Save All Your Kisses For Me

Anna has learnt to give kisses recently and it is wonderful!

If you ask Anna to give you a kiss, she will oblige more than happily by giggling and leaning in to kiss you. There are also occasions when she will volunteer a kiss when you least expect it. She will be occupied playing with her toys when, without any prompting, she will crawl over (or walk over if her trolley, walker or train is near by) and give a spontaneous gesture of affection by leaning in to give you a kiss. Of course, I then smile for the whole day and return the complement by giving Anna 5000 kisses and hugs back!

However, I cannot help but think that Anna is now using this to her advantage.

Since going to Baby Signing classes, I have been using the 'no' sign (move your hand sideways in a firm motion!) when Anna is doing something that she isn't supposed to. Being a baby, she didn't understand for a long while but, with the help of the sign and the word 'no', Anna now has a fair understanding that when Mummy or Daddy say 'No', she really should stop. Up until a few days ago, this was working really well. If Anna decided that she wanted to try grabbing everything off the coffee table, I would say 'No', do the corresponding sign, and Anna would stop. followed by lots of praise, kisses and hugs from me! This would then be followed by Anna moving towards the CD shelf to rearrange them on the floor. Yet again, I would say 'No' and she would move away.... heading straight for the book shelf. This was basically how most of my days were filled, by following Anna around the room. I realise that I could start putting all of it on top shelves but there are only so many top shelves that you can have before you run out of room!

In the past couple of weeks, Anna has not even bothered to go near the coffee table, book shelf and CD cabinet. James was even brave enough to put all his CD's in alphabetical order again!! 'Great'. we thought 'This parenting business is getting easier'. Ha Ha!

However, despite the fact that she has 3 toy boxes over-flowing with toys, the temptation to throw Cd's and books on the floor is just too much after a while so Anna has come up with a cunning plan! Anna has found my weak spot! Anna is fully aware that I love kisses from her (by the song and dance routine, kisses and hugs that she receives when she does it) so, when she wants to do something that will get a 'no' from me, she comes and gives me a kiss. As I am praising her and getting over-excited, Anna casually crawls over to the CD shelf. At this point, I spot her so go to retrieve her thinking that my angelic darling daughter won't possibly throw CD's over the floor after being so wonderful and giving me a kiss. Just as I am about to say 'No', she leans in for another kiss, smiling ever so sweetly and, as I go to kiss her, she grabs the CD's and scatters them to all 4 corners of the room.

They say a kiss makes it all better and it is so very true. I just have to keep reminding myself of that when I am picking 300 CD's off the floor (They are no longer in alphabetical order again)

Swimming Solo

Anna nearly did a whole width of the pool today. Impressive eh? Unfortunately, it wasn't intentional.

The swimming lesson hadn't got off to the greatest starts. Anna had decided that she would test out the swim nappies but this was no ordinary test. She really wanted to see how the nappy would react under immense pressure. The nappy failed! As we entered the pool area, there was an unmistakable aroma followed by leakage! The lesson was starting at that very moment but I had no choice but to get her undressed and dunk her under the shower. I then had to get her dressed in her swimming outfit again (as Anna was trying to wriggle out of it).

We eventually entered the pool with 5 minutes of the lesson already gone so Anna had missed her warm-up. Unfortunately, the teacher then decided to launch straight into the first underwater swim of the day (normally it is, at least, half way through the lesson before any underwater swim takes place). The first underwater swim was one where the teacher would send Anna through a hoop underwater and Anna would then come swimming to me (where I was also underwater). I would then pick her up and we would go swimming off together!

As the teacher explained this, I realised my massive error. I had forgotten my prescription goggles. I could have gone back to the changing room to get them but it would take me hours to find them at the bottom of my bag (which, in my haste to get Anna changed, I had flung to an unknown area of the dressing room). I had no choice but to wear the goggles handed out. I mistakenly thought I would be OK. I would just wear the goggles over my glasses, thus enabling me to see!

We were last in line. Anna and I watched as every other baby got in the position to swim under and through the hoop... before screaming and being handed back to their Mummy. By this point, Lindsay (the teacher) was rather stressed and flustered. She had never had 7 babies in a row who all refused to swim. Now it was Anna's turn. After seeing all of the other babies' reactions, Anna wasn't too sure and gave me a look as if to say 'I'm not doing it if they won't'. Anna's reputation at swimming is one where she is happy ALL the time and gives everything a go so Lindsay hadn't seen the same message as me (I think she was also thinking that Anna wouldn't let her down and would restore her faith in babies swimming underwater!). Therefore, I was caught a little unaware when Lindsay started to put Anna down under the water. Oh God... Anna was going underwater and I wasn't ready. I hastily wrenched the goggles over my eyes and dived in (soaking the spectators as I went). It was then that everything went black. My glasses and the goggles instantly steamed up and all I could see was black! My mind was screaming 'Anna is under this water somewhere, somewhere in this massive pool, and I can't find her'. It seemed like hours that I was under the water. My hands were moving faster than they have ever moved before. I wasn't even aware that I was holding my breath for so long, I was just frantic with terror. By the time that my hands connected with something, I just yanked it up to the surface without thinking. Unfortunately, it wasn't Anna... it was the hoop!! I was stood there holding a hoop tight to my chest and I still had no Anna.

'ANNA SWAM STRAIGHT PAST ME. I HAVEN'T GOT HER' I screamed. At this point, I turned round and there was Anna swimming back from the other side of the pool with Lindsay supporting her. Apparently, Lindsay had seen Anna swim past me so had done an emergency dive to retrieve her. By this time, Anna had swam off and was enjoying the freedom of exploring the pool by herself. So what was Anna doing now? Was she crying because she had lost her Mummy in the big pool? Of course not. Anna, from looking somewhat scared and near to tears before she was dunked, was now looking as though she was the cat who got the cream with the biggest grin on her face. Meanwhile, her Mummy was looking extremely scared and very close to tears as I hugged my daughter, tighter than ever before. I couldn't stop shaking and felt sick! Anna just looked at me as though I had gone mad and didn't know what the big fuss was about.

Afterwards, Lindsay apologised and said that it was her fault as she just assumed Anna would want to do it as she has never once refused a swim and she should have checked that I was ready before she let her go. Although there may be a small element of truth in that, if I had been wearing the goggles that I can actually see with, I would have been fine. I would have caught Anna and we would have swam off into the calm waters.

The lesson didn't get much better (although nothing could have been worse as that!). The babies decided that the day was not a good day for swimming so all cried for the majority of the lesson. They had probably seen Anna do her solo swim across the pool and thought 'There is no way that I am doing that'. Meanwhile Anna decided to become completely over-excited and splash everyone in sight as she continued to giggle for the whole lesson. When it was time to do the second water swim, Anna was practically leaping out of my hands as she was so eager. Fortunately, I stayed above the surface this time and caught her, much to Anna's disgust (I want to go swimming by my own again' thought Anna'.)

At least, a lesson has been learnt from this session. I will never ever forget my goggles again... and Anna can swim very fast when she wants to!

What's in a Name?

Welcome to Anna's new blog.

Basically, it is exactly the same as the blog that told all about her first 12 months of adventures! However, it needed a new title as there are no 2 blogs that can be called the same!

It was going to be called 'Simply Anna' but I thought that it might be miss-read as Anna being called simple which she most certainly isn't. In fact, she is far too clever sometimes and outwits her Mummy and Daddy regularly! Then I had the brainwave that it could be called 'All About Anna'. Unfortunately, someone has already beaten me to it. Then I played around with a million other names but they were all far too geeky, sad, strange or embarrassing to even mention.

Finally, my inspiration came after Anna's bath. Anna decided, very early on in life, that she didn't like a towel wrapped around her after bath time. The problem was that she obviously needed a towel around her, in order to keep warm so, in order to distract her, I play Peekaboo. It has now been going on for so long that Anna looks at me expectantly as soon as she is picked up out of the bath. I would love to say that Anna loves playing Peekaboo for the thrill of seeing her Mummy's gorgeous face pop up from behind a towel but I think it has more to do with the fact that, as I hide behind the towel, Anna and her Daddy sneak off to hide from me. There I am, singing Peekaboo all to myself before shouting Boo as I emerge from behind the towel, to find there is no one there. Luckily, I instantly know where Anna and James are hiding as I can hear Anna giggling from their hiding spot! Anna hasn't quite got the hang of Hide and Seek yet!

So this is where the name 'Peekaboo Anna' comes from.

I had almost as much trouble deciding on a name for this new blog as we did when we were choosing Anna' name before she was born. Anna wasn't actually going to be called Anna until a few days before she was born. In fact, throughout most of the pregnancy, she was actually Alice.

As soon as I was 12 weeks pregnant, James and I had devised a list of possible names. Molly, Alice, Elizabeth (possibly shortened to Libby) and Grace were the top 4. James had suggested Anna too but I instantly dismissed it, thinking that I didn't like it. As my pregnancy progressed, Alice was becoming the favourite so we started to mention it to family and friends. Everyone was very supportive and didn't want to sway us by saying their opinion but there are certain family members who gave it away by their facial expressions (without even realising that they did it). With hindsight, I'm really pleased they did as I'm not sure that our baby girl looks like an Alice.

I'm not even sure why I suddenly changed my mind about the name 'Anna'. I remember it clearly though. We were driving to James' dad's and I heard the name 'Anna' on the radio. I thought it stood out. I think I must have repeated over and over again 100 times while driving to James' parents and , by the time that we reached Liverpool, it seemed perfect!

The perfect name for a perfect little girl!

Anna's 1st Birthday Party

Anna must have known something was going on when she awoke on Sunday morning. It is not every day that your Mummy comes skipping into your room singing 'Happy Birthday' quite loudly and dancing around the nursery with you. Imagine Anna's even greater surprise when we went downstairs to find rooms filled with balloons, shiny banners and a huge pile of parcels. She kept looking around thinking 'This isn't how I left it last night'. Feeding Anna her breakfast took ages because she kept having to look round to check she as still in her house.

Eventually, we got to the presents. Now, I think it is fair to say that I went completely overboard on presents. (The photograph is just the presents that James and I gave to Anna). There were 12 parcels all together (I wrapped up her 7 musical instruments separately). By present number 3, Anna was bored as my voice tried to sound more and more enthusiastic until I was very high-pitched and incomprehensible! I'm not even sure if Anna saw what the 3 opened presents were. Predictably, she was far more interested in the wrapping paper and boxes. We decided to leave the other presents until later!

At 10.00am, my parents (Anna's Nanny and Grandad), nan (Anna's great-nan) and Uncle Phil came which Anna loved. There were more presents to unwrap and I'm pleased to say that Anna did take a little more interest in those. The boxes were bigger so Anna thought it was great fun to climb on top of them! I then went into panic mode about cooking the buffet so mum calmly guided me into the kitchen and, thankfully, took control of everything. All I could do was read my little spreadsheet that I had devised showing cooking times and temperature settings. Luckily, after 28 years of having to put up with me, my mum is used to this so just let me get on with it while she did the important stuff. (Thank you so much Mum - I couldn't have done it without you!)

At 11.30am, Anna started to rub her eyes so it was time to get her party dress on. As I was still wandering around like a lost sheep, James got her dressed (on the condition that I would lay everything out for him in the correct order of how it should be put on). I almost cried (not for the first time that day) when Anna came back downstairs. She looked even more beautiful than normal. I thought it would be a good idea to try and get Anna to have a nap at this point. Anna was having none of it. If there was fun to be had downstairs, there was no way that she was going to sleep. In fact, at 4 different points during the day, I thought she looked tired and tried to get her to take a nap. All 4 times saw me going upstairs after 2 minutes to retrieve Anna who was jumping up and down in her cot.

At 12pm onwards, everyone started to arrive and the house quickly filled with people. It was a little mad! Of course, Anna was loving every second of it. This was her idea of heaven.

Another moment that saw some tears was when Grandma Lynn and Grandad Flob arrived with the cake. I was lost for words. Thanks to this blog, Grandma Lynn had read that Anna loves Kipper stories and so, the cake was Kipper! It was amazing and I am not exaggerating when I say that I have never seen such a fantastic birthday cake. The hours spent on it must have been incredible as everything was iced. Kipper's basket looked perfectly weaved and every fine detail was 100% accurate, right down to his old slipper! (Grandma Lynn also did our wedding cake. To give you some idea of how perfectly everything is done when Lynn decorates cakes, the staff at our reception thought that the roses made from icing were actually real roses). Thank you Grandma Lynn (and Grandad Flob for having the brave job of carrying it!), Anna is so lucky to have such a talented, and creative Grandma.

The buffet went down well I think. I would love to say that it tasted wonderful but I actually never got a chance to sample most of it! I was too busy racing around like a headless chicken. The problem is that there really was no need as everyone seemed to be enjoying it and have everything they wanted but I did it anyway! My nan's (Anna's Great-nan) sherry trifle's went down very well and they tasted lovely. My nan said that she had cut back on the sherry to make them this time but I'm not convinced. We had to warn everyone who had it, in case they found themselves over the drink-drive limit. Thank you Nan B!

As it turned out, we did have enough food for the buffet (surprise surprise). In fact, most guests went home with a doggy bag (or tray in this case) with a 10-pack of sandwiches and various other goodies. Even if they didn't want it, it was handed to them as they walked out of the door (it was too late to protest by then as they were walking away!)

One of my favourite moments of the party was everyone singing Happy Birthday to Anna and blowing her candle out on the cake. I had to swallow back the tears again. I suddenly realised that my baby girl is growing up as she looked around her at everyone singing Happy Birthday and basking in the attention. This was Anna having a true Diva moment!

At 9pm, the last guests were leaving and the tidy-up operation began. Thankfully, my brother and his girlfriend (Uncle Steve and Auntie Carolyne) had bagged the spare bed so they helped with the washing up and packing away. If they were not here, I think James and I would still have been doing it now. Thank you!

I am just completely over-whelmed with how everyone was so generous towards Anna. We now have a living room full of toys as well as money to deposit in her savings (one kind friend said it was to put towards her future dreams, which is just a wonderful thought!) James and I are now contemplating an extension, just to store some of these toys although the tent, that was amongst her gifts, is big enough to house a family of 4!

Thank you so much to everybody who was so kind and who made Anna's 1st birthday so wonderful for her.
Anna is so fortunate to have such lovely family and friends and she sends you all a big kiss (she has learnt to give kisses in the past week so she is more than happy to give you all a kiss any time you wish!)

The Day Before

Writing this post is the first time that I seem to have stopped since Saturday morning! Even as I type, Anna and James are having an afternoon nap, recovering from all of the excitement. However, despite being exhausted, it was all more than worth it to see Anna's face throughout the whole day yesterday - her first birthday.

I have decided to write two posts about her party - before and after. I think the post would have been far too long to write about it all in one sitting as you would have got bored!

Saturday saw a hive of activity. Anna's playroom had to be dismantled in order to fit all of the guests so her padded floor, play fences and large toys were all temporarily packed away. Thankfully, Anna didn't notice as she still had the contents of her toy box scattered all over the living room instead.

The next job of the day was to collect the balloons. As this was James' task, he insisted that he went by himself. I could see why when he returned. Anna and I wouldn't have been able to fit in the car. There were balloons everywhere. Anna was mesmerised and instantly fell in love. In fact, she even attempted to say the word and kept repeating 'bbbbbb' every time that she saw them. Choosing helium balloons seemed like a very good choice as Anna loved wrestling them to the ground!

(The photograph is a very excited Anna with some of the balloons)

We then collected half of the buffet that was not to be cooked/prepared by me my mum. (Not just party food but M and S party food, as they say in the adverts!). It was then that I started to grasp the idea that maybe I had ordered enough party food after all. It wouldn't all fit in the fridge or freezer. James and I looked like people on a drowning ship as we started to offload any items of food that were not vital to the party operation! Anything not needed for the party was thrown overboard. In the end, we did manage to fit all of the food in the fridge and freezer but this meant removing all shelves, inner doors and and boxed compartments.

Unfortunately, there was still half of the buffet to be prepared. All we had to do was feed Anna her lunch and we could set off to Tesco for the other half. We were not exactly sure where we were going to put it all but a thermometer had told us that the garage was as cold as the fridge so, providing that we had some protective bags, drinks could be stored in there overnight!

As Anna's lunch was cooling, I thought we would spend some quality time playing together. Unfortunately, Anna decided that she didn't want to play with the toys that were lying on the floor. Instead, she wanted to use the TV cabinet to stand up. At this point, I should have picked her up and moved her back to the rug and I was really stupid not to do it. I stupidly thought, seeing as though I was sat right behind her, that nothing could go wrong. It was then that Anna decided to topple. Unfortunately though, it wasn't backwards into my lap but forwards into the TV cabinet. A split second later, she screamed and literally, 10 seconds after that, a lump that was the size of a small egg appeared on her forehead followed closely by a very black bruise.

Our first instinct was to take her to A and E. However, within a minute (although it felt like 10 hours), Anna had stopped crying and wanted to go and have another attempt at climbing on the TV cabinet (obviously she won't ever be going within a mile of the TV cabinet again). Our health guides all said to just keep an eye on her and just watch out for sudden drowsiness and/or vomiting and so, reluctantly, we decided to follow that advice instead. When they say keep an eye , I'm not sure they meant it literally. However, there was no way that I was leaving her side. I wouldn't take my eyes off Anna at all. If James talked to me, I continued to look at Anna as I replied to him and if the phone rang, I backed up to the phone so that I didn't have to look away. Every time that she blinked, I worried that this could be the first sign of drowsiness and wondered whether we should be going to the hospital.

After 2 hours, the bump was gone and Anna was still crawling around the house at 100 mph, walking with her trolley and giggling loudly so we thought that we might risk Tesco. Since she had her bump, I hadn't even thought about the party but James said it may stop me from worrying about Anna and she was showing no signs of ever having bumped her head now (apart from the black bruise, the equivalent size to a fun size Mars bar)

Thankfully, Tesco was a good indication that Anna was fine (although that didn't stop me worrying and checking on her every hour throughout the night, as she lay asleep). She was trying to grab everything off the shelves and from everyone's trolley as normal. Anna also seems to think that Tesco is a good place to talk very loudly ('It is a big building and I'm going to try and make EVERYONE hear me' thinks Anna). Despite knowing that we had a freezer and fridge full of food at home, that didn't stop me from making sure we had enough of everything. It was only when our trolley was over-flowing at the top that James successfully managed to pull me away from the aisles! Even at the conveyor belt, I was heard saying 'But are you sure that 78 eclairs are enough?'.

Saturday evening was spent putting out plates, cups, bowls and banners. Balloons were placed around the house and Anna's presents were wrapped. I was so excited in anticipation of seeing Anna's face in the morning. She was going to come downstairs to see balloons and 'Happy Birthday' banners and presents everywhere - all for her. This was much more exciting than Christmas!

Saturday night was spent trying to get some sleep and failing to do so. Sleep was impossible as, on the one hand, I was worried about Anna's head so had to check on her every hour (she slept brilliantly and thankfully, she was fine) and on the other hand, I was just excited about seeing Anna's happiness and excitement when she was surrounded by her family and friends on her 1st birthday.

Happy Birthday Anna

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday dear Anna,

Happy Birthday to you.

Our baby girl is 1 years old today. I even have tears in my eyes and a funny feeling in my tummy as I write this.

I am simply amazed how quickly 1 year can go. I remember the first night as she lay in the cot next to my hospital bed. Suddenly, I felt this huge responsibility as though I had to protect her from everything. Despite not sleeping at all for the past 2 days and just being in labour for 6 hours (I realise that this is short compared to most people), I didn't feel at all tired. Instead, I literally stayed awake all night, gazing at my beautiful daughter who was so incredibly small and precious. If she hadn't moved for a while, I would gently stroke her cheek until she twitched, just enough for me to stop worrying for a few more minutes.

Now she is 1 year older and I still do all of those things. Admittedly, I do get to sleep a little more than those early days but I still wake up several times in the night and creep into her nursery, just to brush her cheek and I still feel as though I have to protect her. I always will.

Our baby is no longer the little bundle who you could cradle in one hand, who could only communicate by crying and who knew absolutely nothing of the world that she had just entered. Anna can now walk to wherever she desires (until Mummy stops her before she reaches the CD shelf, much to Anna's annoyance). She has the most wonderful smile that never fails to make me smile right back and she laughs at lots and lots of things, especially her Daddy juggling and even more so when he drops the objects that he is juggling with! She also loves to dance to any music. It provides great entertainment to everyone in 'Next' when I am clothes shopping.

I realise that every Mummy probably says the same about their child but Anna truly is amazing. She is gorgeous, bright and beautiful. Walking around Tesco takes forever as so many people stop to talk to her and, of course, Anna loves every second. Anna just seems to make everyone smile. Her swimming teacher, music teacher and Baby sign language teacher have all said how happy she is and how she is a joy to have around. It is so true.

You make life so wonderful Anna. Happy Birthday Darling. Mummy and Daddy love you so very very much.