Halloween Party

Today is Hannah's Halloween Party at school. They can't wear their costumes, so those pics will be coming next week. When I handed her pumpkin to her, she immediately put it on her arm and said, Bye-Bye. I guess she picks up that when Mommy or anyone else puts her purse on her arm that means we are leaving.

We have been practicing Trick-or-Treat all week, however, I am not sure if just anyone could decipher it- but I can tell what it is. I am sure she will get to a door on Halloween and just freeze! She will be with her cousins and her friend, Braewyn, so maybe they will keep her going.

Oh, and Hannah is going to be an Indian for Halloween. She has already tried it on a couple of times, and it is super cute.

Along with Trick-or-Treating on Halloween, we are going to Boo at the Zoo this Saturday in New Orleans. I have never been, but it should be a lot of fun. And as you can see, Hannah is ready to go!

I hope everyone has a great weekend, and I will post the Halloween pics next week!

Hannah 1-2-3

Check it out!!!! When Bill brought Hannah home on Sunday, he had realized over the weekend an awesome trick. Of course, it took me a few tries to get it on camera, but here it is.

Please disregard all the goldfish in her mouth- she ate all her dinner so she got a treat!

A Lesson for Mommy!

So, I had my first "watch what your saying" lesson last night. I was so shocked that it took me a few minutes to realize what had just happened- then of course, I laughed!

Hannah and I were on our way home from school and it was raining. I almost missed a turn, and I said "Crap." Then I hear her say, "Crap". It wasn't real distinct, but she was definitely mocking me. Then I said, uh oh, and then I hear her in the back seat saying that too!!!! The crazy thing was that she wasn't even paying attention to me. She was playing with her shoes.

I knew this was going to happen, so I don't know why I acted so surprised. I just kept driving home and pondering what had just happened. I am still a little taken back, but I guess I should just be glad it was just "Crap"!!!

Now I am going to start telling strangers on the street to watch their language! HA- that would be awesome. "Um excuse me sir, I know this is a free country with free speech and all, but could you refrain from using those socially unacceptable terms in front of my daughter." But I guess I need to start with myself!!! Who would have thought I would get in such a tizzy about the word "Crap".

Ah, the learning lessons that my 18 month old daughter continues to teach me. She will straighten me out before you know it!

Sweet Baby!

I know I tell people this all the time, but I think it is so sweet. Hannah loves babies! Everytime we are in a store and she sees a baby carrier she points and says baby. There was even a time when a lady had a department store cart and it was filled with clothes were a baby would normally sit, and Hannah kept pointing and saying baby, baby. I think the lady was a little taken back because she was like, "no, baby and thank goodness for that!" I just laughed and went on.

She loves being around her cousin Claire. Although, she did scare her a few times when she got real excited and screamed. I hope Claire isn't too scared, but she sure has leary eyes when Hannah gets close.

Last Friday, we went to a friends house who has a daughter Hannah's age and another 2 month old baby- yes, pray for her! Hannah was so sweet to the baby. We put all three of the girls in the back seat, and Hannah just sat there quietly and watched the baby. When we got home, she rocked the baby and was just so interested in everything it was doing (which wasn't much).

And her friend, Braewyn, who is her age has a baby doll with a stroller and pacifer and all the good baby stuff, and Hannah goes straight for it every time we are there. She loves to hold the baby and put the pacifer in its mouth, and stroll her around the house.

I guess I like it so much because it amazes me how she is so young but still picks up on this baby stuff. She just seems so sweet and gentle (I mean as gentle as an 18 month can be, we do have to tell her stop rocking so aggresively sometimes). I just think it is sweet, and it makes me feel good about the person she is becoming and will become in the future.

There's more than one way to say No!

Hannah has really gotten good at understanding what I am saying to her. I am finding many advantages to this. For example, she will put her toys in the basket, put her milk on the table, and whole bunches of new things. But she is also learning how to say No- in more ways than one!

On Sunday, Hannah took an early nap, so she went down again later in the afternoon. I didn't want her to sleep too long, so I went and got her up about an hour later. I let her lay on my bed to wake up slowly, but then it was time to get up. We were going to a friends house to eat dinner, and it was time to go.

Hannah was laying on my bed with her thumb in her mouth, balled up with her butt straight in the air. I started asking her questions like, "Are you ready to get up? " "Are you ready to go and eat?". At first, she was shaking her head no, but since she was face down on my bed, that was obviously too difficult. I noticed a second later that she hiked up her butt a little higher. I continued to ask her questions simply to annoy her. Do you know what she did? She answered me with her BUTT! She started shaking her butt in the no direction!

So I kept asking questions and she kept shaking her butt! By that time I was laughing so hard that she got up and jumped on me and it was over. But (no pun intended), how smart of her to use other body parts to communicate when other things weren't convenient. Although I would rather her not communicate with her butt, whatever works!

Smarty Pants

I know I always say hannah is getting super smart, but I was just shocked (and a little sad) last night. My mom was with us last night, and after her bath my mom said, "Look what Hannah can do." Of course I naturally say, "What?" Then my mom starts singing the itsy bitsy spider and Hannah starts doing all the motions and trying to sing it!!!!!! I thought I was going to cry!

It was so cute, and incredible to see her little mind just expanding all the time. She tries to say everything you do, and sometimes she gets really close.

These instances are happening a lot now. She goes to school in the morning not saying and word and comes back saying it. For instance, I have been working on Hannah saying "Milk" when she wants her cup (since I always put milk in it), and she hasn't ever really tried to say it back. Well that was Monday morning, when I got home Monday night she was saying milk!

I know this is going to happen a lot now, and it is exciting to watch her learn. And a little scary how much she learns so fast!

My first colors

The other day my mother asked me if I had been teaching Hannah her colors. Oops! Is that what is next?

Needless to say, it hasn't been a top priority in our house. Animals and the sounds they make have kind of taken the lead. Not to mention, one of my friends pointed out the other day, "Why do we spend so much time teaching them what animals say?" Colors, letters, numbers, what the animal actually is, is really the important stuff. I told her, "You haven't seen a toddler try and make a monkey sound or an elephant impersonation."

Anyway, that is digressing. So Hannah was in the bath last night and she has these colored floating balls that she plays with. Well, last night I start picking them up and saying, "Yellow ball, Red ball, etc." Then I put them down and asked her, "Where is the red ball?" And by golly, she went right to it. Oh the exceptional child that she is!!!!!! I proceeded to go onto to the other colors, and she goes right to them.

I will try it again tonight and we will see how she does, but I am sure she will nail it again. I mean, since she is sooooo smart for her age! HAHA

Who is Momma?

For a very long time- probably before Hannah even new what was going on in this world- I would point to me and say "Momma" and point to her and say "Hannah." Well Hannah is exceptional for her age and all (hehe), but I think she is really confused on this one! Instead of pointing to herself and saying Hannah (or something along those lines), she points to herself and says "Momma."

I repeatedly tell her, "No, I am momma. You are Hannah." But then I realized that she called everyone Momma. She understands peoples names because this weekend I would tell her to go and find Renee, and she would go right to her. But then again, she would look at her and say Momma. I am just a little curious to what she thinks Momma is.

I mean how does she define "Momma." Any person who gives me food. Someone who plays with me on the floor at night. Someone who constantly asks for hugs and kisses. Any person with long, brown hair. Any persons who says "No mam, Hannah." Or does she know a persons name (which is obvious that she does), and the only thing that comes out of her mouth is "Momma."

It is all cute and funny until she points at the stranger in the grocery store and says "Momma." Then she will take my all-powerful Momma status away and just hand it to a stranger. I don't mind sharing with people she knows, but geez I don't want to share with a complete stranger. I am sure she has her own all-powerful "Momma" status.

I assume as she begins to talk more, this situation will take care of itself. And for the record, it is really cute when she points to herself and says Momma. I would just like to get into her brain and see what she means.

Little Trim

Hannah got her first trim this weekend. For those of you who don't know, my best friend, Renee, is a hair stylist. She came to visit this weekend, and gave Hannah her first trim.

Hannah had the longest bangs EVER! They hung down to the middle of her nose, and I tried to train them to go to one side, but they had a mind of their own. So now, Hannah has some bangs that she can see with.

We distracted her with baby einstein, so I am not sure if she even knew what was going on. But I did save it and put it in an envelope!

The rest of the weekend was wonderful too. Hannah has learned how to turn in circles. We were at the mall yesterday and they have a big open area, and I took her out there while Renee was shopping. She would run out there, twirl around and then collapse. I have to say she is pretty good at the twirling. I don't know if she learned it at school or what, but on Sunday she just started twirling around. And then when we woke up this morning, she just got to twirling. And let me tell you, it is hard to dress a twirling child! I hope her shirt is on the right way.

I hope everyone else had a great weekend!

Hello Everyone (and everything)

I have started walking again after work (I think my bike needs new tires), and I have realized that I don't just need to do this for me, but for hannah too.

It is such an awesome way for Hannah to explore her world. She sits in the stroller and just looks around, points at things, attempts to tell me what she is looking at and just has a great time. I point out things to her and repeat them, while she tries to figure out what I am pointing at. She waves to cars, people, dogs and anything else that passes us by.

And as I was walking last night, I started thinking how great this was for her. She gets to interact with me and discover new things about the world everyday.

Well, we are going tomorrow to hang out with the fam. And Hannah gets to meet her cousin, who is about 3 weeks older than her. They live in Houston, so they have never been able to meet. It will be fun with three babies within 1 month of each other- how many toys will be snatched out of hands tomorrow! It should be fun.

I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Sorry I have been slacking.....I know I say that everytime. Life is just a big hustle and bustle and sometimes I get lost in it!

Hannah is just growing like a weed. She is learning so much, so fast- sometimes I look at her and think, "Hey, I don't even know you anymore. What did you do with my baby?" She responds to what I say and she just tries so hard to spit out every word she can. Her vocabulary is expanding everyday- but so is her independence, attitude, opinion, etc., etc. You see where I am going with this.

There were a couple of days last week I thought I was losing control!!!! Dinner plates were being tossed across the room, necklaces and shirts were being pulled, bodies were going limp, tears were flowing and screams (from both of us!) were going off. I felt like a demon had taken her over. I even had a girl at work pick me up a brochure on child-rearing classes. THANKS- really! (I should toss it back though since she is about to have her own bundle of joy any day now!)

But she was getting over a virus she had all weekend, so I think that was a lot of it. We are over it now and my sweet little angel has come home. She just toddles around talking and picking up everything in site and on the shelves.

I was talking to a friend last night who asked about Hannah, and it is so hard to really explain how awesome she is, and I am having that same problem now. Just take my word for it- she is a ball full of energy that amazes me everyday.

I am trying to post pictures, but my new camera is really wierd. I have some coming soon.

We're still alive!

Hi everyone,

I have to make this short, but I wanted to let everyone know that we are still alive. I feel like I always say this, but things have been crazy. All of you have been on mind and I have been concerned about my readership failing because of my lack of blogging, so please don't give up on me. I could go into my crazy life, but who really cares- it is a job, not a life. HA- that is funny!

Hannah is doing great. We had our 15 month check up last week and she is doing fine. She had a big melt down in the room, and the doctor was like, "Nevermind, I was about to ask if she was throwing things around." That would be right after she chunked my phone across the room- I can laugh about it now.

She was a huge flirt. She has a male doctor, so you can imagine. He left the room and she was having an "episode." She was sitting in my lap just wailing, and I was trying to confort her like we mothers do- she just kept shoving my hands away and tossing everything in arms length onto the floor. I finally raised my hands in the air and just let her be mad. So............the doctor walks in again. Hannah sticks her thumb in her mouth and curls up on me like a sweet little angel. He just looked at her and said, "don't try that, I heard you all the way down the hall." Now if she could only understand that- it would have been priceless!

So she has definitely hit the toddler stage- at least I hope this it. But she is still sweet and just an angel, but she is definitely asserting herself more now! Oh well, I always liked a person with an opinion.

Well I will talk to you all soon. Have a great weekend!

Thunder- scary! and other fun stuff (kind of)

It seems like it rains every day here in Louisiana, but usually it just has one big downpoor and then we are good until tomorrow. Well the other night was a different story- we actually had a storm. Hannah has been through a lot of storms and they have never seemed to bother her until the other night. Everytime it thundered she came barrelling toward me, and letting out a small cry. She would curl up until she felt like it was safe again. I thought it was so strange.

But then I started thinking about how lately she has been more jumpy. Sometimes when she is really into her toys, I will say something to her and she jumps like it startled her. Do they all of a sudden get super-duper hearing? I don't get it. I guess it is just another guessing game, but for the record- Hannah does not like thunder.

On another note, Hannah has another tooth and probably by the weekend another one will break through. Does she have an abnormal amount of teeth for a 15 month old? She has 13 officially, but like I said it will probably be 14 by the weekend. Everyone always comments on how many teeth she has. They ask me if that is normal, and I say, "I suppose, she is the only child I have to compare." I mean it seems normal to me, but hey what do I know- I am just the mother.

And on another note, Hannah has really perfected her art of walking. I have gotten to were I will let her down to walk around places- malls, Walgreen (not the best idea I ever had), etc.- and it cracks me up. Most people swing there arms in a rythem, but Hannah only swings one arm. She sticks out her belly and gets to pumping that arm. It is hilarious.

We had to go to the hospital earlier in the week to visit a friend who just had a baby, and I let her down. People were just laughing at her the whole way up to the room. Of course, a lot of people in a hospital just need a good laugh. Maybe I should take her up there once a week to just walk and make some people smile! Anyway, it was really funny and the girl I was with couldn't get over how she walked so funny. I wish everyone could see it.

Okay, enough rambling for one day. Oh yeah, I am going to put a disclaimer on this one to preface all of my blogs. Please excuse all of my punctuation, spelling, word usage and/or grammar mistakes. This is the one place where I do not have to worry about this and I enjoy that about my blog. My job entails me everyday to be very detailed about it and I get tired of doing that. And this blog does not contain spell check! So please excuse. If you have a huge problem with it- then read someone else's blog. HAHA.

Have a great weekend!

Circus Time

Last Saturday, I took Hannah to the circus. Actually, my mom, brother, sister-in-law and their two children went to the circus too. It was so much fun!

I have never been to the circus, so it was just as much fun for me! Well, back to Hannah because I know you are not interested in how excited I was!!!!

Overall, Hannah really liked it. At first, she was a little scared by it and she just curled up on my lap, but then her cousins got there and she was good to go. She jumped off my lap and was dancing and clapping and having a good time. She liked the dogs and other animals the best- she really isn't at the point of liking the trapeze like me! My brother bought M&M's, so by the time it was over Hannah and I both had chocolate over the front of our shirts.

It is just one of those other things that makes being a parent so much fun- I get to be a kid again too.

The stairs are so tough!

I read in a book recently (and I may have blogged about it some), that if you have stairs in your house you should take time to teach your child how to go up and down them. Let them practice why you are nearby to maybe prevent any accidents. So everyday when Hannah takes a bath at night she climbs tup he stairs and does very well at it, and every morning she climbs down.

In the morning when she gets ready to go down, so stands by the edge and puts her hand up for me hold. She knows she is not secure enough to walk down by herself, which I think is so cute when she holds up that hand. So to get down she holds my hand and puts one foot at a time onto each step, and since her but is the same height at the stair you can imagine what a drop it is for her little legs.

Well this morning we were walking down the stairs as usual, and she started this grunting every time her foot stepped down. She sounded so pitiful, like it was the toughest thing she had ever done. Every step....huh....huh....huh....huh, all the way to the bottom. I just walked down beside her and laughed! It is so hard being her! But I guess it is the same concept as me stepping up and down a 3 foot wall. Who knows, I'd probably be grunting too!

We'll see if she starts doing it every time. This may be the first sign of a drama queen! (HAHA)

Pictures!!!!

Here are some recent pictures of Hannah. I hope you enjoy!

1) I am being brave and putting a picture of myself in my bathing suit on the web. AAAHHH! But it is a good memory for Hannah. As you can see, she liked the water as long as someone was really close. It is fun going to the beach with children because you find yourself acting like a child again (sitting the sand with the water, building sand castles, running and jumping over the waves)- you get the point.


2) Here is a picture of Hannah and I in our famous khaki and white pics. Not real close, but we are laughing really hard because Hannah kept shaking her head. Seems that she is not a big fan of the family pictures either!








3) Another picture of Hannah at the beach. Kirbo is taking her down to the water. That is after she had him bringing her pail after pail of water to fill her hole. I guess he thought it would be easier to just take her to the ocean instead of the ocean to her.
















4) Hannah's first ponytail. Her hair is finally getting long enough to put up. It is really cute, but she pulls it out so she can't wear it up to school. I am just about ready to go for the first hair cut. Her hair is always in her eyes.
















5) Ah...mischevious. Hannah really likes her new cousin, Claire. She likes to rock her in her toys, but most of all, she likes to poke her eyes out. It is really sweet to see her with Claire, because I thought she would not pay any attention to her since she doesn't do anything, but Hannah pays a lot of attention to her. I think Hannah will definitely take up for her when all the other older cousins want to get her!!!!!



Well I hope everyone enjoys the pics. I broke my camera at the beach, but I now have a new one. Hopefully, I will be able to post more pictures. Have a good weekend! Hannah is going to Alabama this weekend, so I hope all of you have an awesome time with her. She is bunches of fun!!!!!

A few new tricks!

I know I have been slacking on my blog lately, but you would understand if you saw my desk!

Last weekend we went to my brother's house to play. For those of you who don't know, he has a daughter a month older than Hannah and a 3 year old. They put out the kiddie pool and Hannah had a blast. Although she was having a good time, I was a nervous wreck. Being the independent child that Hannah is, she did not want mommy to hold her hand the whole time. So I would let go while she was still and not trying to walk all around this pool, but then splash, hannah would lose her grip and under she would go. I would catch her arm and pull her up. At first I thought she might get scared and want to get out, but no, she kept doing it. I felt like I was constantly trying to save my child from drowning, but she loved it. So if anyone wants to go swimming in a baby pool with Hannah, make sure you don't have any distractions because she is not afraid to go under!

Hannah is also starting to pick up on a lot of words I am saying and I think it is so fun! We are working on getting out of the "point at what I want and whine" phase, so I am repeating what she wants when she points to it. We can officially say cracker! Although she still doesn't use it as well as I would like, we are getting there. She also says a little something that sounds like turtle, and she will point to the turtle when she says it. We still have a lot of learning to do because my niece who is a month older than her can say Speedboat!!!

She also knows milk. When she starts getting fussy for something, I say "where's your milk?" and that usually stops the fussing while she looks for it. We always keep it in reach for that purpose. Last night we were downstairs after dinner and it was time for bath. I asked Hannah if she was ready to go and take a bath and she darts to the stairs. I was not as fast as her getting up because she usually doesn't respond when I ask her, but I guess repetition pays off. She would walk back and look at me like "Okay come on I want to take a bath." I love that she is understanding me now. It kind of blows my mind when she does things like that because I still want her to be a baby and being able to communicate is a huge sign that she is not a little baby anymore, or atleast she won't be for long.

There are also a couple of really sweet things she is doing now that I LOVE! She knows to give hugs when you ask and give kisses. Although she has been slobbing kisses for a while; she is also becoming a wonderful hugger. Also, at night before I put her down, I tell her it is time to go night night and she curls up on me and starts to fall asleep. This is awesome because Hannah hasn't always been the biggest snuggler, but she is now.

Well those are a few things that have been going on with Hannah. I am working on posting some pictures soon, so look for those.

I did good!

Clapping has become one of Hannah's greatest joys in life. She claps at everything, especially when she does something good.

We watch Wheel of Fortune at night, and she claps when they get excited. She sees herself in the mirror and she claps. She simply walks around clapping.

The best thing is when she is carrying something around and gets excited. She stops, leans down to place the object on the floor, leans back up and then claps. It is so funny, because she doesn't just let go of the object and let it drop to the floor. She very nicely places it on the floor. She also gives you a big grin when she does it, so it makes it even more cute.

It is just amazing how she knows when she has done something good. What's even better is she also knows when she has done something bad. But I have to say she is really good about not doing something when she knows its bad. Well, it is not that simple, but atleast she will get really close to doing and give me that look like "I am about to touch it, when you are going to say no." Sometimes she will still do it, but a majority of the time she will stop and onto the next thing.

I know I say this a lot, but she is just so fun. It is amazing how much she is learning every day.

Well, I hope everyone has a good weekend. Talk to you soon.

I'm Back

I know it has been a while since I posted, so don't think I forgot about all of you in Hannahland.

Hannah and I have been really busy lately, and she is getting so big. A few weeks ago, Hannah got a new high chair that allowed her to sit up a little straighter. Since we got that high chair, we have moved from putting food directly on the high chair to using bowls and silver wear. It is so nice because I just sit her in her seat and she goes to town. She is still getting used to her fork and spoon, but she's got the idea. She just picks up the food and then puts it on the spoon. She then tries to get it turned back around to go in her mouth, which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. I place her milk in the cup holder and she picks it up to drink and places it nicely back into the cup holder. Her fine motor skills are just getting better by the day.

This won't be a big deal for anyone really but me, since I see it everyday. But Hannah just made me so happy Friday morning. When I take her to day care, she usually goes to her teacher and they hold her for a bit while I leave - to make sure the transition goes smoothly, if you know what I mean. Well, when I dropped her off on Friday, her teacher had another baby in her arms and she was putting her down to get Hannah. I went ahead and put Hannah down on the ground. My baby just walked off to the toy box, not even looking back at me or her teacher. I was so proud.

As for the weekend, we started painting our house. We only had one incident with Hannah and the paint. She was really good about not touching the walls and staying away from the paint brushes, but one time we put the paint bucket too low. The good news is that I turned around fast enough to stop her entire hand from getting into the paint. She merely decorated the ends of her fingertips.

And on a not so fun note, Hannah has another ear infection. She hasn't had one since the winter, so that is good news. She is just really fussy right now, and very clingy. But her being clingy is not much of a difference -we are still going through all of that. Hopefully the antibiotics will kick in soon and we will be good again.

Well, that should catch everyone up for a while. Hannah is growing so fast. I don't even have to carry her to the car in the mornings. She just walks out of the house herself, and when she hits an area she doesn't think she can make it around by herself, she very cutely puts up her hand for me to hold. It is really cute.

I hope everyone is having a good summer- school will be in again soon!!!!

Don't leave Mom

Sorry I have not posted in a while. Work has been really busy and I haven't had time to even think about my poor neglected blog. Oh well, busy is a good thing!

Hannah is going through a very clingy phase. I can't get 5 feet from her without her screaming, and you can forget walking to the other room without her. I asked my friend at work, who also has a child Hannah's age, what was going on. She said that babies will go through a separation anxiety phase around 18 months. Oh my goodness! We are not even 15 months yet......what am I going to do.

I sit down with her every night and give her my undivided attention - hoping this will calm her a bit. I always tell her, "Mommy will be back soon." I don't know what else to do. Any suggestions would be awesome!!!

The good thing is that when I take her to day care she seems fine. Some days she will cry when I leave, but that is usually on Mondays after we have been together all weekend. And even if she cries when I leave, it lasts 2 minutes. I know because I watched the other day at school.

She was crying when I gave her to her teacher, and by the time I got to the gate of the playground she had stopped! This makes me wonder - is it really separation anxiety or is she just SPOILED!!!!!

Well, just another adventure in parenting. I am sure as soon as I figure this one out, we will be onto the one. I do have to admit, that sometimes I like it. Especially when she runs to me with that big smile and her arms wide open - it kind of melts me inside.

Also, I know I reported last week that Hannah had a new tooth on the bottom, well the other side came in also. I believe we are up to 12 teeth!!!!