My Sunshine

Oh is she ever. And doesn't she look so grown up in this picture?!?

Ana has just recited all of the words to a song for the first time. As I was making dinner last night and Maddie was hanging out with me in her exersaucer I heard Ana sing "You Are My Sunshine" to her. My heart runeth over. Sure, some of the lines are probably only clear to those fluent in Ana-ese like myself, but nevertheless she sang the entire song....and to her baby sister. She even put Maddie's name in it ("you'll never know Maddie how much I love you").

And in other Ana news....

She knows her days of the week. And she counts to 20 in English and 15 in Spanish. She's memorized an entire book (I Love You All The Time) and now "reads" it to us. And she's well on her way to memorizing about a dozen others too....they just happen to be a wee bit longer :). Here and there she's been coming out with Spanish words too. The other days as she was trying to get out of her chair she said "Mommy, ayudame!" Um, okkkkk. I'll help you. Either Dora's doing a heck of a job or Ana's actually picking up my poor excuse for Spanish.

I have to admit that I compare Ana's development to that of other kids her age and often wonder how other people think she's doing. I've consumed myself at times with worrying about whether certain people think she's doing as well as their kids are or as well as they think she should be doing. Yes, I realize this is more about me than it is about my baby but I can't help it. Or should I say I couldn't help it? Because I'm done with that. I'm done second-guessing whether she's smart enough and advanced enough. Truth of the matter is....she is. She's well ahead of average and absorbs things like nobody's business. So here it is. Here is my vow to knock it off. She's doing just fine. And of course by "she" I mean "me". I'm doing just fine as her mom :). Right?