Happy Birthday Hannah!

 

Happy Birthday Sweet Hannah!

I can hardly believe that you are a full year old now! This year has brought so many smiles and laughter to our home as we have watched you grow! You love to play and giggle. And you also love to exert both your independence and dependence.

I was very slow in writing your 11 month letter, so I really don't have much to add in your development. The biggest and most exciting thing is that you have taken your first steps! Initially you were only testing out single steps before you fell to the ground. But one of your friends gave you a corn popper (one of those push things) for your birthday. Well, you took off with that thinking that it was supporting you just like your walker. After you had taken about 8-9 steps you realized that you had nothing holding you up and quickly sat down. You have repeated this a few times. And once we even caught you walking from the ottoman to the couch without anything. Right now you still prefer crawling. But it is only a matter of weeks before your confidence builds up and you will start walking everywhere. Hooray! What a great birthday present!

 For some reason you have suddenly become a very picky eater. You do not like trying new food (unless it comes out of a jar) and will promptly spit out food. When I tell you no, you immediately start getting your pouty lip and throw a tantrum. Oh dear. This started early! But I am not about to give in. Whether you like broccoli, rice or meat doesn't matter to me right now. It's still what is getting put on your plate and is still what you get to eat. Sorry little lady. I don't have much compassion with picky eaters :).

On a more positive note, you are slowly starting to understand the purpose of sippy cups :). Right now the one that you drink out of the best is one that is not spill proof. So, I have not let it venture away from the high chair. But (if I hold it for you) you enjoy getting a drink of water during your meals. And if I put juice in it, then you may even try to hold it for yourself (maybe). Sigh. It's progress.



We had so much fun celebrating your first birthday with you! On your actual birthday we got to do a little bit of celebrating. We put a candle in your yogurt for breakfast. You were fascinated by it and somewhat got the idea of blowing it out. Though not enough to actually blow it out. The rest of the morning and afternoon were as usual. We were babysitting Taylor and I was teaching Joy School, so we couldn't go out and do much during the day. However, we went to IHOP for dinner and you enjoyed throwing pancakes on the floor eating your dinner. Then we went home and your friend Misty (the West Family) came over to open presents with us. You got a Melissa and Doug Noah's Ark, a rocking moose (like a rocking horse) and Lydia even gave you her old toy kitchen! You loved playing with your new toys and friends :).

On Saturday we had a big birthday party for you. Since Daddy's birthday was also on Sunday, we decided to include him in the celebrations and also include his upcoming graduation from medical school. So we really had a BIG party! It was "pink lemonade" themed, however we simmered down the pink a little bit for Daddy :). We had hotdogs, chips, Brazilian lemonade and pink pineapple lemonade. After you ate a little bit of your food, we let you go swimming in the kiddie pools in the backyard. You had a blast and really enjoyed splashing around in your own personal pool! (Lydia made sure that none of the big kids bothered you while you played.)

Then we sang Happy Birthday to you and you blew out more candles (sorta, Daddy helped a lot!). You demolished your cupcake fairly quickly and made sure to clean up as much of the big chunks as possible! After a little bit more playing and fun, most of your friends left and we opened presents with the few remaining guests. Among the wonderful gifts was the corn popper. That was when you took off walking for the first time! Hooray! It was a wonderful end to your birthday celebrations! You concluded the night by crashing in your Daddy's arms as you drank your bottle. It was a very exciting party for you and you were exhausted!

Happy Birthday Hannah Banana! We really loved celebrating with you and are so proud of all the developments that you have made this year! We are so excited for several more to share with you! You are our sweet angel!

Love,
Momma

Hannah saying she's "1"

 

Hannah walking! Sorry, I couldn't get it to upload facing the right direction. I hope you don't get a crick in your neck!