Twinkle twinkle little star

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the beginning of the musical portion of the blog posts. She's such a good singer, I wanted to get a bunch of songs recorded. And without further ado:

Twinkle from Jessica on Vimeo.

Poor little fifteen

Not sure what happened to fifteen. I'm just glad six and seven have joined the team.
Poor fifteen from Jessica on Vimeo.

Definitively 2 and a half

The beginning of this video depict the weirdness that is the terrible twos for us. She's 2 and a half now, so I'm trying to get her to say it for most of the video. This is kind of a long one, sorry.

Two and a half from Jessica on Vimeo.

Watching her, watching her...

Not really that interesting, but it shows you how much she loves watching herself on video. "I wanna watch an Annie video!" she'll say.

This is so meta from Jessica on Vimeo.

Gweat!

This is a re-enactment of an actual conversation she and her grandmother had a few minutes ago when Mum arrived to babysit. Early this morning she'd been pitiful, whiny, feverish, and eventually threw up a bit. I guess, as she promised it would, Curious George "make me feel better".

Gweat! from Jessica on Vimeo.

Madeleine's political beginnings

This is Annie's friend Madeleine. She and Annie are almost exactly the same age, and we've been getting together with their family since before the girls were born. We got together to play yesterday with them, and had a blast. The kids make us laugh so much.

Madeleine and her parents went to see Hillary Clinton speak recently, and ever since then she's been imitating the political speech style. She's not saying anything comprehensible here - it's really just the rhythm of what she's saying and doing with her mic. I love this!

Hillary's political speech style, a la Madeleine from Jessica on Vimeo.

The Glare

We have a book about dinosaurs eating their food, and it jokes about all the things that dinosaurs DON'T do as they eat their food... they don't throw it on the floor, they don't bubble their milk... they don't glare at their parents... so we tried to teach Annie what glaring was. She is extraordinarily good at it, and LOVES to do it.

glare from Jessica on Vimeo.

Toddler logic

Evan is doing his Annie impression in this... where she speaks in a monotone... but the conversation itself is so random and all over the place. Just typical 2 1/2 yr old talk.

toddler logic from Jessica on Vimeo.

Brussel Sprouts

She tried artichokes in Florida last week, and now when trying brussel sprouts tonight I think she thought they were just mini artichokes.

brussel sprouts from Jessica on Vimeo.

Hostipital

There's an extra syllable in this word... she's actually gotten better at it in this video than she used to be, but I love it this way.

hostipital from Jessica on Vimeo.

Rocky road ice cream

Annie and her Papa agree - Wocky Woad WOCKS!

rocky road from Jessica on Vimeo.

Here burdies!

I just love the way this sounds. Here burdie burdie burdie!!!

here birdies from Jessica on Vimeo.

Burseed

Feeding Grandma and Papa's ducks in Florida:

birseed from Jessica on Vimeo.

Fantastic flip flops

These flip flops are just so fabulous I had to get them on video.

flip flop from Jessica on Vimeo.

You only make this kind of mistake once.

An error in parental judgement, explained.

Error in parental judgement from Jessica on Vimeo.

Back in four days

"How to make mum feel guilty for going to California for four days" by Annie.

back in four days from Jessica on Vimeo.

Bad boot

Boot = book.
This is a long video, only for the committed. I like it because I feel like it shows her at this age - how she interacts... but there's really not that much interesting in it.

Bad boot from Jessica on Vimeo.

Healthy eater

What, you might ask, do we feed a 2 1/2 yr old Annie? She has some favorite foods, listed here. And we did capture my favorite phrase - where she says "no can" when she means "and I can"... I just love it.

Bench bies from Jessica on Vimeo.

Quotable

Recounting a conversation from earlier.
Water on Genifee from Jessica on Vimeo.

Cracking herself up

Here's the girl playing a little joke - making herself laugh as she jumps on our bed and catches sight of herself in the mirror at the top of her leap... and says buh-bye to herself each time. Hehe. Also love the morning hair.

Buh-bye from Jessica on Vimeo.

Athlete

She's really quite good at everything physical - catching a ball, for one (and this isn't even a good example of it... Ev likes it better when she brings her hands together right when the ball gets to her, but either way, I'm impressed).
Playing Catch from Jessica on Vimeo.

"Truth" telling... a complicated concept

Who dropped the Cheerios on the floor, Annie?
Who made the mess? from Jessica on Vimeo.

Playing her beloved dicar

Annie got this ukelele for her 2nd birthday, and she's loved playing it since the moment it entered the house. The best part is what she calls it.

Dicar = Guitar from Jessica on Vimeo.

At the Museum of Science

Loving the water table, just moments before the nosedive straight in. She thought it was hilarious. Do you wonder how she possibly could have fallen in? I mean she looks so stable...

Pre-nosedive from Jessica on Vimeo.

First "beaux-friend"

John-John is our daycare provider's younger son. Annie had quite a crush on Adam, her 7 year old, late last year, but apparently her affections have switched to the 4 year old John-John.

Beaux-friend from Jessica on Vimeo.

January's favorite book

We got this out of the library 2 1/2 weeks ago, and Annie took a shine to it right away. Maybe I'm easily impressed, but when she started to know it by heart after only a week or so, I figured it had to be taped someday... and now I finally did it, quick before it's due back at the library. Warning - it's 3 1/2 minutes of video, and before I edited out the page turns, it was a bit dizzying - I think it's a little better now.

Today I Feel Silly from Jessica on Vimeo.

Ever cheerful

Singing along with her little british music player... ever cheerful on the ride home from bowling and dinner.

ABCs from Jessica on Vimeo.

Potty training, not doing so well

We're still working on the difference between "farts" and other things that come out. Annie's pretty sure that if she tells us she's just farting, she won't have to go to the potty or get a diaper change.

Fahting from Jessica on Vimeo.

Sharing Raisins

Glad to have a friend like you, Madeleine!

Sharing Raisins from Jessica on Vimeo.

Tidying

I'm a little afraid she might have some of her grandmother's slightly "anal" tendencies.

Tidying from Jessica on Vimeo.

Shake your groove thing

The girls heard some music playing at the bowling alley and couldn't stop themselves from grooving:

Shake Your Groove Thing from Jessica on Vimeo.

Bowling with a 2 year old

We went bowling on Saturday with our friends Steve and Kimberly and their daughter, Madeleine - who's just Annie's age. Annie took to bowling, although the speed of her balls was pretty hilarious...

Bowling from Jessica on Vimeo.

Killer dance moves

Where did she get this move? Another one that I just can't stop watching.

Fabulous hand movement from Jessica on Vimeo.

Scout's honor, I have no idea who taught her this

Before the moment this happened, neither Ev nor I had ever heard or seen Annie do this. That's what makes it all the more funny. Someone's been loving seeing her dance, and has been (apparently) cheering her on... daycare, maybe? It's about a 1 1/2 minute video and you have to watch about a minute before you get to this part, though.

You Go Girl from Jessica on Vimeo.

Tickling and Giggling

I do love the giggles, and the last moment of this video makes me laugh, too, because she's got my number, definitely. She knows I'm having a blast with this video camera and she's pretty much mocking me.

Have fun with your camera from Jessica on Vimeo.

At Old Navy today

She caught sight of this poster from across the store and said "I'm gonna go see that girl." She takes after her aunt Lindsay, the actress.

Mimic from Jessica on Vimeo.

Look out!

She is a speed demon when it comes to getting her baby doll around corners. A nice tender moment at the beginning, but basically it's a racing instrument, this stroller...

Speedy Stroller from Jessica on Vimeo.

Excellent example of the begging style

This is the best recording to date of Annie's version of begging. I have to admit I kind of love it.

Puhweeze from Jessica on Vimeo.

Sigh

Ah, the subtle (or not so subtle) guilt that your children can lay on you...

Mama at Work from Jessica on Vimeo.

This week's sleep

In the last few weeks we've been so enjoying the go-to-bed process. I mean, over the past 2+ years we've found her go-to-bed mentality has changed so many times that we can't even keep track... from cry it out to singing herself to sleep. This has been this week's pleasure cruise: (about 1 1/2 minutes, and not that funny, but just adorable)

Monitor from Jessica on Vimeo.

Mmm. Bacon.

We had (turkey) bacon for breakfast, Annie and I. And then I saw this. Tee hee!

Roar! (for dins' benefit)

Hey Dins - ROAR! (wait for it, wait for it...)

Monster Wiggle from Jessica on Vimeo.

I got ONE thing

So she totally looks like her dad. We all know it. No arguments here. But I got one thing. Just one thing that is no doubt, hands down, totally mine.

Mum's Tongue from Jessica on Vimeo.

"Cutch My Back"

No fewer than 8 times a day this request is made. I had to record it for posterity.

Scratch My Back from Jessica on Vimeo.

Sugar pie honey bunch

Apparently the Playmobil people use terms of endearment, too.

Honey from Jessica on Vimeo.

One song got deep in there...

One song from Christmas dug in and implanted itself deep in Annie's brain. Here it is, rearing its little head:

Jingle Bells Redux from Jessica on Vimeo.

Discussing Gymnastics

A continuation of the hot chocolate video below... more discussion about hot topics of the day.

Discussing Gymnastics from Jessica on Vimeo.

First Hot Chocolate

Annie's first experience with hot cocoa. Mmmm.

First Hot Chocolate from Jessica on Vimeo.

Heavy Chair

In case you can't quite hear it, she's saying, breathlessly: "This is the heaviest chair I've ever seen."

Heavy Chair from Jessica on Vimeo.

Only if you have some time

This one's long. But if you're a die hard Annie fan, or really a fan of any two year old who's just plain hilarious when he/she plays alone, this is worth a watch. It's a true representation of the way she plays, for long periods of time... the tapping as she walks the little people all around, the a-little-too-loud voice when she calls out "Ready everyone?"...

LONG video of little people from Jessica on Vimeo.

Up and Down the Boulevard

You have to know Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" to truly appreciate Annie's singing skill here... This CRACKS me up...

Don't Stop Believin from Jessica on Vimeo.

Lilies of the Valley deck my garden walk

She's a musical genius. This is Annie singing a song I sing to her a lot as she goes to sleep (Ev sings Journey, which we'll show you next). It's an old folk song, called "White Coral Bells", and if you don't know it, this is the link to a real version of it so you can hear what it's supposed to sound like:


And here's Annie's rendition:

White Coral Bells from Jessica on Vimeo.

Artisitic Skeels

We know, every parent thinks their child is amazing, but Annie can draw the best person's face:


Artisitic Skeels from Jessica on Vimeo.

Santa's Visit, according to Annie

Ho ho ho from Jessica on Vimeo.

Christmas dancing, complete with faot

Yes! The return of the video blog! After an almost 11 month hiatus, Annie's video blog is up and running again. Thanks to Ev for the video camera xmas gift. Woo hoo!

So here's one of my top faves from xmas. Annie showing us her dance moves, and a bonus at the end where she shows off her pronunciation of one of my favorites of her words.

Dancing Faot high res from Jessica on Vimeo.

Sesame Street 2/6/07

OK, so I know she's not supposed to stand so close to the TV (well, according to the AAP, she's not supposed to be watching ANY tv until she's two, but that's beside the point)... but you've got to see how amazing this child is. I'm not sure if you can hear the audio well enough, but it's a little girl on Sesame Street singing "Put your arms in the air... reach the ground... etc." and she does it. Love it. This is the first time she heard the song - she was actually listening/mimicing the girl on the screen. Really cool. At one point it even said to turn around in a circle, and she did it (although I missed that on the video). Smartie pants.

Peekaboo 2/6/07

Still a winner of a game. Peekaboo rocks.

Singing and reading 1/25/07

As I sat with my laptop in the living room (hence the beginning shot of the video), I heard Anna start getting into her reading and singing. Here you see her reading her favorite reading material - the pamphlets that come along with the Disney DVDs.

Kitty is funny 1/24/07

Anna was sitting on the floor getting a real kick out of the fact that the cat was having a tough time getting through her kitty door (a few too many kitty treats?), so I had to record the giggles. This is really just the tail end of the hilarity, so it's not that fantastic a video. (This green thing is a bummer - sorry about it... no idea what it is or why it's happening. I'm gonna stop talking about it, though. Maybe rename the blog "Anna's green Video blog"?

Blow some bubbles 1/21/07

Pardon the dark video - our bathroom is lacking light. (Also the weird green-ness- this is new. Not sure what that is.) So this is Anna completely NOT blowing bubbles when I ask her to. Sometimes she'll actually do it when I ask - and when this happens, especially in swim class, I just about burst with pride.

Buh-bye 1/11/07

Slowly but surely we're adding new words to the repertoire -

Buh-bye is sometimes acually used at the right time. Sometimes.

Who's that? Gran? Grandad? AL?

Just this week she's started loving looking at pictures of people she knows. It's very fun. As is the caps lock key.

Disobedient, but a great kisser 1/4/07

She had just been saying "buh-bye" before I brought out the camera, and of course then all she'd say is hello. But we capture a smooch on film here - a spontaneous one, and I melt every time I watch that part.

First day on a new bike 1/4/07

This is moments after getting her first tricycle - she loves it. It doesn't have pedals, she just puts her feet up on the front part and gets pushed, and she thinks it's about the coolest thing around. When I ask if she wants to do it again, I get a great "da" every time.

8th grade boy dancing 12/29/06

It takes a while to get to it, but eventually she does show off her (to quote her aunt lindsay) "8th grade boy" dance moves.

Thomas the Tank Engine (well, Percy that is)

Anna got this cool Percy train from her Papa Jan and Granma Shirley for Christmas. She's enamored with it and loves making it go herself.

Daddy's shoes this time 12/20/06

Really nothing is more fun than wearing grown up's shoes. She's gotten to the point where it's actually quite easy for her to walk in them.

No Grunts 12/19/06

Anna saw me open a bottle of nailpolish, and so she kept handing it to me, asking me to open it again. I didn't want her playing with it, so I pretended it was too tight to open (I grunted and pretended I couldn't open it). So before I got the video camera out, she was hilariously attempting to open it herself, grunting (faking it) with the effort. I got laughing so hard I wanted to immortalize it. Of course she stopped doing it when I filmed her, but her expressions were so funny in this one I had to post it.

Pigtail 12/17/06

This is definitely where the term "pigtail" came from. Anna's first hairdo captured on film. Girls rock.

Lounging 12/17/06

Mute this one. It's really just a quick visual to show Anna in her bouncy seat 12 months after she used to use it all the time. I finally acknowledged it might be time to put it away, and so moved it from it's home next to our bed into the hallway, and Anna rediscovered it, and decided it'd make a great loungechair. Not a thrilling video, just a moment in time. I love how she kicks her legs in the recline position. And how big she is in comparision to last year.

Dancing Mrs. Claus 12/16/06

What's better than standing on the ottoman and showing off your moves for the assembled masses?

Climbing Mrs. Claus 9/16/06

Another one where my voice is waaaay too loud - but enjoy the visuals of our cllimbing girl.

Mrs. Claus sans chapeau

No thanks to the hat. (Mute this one if you can, my voice is sooo loud.)

Big shoes are all the rage 12/12/06

This is the most fun thing she loves to do this week - wear grownups' shoes that she finds around the house. Her Dad helped her here by lacing them up so they stay on better. She loves it.

I urgently must bang 12/7/06

I love how quickly she's moving in this video. It looks like the camera speeded her up, but this is true to life.

Maniac runner 12/7/06

Pre-bath runaround. Always a necessity.

HELLO - First word

I think we have first worditude. Hello. HeLLO! Hello. Nice. I am in love with the sound of this word coming out of her tiny mouth.

Fake laughing blueberry face

We have awareness of the video phone. You see in this video how she stares at the camera, and then laughs her little fake laugh as she eats her raisins (post-frozen blueberries, which adorn her face).

Fork Skeels

THis is the skill of the week - Anna's now REALLY good at using a fork. She insists on feeding herself, so all food must be soft and spear-able. This video's about a minute long, so call me crazy mama, I just couldn't stop filming.

Kissing/Bopping Daddy's head 11/18/06

Anna's a very good kisser now, she loves giving kisses when requested. That and bopping her dad on the head.

Hilarious Daddy, Swinging Girl 11/18/06

I love this laugh. Nothing compares.

A 13 mo old and her prat falls 11/16/06

Speaking of our little comedian... this is another thing she just started doing. She finds falling into the bean bag hilarious, but mostly she looks over, hoping you're laughing at her when she falls.

"The Face" 11/15/06

In the tradition of Emma and Calvin Pruitt, Anna's been doing "The Face", which is this crazy wide grin that makes everybody laugh. Unfortunately, this video is a very subtle example of "The Face". But if you watch it a few times you can see she does it twice. She's becoming quite the comedian.

Pushy birthday 10/7/06

Anna and her friend Ava having fun at the birthday party.

Rattle the car 10/7/06

Ha ha ha! Ava is so funny, it makes me want to rattle her car :)

Olives and conversation 10/1/06

As we approach Anna's first birthday, this very knowing, responsive grunting has become her primary communication. It's cool because we really can tell what she's saying, and most of the time it's starting to seem like she knows what we're saying. The ouch on her forehead comes from an adventure standing in a mixing bowl, falling, and landing head-first in a 2nd mixing bowl. Hence the curve-shaped bruise, poor lamb.

Gasp! 9/25/06

When you blow in Anna's face, she thinks it's pretty funny, and she also gasps this sharp intake of breath - it feels like she's truly shocked every time. And at the end she's pointing at the ceiling fan - she adores ceiling fans. When she walks into a room with a fan, she insists on it being turned on. She just stands there and points at it until you turn it on. Very determined.

Well, they kinda rock, except when there are new toys 9/22/06

Pull Toys ROCK 9/25/06

Given the choice, Anna would like to drag toys on strings around behind her all day every day.

Smack Dab in the DaDaDaDa Phase 9/22/06

This is the kind of communication that we had for most of September. Dadadadadada sung over and over, and note the deliberate "More" sign language... although she can do the "More" sign, it rarely actually means "More"... oh well. Ahhh chooo!

Bubble popping 9/22/06

These bubbles are made of glycerin instead of soap, so they're incredibly long-lasting. Anna loves popping them; we call her "Destructo".

The ability to turn machinery on and off 9/20/06

As the fan season came to a close, Anna had a blast walking her cute little self over to the window fan in our room and turning it on and off, on and off. The quick intake of breath as the fan blows in her face is pretty hilarious. That and Daddy coming over to do our normal unplugging task... (Aw, Dad!)

Amateur Baby Proofing 9/5/06

Ah, mum - I'm totally 11 months old and your AMATEUR job of babyproofing this cabinet is laughable. I laugh at you. Ha.

Nothing gets in her way 9/4/06

She is constantly in motion, and no matter what's in her way, she gets by.

More banana

Because one video of this isn't enough.

Monkey 9/3/06

Anna has at least one banana a day, and she bites it like an adult - it's amazing. And here she is holding it herself, I don't know why I think this looks so funny.

Eating real dinner 9/3/06

She eats real food these days, even though she only has two teeth (and one new tooth nub).

Walking 8/30/06

Just in the past few days, she's really started to walk places - taking tons of steps, and just looking so stable. Most walking stints are about twice as long as the one I filmed here.

Chasing game 8/30/06

She loves being chased now.

Annie Get Your Gun 8/27/06

She brought back the machine-gun laugh. So fantastic...