Reaching Out

For a long time, our little one seemed to be very attached to me and only me. Sometimes she was happy with other people, but a lot of the time, she wasn't happy with anyone but me. It has been so fun to see her expand that bubble.

Hyrum has always had a special connection with her. He was the first to make her laugh and good at getting her to smile when she first started smiling. But she has become much more attached to him lately. I've realized it much more now because of her words. A lot of the time when she wakes up the first thing she says is "Hywum beeping" or "Hywum beeping bed" which means Hyrum sleeping in bed (sometimes she calls him "Hymum" which is also very cute). I'm not really sure if she is making a statement or asking a question, but she wants to find him right away.
The other thing she wants to know soon after waking up is where her daddy is. She says "daddy home" or "daddy beeping" or some other daddy statement/question. She just started saying "daddy workeen" with a very concerned look and tone of voice. I've realized a few times lately that when we are going somewhere she gets very upset if a member of the family isn't coming along. I went somewhere with only Annie and she cried and cried that Hyrum wasn't coming with us. And a couple of times when she knew daddy was home and we started pulling out of the driveway without him, she started crying and wailing because she didn't want to leave him behind.


It is so fun to watch her playing and interacting with Hyrum and Adam. She adores her big brother and has so much fun with her daddy. Just in the last few months, Annie has gotten old enough to be a good playmate for Hyrum. They play all sorts of things together, from "napping" on the floor, which is very cute but often turns into wrestling (Annie is into it every bit as much as Hyrum), to coloring to playing imaginative games like store or the "under the sea" game. Sometimes Hyrum pushes Annie on his trike and sometimes Annie thinks its pretty great to push Hyrum on her ride-on toy ("Hywum wideeng" (riding) or "I push Hywum!"). Hyrum loves to have someone to play with, social child that he is, and Annie loves to do what he does. It is funny to see her copy him, including what he says and his emotions. She has seen him get excited about hearing the kids next door playing outside and now she copies his emotion and exclamation when she hears kids outside. She excitedly tells us, "Hay how hide!" (Hay-her version of either or both of the names of the girls next door, how hide-out side)