Photos and videos

I'm going to post this in the right hand column as well, but I just wanted to be sure you all see this link. This link is magic -- it takes you to the site where we keep all the photos and videos of Annika, updated as often as Dad can get them done ...

http://gallery.me.com/rmarkoff

Enjoy!

Happy first birthday, baby!

Yesterday was Annika's first birthday -- yay, little baby!

It is really, really hard to believe she's already a year old. Time flies -- seems like just yesterday she was a tiny baby who couldn't even focus on something a few feet away, much less get around on her own steam, and now she's an active, mobile toddler who can sight a peppercorn from the next room, home in on it and get it into her mouth before you can move! (Not that I'd know anything about that from personal experience this very morning, nosirree bob.)

But it has been a truly wonderful year, full of all kinds of exciting discoveries, a few crappy (wakeful & crying) nights, and more laughter than I could've imagined. She's such a sweet, happy, curious and interesting baby; we're so lucky to have her, and she's so lucky to have all of you.

Wheels, words, teeth

Wheels: We've been using the original folding stroller with baby bucket as Annika's stroller, even though she's well past the weight and height limit, because you WOULD NOT BELIEVE what crap is out there in the stroller world -- an entire day of Target and BRU shopping a few months ago yielded nothing but agita (the wheels too close together so that you kicked them with every step, bad engineering making it difficult to steer and/or fold, SUV Syndrome, in which every stroller is bigger and fatter than the last, and they all look like rolling La-Z-Boy recliners ... ugh). But it was getting ridiculous, how much she'd outgrown the thing, so I did some research and ordered a three-wheeled stroller online, a big 'un with inflatable tires, adjustable recline, etc. which is forward-facing, easy to steer, and can be used as a jogging stroller, for a miraculous $119. The main flaw is that once folded, the sucker can't stand on its own ... but we had to do something, and it's otherwise a great deal for the money. To get the Perfect Stroller, we'd be talking upwards of $500 (really. I wish I were kidding.), so there you have it! She has so far loved the new go-cart; Friday afternoon, as a workout for me and an outing for us both, we took about a 4-mile walk down to the beach all the way to Sharp Park golf course and back, and she could see so much more (e.g. dogs! birds! the ocean!) than she could have in the recumbent, backward-facing old ride. Good times!

Words: She's added "baby," which is herself, but at least half the time she still pronounces it "buh-BAY!" Also, this was hilarious -- this morning, she went for Daddy's wallet (which he leaves on top of the wine rack by the kitchen, at perfect baby-grab height), and had it in hand before I could get up; as she toddled away at top speed, she sang "nooooo!" to herself even before I said the same thing. Heh. 

Teeth: Her top two front teeth have broken through! Guess that accounts for her sleeplessness and agita the last couple of days. She spends a certain amount of time looking really, seriously thoughtful as she grinds the bottom two against the top two. Very very cute, of course!