First Tooth!

Hannah had a bit of a rough night last night, but when I finally got her up this morning I discoverd why. Her first tooth finally broke through! It's hard to see and mostly looks just like a little slit with a grain of sand peeking through, but it is oh so sharp. She bit me with it several times today just to prove to me how sharp it was!

Hannah also had her 6 month well baby visit today and Kyle surpised me by being able to come after all. I was so happy to not have to deal with the shots by myself. Since I know you are just dying to find out I'll tell you her latest measurements. She was 18 lbs 12 oz and 28 inches long. As far as percentiles go, she's in about the 96th percentile for weight, and about the 98th for height. She really slowed down a bit on the length this time and was actually on the growth chart this time! Her head circumference was in the 98th percentile as well, but I can't remember the exact measurement and I forgot to write it down. She got all of her shots today including her flu shot which was an optional vaccine we decided to go ahead and have done. We learned that the next check-up at 9 months she won't have to have any shots! I'm very excited about that. Of course Hannah screamed and screamed after her shots, but luckily I remembered to give her Tylenol before her appointment this time so she really hasn't be as affected by it long term this time as in the past. We found out that Hannah is allowed to start trying very soft finger foods that disolve in her mouth like tiny pieces of bread or veggie puffs as soon as we think she's ready. Tonight she tries squash for the first time so we will probably hold off on the finger foods for just a bit, but we are both very excited for her to get to try them.

Well, that's all the big news for today. I can't wait to see what that tooth looks like tomorrow and I'll try to get a picture of it as soon as it's a bit more visible and Hannah is willing to cooperate for a picture!

Working Hard

Hannah has been working really hard this past week to learn lots of new stuff. On Friday alone she managed to learn several new tricks and kept me hopping the entire day. First off, she's turning into quite the eater. She's now had sweet potatoes and carrots and loves them both. Tomorrow she starts squash and then I think we are done with the orange vegetables and will probably move onto the green ones. Those won't be quite as sweet so I'm curious to see if she will still like them. I figure pretty much anything has got to be better than her cereal so they probably won't be a problem.

Hannah has gotten much steadier standing over the last week and really enjoys standing holding onto the couch. I was using the coffee table, but she almost cracked her head on it the other day so now I'm sticking with the couch which is much softer until she is just a tab bit more stable. Going along with standing, she's learned that she can pull herself up from either a laying or sitting position using my thumbs as something to grab a hold of. She needs absolutely no help from me at all to get up either. I was absolutely shocked the first time she did it. Of course I then tried to get her to pull up on the couch or coffee table, but she just can't quite do that yet. I think the difference is that if I offer her my hands to use, my hands are at the same level as her hands as opposed to the coffee table which is above her head and she has to reach her hands way up to grab it.

Now that she's a pretty stable sitter she's been playing lots and lots with her toys in the sitting position and doesn't like to be on her back playing as much. Yesterday while sitting she learned how to point at something she wants me to look at and look at something that I point at! She also started raising her hands up above her head as I walk by when she wants to be picked up. I nearly cried the first time she did it! She's been reaching for Kyle when I am holding her for quite some time now, but this was the first time she ever reached for me! She's really been getting some mileage out of that new trick. She's definitely learned that she can manipulate mommy to do what she wants if she does that. Along with the reaching to be held, she's also started to give hugs. That of course melts my heart as well.

She got a rock-n-stack for Christmas from Uncle Kevin and she's really been enjoying playing with it. Lately she's been running experiments with the rings. She's testing them out to see if they sound different when she bangs different ones together. Also, she's quite confused by them because one ring has balls in it that roll around and make noise when you shake it, but the others are just plain plastic. She can't quite figure out why it makes noise, but those other stupid rings don't do anything when she shakes them. It's funny to see her test them all out and get disgusted as one by one she tries them each and throws them to the side until she finds the one ring that does make noise. She hasn't quite figured out that it's always the same ring and which one that is yet, but I'm sure that will come.

Today she was running experiments on some balls that she got for Christmas from one of Kyle's aunts. They all make different noises when they are shook, dropped, or twisted and she loves to do side by side comparisons of them. She'll have a different ball in each hand and shake the right one first. Listen to it and think about it. Then shake the left one. Listen to it and think about it. And finally shake the right one again to make sure that it really was different! Then she drops them both, and picks up two different ones and starts the process all over again.

She's also been looking quite cute in her new Christmas clothes. Once again our friends and family really came through for us and managed to set Hannah up with a whole new wardrobe just in time. She was on the verge of out growing pretty much her last set of clothes that she had received from her multiple showers and then Christmas came around and she got lots of 12 month and 12 -18 month outfits. So, now pretty much everything she wears is size 12 months except for onesies which are nice and stretchy and 9 month ones still fit. It's so hard for me to believe that she's only 6 months old (today actually is her half birthday!) and already wearing 12 month clothes. At Clod Christmas we stood her up next to her cousin Makinley and she was already taller than her and Makinley is a year old. If she's this big now I can only wonder what size she will actually be wearing when she does turn a year old, 2T maybe!

PS. I just want to be sure that if you are reading this Becky that you notice that I finally got that picture up of you and Hannah playing on the floor!

Videos and Pictures

I finally managed to get some of the cute Hannah videos I've been collecting uploaded to google. So, now you have many minutes of viewing to enjoy! I also finally got Hannah's 5 m0nth/Christmas portraits scanned in too. Once again it took me until they were almost a month old to get it done, but oh well. They're super cute so it's worth it.

Some brief updates are that Hannah has decided that she loves her sweet potatoes, but really does not care for her new barley cereal. She makes an awful face each time I give her a spoonful of it. She's not to the point of spitting it out, but you can definitely tell she doesn't care for it. Today I mixed a spoonful of her sweet potatoes in with it and that seemed to make the cereal go down easier so I may have to make that little trick a permanent feature.

Hannah got her bangs trimmed again last night for the second time in her life. They are now really short and out of her eyes which is a good thing.

Last night Hannah gave me several scares because she has decided that she really wants to be a belly sleeper. Twice when I went to check on her she was on her belly. One of the times she had her head turned to the side so it would be easier to breathe, but the other time she had her head face down on the mattress with her nose and mouth buried. That really scared me. Then when I went to get her up this morning she was on her belly again playing with her crib bumper.

She goes to her 6 month well baby check up on Monday which will also serve as a follow up visit for her pneumonia. She'll get her next round of vaccinations and this time I'll be on my own since Kyle won't be able to get away from work. I must say I'm not looking forward to dealing with the after shot cries and pouting, but I am really curious to see how much she weighs now and how long she is.

This first video is of Hannah trying to catch the fish on the mobile of her swing. She's just about getting too big for her swing because she can now sit up independently and she leans way forward in the seat of the swing :( http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2926871892768037060&hl=en

This video is of Hannah helping Kyle read the paper. One of her new favorite activities is shredding and then chewing on newspapers and magazines. The Christmas wrapping paper was a huge treat because it was extra crinkly and shiny! http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4389020316505730343&hl=en

Here Hannah was just starting to be able to sit up on her own with just the boppy for support. It was also her first day with pig tails. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4526477670727385354&hl=en

Hannah kept nodding off and waking up as Kyle was trying to burp her on Christmas Eve. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8200162998367880362&hl=en

Here is Hannah opening one of her presents on Christmas Day. She really did enjoy tearing all the paper. She actually started to get a little bit annoyed with me because I kept taking the paper away from her as soon as she would tear it off and try to put it in her mouth. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7169215432916564006&hl=en

Hannah had been being a stinker about eating cereal for Kyle (or anyone else for that matter). She would only eat for me. But, for some reason this night she was SUPER excited to be eating her cereal from Dad. I think it was the newness of getting to eat on the couch on Dad's lap instead of in her highchair. She knocked both the bowl and spoon out of his hands more than once during the meal! http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3815120128174730283&hl=en

Hannah was sitting up on her own and talking to Sadie, our cat, as she walked around her. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3220053813599459343&hl=en

Hannah enjoys falling back onto the pillows when she gets tired of sitting up on her own. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6960692054879004897&hl=en

Hannah got a case of the giggles while playing with Kyle and her Nemo fish. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8817975315000823319&hl=en

If you listen closely you can actually hear Hannah sucking water out of her cup. She's much better drinking from it now than she was in this video that was taken close to 3 weeks ago! http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-675402535189831713&hl=en

To see the videos just click on the link and enjoy!

Happy New Year!

Well, the Christmas season has come and gone and a wonderful time was had by all. We feel so blessed to have experienced our first Christmas as parents. Hannah had a great time socializing and even got into unwrapping her own gifts! She just couldn't resist all that shiny, crinkly paper! I spent a good amount of time making sure it didn't end up in her mouth! Besides surviving the holidays in one piece I have many new Hannah updates to share. My little girl has really been growing up and the past few weeks she has really matured. Even her personality is maturing. She expresses many more emotions now than she did a month ago. It's amazing how much she has changed and how fast she's done it!

First off, Hannah has now mastered sitting on her own. I still place pillows around her if I'm going to be further than an arm's reach from her to cushion her if she falls, but she pretty much can sit for as long as she wants. She actually thinks it's pretty funny to let herself just fall back onto the pillows when she gets tired of sitting or when she's feeling feisty :)

With her new sitting skills a whole new world has opened up to Hannah and she's been having a blast playing with toys and reaching for things that she couldn't get to before. It's also made her easier to dress and her hair easier to brush and style. It's also allowed her to move up into the big tub and ditch her infant tub altogether which is good because the last time I tried to use the infant tub she kept sliding off the seat because her butt was too big to fit on the seat anymore! Now that she can sit in the big bathtub with more water she has really been enjoying splashing with her hands and kicking with her feet and generally getting as much water as possible out of the tub and onto the bathroom floor. She's also decided she thinks water pouring or dripping out of a cup is VERY funny and goes crazy every time I do it.

Her hair continues to grow and grow and she already needs another haircut to keep her bangs out of her eyes. The sides are so long that they are even getting in her eyes now too so I've started putting the sides in mini pig tails. Kyle's not real impressed by them because he thinks she looks silly with the pig tails on the side and the back left free, but hey, it works! I can't wait until her hair is long enough to put in a real pony tail or to braid. That will really be fun.

Now that Hannah can roll all over the place I had pretty much said goodbye to her play gym, but yesterday I found a way to bring it back from the dead. I hung the toys from the arches and then instead of laying her underneath them I sat her down in front of them and she had a blast batting at them and grabbing them while I played with her hair. Now if she'd just show some interest in crawling we could set up the tunnel portion of the play gym so that she could crawl through it. Unfortunately Hannah seems to have no intention of crawling any time soon. She'd much rather roll around to get where she wants than even attempt to get herself up onto her hands and knees. She does think it's pretty funny to watch me crawl around the floor trying to show her how to do it though!

Another big milestone Hannah hit the other day was her first taste of strained baby food. We started off with sweet potatoes and she really seems to like them. They were lots runnier than I thought they would be so that has made feeding them difficult since Hannah is used to much thicker food because I make her cereal about as thick as oatmeal. Along with eating new foods, Hannah has started to throw tantrums when it's time to eat her cereal and will grab for the spoon or the bowl and knock it out of your hands. I'm not happy about this new development and am doing my best to stop it in it's tracks. What worked for the other day was giving Hannah her own spoon to hold. She then paid attention to the spoon in her hand instead of trying to swipe mine. Maybe the same thing will happen with the spoon as it did with the sippy cup. Maybe she'll teach herself to feed herself. Speaking of the sippy cup, I think Hannah is addicted to water. She LOVES to drink it out of her cup and would much rather drink her water from her cup than eat her cereal at meal times.