40 weeks.

What a wonderful few days we’ve been having here in Arizona…so what else is happening??

Face FILTHY from her dinner earlier.

• Hanna Lu had her first Christmas; we celebrated early here since we’re flying to California on the holiday. This baby thoroughly enjoyed the unwrapping at the beginning but after she ripped off a piece of two of paper, she got too excited and distracted to go any further. Nonetheless, she has loved her new toys and has played with them each day since.
• Has met some new Arizona friends and has been a very good sport about the few late nights we’ve subjected her to.
• Will celebrate her first actual Christmas Eve tomorrow night with her father’s side of the family; this includes cheeseburgers and potato chips, though her menu might be a bit different.
• Flew for the whatever-th time and did quite well considering it all but was very squirmy and had a hard time falling asleep {& staying asleep} but she was truly a good baby, as she always is.
• Has let us know that she prefers to drink anything out of a cup; apparently our baby has always just wanted to be treated as an adult?!?!
• Wore a part dress for the first time, last night and today with Santa; trés cute!
• Wore shoes for the first time last night and then again today {with her fancy clothes}; she was so confused!
• Started clapping this past Saturday; “yea!!!!”…and just tonight we got her to clap when we sing “If you’re happy and you know it…”; she waits until the end to clap.
• Met Santa this afternoon and though she didn’t cry, she didn’t smile.
• LOVES this jumpy thing our Arizona friends let us borrow while we’re here and it’s very funny to watch her go up and down.

39 weeks!

This week is a busy one so let's see what's going on...

• Had cheese for the first time; loves it! Hanna Lu had a bit of quesadilla one day and then just some plain old cheese several times after that and she's a happy camper with it.

• Also is loving on plain yogurt...we tried some a couple of months ago that didn't go over well but in the past few weeks she is all about it.

• Wants nothing more than to crawl around or pull herself up to standing...this child is not interested in sitting still.

• Loves her bath and is getting better at not standing up in the tub.

• Thinks that Guinness the dog is hilarious, still. He will come sprinting up to her and lick her face, run away, and repeat and even this doesn't bother her.

• Had her first adult dinner party this past weekend and rather enjoyed herself {& the snacks}...she slept a bit late the next morning too which was lovely, though not late enough in her parents' opinion.

• Will be traveling on a plane again this week...and then next...and then the week after that; to Arizona, to California, back to Arizona, back to Maryland.

• Still really likes her cereal; she has either an oatmeal or rice or a grain mix and it's usually made with milk  though sometimes we make it with water. She gets a bit impatient with baby food but will continue to eat cereal way after that.

• Has a bedtime routine that I realized I haven't recorded for posterity's sake...has "dinner" between five and six, a bath, jammies, one story, a bit of nursing, another story, and is in bed with the "rain" sound machine {an app on an old iphone we have} between 5:45 and six. She's waking once a night usually though me thinks that's just a bad habit and we'll try to break it once we return from all of our travels in January, what with all the time-zone changing that will be going on. Baby's usually up by 5:30 or 6:30 though on weekends if we give her a quick snack and put her back down she'll sleep until 7:30-ish sometimes. She's ready for a nap within two hours of waking up and on weekend days, when she's with us, she'll nap for one to two hours in the morning and then again in the early-mid afternoon. At daycare I'm not sure how things go but I do know that HL is well rested, full, and happy when I pick her up so I'm not asking any questions.

• Hanna loves her daycare provider...and this woman is such a loving presence that we love her too. She makes me laugh because in reaction to Hanna Lu's somewhat finicky eating, she is so determined to get milk and food into this baby and fatten her up. I don't have the heart to tell her that Hanna is just who she is but I don't discourage her nonetheless {she's just perfect in our eyes, obviously}.

• Is climbing...or at least trying to. If she had the traction and things were easier to climb, the baby would be going vertical...this does not bode well for us in terms of relaxing at home with our child ever.

• Will hilariously kick her legs if you hold her up in the air under her arms. We have started to do this any time we pick her up because it makes us laugh so much.

• Is pretty OK being with other and new people. She does show separation anxiety occasionally, usually if she has just woken up, but she is pretty affable otherwise...this may change soon since I think "stranger danger" might start kicking in around the nine month mark {later this week!} so we'll see.

• Loves "Cuties" {though I think right now the ones we're getting are called "Halos"?}...she kind of sucks them dry and leaves the pithy...seeds come in these things so we just need to check for that before letting her have them.

• Went to the pediatrician, unexpectedly, today for a bit of an icky eye {related to her cold from last week no doubt}...and she weighed in at almost 19 pounds and about 28 inches long/tall - she started out at almost ten pounds and 22 inches. While in the waiting room Hanna Lu was very intrigued by two young boys who were playing and tried to get down on the floor to play with them. They were both about five years old and as sweet as they were with the baby, saying "hi" to her and everything, I figured her style of play {thrashing her arms} wasn't what they would appreciate {they were quietly "driving" cars}. This wasn't the first, Hanna Lu is always very interested in kids and loves to mix it up with them. I think we can thank daycare for this, truly - it's great to see our baby be social.

• Is really goofy and so much fun...we're very excited to spend time with family so they can see what she's been like recently; wish us luck traveling!

Because I can't get enough of those legs.

A new toy!

I had a doctor's appointment this afternoon {the doctor on a Friday afternoon...boo} so Michael and baby boo hung out in the waiting room.

She was very happy, needless to say.

Have a great weekend folks!!!
xoxo, natty ♥

38 weeks!

Someone seems to have another cold; boo. In positive news this week Miss Lu Lu...

She will NOT lay flat on her back for longer than two seconds.

• Is a SQUIRMER. Baby hardly sits/stays still and is very curious about everything.
• Has been giving us lots of "mama"s and "dada"s, but I'm not sure she realizes what she's saying.
• Is trying so hard to stand on her own; she stands up any chance she can get but can't do much without holding on though that changes a bit more each day. She cruises all over the place so as soon as she's strong enough and figures it out she'll be trying to put the two together; taking steps and not holding on to anything - yikes!
• Enjoyed watching soccer on TV with her dad this past weekend...we're trying hard to avoid screens for her but sometimes TV happens.
• She is very intrigued by our phones. Since we do facetime with our families she knows and loves the phone which is not something that makes me happy so we try to keep them out of her sight when not doing facetime.
• Will give slobbery open mouthed kisses if she's not too distracted by everything else around her. Ditto to "high-fives".
• Has had some crummy sleep due to this cold so hopefully things get better soon.
• One week and a half until our big trip...little bit has no idea what's in store for her!!!

xoxo, natty ♥

37 weeks!

Hello December!!! After her first Thanksgiving let's see what's up for this baby.

Right before she whipped on to her hands and knees to crawl away.

• Is being a total GOOFBALL...especially if she's tired like she was tonight. She will not stay on her back or sitting if she wants to get to something. Today's pictures were a challenge.
• Is pulling herself up on everything and is even trying to stand up by herself without even holding on to anything.
• Is giving slobbery open mouthed kisses; so adorable!
• Will maybe do a high five if she's prompted.
• Still thinks that Guinness the dog is hilarious.
• Is determined when she wants something, like to climb up on our bookshelf. 
• Is a big fan of her baby food still, especially if it's mixed with oatmeal. I sure hope she gets into real food eventually but she's just so slow with it.
• Is sleeping pretty OK at night, waking once for a snack though I think it's time to phase that out.
• Needs to have a nine-month appointment...her mother needs to get onto scheduling this!
• Will "cruise" (walk while holding onto anything) after pulling herself up on things...this is adorable but this child is so mobile and into everything and we need to get some baby containment going on in our home to give Hanna's parents a bit of piece.
• Is babbling a ton and this week has been loving on shouting out "dadadadada...ah DAH ah DAH".

She was flipping over immediately after being placed on her back and Guinness was curious about all the movement.

xoxo, natty ♥

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hanna Lucy celebrated her first Thanksgiving with her aunt Ellie's family in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

She loved the attention, her regular baby food, and the following at dinner: mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, and turkey.

We're very grateful for our little family this year!

36 weeks!

Hanna Lu is having her first set of holidays and not even realizing it! What else about baby Melamed...

Jazz hands!

• She is pulling herself up on anything and everything and will even take a few wobbly steps.
• Loves her daycare provider and will sometimes not reach out to me if she's being held by her; I find this glorious and not sad at all because it's a humongous blessing to have someone with whom we can trust our daughter and whom our baby so obviously loves.
• Doesn't like babyfood as much as she used to but is loving on her rice cereal again, though she'll do just fine with the food mixed with her rice cereal. She seems to eat best if we feed her, though, since she's super slow when feeding herself. I think we're destined to have a life-long picky eater...she seriously has never been that into it. This is funny considering how much her parents love food.
• Is hand/knee crawling everywhere.
• Is very curious about our bookshelf and tries to get up into it several times a day.
• Has her very first Christmas dress ordered.
• Inherited a ton of hand-me-downs from a daycare friend and is looking quite chic in them all.
• Babbles a ton and just the past few days has been really into saying "uhhh DA. DA. DA. DA. DA."
• Still says "hi" {"ahhhhhhh"} and waves and  she's started a two-handed wave though it could very well be her attempt and clapping which we've been trying to teach her and which she loves.
• Enjoys her bath but this week has been trying to climb up/stand up and we have to firmly tell her "no" and sit her down again.
  Has taken to biting her mother whilest being fed. They haven't been super hard chomps but it's not pleasant. I'm doing what I read should be done and saying something ridiculous like "I see you don't want to nurse anymore, let's take a break" and giving her a minute break or so. I don't think this means we have to stop, I just need to be aware of when she's bored/done which can be difficult since she's such an on/off eater and I've always just kept putting her back on in an effort to get her to keep going. It didn't happen today so that's good.
• Will celebrate her first Thanksgiving in Pennsylvania later this week, weather god willing, and we're so happy to do so!!

And one for the road.

xoxo, natty ♥

35 weeks and eight months!

Another week and BRRRRRRRR the cold has arrived! Today is a special day since Hanna Lu is not just 35 weeks old but eight months as well so we’ll have two updates!

 First for this week’s…

·      We are hearing the funniest espresso-machine-sounding noises from this kid; khiiiiiihhhhh, schuuuuggghhhh…

·      We’re still snotty but hopefully that’s going to go away soon.

·      We are crawling everywhere, even the traditional hand and knee crawling, but the babe is far more into pulling herself up to standing…on anything she can get to and we’ve had a few bumps and bruises because of this. The best place so far is her crib since she has a nice safe landing. In her crib the other day, she even took a few “cruising” steps on her own though she’s far too wobbly to stand on her own.

·      Not much else is new and I’ll talk more about little bit in the monthly update below but this baby is just SO adorable and amazing and wonderful to us; we love her so so much and are really looking forward to her first holidays!

How old: eight months old! 

Weight: I forgot to check but from recent at-home weighings I’d say almost 18 pounds. Slow and steady is the name of Hanna’s growing game.

Likes:

·      Standing up! This kid is constantly pulling herself up whenever/wherever she can.

·      Pureed baby food; she’s a fan of this and I think she likes it more than regular food because we feed her and it’s quick whereas she’s a slow self-feeder.

·      Guinness the dog…Hanna loves laughing at him. He’s not so keen on her these days probably because she makes unpredictable movements towards him and grabs his fur.

·      Children’s Tylenol, red-dye free and cherry flavored; we gave this to her last weekend because she was pretty miserable and it went over quite well.

Dislikes:

·      Being sick – hopefully we’re somewhat on the tail end of this thing or this most recent thing.

·      Being tired, though she might not realize it. Hanna Lu gets a bit high maintenance {fussy} if she’s tired.

·      The time after her bath and before getting on her pajamas…it takes having something in her hands to distract her. I had been letting her play with the bottle of lotion I put on her but one night she dropped it on her forehead and wasn’t a happy camper. It’s not heavy at all so she was mostly startled but now we know better and limit it to her lovey.

Milestones:

·      First Tylenol!

·      First really cold weather…that happened today! Though the babe only spent minimal time in it.

Sleep and eat:

·      Hanna drinks maybe 20 ounces of milk a day, perhaps a bit more or less? She’s still not big on drinking her milk much to her mother’s chagrin.

·      Hanna usually eats one to four pouches of baby food a day as well as milk mixed in with baby oatmeal several times.

·      Loves banana and lots of other finger foods but takes a long time to get in much so the purees seem to make baby happier.

·      Goes to bed between 6 and 6:30 and will sleep until we wake her up for the day at around 6 in the morning with usually one wake-up that happens between 2 and 5 AM for a snack. On weekends Hanna can be cajoled into sleeping until around 7 so, left to her devices, the child likes sleep. She usually rolls over and goes to sleep on her own as soon as we lay her down. She starts the night off with a pacifier that I believe is promptly thrown to the side. We have a white noise app on an old phone-turned-ipod that plays “rain” for an hour. I’m not sure if this does much for her but it’s just what we’ve always done and I imagine might come in handy when we’re out of town a lot next month and it can help mimic our at-home routine.

·      Bedtime’s routine: dinner, bath, story #1, nursing, story #2, kisses and goodnight.

Miscellaneous:

·      Hanna Lu loves waving “hi” and even says the word as “ahhhhhhhh”.

·      Baby is able to wear six month clothing and 9 month as well and if she’s in disposable diapers size three is perfect for her.

·      Our cloth diapers are holding up quite well. We use biodegradable/flushable liners to make clean-up a bit easier…otherwise we should be spraying the more soiled diapers into the toiled before we wash them in the dryer and what with daycare and everything, the liners are just so super easy. I’m debating the value in schlepping the set with us for the holidays since we’ll be gone for two weeks. When I think about home many diapers we go through over just a weekend I want to take them but they take up space and will need to be laundered when out and about so we’ll see.

xoxo, natty ♥

34 weeks!

The weeks is barreling ahead, as it usually does, and Hanna Lu is 34 weeks old...let's see what's up!

A pensive one for this week; her bruise is hiding right below the hair bow.bab

• She's still waving a ton and saying "ahhhhhh" as "hi".
• She's very intrigued by us clapping and seems like she might want to do so as well.
• Is loving baby food; I had these grand ambitions of "Baby Led Weaning" {look it up if you're curious} as a means to introduce regular table food to our baby instead of dealing with purees and after trying some store-bought baby food last week we realized it was a hit. Maybe she just likes the quickness of it all {she's not super efficient at eating regular food}? The texture? I would at least like to actually make some and have a big pureeing session sometime soon since it's so easy to make and freeze the stuff but for now it's just the pouches and jars we buy.
• Is trying so hard to stand/sit up on her own and she does so quite well. If she doesn't have much to grab onto to pull herself up then Hanna will just get onto her knees and sit there like that. 
• Crawls and tries to climb up on just about anything.
• Discovered this muscle rolling "stick" we have and tries to wave it around like some deranged group leader.
• She also figured out how to stand up on her own in her crib...that was on Saturday and since then she's been standing most times when she lets us know she's awake.
• HL has actually been a lot more active in her crib this week and even gave herself a gnarly forehead bruise by crawling and propelling herself forward straight into the railings in her crib. Our kind daycare lady made a mention of the bruise to us and we both realized we probably should've told her when we dropped off the baby...first time parents here!
• She is still so snotty and I'm wondering if maybe she got another cold or just never got rid of that first one but either way we're hoping for less congestion soon.
• This kid is amazing and wonderful and we just can't get enough!

xoxo, natty ♥

33 weeks!

It's November; next month we get to visit California and Arizona families and we're so happy about that! What else...

Wouldn't lay back for her picture. And I think that onesie is way too small, I just don't feel like fishing out a bigger one.

• Baby is still battling a bit of something, appetite isn't fabulous, sleep could be a bit better, etc....is this our new normal considering the nature of illnesses spread amongst small children in daycare and within families or will things look up soon?
• We officially have a waver; Hanna loves waving. I even think she makes a "ahhh" sound to mean "hi" because she only does it when waving but Michael isn't entertaining that thought.
• Tried some actual pureed baby food this week and loved it; I bought it on a whim and since it was successful I might make a few batches in order to use up some of the milk I have stored considering Hanna Lu doesn't drink as much as I can make for her.
• Hanna loves puffs; they're cheerios but made out of rice flour and she's had a "green" flavor and just had the sweet potato ones tonight. It's wonderful to see her little pincer grasp get the practice and she's so sweet because she does this whole body wave of excitement when she sees the container.
• Enjoys water in her sippy cup.
• Had her second visit to the pumpkin patch and didn't make a peep the entire time. It was also her first experience with being cold and totally bundled up and I think that had something to do with it.
• Is loving on Guinness the dog in a big way. He can elicit giggles just by trotting past her. We don't let her get a hold of him too often because hers is not a gentl grasp but we do let G-man give the baby face kisses which he gets really into and Hanna loves. I'm still super cautious about him around Hanna even though he's given us no reason to think otherwise, I just know that deep down he's still a dog so we keep a pretty hawkish eye on the two of them.
• Is crawling into everything; is very curious about our bookshelf.
• As of last Wednesday afternoon, can pull herself up! She did it at daycare and at home can do it really well on the couch and in her crib, though with gripping and how slippery our floors are for her, HL can't quite get it done on the floor in our living area.
• We're loving on this little girl so much and are looking forward to the holidays with her!

xoxo, natty ♥

More autumn shenanigans.

Today we ventured out with some friends for some late-season apple/pumpkin picking. We ended up at a place different from the one Rebecca and I visited last week and it was definitely kitschier - think: rubber ducky derby, hay bale jumping, a corn maze, tall slides, and a pumpkin toss/smash every hour.

Someone was awestruck by the wind and being bundled up; she didn't make a peep the entire time. And I'm not referring to myself.

We had fun, though, despite an entrance fee, and took advantage of the included-in-entry fee tractor/hay ride to the pumpkin patch for all-you-can-carry pumpkins; seriously. But, it was FREEZING!! Wind chill, I'm guessing, was actually in the high 30s...it was very gusty. The baby was bundled up and so were we but it was still chilly and nice to get into the wind-free car after our little excursion.

Honestly, we owned this maze and were out in less than ten minutes.

Have a great work week all and stay warm!
xoxo, natty ♥

Baby's first mittens.

Today was nowhere near as epic as last Saturday.

Baby is still recuperating and it was cold but we rallied for a late afternoon walk to CVS. Here's to sleep that's a bit better than last night's!
xoxo, natty ♥

First Halloween!

Hanna Lu spent her first Halloween at home with her daddy, recuperating from her cold which is still hanging around.

We had some time dressing up as the crazy monkey that she is and then hopefully she'll get some solid rest tonight and be on the road to an even more solid recovery.

Happy Halloween folks!

32 weeks!

Only 20 more of these updates to go! Tonight we're pretending there's not a nerve-wracking World Series game on right now and focus on this little girl! This was a fun week! Hanna Lu is...

A serious one because our Giants cause us consternation.

• Hopefully feeling much better after getting over her first cold. She sidestepped a high fever which one of her little peers got {I work with the moms of two of Hanna's "classmates"}.
• But is maybe teething again? We see/feel nothing up top {which is supposed to be where the next ones come in} but there's the drool like before and she's majorly into chewing on things like before too, not to mentioned some disturbed sleep and fussiness...
• Is eating a bit less...womp womp. I was thinking maybe she wasn't super hungry after her cold but who ever knows with this baby and her eating. I do know that milk comes home with her each day. But, she is still enjoying eating actual food; sweet potatoes are the favorite though this week she's been really into bell pepper and cucumber. We'll have some more chicken later this week hopefully as well as some toast and perhaps a bit of yogurt. The "puffs" I give her are very appreciated as well.
• Is now a tummy bather -who does that??- she starts sitting and then I put her on her back to get her cleaned up a bit more. This lasts for less than a minute before she turns right over to splash and crawl around. we're not a fan of this since it's too slippery for her to stay steady but goodness gracious she's not happy to be put back on her back. The other big problem of this whole "on the tummy" thing is that she'll open her mouth and dip down, letting the water get in and she laps it up. 
• Isn't moving quite as quickly with her crawling because she's trying too hard to get up on her feet {which creates a bit of a downward facing dog pose} or bending one leg and kinda trying to sit.
• Skipped her late afternoon nap tonight and was a WRECK at bedtime...it's kind of a rush to pick her up and get home so she can rest a bit {in bed by 5-ish}; she'll sleep for about an hour and then we do the whole bedtime routine. Apparently this nap helps!
• LOVED cheering on her daddy while he ran his marathon on Sunday.

Thank you auntie Becs for these pictures!!!

         Hanna Lu really liked watching the runners zoom past her.

          And giving daddy some love. 

• Went to the pumpkin patch for the first time and also really enjoyed it; this kid is pretty observant and likes looking around at everything and everyone. 

"

"Lemme at that llama."

         The "farm" animals were a high point of the afternoon for her. I say "farm"    
         because are llamas really farm animals?

• Got to meet her loving auntie Becs; this was so special.
• Is a crazy handful, especially if she's tired, but we're so enamored of this kid. 

xoxo, natty ♥

Run Daddy, run!

To cap off an amazing visit with Rebecca, we spent the first part of today cheering on my sweet husband through 26.2 miles.

Look at that cool jacket he snagged post-race!

Despite being sick he rocked this marathon and Hanna Lu and I {& a bunch of other people} are immensely proud of this tough man; we love you sweetie/daddy!
xoxo, natty ♥

Great pumpkins!

Rebecca and I took baby Lu to get a pumpkin today.

It was a beautiful day and our little girl loved the orange everywhere.

And the feel of the pumpkins.

Mostly, though, she really loved the llama {or alpaca?}.

What a gorgeous day!xoxo, natty ♥

31 weeks!

Somehow I got sicker than the baby did and I'm jotting this down before heading to urgent care for, hopefully, some antibiotics. In other and lighter news...

• Is getting over her first full-blown cold; there were/are some rough nights but she's been pretty happy during the day. Just snotty.
• Hates getting her snot cleared out. We have this sucker thing and she cringes when she sees me coming towards her with it and is maybe eying me a bit suspiciously while daddy hasn't done any of it so he's the good guy. 
• Is babbling; we hear lots of "dadada" and I heard a "y" tacked onto the end of it the other day, there are some "la"s and "ba"s in there too, as well as "ghee"s.
• Is crawling everywhere, most specifically to our bookshelf. It's still an army crawl though her legs are kind of doing the crawling motion now. She also does this thing where she moves herself with her arms/hands and kind of pops up her back half. She has also taken to getting up on her feet while her hands are holding her up; kind of a downward facing dog yoga pose and it looks almost like she's trying to stand up.
• Is enjoying more and more food; sweet potatoes are still the favorite, broccoli is not a favorite, she tried peas tonight {I mashed up each one a bit to avoid the choking fear}, and she still loves her oatmeal. We may try water in a sippy cup in the next week.
• Is a handful; she figured out rolling over and trying to crawl in the bath yesterday...another bath time activity the baby discovered? We're practicing sitting in the bath and last night she was leaning forward, holding herself up with her hands and getting her face close to the water...and I realized she was lapping it up like a dog.
• Finds Guinness the dog hilarious; if I can get him to put his front paws up on her stroller while she's in it we get a nice belly laugh.
• Loves playing with board books; that's a good start, right?!!
• Is very observant and watches everything and everyone...I think she picks up on emotions pretty well for her little age, but I could be imagining it; she might not smile as much if we're talking in a more serious tone.
• We're loving this kid and can't wait for aunt Rebecca to meet her later this week!!!

xoxo, natty ♥

Food glorious food.

We're diving into eating real food while still primarily drinking milk.

Roasted yams and carrot with cinnamon.

So far, beyond baby oatmeal and rice cereal: sweet potatoes, banana, avocado, chicken, a waffle, a piece of toast, roasted carrots. Though it's still quite messy, baby seems to really enjoy playing with the food, though it's all in an eating manner - she gets it in her mouth, gnaws on it, and might swallow it. There will be plenty more on the menu in the coming weeks!

Seven months.

We are on our own this weekend {help!} while Michael is out of town at a wedding...so let's see what this past month has brought us.

Not the clearest picture but none of the ones I took today were lacking blurriness; this baby loves to move! And shout! And squeal!! And kick her legs!!

How old: seven months.

Weight: maybe somewhere near 17 pounds? She was about 16 a month ago and scale visits here at home have shown not a whole lot of growth, though our scale can be erratic and  she certainly feels heavier to me so maybe around 17 is what I’ll say.

Likes:

• People; Hanna Lu is almost always enthralled with the other people who ride the elevator with us and is totally impressed by any other small child…so observant!
• Sweet potatoes!
• Her oatmeal, mixed with milk though tonight she had it with water since there was no milk on hand {I had frozen everything that was in the fridge}.
• Crawling! This kid is everywhere…she’s showing signs of maybe wanting to pull herself up but for now she’s army crawling all over the place. She gets up on her hands and knees all the time and can even move a few paces this way but she hasn’t quite perfected it. Sometimes she sticks up her bum when she’s on her hands and knees. Hanna will also be on her hands and knees and kind of go down/turn to one side which puts her legs in this funny position but she does it when she wants to sit a bit and look at/play with something.
• Sticking thing in her mouth. This past week she started getting her fist in there but in a funny back and forth in/out sort of way which makes a really cute “blaaabba blaabba” sound.
• Creaking like an old door and babbling {dadadadadada…}.
• Playing in her toy/play area {& she just recently starting trying to pull up and chew on the edges of the alphabet/number mat…but when she wants attention from us she starts crawling towards us.
• She still enjoys hanging out in her exersaucer but for shorter periods of time since she really loves moving around on the floor.
• Guinness the dog; he can elicit a laugh basically by just walking past her. She also appreciates grabbing onto his fur but we try to circumvent that behavior.
• Her new crib. We help her get into a standing position while holding onto the railing and she loves that vantage point. It’s got a much softer mattress than her pack n’ play and her sleep hasn’t changed, though it hasn’t been stellar since returning from California anyway.
• Our building’s play room; there’s not much for her age but there are some toys and when we take her there she makes a hilarious series of breathy-oh-my-gosh-so-much-to-see noises.
• Other kids; being at daycare has really fueled this. On the swings yesterday Hanna was staring at the toddler next to her…what a creepy stalker baby!
• And her new daycare; woo hoo! This new lady is super warm and bubbly and Hanna Lu seems to really enjoy her which makes me feel good.
• Swinging! Hanna’s grandma and Zaide took her to the park on their last visit and we went again yesterday so the kid doesn’t have much swing experience but gosh golly she was THRILLED with it last night.
• Grab-scratching onto things; my chest, the couch, my face, her dad’s face, our arms…so mostly her parents’ bodies? This is painful with her little talons.

Dislikes:

• Getting her nose cleared out; we’ve had a bit of congestion here today and this morning she couldn’t eat because she couldn’t breathe from her nose so I used the thing we have to clear out congestion. It wasn’t the first time but it was the first time she really needed it {& still does, she totally sounds gooped up still} and Hanna Lu is not happy afterwards.
• When daddy gets her dressed; she seems to scream just for him – she doesn’t love the process but little bit makes it much harder on her daddy.
• Teething; we had a rough weekend last week before chomper number two made its appearance; this weekend has been better so far but for the unrelated congestion.

Milestones:

• Can sit unassisted though topples over if she gets excited and moves too much.
• Has taken some baths sitting up!
• Has teeth!

Sleep and eat:

• Sleeping has struggled a bit in the past two weeks thanks to our cross-country trip, teething, and the recent snottyness…still not too bad {one to two night wakings} in a 12 hour period but not as good as before. Still, we can’t complain.
• Hanna still eats/drinks mostly milk but will have oatmeal two to three times a day and one or two “meals” {along with the oatmeal} of food – roasted  veggies, banana, avocado, plain roasted chicken breast, and toast are all things she has enjoyed so far. I’m having some trouble coming up with more food to give her since we’re not really doing purees. The whole “Baby Led Weaning” {“weaning” meaning “to eat food other than breastmilk/formula” rather than wean off of milk completely} touts just giving baby what we’re eating but we never have enough left overs and it seems a bit much for her so young, though tons of people do it so we’ll see. Up new for this week: cucumbers {raw and in spears} and butternut squash {roasted and in spears}.
• The babe is still a difficult milk drinker. At her six-month appointment I asked about a possible posterior tongue tie. Weeks and weeks of a baby who doesn’t love eating/drinking and daycare providers who ask about it and I’m much more resigned to our lot with this infant but still super curious and sometime in August I started to wonder about a tongue tie, though I can’t remember what prompted that. Hanna’s pediatrician checked it out and said there might be but gave us a referral to an ENT person for little humans. Each time I call to make an appointment, though, no one answers and none of my messages have been returned. Lame. The baby seems to enjoy eating food just fine but if we plan to nurse/bottle feed until at least a year old that’s still a good chunk of time and if there’s something we could do to make the process easier, oh my goodness I’d be all for it. There’s been nothing quite as frustrating in my life as when the baby doesn’t want to eat.

Miscellaneous:

• We had a great time visiting California very briefly which made us only that much more excited about going home for Christmas to visit both the Golden State and Arizona; we certainly miss our families out here.
• Hanna Lu is wearing mostly size six-month clothes, though she can fit into some three-month things {they’re just short on her}, but not many. We haven’t tried any nine-month things yet, but I have them all washed and they actually look like they’d fit her but I just haven’t attempted it.
• In disposables little miss is wearing size three and probably will for a long time, though she wears cloth diapers 100% of the time; we just did the disposables for our big trip. I haven’t decided yet if we’ll take them along at Christmas. I brought them this past summer for our long trip and two weeks feels like a long enough time to validate bringing them, even with a transfer between California and Arizona in the mix. They take up suitcase space, obviously, but I hate buying so many disposables. We also started using flushable liners in the cloth diapers which make for easier clean-up; since Hanna’s eating food now and not just milk, her dirty diapers are no longer water-soluble and need to be worked on a bit before putting them in the wash – the liners are incredible and make things really easy and since they’re biodegradable I don’t feel so guilty.
• I’ve been curious about baby shoes since I see other babies of a similar age sporting them and we have a few we got as gifts; they are all massive on her and earlier today at the mall I checked out sizes and I think our child has freakishly small feet. I’d love to get her a pair of cute little baby moccasins and the tiniest size fit her nicely but I think I should get the next size up with the assumption she’ll grow those feet at least a wee bit.

Contortions.

I love night acrobatics.

I try not to peek in on her too often since her door squeaks and we haven't WD40-d those hinges yet but I adore seeing what she's gotten herself into.

Are we adults the same?

30 weeks!

This past week flew by! So let's look at the details...

Odd angles.

• LOVES sweet potatoes/yams...and is eating more in general. In a fit of "oh, we should be getting you on food", Hanna Lu Lu has had two to three "meals" a day; each one usually has oatmeal {mixed with the milk she drinks} but before that I give her time to gnaw on/swallow a bit of whatever we have ready for her...so far she has had: plain roasted chicken breast, roasted sweet potato {and with cinnamon}, roasted carrot {a big hit, but not as big as the sweet potato}, banana {a favorite when frozen in her silicon feeder [I tossed the mesh one because it's too hard to clean the banana out of]}, a lone waffle, toast {plain}, and avocado. I don't send any food beyond the oatmeal to daycare with the babe since we're doing the whole baby-led feeding thing {no purees, just give baby a big enough chunk of the food to gum on} but maybe in a few weeks I'll ask her daycare lady about doing it this way.

• Is totally into being up on her hands and knees though the kid's legs kind of splay out when she tries to move forward as such so most of  her movement is army crawling though she does get some hand/knee movement. Hanna Lu is not content to just sit and be, she is constantly on the move. The kid shows some desire to pull herself up at times and will definitely stand up/walk if assisted. She will occasionally be OK just hanging out on her back, playing with a toy, but that happens maybe once every other day; our infant is no longer immobile. 

• Is enjoying different textures; she has always loved the scratchiness of our couch and ottoman, she's been big into grabbing onto my face and, if you will, decolletage area, and she's loving her sheepskin; 

Hiding under it is good too.

          we snagged it at Ikea last week {nude baby on sheepskin pictures coming soon, I'm sure}

• Is teething; I think I see a little white spot next to her tooth which probably {hopefully} explains the fussiness and neediness of the past few days. The aforementioned frozen banana was a huge hit which makes me think it's helping with the pain.

• Thinks Guinness is HILARIOUS. 

• Had some rough sleep this past week {waking two to three times versus the one or none we had seen before last weekend's California trip}; I'm really hoping this irons itself out. She's definitely actually hungry when she wakes up, versus just eating for a minute before falling back asleep, so perhaps there's some growth happening, or teething, or adjusting to the new crib, or trying new foods during the day,  or still getting used to being back after vacation, or being a baby...

• Is showing the development of a bit of separation anxiety; if she doesn't want to be left alone, she'll protest if we put her down in her play area...but then she calms down after less than a minute and realizes her toys are around her. She doesn't seem to mind being left at daycare or going to new people but I do notice a skeptical look on her face when we do so.

• Continued consonant sounds; "dadadadada..." is still going strong but I've heard some "la"s and just this afternoon a "ma" {at least I think so!}...this babbling is very cute.

• Is sitting up in the bath, very supervised obviously, though I'll still have her lay down at times.

• Is hilarious and our joy;we love this baby oh so much!

Something new.

We started a new daycare this week because Hanna's old daycare had to close for some random but not bad reasons. The baby seems pretty OK with her new set-up but the big issue for us is that we had to provide our own sleeping arrangement...which we didn't know until our first day.

So after a quickish trip to Ikea yesterday and some efficient building {thanks Daddy!} little Lu Lu has her very own and very first crib. The change hasn't seemed to disturb her sleep too much but it hasn't been great this week thanks to returning from our California vacation. Our computers {both of them} are having some issues so hopefully we can get some pictures of that experience posted soon too.

29 weeks.

Woah WHAT a week for little bit...let's see:

We took and left our usual quilt at daycare; a mistake not to be repeated.

• had another set of travel experiences in the air! Baby Lu is not as easy to fly with as she was; she's way more alert now and into her surroundings which makes it challenging to get her to sleep. She's super squirmy and curious about everything and doesn't want to turn off. When she did realize how tired she was, I think she was having a hard time because she normally sleeps on her tummy and obviously couldn't do so on the plane. But we made it and we're home and hopefully the time difference irons itself out later this week {last night's sleep was rough and there has been crying tonight – something we hadn’t seen since we first began teaching the babe how to sleep way back in July}.
• went to her second wedding! She didn't dance at this one either and she actually changed into her pajamas for the reception and slept for a portion in her stroller ...what a funny baby.
• visited the beach for the second time and even took a nap in the sand.
• watched beach soccer.
• got to see her loving California family; they were so excited and so was the baby!
• we're babbling!! Alluvasudden on Thursday {October 2nd for posterity's sake} the kid let loose with a "dadadada..." and she hasn't stopped since. I've also heard some "la/le" in there as far as other new consonant sounds.
• and did I mention the tooth?!?! After much curiosity, we finally have the tip of a tooth breaking through on Hanna Lu's bottom left. I found out the hard way. I think I had noticed a bit of increased drool as well as some biting down on things but I thought nothing of it until I truly noticed it while Hanna was having a snack on the plane.
• started a new daycare; unfortunately our new situation had to close {no bad reasons, thank goodness} and through a series of fortuitous events and really kind coworkers, we have a new situation even closer to where I work. Today was the first day since we were still traveling yesterday so hopefully Hanna Lu isn't too discombobulated after all this craziness.
• crawling crawling crawling! Hanna Lu is up on her hands and knees for about 50% of the time she spends crawling {the other half is army crawling}, but while up on those hands and knees, she can’t quite coordinate the traditional movement so we see her move with her hands and kind of pull her legs forward.
• lots of face and hand grabbing; when we were sharing a bed over the weekend Hanna just wanted to hold a face or hand while she slept. This is majorly adorable and it makes it extremely heartbreaking to let her cry while she falls asleep again but she had gotten into such a great sleep habit that moving into bed with us is not a good idea since she sleeps there pretty poorly compared to on her own {same for mom and dad}; vacations are fun but this has been a very challenging transition back.
• is pretty curious; I’m including a shot of her grabbing the camera cord during her shoot today and not letting go.

So curious.

Here's to another great week with our beautiful daughter...as well as to some more quiet times in the days ahead!

What fun!

When everyone says that babies and kids enjoy the wrapping more than the gift, they're totally not lying!

Though Hanna Lu certainly appreciated the new {& soft!!!} teddy/elephant inside of that blue bag!! Thank you to our Texas friends for their thoughtfulness!

28 weeks!

We've got a fun and busy few days ahead of us so let's see what this kid's up to this week!

Notice that paw?

• Making tons of "scheeeeeeee" sounds; almost like a hiss...Hanna seems to do this when she's happy!
• Crawling and crawling and crawling; she's up on her hands and knees now and rocking back and forth but the actual movement comes from her army crawling.
• She had banana, avocado, and some bread; she was really into the process but didn't quite swallow very much and that's OK.
• Still loving her oatmeal mixed with milk.
• Is starting to exhibit some separation anxiety; it's almost annoying...HL will cry if I walk away when she doesn't want me to. She doesn't cry when I leave her at daycare in the morning but when I get there in the afternoon if she sees me before I have a chance to pick her up and I try to gather her things the babe gets fussy.
• Is having her last day at the current daycare; they have to close for not a bad reason but that means that Hanna Lu will go to a new daycare, also in a home, a bit closer to where I work, and with one of her friends from the current place.
• Will stand up quite strongly when we hold her.
• Can sit ever so nicely but I still won't leave her alone like this because after a bit she topples over. 
• Had a weird night on Sunday; cried when I put her down which she doesn't do anymore so we got her up and fed her a bit. The baby seemed sniffly so we got out the congestion which did not go over well and we decided that maybe she was catching a real cold (the last incident didn't really happen). I put her down again and she cried even more. When we picked her up she was SO snot faced and we felt horrible. After some more congestion-relief and calming, we decided to try again. The funny thing is that she was totally cool after we picked her up and we were hanging out - smiling and laughing and happy. When we finally put her down, it was two hours past her bedtime which is not bad considering it was 8:30 - she slept almost instantly - but we both freaked out a bit until Monday night's bedtime because we didn't want to think that our baby was settling into a new and loud habit.
• Is cracking us up on the daily!

xoxo, natty ♥

27 weeks.

It's been a busy few days! So let's see what's up in babyland...

• Hanna Lu had her six-month check-up today; we have a healthy baby who was very sad to get her shots today {check out her leg band-aids!} - she got an extra one in the form of flu shot.
• Is starting to show some stranger...not danger, but she's definitely more quiet with new people all of a sudden. In a similar vein, Hanna Lu will get so happy when she sees or hears me at daycare in the afternoons but unless I go to get her immediately she starts to fuss and cry - which makes things difficult because I need to go get her stuff and collect her little daily report card.
• This child has also started to show some signs of "personality"; she will cry/fuss if we take away something that she wants...a spoon she was eating with, the water scoop in her bath, etc. 

• Hanna Lu is crawling up a storm still. She even got herself stuck between the couch 

         and ottoman yesterday.

• The baby can sit unassisted for a bit but will still topple over if she gets excited and moves her arms too much.

• She had a wee bit of avocado this past weekend and seemed unimpressed but still wanted more; we'll legitimately try it out this weekend. Hanna Lu is still loving her oatmeal.

• Enjoyed her first baseball game...

         she made it to the 8th inning!

• The kid will make this cute clicking sound with her tongue/mouth and she'll even mimic it if we start making the sound first.

• So many smiles for daddy and Guinness.

• Enjoyed swinging in the park for the first time!

           Grandma and Zaide took her and I got a chance to do it the next day...
           baby really liked it and let us know with smiles and laughs.

• We're enjoying this baby so so much!

xoxo, natty ♥