Oh my we are already in the threes

This was a portrait of Mommy I managed to photograph before it was erased.
At the Minnesota State Fair this Fall

This is our new street in Minnesota

What, I haven't written anything on this blog in almost a year and a half! Ack! How will I remember these years? Well, here's a brief overview to bring you up to speed.

Since I wrote last Anika turned 3, learned to write her name, and has fallen in love with the Wizard of Oz. Michael was accepted to a PhD program at the University of MN so the whole family packed up in July and moved into our new apartment in Saint Paul on August 1.

After temping at Wells Fargo for a few months I have just landed a permanent position at Lifetouch national headquarters and so far I love it.

Michael has had more time to be home and take care of Anika and she is asking him to do things for her more and more. When they aren't together, Anika attends preschool full time and is very happy at her new school. They are teaching her conversational spanish and some sign language. If she is there next year she will also learn some French - finally a language where I am familiar.

Right before Christmas break she got sick and had to stay home from school. Then she stayed home with Michael for two weeks since he didn't have to go to work. This was her first week back and she just found out she hasn't been sick for weeks she was just on vacation.

Fun words I heard Anika say today: Metamophosis, Conservatory, and Migration. We got a library book about butterflies she is pretty fond of, "Velma Gratch and the Way Cool Butterfly".

Games she likes to play: Wizard of Oz, Rapunzel, Hide and seek (she prefers to hide with a partner), Boggle (she tells you all the letters she can find and you write them down for her in the time limit), dress up, ice skate in her tights in the basement, work on "important projects" on the computer.

She loves to be tickled, she loves to read, she loves to make up stories

When she is upset at us she goes into her room sometimes and has her Papa read her a story. For Christmas he gave her a Winnie the Pooh book with his voice recorded in it reading the words. It is really lovely to hear him read to her to make her feel better.

At Christmas this year we decided to stay home. We missed our families, but it was nice to avoid the roads and the airports at Christmas and just stay home. 3/4 of the way through opening presents Ani asked if we could put the rest back under the tree and stop for a while. I think maybe everyone went overboard with presents for her this year.

Well - that doesn't tell you much about her as a two year old, but at least it gets you up to speed.

Maybe sometime I'll go back and add in stories from last year....