Annabel is the loveliest, most frustrating, funniest, craziest kid I know.
A couple of mornings ago she came up to me and said, “get dressed, yes?” That’s my cue to take her into her room, where she will throw open her closet and carefully select her outfit. If she doesn’t see what she has in mind, she’ll ask for it by name. SHE REMEMBERS ALL HER CLOTHES. It’s scary.
After she was dressed, we went for a walk. The fall leaves on the ground proved very interesting.
Especially to throw.
Two little girls walked by with their dog and Annie was enamored. As they walked past us, Annie chased after them yelling, “Hey kids! Where ya goin’?”
When she realized she couldn’t go with the little girls, she threw. a. fit. A loud, body-on-the-ground, legs flailing fit.
I tricked her into calming down by asking her if she wanted to look at her clothes. Of course she said yes. She added an accessory and demanded I change her shoes.
Then she said to me, “Annie jump! Picture! Annie Jumping!”
I am constantly blown away by the words she knows, and the way she puts them together. Is this normal? I don’t know. But I obliged.
How could I not?
My parents came over, and Annie saw her chance to go for another walk. She went to the door and said, “Walk outside, yes?” YES Annie. She ends every question by saying “yes,” daring you to say no to her.
My parents left and it was time for our night routine, starting with a book.
We snuggled in the chair. She laughed at my silly voices and said, “mama funny!” Then she said, “I love you” and blew me a kiss.
And then. she screamed. for four hours. Did I mention she also didn’t nap?
I love her so much. I have hearing damage. The two may be related.
{ 35 comments… read them below or add one }
I think that she is really advanced for her age, Heather! She is just amazing. What a beautiful treasure she is!!!!
Tyra would LOVE her.
Ah, memories. I assure you that when Annie becomes a tween, the tantrums are shorter.
Lynn from For Love or Funny´s last [type] ..There is a ghost in the library. I saw it.
HOW can you stand all that cuteness?? What a little doll!
She is so adorable!! She is a little woman who does not let age slow her down…cause I know my little girl did not talk that much until she was over two!! Tantrums are important – her brain is working so fast but her body isn’t cooperating – so something has to give!
She is really living up to her nickname, “the Amazing Annabel”!!!
Emily´s last [type] ..The Journey to the center of Manhattan
She loves clothes already and knows what she has by name. YOU ARE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE when she’s older!!!
I can’t wait for those blog posts!
AmazingGreis´s last [type] ..A Year Older…
She is so adorable and I LOVE her dress and boots so darned cute!!!! BTW I love the rug in the background! The house is looking so awesome!!!
My daughter is about four weeks younger than Annie, and either her vocab is WOEFULLY bad, or Annie’s is off-the-scale amazing. I suspect the latter! Love her outfit choices – she’s stylin’.
One thing is certain, her fashion sense is WAY advanced!
My oldest son had similar language skills around 19 months. We thought he was average, but then our daughter came along and she says only a few words at the same age. Meanwhile, my son’s tantrums did not start until age 2, while my daughter can already throw a royal fit. Maybe it’s a girl thing?!
Oh the cute! That girl has some crazy good fashion sense.
My daughter, Maya, had an incredible vocabulary at that age too, and could carry on full conversations. She still has a much bigger vocab than her friends. It still amazes me what she comes up with.
Lisa´s last [type] ..4 Months
Honestly, Annie is very advanced!! I love the pictures and hearing the stories about her!
oh, she is definitely “gifted”. by the way, i hate labels, but in this case it applies. annie reminds me of my emily in so many ways…the advanced vocabulary being one. she is going to give you many years of joy….the conversations you will have with her, if they are anything like i have with emily, will be mind-blowing! enjoy your little chatterbox!!
I really love that outfit/outfits. So dang cute!
Rebecca´s last [type] ..New Floors Will Soon Be Installed
Cutest.Kid.Ever!
I see a mini Rachel Zoe in the making. A future in fashion and celebrity styling perhaps? That would be bananas.
-Sarah
The house is starting to come together really nicely! It’s lookin’ awesome in there!
Pink Chucks are the perfect compliment to any outfit. She is adorable, and stinkin’ cute. Her vocabulary is awesome!
Thanks as always for sharing your precious life with us…
B
Broad´s last [type] ..Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
What a cutie!! Where is that adorable dress from?!
She is so stinking cute! And I know what you mean about a loooong-no-nap-tantrum. Ugh.
Does anyone else see that vest and think of the Simpsons? “See my vest, see my vest, made from real gorilla chest…”
No? Just me? Oh.
The end of that really made me laugh out loud! Ohhhh toddler screaming.
She’s so wonderful!
Hi Heather! I’ve never commented before but I’ve been reading your blog for at least 2 years now. You are a fantastic mother and writer and Annie is gorgeous and so funny and smart! Please please take this at face value and not at all as a criticism or a know-it-all comment…I just saw the photo of Annie being swung by her hands and I had to say something in case you didn’t know. There is something called “nursemaid’s elbow” that is a partial dislocation of the elbow that can be caused by swinging like that, as well as any type of pulling on young kiddo’s lower arms. I never knew about it before it happened to my little 2-year-old cousin from being swung like that up onto a bed while he was playing with his dad and mom. We used to swing him around like that ALL the time (and not even roughly, just the normal, happy swinging around that lots of adults do with kids!) It was so painful for him when the dislocation happened, no permanent damage though, thank goodness! Oddly enough, just after it happened to him, it also happened to TWO other children I know. Our pediatrician says any child up to 4 is at risk and it happens way more than you’d think. There aren’t any other real risk factors except just being between the ages of 1 and 4 when those ligaments are still doing some major growing and attaching. I just wanted to pass the info along because no one had ever said it to me before and we found out the hard way in our family! Now, when we swing my 16-month old around, we do it by picking her up under the armpits so we can still have fun but without the risk. Just thought I’d share in case you or any of your readers weren’t aware. Anyway, you have a beautiful family and blog and I’m thankful that you share so much with the world. God Bless
!
You’re hair looks amazballs in that last pic!
*Your hair… oops!
I’m so bummed you didn’t post pictures of the tantrum! She is ADORABLE!
She is just the cutest! Love her. Oh, and do they have that dress in my size? It’s adorable!
Thought you should know that Annabel’s TWIN lives in Cincinnati, Ohio! lol. I think their looks resemble each other a little – mainly the dark, curly hair, but their attitudes seem to be identical!
Uh, yeah. Your Annie and my Allie should never EVER meet because they are so, so alike.
One exception? Your Annie has a pretty darn awesome sense of fashion sense.
My Allie? Not so much. Take yesterday, for example. She wore a brown leopard print shirt, orange pants, hot pink socks with neon green koala bears on them (don’t ask why I bought thouse…) and pink shos with lots of multi-colored polka dots. I thought she looked crazy. She thought she looked FAB.
She’s 2 and I don’t see this getting any better!
Signed,
Another mom with a diva daughter
She is too cute and funny! My parents totally dressed me until I was about 8 or so — I had no real interest in clothes as a kid (and looked pretty whatevs to prove it).
She is TOO cute! Love the boots. So, get prepared. What she is doing now is NOTHING compared to what will happen right about 3-4 months prior to her turning four. My daughter turns 4 next month (yes, SIGH on 12/11). And about 3 months ago her brain EXPLODED. Thats the only way I can describe it. It was like overnight my child knew EVERYTHING. She still scares me.
She all of the sudden spoke in complete sentences, could explain things, remembers things from when she was 2 years old.
I freaked out at first, but now I am used to it. But NO ONE told me that one day I would wake up and my 3 year old would be a thirty year old. So enjoy the um, silence?? while you can. Cause it gets LOUDER and even worse, CLEARER.
Also, question for you: What happened to Maya’s blog?? Did godaddy.com buy her blog name? I am pretty darn sure thats what happened. If you read this, please let me know if she has renamed her blog. LOVE HER!! Thanks- Lisa
techinical difficulties!! will be back soon- same domain!
Annie is absolutely a completely adorable little peach with great fashion sense which from a fashion-a-holic like myself makes me feel all warm and fuzzy when I see it in my girls.
Annie’s language skills are fantastic. I have a 27 month old who has about a quarter of her vocab but in most other ways is very much like your Annie. I have hearing loss. I totally identify with your first line, I’m just in the the super frustrating, I can’t drink enough wine to take the edge off, 2 year old tantrums and demands exasperated by her limited speech. Today she dunked our pet bunny in the toilet. (He’s fine just soggy)
She needs non stop vigilant supervision. If you haven’t seen her for 5 seconds-THAT IS TOO LONG. For your sake I hope Annie doesn’t accelerate her path in this direction as she approaches 2. All the Best!
I love that she loves her clothes! Too funny!
OK, did Annie pick out the pink sneakers to go with her dress? Between this and your other post on her fashion sense, I’m starting to think that I could use her help!
Can’t believe how BIG she is already!
And, yes, you most DEF have a little fashionista on your hands!
Dawn @What’s Around the Next Bend?´s last [type] ..My heart is breaking.
Love that child — so absolutely adorable! And so obviously adored!
Want to add to Heather’s comment about the dislocated elbow – when I was in med school doing a rotation in a pediatrician’s office, a lady brought in her little girl who was holding her arm strangely and crying and the dr immediately made the mom leave the room, then he and his nurse held the child, pulling and maneuvering til it reduced the dislocation — pretty gruesome to watch. I was always so careful with my own kids, as far as swinging them, etc because of it. Always something to make a parent paranoid, huh?
The chucks are clearly a better choice for jumping
. She is adorable and advanced. Take care.
Lanie´s last [type] ..How are you? (part 2)