Now presenting....

Juliana and Hannah in some of their Christmas pictures! (taken 11/14 at Sears)

Hannah & her younger cousin Juliana in their Christmas dresses!

photos of the week

hannah-bear has provided lots of cute photo opportunities this week! mommy had her camera ready!

silly mommy, trix aren't just for big kids!!!! (these were pretty stale, but hannah didn't mind when she found them in their box next to the trash)

they don't make crayons like they used to... they keep breaking!

yummy leftover bowtie pasta with meat sauce

no longer terrified of the vacuum, hannah-bear wants to be in on the action!

I love to pat the Bible!

In toddler nursery, we sing a cute little song with the kids. Each one is given a new-testament to hold. Then we sing, "Oh I love to pat the Bible with hands God gave me" and "I love to read the Bible with eyes God gave me."

Daddy's Bible was on the couch under baby bear's backpack. She started pointing to it, and tried to pull it off the couch herself. I got it down for her , and she began to pat the Bible and say "Ba-ba". (Any two-letter words that start with B are "bab-ba" to her right now." )

It was so precious.

learning to drive!

hannah bear rode in the car part of the grocery cart... she thought she was such a big kid!

and now she just figured out how to climb on top of the briefcase to get to what's on top of the stack of books on the nightstand.

i'm now grounding myself from the computer until i get some things done around the house....

lunch with daddy's office

hannah charmed her daddy's co-workers at lunch today! she was such a good girl in the restaurant, we were very proud.

standing tall

baby bear is steadier on her feet every day.
of course, it helps when she is focused on an object...
such as her baby einstein neighborhood animals dvd.
(she walks more and more, but still favors crawling if there is nothing to hold,
or she does not have a focused destination.)

the food wars are on!

my glory days of bragging rights about how well baby bear eats are over. we fought the first battle of the food ward tonight. she wanted pizza, not her veggies. can't say that i blame her. well, she gets constipated enough as it is, so there was no way i was going to let her eat just cheese pizza for dinner...

we listened to a lot of screaming, but eventually she caught on and after she ate 5 peas or carrots in a row, i gave her a bite of pizza. took a while, but she did eat her veggies.

pics from cousin's fiesta

a hannah-bear hug for juliana

kissin' cousins

yummy cake!

opening presents

Juliana's birthday party

cousin juliana turns one year old tomorrow, and we celebrated today. the party was at her gramma liz and poppa's house. i met her friends luke, gracie, and her other cousins, except for her cousin emily, who had to work. (she has a cousin emily and an aunt emily and i have a cousin emily. talk about confusing!)

she got a lot of fun gifts. i got to color with crayons for my first time. her cake was so pretty. she loved the orange frosting... picked it off her smash cake symmetrically.


granwendy and grandaddy were there, too. i was shy around the strangers at first, but by the end of the night i was tackling my younger cousin with kisses. mommy is trying to teach me to be gentle. i also tried to yank my cousin's arm off and steal her new elmo doll at the same time.

1st ear infection

hannah-bear had a rough night last night. (so did mommy and daddy). she's starting antibiotics today, so hoefully she'll be good to go to cousin juliana's party tomorrow....

bar-b-cutie

last night was our weekly meal at bar-b-cutie. hannah loves their green beans. anyway, this cute older couple and their daughter sat in the both behind us, and hannah kept flirting with them, especially the old man. his wife had asked "how old is she?" while her husband was ordering their food. upon his return, he asked ,"boy or girl".

"She's far too pretty to be a boy!" the wife scolded the man.

I agree.

pre-bedtime fun

i am not too big for this, am i making myself clear??

i may be to heavy for the motor to work, but daddy does a fine job keeping me swinging.

 

the girl with the curl

how does that old rhyme go? there once was a girl...?
anyway, check out my curl! i was trying to do flips, and my hair curled on top of my head in the process. normally it's curly at the bottom of my neck... 

matador

tonight, hannah discovered she likes chasing a blanket when mommy waves it like a matador. daddy yelled "toro! toro!" while she "bucked" the blanket and laughed her deep, throaty chuckle.

thanksgiving

daddy, uncle brett, juliana

watching grandaddy carve the turkey

uncle adam, me, aunt amy

grandaddy, me

me and 'cuz learning to share
(our mommies did not plan to have us match,
but aren't we cute?)

stepping out...

hannah took 8 steps halfway across the bonus room tonight. her daddy and i think she'll be chasing her cousins on foot at Christmas! she stands longer, her steadiness is increasing... she's growing up so fast!

i better keep that camera nearby so i can get pics of this adorable "almost walking" phase...

greetings from hannah-bear

tbi o ox0pllip-/mloh
jj;;;;;;;;;;;iiiiiiiiiii
bhv'b " BBBBB'/ /l6

4th day of feeling icky....

we went to doc's office today as walk-ins. i wasn't about to wait for a 4-4:30 appointment when baby bear would surely be miserable. turns out her sickness is viral, mine is bacterial- sinus and ear infection for me. she has mommy's scary-sounding cough, is napping longer than normal, waking in the middle of the night, and refusing to drink milk from her sippy cup, making it hard for her to get enough fluids. so weaning from the bottle is just going to have to wait a bit longer. but when she's better, it will be a battle of wills! she was doing so well in that area before she got sick. oh, well. at least she doesn't need antibiotics. fave nurse was actually more worried about mommy's temp than baby bear's. i didn't know i had a temp i take hers so often, the last thing i want to do is check my own. (the great thing about family practice- one stop care, instead of having to go to 2 separate docs when both of us are sick).

worst cold yet...

baby bear and i are sick. she woke up at 3:30 saturday morning with a 101.5 temp. we got it down with tylenol drops, although it hovered around 100 on sunday and is now closer to 99... not quite so high.

the last time i took her to the doc, it was viral and we just had to keep doing what we've been doing. i think we might take her in anyway, only for the peace of mind of my mother and sister. (i am also praying that juliana didn't get sick, since baby bear fell ill the night she came to visit!!!)

i don't have a temp, but my signature seasonal hack has returned, and i hate it. hopefully it will be gone by thursday. lol. like that will happen.

******

christmas is in the air...

hannah and i did some of our Christmas "shopping" with juliana, becca and brett today. it was a long afternoon, but we had fun.

1st birthday weekend review

ottie the otter came to visit, too.

proud grandpa

family portrait (in front of Great Grandma Eileen's piano. Hannah Eileen was named after her Great- Grandma, who played this piano)

hannah & maddie with ottie

opening a gift with mommy

duet

kissing cousin

this hat won't last long

hannah & juliana are tired from too much partying

1st birthday recap

aunt sara and uncle grant captured these memories during hannah-bear's birthday bash weekend,
10/28 and 10/29

emmy, catey and maddie blew out the candle for hannah, as she and mommy watched

granwendy planted this mum plant last fall, shortly after hannah came home from the hospital

in flight

hannah, juliana & catey

hannah smashed the corner of her cake

1 year 2 1/2 week check-up

we took hannah to see dr. wolfe today. she had 4 shots, 2 in each leg, and was not happy about being pinned down. she weighed in at 21 lbs. and measures 30". i think the weight is off a little. she's right in between... too big for the baby scale, and not quite steady on her feet for the adult scale. our family practice doesn't have the in-between scale.

we were advised to get rid of the paci by the time she has 2 teeth, for dental purposes. we've been working toward that, anyway. i did give it to her after the shot. she has approval to eat anything that's not too spicy or greasy, and we're well on our way to weaning off the bottle. many days she doesn't take one at all. she likes her whole milk and is even drinking plain h20 from the sippy now.

our little cruiser is content to do just that... cruise with one hand. dr. said that since she had a little failure to thrive in the beginning, she might take her time walking, but there's nothing to be concerned about, some babies just take their time regardless. all the major milestones are met, she's healthy and beautiful. she even said not to worry about the flu shot since she's not in day care surrounded by sick-o children. i like that. the last thing i feel my child needs is unnecessary immunizations. we're doing all the required shots, but no more. God designed our bodies with immune systems for a reason, and so far hannah's seems to be a good one. once she started eating enough, i think we had 1 fever over 100 degrees, and nothing over 101.4. Not bad for a baby's first year.

Now it's time for toddlerhood. Hannah got her first owie on her forehead today, and it was my fault. Both of us reached for her alphabet bus at the same time, and I hit her with it on accident. Thankfully, the egg is not very big and doesn't appear to be very dark. and her long bangs should cover it if it does get darker.

she chatters away in her little language, occasionally she tries to pair words with objects... cat, duck, clock, dog, and cow are the things I think I've heard her try to see besides mama and dada. she loves calling for the other parent when one of us is changing her diaper or wiping her face. dr. wolfe thought she doesn't like her up close to her face, but we explained that she doesn't like anyone invading her personal space, not just her doctor.

mommy's gong to try to take a nap before baby bear wakes up for the day.

all is not lost...

no, i'm not talking about the elections. i'm referring to hannah bear's teddy-bear quality of cuddling, the one that rarely manifests itself to the point of sleep. we think she's getting another tooth, and that may be causing her fussiness and increased clinginess.

anyway, i sometimes lament her growing independence and lack of falling asleep in my arms or sleeping next to me in my bed. yesterday afternoon, i was able to comfort her from one of her fits of discomfort (after giving medicine). i "rocked" her to sleep and we sat on the couch for a while. then i got a phone call from my mom, which disturbed her. so i gingerly moved to my room, where she eventually fell asleep next to me on my bed. we napped peacefully for an hour. don't get me wrong, i'm glad my little girl is independent enough to sleep by herself. but there is something sweet about cuddling with a baby. knowing that she feels safe and secure in my arms just brings so much peace. i'm glad i have not completely lost my hannah-bear, the one who snuggled up underneath her grandpa's vest when she was just a few days old.

comprehension & vocabulary

hannah and i crashed granwendy's luncheon today. some of granwendy's friends who came to our baby shower get together on a regular basis, so i thought it would be nice for hannah to meet them. when i found out they were getting together at my mom's, i sort of invited hannah and myself. (i did bring a dish to pass.)

anyway, we arrived a little early, and the pendulum on dad's clock caught her eye, so i asked her "do you like the clock?" a little while later, grandwendy was holding her and she pointed to the clock and tried to say the word.... it came out more like "clah..."
she was also delighted to find percy, granwendy and grandaddy's indoor "kitty". it's actually a wooden carving, painted to look like a real family pet, but hannah crawled across the living room and began petting it as though it were real. it didn't run away, and hannah giggled with glee.

tonight, grandma debbie and grandpa wayne are staying over to break up a long road trip to indy. grandma debbie pointed to herself and said "grandma". she pointed to hannah and said her name. hannah copied the gestures, indicating that she understood exactly what grandma was saying.

first steps

i forgot to mention that daddy witnessed hannah's first steps last night. yep, she took about 3 steps between the couch and the desk chair without holding on to anything. she's been cruising the furniture with one hand quite a bit, but she's not into holding our hands and walking. it's almost like she wants to do it all by herself or not at all. it won't be long...

the almost 15 -month old son of my hostess had fun "helping" me pick up my things and giving me a preview of what life will be like when hannah can speed around on 2 feet instead of all 4's.

she has also discovered that her activity mat makes a great surf board of sorts. she rolled around on it for 20 minutes tonight while i was at "work". she loves showing off for daddy!

for more photos from the party...

CLICK HERE

hopefully I'll have more to share in the near future.

a few birthday-weekend photos

the balloons were a hit!

i missed seeing aunt amy, but i'm glad uncle adam made it!

i was overwhelemd at the party,
but mommy let me taste my cake on sunday.

silly daddy was so intent to clean up my mess,
he forgot to remove something very important before bath time.

 

happy halloween

last year i was just a week old, so i slept through my 1st halloween. my neighbor gina brought this bib to me last year, and it still fits, so mommy put it on me for dinner yesterday. the pumpkin outfit was a hand-me-down from another friend... it is a 6 months size, and snug on my toes, but snapped closed just fine. i tolerated the stem cap long enough to let mommy take some cute pictures.
i also helped mommy pass out candy to the trick-or-treaters...

why do i get the feeling this would taste better without the wrapper?
(i also shoved a wrapped peanut butter cup into my mouth,
but mommy thought i might choke, so she did not try to take that photo...)