One Year!

Anna officially turned one year old this month!  It is amazing how quickly time goes but also how much difference one year can make.  Anna was 18lb 7oz (25%) and 27 inches (25%) long at her one year appointment.

Anna is making that transition from baby to toddler.  While she took her first few steps last month, she became an expert walker this month.  By the end of September, she was walking almost everywhere.  She is sometimes cautious and has to pause to balance herself but she learned so quickly and her excitement and pride in this new skill is infectious.  Her babbling has grown but still no real words just yet.  She has become more mischievous.  She gets into everything these days.  Her favorite things to play with are Laura’s hairbrush and the mortar & pestle.  She absolutely loves the fridge and dishwasher.  At times, when we tell her no, she smiles and does it anyway.  Other times, she gets upset and cries quite dramatically.  Anna gives amazing hugs, gripping on to our shoulders so tightly.  If she sees the stairs, she makes a beeline for them; climbing is one of her favorite activities.  She also loves going outside, exclaiming with glee as soon as we start walking down the stairs of our building.  When it comes to toys, she loves to disassemble them, whether its taking gears off her table, knocking down block towers, or pulling every toy out of her bin.  When she doesn’t like the food we are giving her, she has learned to throw it on the floor or make her displeasure known in some way.  Unfortunately Crosby will not eat her scraps.  She loves all fruit, most carbs (especially Cheerios) and her favorite veggie is peas.  Her favorite book right now is Peek-a-Boo Penguin.  And she still adores bath time!

September started off with her weekend birthday celebration in Copley with the Roth family.  She got to spend all weekend with her grandparents and cousins.  She attended her first soccer games, cheering on both Jill and Jenna.  Grandma Jackie had lots of decorations and made her a smash cake for her actual birthday.  Anna was pretty low-key with the cake, slowly putting her fingers in the icing and licking them.  Eventually we did encourage her to ‘smash’ the cake but it was still quite tame.  The weather was great this month so we’ve had lots of time at parks and made one trip to the zoo.  Laura was traveling for work the last week of the month so Tony and Anna had lots of bonding time.  They were quite the duo, exploring the city and getting to the park every night.  It was a wonderful month with our little one year old!

water table fun with dad

presents !

giggles with gram

cuddled up and resting with jill

soccer game with jessica

go copley

cracking up with luke

happy birthday anna!

digging into her cake

one!

anna and her birthday balloon (which she loved)

a weekend with family 🙂

A great weekend with Grandma Jackie and Grandpa Tony!

go bucks!

birthday card !

family evening on the deck

oh, i’m not supposed to pull the cover off ?

playing with the light remote (and loving it)

so sweet:) on the bus ride to the zoo

Frida!

a local street fest, listening to her parents favorite — wedding banned

swinging – still gets the best squeals

static hair !

one of her discoveries- toilet paper !

up the stairs i go !

smiles with mama

playing kitchen with our neighbor, kai

just eating my carrot here

dramatically expressing her displeasure at something (she has learned to ‘fake’ cry– she will lift her head up, look at us to see if we’re watching, and as soon as we make eye contact start crying again!)

walking around the playground

our little packers fan (a gift from her G&G pratt)

hey guys

crazy hair 🙂

cutest. smile. ever.  🙂

August & Everything After

August flew by for us!  It’s hard to believe how quickly summer goes.  It warmed up considerably and we had lots of hot days and warm evenings.  Anna was almost 18 1/2 lbs by the end of the month and while we don’t have an official measurement, she certainly seems to be taller these days.

Anna’s curiosity exploded this month!  All of a sudden she is into everything, opening cabinets and drawers, pulling books off the shelf, flushing the toilet, and generally discovering things we had never thought about ‘baby proofing’ before.  It is truly a wonder to watch her explore and become more aware of the world around her.  She started clapping and waving this month and Tony taught her to ‘kiss’ a baby doll.  She loves to climb the stairs- all 21 one of them in our place!  She is quite worn out after completion.  She loves going on walks, singing her excitement when we walk outside and lots of excited kicks in the stroller.  Anna has become quite dramatic when she is unhappy- putting her hands above her head and then throwing her face and arms down to the ground (multiple times in a row!) when she isn’t getting what she wants.  She also officially hates having her diaper changed; it is a complete struggle these days.  In general, she is showing more preferences.  She loves playing with any stacking or block toys.  We now let her explore the playground at parks and she absolutely loves going down the slide.  Although she isn’t walking yet, she took her first couple steps on August 29th!  She babbles much more these days, with lots of da-das and other sounds but has yet to utter a ‘mama’ (and not for lack of encouragement).  It is such a joy to watch her grow and change every day.

August was a fun month full of activities!  Grandma Jackie and Grandpa Tony came to visit the first weekend.  They took care of her all day Friday and we spent the rest of the weekend taking walks and going to the park.  They got to see her first time going down a slide!  Anna and Laura had their first mother-daughter weekend while Tony went for a guy’s weekend.  It was a lot of fun.  We also went back to Ohio for our friend Pam’s wedding.  Anna stayed with her Grandma and Papa Pratt for her first overnight without her parents.  She was a champ!  Her cousins were there and we had her first birthday celebration with a donut cake!  Anna got to see her Uncle Brian and Aunt Michelle that weekend as well.  She then spent a day with her Aunt Teresa who stopped by Chicago for a visit!  It was a busy month full of great memories.

dinner with grandma and grandpa!

frequent august activity – water table!

grandma got tons of giggles with her flip trick !

such a fun weekend

11 months !

the slide!

her other favorite- climbing back up the slide (and she can do it without much assistance)

the swings are still a guaranteed hit 🙂

anna is still great in restaurants, smiling and charming the other patrons 🙂

dinner time

one day she figured out the light remote and just loves clicking the button to turn the light on and off !

a messy smoothie eater…

playground time

lunch with the francy’s ! both the girls and the parents had a great time

anna loved the toy at the shoe store (but her feet were a smaller size than they sell- 2 1/2 and they started at 3 1/2!)

water table fun with our spiky-haired little lady

resting with mama. love:)

concert in the park

park time with our neighbors

the little lady loves to put her fingers on our mouths

backpack walkin’

anna always hangs on to the sides of the stroller

playtime with dad

a favorite activity these days- pulling down all her books

her donut cake

presents!

playing with her new toy with her cousins!

anna’s first carousel ride

the banks!

our anna banana– in her new banana dress from her aunt suz and trese!

our adorable lady:)

July Style

July started off a bit cool but ended with plenty of warm summer days!  Anna weighed just over 18lb by the end of the month.

Anna becomes increasingly mobile.  She crawls so quickly and seems to get into everything (although this is probably just the tip of the iceberg).  She cruises everywhere, hanging onto whatever furniture she can find.  She now stands on her own – but usually once she realizes she’s doing it, she quickly grabs for something to hang onto.  She also crawls up stairs now!  She said “da-da” for the first time on July 25th- the day before Tony’s birthday so it was an extra special moment.  Her love affair with parks has continued and we’ve been able to take her to a few splash parks in recent weeks.  She and Crosby have a changing dynamic; now that she is mobile, he’s much more interested in her but her interest in him has lessened.  She no longer enjoys getting her diaper changed and wiggles around like crazy when we are trying to change her.  She has started to show interest in books!  She takes them off her shelf and especially loves reading Where is Baby’s Belly Button? and lifting the flaps.  She loves feeding herself; she eats either finger foods or pouches.  Our days of spoon-fed purees are officially done.  Anna has developed ‘stranger danger’.  If Tony or I are in the room, she typically prefers one of us to be holding her.  Overall, she is such an observant little lady who lights up the room with her smile.

July started off with the Pratt family vacation in Sheboygan, WI.  We stayed at a resort right on Lake Michigan in one big condo.  We spent the days hanging out, going to the huge indoor water park, and exploring the area.  It was such a special week as Anna got to spend extended time with everyone.  One highlight: Logan figured out how to make her laugh!  Up until now, tickling and peek-a-boo were about the only two tricks we had.  But Logan had some comedy routines that made her laugh so hard; it was so much fun to watch.  Her Aunt Linda, Uncle Rob, Aunt Nancy and Uncle Greg also joined us for a few days.  Each Pratt child (Linda, Mike, Nancy) had a grandchild born in 2014 so lots of familiarity with kiddos Anna’s age in the group!  Grandma and Papa Pratt came to watch Anna for a few days while Beckie was on vacation mid-month.  We also took a trip to Cincinnati.  Anna brunched with Uncle Brian, Aunt Michelle and Zane.  Plus she got to see almost everyone on the Vogt side including 9 others from her generation (with 3 more on the way!).  It was a month full of special family moments.

stacking toys

Bagel shop with Auntie Trese!

happy hour upon arrival at Sheboygan

little reds fan

absolutely loving all the attention from the boys

endless giggles with logan

what’s up guys

lunch!

future race car driver?

tickets! luke got anna a bracelet with his winnings

the water park! on the last day, she was crawling around the wading pool like crazy

smiles with Gram

her first time eating ice cream… she loved it 🙂

3 generations at the ice cream parlor

celebrating the 4th of July

she loves getting to eat the entire cracker

Partying with Violet and other friends one last time before Todd, Amanda and Violet’s big move to Minnesota

a water table at the Cubs park!

Finally met Rachel during our fun brunch at Sarah and Mike’s ! Us ladies are making sure Anna is a future Junior Leaguer 🙂

dinner with our Chicago fam– Katie and Matt :)!

Anna’s first trip to her mama’s work- all the BC employees fell in love with her

ahh, gram !

giggles with papa

story time

anna charms all the other customers while grocery shopping

walking with dad

brunch with aunt michelle and uncle brian !

anna’s first bridal shower, celebrating laura nash (she just popped by at the end)

always having a blast with her cousins

lets go guys

our sweet little girl

Anna’s new favorite toy- her water table! Now Beckie, Charlie, and Anna spend many an afternoon splashing around on the deck

crawling around at the splash park

“da da” !

hehehe

birthday sushi dinner

celebrating Dad’s birthday at the street fest

grins 🙂

Sunshine & Summertime

June!  Summer finally arrived and Anna has had a blast with all the warm weather.  She had her 9 month appointment, weighing in at 17lbs 5oz (35%) and measuring 26.6 inches (13%).

Anna hit some major milestones this past month.  On June 10th, she officially crawled for the first time.  She has been scooting around since mid-March but finally figured out using her legs makes things a whole lot easier!  She continues to focus on pulling herself up on anything (or anyone) so most of her crawling energies take her from one climbing object to the next.  Also, on June 18th, her first tooth popped through!  (we have been attributing any fussy day to teething since December so it was exciting to be right for once)  The second one followed shortly so we now have a child with two teeth.  When it comes to eating, Anna absolutely loves finger foods or anything she can feed herself.  She started eating directly from a pouch (thanks to her cousin Jill) and also loves to drink from Laura’s water bottle.  She has a funny habit of pulling on her hair while eating so often we end dinner with her hair sticking straight out, covered in some fruit or veggie.  Anna loves bath time these days; she splashes around like crazy and actually smiles when we pour water over her head.  She both sits up and stands in her crib now, making nap time more interesting.  She learned a new trick- shaking her head ‘no’; we have yet to get a ‘yes’ out of her.  The things in life that continue to get the biggest squeals of delight out of her: her puppy (or any dog really) and the park!

We took our first big family vacation in June!  We headed to the Outer Banks in North Carolina, staying in one big house one block off the beach with almost our entire Roth family.  Anna got to spend tons of time with her grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins.  She was a bit scared of the ocean at first but eventually warmed up to it; she also managed to eat a lot of sand!  She loved splashing around in the pool.  We went mini-golfing (she even got her own club) and saw the wild horses.  It was such a fun, memorable week!  Anna also went to her first Chicago fest (Greek Fest) and went strolling on the 606, a new trail in town.  It was a great start to summer.

good morning !

laughing in the swing

dinner time is a bit messier these days

at mcdonalds playroom with Beckie and Charlie– Anna’s loves older kids!

ready to go guys!

what is this thing?! (midway airport has this technology relic)

sleeping in her daddy’s arms (she was not a happy girl during the early part of this plane ride; luckily Tony soothed her to sleep)

the beach!

pool time

giggles with Jess

what a fun ride!

our little family

fun in the sun with dad

playing in the sand

family beach day

playing with jenna

so many laughs with aunt alison

anna loves her cousin Morgan (and anna’s puffs were a hit!)

wild horses with grandma and grandpa

the two cinderellas

grandpa always gets the biggest smiles!

her first time in the bike trailer… not a success

mom and dad, i’ve got this

Kitty Hawk- Anna’s first national memorial

she loved looking out the window as we flew back into town

wow, these peas are great! (and ive even used them to create a new hair style…)

always going to find Crosby

fun at the park on father’s day

crosby and anna checking each other out

playtime

hey guys

The Bloomingdale Trail

Plus a few of our favorites from her 9 month photo shoot

May Flowers

May arrived with lots of sunshine and warmth!  Anna is now a little over 17lb and seems more grown up every day.

Anna became much more mobile this past month.  She still does not officially crawl but she scoots all over the place.  One minute she is in the living room and the next thing we know, she’s under the kitchen table!  We have done some more baby proofing as a result.  Also, Anna has fallen in love with standing (with assistance).  One of her favorite games is “Anna sits.  Anna stands!”- where she uses our hands to push herself up.  After she stands, we cheer for her and she smiles like crazy at our praise.  It is so much fun.  She officially pulled herself without any assistance on May 19th (on a storage bin).  She can move herself from her belly to sitting up.  Now that she’s figured that out, she spends much of her day scooting around and then sitting up once she reaches her toy or intended destination.  Anna has also become acutely more aware of us; if we start to walk away from her, there is a 50/50 chance she will cry (and truly cry, not just whimper).  She wants us to be right there with her!   Her obsession with Crosby continues.  To date, he has been very tolerant of her pulling his tail, his collar, his hair, etc.  Anna continues to love bath time as well, splashing like crazy and eating all her bath toys.  The other thing we’ve discovered she loves- watching us brush our teeth.  It always gets the biggest smile.  She continues to love the swings and as soon as we see a park these days, she starts squealing with delight!  Her favorite song now is Tommy O’Flynn although Go Bananas still gets big smiles.

May started off in the most special way – Anna was baptized.  To make the event even more special, our immediate families all came for the weekend to celebrate.  We kicked the weekend off with a trip to the zoo on Friday, spent Saturday downtown at the new Maggie Daley Park and the 2015 NFL DraftTown, and celebrated Saturday evening at our place.  Sunday we had brunch and then all 24 of us attended the baptism at St. Alphonsus Church.  The service was basically during Anna’s naptime so we kept the pacifier handy but overall, she did wonderfully.  Aunt Julie and Aunt Susan were perfect godmothers!  That next Monday, Aunt Teresa stuck around and spent the day with Anna, going to the library hour with Beckie and Charlie and hanging out at the park.  Being able to spend the entire weekend with both of our families was such a blessing.  The rest of May included more swimming lessons for Anna and a trip to Milwaukee for a family getaway!

just waiting for everyone to arrive

an afternoon at the zoo

Logan cracked me up all weekend

playground fun with Jill

cousins swinging

auntie T, I want to eat that plant you got me!

All dressed up and ready to go!

Roth cousins!

anna and the boys 🙂

aunt michelle and uncle brian!

so much fun with Jenna

Luke is a great playmate

giggles with grandma and papa

Anna’s Baptism

Anna with her parents and godmothers

woohoo!

8 months old – and eating the sign of course

gymboree!

all smiles

playtime with Charlie

always giggling during bathtime

on the swing with dad!

I just want to stand!

a blink of the eye and she shows up here

anna banana 🙂

Apparently she enjoys being a Tribe fan!

just the sweetest

Memorial Day party – her friend Tommy gave her lots of hugs 🙂

having fun at the Milkwaukee Public Market

all smiles for dad 🙂

A family walk by Lake Michigan… just 100 miles north of our house!

A morning stroll past the Art Museum

we found a swing in Milwaukee!

hey, what’s going on here?

Daddy’s little girl

the little lady

April Showers

The early days of spring have been a lot of fun for Anna.  She is now exactly 17lb and is finally getting a little hair!

We started the month with a quasi-sitter; she was a bit wobbly but would sit with our help.  Then magically, during the second week of the month, she became a pro!  She now spends most of her time sitting.  Now when we lay her on her back, she’ll often cry until we sit her up.  It is amazing how quickly it changes.  She has become a great little scooter- especially when we have a toy or something for her to scoot towards.  No sign of hands and knees crawling yet but it probably isn’t far off.  She also has developed into an eating champ!  She leans forward into the spoon and enjoys most things.  (although, she dramatically gags and spits out both avocado and edamame– two of her mother’s favorite foods!  we are going to continue working on those).  In perhaps one of the most exciting developments for us, Anna now sleeps through the night!  She is asleep around 7:30 each evening and wakes up around 6am.  (we can hardly believe we used to get up one-two times a night with her.)  She loves her toys now; she can entertain herself for quite a while with them.  There have been a few instances of Anna stealing a toy from Charlie so we may have to work on that some day soon:)  We also found a new favorite- the swings!  She just smiles and screams out her excitement whenever she’s swinging.  As a result, we have been spending lots of evenings and weekend time at the parks these days.  It has been a blast.  She has started blowing raspberries and also has started ‘screaming’ lately; she certainly makes her presence known.  We’ve also been working on petting Crosby.  She has not wavered in her love for him!

After all the friends and family Anna saw during March, April was mostly time with Mom and Dad.  We celebrated our first Easter as a family with an early morning church service and an afternoon at the zoo.  Out of all the animals, Anna was most interested in the cows and ponies in the farm section.  We were blessed with beautiful weather that entire weekend. Anna and Charlie started going to story time with Beckie at the library this month.  We know she will be a great reader one day!  Dad and Anna had some extra father-daughter time and tons of fun as Mom left for her first weekend away.  Anna also started swim lessons this month.  She has been a superstar and is all smiles, especially at the beginning of class.  She has now started to splash and play around in the bathtub these days.  We are getting her ready for her vacations this summer!

 

loving the bouncer next door

practicing sitting up… still a little wobbly

her first time in a playground swing! Beckie said she was unsure at first but then loved it

Happy Easter!

our little Easter bunny

sitting up!

Anna’s first time on the swings with us

she insists on feeding herself!

nice try mom, not smiling for another photo…

anna and charlie:)

swim lessons

family swim photo

loving the swings!

keeping herself up!

playtime

on the swings with mama

her very own box of toys

anna and daddy

concert time

im here!

well hello

post swimming lessons

our little cutie

going for a walk with dad!

making funny faces to send to dad on our walk

fun at gymboree

hanging out in her beautiful room

anna and charlie – besties:)

practicing her standing moves!

March Madness

March was a busy month for Miss Anna.  She officially turned six months old which meant a trip to the doctor’s office.  She weighed in at 15.6lb and is now 25.6in tall.  This puts her in the ~30th percentile!

Anna started eating solids this month.  Solids for her means pureed fruits, veggies, and very runny oatmeal.  We started with sweet potatoes for dinner and the first two days it went very well.  For the next two weeks, it was hit or miss… with mostly misses.  At the end of month, we shifted strategy- having Beckie feed her fruit or veggies for lunch and mom and dad feeding oatmeal for dinner.  This has been much more successful.  On the nights she eats her oatmeal well, she sleeps so much better!  It has been amazing for us.  This month, her awareness of her mom and dad has grown.  When around other people, she definitely knows who we are.  Luckily she is still very happy to have others hold her!  She continues to be an observant little lady, watching other kiddos or any dogs she meets very intently.  It is especially sweet when Anna and her daily playmate Charlie stare, smile, or grab at each other.  She has also started showing interest in her toys (although her her primary goal seems to be getting them into her mouth).  She still loves eating her feet and peek-a-boo always gets us a giggle.  She loves to grab at our faces, especially when putting her to sleep.  And if mama’s hair is down, she is guaranteed to grab it and try to eat that as well.  Unfortunately, this month Anna got her first cold.  It has been rough to watch her suffer through a runny nose and coughing; hopefully it will clear up soon.  From a milestone perspective, she now scoots across the floor!  If we put a toy a few feet in front of her, she will quasi-army crawl over to get it.  It’s hard to believe.  She has also started sitting up on her own although not for an extended length of time.  She is becoming such a little person!

March was a month full of friends and family.  First, her Grandma Jackie, Grandpa Tony, and cousin Jill came to visit!  Anna hadn’t seen them since Christmas so she was very excited for all the hugs, kisses, and extra attention.  She took her first trip to Ikea that weekend and was very impressed.  We had a chance to sing Happy Birthday to both Jill and Grandpa Tony which was a lot of fun.  Grandma Jackie also got her posed for some adorable 6 month pics.  Two weeks later, her Grandma and Grandpa Pratt came for the weekend!  They picked her up early from the nanny so she had some special time with just the three of them (plus Crosby).  Saturday, everyone made the trip to watch Laura perform stories at a library with her volunteer group.  Anna just loved watching her dad and Grandpa dance to the song ‘go bananas’.  This was also the first time we caught her on video scooting across the floor.  Finally this month, Anna took her first big trip to Columbus!  She got to meet all of her mom and dad’s best friends from college.  She got to see Aunt Sara’s new house and got to play at Ashley and Johnny’s place on Friday.  Saturday, Zane and Caitlin had a lovely party in her honor.  She got to meet her newest girlfriend Adelyn Ferguson that evening.  She left that fete quite early but just loved all the hugs and kisses she got from everyone.  On Sunday, we headed to a birthday party for Audrey Amer.  Audrey was born 4 years ago here in Chicago in the same hospital as Anna.  It was a very special month for our little family!

chewing on a toy… her favorite pastime

her first solids! a dinner of sweet potatoes, complete with lots of attention from mom and dad

all smiles with gram

cousin jill keeping anna entertained

Anna and Grandma Jackie

so much fun with grandma and grandpa

6 months!

loving her high chair !

playtime fun with charlie

fun at the doctor’s office

our squirmy, silly girl

happy st patty’s day!

trip to the outlet malls- she’s a shopper!

all smiles these days

dinner time!

off for a winter walk with mom

all smiles

kisses and giggles

lunch after the library event; anna proudly wearing her ‘i love to read’ sticker

so much fun with papa

anna’s first time truly opening a gift! (although her goal seemed to be more ripping the paper in order to eat it rather than opening the box..)

Anna with her new swimsuit from G&G Pratt

introducing anna to ‘our’ Italian place; she loved it

anna and grandma match!

anna, mama and grandma & grandpa (anna stylin’ in her outfit from them)

our little baby roth

out for a walk with Charlie and Beckie (people ask Beckie if they are twins!)

intently playing with her exersaucer

even with a delayed flight, anna was a superstar

so excited for her trip!

endless amounts of cuddles from Sara

hanging out in Sara’s new kitchen

so much love from everyone in Columbus:)

giggles with ash!

brunch with the hertzigs! she cannot wait to meet their bundle of joy this fall:)

loving uncle zane as always

snoozing away in her pack-n-play, provided very kindly by the Fry family:) made our trip so wonderful !

getting ready for the party with mama

Anna and Adelyn checking each other out

Jackie- amazing with babies! Anna even got a shoulder ride- but wasn’t too sure what was going on 🙂

Caitlin- the perfect hostess!

Anna and the Columbus ladies:)

the men of copley and their kiddos

Love is in the Air

February was Anna’s first Valentine’s Day.  Having her in our lives has taught us a brand new kind of love and has expanded our hearts in remarkable ways.  Parenthood gives a whole new meaning to the word ‘love’ and we feel so blessed! At the end of the month, our rosy-cheeked little one weighed in at 15.2lb; she just keeps growing.

While we waited for five months for her to roll over; now that she’s done it, she won’t stop.  We can no longer just leave her on the bed while we walk across the room- and we are so excited about that.  We still cheer her on whenever she’s performing this newest trick.  With all this moving around, she has outgrown her piano playmat; hard for us to believe.  She has also become one drooly baby; her shirt quickly gets wet if we aren’t paying attention.  She has struggled with sleep more in the middle of this month giving her mom and dad a few pretty rough nights.  These nights made us realize how good we had it up to that point.  She then settled back into waking up just one to two times overnight which we can handle.  She continues to chat quite a bit, and a few times she woke up in the middle of the night and just chatted away.  Although being woken at 4am isn’t ideal, just listening to her babble away brings a smile to our face even then.  We also had two big transitions this month.  One, she moved from her snug-a-pup to her crib.  Two, she moved out of 3 month clothes into 6!  Her level of observation continues to grow. She still loves to watch her pup and she rarely falls asleep on car rides or in the stroller.  She is very focused on watching the world around her.  She loves to reach for things now, whether it’s a toy, a water bottle, or anything else in our hands.  Anna has fallen in love with the songs from her music class.  Singing them helps calm her down and always brings a big smile to her face.  Also, we can now make her giggle!  She loves when we kiss her belly and the bottom of her feet are ticklish as well.  We spend so many hours doing the things that make her smile and laugh. It is definitely the highlight of our days.

February was a very cold month so unfortunately Anna did not get as much fresh air as she prefers. The month did start off with her very first Chicago blizzard.  (20 inches in 1 day)  This also meant the Fry brothers stuck around for an extra day or two which she loved.  We started our nanny share this month.  Charlie, our next door neighbor, now joins Anna and Beckie every day.  All is going very well so far, leaving both ourselves and Charlie’s parents very impressed with how Beckie manages two infants!  Anna took her first plane ride this month, heading to Baltimore to visit her cousin Morgan, Uncle Mike and Aunt Alison.  She did very well on both flights.  We had so much fun playing with all Morgan’s toys, taking a walk through the woods, and dining at some of their favorite spots.  Anna also had a play date with Cora Francy and attended her first ‘adult’ party at Sarah and Mike Herrmann’s.  At the end of the month, she joined her mama for a Women’s Business Association book club gathering, impressing all the ladies and learning to be a strong, independent woman at a very young age!

snow day!

5 months!

out for a sunday stroll

Lullabies- her music class

sleeping in her mama’s friend’s arms at a very loud restaurant; Jessica was a miracle worker that evening!

just hanging out with dad

gotta love those dimples

holding hands with Charlie- so cute to watch

Anna loves playing on her quilt from her Grandma Pratt

just waking up…

getting excited …

so happy to see her daddy each morning

fun times flying w/daddy

loving flying with mom also

first family flight

giggling while her daddy sings to her

Headed out for our walk through the woods in Maryland– Anna’s first time in a real stroller seat!

Anna had such a blast with Morgan- she already looks up to her so much !:)

happy valentine’s day!

these airport lines aren’t so bad

the weekend wore her out- sleeping on our flight home

like father, like daughter

Dinner at her first Rick Bayless restaurant

still loves superbaby

a mover and a shaker these days

a visit to another of laura’s customers

love that smile

sitting up in her Dr Seuss outfit (as her dad has deemed it)

playing with Cora !

holding her own bottle= so grown up!

stylin’ in a sweater that Grandma Pratt knit for her Auntie Suz many years ago

go cats! mama and Anna cheered on the Northwestern from home while tony was at the game

Anna’s new favorite hobby- chewing on her feet

A Brand New Year!

2015 has arrived with a flurry of freezing weather but Anna is getting tough quickly!  At her doctor’s appointment on January 20, she was 13lb, 6oz and 24.9in long.  She is in the 23% for weight and 54% for height; basically she is growing like crazy.

With each day, Anna becomes more of a little person!  In early January, she started playing with toys on her mat without any encouragement from Mom or Dad.  She loves to grab the ring under her elephant and by now, she moves over towards the frog and somehow gets it in her mouth.  Her favorite activity these days is hand chewing.  She loves to chew those hands!  She still likes her pacifier but will sometimes spit or pull it out in favor of her hands.  Anna has also ‘discovered her voice.’  She makes all kinds of sounds and will spend extended periods of time just exploring all the different noises she can make.  This has been so much fun for us.  Her ability to observe the world around her continues to grow.  Her head is constantly on a swivel, moving to watch any activity in the room.  With this increased awareness, she also gets distracted very easily.  When Tony is giving her a bottle or Laura is feeding her, she will sometimes stop just to smile up at us or to turn her head if she hears an interesting noise – especially if it is her pup Crosby.  She loves watching him move around.  Anna has also fallen in love with peek-a-boo.  It is a guaranteed smile and often a giggle when pulling her onsie over her head.  Finally, in the world of baby milestones, she just hit one: she rolled over!  She did this for the first time on January 30 for Tony and their good friend Zane.  Laura wasn’t home but fortunately the boys got it on video.  She had been attempting to roll for the past few weeks and basically never just lays on her back anymore; she is always squirming and spinning in circles.  But she has finally succeed in flipping from her back to her stomach and we couldn’t be happier.  (Although this also means an increased level of watchfulness is needed from us!)

January was the first month of our new family routine.  With both Tony and Laura working, Anna now has a nanny to take care of her during the day.  Beckie started on January 5th and Anna loves her.  Beckie’s most frequent commentary is “Anna is just such a happy baby.”  They eat, play games, and go for walks around the neighborhood.  For the moment, Anna has Beckie all to herself which has been a wonderful.  In February, our neighbor Charlie (3 months old) will join Anna every day and Beckie will be our shared nanny.  We are looking forward to Anna having a built in playmate!  During January, we started music lessons with Anna.  Every Sunday morning, we go to a music school for a 30 minute class with about 5-6 other babes her age.  We sing songs we knew as kids (itsy-bitsy spider, a favorite of annas, ants go marching, etc) and we have learned some new ones for our repertoire.  It has been a great experience.  Anna had a full day playdate with her friend Violet this month; their daddies were the caretakers while their mamas had a girls’ day out.  Anna also met Zane and Joel Fry!  They came for a weekend to visit (and to see a concert:))  They were both able to get tons of smiles from her.  We all took Anna on her first shopping trip through Wicker Park where she loved exploring a new neighborhood.  It was a wonderful start to 2015 for us!

just doing some tummy time

Anna cheering on Ohio State during the Sugar Bowl. (Tony was at the game with his brothers!)

Anna with her friends Lason and Charlotte at our monthly brunch; Lason is such a flirt!

hanging out in the evening with mom loving the smiles

super baby — always gets the best giggles!

National Champions! Anna was our good luck charm

4 months!

“really mom?”

another 4 month shot

Grabbing her toys

her darling leggings from her Tia Cathy

A smile that lights up the room

dancing with dad

sprawled out at the doctors office

playing in her crib

these two… nothing makes up happier:)

hello chicago winter!

our darling girl hanging out with Beckie

A little girl with a lot to say

trying to roll over… not successful quite yet

Anna can now face forward in her Bjorn!

a wonderful family walk on a mild january day

what is happening here?

fun with crystal, amanda and violet

a father-daughter afternoon- Anna and Violet spent the day with their dads !

holding her bottle; growing up so quickly!

nothing better than hanging out on dad’s lap

QT with dad

selfies w/mama

trying to roll over… but not quite there

Uncle Zane!

a day in wicker park with the fry brothers who made her smile all weekend

family 🙂

Family

December was full of activity and memorable moments, notably Anna’s first Christmas!  She is a little over 13lb by now; we have her 4 month checkup in January so it’ll be interesting to see how she compares to other ladies her age.

Over the past month, Anna has become significantly more aware of the world around her.  She has discovered she has hands and spends a lot of time staring at them and chewing on them.  She is also mesmerized by mobiles!  She is now entertained by the one on her swing and putting her beneath the one in her crib gets huge smiles and often a giggle.  Anna has fallen in love with herself… or at least loves mirrors:)  We often catch her staring and smiling up at herself via the mirror on her playmat or any other mirror she finds.  Her days as a bobblehead are mostly behind us; she holds her head up for very long periods of time, especially in these last two weeks.  She now follows her pup with her eyes as he moves around.  Anna has also discovered a new love- screens (much to her parents’ chagrin!).  If there is a TV or screen of some sort around, she does her best to watch it.  Her father discovered that she was asking Santa for more “screen time” (like her cousin Logan).  Her dad has also uncovered one of her favorite games- ‘babycycle’.  We move her legs like she’s on a bike and it always gets big smiles!  She still hates whenever we put a hat on her head and still loves getting her diaper changed- but those are about our only constants around here!

For Anna, December meant family.  With Laura going back to work in December, Grandma Jackie and Grandpa Tony came to watch her for a week.  The next week Grandma and Papa Pratt stayed with her.  It was such a special experience for her to bond with her grandparents.  We are so blessed to have such loving, supportive and generous parents and it was such a joy to be together as three generations for an extended period of time.  Mama and Anna then had one more week together before it was off to Ohio to finally meet everyone else!  We spent 5 days in Akron with the Roth family and 5 days in Cincinnati with the Pratts.  Anna had a blast playing with all of her cousins; it was so much fun to watch everyone hold her.  She also got to meet lots of the extended family which we loved.  The month couldn’t have been more special!

Celebrating Grandma Jackie’s birthday in Chicago!

loves her grandpa:)

sleeping in Grandpa Tony’s arms

snuck that arm out of her swaddle!

sleeping in grandma’s arms

loved her week with Grandma and Grandpa

playing with Grandma Pratt

all wrapped up!

hmm, whats going on here?

sleeping in Grandma’s arms

 

Papa reading Anna some news articles and giving her market updates

smiling at herself:)

loving her mama’s special flowers

just dancing around

Anna’s first road trip!

Luke, so good with babies

Jessie got her to sleep

a walk along the path

rattling her socks with Luke

so much fun with Jill

cuddles with Jenna

Uncle Dennis, such a natural with babies!

hanging out with Grandpa

Aunt Alison keeping Anna happy during Christmas dinner

playtime with Morgan- frozen toys aplenty

mama-daughter time

so much fun hanging out with Aunt Julie

loved all her time with Aunt Alison, Uncle Mike and Morgan

giggles with grandma

all the Roth cousins

Anna meets Santa!

A wonderful evening with the Amers- complete with time in Audrey and Benny’s fort

Smiles at dad during our drive through Ohio

cousins!

hanging out with Uncle Larry (who even managed to put her to sleep!)

Logan, so helpful and great with babies! (as he’s done this twice before:))

So much love from Aunt Jan- we’ve been waiting to meet her!

cuddles with the entire Vogt family

loving Aunt Barb– and also loved watching the train at their new place

Gifts from all her Vogt Great Aunts and Uncles

Christmas morning!

Christmas morning at the Pratts

Anna’s beautiful quilt from her Grandma Pratt

Christmas Day Mass

Crosby walking with his “Aunt” Roxy

Leo- who always wanted to hold her and frequently exclaimed “she’s cute!”

loves her cousin Luke

just hanging out with her cousins

the babes of 2014- Anna, Jack Ketchum, and Audrey Grote

hanging out with the McAuley ladies

high school gals:)

Hanging out with Nash and Kyle; she even fell asleep in Nash’s arms!

Anna has been introduced to her activity saucer- and loves it!

what a beautiful babe:)