Annie is 1

One year goes by so fast!  We cannot believe that little Annie is really a year old!  

We celebrated her birthday on a Saturday evening with family.  We had kids aplenty, and I think everyone enjoyed being together.  The weather the weekend before and after the party was beautiful, but the day of Annie's party was just so so.  It was chilly and damp, but it didn't stop the kids from being outside.

Annie's birthday "theme" was Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.  Her cake turned out pretty cute.

This smash cake survived the wrath of Vince on two occasions.  I had it on the counter before the party, and he managed to open the packaging and started eating the icing.  I put it up higher, and he managed to sabotage it a second time.  Fortunately, I caught him quickly each time and just "doctored up" the icing a bit.

We all sang Happy Birthday...

...and I gave Annie the cake.

She picked at the candle and icing, and then sat and cried.  She wanted nothing to do with the cake.  We tried to give her a taste, and she cried more.  I don't know if she didn't like being the center of attention, or if she just really didn't like the cake.  We offered her some tastes of cake later, and she ate it willingly.

She loved the gifts, though.  She squealed and giggled as Vera and Bailey helped her rip the paper.

She was spoiled with so many nice (and very cute) birthday gifts from everyone.

My parents gave her this doll, and it was a hit.  She gave plenty of  "awws" to the baby, and even said "aww."  So grown up!

Her godparents got her this ball pit, which will provide plenty of entertainment this winter.

Annie's godparents and Miss Scarlett.

Grammie and Papa 

 And here's the Pearson family at their finest.  This is real life, folks.  These pictures tell the story of our life perfectly.  Enjoy the outtakes.

Playing in the Jeep was quite a hit!  Cohen and Vince are busy playing, but the highlight was watching Nora and Scarlett interact in the Jeep.  I wish I had taken pictures of them.

We celebrated Annie's actual birthday at home the following Tuesday.  She opened her birthday cards, and we gave the smash cake a second try.  She reacted the same way with crying, and hardly touched the cake.

It was more fun to play with the plate.

Birthday card in the mail.

Vera loves her baby sister.

And Vince loves to eat his baby sister's birthday cake.

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At one year, Annie has 3 little teeth all on the bottom, but there are a mouthful more coming through the skin any moment.  She has been super fussy with these new teeth.  Despite not having many teeth, she loves to eat table food.  We've been feeding her lots of fruits and veggies, noodles, crackers, bread and cheerios.  She thinks she's a real hotshot eating table food, and especially feeding herself.  She also likes sippy cups, and she's particularly good at snatching Vince's cups and drinking from them.

Enjoying some fruit the morning of her birthday.

I cannot believe how much she understands already.  She shakes her head yes/no answering questions that we ask her.  Although it may not be the answer she really means, she is responding appropriately.  She also shakes her head no when we tell her no, no!  She says hi and bye and her little movie star wave is so adorable.  She repeats a lot of words like pat, mom, dad, and whoa.

 Shortly after she turned 1, she started pulling herself up on furniture.  Prior to that, she would stand against things, but she'd get scared and shaky.  She was unsure of how to sit back down, so she'd just cry.  She mastered pulling herself up within a day or two, and now she's slick at checking out things she wants, including hanging on our legs and climbing up next to us in our chair or couch.

She's a tough little cookie.  Vince certainly does his share of stealing her toys, stepping on her, pushing her over, and roughing her up.  It won't be long until she fights back.
We opened the ball pit the day after her birthday party at a time where the older 2 were busy so that Annie could experience her gift alone for a while.  She doesn't get it to herself very often.

Annie loves to be held.  I often feel bad because we just aren't able to hold her much in the evenings.  She stays busy by playing and keeping up with the older 2.  Each evening, she snuggles with her dad and drinks her bottle as he rocks her to sleep.  She's definitely a daddy's girl.  She lights up when he comes home from work.  She reaches for him over me, which is ok.  It's nice for Adam to experience that too.

Annie Pie, Baby Nee Nee, Punkin Tweet, we love you so much!  Happy one year to you!  Please stay sweet forever!

Septiembre

September came and went in a flash.  The weather was perfect, and we have been savoring the days and evenings outside.

Vera has adapted to the school routine, and the littles have adapted to Patty's house.  Vera seems to like Kindergarten, and usually has one or two things to share about her day.  We've found that we have to ask very specific questions about kindergarten; she can't remember details very well.  I think this is pretty normal, from what I hear.  Vince spends his time watching the trucks and workers as Patty remodels her house.  Annie keeps busy watching the action, like usual. Although, she's becoming even more interactive, she thrives on the action and noise.

Crazy Socks Day at school

We baked cookies one evening, and here they are eagerly awaiting their completion.

There was one piece of cake left after celebrating Mexico's Independence Day at school.  Vince made sure he got it before someone else did!  He pushed a chair up to the counter, and I found him eating just the icing off the last piece.

The piece of cake remained unscathed.  The icing didn't stand a chance!

Close-ups all around...

We played beauty shop one evening, and Vera needed to photograph her work.

Once in a while this boy sits still.

Annie loves taking a bath solo.  She plays and plays, splashes and soaks while her sibs take showers.

Her hair is growing so long and thick!

My 2 favorite boys.  Vince loves to look at pictures and watch videos with us on our phones.

We ditched the 2 year-olds one Saturday morning and met Mandy & Blake at Western Ohio Hardware for some pumpkin painting.  We thought this was the best way to paint pumpkins...no mess for mom to clean up!  They even had paint shirts for them to wear.  

Such concentration from both of them!

I wanted a picture with them in their paint shirts, but Vera handed hers in before we got the pic.  I love this picture.  Cousins make the best of friends, so much so, that they have to hold hands!   Love!