Happy Fall, Ya'll!

Every season has it's own charm, but fall is my favorite.  I love the warm colors, sweaters, soups, and the promise of upcoming visits with family for the holidays.  This fall we'll also be celebrating a very special first birthday!
I've always heard of families escaping to Burt's Farm for the self-proclaimed "One Day Fall Vacation."  We thought we'd make the hour-plus drive north and check it out.  Doesn't hurt that there is a good outlet mall up there, too!
We all got to wear long sleeves for the first time this season today!

A little bit of crawling, A little bit of walking

10 Months!

"Mind of Own".  This was one of the terms lovingly placed in my baby book under "10 months."  When I read through my baby book several months ago, I thought this was funny.  Now, not so much.  I'm experiencing a little thing called karma.  Yes, Hannah is just like her mommy!  I have to say the past 10 days or so have been much better.  At it's peak, Hannah was throwing a fit everytime I tried to put her in the highchair, car seat, stroller, changing table, shopping cart (and that's in public=embarrassing), etc.  She would also grab the spoon and throw it on the floor if the food served was not up to her expectations.  There are blessings that come along with being a strong willed person, but in the midst of it, I got very frustrated.  It was the first time I have approached Hannah in frustration, and I didn't like that.  These phases change as the wind blows, so now we're in a much happier spot.  We still have a terrible struggle with clothes and diaper changes.  I take her clothes off in one room, change the diaper in another, put the other diaper on while she's on her play mat, then sneak her clothes on.  Making it a multi step process eases the blow a bit.  I know this too will change (soon, maybe?)
Hannah is a very happy baby, and I love making her laugh.  She still enjoys a good game of peekaboo or uncovering us after we put blankets on our head.  She'll squeal with delight in Kindermusik and in the pool.  She loves watching bubbles float by.  She giggles when we hang her upside down or run or bounce with her in our arms.  Her favorite book is Pat the Bunny because she loves sticking her finger through mommy's ring.  Her cups are still the #1 toy.  Her eyes get big and tongue hangs out of her mouth as she crawls over to topple the tower of cups.  Most of all, I love her huge smile when she sees Daniel after he's just come home from work.  I aid her in walking over to him.  Her little feet can't move fast enough!
Maybe I should have said Hannah's favorite toy is me.  I usually sit with her on the floor while she's playing or behind her while she's cruising on furniture.  She'll take many random play breaks to grab my clothing and try to pull up on me or turn from the furniture, arms outstretched, waiting to jump to me.  She hangs all over me, often gnawing on my left shoulder or scratching my neck during one of her Hannah hugs.  It's work having her jump all over me, but I kinda like the attention :)
Hannah is cruising on the furniture a little bit.  She does enjoy walking while holding onto my hands, especially when it's straight into my arms.  After our trip to Florida, Hannah has established something I'm willing to call crawling.  With belly on ground, resting on her left forearm, right hand for balance, she'll propel herself forward with her right leg.  The left just drags behind.  Hey, it gets her where she needs to go, but not enough to go crazy baby-proofing anything.  We can't use the Bumbo chair anymore--she jumps out.  The swing, play gym, and rock and play sleeper haven't been used in awhile, so we're finally putting those away.
We started feeding Hannah finger food at 9 months.  So far the only fingers that have successfully fed Hannah are Daniel's or my own.  She's content with raking things up, sticking them on her hand, and waving the hand over the floor until the food falls off.  She likes puffs, bananas, and the few things we've given her off our plate.  We started the sippy cup this week.  It looks like she'll be able to get that into her mouth before food.
I did a bad job taking pictures this month.  They're either from our trip to Orlando for Granddaddy's birthday or on game day.  Tis the season!

I had my very own seat!  But I preferred hanging onto Mommy.

Whoa!  It's a long way down!

This is the life!

Matching tattoos!  Gotta have a little Gator flavor!

Hannah and my cousin's baby, Grace.  Guess who's older.  It's not what it appears.

Wild ride, courtesy of Aunt Lisa.

Cute Bama outfit, but Hannah prefers her socks.

Anniversary #6

Daniel and I celebrated our 6th anniversary on August 27th.  I think our anniversaries will have new meaning now that we have Hannah.  We get to step out of our role as parents and celebrate our marriage.  It was a fun day.  Daniel has always been a good gift giver.  He goes with the traditional anniversary gift theme.  It's neat seeing what he comes up with.  This year was candy and iron.  Daniel sure knows how to spoil a girl!

We were so grateful that Parents Night Out at our church was scheduled on our big day!  Daniel took me on a tour of his new office and then to Canoe where we had a nice dinner by the water.  And got a badly lit photo.



When we went to pick Hannah up, she gave us a card she made.  So sweet!  I can't wait until I get more of these.  And when she's the one that actually crafts them!

 

The next weekend our family traveled to Florida.  Daniel and I got our first overnight alone.  We went to Lido Beach for a night.  It was such a nice getaway.  We loved watching the clouds roll in.  Thanks mom and dad for watching Hannah.  Hope you didn't mind too much ;-).

A few favorite videos

Here are some of my favorite videos of Hannah from the past month.

Hannah with her new bath toy.  Does she like it or not?  You decide!

Hannah gets a kick out of standing up and prefers to hold on to wobbly objects.  It's a good workout!

Hannah has this excited little shake she does sometimes.  It's pretty cute!

Hannah's Dedication

"Hannah, you are fearfully and wonderfully made.  We pray that you will grow in knowledge and understanding of how much God loves you, and that you will be filled with the fruit of salvation in Christ.  We look forward to seeing God work through you to bring glory and praise to Him."

Psalm 139:14

Philippians 1:9-11 

This is the blessing Daniel read to Hannah at our church on August 14.  It was a very special day for us as Hannah's parents to stand before our Lord and church family and dedicate ourselves to raising Hannah in a family where she will learn of God's grace and love.  We were so blessed to celebrate with all of the grandparents, too.  It was a fun, memorable weekend.

Unfortunately, the star of the show was done with the attention by the time pictures rolled around.  Here are the best few.

Nine Months!

Wow, I can't believe my little monkey is nine months!  I call her that because she isn't much for sitting still these days hence the reason why her monthly couch pictures involve her moving around.  I am still very grateful that at the end of the day, right before I put her to sleep, I sing a bunch of songs to her and she lays still and stares into my eyes.  It's our special time. 
For a girl that isn't crawling yet, she can sure get around!  She rolls and rolls and swivels and reaches out for anything she wants.  Her favorite toys are her ride-on car, musical table, and music box.  Speaking of music, we start Kindermusik next week!  I think she'll love it!  Hannah won't pull up from sitting, but she does enjoy standing and is beginning to cruise.  She likes holding on to things that move--the swing, exersaucer, my hands--rather than something stable, like the coffee table.  I'm still sitting right behind her when she stands.  When she's done playing, she'll turn around and jump into my arms, give me a hug and kiss, which is more of a gnawing of the face but sweet none the less.  She loves using me to stand on and giving hugs and kisses.  Her hugs usually include pulling of the hair and kisses sometimes include use of the new teeth.  Her face always lights up when she sees Daniel.  Their special activity is playing with the stacking cups.  Daniel and Hannah could play with those cups forever!  She'll hold out her arms for either of us, but when she's hungry, I get the nod.  Hannah will take a few steps while holding onto my fingers.  Her laugh is adorable.  Sometimes it is woodpecker-like and other times it's a cute squeal.
Hannah is staying steady at the 25th percentile for weight (17 pounds) and 85th percentile for height (28.5").  She has two sharp little teeth that came in right after her 8 month birthday. She eats 3 spoonable meals a day.  Cereal in the morning and veggies for lunch and dinner, all followed by a serving of fruit.  The only fruit she's ever tried and not liked is prunes.  She tends to not like broccoli or peas and hates spoonable meat.  That stuff smells like dog food anyway!  We've still been incredible blessed with her sleeping habits--7:30 to 7-7:30 in the morning with a 2 to 3 hour nap in the afternoon.  She sleeps with her paci and a few comfort items in bed--her doll Riga Daniel and I got while on vacation in Riga, Latvia, a small purple blanket, and pink bunny lovie.  She has mastered the cry while holding her paci between her teeth.
Hannah's Dr. said her verbal skills are advanced for her age.  Hannah now says "ma" frequently throughout the day, but unfortunately, it's usually when she's mad at me.  I hear it frequently when I put her in her high chair then go and fix her food.  Maybe one day she'll learn to not use my name in vain!  She makes a lot of sounds, but I haven't heard "up" or "uh oh" in a while.  We're still doing signs for up, all done, mom, and dad.  She waves her arms in the air when she wants up.  Hannah can also help us putting her arms in her outfits and through the high chair and car seat arm straps.
A few favorite pictures from the month: