Anna Grows

It was a whirlwind trip to New York over the weekend with something for everyone. The reason for the trip was for Joe and Theresa to attend a wedding; however, the bonus was the time Anna was able to spend with her Aunt Loren, Aunt Mary, Cousin James, and Uncle Joe. Aunt Mary, assisted by Aunt Loren, volunteered to watch Anna while Joe and Theresa went into the city. Thanks to the long ride up to New York on Friday night, in which Anna was too excited to sleep in the car, she took almost a 4 hour nap right after Joe and Theresa left. This also provided the opportunity for Aunt Mary to take a nap. This was followed by a trip to the playground, a stop at the store where her aunts purchased Anna princess ball, pizza, and a movie. Apparently Aunt Mary let Anna eat dinner on the couch while watching television with a "special tray" for her food. Theresa reminded Anna that the special tray only exists at Aunt Mary's. Anna was also treated to ice cream and a bubble bath. Anna le

Anna has grown and changed quite a bit in recent weeks. One of the things that has changed is her name. She is now Emily-- as in Emily the bossy boiler engine. For those of you not familiar with the activities of the preschool crowd, Emily is one of the trains in the Thomas the Train series. Each train is a character. Mom is now Rosie and Dad is now Tobey. Anna....I mean Emily...is in character at all times and will correct you if you call her Anna (or refer to Joe as something other than Tobey). We are now in week four of living the lives of our alter train egos. This extends to Ms Be's daycare as well, where all of the kids are also a train as decreed by Anna/Emily and her friend Caitlyn/Emily. Apparently when Caitlyn is at Ms. Be's, she is Emily and Anna is Rosie. When Caitlyn is not there, Anna is Emily. You can see how the power structure works. This is particularly challenging for Ms. Be who now must remember two names for every kid. Anna/Emily's main activity at hom

Anna began the Mother's Day celebration in good fashion: by sleeping in 1 hour later (that would be 7 AM instead of 6 AM) before waking up her Mom requesting a glass of milk. Mom really appreciated this, especially after staying up extra late to watch Betty White on Saturday Night Live. After some quality time watching Sesame Street with Mom (you've got to love the PBS Kids Network), Anna and Dad ensured that Mom had an enjoyable day. In addition to the card and painting Anna made for Mom, Dad let Anna pick out a special card at the store. Anna immediately gravitated to the musical card, where she picked out Snoopy with the corresponding Peanuts theme music playing. It is safe to say that Mom and Dad heard the Peanuts theme music roughly 173 times today (thanks goes to Joe for this). In addition, Anna and Joe picked out two rose bushes for Mom at Home Depot. (Note from Theresa: I am having flashbacks to my childhood when my father would take my brothers and I shopping at th