Anna's 19th Month : Dykestrom Doings

O winter. Thou art a foul beast, and I like thee not.

Hello, Blizzard! Thanks for helping me get some cardio plowing snow!
Hello, Polar Vortex! Thanks for nothing. NOTHING.

(This pic is from a normal winter day, we did not go out and play in windchill -15)
Dave tried taking Anna sledding down our hill, but she wasn't too into it.

She's also not sure about walking in the snow if she's not holding onto my two hands the whole time.

Anna loves to yell at Monkey these days. She's becoming a bit of a tyrant with him, poor Monkey.

She has loved "Jingle Bells" this month. Over Christmas, you ask? No. No, just within the last couple weeks.

She just suddenly started calling for "Jingle Bells" pretty often, so I played "Jingle Bell Rock" for her one time, and it turns out that it is her favorite song that she has ever heard in her life. She gets so happy when I use it as a bedtime song.

Dancing! And climbing and quasi-jumping (one foot never leaves the ground - but I imagine she thinks she's flying through the air and it's adorable).

Oh yes, this month covers Christmas Day! It feels like a lifetime ago.

One of her favorite gifts this year:

...the slide!

The tree, of course, was un-decorated and re-decorated multiple times a day for the duration. Which was fun while it lasted, but I'm not gonna lie, I was kind of relieved when that part of this season finally got the boot.

Coloring has been an even bigger thing lately.

It's a favorite activity. She often asks us to draw her some circles, stars, and triangles, which she then scribbles all over. She'll help put the crayons back in the bucket, too, when I ask. She really does love to be helpful...very sad times when she asks if she can unload the dishwasher and I have to tell her the dishes are still dirty.

Our little hobbit has become wild about mushrooms this month.

She even loves them raw, but of course sauteed in butter is the preferred dish. Everything else within the last week or so of the month became meh. Oh, except salsa. She loves salsa with an abiding passion. And pickles.

She's already on the edge of being too tall for her current footie pajamas, and I think she's diving into another growth spurt as we speak.

What do you think...time to cut that baby hair? It's so wild! But I'm afraid she's too young to sit still long enough for me to attempt it.

When I hung up the blanket that I use for a backdrop during photo shoots, she was delighted. So I said, "This is different, eh?" And she was delighted by that word, so she kept trying to yank the blanket down while yelling DIFFERENT!!! DIFFERENT!!!

I'm so late getting this month out that I'm not sure if what I'm writing pertains to this month or last month. Ah well. Life has happened.

We just invested in a new metal roof that will last the lifetime of the house, but the tariff war meant it cost 3x what it would have three years ago. I'm sure you're all aware that Dave is a federal employee? So with the roof + no paycheck, by January 17th this family was in a bit of a tight spot. That crisis has passed, but...Life looks like it's going to happen again next month.

Hopefully my new job will help soften that blow when it lands. I mean, at least it's just our family income and not our food stamps or housing voucher. At least we don't face an eviction threat or have to choose between food, medicine, and rent. Nothing like a bunch of billionaires throwing families under the bus, eh? Anyways, Anna was directly affected by the longest shutdown in our nation's history this month! So fun to be part of a history-making event. 😖

She has gotten good at pretending to chomp things that shouldn't be chomped (like Christmas ornaments, crayons, and books).

She pretends to read aloud to the world at large, and she loves to "tickle" Monkey. Poor Monkey. He wacks at her, and she squeals with delight.

She likes this game called "Bye-bye": she says bye-bye, goes into her closet, and closes the door. Then she pops back out, HI! It's a little like the phone game where she picks up a generally flat, rectangular-ish object and says Hey! while smiling at me. When I respond, she says bye! and hangs up.

Dave and she ran off to Pittsburgh for a few days in this last month.

I wanted to go, too, but our roof still wasn't done, and someone needed to stay home. I used the time to build some storage for my closet, and now all my clothes fit in one place. I was sad to miss seeing everyone, and it looks like they had a lot of fun at the Science Center.