The Hals Family World Adventures: September 2014

SIX MONTHS!!! This is a big one! Hannah has been living on the outside for half of a year already! She's continued to learn new tricks this month and is doing very well! The transformation from four to six months has been absolutely astounding and her last big accomplishment has been incredibly pivotal in the Hals' household - Hannah is on the move!

Six Months

I took a video of her creeping across the floor for a ball at 5 months 1 week. By 5 months 3 weeks she was chasing my laptop across the living room floor with respectable speed. Over Labor Day weekend Daniel and I noticed her becoming faster and more coordinated each day - by Monday night we had a crawling baby who had developed octopus arms and was officially into everything - yikes!!!

This would be the first milestone I wasn't rushing. (Teething and walking are the other two). Not that I don't want her to crawl...eventually...but I wouldn't have been sad in the slightest if she had skipped crawling and just started walking in a few more months. But nope. Not in the cards for us. She is a very inquisitive little wiggle worm who is bound and determined to investigate every corner of our little home!

She can't just lay there...she's examining the fan with her foot while posing

I've continually marveled at how she slowly develops more and more coordination and how being able to do something affects a seemingly unrelated skill as well. My latest marvel and theory has been that babies were definitely not meant to have good hand-grasping-object coordination just yet, because the lack of this ability is part of what challenges the baby to learn to crawl. Hannah would see a (tennis ball sized) orange ball on the floor and would reach for it...but in flicking her wrist upwards so her palm could come in contact with the ball, her fingers would flick the ball further away from her. How frustrating! ...So frustrating that she would awkwardly and laboriously grunt her way towards the orange ball. She would touch it and reach to grab it and yep, bat it away from her instead of towards her. What an interesting evolutionary thing that they are not more advanced in grasping objects at this point and are thus forced to learn to move so they can continually reach what they desire. ...At least this was my theory...but it has been very fascinating to watch her entertain herself with these types of attempts.

Daniel call this picture "proof Hannah is officially a Hals" - before the fall weather rolled in she had an obsession with crawling to the air vents and laying on them face down. I should also add that she would become too cold and then whine...she didn't seem to get the cause and effect concept that she should maybe move.

How crawling has changed things...really ever since Hannah started sitting up she has been more focused on looking at objects and examining things than looking to me to entertain her - now that she is crawling this is the case even more. We haven't baby proofed yet because we were planning on moving and her crawling and us moving only has a month overlap. But it is a major adjustment to have to consider what she can "get into." Dog toys, dog food, dog water dishes, stairs, roomba, the fans, our shoes...you name it. My proudest creative moment when I was so grateful for object permanence? (or the lack of it) When I put her down in the living room I just throw a blanket over roomba and he doesn't exist to her! Ta da! And she's reaching more too. At a restaurant we had her in our lap at the table and were unpleasantly shocked by how far she could reach - it's made things quite challenging and all in a matter of days!

So we need to baby proof to at least this height...

Already planking to try climbing up the stairs. Good grief child!

Other accomplishments? Sometimes she is babbling more and the babbling has more talking voice sounds to it, while I mentioned her grasping abilities are still in development, they are actually quite impressive she can grab all kinds of things with pretty decent control, has been able to shift them from hand to hand for months, and can grasp very small objects - like individual pieces of dog food! Yay? Nope. We found that last one out the hard way. In our new place the dog food and water will definitely be in a different location!

Daniel put her in the car to drive home and when he went to the back seat found her like this in the car. Nom nom nom! New snacks for Hannah!

Nom nom nom

Meeting Savannah!

Savannah! Doesn't she look like she could be Hannah's sister?

Not sure about this crying business...is she Annoyed or concerned?

Comforting? Or saying "hey, cut it out!"

Who Needs Sleep? Hannah Does!

Woohoo!!!!! I am excited to report that sleep has FINALLY improved!!! Ever since she started crawling this child is tuckered out and the amount of time she was sleeping at night lengthened. At first it was to 4-5 hour stretches and then, miraculously, on some nights she began sleeping from 8-3 or 8-4, or even 8-5!!! The first time she did it, ironically and mercifully was the night after Daniel and I had both gotten slammed with a 24 hour tummy bug - it was great because we got extra rest, but the irony was that we slept badly because we were both still sick. Since then, however, I have greatly enjoyed the nights when she sleeps so long. It's nearly impossible for me to go to bed exactly when she does (I have to prep everything for the next day - bottles to send to day care, bottles and everything I need to continue pumping, lunch, breakfast, etc. Most are things that have to be done daily and are difficult to do while she's awake (and I'd rather giver her my attention while she is awake!)). It is certainly not every night and I try to go to bed with low expectations that she will sleep a long stretch, but it is a beautiful surprise when it happens and as she hit six months it was happening 2-3 nights a week! The times it has happened I have been amazed at how much more clarity of thought I have...and also at how getting closer to a normal amount of sleep causes me to realize how shatteringly bone tired I actually am. Still, it's been a very exciting month in the sleep department!

Nom nom nom?

Six months and still exclusively nursing! Go us! We tried solids one more time this month - we waited three or four weeks from the previous incident (and during that time she had hit some major developmental milestones and was showing a lot more signs that she was ready). So we gave her one of the foods she had done well with previously...and two to three hours later she was very sick. Pretty disheartening. It's not that I *wanted* her to be able to eat solids - but she is a really active baby and has been hungry and seemed much more ready. Was she? Evidently not. So I called our pediatrician and we had a discussion. He recommended some different foods to try in an additional three to four weeks. She's probably just not ready but there is a nagging worry in the back of my head. We'll see! Mid-month I had a week when I was SO SO hungry...and so was Hannah. It was a mutual growth/production spurt that was timed right around when she started crawling. So cool how all of that works!

Favorites?

Hannah loves playing with Holly in the morning and still loves to watch the puppies play. She really loves the stackable rings (the classic plastic baby toy my parents got her) and it is a continual favorite. She also adores her different textured plastic balls. In the car she adores her wubba nub lamb. Not as a pacifier, but as a toy to snuggle and something to gnaw on. She loves the plastic keys she has...loves her mom's keys...and loves slamming anything and everything around to make as loud a noise as possible. She loves looking at the pictures in books and it is the one time she will sit still in my lap aside from meal time. And she loves chasing after an empty baby bottle on the hardwood floors - it spins and rolls and is totally fascinating! The exersaucer is still a favorite sometimes too and still holds Hannah's attention long enough for me to get something done from time to time.

Definitely Still Growing!

Her peach fuzz is steadily getting thicker and longer...but it's still very fuzzy :) Still brown with red hints...we'll see! Her eyes are still a beautiful, mesmorizing hazel! Still no teeth and enjoying the gummy grin for whatever time we still have! She is steadily getting longer and taller! We are done with most 6 month pajamas (there's a few that still fit, but not many) and she can still wear a few of her "Small" halo sleep sacks with 9 month long sleeved onesies, but we really are moving up to 9 months! In the clothing department all of the 3-6 month clothes have been retired, some of her 6 month outfits are quickly becoming too short or too tight and we are moving up to the 6-9 month stuff! Wow! I'm a bit sad because I LOVED her 6 month wardrobe...she just had gorgeous outfits from so many different people! I'm excited to find out how much she has grown at her 6 month appointment (it's coming up later this week, but hasn't happened just yet).

Hannah at six months!

Look at those beautiful hazel eyes!

The Pups

Hannah loves her puppies! She and Holly play together almost every morning while Daniel gets ready for work. She loves Chance and every once in a while catches him in a tolerant and snuggly mood. The pups are doing well and we are excited for what the new place will offer them!

Hi Holly!!!

Monkey see monkey do. Puppy chew time

This makes my heart happy :)

Daddy

Daniel has continued to become an expert Hannah tamer in the morning! She enjoys the views from the jogging stroller in the morning and often dozes off and enjoys the lull of the stroller. She can be very clingy in the morning too, so some mornings are very hard for Daniel. But overall they are managing! Daniel is still enjoying his job and is about to have his one year anniversary of joining his new company. He's super excited about the location of our new house (right across the street from an extensive paved trail system)!

These make my heart happy too! Hannah loves loves loves her daddy!

Mommy

I am doing pretty well! This month the teachers returned and school is in session. It was bizarre to go from being one of about ten people working in the building to suddenly become one out of twelve or thirteen hundred people? The commute transitioned from being pretty bad to downright horrendous as schools started in the area and other things picked up for the fall. So bad that on some days I was leaving for work at 6:15 and arriving home at 5:45. So between having a baby, exclusively nursing, working full time, and commuting...exhausted is a tremendous understatement. Most days I spend 60-80 minutes each way in my car. If it takes fifty minutes I feel like I cheated or won the lottery.

I am still frequently torn between productivity and just letting it all go and just enjoying Hannah. The problem is that at some point laundry is a must. Cooking dinner is a must. ...and I am getting better about not feeling as guilty about having to do the basic things necessary to our survival. Overall though I have found I am happiest with Hannah and most relxed when I am not trying to play with Hannah and multitask...that's when I get frustrated. On the weekends when I can make myself fully relax and adjust my expectations and allow myself to be on Hannah time I am much happier.

And to cope with the terrible commute? We are moving! So Hannah is on the move...and well, so is the whole family! Daniel and I started talking about it and just kinda suddenly realized that the alternative (staying put and me driving alllllllll year) was just unbearable. For both of us. My extensive commute is more work for him too because I have less time at home and thus he has to do even more of the home things...or we are both frustrated by the list of things we don't have time to get to since I am not really working forty hours a week...with my commute it's more like 60+ hours. So we dove in and I searched for places very seriously, we saw several over a weekend and within a pretty short amount of time...even though at that moment it seemed very all consuming...we found a cute little single family home in Silver Spring that is right across from Sligo park which has an extensive paved trail system and will suit our families needs beautifully. So overall we are excited! The reasons we aren't excited...aside from our current levels of exhaustion are all shallow reasons not to move. And in many ways we are excited to explore a new area and be so close to so many more parks and trails.

One other thing that has been really difficult for me is that as Hannah has started crawling my interactions with her have changed dramatically. I had a really tough week mid month and I'm beginning to wonder if it was tied to this and I just couldn't put my finger on exactly what it was yet. Prior to now she was much more dependent on me for entertainment and our interactions were full of moments in which I made her smile or even laugh. Now she isn't content to stay put and have this interaction...instead she wants to interact with the rest of the world and explore it for herself. Which is amazing! But selfishly I am sad. Overnight my baby was no longer dependent on me in the same way that she had been the day before. I feel like I no longer have a baby. She is a little inquisitive person who is on the move and it makes my heart hurt. I know I would probably never be ready...but she reached this point extra extra early! I have some friends who had immobile babies until they were ten months and skipped straight to walking! I am unbelievably grateful for having such a healthy, happy baby but can't help but feel like between her being born 9 lbs 9oz and crawling st 5 months 1 week, I have gotten a teensy bit jipped in the snuggly little baby department. She's still a little one, but I cannot believe how much she is already capable of and aware of! It is breathtaking and amazing and awesome!