Frozen Treat - Day 663

Well, Anna had attention overload this last week or so with the North Dakota grandparents in town. She definitely loved the attention and it was fun to have family around, but now comes the time where Daddy must break all bad habits. Now she must wear shoes again, ride in the stroller, read less than a dozen books before bed/naps, and we can no longer let the cat ruin my flower garden. I think I have made some progress already, but she also misses the grandparents.

Just for your information, she is now wearing shoes again. I told her that it was a safety issue and that she may step on glass, cut her foot and need a band-aid. She replied with significant worry in her voice, "Need to go for a check-up?" I then also added that she may step on rocks and that might hurt too. Anna got into it too and added that she may step on bees and that could hurt too. So now it is glass, rocks and bees that proved the behavioral basis for wearing shoes. I am sure that I will come to regret this at some point.

In the last couple of days, Anna has also picked up a fear of bugs. I have tried to get to the bottom of this problem because whenever she wakes up from a nap she talks about the bugs, and sometimes she wakes up in a slight terror. I usually ask her where the bug was, and she will point to a place in the bed. I ask her the size and she will say, "big and fat." When I ask her the color she says, "blue," but sometimes it is also red. And when I ask if it was flying or walking, she will usually alternate, but often it is flying. Anyhow, I am on the lookout for a big, fat, blue and red bug that sometimes walks and sometimes flies. Apparently, it is pretty scary.

I fed her today a frozen treat for the first time and it was made out of banana, yogurt, apple juice and peaches. At first she didn't know how to handle it and it was too cold, but she eventually learned how to lick and it was a (messy) hit. I will include in a post right after this one a soundless video of her licking her treat.

Otherwise, today was a pretty low-key day, though Anna did start the day off by setting the agenda. She woke up and told Mommy that she wanted to go out on the 'front (or back) porch, read five monkeys, and play with August [the neighbor cat]'. She's calling the shots now. Sure, it was a bit more dramatic than that. My favorite episode was when some solicitors came to ask for donations for a charitable cause. Anna came over to check things out (trouble was brewing) and she flatly told the ladies, "Lady, go away. Lady, go home." They didn't go, so I had to get some promotional material and let Anna play with it.

Well, so much has happened since I last wrote. Anna has gone on the carousel several times (see photo). Anna received many presents. About 1,000 photos were taken by Greg and Rae (see photo again). And there is just so much more, but I will have to leave it at that for now.