Oh.

We had a fun, but pictureless weekend.  We really need to get back on the picture taking wagon, but Anna really moves fast now and doesn't like to just sit still for pictures, or by the time we get the camera all ready to go, she's on the move again or onto a new activity, or is only interested in looking at the camera and taking pictures herself, so we don't even get any of her.  That's all just my lame excuse...I'll try harder this week!  But nonetheless, we have great Anna stories from every day.  She amazes us with her vast knowledge of everything. 

Nickels:
We've never talked to Anna about money, sometimes she gets money in a card, we show her, and then put it in her account.  We have a few quarters in her piggy bank, but we haven't had her put any money in it for quite a while.  Yesterday, I had put $0.92 on the table that was in my pocket and Anna picked up each coin and said "nickel!"  She was very clearly convinced that each of the coins was a nickel and she knew it.  We were very impressed.  Today I found out that Sandra goes through money with the kids every day, not just nickels, but all coins and she even brought home a picture of dimes she colored today.  It's amazing the things she picks up on when she's hanging out with the 2, 3, and 4 year olds! 

Oh: 
This is her newest response that is starting to get overused and it's only been two days.  Yesterday at some point, she started responding to every comment, suggestion, or direction with "Oh." 

She uses it fairly properly, like in response to the statement, "Anna, you can put that in the garbage in the kitchen." while running toward the bathroom.
"Oh," and then she turns and goes to the kitchen. 

Or "Daddy is in the shower."
"Oh." 

Or "it's time to get dressed." 
"Oh"

I'm sure you get the idea.  While it is really cute that she is signaling that she understands, it's starting to get a bit overused....it's the word of the day/week apparently as she responds to almost everything with it.  I guess we should be thankful it's not something else. 

Fishy Puzzle:
One of Anna's favorite toys right now is her fishy puzzle.  It's got 10 wooden fish arranged on the board and each have a magnet.  You use the "fishing pole" to go fishing to take the puzzle apart.  She does this particular puzzle probably 15 times a day, and that may be an underestimate.  It's amazing to us how fast she does the puzzle and even more amazing when one piece gets dropped and she can't find it, she usually starts asking, "Yellow one?"  And amazingly enough, it was the yellow one, or the purple one or whatever color she says that was actually missing.  While she doesn't always get her colors right every time when asked about the color of the crayon or shirt, she really does know what color fishy is missing.  She knows her fish and takes very good care of them. 

Moofies:
Movies are also becoming a favorite.  While we don't watch a lot of TV, every now and then we'll watch a movie and Anna has started actually paying attention and can sit through more than 10 minutes.  Her favorite is Simba, he's in the Trailblazer.  Not sure how we could survive some of our drives without Simba in the car...Perhaps we're bad parents letting her watch movies in the car, or perhaps we like a peaceful child for the 45 minutes we're in the car.  And it's not really like she just zones out, she likes to point at all the animals and talk about what's going on.  But anyway....she's been getting a lot better at the word "movie" itself.  Instead of "moomie" we now watch "moofies."  There is a very deliberate f/v sound in the middle, so we're proud of our little girl working on her pronunciations!  Some other favorites are Shrek, Pincess-moofies like Cinderella and Little Mermaid, and Oliver and Company.  I think someone at daycare must have a Tinkerbell love, because she identifies Tinkerbell whenever she she's a picture when we are out and about.  Might be our next moofie purchase. 

Well, that's all the stories that I can remember for right now.  We probably have a million more, but we can't document it all! 

This weekend was full of shopping and fun with Grandma S and Auntie Kate.  Anna loved helping Auntie Kate find her prom dress and then making her chase her all over the other stores we went to.  Anna is getting so good at remembering who everyone is, even though she doesn't see them every day.  It's awesome to watch her memory grow as she remembers things from the last time she saw grandmas and grandpas and aunties and uncles. 

Happy Monday all!  We're back to another week of fun, a busy one at school and work.