Oh, Anna Banana!

I'll start by saying how in love I am with this little girl of ours. She gives the sweetest hugs, is very nurturing to her two siblings, and loves to be Mommy's Helper. She'll throw away diapersfor me, lets me know when the baby wakes up (by pointing in the air and saying, "Baby!")and pats her brother on the back when he cries. I get a warm feeling inside when I watch her figure out new things, put words together, or hit a big milestone. Just today her teachers said she now does the slide all by herself, and claps when she gets to the bottom!

When I was in the hospital waiting for the twins to be born, the doctors warned me that Carlos may have a rougher start once they are born. Anna had everything going for her (statistically speaking.) She was Baby A, bigger in size, a female. The doctors warned us of the "whimpy white boys" in the NICU, who typically have a harder time thriving. Well it was the complete opposite for us, and this is when we figured out just how high maintanence Anna was going to be! She was on the ventilator 4 days longer than her brother, and blew a hole in her left lung at one day old. She had a chest tube inserted until the hole healed, and when the tube was taking out at 10 days old, I was finally able to hold my little girl for the first time. I promised her then, that whenever she wanted to be held, I'd hold her.

Fast forward 19 months, and Anna is still making sure I live up to my promise. She will most definitely be our more challenging child, and I mean that in a loving way. She is starting to throw temper-tantrums when she does not get her way, and loves to test us when we tell her no, by continuing to do whatever it is she is not suppose to be doing. She'll even keep her eyes on us the whole time, to make sure we are watching her disobey. And she is so smart! She know when I am feeding the baby that she is more likely to get away with doing something wrong.

I recently bought her a little pink potty. It seems early to start with potty training, but she has begun to bring me a new diaper when hers needs to be changed. If we forget to put bloomers on under her dress, she will take off her diaper after she fills it. I plan on just keeping the potty around for her to get used to, and don't have any expectations of her using it anytime real soon.

So, even with all the bullying she does to her brother, and the kicking and crying when it's time to come in from playing...I love this girl more than I could ever imagine. Her sweet, innocent smile stays in my mine whenever I am apart from her, and I'm excited to see what new things she learns in the next few months. She regularly says about 15 words now, loves to dance when she hears music, and would spend all day playing outside if I let her. And I still try to hold her whenever she wants to be held.