7/12/13

Hannah is having the best time swimming this summer.  She was so hesitant last year in her floaties that she didn't get the hang of things until the very end of the summer.  This year she picked up right where she left off.  She will kick her legs and "swim" from the steps to the opposite side of the shallow end.  I am so proud of her.  We also signed her up for swim lessons and those start next week.  Hopefully she'll be even more confident in the water.

We're still having issues with nap/bed time.  Some days are great, but most days it's a struggle.  She's really really good about staying in her room.  But she wants to get on the floor and play, sing, and talk by the door.  If she lays in bed quietly she will fall asleep.  Started a new sticker chart reward system a few weeks ago.  She's earned a few stickers, but not rewards yet. 

I know I've written before about Hannah's imaginary friend named Bunny.  She still plays with him (or her depending on the day) often.  Recently she has started "playing" with various characters from books or TV (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse) too.  And she tells me about her doggies and talking lawn mower.  Definitely not lacking in the imagination department. LOL!  :-)

Hannah was looking at a teaching magazine that came in the mail the other day and noticed the page of animal letter crafts.  She showed them to me and then said "Mommy B says bu."  I told her that was correct and then asked Nathan if he had told her that.  He had not and neither had I.  We talked about how R says "err" and some r words several months ago, but that's it.  Not really in a hurry to teach her letter sounds since she still has 2 full years before she starts Kindergarten.  I started asking Hannah what some of the other letters said and she got quite a few of them right.  And she was SO excited about learning something new.  Guess we'll be talking about letter sounds now.  She totally amazes me in her ability to pick things up.

I'll end with a few photos.  Hannah loves to play with a ball outside.  She is even starting to catch and kick the ball....if she remembers to open her eyes.  LOL!  And the last picture is a new fav.  Hannah threw her arms up like that spontaneously and my mom happened to catch it.  Love it!
 

3/12/13

Last month began with a special treat for Hannah.  Our local Chick-fil-a hosts a Daddy Daughter Date Night in February for Valentine's Day.   Next year both girls can go since Abigail will have enough teeth to eat with.  =)  This year there was a photographer that brought props and took a picture of each dad with his "date."  LOVE this!

In last months post I wrote about Hannah memorizing Colossians 3:16 and posted a video link.  We also posted that link on Facebook and it was shared by LOTS of people.  It got sent to our pastor and they watched it in staff meeting.  They contacted us and asked if they could show the video in the service.  We said yes and they showed it in both services on Feb 24!  They showed the video within the first 15 minutes of the service so Nathan brought her in to see it and then took her back to her classroom.  She seemed to think it was neat.  Definitely a proud parenting moment!

I'm almost afraid to say it, but sleep issues have finally taken a turn for the better!  Hannah will occasionally wake up to potty in the middle of the night, but it's not every night.  And she's been doing better going to sleep as well.  We were constantly trying new tricks or rewards to get her to go right to sleep and not play or come out of her room 52 times.  Hannah has 2 or 3 stuffed animals that "sleep" on the big bed in her room since she still sleeps in a toddler bed.  One night Nathan took one of the animals and set him up on the dresser.  He told Hannah that Wrinkles was going to watch her and see if she could go right to sleep.  For some reason that worked, so Wrinkles now watches every night.  =) We'll see how long it lasts.

We made a Fruit Loop necklace with Grammy a few weeks ago.  Hannah wasn't sure at first, but then had lots of fun.  She enjoyed modeling her necklace when she as done, and it's also been a great snack.  Gotta love those fun activities that also work on fine motor skills.  Shh don't tell!  Here's some cute pictures!

Hannah enjoys letters so much that we've slowly started working on writing.  We thought we'd start with the letters in her name, since she can tell you how to spell it.  She figured out capital H all by herself.  A friend of mine teaches kindergarten and recommended not teaching your child to write their name in all capital letters. So I showed her the rest of the letters in lower case.  She can finally write them all.  Hannah still needs help knowing where on the page to write the letters (she wants to write them all over or on top of each other), but with a little help she can write her name.  Go Hannah!

And enjoy one of my favorite pics!
 

2/12/13

Hannah is definitely a three year old.  Most of the time she's very sweet and cooperative, but she most assuredly trying to test her boundaries.  =)  She really is a sweetie and is usually a very good helper.  She likes order and actually enjoys cleaning up her (and Abigail's) messes.  Hannah has also enjoyed helping my mom with her last few photography challenges.  Don't you just love this!

Sadly, her sleep issues haven't really gotten much better.  She will occasionally sleep all through the night, but more often than not she's up once to go potty.  Of course the nights she sleeps Abigail is up crying or the phone will ring at 2am (really annoying!)

I know I've said it before, but Hannah is such a great big sister.  Abigail ADORES her and follows her everywhere.  And in typical one year old fashion she wants to play with the toy Hannah has.  For the most part Hannah is REALLY REALLY good about sharing and will usually give the toy to Abigail and go find something else.  (And Abigail will then want that toy too!)  Hannah loves to give Abigail kisses and now that Abigail is trying to walk Hannah likes to hold her hand.  Is this not the sweetest thing!



Hannah still loves to learn and has recently started spelling out letters on things.  Of course she doesn't know she's spelling, she just says the letters, and then asks what the word says.  I think there are only 2 or 3 lower case letters she doesn't know and she known her capital letters for a LONG time. 

Hannah is also fascinated by Bible verses (can you hear me shouting HURRAY)!  She is constantly asking us to tell her what things say and read them to her.  If she finds out the words are a Bible verse she will ask us to read more than normal.  And her ability to remember things AMAZES me!  Our church recently launched a big program to get everyone reading scripture daily and not just on Sundays.  They've developed an app and everything.  Each reading plan is 40 days long and we're doing 8 plans throughout the year.  Each plan will also have a theme verse that the church staff is encouraging everyone to memorize.  They have business cards with the verse on them to assist you.  I put my card by my computer so I would see it everyday.  We are working on Colossians 3:16 and my plan was to memorize a phrase a day.  Hannah noticed the card (she notices everything) and asked what it was.  I told her it was a Bible verse and then read it to her.  Well she asked me to read it 5 or 6 times a day for the next week.  Needless to say that DEFINITELY helped me learn it quicker.  And by the end of the week she could hold up the card and "read" it to me.  I think this makes verse number 8 that she has memorized.  I could go on and on about how much this excites me, but I'll stop (for this post anyway).  =)  Nathan video taped Hannah saying this verse so click you want to watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whWebX7yeZo

1/12/2013

I typed this post early and was waiting to send it out until the 12th.  I totally forgot to send it out.  OOPS!

Hannah had her 3 year checkup a few days after her birthday.  Here's her stats -33 lbs and 37 1/2 inches.  The doctor said she looks great and was impressed with how well Hannah cooperated during the exam.  No shots this time, but I think there are several at the 4 year check up.

Just realized I never wrote about Hannah's birthday celebration.  We had pizza and cake with my family.  My mom didn't have time to make a cake this year so she had a friend of my sister's make one.   Super cute!

Before Abigail was born, we would let Hannah watch a DVD or TV show about once a week.  And she didn't watch anything until she was almost one.  The TV was a great distraction when Abigail was little and I had to rock her to sleep.  Now Hannah gets to watch one 25-30 minute show 4 or 5 days a week.  She knows it is a reward though and will not happen if she doesn't make good choices.  For the longest time all Hannah wanted to watch was Baby Einstein (great baby DVD's by the way).  She would occasionally watch Curious George or Veggie Tales.  Her favorite show right now is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  I like that is geared towards toddlers, semi educational, and not annoying to watch. =0  In case you're wondering Abigail watches TV with us, but she usually gets bored and crawls off to play.  Certain shows make her laugh and anything that has music will make her dance.

We've been talking a lot about choices with Hannah.  If she makes sad choices we have her pray and tell God sorry and ask him to help her make better choices.  A few weeks ago after she prayed she told me "Mommy, Jesus is here to help me make good choices.  He rode all the way to my house on a camel.  And Mary rode on the donkey and Joseph walked beside her."  I'm glad she's listening and trying to figure out the Christmas story...even if she's still a little confused!  =)

Hannah has always been a great sleeper...until recently.  Once we moved her to the toddler bed we've struggled off and on with keeping her in bed.  She'll usually come out several times before falling asleep.  We've tried various rewards and some days are great and some days not so much.  That was annoying, but not too bad.  Then about a month ago Hannah also started waking up in the middle of the night.  She is usually only up once, but sometimes it's two or three times in one night.  We have no idea what is waking her up.  I take her potty and put her back to bed and she almost always goes back to sleep. She isn't drinking more and had been sleeping through the night and waking up dry.   Really hoping this is just a phase because I would like a night of uninterrupted sleep ZZZZZ!  =(

As I mentioned in my Christmas post, Hannah got a play kitchen.  Since we had Christmas at my mom's the kitchen was still in the box that she hunted to find.  There were so many other things going on that day, that she wasn't really all that excited about her kitchen.  After the girls went to sleep that night, Nathan and I stayed up late putting it together.  She woke up the next morning and said "Mommy when Daddy gets home he'll put together my kitchen."  I told her to go look in the play room and she was VERY excited.  Nathan and I gave her pretend food and dishes so we helped her unbox those and put them away.  She is having fun cooking for us and her toys.  Of course Abigail loves to carry the food around the house too.  And her favorite thing to chew on is the butcher knife (not at all disturbing right)!  =O

 
 

Thirty-Four Months

 Hannah's pretend play is so much fun to watch.  She takes care of all her toys and has conversations with them.  Nathan gave her an old computer keyboard, she will type and say she is taking a survey.  Nathan belongs to several on-line survey companies and takes many surveys. =)  She will also sit at the kitchen table and say she is doing her bible study (just like mommy and daddy).  I mentioned a few months ago we thought Hannah had an imaginary friend named Bunny.  He is definitely real to her!  She talks about him and to him ALL day long.  He goes everywhere Hannah goes and often wears the same clothes and eats the same food.  She also tells Bunny about her day and sings him songs.  Hannah is not lacking in imagination!

 

Hannah still LOVES learning.  She's known all her capital letters for several months and we are beginning to work on lower case letters.  She also desperately wants to spell her name.  I think the double sets of letters confuse her.  If we get out magnetic letters or are typing on the computer she can consistently spell HAN and then adds lots more N's, and H's.  She also wants to spell Bunny which usually comes out BNNNNNY.  Hannah can also write a capital H and draw a fairly recognizable happy face.

Hannah got a mild tummy bug a few weeks ago.  Thankfully the actual sick part was very short lived.  She was tired and didn't have much of an appetite for about a week though.  Poor child that doesn't like being dirty was NOT pleased when she got sick.  Abigail and I stayed healthy, but Hannah did share with Nathan. 

Hannah is starting to assert her independence more and more.  She has an opinion and is making it known!  We have had lots of whining and crying lately and Hannah has spent time in her room.  Not only do Nathan and I not want to give in to her temper fits, but Abigail is so sensitive that she starts crying right along with Hannah.  We tell Hannah she has to stay in her room until she is ready to be happy and then she can come out.  I honestly think she likes being able to let out her frustration because every so often she will ask to go to her room.



We are also struggling to keep Hannah in her bed an nap and bedtime.  She did great when we first switched to her toddler bed, but now not so much.  The problem isn't that she comes out of her room, she just gets out of bed and lays on the floor by the door and talks, sings, etc.  At first it was just for a few minutes then she would go back to bed and sleep.  Now, she'll play for hours....which results in no nap and then she's quite grumpy the rest of the day.  So we started something new the other day.  We do our normal bed/nap routine (story, kiss, turn out light, pray) then close her door.  Nathan and I will wait in the hall outside her room and listen for her to get out of bed....which is usually within 30 seconds.  =(  If she gets up we walk her back to bed with out talking to her, leave the door open, and sit outside her room long enough for her to lay still and go to sleep (usually 10-20 mins, but an hour the other day).  Hopefully this will create a good sleep pattern and we won't have to sit in the hall forever.

Hannah and I both got flu shots yesterday while we were at the doctor for Abigail's check up.  We had talked about how we were going to get shots and we didn't need to cry.  I went first and then it was Hannah's turn.  They laid her on the table, scooted down her pants and had me hold her hands.  She just laid there and didn't even flinch.  There were no tears either.  I was very proud of her and I think the nurse was super impressed!

Six Months

My baby isn't a little baby anymore!  She smiles, laughs, rolls over, "talks," and grabs things.  She still LOVES to cuddle though.  She has recently started playing for 10-15 minutes independently on her tummy.  She also likes to sit in her Bumbo chair and we just tried the exersaucer the other day.



Abigail is starting to make more and more sounds.  She can say: ah, oh, ee, ya, ga, da da da, and ba, ba, ba.  I've heard the occasional "ma," but it's not consistent yet.  =)  She does love to talk and be talked to.  She flashes you BIG grins when you talk to her.  She really enjoys watching Hannah too.  They are going to have so much fun playing together as they get bigger.

Abigail is in the grabby stage.  If she can see it, she will try and reach it.  Of course anything she gets immediately goes into her mouth.  Hannah is learning not to put her toys right next to Abigail if she doesn't want her to touch them. Abigail still can't quite sit up independently, but has made lots of progress in the last month.



Abigail has made lots of progress in her sleeping as well.  It was a gradual process that involved crying, but now we lay her in her bed and she goes to sleep all by herself.  She also no longer sleeps fully swaddled.  She still likes having her legs wrapped, but loves being able to use her arms and more importantly suck her thumb.  She sleeps just like Hannah, on her tummy with her thumb in her mouth.  Cuteness!

We tried cereal for the first time yesterday and she was too cute.  Once she stopped flapping her arms, she grabbed onto the spoon and "helped" put it in her mouth.  She was very excited about chewing on the spoon and seemed to like the cereal as well.  =)  No funny "what is this?" faces like Hannah gave.  Pictures coming soon.

Abigail went to the doctor this morning and she is growing.  She is 14 lbs 9 oz and 28 1/4 inches long.  She slowed down a little on her weight, but is off the charts on her height (97th percentile).  In fact, she is only about and inch away from outgrowing her infant car seat.  We like Hannah' convertible car seat, so we will get another one for Abigail.  It will face backwards up to 40 lbs and forward up to 65 lbs.  So it should last us for several years!

No monkey photo yet either.  My parents are remodeling their house this summer and have spent the few weeks furiously packing their stuff to send to storage.  Demo starts tomorrow and things should slow down.  I'll post this month's photo soon.

Four Months

Can't believe my sweet little girl is already four months old!  We went to the doctor this morning and she is growing like a weed!  =)

Weight:  13 pounds 2 ounces

Height:  26 1/2 inches

At SIX months Hannah was an inch shorter and only 10 ounces heavier.  Think she may out grow big sister!  Glad Abigail is doing so well though.  She got two shots today and will get the other two next month.  Thankful my doctor lets me break them up.

Abigail continues to be more and more interactive. She gives LOTS of smiles and is starting to laugh (if we can amuse her).  She has been sleeping 10 hours at night for the last 6 weeks.  She will take 3 good naps during the day and usually a short nap around our dinner time. 



Her newest trick is rolling from her tummy to her back. She is a pretty happy baby, but definitely LOVES to snuggle and be held.  She enjoys watching Hannah play and is starting to reach for objects.  Abigail has also discovered her feet.  She can't get them in her mouth yet, but she enjoys watching them.  =)
 
 This month's photo was much harder to get.  Abigail kept falling over, or eating her fingers, or eating her dress.  We weren't intending to get Hannah in the photo too, but she climbed up, sat still, and said "Take my picture with monkey and Abigail."  She is not usually that cooperative...guess it has to be HER idea.  =)

Three Months

Has it really been three months since my sweet girl was born? Oh how time flies!


Abigail is sleeping much much better than she was a month ago. We still have occasional not so great naps, but a HUGE improvement. She is also doing great at night. Once I stopped setting an alarm, it took about 2 weeks for her to stop waking up at night. She will now sleep for about 10 hours. That makes a happy and well rested mommy! =) She is still sleeping swaddled in blankets, but we hope to gradually transition out of them in the next month or so. Of course Hannah slept fully swaddled until 6 months and then from the waist down for another 2 months. =-) We'll see.

Abigail has always been a better and more efficient eater than Hannah was. She had no problem alternating between nursing and bottles when we were supplementing. Once her jaundice was gone we stopped using a bottle except on Sunday morning at church. Each week it became harder and harder to get her to drink her bottle. I think we've bought four different kinds and have thrown away lots of pumped milk. =( I think we found a bottle she seems to like (Playtex Nurser) and we are doing lots of practice to get her to drink it. Most of the time she doesn't cry, but isn't really interested in eating either. She seems content to chew on the nipple. Silly girl! She will eventually drink some, but it takes FOREVER. Thankfully the ladies in the nursery at church are patient with her. Practice makes perfect right?

We are still doing "tummy time" even though Abigail doesn't really seem to enjoy it. She CAN lift her head up, but only when she wants to. Check out the pictures my mom took and put together. These shots were taken seconds apart.

Abigail is continuing to engage with us more and more. Lots of smiles, especially to mommy. =) Grammy did make her laugh for the first time last week. Nathan and I think that Abigail "talks" more than Hannah did at this age. Hmm...maybe she's trying to compete with big sister who never stops talking! =)

Two Months

This post is a few days late, but Abigail had her doctor's appointment this morning. She is GROWING. The latest stats are: 11 pounds 5 oz and 24 1/2 inches long. She's already wearing size one diapers and has officially outgrown newborn size clothes. They just don't stay tiny for long!!

She is not the greatest napper. She will sleep, but not for more than 45 mins or an hour. When she wakes up I usually try to keep her quiet so she can at least rest. She just gets grumpy if she stays awake for too long. She is doing well at night though. For the last 2 or 3 weeks she has only been waking up once at night between 2:00 and 2:30. Then she goes back to sleep until 6:30 or 7:00. I've had an alarm set for 2:30, but have only needed to use it the last few days. The doctor said today that since she is over 10 pounds she may be ready to sleep all night. So I will be turning that alarm off!

Abigail is smiling and cooing much to our delight! She is also tracking objects and responding to sounds. We do small amounts of tummy time throughout the day. A lot of the time she is content to just lay on her tummy and rest. But eventually she gets mad and lifts her head up. =)

She got 3 of her 5 shots today. We decided to break them up so she'll get the other 2 next month. Poor baby is having a rough afternoon. I can tell she doesn't feel good. I've given her Tylenol and I'm letting her sleep on me. Once we started sleep training, she's been doing much better about sleeping in her bed, but I don't mind bending the "rules" when she doesn't feel good.

I'll leave you with a few photos.
7 weeks old in this shot.


The outtake: I think Hannah is pouting because she wanted to get down. =)

One Month

Can't believe it's already been a month. We finally finished Abigail's newborn photo session. It was hard! I think we got some cute photos though. Many many thanks to my mom for taking and editing them! Here's a few of my favorites:
Love the hair sticking up!

We started sleep training last week because Miss Abigail would only sleep if one of us was holding her. LOVE snuggling with her, but she needs to learn sleep in her own bed. I am pleased to say training is going well. We still have some rough moments, but for the most part she is going to sleep quicker and staying asleep longer than she was before.

One more photo before I go. Hannah decided she wanted to join the monkey photo this month. Love my sweet girls!