Anna Grows

Anthony (left), Anna, & Thomas began at Ms. Be's together as babies. Last Thursday was Anna's friend Anthony's last day at Ms. Be's daycare. Anna and Anthony have been at Ms. Be's together for 3 years. Anthony, otherwise known as "Thomas"- his train ultra-ego, is moving to San Diego where his Dad will be stationed with the Navy. Anna and Anthony are good buddies and have spent their formative pre -school years together learning such things as eating with utensils, potty training, riding tricycles, reading, and counting. They were also the train leaders at Ms. Be's, assigning train names to the other kids. One of the things Anna is already learning is that Washington is a very transient area. With the departure of Anthony for California and Caitlyn for kindergarten , Anna is officially the "big kid" at Ms. Be's. Caitlyn attempted to provide some leadership training for Anna before she departed, but Anna has some additional lessons t...

July 4th weekend was an extra-long one, thanks to the bonus day of July 5 to "observe" the holiday weekend. There were many potential plans for the long weekend, including visits from out of town guests. On the visitor roster were Grandma and Grandpa, who were going to come babysitt for Anna the week prior to the holiday while Ms. Be was on vacation. As always, plans change. The first change was with Grandma and Grandpa's travel plans thanks to a torn ligament in the knee (Grandma) and a partially torn rotator cuff (Grandpa). Grandma's subsequent surgery and Grandpa's therapy grounded both of them (although they somehow managed to trim 20 bushes and haul several bags of mulch while still down a limb). Fortunately Kelly, the teenager next door, was able to babysit for the week. Joe and Theresa quickly discovered that Kelly was better qualified to take care of Anna than her parents after she provided a list of credentials t hat included babysitting certifications,...