Happy 16 months!

Yeah, a little late on this one too!

Another month has come and gone. This was a big month. Every month is bringing new and exciting skills and challenges. This month marked your first in our new home. You are officially a Georgia Peach. You have adjusted to your new house and room amazingly well. I'm sure being displaced for 8 weeks ahead of time helped the transition. You probably thought we were just in another house. You've come to realize that if Mommy and Daddy are around, everything is A-OK.

What's new this month. 


You love sidewalk chalk!! and your coloring is getting much better each time we bring it out. Your lines are longer and the colors are darker. YAY Hannah!

You tried two new foods this month: fish sticks (I swore I wouldn't be this mother, but eh... it expands her taste buds and they are easy) and Spaghetti noodles.

You can identify and bring us several animals from your zoo when we ask: Zebra, tiger, fish and monkey top the list.

You make several animal noises: fish (pucker and smack lips together), monkey (ooo oo oo  and move arms), cat (meow) and duck (kack). You do have one more... pig... although this one you're a little confused with. You say "la, la, la" for pigs because your book says "la, la, la" *reading gone wrong!

You are more interactive when we sing songs with hand motions. You really try to join in and mimic them. Speaking of music, we tried a new music class this month. We have you enrolled in the Spring session!!! It will be a ton of fun. The teacher and several other moms in the class commented on your knack for rhythm. You actually clap the beat (correctly!) to most music :) Maybe there is a bit of me in you!

You can stack blocks.

You have expressed an interest in putting on your own shoes and socks. You see them lying on the floor and will spend a significant amount of time trying to figure out how they go on your feet. So far, you haven't had success. However, you're really close!

Your attention span is getting longer. We can read you longer books and you sit still in our laps. Your favorite of the month- The Pout Pout Fish. We can read this to you almost all the way through twice before you're ready to move. You constantly bring us the book and say "pow pow."

You started to give real kisses this month. It's too cute. You'll still blow kisses, but there's nothing like the real thing.

You spent your second new years in a row with Hudson :)

Things you love.
You love your daddy very much this month! I love watching the two of you spend time together.

You love your Daisy girl!

You love your new helmet and refuse to take it off.

You love your new learning tower! and so does mommy. It helps tremendously when I'm cooking. Instead of constantly holding you, I can put you in the tower and you can "cook" too!

Words. New words this month include: shoe, cheese (chee), you now say "a ball" instead of just ball, you've started saying please (pwees), Daddy (dah-dee), baby, more (mo) and milk (mulk).

Signing. I've been a little slack on teaching you new signs this month. Something about a big move... LOL! BUT, you did pick up on a sign that we've been working on for some time now..."Book" YAY Hannah!

Teeth. So, I lied last month when I said we were finished with teeth. To my surprise, you got all 4 of your "eye teeth" this month. That brings your tooth count to a grand total of 16!! These 4 teeth have been complete boogers. They have caused you a lot of pain. You have been uncharacteristically fussy and have woken up from naps and night sleep. Take a look at those chompers!

Independent vs. dependent. You are a very independent child when it comes to completing tasks (e.g. brushing your teeth, feeding yourself, etc). However, you are a dependent child when it comes to playing and just being around. You always want daddy and me to hold you and interact with you. You used to be more independent during play, but I think being around family for the past few months has really broken you of that. It's not a terrible thing, just something we'll work on. You still have terrible separation anxiety. We're being consistent in taking you to church each week, so hopefully this will subside when you get to know the workers more.

Sleep. You are still an excellent sleeper, although I'm afraid you're transitioning to one nap a day. There's good and bad that come along with this for me.

Happy 16 months Hannah!

15 month stats

Yes, I'm terribly late on this. I know I'll catch up one day :)

We have a new pediatrician! I absolutely love her. She's heads and tails above the doctor in Chicago. She is very caring and takes the time to talk and explain things. She is wonderful.

You had a great check up. Your stats:
Height: 30 and a quarter inches
Weight: 26lbs

Your new doctor is also concerned that you have a partially clogged tear duct, so we are off to another pediatric opthamologist.

A visit with Mimi and Smooth

This was our year to spend Christmas with Daddy's side of the family. We were fortunate enough to spend an entire week with Mimi and Grandaddy Smooth in Alabama. That's a rare treat.

You got to visit a real farm and meet several of the new baby calves. You wanted to reach out and touch them so bad! 

We thought you'd be appeased by riding on the plastic cow... no such luck. Check out your face. You're not amused.

Spending time with Smooth was fun!

Sitting in Daddy's high chair :)

Smooth and Daddy love to cook when they get together. You decided to join in on the fun.

We had to give you your paci so you didn't eat the ingredients :)

It rained quite a bit while we were in Alabama. Since we couldn't get outside, Mimi and I helped you finger paint a few masterpieces.

Fun with the Baughs

I look forward to the time between Thanksgiving and New Years ever year. Not only for the individual holidays and what they mean, but also for the time we're able to spend reconnecting with family and friends.

We love the Baugh family and always try to reconnect with them while in Alabama. Joe and Wes were college (and after) roommates and they were groomsmen in each others weddings. Joe and Lauren were also the first of Wes' friends I met after we started dating. Wes and I spent our first New Years together with them in Birmingham.

The four of us had fun reminiscing about that night this year and how times have changed. I believe there were 8 couples who were part of the celebration. We all met at Joe and Lauren's, got dressed up, rented a small bus and attended a stellar party.

New Years Eve: 2005

My, my how times have changed. We were laughing and talking about getting that crew together again and realized that among the 8 couples, there are now 14ish children to add in the mix. That's all in the span of 6 years.

It was fun watching our little ones play. Lendon has grown and changed so much since we last saw him. This was our first time meeting Collin. He was a sweet heart! He gave Miss Hannah a big hug and kiss. It was too sweet. Hannah loved playing with the boys. Now that we're closer, we won't let so much time pass between visits.

2011:

Twins??

There's no denying that you are your father's daughter. We've always joked that there's a low probability that any of my genes made it into you. It was pretty much confirmed over Christmas when Mimi brought this gem of a picture out.













Daddy was around two in this picture and you are 14 months in your picture. You are your daddy! Good thing I have proof I carried you for 9 months. Otherwise, folks might think you're his clone.

Ok readers, go ahead... I want to hear your comments on this one :)

Christmas Cookies

Creating new and remembering old traditions are a fun was to celebrate the holidays, especially Christmas. Making Christmas cookies is a tradition that I started with you last year. It's something I knew you could participate in from a young age and also enjoy as you get older. 

Last year, you watched me measure, stir, cut and bake the cookies. This year, you were able to help me. You did a fantastic job pushing the cookie cutter into the dough. The cookies were well marked with your sweet fingerprints. You loved watching and participating in the process this year. I bet next year, I'll be helping you instead of the other way around. I can't wait!

It's been a while

Is there anybody out there? Is anyone still reading our blog? LOL! The past 9 weeks have been a complete whirlwind for us. We have been in our new house for 2 weeks now. We still have a lot to do, but I feel like we're starting to settle in and call this place home. I'll be updating the blog with happenings from the past 2 months and I'll try to stay on top of our current events.