12.30.2009

More Snow!

When we got back home Sunday night there was so much snow we had to shovel the driveway to get in. Amazingly, the next day it was warm enough to go out and play in it. Hannah tasted the snow and was rather pleased with it this time. Steve built a giant snowman was also pleased with it...until it fell over that night. I think someone knocked it down because it was right next to the sidewalk, but we like to think he died of natural causes and fell over on his own.

12.29.2009

Christmas 2009

We drove up to Chillicothe on Christmas Eve. Christmas morning Hannah woke us up at 5:00, but we kindly waited all the way until 7:00 to start blaring Christmas music and wake everyone else up. :) It had snowed overnight and so we had another white Christmas. As we passed out the presents, they started to pile up in front of Hannah. The stacks of gifts made her so freaked out that she started crawling away crying "ma ma ma ma!" We took away the pile and put them in front of her one at a time and she was much happier. She didn't help with the unwrapping as much as I thought she would, but she enjoyed playing with the new presents. We fit in Christmas gatherings with my family, Steve's family, my mom's side, and Steve's mom's side before going back to Kansas City Sunday night. Here's some pictures of Hannah's first Christmas.

12.21.2009

Busy Hannah

Just a typical night for a busy little girl.



12.20.2009

Hannah Stats- 9 Months



She is now 30.5 inches long (over 97th percentile) and 20 pounds 10 ounces (80th percentile). She was a trooper at her doctor's appointment. She didn't even notice the first shot and on the second shot one she just gave a little yelp and that was it.

It was a big month in the life of Hannah. She learned to clap her hands, crawl, pull herself up to standing, and she even walks a little while holding onto furniture. After a few head bumps and gashing her eye on the table, she quickly learned how to sit down from a standing position! She can say dada and mama...and sometimes she even says them to the correct person. :) Her first two teeth are coming in on the bottom, too!

She is having a ball at daycare now that she can play more with the other kids. She still has never cried when I drop her off. She just crawls right over to Pat or some of her toys without even looking back at me. But then when I pick her up she immediately stops what she's doing, gives me a big smile, and crawls over for a hug. So cute!

Her personality is coming out more and more. Hannah has a quiet, serious, "engineerish" side so she carefully studies any new object or person she comes across. But once she is comfortable with something she is loud and laughing and silly. She loves being tickled, hitting objects together to make noise, and reading books on my lap. She also gives me kisses (slobbering on my face while making a noise).

12.10.2009

Snow!

Hannah's first time in snow. She was very happy...until she felt it. But even then she was only mildly annoyed that it was cold. Then she tasted it and was VERY unhappy that it was cold. Note: The red mark next to her eye is from an unfortunate run-in with a coffee table.
Warning: The pictures below will make you say "awww!" Hannah's too-big snowsuit with her little feet sticking out is the cutest thing I've ever seen. Okay, I'm biased.

12.08.2009

Standing

Even weirder than seeing her all of a sudden sitting in her crib is seeing her STANDING in her crib. This is how I found her one morning. She is now pulling herself up on everything. Pat said the other two kids at daycare were playing with something on the coffee table the other day. Hannah just crawled over, pulled herself up to standing, and gave them a big smile as she started to play, too. She's finally able to play with the "big" kids!


12.06.2009

Paper Towel

Hannah does not like getting her face wiped off after a meal. However, she does like trying to eat the wet paper towel.

11.30.2009

Thanksgiving

We went back to Chillicothe for Thanksgiving and Hannah got to see all of her grandparents and great-grandparents. We even tracked down Grandpa Tom out in the fields to see him for a few minutes before he went back to work harvesting soy beans. I didn't get any pictures of Hannah at the table enjoying some mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving, but I did catch her harassing Uncle Justin's cat...
and "driving" Grandpa Tom's combine.
We came back Saturday night and although Hannah enjoyed her time in Chillicothe, she was VERY pleased to be home. When I was carrying her inside she started looking all around and smiling. It was the cutest thing I've ever seen. I took her up to her room to change her diaper and she gave a big sigh as she felt the changing pad cover and then squealed when she saw her crib. She was so excited to be back in familiar surroundings that she was reaching for everything and wanting to play...so we let her play even though it was way past her bedtime.
On Monday she also had some big smiles for Miss Pat.

11.25.2009

Turkey Fry 2009

One,
two,
three cheers for Turkey Fry!

The Vroomans hosted the 2nd annual Turkey Fry this year. Nine adults, two kiddos, and plenty of board games. And Steve managed to fry the turkey without setting anything on fire. Success!

11.24.2009

Crawling!

Hannah learned to crawl over the weekend! Here's one of her first big crawls while we were at the Vrooman's house for the 2nd annual Turkey Fry.

11.18.2009

Hannah Stats- 8 Months



Has another month gone by already? Hannah is babbling now and she said her first "dada" on November 14. No "mama" yet. It's amazing how much she understands. She will look up when people say her name and she pushes the bottle away and reaches for my shoulder when she needs to burp. Her new skills include pushing herself up to a sitting position, army crawling backwards, and feeding herself finger foods. She is not a picky eater at all and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it stays that way! She's working on forward crawling, but she's hasn't quite mastered it yet. Hannah loves to knock down block towers, make sounds with the maraca or drum, and splash in water. But her biggest laughs come from being tickled or surprised. Things that I think would be scary for a baby (like people jumping out from hiding places and yelling "boo!") make her laugh and squeal in delight. Her favorite book is Freight Train....read with choo choo sound effects.

Chillicothe weekend

Last weekend was another Chillicothe trip. Saturday we spent the day with my family. Steve helped my dad, brother, and grandpa break up the concrete porch on my parents' house. Mom, Hannah, and I stayed inside and played. :)
Then we spent Sunday with Steve's family. We went with his parents on their usual Sunday trip to Trenton to see Steve's grandma Alice. Hannah wowed her with her awesome drum skills.
We also saw Steve's grandma Velma and grandpa Fred. Hannah was very intrigued with her great-grandma and kept trying to touch her face and hair.

11.08.2009

Big Tub


Can you believe another first this weekend? Besides sitting up in the crib for the first time, getting her first haircut, and going to the church nursery, Hannah also took her first bath in the big tub! She was getting too big and too squirmy for her baby whale tub so it was officially retired. She loved capturing her rubber ducks in the big tub. It was more of a challenge than in her baby tub. :)

Also some major work got done on the bathroom this weekend: we now have a working toilet and sink! We Steve also installed a new countertop and mirror.  Pictures coming soon...

Church Nursery

Yet another first!  This morning was Hannah's first time in the church nursery.  She is just too squirmy now to sit with us.  I was a little nervous about it.  What if the workers don't pay attention to her?  What if another kid hits her?  What if she hates it and cries the whole time?!?  Yeah, I know.  I'm crazy.  She goes to daycare full-time.  Why would I worry about an hour or so in a nursery?  Well, I interviewed Pat...and called her references...and observed the other kids before she went to daycare.  Who knows what kind of people work in a church nursery or what kind of kids go there!  Yeah, you're right, they are good people and Hannah will have a great time and I have nothing to worry about.  And I didn't.  Hannah was happily flipping through a book when I picked her up.  The nursery workers said they were amazed by how happy and easy-going she was.  She smiled, laughed, and played independently.

I really don't want to be an over-protective parent.  I want to be just-the-right-amount-protective. :)  I know I have to give up some control and let her get out in the world...meet new people, have new experiences, get dirty, and get a few scrapes. And I think for the most part I'm a just-the-right-amount laid back parent....with  only the occasional over-protective panic attack!  Next step: getting a night babysitter so Steve and I can have the occasional date night.  Know anyone? :)

Crib






Another first. When I went to get her Saturday morning she had pulled herself up to a sitting position!  It was the first time she has done that. She did it again after every nap. Once she even got herself into sitting position BEFORE she fell asleep, so when I went in to check on her she was sitting with her head down on the bed in front of her! We lowered the crib. Sigh. It kind of bothers me that it isn't a little baby crib anymore.

Also, I meant to take a picture of her "HANNAH" paintings before but never got around to it. They were painted by Grandma Dorlene and have the same flowers, ladybugs, and butterflies as her bedding. Very cute.

Haircut

I loved Hannah's long hair, but it was getting in her eyes. Plus it was only long in front because she had rubbed off most of the back. So we decided it was time for her first haircut this weekend. I think the hairdresser got a little carried away! Here is her new "pixie" do. I'm still getting used to it...






11.07.2009

Magnum





  Thomas Magnum Fetus Hannah.  The last time she wore a 'stache she was still in utero.

11.03.2009

Antioch Park

Click to play this Smilebox photobook: Antioch Park
I love spending time with my little family...and going to parks...and beautiful fall leaves. So when all three are combined it is my perfect afternoon.

10.31.2009

First Halloween



Here she is with Norah at the Vrooman's Halloween party. We went trick-or-treating with Norah and her cousin. Henry (the 2 year old cousin) really did the trick-or-treating, but the girls had fun being outside. It was a really nice night and we didn't have to wear coats.

School Halloween

The last two weeks of October are always super busy at school. Last week I was doing 1st quarter grades, and then this week I was doing conference forms, Halloween party on Wednesday, and then conferences with parents on Thursday and Friday. It is nice to have all of that out of the way!

Diane and I always dress up in related costumes for Halloween. Can you figure out our costumes this year? Yeah, I know it's not that funny...but imagine if you were a seven-year-old. They thought it was hilarious.

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