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 ♥