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| Hannah@ 17 months! |
Very little about Hannah is "baby" anymore as it is, but something about writing @ 17 months...man. However, as I post this two days before she reaches 18 months, I chuckle at myself because that disbelief has long since dissipated.
Seventeen months by stream of consciousness...
17 months was a busy month, from mid July to mid August. Some of our best highlights, happenings, and adventures from the month:
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| Nap time! |
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| playing in the fountain - downtown Silver Spring |
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| Someone loves the fountain! |
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| Where did the water go? (The fountain was the one that had different jets spouting water at different times...Hannah couldn't quite figure it out!) |
Imitation -my nose was runny for a few days, so I was using tissues more than normal. So this week Hannah started pulling tissues from tissue boxes, practicing blowing her nose, and then putting the tissues in the trash. It was pretty darn cute.
The number one way to get Hannah to stop fussing - whether from a diaper change or any other time, is to ask her to help me. Open the door, turn off the light, or the number one "fussy toddler" solution? "hannah please take your diaper and put it in the trash" - it takes enough focus and energy that all crying suddenly stops, she takes a deep breath and is so focused on the task she can't do anything else - it's really really neat to see! :)
Overall she just really LOVES to help! The phrase "can you help me...." gets her attention. She helps me put clothes in the drier, carries things to the trash, drops food in the food processor (that was a favorite), helps clean, helps wipe up water when she spills, pulls the plug on the tub, you name it!
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| helping me clean! |
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| Every once in a while she still falls asleep in my arms :) |
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| Walking the trail with her pups, this is her "big girl" walk. |
This month she has also become very empathetic. She is very easily upset by violence. One evening at dinner, Daniel had teased me way too and I finally responded by attacking him with tickles/attempting to tickle him (which involved him backing out of the room, batting to defend himself, saying "no" as I laughingly batted at him and tried to poke him/tickle)...and Hannah FREAKED out. It was honestly chilling. For days I thought about the impact that domestic violence must have on children - I saw the look of terror and heard Hannah's scream and was so shaken as I imagined the longer term impact it could have on a child who grew up in that kind of environment. Just a few days later, Chance was playing in the backyard and severed one of his nails (poor Chance!) and within a minute or so of all of us getting inside I realized he was bleeding all over the hardwood floor in the living room. I called out to Daniel to keep Hannah out while I worked on containing the situation, but Hannah was right there, saw the blood everywhere and was hysterical. Our little girl has developed empathy!
The Original Florida Family Reunites...
When we moved to Florida, we met two couples in the first month - all three of us (couples) had newly transplanted to FL and were either newly married or engaged and all of the boys worked at the same company. We had a lot in common and bonded quickly - it was the very beginning of our beloved "Florida Family." Over time we have all moved out of FL and have expanded our families. Kristi and Grant braved a drive from Michigan with their two elementary age children and came out to Maryland to visit those of us who have preschoolers that we aren't crazy enough to shove in a car (we're super grateful they were willing!!) It was a great visit and was downright magical to watch all of our kids (the "cousins") playing together. Hannah is old enough now to jump in and play with "the big kids" and loved it. We enjoyed a weekend braving DC, hanging out, and watching our kiddos chase each other all throughout Arthur and Kristina's house.
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| The Florida "cousins" |
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| Our crew reunites! |
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| And this is the real picture lol. |
While in DC, Hannah majorly enjoyed the Natural History Museum and loved the lions, the hippo, and the penguins that she saw. She was far too young to question the creepy taxidermy.
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| She loved playing with Kristi's sweet children |
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| Look at that look! |
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| Hannah became a monkey this month! She can scale all our furniture now! |
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| She loves looking out the window - and loves throwing birdseed so she can feed the birds, squirrels, and chipmunks that frequent our yard. |
Croup :(
So right after our lovely weekend with our friends and watching Hannah romp through DC, she fatefully came down with a walloping round of croup and was down for the count with four days of fever. She was extra fussy, extra feverish, extra clingy, extra whiny, and all around pitiful for days upon days and while I did my best to soak in the baby snuggles and the down time, overall my baby was miserable, I was going stir crazy, and it lasted way longer than was welcome. On a positive note...when Hannah is sick we are always powerfully reminded of how delightful she is when she is actually well
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| Sleeping in Target after her doctor's visit to make sure it wasn't spreading to her lungs...we had to duck into target while she was napping for the survival groceries to make it through the week! I walked like a hunchback through the store so she would stay asleep! |
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| Sick doctor's visits = ice cream. Poor babe. |
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| Napping |
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| Feeling better! |
Daddy and Mommy?
Daniel's been enjoying the gradual slow down that came from surviving the Pluto Flyby. I really enjoyed teaching summer school, but was thrilled when it drew to a close. 3.5 hour classes four days a week for five weeks turns into a grind no matter how exciting and innovative my lessons. At the end of the month, my school closed its offices for a week and I got a bonus week off. I was so excited - I had a mix of plans that ranged from things I wanted to catch up on around the house, to a day of me time and errands, lunch and movie dates with Daniel, and a trip to SC. BUT. Hannah came down with croup Sunday morning and had a high fever for four days. For at least three of those days all she wanted to do was snuggle and sleep and was very fussy and unhappy. It was so tough, because I was continually torn between fully embracing all of the sweet snuggles and chance to watch TV, but I was also so disappointed because I had so so so looked forward all of the things I had hoped to do that week - and her sick days were obliterating the days I had dog-eared for myself. But, I was also super grateful that if she was going to be so sick it wasn't on days that I was forced to miss work.
After having to cancel our SC trip and spending a week snuggling with a baby who would NOT let me budge from the couch (I could barely put her down to use the restroom without her sobbing uncontrollably for several days), by the time Hannah was better we were in desperate need of some truly "fun" time and also in need of some couple time. Daniel also had time off because of all the overtime he had worked while he was manning the New Horizons mission. We ended up with two free days - the first day we stayed close in case Hannah regressed and we enjoyed a long fancy lunch and a movie. The second day we decided to truly go for it and dropped Hannah off at daycare and headed for Six Flags America! One of the most fun days we have had in a very very long time - we spent the whole day riding roller coasters and enjoying the water park. The lines were almost nonexistent and we had an amazing time! It was so incredibly refreshing to spend a day by ourselves, on our own, only worried about ourselves and how we could have some fun. We timed it so that we left before rush hour, grabbed a bite to eat and a beer at a local pub near her daycare, and then picked up our sweet girl and enjoyed our evening together, feeling refreshed!
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| "Rebels" - we made a break for it and headed to an amusement park for some very well earned adult fun! |
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| This one was awesome! You ride it on your back - but when you glide along the rails it actually is as if you are a bird or a bat and have a birds eye view as you fly around - so so so much fun! |
The puppies?Playing with Holly - it has evolved - they play with very little adult interference now...and Holly could very easily rip the toy out of Hannah's hand and run away with it, but instead, she enjoys the "tug of war" game they play and the hunt and will even seek Hannah out, with the toy in her mouth ready to go.
Hannah loves to give Chance hugs and lean in for kisses.
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| She loves trying on shoes! |
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| Going outside to run through the yard is another favorite |
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| This cart was a huge win at Wegmans! |
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| Bowling! She loves it! |
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| How Hannah rolls. Sesame Street, milk, water, and kix way too early on a Saturday morning |
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| She loves helping me in the kitchen! |
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| adorable! this was the first time she actually posed and smiled for a picture |
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| I love these two! |
Daniel's family visited in a whirlwind weekend while Stephanie was up here to attend her One Directions (Christmas present) concert. Hannah adored playing with the two teenage girls (Stephanie and her friend, Emily) and had a blast catching up with her grandparents as well while Daniel and I snuck out to see Mission Impossible in IMAX (and it was awesome!). We had a slower pace on Sunday once the larger crew hit the road and it was just Daniel's dad left to hang out before his flight. Overall, we had a great time catching up with everyone and Hannah loved it!
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| watching videos with Grandma |
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| this child loves ice cream - this was after a bite of Ben & Jerry's |
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| more please!! |
The next weekend we headed up to NJ for my family's reunion and skipped town on the early side of Friday and enjoyed one last summer day off of work before the back-to-school craziness hits for me. Hannah met many of her extended family for the first time and we enjoyed catching up with everyone and celebrating my Grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary and my grandfather's 90th birthday!
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| playing with a game Aunt Mary-Michele brought her from Paris |
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| Two amazing couples! My grandparents are on the left, my grandmother's brother and his wife are on the right - they drove up and surprised her for the party! |
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| Chilling in the pool at the reunion |
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| Absolutely beat after the reunion! |
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| blowing kisses to her great grandfather! |
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| blowing kisses to her great grandmother! |
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