Last weekend Annette and her Daddy went to our friend's lake house for a crawfish boil (Mommy was sick so stayed at home).
She LOVED fishing in the cooler for ice and eating it!
The water was still too cold for swimming,
but she enjoyed a boat ride around the lake :-)
On Tuesday we went to the Houston Arboretum with one of our moms groups. The kids loved walking around the trails and looking at turtles in the pond.
Happy half-birthday, Annette! Our little girl is 1 1/2 years old today :-)
This weekend we went to her friend's 2-year-old birthday party, where she enjoyed cake and coloring.
One of our neighbors had a crawfish boil on Saturday, so we stopped by and played with all the other kids' toys.
Annette is realizing that her world's about to change soon! She helped her Daddy set up the new baby's crib in her room, which they'll be sharing once the baby is sleeping through the night :-)
We went to opening day at the rodeo last week, where Annette got to see all kinds of animals. Here she is with a classic Texas longhorn.
We visited the birthing center and saw Loretta and her one-day-old calf Norman, who weighed 45 pounds at birth!
The highlight of the rodeo was the petting zoo, which Annette loved even after getting knocked down by a goat :-)
She celebrated the start of spring by helping Daddy with planting this weekend. Both of them LOVE to dig in the dirt!
Annette has discovered the joys of the garden hose! Only in Houston could she be doing this during the last weekend of February.
She got a bit thirsty from all the fun...
...but decided that hose water is hard to drink and tastes funny :-)
Here she is in a more civilized moment, enjoying some light reading and an afternoon snack.
Annette LOVES playing outside! We've found that this is the best outfit for playing in the dirt :-)
The princess cleans up very nicely! She loved riding in the chariot at her friend Charlotte's 3rd birthday party yesterday.
The kids enjoyed pizza, cake and a live show at Chuck E. Cheese.
Today is "Go Texan" day in Houston, when everyone gears up for rodeo season. They had a parade at school complete with a singing cowboy!
Annette in her western wear :-)
Annette turned 17 months old yesterday!
In preparation for her upcoming role as big sister, we got her a doll stroller which she pushes all around the house. She's also added the word "baby" to her repertoire :-)
With spring having officially arrived in Houston, we've been playing outside every day. This playground at Memorial Park is the perfect size for toddlers.
On Saturday we went to a neighbor's birthday party, which had a cowgirl theme. Annette sat nicely at the table while the bigger kids brought her toys they found in the haystack.
There were even pink ponies to ride! Annette preferred petting them to riding them though, since that was less scary :-)
The weather this week was beautiful, so we got out with some members of our old mom's group from the hospital and went to the zoo.
We went to the African Forest exhibit, where Annette checked out the display of huts.
She liked seeing the chimpanzees, and holding hands with her friend Trey :-)
Then we went to the Children's Zoo, where Annette got to run around on the playground.
In the mouth of the lion!
Annette has been busy getting ready for Valentine's Day!
Her homework for February was to decorate a paper heart, but she decided that decorating herself was more fun :-)
This is what happens when daddies draw Hitler mustaches on their babies...
We went to Mad Potter with the moms group from our church. Annette LOVES to paint!
She's also been enjoying the beautiful weather - nothing beats dining on apples and cheese al fresco :-)
It's been cold and rainy here for the past couple of weeks. One particularly cold morning Annette got all bundled up in her winter coat and mittens! She thought the mittens were fun at first until she realized that they prevented her from sucking her fingers :-)
Annette gets a homework assignment from school every month to decorate a picture - for January it was a snowperson. Annette was very good with the finger paints at first...
but the final result turned out to be a bit messy :-)
She made up for it by helping around the kitchen. She loves putting on the oven mitts, even though they take up her entire arm!
Uncle Nils, Aunt Allison and the cousins came over to play one weekend. Annette and Fritz liked checking out baby Isabel :-)
Annette got her first real boo-boo last week. On Thursday she fell into a wooden slide at Gymboree class and got a cut next to her eye. It's healing very nicely though and doesn't bother her anymore :-)
Yesterday her friend Rachel came over for a playdate. The girls enjoyed playing together until Annette bit Rachel's finger :-( She has another tooth coming in and anything that gets close to her mouth gets chomped on!
They made up over a wonderful dinner of baked ziti, green beans and blueberry pie with ice cream!
Let's ring in the New Year! On New Year's Eve we went to the Children's Museum for their annual noon ball-drop.
Annette tried watching the parade while sitting on her Daddy's shoulders, but she decided that was a bit too scary.
She did enjoy dancing to the music though!
We counted down to noon and watched the ball drop in the mini version of Times Square (much less stressful than the real thing, as Mommy will attest to!).
Afterward Annette celebrated the New Year with a tea party in the Tot Spot :-)
