when all her weight goes on the foot under the pile. It happened a few times today. The last time she was stacking books to get up in the bookcase. She was standing on a board book that her big toe was sandwiched in when she started crying. When I rescued her she pulled the wounded toe up to my face for a kiss!

I’ve been kissing her hurts for a while, but I didn’t know she cared. When I planted my lips on her toe, she grinned through her tears. I couldn’t help it – we both laughed.

What is it in a girl that knows instinctively how to wear a crown? I was worried Annada would pull it off, like she does to everything else in her hair. Nope. The crown and scepter were just what she wanted. I love my little princess!

I think Annada’s favorite parts of the party of the party were: 1) presents, 2) walking around and begging black olives and chicken nuggets from each person she ran into, 3) being with Mommy and Daddy all day and 4) squishing whipped cream between her toes.