25 Things About Anna

1.) She has an incredible memory and a great eye for detail. She notices EVERYTHING.
2.) She has the sweetest way of crinkling her nose up when she smiles sometimes.
3.) She is very affectionate towards us, both with words and with hugs and kisses.
4.) She is spunky in the best way.
5.) Baked potatoes with butter are her mainstay. She eats them ALL the time. She LOVES butter and has to have her own tub at the table.
6.) She already has (and has for quite some time) her own fashion sense. There are certain things she likes, a certain way of dressing she has. I see clothes at the store, and while they may be cute, they just aren't Anna.
7.) She knows her own mind. She knows what she wants all the time. She came into the world this way, and while it makes parenting her difficult at times, it is a great trait to have. She doesn't look to others to figure out what she wants.
8.) She is very confident that she right, that she knows what she is talking about. Sometimes it is hard to teach her anything, because to her, she already knows.
9.) Yellow is her favorite color, hands down, and next comes pink. She likes them together.
10.) She is aware that she is pretty. She accepts it as fact. I asked her how she knows she is beautiful and she said, "Just look at my skin, Mama. I am just beautiful." When I try to give her a bow or other hair doodad, she tells me, "I don't need that. I am already beautiful." I know she walks the fine line of being conceited, but I wish everyone (including me) were more accepting of themselves like this. Disliking yourself is a waste of time.
11.) One of her favorite words is hateful. She uses it when she doesn't like something, to express distaste, or to tell us how she is feeling. Sometimes when she's been a little naughty, I will say, I love you, Anna, and she will say, No! I am hateful!
12.) She can go and go and go and go on very little sleep. She has been this way since birth.
13.) She wakes up cheerful and full speed ahead.
14.) She can be very demanding. She wants her food certain ways, and just when we think we know how-to, she changes the rules. We know she is just trying to see how far she can push us. BUT she is very hard not to indulge.
15.) She is naturally charming. She is magnetic.
16.) She is also photogenic and excellent at posing for portraits.
17.) She loves art. She is very creative and imaginative.
18.) She does not care much for TV. It has never kept her very occupied. She LOVES books and being read to, and will listen to stories for A LONG TIME.
19.) She has a tendency to be fearless. When she was a baby, she would scale playground equipment like a chimp. Half of me cringes and wants to keep her safe, and the other half of me cheers her on and wants to let her fly. Her beloved Poppa Ed always pushed her in the swings as a baby and toddler, and I think she picked up on his daredevil fearlessness. She wanted to go the moon!
20.) She can be wary of new situations, or strangers, but is not shy.
21.) She LOVES chocolate.
22.) She loves rainbows, ponies, and butterflies.
23.) She is already making plans to move out. She tells me when she is a teenager she is going to pack all her stuff up and get a moving van and even take her bed. I love her independence.
24.) She has a temper and a tendency to pout. She reminds me of Tinkerbell. More than once I have threatened to take her door away because she loves to go huffing in her room and slam the door.
25.) Every single day, she makes me so proud. To me, she is an absolute marvel, a wonder. I can't believe God gifted me with such a sparkly bright gem of a child. When she was born, when she took her first breath, they put her on my chest, and she struggled to open her eyes and look up at me, and I was in love. I have been smitten with her ever since. I knew she was special, right from the start.