Anna Merriman

Anna on the back porch at in-laws,dressed up warm for the sub-Arctic conditions (+18¤C) and getting some fresh air. http://twitpic.com/bosb7

This photo was taken drawing close to the end of July (26th to be precise), meaning this blog is now a mere five weeks behind schedule re. the aim of live-ish photo posting. Dedushka (Ira’s Dad) is holding Anna in the kitchen, whilst Anna herself shows off her strong back muscles by sitting quite upright.

Dedushka And Anna Merriman

Most weeks we try to take Anna for a walk in the evening (when it is a little cooler for her and Daddy ), at least Monday to Friday, whilst we are near the park. Anyway, the 24th of July saw her sprawled out in her pushchair (she is now too big to be comfortable enough in her car seat the whole time), at the entrance to our flats. Once she wakes up, we go upstairs, have a bath, and get ready for bed.

Anna In Her Pushchair

Here we have a before (23rd July) and after (24th July) photo, so when Anna is older and needs more immunizations, we’ll be able to point out the post on the blog, and explain that even when she was a (comparatively) tiny baby, she coped with 5 lots of injections very well, and was still happy rolling on the floor.
Given virtually any size of safe, clean and soft area to play on, Anna will normally combine rolling on her side and crawling (backwards only still) until she is at the edge of the pre-ordained ‘nice’ area, and so able to play on the ‘normal’ carpet instead. It doesn’t matter how many times you reposition her, unless you have a Mummy or Daddy physically in the way, or some large sofa cushions arranged strategically (around the TV/DVD/Satellite/Xbox area for example), she will move with surprising speed back to where she thinks is best

These photos were taken on Anna’s fifth birthday – 21st July. Nothing outstandingly interesting, just wanted to show how much she had grown since February really. Also included a quick shot taken out the window by Irina. The actual visual impact in real life was a lot greater – dark, overcast clouds with a small peak of sunshine breaking through. The camera didn’t quite do it justice TBH.

Finally catching up with the last of Anna’s videos that have already been uploaded to YouTube, this post also has some photos from the same day. Which day? 19th July, so we are slowly catching up. I hope to be up to date (unless there are lots of pictures hiding on Ira’s camera that I’ve not yet transferred) by the end of this week.

First we have a shot of Anna in her (then) new multi-form rocking chair, in the garden. Later in the afternoon, Anna went for a walk along the river, and decided to take a few members of family as long as well, to keep an eye on them

If you’re reading this on the front page, click the link below to see three other similar clips of Anna, and a brief one of her next to the river

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Cropped for modesty’s sake (plus I don’t want her to be too embarrassed when the time comes for boyfriends, if they start googling her name ) Anyway, shot in the bath at Ira’s parents’ house, Anna is looking very happy here on the 18th July. We’ve since bought her a ‘full size’ baby bath. Hmmm, that doesn’t sound right. We’ve now bought her a bigger small tub. Nope. The bath she currently uses at the in-laws’ is not small and round like the one pictured below. That will do.

Anna Enjoying A Bath

Sorry to disappoint you all, but the post title refers to Anna, not me. Here we have our beautiful baby daughter, back on the 17th July, sat in her denim and pink dress, with pink tights and shoes on. Almost five months old when this shot was taken…

Anna Merriman Looking Pretty In Astana

So, restarting the catching up for the Anna’s Photos category, we have some shots from the 14th of July again.
OK the WordPress gallery function once more appears to be convinced I don’t want the order I’m asking for with these photos. Beyond manually clicking and dragging the fifteen photos into the desired order, below is as close as I can get. Just imagine the first one is last, instead.

Anyway, Irina, Anna and I decided to investigate what was around if you took a left upon reaching the river Ishim near us, as despite living here for more than three years, we hadn’t yet made it to that part of the (very nearby) city. After walking down as far as the end of the concreted path, we sat on a bench and took a few shots on the camera. Anna seemed happy enough taking in the view by the water, so we continued our walk back across to more familiar territory, crossed under Turan (the name of the road our flat is on, since they moved Sary Arka), and continued walking next to the river. Irina spotted that a hotel (Astana Park Hotel) had a summer cafe advertised, so we decided to pop in and take a look. There are lots of gazebos, a pond with some fish swimming around, and a general summery feel to it.

Whilst the menu wasn’t cheap, the selection was pretty good, the service (that day at least) top notch, and the food tasty. Anyway, see below for a few photos of the place.

The 14th of July 2009 saw final photographic proof of Anna having learnt how to develop a facial expression (beyond the normal happy/sad/tired/etc. rota). Scrunching up of noses had begun with a vengeance! The other shot was taken just to reassure people that Anna was most definitely happy playing on her tummy now, though this has also carried over into her sleeping positions, so we regularly have to try and rotate her onto her back without waking up. Eight months seems to be the recommended safe time to leave your baby sleeping where they are comfy?

Anna has now joined us, after an unusually long afternoon nap. http://twitpic.com/a7tog

Yes, another post where WordPress decided the built in gallery function really wasn’t required here, thank you very much. Anyway, 11th July saw us at the in-laws’, and by looking at the photo with Anna’s Babushka (Ira’s Mum) some Russian nursery rhymes or fairy tales being read to her.

Chris, Anna And Ira

Babushka With Anna On Her Lap In Back Garden

Irina And Anna Near The In-Laws’ Back Door

Displaying both one of her pretty pink dresses, and her ever improving neck muscles and general co-ordination, here we have a couple of photos and four videos shot on the 10th July, at the in-laws.

Although not yet crawling (occasional shuffles backwards seem to be haphazard), Anna really has got travelling by rolling down to a tee – take your eyes off her for 10 seconds and she’ll be at the other end of the blanket we put on the living room carpet for her (The things on the floor in the videos is just a small sheet, the blanket I refer to is a king-size duvet type thing.)

This was to be a post showing Dana and Asen with their Alan and our Anna, but then I remembered they asked for their photos to not be made public after the wedding a few years back, so instead have a look at these shots instead…

These were shot on the 9th July.

30 plus degrees in the shade earlier!
This is Anna just before admitting that maybe she did need a sleep.
http://twitpic.com/9hjpe