Annie Update

It's been awhile since I've given an update on Annie. She has made such amazing progress this summer. After our June experience with hand, foot and mouth disease, where she was so incredibly sick, she's really bounced back and showing even more colors to her personality than we thought possible. And personality is something that overflows from her tiny little body!

She's incredibly spunky and completely mischievous. If you can unplug it or flush it, she'll find a way to do it. If you ask her not to do something, she flashes that little grin to see just how far she can go. If it draws or otherwise makes marks on things, she'll find a way to use it.

She is also incredibly endearing. She loves to be held and snuggles right up to you, resting her head on your shoulder. Her first word in the morning is usually "Da-da", "boo(k)", or "Melmo"...which invariably leads to snuggling with Daddy, anyone with a book, or whoever will watch Elmo with her. She knows when she's hit the wall and will practically beg for "nigh-nigh" - crawling onto the rocking chair with her blanket and lovey and waiting for someone to put her to sleep.

She has a vocabulary of about 20-30 words and signs. Pretty remarkable for having never heard English until 4 months ago, and having some pretty major physiological barriers to speech.

She redirects about 10% of the time (hey...we're thankful for small victories around here!) and is frequently seen and heard walking around and pointing to the plugs and telling them "NO!"

She loves her big sister, and asks/signs for "___na" whenever Dayna isn't around. Poor thing doesn't comprehend yet that in 14 days, her big sister will be at school and won't be around as much.

She's the queen of disappearing downstairs when we forget to latch the gate. She also quietly sneaks into the bathroom when we forget to shut the door.

She keeps us on our toes 300% of the time, and we love every moment with her.