Anna, Where's Your Bellybutton?

Anna's developing an understanding of body parts. It's really exciting to watch, but sometimes a little painful to experience.

As I'm sure you inferred from my first post, Anna LOVES bellybuttons. She loves to stick her little fingers in there and poke and prod and see what might be residing at the bottom of that little crevice. Mommy's is especially fun because it's all stretched out from pregnancy and scarred from an old piercing. Daddy's is weird because there's hair on it. When it comes to bellybuttons, Anna abides by the "you show me yours, I'll show you mine" philosophy. If you ask "Anna, where's your bellybutton?" sometimes she'll come over and lift up my shirt, then lift up hers. Or if she sees one of us changing after a shower or the other occasional bellybutton flash (You know, our usual form of greeting each other at home), she'll whip her shirt up as if to respond "hey, man, I got one-a those too!" If you really want to tick her off - ask her to show you her bellybutton when she's wearing a onesie - hee! :)

She also has quite the fondness for teeth. If you even MENTION the word teeth - or anything sounding remotely close to the word teeth - her finger is in your mouth scratching with her talons at your gums as if to say "Ah, yes, teeth. I like yours. Gimme." Gentle touch is still a concept that we're working on in our house! However, after she shreds your gums to pieces, she'll stick her finger in her own mouth to show you where her teeth are too. It's quite cute, and usually worth the pain.

We discovered last week that if you ask Anna if she bumped her head she'll run both her hands through her rockin' baby mullet.

I'm sure her understanding of body parts won't stop here (I really hope it doesn't!), but I think that's pretty darn good for a one-year old! Bellybutton, teeth and head...We need to teach her feet or legs or her first drawings of "people" are going to look REALLY strange.