First steps!

Anna took her first steps yesterday! I put her down on the floor in a standing position and she tried to run to her big blue ball about 3 feet in front of her. I think she actually got 2 steps in before she fell forward. They were kind of running steps. So I can guess I can say to her someday, "As soon as you learned to walk, you ran!"

One more fun birthday shot...

Getting ready to open a present from her friend, Teagan:

Happy Birthday Anna!

Anna is 1 year old today!! She has had a great day today so far. She started her day a little confused when Mom & Dad came into her bedroom to sing "Happy Birthday" this morning. She got to bring her Grandma to music class with her (where she heard another round of "Happy Birthday" complete with a toddler band playing instruments.) She also got to hang out with her Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Pete a little before their flight and visit our good friend, Cornelia. It's been a busy day and fortunately she is taking a good rest because after her nap her friends Teagan and Caitlyn are coming over for a swim, dinner, and some more birthday cake! But that is just the start of it, or I guess I should say the end of it since Anna's big birthday celebration was this Saturday. We feel so blessed that Anna could celebrate her first birthday with so many people in our family, who all made a special trip to Virginia! Thank you everyone for traveling so far and helping to make Anna's birthday so special!!

On Saturday Anna started the day with a quick game of one-on-one against Liam:

It's fun having a 7am play date!! Can we do this everyday, Mom?

So maybe Anna & Liam actually missed some of the party. After they wore themselves out playing basketball, they needed a little rest, but the rest of us enjoyed a barbecue feast:

Once Anna got up, it was time for cake:

it's a "woof"!

Anna was a little confused by the cake, candle, singing, and her piece of birthday cake.

What do you expect me to do with this, Mom?

She poked it quite a bit at first...

I eat this?

Then finally I popped a bite in her mouth...and then she understood quite clearly what to do with the cake:

Okay, Mom, you were right, this is pretty good!

Look who else decided to get up:

Anna had fun opening her presents, but more fun playing with her new toys:

And hanging out with her family:

Happy Birthday, Anna!! We all love you so much and feel so blessed that you came to this world one year ago today! Caring for you and watching you grow is the best present any of us could have asked for!

Our spring baby :)

Last year at this time I kept looking at the tree in our front yard and wondering if Anna would be born while the tree was still in bloom. I remember that on the day we came home from the hospital, April 29th, the petals were covering our front walkway. You can see the petals at our feet in this picture taken as we arrived home.

For the past week, the tree in our front yard has been once again in bloom. (A type of cherry tree, but different from the ones that bloomed in the beginning of April.) I think it's neat that Anna's birthday corresponds to the most beautiful few weeks in our neighborhood. I keep looking at all the beautiful trees in bloom and thinking it's the perfect time of year to celebrate our beautiful Anna!

Over the past few weeks Anna has been enjoying spring as well. She has been enjoying a number of different outdoor activites: watching sports at the nearby high school, going for walks to look for dogs, trucks, and flowers, playing on the tennis courts with other kids, going to the park, and of course, finding dirt, sticks, and stones to investigate! Tonight I actually think she asked me to go outside by pointing to the closet where her jacket is stored then pointing to the front door. Little did she know she had about 5 mintues until tub time...or maybe she did know!

A glimpse of summer...

On Saturday it was warm enough for Anna to give her new blow-up pool a test drive...

Don't feed the bears

Recently Anna has taken an interest in caring for dolls and stuffed animals. Last week at play group she spent quite a bit of time pushing a doll in a swing. This week she has really enjoyed rocking a stuffed bear in a rocking chair and pretending to feed him with a bowl and a spoon. In addition to feeding the bear, we may have also caught her feeding an imaginary friend? You can decide for yourself:

Happy Easter!

We went to Albany for Easter and Anna & I stuck around for the rest of the week to visit family. We had a wonderful holiday and have had a wonderful week as well. Some highlights:

Sunday best for Easter

Easter dinner at Nana's house

playing music with cousin Liam

Searching for Easter eggs at Grandma & Grandpa's house:

picture this...

Today Anna was invited to her friend, Andrew's, second birthday party. Anna had a great time at the party playing with the other kids and checking out all of Andrew and his sister's toys (especially his sister's toy kitchen set!) But the highlight of the party for me was certainly seeing Anna at the table with all the other kids. Besides Andrew's four-year-old sister, there were two other four-year-olds, another two-year-old, a 1 1/2 year old, and a 7 month old at the party. It was so cute to see them all sitting around the table together! And Anna actually ate what all the other kids ate - pizza & strawberries with cupcakes for dessert. (Anna had a cupcake with a basketball on top - most of it ended up in her hair, but she certainly enjoyed it!) I really think she liked the experience of sitting at the table with all the big kids. At one point her friend Claire (1 1/2) turned to Anna & ripped her bib off - so of course Anna did the same - so cute :)

Yesterday when we were at an indoor playground, a little boy asked me, "Is she a baby?" I said, "Well kind of baby and kind of a little girl." Today I really feel like she is a little girl :)

Anna's first cherry blossom season

By the time Anna was born on April 27th of last year, the cherry blossoms had all fallen to the ground. Today Anna had her "first" look at the DC cherry blossoms on our adventure into the city. Not only did Anna get to see the cherry blossoms, but she got to take a metro ride, have a picnic in a park, and ride on a merry-go-round. She probably liked the metro ride and the merry-go-round the best...oh and the fact that Dad carried her home from the metro to our house so that she could take a good nap in her crib instead of a cat nap in the stroller - way to go Dad!

While we had a great day today, I put the word "first" in quotes because Matt & I can't seem to figure out the difference between the famous DC cherry blossoms and the three beautiful trees in front of our house. And yes, it was great fun to part of all the action today, but as far as seeing beautiful trees in bloom, our front yard works too:

I got pretty lucky with these shots, catching them as the sun was setting (as I stood outside in my barefeet :)

The proper way to eat yogurt:

Getting fancy on her feet

Anna had two great accomplishments on her feet today: She walked while only holding my hand with one hand and she stood with no hands (and threw a basketball while doing it!)

Here's a second of one-handed walking following some cruising. Probably the feature of this video though is not the walking, but the tongue: