Don't just take my word for it ...

One of the many, many things I love about Anna's school (The Goddard School) is the daily activity report where we learn a bit about her day, including the basics (naps, how she ate, what they were learning) as well as a personal note from her teacher highlighting anything fun or interesting.  The notes are my favorite part and I've saved my favorites from the past seven months and plan to incorporate them into her one-year book along with the monthly letters and plenty of pictures.  As we're preparing for Anna's party and I'm getting more organized around her keepsakes, old clothing, and toys she's grown out of, I finally sat down to type them up and thought you might like a little dose of Anna's daily sweetness.  This also serves to prove that I'm not making up what a sweet, gentle, fun little girl she is and how she brightens every day : )

10/4/11: Well, what can I say except you were right! What a delightful little girl you have! She was so pleasant, happy, did not cry or fuss one time. We’re gonna have so much fun together! (your first day with Miss Patty!!)

10/25/11: Anna talked so much today! She loved cuddling with Miss Patty and telling me all kinds of stuff today! Of course she was an angel today again!

10/28/11: I love going to get Anna from the crib room because she always gives me the biggest smile ever! People ask me how I take all the crying, spit-up, etc. And I tell them it’s the precious smiles and all the love they show for us all day! 100% worth it!

10/31/11: Anna told me she loves her banana costume because every time I said “Hi Anna Banana” she grinned from ear to ear!

11/3/11: Anna made my day! I came back from my lunch break and she was lying on the floor and I went over to see her and she gave me the biggest smile ever and started kicking her legs wildly. It was so sweet!

11/15/11: I don’t know if it was the cereal, but Anna had so much pep today! She was trying to bounce as I stood her on my lap and then while she was swinging, she was leaning forward and holding on the bar like she was trying to make it go faster! So cute!

11/28/11: Anna made my day today! I picked her up and she gave me a huge smile, touched my face with her hand and leaned forward to my face like she was trying to give me a kiss! Oh, it was so sweet!

11/29/11: Anna and her friend were both in a saucer, well he started bouncing really hard and her eyes got as big as cue balls, her little hands flew up in the air and she started smiling as if she was thinking “one day I’ll be able to do that!” Her expressions are priceless!

12/6/11: So cute! Anna was flirting with her little friend today! She was sitting on the floor and he was laying about 2 feet away. Well, she leans toward him (smiling) and starts yelling at him, she was trying to get his attention. It was adorable!

12/8/11: Anna is always so happy to see me when she wakes up, her hands go flying everywhere and she does her little bicycle motion with her legs. I get so excited over that, she’s such a sweetheart! And, by the way, Anna told me she wanted to keep her jeans on, they make her feel like a big girl!

12/12/11: So Cute! Anna fell asleep in her bed with her legs up in the air! She’s also working on clapping her hands, she was swinging her hands around and it looked like she was trying to clap!

12/14/11: Anna is becoming a little cuddle-bug! I picked her up and smooched on her and she laid her head on my shoulder and cuddled up with me. I love how when you smooch on her, she doesn’t care, she just smiles and smiles, I love it!

12/19/11: I was standing next to Anna while she was saucin’ and I was holding her friend in my arms and her blanket was dangling in front of Anna and Anna thought that was the funniest thing. She started laughing out loud! We’ve never heard her laugh like that, it was so cute!

12/21/11: Anna waved to us today! I don’t know if it was a fluke, but she was sitting next to her friend in the saucer and there were talking and she waved to him and then to Brooke and I! It was kind of a Miss America wave!

1/12/12: I think Anna missed all of us! She was talking so much and smiling all day long! I was playing with this book, a cloth one and it vibrates, well I was putting it on top of her head and she giggled and giggled and had all of us laughing! Super cute!

1/17/12: So cute! Anna was sitting next to the slide when her friend came over, peeked through, like he was playing peek-a-boo with her. She got so excited; she was kicking her legs and anticipating him peeking through it again! So fun to watch!

1/23/12: Anna was full of spunk today! She was so smiley all day and the cutest thing was when I picked her up she would go to grab both the sides of my face and give me kisses! It truly made my day!

1/24/12: We had a visitor today and Anna was showing off and flashing that cute smile of hers! They would talk to her, then she would look away then turn back at them and smile. It was so adorable!

2/8/12: Anna seemed tired today, so I put her in her bed for her afternoon nap. Well, she thought it was party-time back there, so she tries to sit up and starts giggling at her sleeping friends beside her. We had a little talk and she said she would be a good girl and go to sleep, and she did!

2/29/12: Anna is super sweet! Her little baby friend was lying about two feet from Anna when Anna got on her knees, leaned forward and kissed her forehead and then leaned over and gave the toy doggie a kiss on the snout! It was very cute!

3/2/12: Anna and I had so much fun today! We got out new toys, we played peek-a-boo, we practiced crawling (so close!), and we explored new areas of the school. She is perhaps one of the sweetest gentlest babies to come to Goddard! Good job Mom and Dad!

3/12/12: Anna is adorable when she crawls! She looks like a little wind-up doll. She explored every inch of the room, she was especially attracted to the rocking chairs! She liked rocking them back and forth!

3/15/12: Anna thinks she is hot stuff now! All day long she’s been perched on her knees and bouncing without holding on to anything! She’s been sitting at the bottom of the mini-slide thinking about whether or not to go through it. So cute!

3/21/12: Anna did something exciting again today! She pulled herself up to the ball spinner and activated it! She was so proud of herself!

3/22/12: Anna showed empathy today! Her friend got hurt and was crying, so Anna crawled over to her and looked at her face for about 20 seconds and then she put her hand on her back and patted her. It was so sweet!

3/23/12: Anna was doing this new thing today. She was sitting on the floor and she got her happy look, then she starting swinging her arms from side to side, twisting her whole body! It was so cute!

4/25/12: Anna had fun playing in the tree house on the playground today! There’s a little doorbell button that goes “ding dong” and she really loved pushing that button and hearing the noise!

4/27/12: Anna loves to explore all textures and colors and designs. She will just stop when crawling across the room when something catches her eye. She uses that little pointer finger to trace shapes, or feel the ruffles on a friend’s clothing, or to make sure a bright color on something is attached and she can’t pick it up. She’s SO observant and curious!

4/30/12: We were learning the “itsy bitsy spider” song today along with the hand motions and Anna was so quick that she started doing it with her hands right away. It wasn’t accurate, by any means, but she was so cute trying!

5/2/12: Anna is so much fun! She was standing and holding onto the saucer when I got on my hands and knees and started to tickle her belly and she was giggling, but wouldn’t let go because she wanted me to keep doing it! She was so cute!

5/3/12: All day long I was squeezing those little thighs and she would just giggle or try to hold in her laugh like she does! She just looked so cute with those little legs showing!