Tough Winter

It's hard to believe, but at least one, if not all, of us have been sick off and on since that last post on November 10th.  Even as I speak Anna is on antibiotics for her second ear infection in 2 months and I am recuperating from yet another cold.  At least this one didn't turn into bronchitis like the last one though.  That is my excuse for not posting for so long, it may not be a good one, but all the sickness has really slowed us down.  Looking back though, we've come a long way since then.
Mary is no longer going to preschool.  She went 3 times.  She seemed to really enjoy it, but was having some pretty severe anxiety about leaving me.  She got to the point where she was crying every day about going, even the days she didn't have to go.  After talking to her teacher we decided to wait awhile--she is only 3 after all.  Her teacher is having a special class for 3 weeks in June, so we are going to try that and then start again in the fall.  Mary now says she will start school in the summer.  It pretty much ruined her for a while though.  I couldn't go anywhere, including taking a shower without her breaking down.  It took some time, but she's pretty much back to normal now.  Although she also wanted to stop going to gymnastics.  So we are taking a complete break for a few months.
Anna is now a little over 10 months, very hard to believe.  She is so very sweet yet still very much has her own personality.  She is crawling everywhere, climbing on everything and opening every cupboard and drawer she can find.  Mary walked when she was right about Anna's age.  She also crawled at 8 months, where Anna waited til about 9 months.  Anna doesn't seem all that interested in walking as of yet.  She likes to stand, but will carefully sit and then crawl to her next destination.  Mary had a little rocking chair that she started pushing around very early.
We had a very nice Thanksgiving and Christmas, both spent in Burley, going between Grandma Sue's and Grandma Melody's.  The girls got so many presents they wouldn't all fit in our car.  The best part of Christmas was having John home for a few weeks between semesters.  Mary loves having him home to play Ursula grabs Ariel and puts her in a cage and Anna seemed to really bond with her dada.  He went back full time last week and I think she wonders where he went.
We had a sweet little niece born on December 16th, Ayla Jo Barker to Jono and Natasha.  We were able to see her a few days before Christmas.

My time is up, Anna just woke up.  Hopefully more to come!