For Annea

For months now I have not written, and worse, I haven't even thought about writing in here. But! Annea is still a small being, with many funny antics and preferences to report, and as a continuation of the "baby book" idea, I need to keep recording her life in some way.

*Adessa and Eliana are doing well, for the readers of posterity.
Adessa: 4th grade, 9 years old. Loves to read. Gets my jokes and thinks I'm super funny (Yes!). Helps out a lot.
Eliana: 2nd grade, 7 years old. Loves to play, plays for hours with Annea. She likes to read (mostly to Annea).

They are both doing well in and enjoying school. They are still turning scratch paper into artwork at untidy rates, with Annea right in there coloring, too.

And little Annea. Preschool three days a week, 4 years old. Nayna, Nayneezie, Nayners, and Shanaynay are a few of her nicknames.
She loves her preschool and teachers, and gets to be walked down to school by Grandpa and Nana and their dog, Carson, since I work on her school days. She already talks about going to Kindergarten, she wants to be big and doing what the girls are doing so bad, it's hard to watch and help her process. She loves to hold hands, much more than the other girls she always reaches up to hold my hand no matter how long or short the distance. She is constantly singing, mostly at the top of her lungs while standing on my bed (I think it's her stage). She still doesn't get the words to songs right, but sings what sounds right to her. For the pop song that goes: "If I die young, bury me in satin..." Annea sings: "If I die long, bury me in sausage." Close! She loves her sisters, loves to giggle with them and play with both or just with Eliana while Adessa reads. She likes to be helpful, and put her clothes away or "wash dishes"--only minimally helpful but the spirit is there. She loves to snuggle, still likes to be held and carried sometimes (less and less often, I notice!). She likes to be read to, which I need to do more! and she likes to play games. We've instituted game night and she's right there in the mix, playing Uno (with help) and Charades. This summer we went to the creek a bunch, and Annea would sing along the banks floating a plastic boat on a string, while the big girls fished for crawdads.

We have been out of the baby stage, and toddler stage, I think it has been easier for about a year and a half. I have had more energy for lots of things, church camp, planning my 40th, big things that would have seemed impossible with littles. Annea stopped napping this summer, which changed our whole lives: we can push through and do more than one thing per day, stay places longer, and sometimes we have major meltdowns by 6pm. Baby gear is almost completely gone from our storage, except the Ergo, which is such an extension of my baby holding arms I just can't get rid of it. It's the only way I know how to care for a baby. And we even hiked this summer and I wore it in case Annea got tired. (Which, I'll have you know, she did. :)

Pics to come!