Anna is currently having a nap & I wanted to take the opportunity to quickly write this in peace so I've decided to ignore my normal format; type quickly, spell check & hope that my rambling results in something perspicuous.
Most months seem to fly by but it seems like an eternity since I wrote Anna's 6 month update; I feel like so much has happened. The most exciting milestone is that Anna has mastered crawling & she has started to attempt sofa surfing; her balance on two feet is not there yet but her determination is adorable.
Another big milestone is that she can now independently drink from a beaker & feed herself smoothie pouches. She also eats small amounts of what we eat & is still breastfed, at least, once in the morning & once before bed. Anna hasn't ever been especially vocal but she does grunt her frustrations when things aren't as easy as she wants them to be & this last week she has started saying "mamamamama" (yay!)
Anna's a really peaceful person & Alfie (our cat) has really taken to her; I often see her grinning when he approaches & they occasionally hang out like in the photo I took this morning. Evelyn also loves Alfie but she's a little too rambunctious for his liking so he's stopped snuggling with her recently. She does however have a puppet cat who is also ginger & that serves as a pretty good substitute; it was a much appreciated Christmas gift from Linda & Dave.
Both girls had lots of beautiful gifts for Christmas & we are very grateful for them; it was a joy spending our first as a family of four & I saw lots of potential family traditions unfolding.
I have no idea what Anna weighs & I've decided that I really don't need to know; she's happy & chubby, full of energy & sleeps well - I don't feel that I need a number to confirm that. I do find her growth in length interesting though so I'll probably continue to record that & as of 5 seconds ago she is 69cm from head to toe.
There's still no sign of teeth which surprises me as they've been pushing through from day one & Evelyn had 4 by this age. Anna had her third set of injections yesterday, so maybe she's been waiting to get that out of the way before tackling the pain of teething... who knows :D
George is in Spain on training camp (for cycling) & I have really loved spending time with the girls on my own; they're incredibly fun & really beautifully behaved (perhaps even more so than when both of us are here) but we are very much looking forward to having him home this weekend. It's my Dad's birthday on Monday so I'm looking forward to celebrating with him too. We'll also be going to Jade & Dan's wedding next month & we're all really, really looking forward to it. I know it's going to be perfect.
Other than that life is going to be pretty normal & that's taking a bit of getting used to. Every year for the past 4 years I've had big changes to adjust to (2012 pregnancy; 2013 baby, engagement & house buying; 2014 wedding, pregnancy & new job; 2015 baby & OU*) & before that 2011 was the climax to a very difficult period in my life.
2016 has therefore been a scary prospect for me & I've felt a little despondent for the past few weeks but I'm finally starting to allow myself to believe that not having something exceptional to look forward to doesn't mean that something awful will happen in its place. I'm starting to allow myself to be excited about the new year rather than terrified; the girls & George have played a big part in that shift in mentality & I'm really looking forward to building some more great memories together. Lets see what happens...
*Enroling for part time study with the Open University
