Some photos to entice you...

...to visit Anne's photo page. She's getting cuter every day!




Thanks for the jammies, Stephanie!

New pictures!

Despite the fact that I teach a digital photography class, I just figured out how to upload pictures from my own camera here at home. Click the link to the left and visit Annie's Photobucket page and see our shots of her. They range from her first week home to just last night. Now if I could just get some prints made, I'll be in business. As our teacher said at baby school "Don't let your children grow up to be jpegs."

Baby School

Annie had her first night of "baby school" on Tuesday. These nights consist of 45 minutes of playtime, circle time (songs and finger plays), and a 30 minute parent discussion time. She was great the whole time. We played for a while with rattles and a pair of cows from the set of Duplo blocks. We read books, and Sam tickled Annie with a puppet (she laughed), and Annie enjoyed a special foam chair that allowed her to sit up and look at the room. The parents then adjourned to discuss in the other room, and Annie fell asleep on my lap. The bigger kids get to stay and play while the parents meet, but babies stay with mom and dad. She has 9 classmates, ages birth-5. She is not the youngest; little Eric is 10 days younger. It was a good way to get out of the house, play with Anne, and meet some other parents with young children. It is definitely something we will do again when Annie gets older and can participate in more of the activities. In the meantime we can play baby games with her!

FYI

Just so everyone knows, I've changed our blog settings to allow anyone to post comments, not just those who have the right kind of email account. So leave us a note, even if it is just to say "Hi."

"Snow" Day!

Mom got a day off today due to weird weather in the area. We started the morning with a 2-hour delay because of heavy fog. But by 8:30 or so school had been called off for the entire day. No one is quite sure why--the fog has cleared up and it is over 32 degrees, so nothing is freezing. We'll just savor the day at home!

Annie and I ventured out to Menards this morning. It is becoming our favorite place. There's so much to look at and dream about. Sam and I are planning a small kitchen project, so we girls went to price materials. Annie doesn't care too much about flooring and paint samples, so she fell asleep in the cart.

We were supposed to start "baby school" tonight, but class was canceled due to weather. Our gift to Annie for Christmas was to sign up for a family education class. It is just one night a week of meeting and playing with other parents and their kids. Hopefully we will get to know some other moms and dads and Annie can make some friends!

In Annie development news, she has had her first laughs this week. She chuckled at Mom tickling her ribs and blowing on her tummy. Why do babies find it funny when you try to "eat" them? Make weird munchy sounds on their hands or belly and they go nuts! Anne also enjoys "toes to your nose!" and getting her cheeks squished by the soles of her feet.

She weighed 11 lbs, 2 oz at the doctor's office last Wednesday, and we measured her at 24 1/2 inches at home on Sunday. Apparently her modest weight gain can be attributed to inches in length, not inches around her waist. She's still wearing size 1 diapers, and the tabs touch in front when you fasten them. She wears a lot of overalls--pants tend to slide right off of her when you pick her up. "Spider Anne" becomes a more appropriate name every day.

Christmas pictures are on the Photobucket page. Check them out!

2008, here we come!

Annie enjoyed her first holiday season quite a bit. She saw all of her grandparents and a myriad of aunts, uncles, great-grandparents, and cousins. We spent Christmas Eve with Westphall family in the morning, then headed back home to see the Droogsma clan. Christmas Day was spent with the Kleinmans, and Nana visited our house on the 26th. We stayed home for New Year's Eve, and our friends Matt and Dana came by to play ping-pong and Catch Phrase. Sam remains King of Table Tennis at our house; feel free to come by and try to put him in his place!

Anne presently has her first cold, which has been no fun. She is fine during the day, but at night there is no pleasing her. She cries and wants to nurse constantly, and Mom and Dad are running out of patience! My poor students pay the price--I can be one crabby librarian on such small amounts of sleep! Good thing it is a short school week (for their sake).

Christmas pictures to come shortly--I'll put Aunt Erin on it, ASAP. Annie claims no responsibility for her Christmas dress and places the blame solely on Oma.