anna dorable: the diva

so my niece is 5 now. she's quite cute, especially in pictures. don't get me wrong, i'm not saying she isn't cute in person too--she is. oh but she is a little firecracker. as they sometimes say, this one's going to be trouble. let me just tell a few exemplary stories from her first few years of life.

when she was 2: anna had a little bean bag chair that she loved to sit in and watch "toons." it was her beloved little chair and she was just a little possessive of it. finding someone else sitting there she would often throw fits and cry. one day she wandered into the living room to find her 32 year-old dad sitting in it watching television. "out!" she proclaimed. daddy shook his head. "out!" he didn't move. "anna i'm sitting here now, you can't just make people move." so anna waddles her way over to the couch and lays down. she pulls the blanket up around her and says, "daddy!" todd looks over to see anna smiling. "nuggle!" todd smiles and gets up to cuddle with his beautiful little daughter. he lays down behind her, at which point she gets up and runs over to the bean bag and sits down. then she turns back to daddy and smiles. she was 2.

when she was 3: anna was watching television, probably so you think you can dance? her favorite show at the time. she is watching with her family when she suddenly points at the screen and says, "i like her shoes."

when she was 4: anna was out with her mother shopping for clothes. lauren picked up a few things that were anna's size and took her to the dressing room. they go in and anna is whimpering away all of the sudden. lauren looks at her somewhat alarmed by the sudden change in mood for no apparent reason, "anna what's wrong? why are you crying?" and anna looks up through her tears and says, "because you are going to make me try on those pants i don't like!"

now that she is 5: anna is truly the independent woman. she loves to do everything herself. so apparently she decided that it was time to change her look. she went to get her haircut and told the woman exactly what she wanted, chopped to an exact length and shorter in the middle in the back. and she got it.

oh what this girl will be like at 15!