Ways you’ve Grown: Anna, it’s been a year full of all things wonderful. You have grown so much since last April! You are in the 50th percentile for weight and height and you are a wonderful eater and sleeper. My only complaint would be that you don’t like to go to bed before your brothers and sisters. In fact, you take it as a personal insult if you are asked to go to bed at a reasonable hour for your age (ha!) You enjoy being a part of this family and love your brothers and sister more than words can say. And they love you as well. So often, the boys will tell me, “mom… Anna is just so cute, isn’t she?” They love to play with you and you love to assign them to be your prince! You are in constant pretend mode. It doesn’t matter where we are, what toys you have in front of you, or what time of day… you are somewhere else in your mind.
I love your imagination! You love figurines and playing in your room with all of your disney characters. You love to pretend to be a mom and stroll around all of your little babies. You enjoy pretending with Evelyn. You and she have a funny little game where you cast a spell on her with a motion of your hand! The spell (depending on how you wave your hand) either kills her, chokes her, or makes her stop talking. It sounds a little morbid, but it’s darling to see the two of you pretending together. This year you started dance classes and acting classes. You better believe that every single day you ask me if it is class day! You LOVE to go and be social and learn new things. You started preschool in the fall and wild horses couldn’t keep you away from your teacher and friends there. You never even had one moment of fear or worry.
You have a best friend -Nora Doud. You and she spend countless hours per week together and she is very important to you. But wherever we go, you find friends. You had many friends this past year who were siblings of Dane and Grant’s soccer teammates. You are such a fun little girl and everyone enjoys playing with you. This year you moved up from nursery into sunbeams! When you walked into the room, everyone was a buzz. It was really cute. Everyone knew you because you have so many older siblings that play at our house. All the children waved and you walked in like a celebrity… loving every minute.
You are funny as can be. You tell jokes and laugh whenever possible. You potty trained right as you turned three and you’ve been so wonderfully easy and full of confidence in this department. You never need my help for anything! In fact, just a few weeks ago, you begged not to wear a pull up to bed. I’m always so nervous to put toddlers to bed without pulls ups because I don’t want to clean up a mess in the morning… but you held strong and gave up water at night so that you could wear your underwear to bed. You are a pro! I think one of my favorite things about your personality is that you are always up for anything! You stopped napping in the summer (right after turning 3) but that didn’t seem to affect you at all. These days, every once in a while, you’ll fall asleep in the car, but you are mostly busy busy all day without the cranky side effects that typically occur at your age with no naps. You love to go to the boys’ soccer practices, you love to go on errands, you love to hop along with Daddy to wherever he’s headed off to. You love to be on the go! You don’t want to miss a thing. And you are almost always in a great mood. Even if you happen to fall asleep and wake up 3 minutes later, you are happy as can be. I’ve never had a child so flexible and easy going! You must take after your mom….. it’s like you’re perfect (haha!)
This year your eyes continued to cross, despite glasses, new prescription lenses and patching. You were such a sport to always wear your patch and glasses, but unfortunately…. nothing seemed to alleviate your eye problems. In September 2015, you had eye surgery and your were so brave and so good. It was quite a process and obviously a painful recovery. But afterwards, your eyes looked awesome and you were in great spirits! I think the crossing of your eyes made life a little harder for you- so when they straightened out, you felt like a new girl! We were so grateful the surgery went well and we were so proud of you.
Favorite Things: You love to read. And when I say “read” I mean…. I rarely am able to read you a story—- YOU want to read it to me! But don’t get too excited… you aren’t really reading; you are making up stories to accompany the pictures. But it’s amazing! The stories you come up with! The memory you have when “reading” your books!~ It is fascinating to me. You love mac and cheese and spaghetti. You love nachos! You love ice cream and chocolate. Your favorite color is pink; favorite show is Alvin and the Chipmunks and Barbie. You also love all Disney Princess movies. You begged for a princess party this year— princesses are your absolute favorite. You love music and listening to your favorite songs in the car. Your favorite songs: You Spin me Right Round by Alvin and the Chipmunks, Worth it and Top Down by 5th Harmony.
You LOVE to change your outfits. You insist on wearing dresses every single day and you insist on changing your dresses at least 3 times. I used to be stern about this and not allow it, but then I decided to just let it go as you are such a wonderful little girl who hardly asks for anything and as this brings you so much happiness. I think the thing that makes you the most mad in life is the possibility of you NOT getting to pick out your outfit. This rarely happens because of the wrath that occurs! You are miserable if you can’t pick your outfit out and also, side-note, you decide upon the hairstyle as well. I have left these decisions to you entirely unless it’s absolutely necessary for me to do otherwise. You love to wear pigtails and you love your hair braided into two braids.
You love to sing and dance. You love to kick the soccer ball around with the boys. You love to ride your scooter and play outside. You love playdates and preschool. You love church! You wouldn’t dream of skipping even if you are sick! You want to be everywhere! You love to color and learn the alphabet. You love to take baths, but not wash your hair. You love your grandma and grandpa, and your grammy and papa. You love taking trips and you are so flexible and easy! You enjoy swimming with your floatation device, but you won’t dare step foot of the stairs without it. You love to cuddle at night and get your back, tummy, arms, legs, head scratched. I mean to say, you love it and ask for it all the time. You aren’t in the slightest bit ticklish. You love your dad and he adores you. Dane is probably your favorite person on earth. Every morning you ask if you can go in and wake him up. You can’t wait to see him after school. He takes great care of you. This year you learned to pump yourself on the swings and you love going to parks so you can show off your new skill. You love giving everyone a thumbs up!
You are so independent and full of sunshine. You make every day fun. Anna, thank you for being our youngest little girl. Life wouldn’t be anywhere near as awesome if you weren’t a part of our lives. Heavenly Father blessed us beyond compare when He sent us your sweet and kind spirit. You make our life so full and wonderful. We love you Anna Paige Marston~!
