13 months

The 13th month in 3 words:  Climb, wean, vomit.
While not walking, Hannah can sure get around!  Anything 18 inches off the ground or less has become a jungle gym for her.  We had to hide the Hannah-sized rocking chair she got for her birthday because she just wanted to stand on it.  She can stand up in high chairs and shopping carts.  No close calls, but we strap her in any chance we get.  She climbed up on Daniel's briefcase propped against the table the other day to get to his wallet-one of her favorite toys.  She can scale the steps but has no interest unless she's following us up there.  It's nice to not have to transport her from room to room, as she'll follow us around the house.  She has quickly transformed from baby to toddler.
Hannah has some things she's learned this past month that are cute.  Yesterday her hair bow came out and she tried to put it back, placing it on her head as if there was a magnetic force that held it there.  She was frustrated when it didn't stay.  She has fun taking things out of boxes and occasionally delights in putting them back in.  She's starting to stack her cups and put the rings on the Rock and Stack.  She presses the music button on her horse and does a little dance by thrusting her head back and forth.  At Kindermusik this week, each child was given a CD wrapped in tissue paper.  Hannah meticulously unwrapped each CD.  She's going to have fun at Christmas!  One of her favorite things to do is roll the balls that rattle across our hard wood floors.  She'll chase them down and roll them back to us.  Hannah's become more snuggly this month.  If Daniel and I are standing close to each other, Hannah enjoys flipping back and forth between us, being held in each of our arms for 30 seconds or so.  She really loves her daddy!
Weaning-We're done!  We were both ready, and now Hannah is drinking milk from a bottle.  Moving to sippy cup this month.
Vomit-Ugh!  I wish this wasn't such a large part of month 13, but it was.  Hannah vomited for 13 days in a row, anywhere from 1 to 4 times a day.  We had to wash and re-wash her sheets, car seat, clothes, high chair, carpet, etc.  During the time, we spoke to 2 different nurses and 1 urgent care doctor.  We thought at first it was residual mucus from a cold, but she was diagnosed yesterday with reflux.  24 hours later and a few doses of medicine, and we've hopefully kissed the vomit good bye!  Hannah never cried or seemed upset.  Maybe it upset us more than her.  We're praying we have found the solution.

I realized we've been slacking with the camera!  Below are a few pictures from our Thanksgiving trip to Nashville and our church's candy cane breakfast last Saturday.  You can tell Hannah had a blast. 

Hannah loved interacting with Grandma's cats.  The cats did not enjoying interacting with Hannah.

Hannah learns the right way to play with the kitty.

Triplets decorate the tree.

Finished product.  Maybe next year the ornaments will make it halfway up the tree.

The Five Magic Foods

Sure there have been ebbs and flows over the year, but for the most part, Hannah has earned an A when it comes to sleep.  Our challenging times have been more with eating.  We're working on the transition to whole milk, thus ending a very special mommy-baby relationship.  We're also introducing Hannah to all types of fingers foods.  On Friday, we accidentally ate at a restaurant that was nicer than we thought it would be.  No problem for Hannah--she ate veal and lobster stuffed ravioli off of a piece of paper we put on top of the white table cloth.  She can be really finicky with what she likes, but there are five things we can count on her to always enjoy:  black beans, green beans, banana, cheese, and anything crunchy that Gerber sells.  We rotate through the first four on a daily basis and try to stay away from the Gerber snacks.  The black beans are especially delightful, both on the incoming and outgoing ends.

 

Hannah was overwhelmed and tired on her birthday and disappointed me a bit with her disinterest in her cake.  I preserved it and brought it out when she was feeling better.  Although she loved it, we're not adding cake and icing to the rotation.  I especially like the last picture since it shows all five of her teeth!

Hannah Meets Santa

Since we've had Hannah, we've done more and more family friendly activities like Burt's Pumpkin patch, zoo membership, and our city's community events. This year we decided to check out the annual Light Up Dunwoody. The city closes down part of the road in front of the farm house and has a tree lighting and celebration. I was excited for the opportunity for Hannah to meet Santa for the first time. She very patiently waited in the 20 min long line and observed all of the kids running around with antlers and balloon animals. When it came time for her big moment, Hannah let Santa know what she thought of him

"Help!  I'm drowning in a sea of red and white!"

Before I knew it, I was the one who was sitting on Santa's lap so Hannah could have an extended visit.  

"I've got my eye on you.  You better not make a move on my mama!"

"What?  You give presents?"

Overall, it was a fun experience.

Carolers

"I'm still not too sure about this."

"Is that guy in red behind us?"

One

Happy Birthday, my beautiful daughter!  Thanks for a year of many wonderful memories!

Customize your own announcement

Buzzzzzzz!

Hannah got a lot of attention today, as she wore her costume to childcare, Kindermusik, my office, and around the neighborhood.  Hannah is always on the move, so getting pictures of her is not an easy task. 
Giving Mommy Hugs and Kisses:

 With her friends at Kindermusik:

Being cute wears a girl out!

Before trick-or-treating!

11 months

We are so very close to the big 1!  In fact, we went to Party City tonight to get Hannah a Halloween costume and some birthday supplies.  I couldn't let the month go by without her monthly update, though.  Besides the New England trip and pumpkin patch, the 11th month didn't yield many photos.  Below are a couple along with a few of our favorite videos from the month showcasing some of Hannah's new talents.  Overnight, she learned how to feed herself and drink from a sippy cup and straw.  She also has begun crawling with her belly off the ground and really cruising around.  Daniel and I simply act as her vehicle to move from one place to another.  She'll reach out her hand and we know she wants a change of scenery.  She'll lead us to where she wants to go.  She has 5 teeth (although I think she's working on balancing it out) and her hair is thickening, bringing more and more comments about her beautiful strawberry blond hair.  Hannah is not afraid of dogs, cats, water, strangers, or Halloween masks.  She's curious about everything.  The childcare workers still comment on her patient, busy, content personality, and we occasionally get comments about Hannah pulling hair, stealing pacifiers, or, my favorite, pulling up on a boy and then eating his jeans.  Hannah loves going to play while I work and pushes away from me to hop into her crib at nap and bed time.  She loves her sleep and is now strongly attached to her Latvian doll, Riga.  We bought Riga in Riga, Latvia while I was pregnant.  My favorite thing Hannah does is wave and say "i" for "hi."  Unfortunately, she will only do this to her imaginary friend.

Check out my teeth

It's sooooo hard for mommy to get a picture of me.  I'm always on the move!

 

 

Hannah loved playing in the water at the base of a waterfall in NH.  Wonder what she'd do if Daniel wasn't holding on?!

 

This video was taken the first night Hannah starting feeding herself.  I took it when she was already getting pretty tired.  If you watch to the end, you will hear my favorite part of the video.

Round, round, get around, I get around...

Fall in New England

Daniel and I have successfully crossed off number 32 (NH) and 33 (VT) on our list of states we have explored together since marriage.  Hannah's grand total is now 8.  Not bad for an 11 month old!  She's completed 4 round-trip flights and got her own pair of Delta wings, thanks to the flight attendant who thought it would be a great idea to give a pin to a baby.  We donated those wings to a hungry trashcan.
This was the most interesting flight, as it's the longest one we've done with Hannah and she's at the most active point in her life thus far.  No sleeping for this gal.  She pushes, pulls, tugs, hugs and teethes on me the whole time.  No crying at all.  The changes in altitude seem to have no effect on her.  Hannah is a very social girl who loves to stick her hands between the seats to say "hi" to the people in front of us.  Then she likes climbing over my shoulder so she can interact with the people behind us.  We also realized she loves Biscoff cookies, which resemble diarrhea when sucked on and spread everywhere.  (Sorry to be graphic, but it's the honest truth!)  Being the good parents we are, we did clean the tray off for the next person.  Probably the cleanest that tray has been since the plane's inception.
I did have a super special moment with Hannah as we departed Manchester, NH.  She and I both pressed our heads up to the window and I narrated our lift off to her.  We talked all about the tiny houses, ant-like cars, and the beautiful clouds.  We said a prayer of thanksgiving together.  I love being able to share my heart with my daughter.  Every good and perfect gift is from above (James 1:17).
We truly enjoyed our getaway.  Apparently this wasn't the best year for color due to the flooding, but we still loved the color and got a good taste of New England culture without the New England weather; it reached into the 80s a couple of days!  At the end of each day, Daniel would ask me what my favorite part of the day was.  After the first few days, I noticed a pattern; every favorite involved watching Hannah explore something new.  My, how vacations have changed!

Hmmm....what can I get into...

Hannah's first carousel ride

Train table in an antique store

Hannah's first taste of ice cream at the Ben and Jerry's Factory!

Hmmm...

I'd rather eat my foot!

Flavor Graveyard

Have you seen a cuter picture of Hannah?  She makes windblown look good!

We stayed at an isolated cabin in Pittsburg, NH.  Tourists don't usually make their way up there, but someone in the family wanted to search for moose in "moose alley."  We didn't find any moose, but the next several pictures were taken on the cabin property and made the trip worth it.

DONE with pictures!

Alas!  A moose where a park ranger said never to expect a moose.  Please note this was NOT in the day long detour to "Moose Alley."

This lady is quite the attraction

There's the moose advocate and his daughter

Against our better judgment, we decided to take a rental car with an unhappy, crying baby up Mount Washington, the highest peak in the northeast.  Too high for any trees to grow, it was a desert up there.  I'm glad I was huddled over the car seat singing every song I knew the words to because Daniel was white knuckled at the end of that drive.

Pretty views from the observation station.  The wind up there was a "low" 80mph that day.  It really takes your breath away.  The highest recorded wind speed there is 231mph.

Way to go, Corolla!  Now ya gotta make it down!

It was a tough trip to the top

In case anyone doubted my family consists of two redheads

Exploring the basin

Daniel and I agree watching Hannah play in the water here was the highlight of our trip.  Especially to look up after a photo session and see a bus load of senior citizens taking us in. 

Hannah gets so many comments on her looooong eye lashes

She got so wet and dirty

Picnic lunch

The Manchester airport had a very nice toddler play place.  This is as close as Hannah will get to a red Mustang convertible.  Newt Gingrich walked by us and opted to play on his cell phone rather than join Hannah in the car.  Lame.