A Girl Who Knows...

...how to play. Vanna is very good at entertaining herself and is mostly a very independent little girl. She loves to read books - which usually must be done by plopping down in the middle of Mommy's lap and reading the books all by herself. She also likes to dress up, dance (she loves If You're Happy And You Know It and Shake My Sillies Out), run around (loves Duck Duck Goose), etc. Vanna's play life would also not be complete without the occasional bubble bath. She adores them.

...how to scream. She's very good at the bloody murder scream and can produce it at any given moment - immediately. There's no leading up to it.

...how to pucker up. Vanna demands that she gives every family member a kiss before she goes to bed. She simply puckers up to the closest person and says "mmmm" when Mommy catches her and explains it's time for bed. She's also very good at blowing kisses - especially to her Dad when he leaves for work in the morning.

...her blankee is her most cherished possession. She totes her blanket most everywhere she goes and simply MUST have it to go to sleep. She gets very upset when it comes time to wash it.

...a good snack when she sees, or rather, tastes one. Cheese is Vanna's favorite snack as of late. Although she loves any kind of cheese, Kraft Singles are specifically her favorite. She will eat 4-5 in one snack-sitting. When offered two at a time, Vanna is quick to stuff the first offered in her dainty little mouth(whole) and snatch the second out of my hand as fast as possible - it's pretty funny. Vanna is also very good at picking at her cereal to find the best tasting pieces; Lucky Charms - she always picks out the marshmallows, Apple Jacks - she eats the green ones first, Captn Cruch w/berries - she always eats the berries first.

...pain. Monday night (Feb. 15th, 2010) Cash accidentally shut the door (completely tight) on Vanna's fingers. He had shut the door to prevent her from coming into the bathroom (kind of mean but definitely not intending to cause injury). I was near trembling and screaming when I saw her tiny smashed fingers. We rushed her to the ER, afraid that she'd broken at least two fingers that looked just terrible. I couldn't help but weep with her as she cried the whole ride there. Yet, as if on cue, she stopped crying upon entering the hospital and acted perfectly fine the whole time there. By then her fingers (middle finger, ring finger and pinky finger) were very swollen and hard to lay flat for the X-rays - BUT - no broken bones! Yeah! She was so strong and brave at the hospital and has been such a trooper since. Vanna has also had two black eyes this month. One to compliment each big beautiful eye. Both incidents included Cash's bed (jumping on his bed and bonking the headboard and climbing on a chair to get on his bed - both are no-no's and she knows it darn it). To say the least - February was a little rough for baby Vanna.

...how to say: thank you, please, juice, water (wa, wa), bye-bye, no, stinky, poopy, cracker (ca, ca), Mommy, Da-Da, blankee (bankee), here ya' go, puppy, out, cow, meow, baby, bow-bow (for her hair bows), nose, eye, teeth, and has her own sound for hair, ear, cheek, chin, neck, elbow, and knee. And probably more that just don't come to mind right now.

...what she wants:
-Vanna always wants to flush the toilet for everyone.

-Vanna doesn't like a dirty bum and wants changed right away. She pats her bum and says "poopy". Then while we're changing her, she plugs her nose and says "stinky, stinky" while shaking her head. She also knows that she always wants me to put baby powder on her bum - I guess she just likes how it smells or something, I don't know, it's so funny though because she never lets you forget.

-Vanna likes bows in her hair. But not clips so much, she'll tear them right out (we've been trying clips a lot lately because the ponies and bows seem to be pulling out some of her hair - in fact, she's a little thin on top now poor thing) but if she has bows in and one falls out, she quickly carries it to me and says "bow-bow" meaning, please put my bow back in.

-Vanna is fascinated with zippers and not only wants to take her own jacket/coat off by un-zipping it, but always tries to help Cash with his jacket/coat's zipper too.

-Speaking of zippers, Cash and Vanna often play with their life-jackets around the house and Vanna knows that she wants the zipper AND the buckles done up anytime she puts the life-jacket on.

-Basically, Vanna is a girl who knows what she wants...period.

...she is loved. We hope, above all else, that our little girl KNOWS that she is loved. She is such a blessing and sweet part of our family that we just don't know how we ever did without. It is so fun to reflect upon how she has grown and the things she is currently doing, learning, and enjoying. As always there is so much more to add about little Vanna - just not enough time to do it right now so until next time...