Anna sure is a cute kid. Everywhere we go people stop us and tell us how beautiful she is. Really. EVERY time we leave the house. We’ve just gotten used to it. Sometimes at a restaurant people have asked us to bring Anna to their table so they can ooh and ahh over her. Sometimes we’ll be in a hurry at the store but the cashier takes her sweet time telling Anna that how gorgeous she is. But the most fun is when you hear people whispering under their breath, “That is the cutest baby I have ever seen”.

We’re currently trying to figure out how we can get rich off of her cute face.

But more than that, she is staring to get a little personality. Here are some things we hope to remember about Anna at 8 months:

- She growls. Like she’s possessed. It is the scariest sound you can imagine, and coming out of a sweet little girl makes it even freakier. I try to imitate it but my 28 year old male voice can’t go as low.

- Her favorite toys are measuring cups and empty butter boxes, oh, and the wipes (because the package makes a crinkle sound), and the junk mail. Anna LOVES junk mail. She tears it up, eats it, crinkles it, and makes a pretty good mess.

- Jen and I tried to teach Anna how to wave. For days we went through every possible waving scenario. She watched politely but never made the effort. Until Jen took her to the grocery store, then she had a wave for every stranger that walked by, the little turd. It’s been the same with every trick. She waits to use them on strangers, not on her boring old parents. When people come over to the apartment (especially adults) she does every trick she can think of. She loves new people. She could spend all day in a crowded place just studying people. She gets that from her parents.

- Do you know what a raspberry is? Here’s what dictionary.com has to offer: “Raspberry: a loud, abrasive, spluttering noise made with the lips and tongue to express contempt.” She learned to do one of these every time we fed her something she didn’t like, it effectively spat all the food back out. But now it’s how she expresses “I don’t like this” about anything. Try cleaning out her nose: “THBBTHBBBTHB”, Wrapping her up for a nap, leaving her in the car seat for too long, wiping her face, or even if she bumps her head, it’s the same reaction. It’s pretty funny. She crinkles her little nose and blows away on a raspberry.

- She likes being startled. Any game where you can make her jump out of her skin is sure to get a laugh, but be careful; if she laughs too hard she’ll probably throw up on you.

- She thinks sneezes are hilarious. I guess as she has gotten older she has gotten used to Jen and I laughing every time she sneezes. Now every time one comes out, she looks around the rooms like “Did you see that one? Pretty good, right?”

- She loves the computer. I am currently minus one control key.

- When she wants a bite of something you’re eating she smacks her lips. I made the mistake of feeding her a fruit loop the other day now I can’t eat any cereal in peace.

- She grunts when she poops. Really loudly. And she turns beat red and makes ugly faces.