Energy and monsters say rraaowrr!

My mom used to say if we could harness the power of a two year old we could power the world. I think that might be from a Bill Cosby sketch, but it is definitely true. She also used to call my younger sister a perpetual motion machine. Anja has so much energy. Luckily for us, naptime is still easy and so is bedtime. Anja sleeps 11 hours a night and today she actually slept a full 12 hours. She was awake for less than 3 hours after that and then back to bed. In between sleeping she is now full speed gogogogoooo.

She can open all the doors in the house now, so the other day she came in while I was showering and stuck her head inside the shower. I gave her a blob of bubbles on her hand and said, "Go show Daddy." She left and came back again 30 seconds later with bubbles gone and asking for more. So I gave her more and she left again. She did this at least 10 times. She would carefully carry her bubbled hands into the living room to have them wiped off by Jay and would then return for more. She loves these types of games:



She also likes to play pretend games and has a sense of humor we are beginning to see. She has a monster puppet with velcro eyes, ears, etc that can be removed. Today she was trying to put "monster hair" on the dog. Here she is modeling the monster teeth herself:


We really do need to get her a rocking toy or bouncing toy of some kind. She's a little too small for most of them still, though, so it may have to wait. Meanwhile, thank you Ikea removable couch arms.




Finally a successful somersault:


And she really loves to go running with Jay in this stroller. It's pretty cushy, so I can see why. There was a recent stroller-related tragedy when her lemur went for a ride in the stroller and she dropped it. This time we didn't find it again. Luckily she's not quite old enough to realize when one of her regular toys is missing. But I think at this point she would be pretty sad if we lost Big Teddy or Soft Teddy (yes, I realize we are incredibly mundane in naming Anja's stuffed animals, we also have two Tiny Teddies and a Small Teddy).


She is really beginning to communicate now. It is SO much easier for us when she can actually tell us what she wants. A few of the more useful things she can finally say are "Finished", accompanied with the sign for finished, and "Ouchie" if something hurts. She also asks for specific foods now, which is great except when she only wants to eat pizza or cheese. Luckily she still really likes broccoli and applesauce and grapes. Here she would rather have pizza than pancakes for breakfast:

12 miles

Yesterday we went on a hike at Point Reyes (where else). It was 12 miles long, which is the longest we've done with Anja so far, and reasonably difficult. It was about 3000ft in elevation gain total, but the trails were pretty easy to walk on, some were even fire trails, which are really just dirt roads. Jay may have a different view of how difficult it was, since he carried Anja in the backpack carrier and I had a lighter backpack with some supplies. We have been out to Point Reyes so many times, but have still only seen a fraction of it.

Anja had a great time. Except for the carsick incident at the end of the day that shall be known as "Extreme Vomit 2009." There was no permanent trauma, except maybe to the car.

Now that she's getting bigger, it's harder to make her sit still in the carrier. She can get both arms out of the harness and likes to hang completely out one side, like a dog sticking its head out the window of a car. This is fine, unless you're the person carrying her. 22lbs is a lot of weight to be lurching from one side to the other.


Part of the reason I wanted to hike this route was to see Wildcat Camp, the most requested camp at Point Reyes (there are only four). Jay and Anja are there in the shade, it's hard to see them.


You can see the camp below next to the ocean on the right side of the trail. There are only about 10 or so campsites. I'm hoping to camp here sometime, but I'm just not sure about being 5.5 miles from the car with a toddler, just in case we need extra supplies (see "Extreme Vomit 2009"). You may also notice in the beach pictures than Anja is not wearing pants while they are hung to dry. This shall be known as "Diaper fail event 2009." You can definitely backpack with a baby, but it's a little more work.


This picture absolutely does not do the scene justice, but here is the view coming down the trail that leads to the ocean, 6.5 miles from the trailhead where we started. If you look closely you can see the tiny dots that are tents.


This is a popular destination for horseback riders. Anja loved the horses we met along the trails all day, "ohses, ohses".


There were groups of sea lions leaping through the surf for the entire two hours we sat on the beach. You can see one sticking its head up out of the water here. There are also two pelicans in the air. Swarms of pelicans were patrolling the surf and diving in after fish. There were also a few ospreys diving into the water. I don't know what they were all after, but it was a very popular fishing spot that day.


Anja was stacking rocks and planting feathers in the sand and burying my feet with sand. I'm glad we're beyond the sand-eating phase, but I still watch closely whenever she has small rocks or kelp in her hands. We need to get her a sandbox at home sometime soon.


I should have taken more pictures of the beach area because it was really pretty. Jay took this one of Anja and me and one of the cliffs that comes right to the ocean.


And in a completely unrelated note, Anja loves Sesame Street. Actually she loves Elmo. She picks up the remote control all the time and says, "Emmo, Emmo" and points it at the TV. Most of the programs out there for kids are pretty pathetic, but Sesame Street is still pretty good.

Michigan and more ocean

Anja has done so much in the last few weeks. She spent a week in Michigan visiting family. here are some pictures taken by various people. Anja at camp:


And dancing with cousin Kai:


Anja and Jackson, her closest in age 2nd cousin - Jackson is about 3 weeks older. I think every Roberts has been photographed on this swing at camp, including Jay when he was younger.


Anja spent some time with her aunties Meredith and Beth. Here they are walking on the beach at Perch Lake.


She was fairly unimpressed with the kayak.


But she did like the sauna. One day she can carve her name on the wall there too.


She also took a trip out to the forties.


And was introduced to badminton with her four 1st cousins.




She also got to have some wild blueberries picked at camp.


Lately she comes up with the best facial expressions. It's like she's trying out all of them.


Here we went on a walk on the trails behind our place recently. We finally had a warm evening. I have been amazed at how cool the evenings are since we moved here. Only lately have we even had our windows open at night. Being less than 20 miles from the ocean means there is always a cool breeze at night.


For Jay's birthday weekend we did a few fun things. Here is Anja at Fitzgerald Marine Reserve, a place just south of San Francisco.






And going for a toilet paper ride...


Anja can open all the doors in the house now. So she opens the closet door all the time and grabs the leash and chases Blue around the house chanting "Walk walk walk walk." Blue is excited about a walk, but can't figure out what Anja has to do with it.


And tired at the end of the day, sleeping on Big Teddy.