Last day of swim class + playing at the park

Dan and I have enjoyed participating in the parent/child swim class at our local Y for the past few weeks.  Annie went from leaving the pool early on the first class, to launching herself into the water from the side of the pool during the middle classes, to extending and moving arms and legs simultaneously at the last class.  She still loves the water, and we enjoyed trading off Saturday mornings with her as the lessons progressed.  (Sidenote: I love the deep sense of trust so many kids have to jump into the outstretched arms of a parent, believing with simple, childlike faith that they'll be caught!  What a wonderful image of faith :)
Y policy doesn't allow photos to be taken of classes, but we snuck in a few while waiting for her group to start:

loves her daddy!

watching the big(ger) kids

 

 

 

 

 

love her blue eyes!

We've also been hitting the park more and more as summer sets in.  Last week we met up with friends and their little ones for a playdate, which included playing in the sandbox for the first time and a few (tearful) lessons on sharing...

Zeke's Birthday Party

Annie's buddy Zeke turned one a few weeks ago, and one of his parents' friends graciously took photos of Zeke and his friends at the party.  Even though it was his birthday, he was sweet to share his toys with the other little party guests.  Here are a few fun shots:

 

Videos!

Here's a video of Annie's first taste of spaghetti, and another of her "helping" with laundry...

Shenanigans...

trying to see the sparkly butterfly on her shirt...

found mom's Current catalog

which provided a solid 30 minutes of fun!

hmm...where are those coupons?

doing a little redecorating

Hey Mom!  Look what I did while you were typing that email :)

Annie, this one's going in your wedding slideshow someday <3

Sheepshearing Festival

We went to our first Sheepshearing Festival recently, held at the historic Gore estate about two miles from our house.  Dan liked the handmade wooden toys, Katie liked the handspun wool, and Annie liked all the animals!

 

 (We were unfortunately unable to upload a video of Annie laughing at the clucking chickens...

try picturing it in your mind - it was hilarious :)

First Mother's Day

Dan helped Annie make a "Mom Book," the idea being that she will draw or write in it each year for Mother's Day.  Dan designed the front and wrote a very sweet note, from Annie's perspective, to accompany her finger painting.  The tiny finger marks in the paint are my favorite part.
Annie wore the pink dress that I wore home from the hospital when I was born (it was very big on me!)  I let out the hem a few inches and it was good as new.  

 

9 Months!

Annie hit the 9-month mark last week!  She had a fabulous check-up, weighing in at 20lbs. 2 oz (74%ile) and 28.5 inches "tall" (80%ile).  She's been on the same growth curve for the past several months.  We like consistency :)  The latest round of testing shows no evidence of milk/soy/egg allergies, so now we're (both) slowly phasing in yogurt, cheese, etc.  into our diets.  Yeah!!
Annie's crawling, pulling to stand, and starting to cruise along the furniture.  Her current favorite activities are playing Dan's drum, anything to do with music, and waving to family, friends, and strangers.  No teeth yet, but we sense they will be here soon.  Her happy yet sensitive personality continues to evolve, and we're proud to see her facing some of her fears with bravery (the food processor, vacuum, mom and dad coughing or sneezing...).  Separation anxiety has begun, but we pray she will soon learn that we will always come back for her!! 

"Hiiiiii!"

mmm...spaghetti.  I love feeding myself.

and helping mom do the laundry.

Annie, meet grass.  Grass, meet Annie.

 

 

 

 

Attempting to eat a stick while Mom was fiddling with the camera.