25 Things About Anne

The "hot thing" on Facebook right now is to answer a chain-mail type request and list 25 interesting facts about yourself. Some people do it on Facebook, others put it on their blog. I already did my facts about me on Facebook, but I saw another mom blog some interesting facts about her kids and I thought it was a good idea. So here are 25 interesting facts about Anne Meredith!

1. She loves cheese. Loves it. Like, eats as much as she can until she's sick. She says "cheeeees" with an "s" sound, not a "z"

2. She weighed 9 and a half pounds at birth, but quickly thinned out and was never a really a roll-y, chubby baby.

3. Puppies are her favorite thing. We did a Google image search for "puppies" last night and looked at many cute little guys!

4. She loves shoes. True woman. I recently bought her new church shoes at Target and she held them in her lap in the cart, very pleased about her new stuff.

5. She is starting to pick up her toys with my help and tries to put her books away on the shelf. Good girl--less work for Mommy.

6. Her eyes have always been a weird, inky-brown color. They defy conventional description and do not look like either of her parents' eyes.

7. Her name Anne means "grace" and Meredith means "from the sea" She isn't named after anyone.

8. She was almost named: Jane Victoria, Amelia Jane, Anna-Kate Margaret, Elizabeth Reagan, and Reagan Elise. Somehow we landed on Anne. We'll never use any of these names for a sibling, either.

9. Anne' birthday, October 5, is the most common birthday in the world. More people have that birthday than any other, including my Grandma Lillian.

10. Anne loves milk and (right now) doesn't really like juice. Sam is adamant about her not drinking juice--she doesn't need it and it isn't really good for her. We don't keep any in the house. Milk for meals, water at snack time.

11. She is a perfectionist and cries when things don't go well, like if she falls when walking.

12. You all know she was a scooter, and even though she is walking proficiently now, she still can't crawl. Put her on her hands and knees and she just backs herself up onto her rear end.

13. She goes ballistic when you try to trim her fingernails. Just screams like you're cutting off her fingers. I have to wrestle her down--last time I used one arm and both legs to hold her relatively still on my lap. Let's not even discuss what happens when we try to do the toenails...I'll just say it takes two adults and someone usually ends up getting kicked in the face.

14. Anne's always been a good sleeper. When it gets to be bedtime we lay her down and away she goes. She likes her crib a lot.

15. Anne loves her grandparents all equally, but I think she's got a special love for Opa. He's got all the good treats and teaches her things.

16. Anne does not like to go home from Oma's house each day. We have to remind her that "Puppy is at home" and then she wants to go see him.

17. She laughs and kicks her legs when we get home and let Mikey out of his basement prison (the "pet pokey" as we call it) She thinks he is pretty funny, especiallly when he scratches his back by wiggling on the couch.

18. She has no idea of the big dreams her parents have for her (academic all-star, accomplished musician, dancer/volleyball player/golf nut/softball girl, generally nice person)

19. She can recognize a picture of her daddy from any point in time. We have Sam's football picture from junior year in a frame and she knew right away "Daddy!" Didn't matter that he was much smaller and beard-less; she knew.

20. Anne's "social debut" will be at Auntie Erin's wedding this May. Let's hope she can walk down the aisle with minimal help and minimal drama!

21. Anne is beloved at daycare. She's the youngest kid there and everyone else kind of watches out for her. Her best pal is Nic, who brings her toys and helps her do things.

22. Anne (like most kids, I think) can sense tension. If she's upset and I'm getting upset, she gets worse. If I stop and take a deep breath and calm down a bit, she usually follows suit.

23. She loves flannel! Her little blankies are flannel and she rubs them on her nose and sucks her thumb. She has a big flannel blanket to sleep under at daycare and one at home, too. Big thanks to my Aunt Kathy who made her the first flannel blanket, which helped us discover Anne's love. (She's picky about it, too. There's one little blanket that's different from the others and she doesn't like that one! Last night she had the un-preferred blankie in bed and ended up cuddling the big flannel blanket instead.)

24. She rides in the car like a dream. Either sleeps or looks out the window. DVD player? We don't need no stinking DVD player!

25. We tell her she's pretty and she'll run her hands through her hair and say "Pretty!"