It’s fun to watch how just a week can make such a huge difference.  Annabelle has started “walking” from one object to another.  Really, what it is, is Annabelle holding on to one object for as long as she can while walking to the other and then eventually letting go and gracefully falling into the other object to hold on to.  It’s mainly from the coach to the ottoman or from the coach to one of us.  She’s not officially a walker yet but she’s getting more confident and stronger as the days go by.

This week Annabelle had pears and scrambled eggs for the first time.  Now that she definitely has four teeth in that little mouth of hers I’m trying to find more finger foods she can eat on her own.  She most definitely loves eating on her own. She’s become an expert at eating with her hands.  With squishy things like bananas and pears she’ll push the fruit around until she either gets one in the palm of her hand or she pushes them off her tray. Once she gets it into her hand she squeezes it so it moves up the inside of the palm of her hand and it pops up by her thumb and pointer finger. In other words, her piece of banana is sitting on the top of her closed fist.  After a few attempts, she’s ready to get it in her mouth.  Most of the time it ends up in her mouth but there are plenty of times she looks at her hand, sees that it’s gone but can’t figure out where it is because it’s not in her mouth.  It’s often on her chin, cheek or ended up in her lap.

This weekend was the first time Annabelle was without both mommy and daddy!  Dusty and I have each been out of town over night and left Annabelle home with the other but she’s never been without us both or never slept over at someone else’s place over night. So, two firsts for Annabelle. Dusty and I were invited to come to a weekend long Founder’s Retreat, meant for founders of startups and their spouses, sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce.  I was a little skeptical on what would actually happen but it turned out to be a great weekend of spending time with each other and meeting new people!

Annabelle stayed with Dusty’s mom and I don’t think she missed us at all.  It was a bit hard being away from her for 48 hours but knowing that Dusty and I were spending quality time together and knowing she was in good hands made it just a little easier.

Annabelle did a little painting this week for a present for Mother’s day. And no worries, she didn’t really eat it, even though it might look like it. Our little Picasso.