Sleepy kid

I finally figured out how to get pictures off my cell phone and onto the computer. Stay tuned for more "on the go" action shots of every day life from such exciting locations as The Store, The Car, and The Restaurant, where I don't normally have my real camera. Here's a picture from today of Anja sleeping in the cart at Meijer. So far, riding in the cart seems to have the same effect on her as riding in the car. I can't believe she can sleep like this.


I tried putting Anja in the cart for the first time the other day, and she's just barely big enough/ready enough. But wow does that make shopping easier. The seatbelt pretty much holds her in place, otherwise she would slide all over because she's so little. And I do have to keep repositioning her as she still does slide a little bit anyway. But she seems to really like it (see above picture). Up until now I was bringing her into the store in the sling, but it's just too difficult now with all the extra winter gear we're wearing these days. And I think she's been frustrated with the sling lately because she can't see out of it very well.

For some reason today was a big sleep day for Anja. She slept pretty well last night (slept 8 hours, fed, then slept another 2.5), but she still needed a lot of sleep during the day. After shopping we stopped to visit Jay where he was working (at a local coffee shop). She fell asleep in the two minute drive over, and remained sleeping when I picked her up and walked through heavy snow and noisy traffic to the second floor of the coffee shop. I gave her to Jay where she continued to sleep for at least half an hour more, still not waking at all. I often wonder what it must be like to fall asleep at home and wake up in a completely different location miles away in someone else's arms.


Anja's personality is really becoming more apparent recently. It is so fun to see her develop into a real little person. For the last few days she has been more "huggy", which is great, and I hope a permanent trend. She even fell asleep on my shoulder yesterday, which she hasn't done since she was about a month old. She also raises her hands to be picked up now. She responds more to words now, and definitely prefers some toys and activities to others depending on her mood.


One interesting development lately is that she has begun to find some noises scary that weren't scary before. Suddenly now she is terrified of the food processor (which I use to puree her baby food). And the noise made by pulling clear packing tape off the roll. She is so scared of these two things that I can't use either one when she is around. Both sounds invoke an instant, wide-eyed cry with frantic arms in the air to be picked up.


But perhaps the funniest thing that has happened in a while was our visit to the coffee shop today. We were sitting in an open booth and Jay was holding Anja so she was facing over his shoulder to the next booth. Anja would put her head up to see over his shoulder so the ladies in the next booth would see her. Then when they smiled and talked to her she would smile back and hide her head in Jay's shoulder, like she was suddenly shy. Then she would do it again. She did this quite a few times, getting the same response from them each time. One time when they didn't look back right away she started hitting the back of the seat as if to say, "Pay attention to me!" I hadn't seen her interact with other people in quite that way before. Very cute.