month twelve Apr/May-2009

Another sunny spring day; naturally, we didn't stay inside all day, but went out and just relaxed on the lawn.

Curious Hannah — What's happening over there?

Daddy is walking Hannah around the lawn…

…where Hannah meets another baby.

Morning in pajama.

All smiles throughout the day.

On daddy's birthday, Hannah plays a song on the drum…

…then enthusiastically helps unwrapping the presents.

Baby swimming, third time: Hannah is finally enjoying the water and games with the other babies, and didn't cry at all. Even in the shower, there were few complaints from her. She's still more reserved than most other babies, and likes to keep other grown-ups at a distance.

A rare moment where Hannah hasn't (yet) removed her headgear.

Mommy carries Hannah around.

Went to the U6 check-up. Hannah still doesn't like the doctor and cried throughout the examination. Aside from her manners, body, weight and development are all fine.

My home is my playground now.

Hannah woke up at 5:45, and has been sleepy the whole day long. Throughout the day, she's had three very long naps; it almost seems like she's away, no sound from her. We suspect that the teething is stressing her; she's constantly poking a finger into her mouth (sometimes even gags when she inserts the finger too far).

Hannah's grandparents visited for the weekend; they were really anxious to see the progress that Hannah has made since Xmas. Unfortunately, Hannah is very shy and treated them like total strangers. She started crying when they got too close, and just sought refuge near mommy or daddy. She even realized that it was grandma who stacked up the bricks, and actually refrained from knocking it over. That was striking to observe: At first, her instinct made Hannah reach out for the bricks, but when almost touching the bricks, she hesitated, looked at grandma, then retracted her hand.

Contemplative: Do I know these two fellas?

Proudly walking around the pond.

Today, we went shopping for baby shoes, size 18. The sales clerk discouraged us from buying sandals, even though Hannah sweats in normal shoes; it is too hard to learn walking in sandals, tripping over the loose tip of the sandal. Of course, Hannah again cried in the shoe shop. We bought pink light shoes made out of cotton cloth, not leather.

Grandma bought Hannah beautiful glittering girlie-shoes.

The family (unfortunately without grandparents due to Hannah's shyness) on a blanket.

Sitting in a swing for the first time;
intuitively, she even rocked back and forth!

Teething: Hannah has trouble sleeping, hardly eats anything, and is very sensitive and easily irritated. Last night, she awoke and started crying just as we were falling asleep. We tried to console her, but after a couple of minutes, she would start crying again, so we again took her into our bed.

Baby swimming with daddy.

Fun games in the water — Hannah (mostly) likes them.

A typical day in the life of young Hannah:
Getting up late (9:15), only little breakfast, then exploration in bed.

Happy in the morning.

At noon, raking in the kitchen pantry. This is much more exciting that all the toys that have already been scattered around the living room!

How about cooking spaghetti?

In the afternoon, pestering daddy so much that he gives in and supplies his extra laptop for Hannah to play with. Normally, she just gets to randomly press all buttons on the nearby stereo.

So happy to be able to tinker with it, she doesn't (yet) notice that the laptop isn't even turned on!

When we went to Selvi and Mario today, Hannah surprisingly wasn't frightened as usual. She let Selvi help her walking, even briefly hold her, and interacted with the kids without reservation. Only Mario was eyed with some suspicion, but she didn't start crying at all.

Cute Hannah walks around the clotheshorse.

In place of milk, Hannah now often gets bread, rolls, or even croissant for breakfast.

Continue with month 13…