Anna's Turn

Since my last post was exclusively about my son, I figure I'd better devote this one to my little princess.  She's currently safely in her crib, theoretically to take a nap.  It's a gorgeous Sunday afternoon, though, so I'm feeling kind of guilty that I don't have her outside running around like crazy.  Of course, that's what she's been doing all afternoon...  just in the living room.  Running around like crazy.  I stayed after church for a Women of Hope meeting, so Greg brought the kids home and was going to put them both down for naps (per our normal Sunday afternoon routine).  Well, Anna Grace may have been in her crib with her bottle and the lights out, but she did NOT take a nap.  Neither did Noah, for that matter.  When I got home around 2:30, both kids were wide awake.  So I went ahead and got them out of bed (per Greg's request! LOL) and brought them into the living room.

Anna loves computer cords, and remote controls, and anything that she's not supposed to have.  Nothing makes her happier than to get a hold of something that she doesn't think is allowed (and usually Noah lets her know really quickly what is and is not allowed).

 
This morning at church, she decides to explore a little.  Which gave me fits!  A little background:  we arrive at church by around 8-ish to start setting everything up (church in a box - convenient!) and try to start our practice around 8:45.  There is a ton of stuff to do in those 45 minutes, so let's just say my attention is distracted at best.  And once we start practice, it only get s worse.  Usually the singers (and Daddy) try to help keep her in sight, but she can be sneaky.  And this morning, Daddy was distracted himself since our sound guys wasn't going to be there today.  So Anna picks today to decide to wander around - weaving in and out of the rolling stacks of chairs and trying to sneak behind the blue curtains so she could high tail it out of the building if someone would oblige and leave the door open (at least, I'm guessing that was her goal).  But thankfully someone would usually see her and either yell or go grab her before she reached freedom.

She's such a little explorer!  Much more so than Noah.  And that is just so cool to me.  I mean, I know we all have our own individual DNA and that our code makes us unique and that's the way God created us.  But doesn't it just blow your mind sometimes to look at children and to look at their parents and to think that these little human beings came from them?  Some things are obvious - like, where did Anna get her headstrong personality?  Her daddy, of course!  Where did she get her sweet side that comes out when you least expect it?  From her mommy, of course!  :) But there are these little hidden nuggets, characteristics that crop up unexpectedly out of nowhere that to me serve as assurance that we do have a Creator and that He loves to surprise us.  He loves to show us through so many things - in this case, my daughter - that I should not be complacent and think that I know how things work.  Au contraire!  God's ways are far above our ways and I surely do not understand all the intricacies of personality that he has tucked away in one tiny little package called Anna Grace.

I don't think I conveyed what I meant in that last paragraph at all... I'm trying to say that just when I think I "know" her, my daughter will throw me a little curve.  A new side of her revealed.  Yes, she's not even 2 years old yet, so I know she's still growing and changing daily.  But sometimes in the day-to-day stuff of things, I begin to get in a rut.  Begin to think that I understand what she's doing or thinking or feeling or wanting....  NOT! She is her own person.  And it's just fascinating to see how she's unfolding.