The Quotable Annika

A random selection from the notes ...

--"Can I lookit at it?" (Perpetual question -- she wants to look at everything, always!)

--"Let's talk about days. How was your day?" "And how bout Daddy's/Mommy's day?" "And how bout my day?" (Part of the nighttime routine, after reading and before cuddles; we suspect it's a stalling tactic, but it's cute, so we comply.)

--"Go eat a meal. Maybe strawberries and blueberries and raspberries. AND milk. And maybe some mac and cheese." (What she tells you as you're standing at the door ready to say night-night. Again, probably a stalling tactic … but a funny and cute one.)

--"Enemens." (What she called M&Ms for the longest time … she's got it right, now.)

--"Are we going to do X? Yes or no?" "Is that X? Yes or no?" Etc. (A question in a declarative tone -- we think she picked the phrasing up from her babyschool teacher, Ms. May.)

--"I need my little privacy!" (What she says when she wants to go potty by herself, with no help -- came from us asking us if she needed help, or if she wanted a little privacy. Heh.)

--"When I get bigger," "When I get a bigger girl," "When I get three" (We talk a lot about the awesome things a person gets to do when they're bigger …)

--"I'm gonna make something excellent for you guys." (While crafting … and with a build-up like that, we know to expect wonders.)

--"Cambeloke," then, later, "cambelope." (Cantaloupe -- we had a lot of it this summer, and she loves it!)

--Hugging Daddy when he came back from the gym: "I smell something … you smell like fit and healthy."

--"Mushtache." (Moustache … a big deal in our world, what with the fake moustachery always going on at Sauce weekends, and the Magnum, P.I. love.)

--Describing something she drew: "It's not a rectangle -- it's a BIIIG rec!"

Where to start, where to start ...

Unintentional six-month hiatus, whaat?

Let this be a lesson to you all: blog regularly or it will get away from you in a hurry.

The big picture is: It's been an eventful summer and fall, and at the moment -- save the occasional wowser of a tantrum when she's overtired or hungry -- she's pretty much the most wonderful kid in the world. She loves dancing, and music, and helping us, and reading; she gets psyched about babyschool, going to the gym, staying home, doing errands, building towers, doing crafts, baking and cooking, eating at restaurants, surprising people, making Daddy stop to watch the sunset on the way to our house. It's AMAZING what she knows and what she can figure out -- what her mind retains and the connections she makes. She's so independent, but so huggable and sweet -- smart, open, curious, and the most precious thing in the world.

So, without further ado and with a great deal of moving stuff around as I work -- here's a massive catch-up from a pile of notes scribbled along the way.