Firsts.

Sometimes I miss those little baby days of firsts.  First real food, first words, first crawling, first steps, first running....so many things. The growth is constantly visible and occurs so quickly it can be mind-boggling.

At one month old, everything is new and exciting!

Then, after a couple of years, the pace seems a little slower for some reason.  To be sure, there are still milestones - words turn into sentence fragments that turn into sentences, scribbles turn into letters that turn into written words, doodles turn into amorphous shapes that turn into stick figures.  The evolution is more reasonably paced - so much so that you might not even realize it's happening until it does.

Which is probably why, in these last few months, the several "firsts" we've experienced with Anna seem so striking.

This may be Anna's first real character drawing - "It's a minion giving another minion a haircut, mom!"

This summer, she began to develop her first little crush on our neighbor's grandson.  It's adorable and innocent and frightening all rolled up into one!  I thought we had at least a few more years of boys being icky, but I suppose I miscalculated.

Dancing with Cam at her mamas' wedding (by Kaitlin Jarry Photography)

Then, Anna left her wonderful day care program, where she had been for over 3 years, to start big kid school!  Kindergarten is fun and exciting and she loves it, but it's also a big deal to be in a bigger school with kids of a variety of ages.  Sometimes I miss the safety and insulation of the small day care, but of course, I am incredibly proud of Anna as she begins this new journey, and I'm excited for her as she begins to learn all sorts of new things.  We are lucky that she's at a great school and has a great teacher!

So ready for my first day!

Recently, Anna also decided she wanted to get her ears pierced! She had been saying that for some time, so after a rough day at school, we decided to use it as a reward for good behavior the rest of the week.  She was sooo excited, but after the first one hurt, she balked at the idea of getting a second one.  Fortunately, lunch, an offer to go to Target and Build-a-Bear, and a chance meeting with one of Anna's favorite day care teachers, who was kind enough to accompany us and hold her hand, got the job done.  We knew she would have been sad not to see it through, and now she is so proud of herself for doing it even when she was nervous!

Anna chose butterflies made of pink stones for her first earrings!

Finally, Anna started a new adventure by taking up martial arts!  She previously enjoyed doing gymnastics, but we took a break to enjoy outside activities in the summer.  At a festival for kids one day, she saw a demonstration put on by a local martial arts studio and loved it!  So she begged to take those classes in the fall instead and now is learning a mix of karate and kung fu. (Her current obsession with Kung Fu Panda has nothing to do with it, I'm sure.) The instructors are awesome, and I can tell that this will be beneficial for her in so many ways - she will learn how to focus, control her breathing, protect herself, and channel her physical strength and incredible level of energy into something productive.

Getting settled into our new routine sometimes feels challenging, but we are all coping well and I am excited to see what growth the coming months bring!  I will leave you with this reminder I found on Facebook - a reminder to be present, and to be mindful.  This is useful for time with our children, of course, and for so many other parts of life.