Ana has been very interested in singing lately. Her repertoire generally includes “Twinkle, Twinkle,” “Beauty and the Beast,” and an assortment of songs we sing at Gymboree. I pretty much hear singing during each of her every waking hours. She took a liking to the ABC’s awhile back, but generally got as far as “A, B, C, D” and wanted to skip right to “Now I know my ABC’s.” But I didn’t push it, wanting her to figure things out at her own pace and have a chance to enjoy learning. So you can imagine my surprise when she was playing with one of her friends a week or so ago and I overheard her sing the song all the way through. And it was correct! I have spent the last week trying to get her to do it on video, but she gets so distracted (and goofy!) in front of the camera that it has taken me a million several takes. This is as good as it’s gonna get for now. But you get the idea. Enjoy!

Since Mondays pretty much suck, I thought I would do my part to make them a little more tolerable. Here are three videos of Ana. I only remember to unload the files off my Flip every once in awhile so sorry for not spreading out the videos more. The first one is Sim and Ana playing with a remote control helicopter. The two of them could play with that thing all day: Ana running around squealing, the dogs hiding in fear, and Sim crashing it into, well, everything. Thankfully the battery life is pretty short and it takes awhile to recharge so my house actually gets a reprieve.

The second video is Ana learning how to pedal on her little trike. Only recently could her tiny legs even reach the pedals, so we are really excited that she’s finally figuring it all out. The only trouble is that she can go really fast when she pushes with her feet, so she still prefers speed to the prestige of pedaling. Oh well, as long as she possesses the skill, who cares if she uses it, right?

The last video is of Ana being a ballerina. Lately she started saying she wanted to “sing and dance like a ballerina” so we picked up a leotard, flowy skirt, and some ballet slippers for her to play around in. We put them on her the other day and she just could not stop dancing around the house. It was simply precious.

Ever since the snow started falling ten days ago, we have had to get creative on how to keep ourselves entertained. Luckily we have a two year old with lots of energy and an endless supply of Ana-isms to keep us laughing. Since not all of you are as fortunate, I wanted to share two videos we made this morning. Enjoy!

Can you keep up with her train of thought? It’s sometimes tricky even for me and I live it 24/7! And at the end when she got dizzy? She said, “I’m not gonna fall!” I think she was trying to convince herself more than us. Oh man. We are always laughing around here. Here is the other more seasonally appropriate video:

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you are all safe, warm, and entertained.

Today I took Ana to Washington Square. Once we finished our list I took Ana to Pottery Barn Kids for being well-behaved while I shopped. They have the most amazing toys, the sales people are incredibly nice, and Ana loves it more than anything. Normally the kitchen set up dominates Ana’s playtime (as you may have noticed in previous pictures) but today Ana found a new favorite.

The video clip was too cute not to share. As I was unloading my Flip camera I found a couple more videos that I had been meaning to upload. Once I watched them together I noticed they all had a musical theme: playing an instrument, dancing, or singing. So enjoy my musical daughter. Just know that she definitely does not get this talent from me!

Ana playing guitar (and singing along) with her Daddy.

Ana had a playdate with her friend Jacob. While she was over he had a great jam session and Ana took the opportunity to practice her dance moves.

Ana is singing “Happy Birthday” while walking around in her Grandma Nana’s dress shoes. This particular version of the song she is singing is “Happy Birthday to Swiper” from Dora the Explorer. I also love this clip because you can see Ana doing a little problem solving regarding the shoe and I just love to see her working things out on her own.

We are back to Monday again and to make this particular Monday a little better I have a couple “movies” for you. The first is Ana pretending to talk to her Aunt Jeni on the cell phone. Simeon was driving so I was actually able to video what happens every single time we are in the car. Who she talks to on the phone varies from family to friends to her toys. But the conversations are generally the same.

The second video is Ana having a little pretend tea party. She had a friend over for a playdate and they kept themselves quite entertained. It was very sweet. Not wanting to post video of other people’s children on the Internet, I uploaded a segment of the playdate where Ana was playing alone. But you get the idea of how the rest of the playdate went in this clip.

Enjoy!

Ana and I have a little morning routine in which she selects the shoes she wants to wear for the day and I attempt to select an appropriate outfit to match. This morning Ana adamantly requested her “apple shoes” (very aptly named, I think) which we recently purchased at Gymboree. Once she put them on and walked around the house she realized they make a very satisfying little “tap” as she danced and pranced around the room. Behold, the Little Shoe Dance:

I would say Ana has pretty much conquered climbing. Watch this:

The kid can climb like nobody’s business. And she definitely did not get my fear of heights! Ana and I were outside playing with the dogs, I turned around for a minute to throw the ball for the pups and when I looked back Ana was halfway up the ladder. I watched her precisely place her little feet on each step and pull herself up another rung. Then once she reached the top she started her slow but deliberate ascent back down. Like she had done it a million times before. She amazes me. Every. Single. Day.

Next step: mountain climbing.