trike progress, and other notes of interest

during tonight's walk, hannah-bear actually tried to move her legs as daddy pushed her tricycle. usually she does not even attempt to move her legs, she is content to just ride along.

i have so many people ask me if her hair is naturally curly. do i look like mrs. ramsey, who would curl a 1 1/2 year olds locks just to priss her daughter up for a trip to wal-mart?

no interest whatsoever in sitting on the potty for her. she likes watching mommy, but that's 'bout it. gotta print of that sticker chart aunt becca made and see if it helps motivate her.

did i mention that one day last week she wanted me to put ALL of her bows in her hair at the same time? most of them are tiny, so we had enough room. she only pulled her pretty red bow out a couple of times today. we're making progress in the girly-girl department.

when we walked past the bike helmets at wal-mart, she exclaimed, "hat!"

the drive home on Memorial Day

super-Hannah & Daddy

you can't tell, but this is mommy and Hannah on the teeter-totter.
her first time on the teeter-totter was in the Muscoda park in Friday.

stretching those legs

On the way home, we stopped in Metropolis, IL for one of our many stretch breaks. A 12 hour drive is tough on a toddler, but ours did so well. Anyway, one of these years we'll venture to the superman statue. It's one of those odd things I think would be cool to do, even though I'm by no means a die-hard Superman fan. But for now, the cutout in the rest stop lobby will have to do...

Visiting Great-Gramma

We spent Memorial Weekend in Wisconsin. We saw lseveral extended relatives,
and spent a lot of special time with Great-Gramma. I handled the long car ride very well.


story time; great-gramma didn't think she would see well enough to read to me, but with her glasses and the big print in my books, she did great!

i hate posing

farm toys: wood, gravel & dirt. this is the life!

here, kitty, kitty!

spying on the cattle through a hole in the barn

daddy teaches me to "drive" the big tractor

the park in Muscoda

catching bubbles with cousin Candy and Aunt Doris

playing on the porch

waking up with gramma Debbie's old rocking chair

this calf's name is teddy bear because of its unusual curly brown hair

this calf was 4 days old and not shy at all

Mommy posted more photos from our trip on her blog.

Wordless Wednesday

1st popsicle

If Hannah doesn't look happy, it's not because she didn't like the popsicle. You see, during Friday evening's walk, she wanted to get out of her stroller and walk like a big girl. Soon, the inevitable happened. She fell. On her face. And apparently bit her gums. Daddy wanted to tell Mommy "I told you so." for letting their still somewhat unsteady toddler walk unassisted. Both parents were heartbroken to see their little one with blood oozing out of her mouth.

By the time we made it across the neighborhood to our house, she calmed down quite a bit. We washed her face with a cold camp cloth, gave her a sip of water to drink... and I found a popsicle in the freezer for her. She LOVED it. She ate the whole thing and drank the melted juice from the tube. She even left her brand new toddler-sized bib on the whole time!

Tonight she was happy to suck on ice cubes, so we'll continue to limit her popsicle intake, but at least the treat helped settle her!

Making soup together...

I am NOT a domestic diva, Martha Stewart, or Rachel Ray. But I do make chicken noodle soup, and it usually turns out yummy, if I may say so myself. With a few fresh herbs in a pot out back, I even get to season it naturally.

Anyway, Joel was still feeling under-the-weather today, so I decided to make some soup. Yesterday, Hannah made bug soup with her plastic toy bugs, stirring them in a 1 qt. saucepan, pouring them between the pan and a metal mixing bowl which used to be Great-Grandma Helen's. (My Dad's Mom.)

As I set out the ingredients and began putting them into the stock pot, Hannah saw the carrots , reached toward them and grunted. After correcting her (telling her to ask nicely), she said "please". I assumed she wanted to eat some carrots, so I sliced them into narrow pieces to make them easier to munch, and put a handful into a snack cup for her. She proceeded to dump them into her "pot"- the saucepan that was still on the floor from yesterday's "bug soup". She stirred them with her wooden spoon, threw in a rubber teething pretzel for extra flavor, and even took some nibbles out of the carrots. When I sliced celery, I gave her a few pieces to add to her dish.

She played with her soup for a good 30 minutes while I cooked and cleaned up my mess. Finally, she raised her pot of "soup" toward me and said "help?"

"Would you like me to put your soup on the stove, too?" I asked her.

"Yeah," my little chef replied. Of course, I had to help her and set her pot on the back burner. She proceeded to find something else to play with.

I love this stage of Imaginitave play.

Oh, and when I was sweeping the floor, she carried the dust pan over to me without me asking her to. What a great helper!

"food" for thought?

Perhaps allowing Hannah the occasional treat has slowly made her more picky... or perhaps she is entering the picky toddler phase... in any case, her consumption rate has slowed down drastically the last couple of days. Lots of water, milk, and juice, but she just won't touch much food....

p.s....turns out she had her first bout of tummy troubles in a LONG time. No puking, but when I picked her up from her nap I had a small mess to clean up... that hasn't happened since she was a newborn. Whatever it was seems to be out of her system... she ate a good dinner with lots of rice and veggies, and had a snack of canteloupe for supper.

cookie time

Mother's Day Photos

18-month "official" check up

30 1/4" tall
26 lbs.

2 shots.

This was the first check-up that Hannah seemed to remember what happens when she goes to the doctor. She was not a happy camper, and she clung to me for dear life. But everything was fine. No need to go back until she's 2, unless she gets sick. She was quite squirmy during measurements, so I think the height measurement is off (smaller than she really is). we'll have to stretch her out and hold her down another time.

"sweaty" sleeping beauty

dear hannah-bear,
i couldn't resist peeking at you tonight. i cringed as the door hinges creaked, but proceeded to peek my head in. you were buried under your comforter, your little feet and ankles poking out from underneath, the rest of you curled into a ball in the corner of the crib. oh, you already seem to sleep like your mommy. the air conditioner is struggling to keep up, yet you long for the comfort of your blanket. as i untucked the comforter from around your head, you stirred. your curls glistened with natural styling products even in the dark. i pulled the covers back, prefering to risk your waking to suffocation. (i highly doubt that would happen, but still...)

so far, you sleep like me, your mommy. you roll all over and wrap the covers around your body preferring their even in the midst of a warm night. i wonder what other similarities we'll share as you grow up. oh, how i want you to stay little! can we just somehow skip the angst stage where you are embarrassed to be seen with me? i love that you freely plop in my lap for story time and cling to me when you are unsure about a stranger. i love that your bed, in your little corner of our home, is a haven for you. i love how you will rock with one of us in the big chair, but when the time comes and you are ready to sleep, you climb off our lap. then you walk over to the crib, and wait to be put in. it shows me that you are comfortable there. your daddy and i have done our best to provide a safe home for you, and you apparently feel safe and secure going to sleep in your bed. are you aware of the time passing, i'll be there to greet you (sometimes grumpily)? or are you just so focused on needing that rest that you must go to sleep right then?

last night was a little different. daddy is away, your routine was a little out of whack after you fell asleep during our walk, and you awoke around 11 p.m. i tucked you into my side of the bed, and you kicked and i squirmed until we found just the right arrangement and both of us fell asleep until 5:30. nights like that are rare for us, since you are so blessedly independent. but it shows that sometimes cuddle time is good for everyone! i didn't have to listen to you whine through the monitor, and both of us were comfy. you made me moan first, then laugh as you awoke so cheerfully, nibbled my nose and poked my eyes, identifying each part of my face. these are the moments i don't want to forget as you grow up.

i love you, hannah eileen. sweet dreams!

kissie-bear

Hannah-Bear is quite the affectionate girl. She kisses any animal that will let her. Tonight she had the pleasure of petting and kissing two fluffy kitties. Sarin, the little girl who lives with the kittties, looked at her like she was crazy to get so excited about plain old cats. She loves other kids. She even reaches out to them, sometimes a little too vigorously, and she loved hanging out with Emma & Timmy, pictured below. She is sure to idolize her older cousins the next time she sees them. She is starting to be a little more shy toward adults, but overall she is still quite friendly. I suppose as she gets older we'll have to teach her to not be quite so friendly, but right now the innocence of baby-love is simply adorable.

Wordless Wednesday

"Wordless" Wednesday:
More Photos from our "vacation" at Gramma's

Wordless Wednesday

I'm cheating on WW this week. I just posted a bunch of photos earlier this week. Scroll down.