Now that she's here, boy do we love watching her grow! She is blooming and blossoming like a spring flower, but she'll always be our pink snowflake. She's our winter baby, born the day before Valentine's Day, and the day before the coldest day of the season in 2020.
Lots more to say, and more to update! Plenty to say about our little girl! Stay tuned...
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Our sweet Anna Lynn is such a joy! I'm not quite sure where to begin, so I'll just dive right in.
How we love every day with our Anna! The only bad thing about watching her grow, is that we are slowly losing the baby days. And while I hate that, I also look forward to the wonderful years ahead with her. I pray that we will have a great mother-daughter relationship. I have a beautiful example. My mother, always sweet and gentle, raised me with the best kind of motherly love. She never put me down, or gave me some high standard I had to try to live up to. She encouraged me, led me to Jesus, and she let me go when I needed to find my wings, even though it broke her heart to do so.
I always want to keep how my mom mothered me in mind. One of the reasons I am so glad Anna is here is so that the love between me and my mom can continue to a new generation with me and Anna. (My sister has two lovely daughters, and my sister is very close to my mom, too.)
But back to Anna. She is so smart! She is saying new words all the time. She points things out constantly. Anna can identify some letters of the alphabet, sort of at random. Give us two or three more months, and we will get them all down. I heard her count to five the other day, but she knows other numbers too.
Daddy's girl stands at the gate, waving goodbye to him in the morning, saying "Bye-bye. Love you." Daddy can do nothing less than pause and take a mental snapshot, capturing the moment in his mind to remember all his life. She loves big brother Caleb, and when I open the door to the boys' room in the morning, she runs over to Caleb's bed and gives him a morning hug. She does try to hug Silas, too, but it is a little harder there, since he doesn't reciprocate too much.
She loves to dance!!! Be still, my heart! There is a little play piano book in the boys' room, and she always presses the same song "Itsy Bitsy Spider", that has the song go a little fast, and she spins around and around. Oh, my goodness! Cue the cuteness! Love! I just have to stop what I am doing and watch her.
Anna likes her version of dress-up, which isn't yet tiaras and feather boas, but it could be a hat or even a blanket wrapped around her. She is so funny because she goes to either find a mirror or glass so she can see herself. She likes shoes, and there's a girl after my own heart right there.
She is definitely mimicking me in different ways. In the kitchen, she will take a spatula and reach up to the stove and pretend to flip something. She may find the remote control and hold it up to her ear and say "hello". She likes to stir empty cups with spoons.
Anna loves music, and she enjoys playing our little xylophone, and her new toy guitar we got her for her birthday. Whatever instrument she chooses to play, she has an excellent teacher right here in our home, free of charge. (Hint: It is NOT me.)
She loves stuffed animals. She is not fully into dolls yet, but one she prefers over others. And she is starting to pretend feed her stuffed animals with her new tea set.
Our girl has a compassionate heart, and I really think she has the gift of empathy. If I show any sign of upset, she reaches out her arms and gives me a hug. Boy, God knew I needed this girl!
Anna is definitely a book lover, and she loves to look and look through books. Sometimes I can read them, and sometimes I can't, because she might be moving through the pages too quickly for me. But it is a joy to watch her be enthralled with a book.
I have to say, after I had my miscarriage, and even before when we knew it was coming, Anna was a sweet comfort in her own way. Holding her, snuggling with her, and kissing her sweet cheeks was one of the biggest balms to my hurting heart. I couldn't hold my baby I was losing, but I could hold her. I am just sorry she won't get to be a big sister, because I think she would have been a great one.
And for the record, this girl is seriously difficult to get good pictures of. Every time she sees me taking her picture, she wants to be on my side and taking it with me, so it ruins the picture I was trying to get!
This picture was on Valentine's Day, playing with her new tea set and feeding her puppy.
Also on Valentine's Day, we are getting ready to head to her well-visit. She looks miserable, but she really isn't. She was very cooperative in getting all bundled up! Her face is just too cute, though!
