A Family Reunion

Here are some glimpses of our family reunion weekend in Gatlinburg, TN:

This was our first view of the TN mountains from a lookout before we got to our destination.
Welcome to Gatlinburg! Anna-Kate loved the bears that were everywhere, but she loved having her cousins close even more!

Our first stop was at the grocery store. Anderson, Anna-Kate what should we put in the cart next?

Anna-Kate enjoys a moment with the heads of the family Papa Joe and Mama Ruth Pierce (Will's mom's parents).

The kids love hanging out with Aunt Bonnie.

Meeting Pierce for the first time; Will's cousin had her little boy one week before Anna-Kate was born. Three cousins from 15 months to 22 months!

Swinging with Daddy!

Breaking News

****** Breaking News ******* This just in *********

Anna-Kate Simmons is officially a toddler, walking around by herself. This decided as of Friday. She was out of town with her cousins and decided she would not be left out. Before her mom and dad could think about helping her, she had walked across the room to follow her two cousins up the stairs. She was up the first three stairs before her parents picked their jaws up off the ground, grabbed Anna-Kate, and reminded her that she isn't actually as big as they are. Walking on her own mastered, she was ready to take on the world, or at least the stairs. She spent the rest of the weekend keeping her parents on their toes.

Wait...there she goes again...she is making lap 12 around the Simmons downstairs. She must be excited to see her house from this new point of view.

Family Time

I realize that blogging has not been my strength in the last week. I will get back into the swing of things soon. Getting back into the routine of keeping Mary-Knowles has taken some of my creative energy, and hanging out with visiting family members has taken some of my time.

Yay for visits from Anna-Kate's aunts!

I have to admit that sister time is one of the greatest times ever! Amanda went with me to MK's house; therefore, got to witness first hand the fun of two one-year-olds. We also got to go shopping while Will stayed with Anna-Kate!

Aunt Bonnie is adored by her nephews and niece. We all love when Aunt Bonnie visits. She has a style that makes me want her to go shopping for me, instead of with me. ;) I'll have to work on that for our next visit; of course, I will have to fight these kids for her time.

Tomorrow morning we leave for a family reunion in TN. Look for more Simmons family early next week!

Then and Now, part 2

In the theme of "then and now" posts, look at this! I started watching Mary-Knowles when she was almost 5 months old and Anna-Kate was almost 3 months old. This was after one month. My sister took this picture when she came to visit and joined me in my nannying adventures.

Look at this action shot my sister took today. Not all that flattering of me, but it definitely gets the point across. Now the girls are 17 and 15 months old. After hanging out with the girls today, I barely recognize those adorable babies in the above picture.

Then and Now

I took this picture this morning before we all left for work. (I love seeing my man with our baby!) This picture today brought to mind a picture I took a year ago. This is a pretty great "then and now."

Anna-Kate with Daddy at 15 months old (August 2010)
Anna-Kate with Daddy at 3 weeks old (June 2009)

Back in Business

Today is day 4 back with Mary-Knowles. Anna-Kate is so thrilled to be back with her buddy!! Yesterday we had a longer day than normal, and she cried because MK left us. They really do have such a sweet relationship.

At 7:15, we are there. The girls are working on our breakfast.

Mary-Knowles was showing Anna-Kate her book. Anna-Kate was showing me MK's bird.

A 7:15 arrival means that becca needs ....

....her second cup of coffeee!

Where MK lives, I can get a [free] cup of coffee. It doesn't take much to make me feel spoiled!

15 Months

Anna-Kate is going to be 15 months on Friday. I think that if I say it more then maybe I will believe it. 15 months sounds old! I haven't done an update on AK since her birthday, so here goes the what-she's-up-to-now update:

Weight - 21 lb, 13 oz - 40 %ile

Height - 31 in - 70 %ile

Head Circumference - 90 %ile

Anna-Kate is long and lean, but she has a big head! This is a source of humor with me and Will. She has been wearing 18 months clothes since her birthday. A couple weeks ago I had to retire one of my favorite shirts of hers, because her [big] head wouldn't fit through the neck hole. Sorry, baby girl, but it's true.

Mobility: Anna-Kate ends the summer already taking steps on her own but not yet a true walker. I know it's coming. We started back with Mary-Knowles today; she won't be content with MK walking around without her for long!

Language: Anna-Kate is quite verbal. She knows a lot of animals either by their sounds, names, or a few by both. I attribute this knowledge to Old McDonald and to her love of animal books. Recents animals that she has added to the list are: turtle, tiger, Roar (for lion), fish, ar-ar (seal), oo-oo (monkey). I have been excited to see her non-animal list grow. Some of those words are: bite, water, bubble, round and round (as in sing "wheels on the bus go -"), tree, ... She is becoming fascinated with discovering parts of the body: belly button, eyes, hair, nose, toes, tongue, heart (c.u.t.e.s.t ever), and even (read quietly as not to embarass) "pee-pee". A humorous note to end on, 95% of the time Anna-Kate calls me "that" instead of "mama."

Food: she likes a huge variety of foods, meaning mexican, italian, "american"... but she remains quite finicky about when she wants to eat them. If she could live off fruit, goldfish, cereal, cheese, with only black beans added occasionally, she would be happy.

Favorite things: Books and Dogs (animals in general) remain at the top of the list. This summer we have realized how attached she is to her duck. She loves to sing! When she is frustated, many times singing a song helps calm her down. When she is bored, like at the grocery store, I find myself singing "the wheels on the bus..." to my child to keep her smiling. Her obsession is walking. If you will walk with her outside through bubbles, she is the happiest child in the world. :)

Caught by...

... the Paparazzi

Who is this cool girl?!

Weekend in Review

Anna-Kate loves bubbles. She looks out our back window and says, "bu-bbles!" often since she knows that is where we blow bubbles with her. Friday night we treated Anna-Kate to an evening of (which means about 10 minutes of) bubbles.

Anna-Kate wants to walk wherever we go. Whether we are in the house, outside, at Target, etc she wants to be on the ground walking. (Last night she walked back and forth between me and Will for more than 15 minutes. The post about my walking toddler is coming soon; I can feel it!)

No trip outside is complete until we have spoken to our neighbor's bunny yard ornament.

Saturday we cleaned our carpet, splitting the expense with Ashley and David. We hung out with the boys while they used the rug doctor. Then the afternoon it was our turn.

Clearly a morning with the boys was more fun than the afternoon with the rug doctor.

Cousins only 7 months apart; how cute are they!!

Camden and Uncle Will went on a scavenger hunt designed by yours truly. Camden really enjoys hanging out with his uncle, and I love watching the two of them interact. Camden shares some interests with Will, so they actually end up having a lot to talk about.

Looking so big while so little

I can not get enough of seeing her sweet thunder thighs in this romper! She can not get enough of this new-found activity. She loves walking up and down the sidewalk, pointing out the rabbit yard ornaments, trees, and any dogs being walked!

Debate Re-opened

Fork?


or Dinglehopper?

Just as I thought Anna-Kate agreed that the device is indeed a fork, she decided to try out its usefulness as a dinglehopper. I wonder if polynesian sauce is a good hair gel.

Footnote: I have posted often about the woes of mealtimes with my child who has decided she does not want to eat chicken. Even to the point of eating a quesadilla and spitting out the chicken that I try to sneak in. Today we enjoyed a coupon at Chick-Fil-A. She ate every bite of her chicken because those bites were delievered on a fork.

Kitchen Cute

I know we all have these pictures,

but they sure are cute!

Last night I was able to cook, or more truthfully, have 15 minutes to cut up vegetables. These spoons are pretty much hers now. Add a gladware bowl and one carrot; you have a recipe for 15 minutes of content baby.

Date Night in ?Raleigh?

I have posted before that I thrive off date nights with the man of my dreams, my knight, also known as my husband Will. When my parents were in town last week, they insisted that Will and I go on a date. They didn't have to twist my arm!
So, Will and I enjoyed downtown Raleigh on Saturday. What timing!! It was high 70s / low 80s. The event Raleigh Wide Open was going on, which meant there were at least 2-3 bands on different blocks, a wrestling ring, and people everywhere. Will and I love walking around downtown anyway; all the activity going on felt like the town's gift to us!

So, our date... we parked in our normal spot off South Glenwood. We walked to Fayetteville St where we walked and people watched through the sights of Raleigh Wide Open. One of our favorite moments was when we watched a man in a black unitard wrestle with a man in a bright pink speedo.

We then walked back to Glenwood to enjoy an appetizer in one of the restaurants we haven't tried. After that we decided we were having so much fun we would walk back to Fayetteville St. On our second walk around Fayetteville St, we saw - uummm, how do I say this gracefully - men in drag!

Men in drag! Inside the convention center there was an AIDS fundraising event where a talent show was part of the event. Apparently we walked up just in time to see the drag portion of the event.

Thank you parents for watching Anna-Kate. Thank you Raleigh for such an interesting evening. I look forward to my next outing with my man. Who knows what that will bring?

It's Coming!

Anna-Kate has already taken 5-6 steps this morning three different times!!! (in the first 90 minutes of our day)

A Dinglehopper

Does anyone know what this is?

I know! I know!

It's a fork!

I have started letting Anna-Kate try using a fork. I will stab the food and she can put it perfectly in her mouth. When she tries to stab the food herself, she aims the wrong end at the food. Then she looks at me, as if to say, "why didn't that work." Then she hands the fork to me so I can stab her food.