Poor Smudge

Our cat has become the object of Annika's affections. She has taken to "hugging" him, much to Smudge's chagrin. Amazingly, he has yet to use any of his sharp parts on her. (If Eric or I attempted even half of what she does to him, we'd be in shreds!) Yesterday, I heard Annika exclaim, "KAH!!", so I knew Smudge was in her sights. Then I heard nothing. Never a good sign. I went around the corner and found Annika laying on top of Smudge. He was giving me a look of "Oh dear Lord! Please help me now." I pulled her off of Smudge and he quickly skittered away.

A few days ago, our linen closet door was left open. I walked by and closed it. Awhile later, I heard Annika making a funny sound. I peeked at her and didn't notice anything abnormal. I heard it again. I peeked again. Same results. Then I heard a desparate mewing sound and quickly realized that Smudge was in the linen closet. OOPS! I opened the closet door. Out spilled Smudge and some of the closet's contents. He fled to safety; I cleaned up the linens. Fortunately, he was only trapped for about 30 minutes. I'm quite thankful (as is he) that it didn't happen right before we went to bed or left for work!

I think we should start taking wagers .... will curiosity or the kid kill the cat??

Vocab lesson

It seems like Annika's vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds on a daily basis. A few of her latest gems are:

"biss" (insert a rolled "r" somewhere in the middle and lots of spit) = binky
"bah-boo" = diaper
"buh-boo" = bubble
"che" = cheese
"kah" = cat

Once again, our little girls is fighting off a cold. Her nose is a little faucet and she took incredibly long naps this past weekend. Hopefully that extra sleep will do the trick for her.

We got a dusting of snow on Sunday, which was quite beautiful. That wasn't the best part of Sunday, though. The best part was we relaxed. All day. We didn't even get our of our pajamas. It was marvelous. I still got things done (laundry, vacuuming, etc.), but it was a greatly relaxing day. Annika and I even made brownies. YUM!

It is currently snowing. I love it. Unfortunately, I have to get up from my desk and walk down the hall to actually see outside, but I still know it is snowing. So pretty!

This is the last week my company will be at its current location. I'm glad for that. My department currently sits in one big room that is actually a converted storage room. It isn't too bad, except for the fact it is completely void of natural light, is frequently quite cold, and it sucks in air from where the smokers are and dumps it over my head.... BLECH!!! I have to imagine the new place will be a good change for us. Plus, it'll give us some MUCH needed space. Another huge perk is it will save me about 10 minutes of driving at night because it is closer to the 520 bridge than is our current location. Hurray!!

Our early riser

For the past two mornings, Annika has been up LONG before the rest of the world. Quid quo pro, I have also been up long before the rest of civilization. Yesterday, we were up at 3:52 and today, she started squawking at 4:00 on the nose. I hoped beyond hopes that she'd go back to sleep, but gave up on that fairytale at 4:23. (Can you tell who was paying lots of attention to her clock?) I'm guessing that the teething process is rearing its ugly head again, which is causing Annika to wake up and not soothe herself back to sleep.

On an up note, Annika can now add "please" and "thank you" to her signing repertoire. She has taken to grunting and whining when trying to communicate with us. We're hopeful that her increased signing abilities will help decrease the instances of "uhhuhhuhhhhhh".

One of her cutest skills as of late is dancing (imagine a chicken with its wings tucked under doing the twist). She does this mostly when wanting to watch her Wiggles DVD or when we sing the Wiggles songs to her. It is quite entertaining... I hope to capture it on video before she grows out of this phase.

The hard part about capturing Annika on video is she becomes enamored with the camera instead of continuing with her current activity. She likes to see herself on the LCD screen and likes to put the lens cap over the lens. Annika loves to wave at herself while watching the LCD screen .... good thing that bad boy flips over so she can be filmed at the same time as watching herself!

Happy days are here again

I'm not intending to spark a political debate with this blog, but I just have to say.... WOO HOO for President Obama. As a nation, we have great expectations and hopes for your presidency. Congratulations. Good luck. Do us proud.

I listened to today's inauguration on the radio. I was highly impressed by the message, delivery, and tone of President Obama's inaugural address. Much of his delivery reminded me of the way Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. addressed crowds. It is evident when a person speaks empty words; such was not the case today. President Obama believed what he said; I hope the world is ready for a new U.S. leader. I know we are!

Mr. & Mrs. Coppola

On Sunday, one of my very, very dear friends (Heiko) got married to a great woman named Liz. Heiko and I have known each other for about 20 years (HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE!?!) when we were on our high school's speech and debate team together. I was a lowly freshman and he was a mightly senior; we quickly put that aside and found that we were kindred spirits while doing Bill Cosby and Dennis Miller routines together. A lifelong friendship was forged; we've seen just about everything together.



In addition to the joy of watching Heiko walk down the aisle with his parents and listening to him exchange vows with Liz, the highlight of the day was FINALLY introducing Heiko and Annika to each other. It made things feel a bit more complete in my life knowing they've finally been in the same room together.



I was very honored when Heiko and Liz asked me to make their wedding cake. TA DA!

Teething is tiring!

Annika sprouted four teeth in five days, starting last weekend. All four of her one-year molars decided it was time to break through our little girl's gums. Within a few days, she went from having 8 teeth to having 12 teeth. Wow! Needless to say, all of those teeth working their way out made for a very uncomfortable Annika. She didn't sleep well for the majority of the week; we suspect because of her mouth. Last night, she was beyond exhausted. At 6:10, we put her to bed and she MORE than happily complied. She woke up this morning at 7:00. Yes, friends and family, she slept for thirteen solid hours. It might be a new record for her. We hope this is a sign that her mouth is calming down and she's experiencing some relief. We hope you had lots of good dreams, little one!

One Jealous Mama

Today, Eric decided to visit Annika during his lunch break. I miss being able to do that. Not being close to Annika's day care is one of the major drawbacks to my job. I love what I do and really like the people, but it is quite a distance from Annika's "school".



Eric snapped this picture of her today. After lunch, they snuggled until she fell asleep. Ahhhh!!!


(Annika, baby, I hope you know what an incredle daddy you have. He loves you more than anyone can measure.... and so does your mommy!!)

Updated pictures

We had a great weekend. I think it was great because we spent most of it together. Eric and I played many rounds of Quiddler, which is one of our new favorite card games. Eric currently has bragging rights for having the highest score ever ... 317 points. (I held the previous record of 297 points.)


Annika kept us entertained throughout the weekend, as always. The big news is she sprouted another tooth (upper, right side). She's been chomping a lot and was even mouthing the edge of the coffee table last night. For the first time ever, she actually chewed on a teething ring; it became her arm band once it warmed up, but she did chew on it for awhile.


Showing off her big, strong muscles!



Playing



Posing for the camera



Enamored with The Wiggles

Random Stuff

For the past two days, I've had celery sticks and peanut butter as my morning snack. (No, I am not in preschool.) Every once in a while, I realize how much I truly love peanut butter. The celery is simply a serving method for the peanut butter. I am picky about my peanut butter; do not attempt to feed chunky peanut butter to me. No, no, no. Peanut butter (in my humble opinion) is supposed to be smooooooooth. Yes, it sticks to your mouth, but isn't that part of its charm? It is the snack that keeps on giving.

Annika has become aware of The Wiggles. Before having a child. I found The Wiggles to be creepy. Now, I just see them as a bit hyper. Annika loves them! Their high energy levels and songs truly captivate her. The scary part is now Eric and I walk around singing their songs ... without even realizing it! "Hot potato, hot potato! Cold spaghetti, cold spaghetti! Mashed banana, mashed banana!" (to be accurate, it should read "baNAHna" to match the guys' Australian accents!)

Baby watch is officially under way. Two of my dearest friends are going to welcome babies into their families within the next month (or so). My best friend, Kate, is expecting a baby boy. He's due on the 25th of this month, but considering he's measuring really (I mean realllllly) long, I wouldn't be surprised if he arrives a bit earlier than expected. One of my college roommates, Rachel, recently announced that their family was picked by a birth mother in VA to adopt her baby girl, who is due in February. All our best to both families as you embark on a new adventure and journey. Keep us posted and we can't wait to meet your babies!

Just about the cutest thing EVER

Last night, Annika and I were playing. We read stories, played with toys, pet the dogs ... the usual. At one point, I yawned. Annika watched me do it and then proceeded to imitate my yawn. She gently closed her eyes, opened her mouth, and then made a mini yawning sound. It was probably the most adorable thing I've ever seen her do ... and she does A LOT of adorable things. We did the fake yawning back and forth a few times, so it was evident that she knew what she was doing and that it was on purpose. This was one of the times that I wish we had a video camera recording her every move!

I'd planned on making my sister's crockpot chicken cordon bleu recipe for dinner tonight, but forgot to take chicken out of the freezer last night (OOPS!) and didn't have time to thaw any before going to work this morning. I'm now trying to come up with plan B for dinner. We could do a yummy chicken, brown rice, and broccoli one-pot-wonder from Campbells. We could also look into thawing some pork chops and doing something brilliant with them. Hmmm.....

Happy New Year

Day one of 2009 proved to be quite peaceful on 2nd Ave. We lounged around, took naps, and relaxed most of the day. Annika and I did venture out to the store, but soon found that the warehouse stores are closed on January 1st - who knew??

I was in bed well before midnight on new year's eve; Annika's early wake up time doesn't exactly encourage me to stay up late! We had a bottle of champagne in the 'fridge that was still unopened when I woke up on the 1st. So, I started a new tradition for myself. Instead of popping a cork at midnight to ring in the new year, I'll save the bubbily for the next day and will start the new year off with a mimosa. A bit fancy. A bit refreshing. A bit fun. Perfect!

Happy 2009 one and all!!