Family Fun

Nothing like a head cold/stomach bug to minimize photo opportunities lately.  I did manage to get a few before the invasion took place...

Hannah's 8 months Old!

Our Hannah is 8 months old!  She is becoming more vocal and mobile by the day. :)  Hannah is still our little songstress, exercising her range as often as she can.  She is rolling all over the place, and is in the beginning stages of an army crawl.  She locks her eyes on something and will do everything in her power to connect with it.  She is a determined little lady.  She is playful and quick to smile.  It's funny that she responds appropriately when Emmy and I are being silly with her, as if she already picks up on her cue to be silly with us.  Wise beyond her months, that one.  She is patient, which I appreciate tremendously, because parenting a two and a half year old rarely happens in a timely manner.  Hannah still gives the best hugs, it's as if she is trying to crawl inside your chest.

Hannah's two bottom teeth give her sweet smile even more character now.  We'll see when their neighbors decide to poke through.  She has had some grumpy spells and occasional interrupted sleep, but responds well to a dose of tylenol and some cuddles.  She maintains a reliable naptime schedule, waking around 630 in the morning to nurse and to eat her breakfast.  She goes back down about an hour later, and she'll usually sleep for a couple of hours (this nap sets the tone for the rest of our day); she'll wake around 10 for play time and lunch, go back down to sleep around 12:30, sleep for a couple of hours, then she's up for the rest of the day.  We moved dinner and bathtime up while Nick was deployed in an effort to reduce all the tears and manic behavior, and it's made all the difference.  Dinner takes place at 6, followed by bath time and then bedtime at 7.

In the way of feeding, Hannah still nurses about 4-5 times a day, and eats breakfast, lunch and dinner of a wide variety of fruit and vegetable purees and rice and oatmeal cereals.  Proteins are next on the list!  I've gotten a little lazy on new food introduction as of late, but I loaded up on some good stuff at the grocery store today, so Hannah's in for some treats!  She loves to snack on her puffs (so does Emmy. :-/)  In the last few days, I've been offering her bananas and avocados as finger foods, and she's getting really good at picking up small pieces and actually getting them into her mouth.

Her favorite toy, by a landslide, is the jumperoo from the York family!  She LOVES to bounce. :)  She also adores Emmy's Dora toothbrush and the remote control, but she'll play with anything she can sink her teeth into. :)

Photo proof that she does have a mother.

Emmy thinks it's her responsibility to replenish Hannah's snack.

 Emmy hooked a sister up.

Emmy's Dora toothbrush bathes with Hannah each night.

I tried to get photos of the girls in the same outfit at 8 months.  I turned the house up-side-down looking for the brick-colored hair accessory (accidentally waking Emmy prematurely from her nap in the process,) but it remains MIA.  I hate losing things.

My Emmy, 8 months

My Hannah, 8 months

Siamese Sisters

These two are absolutely, positively infatuated with one another.  They smile bigger, giggle harder, and act sillier when they are together...A dream come true. :)

Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood is the brand-new updated version of the classic Mr. Roger's Neighborhood on PBS.  It's so great, it's actually replaced Dora in our house.  I love how they focus on processing feelings, which I haven't found in many children's programs (Caillou does to a certain extent...)

It's kind of hard to bounce when your big sis is sitting on your jumperoo.  Hannah doesn't mind, though. :)

Zoofari

With Nick's return from Tampa on Thursday afternoon, we decided to declare this past weekend to be ours and only ours.

We made a spur-of-the-moment trip to the local museum to play in the bubble room and kiddie grocery store; which is where Emmy penned the recipe for cheesy coffee, and it's cousin, English Muffin coffee.  We grabbed chicago dogs at our favorite hot dog stand (which is, supposedly, the highest rated food establishment for cleanliness in town, an added bonus!)  We went to the zoo, Nick and I stepped out for a dinner date and, best of all, we enjoyed family naptime!

Emmy especially loved the Dora sticker book that Daddy brought her from Germany...

Hannah was tagged!

Emmy's pick from her sticker chart surprise bag! I found this Barbie in a bin that I must've been saving for later...Later has arrived!

Fortunately, the unexpected downpour that occurred during our drive to the zoo subsided as we pulled into the parking lot.

 Emmy has the first half of Polar Bear, Polar Bear What Do You See? committed to memory and zebras are one of the animals named in the book...She was thrilled to see them in person. :)

We made it to the elephants!  Emmy rushed us through every other exhibit in search of the elephant enclosure.

 Horn girl huddle!!  What did we discuss?  How much we love Daddy, of course!! :)

What a stud!

Flamingos are also mentioned in Polar Bear Polar Bear, making her animal choice on the Merry-Go-Round an obvious one.

First Day of School!

Nick was home just long enough to catch a few hours of sleep and to see out sweet girl off to her first day of school before heading to Tampa for a quick work trip...

Emmy has been asking about seeing her friends at school since it let out in May.  In anticipation of her impending start day, we had a Target shopping excursion to find the perfect ensemble (as if I really need a reason to go to Target...) She, without any hesitation, picked out a purple dress with leggings and a pair of patent leather Mary Janes.  She dressed and applied her "lipstick" (vaseline) and then stood in my bathroom staring at me expectantly an hour before we needed to leave.

Emmy didn't look back as soon as we walked into her new classroom, she was already off to play with the new toys.  It was so wonderful to witness. Nick commented as we were driving away that he noticed a woman crying in the preschool parking lot.  I told him that I can empathize; I lost it the first time I dropped Molly and Darla off at the Groomer.  But, after some practice, I am comforted knowing that our babies are very happy to be where they are (and that Molly and Darla's drama queen tendencies are geared specifically towards me.)

Emmy with her teachers' flowers...Kris told me that the most thoughtful gesture she ever received while teaching in the classroom was when a little girl (named Hannah) brought her a flower from her parents' garden on the first day of school.  From that day forward, Hannah remained one of Kris' most favorite students in all her years of teaching.  First impressions go a long way! :)

SO excited to finally move up to the 2 year old class after TWO wonderful years in the one year old class! (Which is to be expected when you begin at 8 months old, a direct result of my drowning during the year-long deployment.) 

Thrilled to have Daddy home to join us for the big drop-off! 

Daddy went to retrieve her before we headed to the airport!  She was so excited about her day!

I love that she loves school so much!

Daddy's Home!

After three excruciatingly long days spent in Germany while the Air Force "worked" to iron out their issues, Nick arrived home just after midnight on Tuesday morning! Once the plane was unloaded, he gave me the green light to fasten our sleepy babies into their carseats, and hot-foot it to the compound!    Emmy broke her silence as Nick came into view.  She started squealing and screaming "Daddy!! Daddy!! Daddy!!!"  It was the most genuine show of elation. :)  We finally arrived back home, just past one o'clock.  Nick passed out the treats he picked up for each of us in Germany, and then we shared a big family hug in the middle of the kitchen.  Everyone was beaming, and Emmy noted, "We love each other so much!"  Yes, we do! :) :)

Cooking With Emmy