These pictures were actually taken last weekend when we went on a walk. I thought I would also put up some pictures from about 4 months ago so you could see how much our baby has grown! It is amazing to me when I see how big she has gotten and much she has developed over 4 short months.

WOW!

Um, WOW!

Well, this has been quite a day! First of all, congrats to my hubby. He found out today that he got a tenure track position, so we will be here for the long haul. This is VERY exciting news! Secondly, Hannah decided that in order to celebrate this news, she would stand up all by herself today. She got to where she was standing for a good 8-10 seconds each time. WOW! She did actually take one step toward me while she was not holding on to anything, but that was as far as she got toward actual walking. Jason and I made a bet several weeks ago as to when we thought Hannah would begin walking. First, let me tell you that we decided to define walking as taking 2 or more steps unassisted. My guess was that she would not walk until after spring break, but Jason thought that she would walk before spring break. Well, spring break officially begins next Friday, so we will see. Since neither of us said that she would walk over the actual spring break, I am assuming that is when it will happen. Anyway, this has been a wonderfully joyous day, so thank you for celebrating with us!

I'd say Hannah has her appetite back! These are before and after pictures from lunch yesterday...she's back to being an eating machine. Whether or not this causes her to gain much weight is yet to be determined.

A full tummy makes for one happy girl!!!

Hannah has begun imitating certain things that we do, and it has been a fun milestone. She closely watches our actions then will try them herself. It is so fun to see her trying to figure these things out.

Our Dancing Baby...

Right now we look like this when we dance....

But, we are working hard at dancing like this...

Give us a bit...we'll get there!

We could be related...

My dad found these old pictures of my brother and I the other day. These were taken when I was about Hannah's age (maybe a few weeks older). But, these are really the first pictures that I have seen where she looks a bit like me. I know she looks A LOT like Jason, but there might be some small similarities with these pictures.

Cookie Monster

I have not given Hannah one of these cookies in awhile. To be honest, I kind of forgot about them in the pantry. They are the Gerber teether cookies. Anyway, she loves them and she was delighted when I gave her one the other day. They are quite messy, but worth it.

I love how she studies the cookie...I just wonder what she is thinking at times like these?

Some good dinner fun...

Our little book worm

We are all feeling a bit better today, but it does not take much for Jason and I to still feel nauseous. I hope this week is much better than last. I can't believe that Hannah was feeling the stomach pains that we were...I feel so bad knowing she couldn't verbalize her pain or discomfort. Poor kid!

Anyway, these pictures were taken early last week with Hannah doing what she does best...reading her books. She loves them! She will pull them all down from the shelves and then thumb through them all while occassionally "reading" them. I wonder if this means she will enjoy reading as she grows up.

The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day(s)

Well, on to Ch. 2 of our story. For Valentine's Day, it would have been sweet if Hannah had given us a furry little love bug like this:

But instead, she chose to give us her stomach bug. What a sweet girl! I woke up in the middle of the night throwing up and Jason woke up this morning throwing up. Hannah seems to be over the worst of it, but she is more fussy today then when she was sick. Go figure, that on the day when we need her to be the most calm she is not. It is not easy to take care of a child when both parents are sick to their stomachs...this is much worse than even when she was sick. She is cutting both top teeth, so we are assuming that is what is wrong today. Let me tell you, this has been a week!!!!

Please pray that this passes quickly (for all 3 of us) and that we can once again resume normal life around here. One specific thing that is a bit concerning is that for the last 4 days Hannah has not been eating well at all. Even though she seems to be over the stomach issues, she is still not eating well. This might be due to the teeth that are coming in. But, she needs to be eating and gaining weight, so please pray that she gets her appetite back and we can put some meat on her little body.

Let's hope that my next post will be a better one!

The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

This was a favorite book of mine growing up, and I suppose it was only appropriate that eventually I would write my own chapter of the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Well, yesterday was that day!
It began when I got Hannah out of bed and realized that she had thrown up at some point in the night. It was, therefore, caked/crusted/dried on her face, hair, pjs, and bed. LOVELY!! So, we got that cleaned up and moved on from there. I assumed that it was a one time incident and since she did not have a fever I figured it would go away. BAD ASSUMPTION! But, for the rest of the morning things were OK. Hannah was a bit fussy and clingy, but no other issues.
Well, in the early afternoon I flushed the toilet in our bathroom and it overflowed...EVERYWHERE!!! So, just use your imagination, but it was now overflowing out of the toilet and onto the floor. I had to use every towel we owned to contain the inch or so of liquid that was now flowing out of the bathroom. Hannah (still being clingy) is not happy that I have put her down to deal with this mess, so she is crying in the backgroung. To make matters worse we don't have a plunger, so I have to call the maintenance guys to come and unclog the toilet. It was humiliating! So, once they came and left I changed into shorts and got down on my hands and knees and cleaned the bathroom floor with Clorox. All this time, Hannah is crying and wanting to be held. Can you see that this is going downhill fast!
Anyway, I get everything cleaned up and I am finally taking a breather from all the commotion with Hannah sitting on my lap facing away from me. I feel some slight rumblings from her tummy, and then from nowhere she projectile vomits EVERYWHERE!!! All over my legs, arms, herself, and the floor! At this point, I am beside myself and I call Jason to come home for backup (it was about 4:15pm anyway). So, we get everything cleaned up again and put Hannah to bed. I checked on her throughout the night and saw no evidence of stomach issues, so I was feeling better about the whole thing...until this morning.
Jason went in and got her up and found that it was now coming out the other end! She had filled up her diaper and the feet of her footed pjs (I know its gross, but it is the dirty truth!). So, now our little one was really having some issues. Jason was a real champ too and he cleaned her, the bed, the changing table, and her clothes! Good thing too, because after everything from the day before, I don't think I could have cleaned up that caliber of mess.
Thankfully we have been without these bodily fluid messes since this morning, so we are hoping that was the extent of it. The stomach bug really stinks (literally)!
Anyway, those were the last 2 days here in our home. These are the days when I think "welcome to parenthood!"

Happy Valnetine's Day/9 month birthday

Today is Hannah's 9 month birthday. Can you believe how quickly time flies? Everytime I sit down to write another month update, I am always amazed at where the time goes. We had a doctor's visit today and besides having a stomach virus (the details will be in another post altogether...trust me, they deserve their own post) Hannah is doing well. Here are her stats:

Weight: 18 lbs (28%)
Height: 28.5 in (64%)
Head: 18 in (88%)

She is a bit small, weight wise, and so the doctor wants us to keep an eye on her. But, since she is doing well developmentally he said not to worry. Otherwise all went well today.

Jason was so sweet today and actually planned to have some friends come over and watch Hannah so we could go out to dinner (and he planned ALL of this without me knowing a thing!). But, since the doc said that Hannah is likely still contagious, we decided that it would not be a good thing to spread that kind of love with others. So, the 3 of us went out to dinner together and it was really nice. Anyway, I will put together the details of the last 2 days later tonight and share it with you later.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Splish, Splash

Today I decided to give Hannah a bath in the big tub. I didn't know how she would react since she has always used a baby tub, but she really enjoyed it. She splashed around and giggled a lot. Then she got a bit crazy and started trying to crawl everywhere...not a great idea. I did put down a rubber bath mat so she would not slip around, but it does not cover the whole tub. Needless to say she experienced her first slip and slide, and it did not involve grass, a hose, and the backyard. It was fun though (at least for her) and I think we will try it again in a few days.

Doesn't she look so tiny in this big tub? She's so cute though!!!

Baby diving

Our child is not deterred by anything...she is one ambitious baby girl. She gets to what she wants even if there is someone in the way. Crazy little monkey!!!

Check this out...

Overall Cutie

Color?

I am guessing Hannah's eye color is a green/brown combination. What do you think? I just wonder if they will stay this way or turn more as she ages. I read somewhere that babies eye color is pretty set by 9 months. Since she will be 9 months next week, I am thinking this color will stay.

Practice makes perfect

When we first bought this push walker for Hannah she did not want much to do with it, but she has taken a renewed interest in it the past few days. Yesterday she took a couple of steps with it while I was not holding it. Since she is not walking yet, she can't control it easily, so I usually have to hold it for her so it doesn't move to quickly. Anyway, all this practice will help her in the months to come.

Cheerio monsters

Jason really just wanted to eat his Cheerios in peace on the couch, but he was bombarded by the 2 Cheerio monsters in our house. First let me tell you that we do not give Molly much people food, except Cheerios (and a few other things). She knows that when you get a bowl of cereal out that she will get a few nibbles. Hannah also has become quite fond of Cheerios ever since we switched out the Gerber Puffs for the much cheaper Cheerios. So, poor Jason was overtaken by our 2 children as he ate.

One bite for Hannah, one bite for Molly, one bite for Daddy...

Woody Woodpecker

Does anyone remember this little guy? Woody Woodpecker was a favorite of both my brother and I growing up. We actually had a pillow with Woody on it at my dad's house when we were kids (we also had a Casper pillow, but that has nothing to do with this story). Funny that since I liked him as a kid I think I can actually nickname my child that now. She does not make the funny sounds like Woody, but the effect she has on wood is about the same.

Can you see the teeth marks in our lovely crib?!?!

YIKES! This girl really likes to chew on things, namely wood!

When Hannah is getting up from her naps she stands up at the front of the crib like this, The real problem with this is that she is mouth height with the side of the crib.

Check out those little chompers...I guess it is better than a beak! I think this face is MUCH cuter than Woody Woodpecker too!

Monkey crawl

Hannah has begun doing the 'monkey crawl' on the floor now. I don't know what else to call this, so let me know if you have any better ideas. She tries more and more each day to straighten her legs with her hands still on the ground. I don't know where exactly she thinks this might take her, but she seems to be having fun doing it.

Watch out!

As much as Hannah steals our hearts with how cute/sweet/fun/hilarious/adorable she is, we have noticed a bit of a worrisome trend. She is 'a bit' stubborn and very independent, and it is starting to show.
For example - last night at dinner I kept feeding her some peas on a spoon. She would promptly spit them out of her mouth (sometimes forcefully) and then proceed to pick them up on her own and feed herself (these are whole peas, not baby food - remember she gave that up, since she is a big girl and all). When she finds something she wants, like Molly's water bowl in the kitchen, she will crawl to it 100 times a day. Even when you pick her up and take her out of the room and put her down with 50 different toys, she will get right back up and crawl back to it...
HMMM, are you seeing a trend here?
We are just praying that these traits in her will be used for God's glory as she grows up! We certainly are in love with this little girl though; she is the biggest blessing we have both experienced, despite 'a bit' of stubbornness!

P.S. She looks JUST like her Daddy; can you guess where her 'bit' of stubbornness might come from????