month thirteen May/Jun-2009

Hannah is walking along the sofa…

…sometimes like a little ballerina.

Look, no hands!

Hannah is babbling all the time, especially in the morning. rababa, mamamah, bebble and so on.

Hannah's right upper tooth is there! Still barely visible, but it has broken through.

Hannah is able to crawl! So far, she's been moving around army commando-style, pushing herself forward with one elbow while kicking with her feet. Now, she's on all four, moving on her hands and knees. (Though most of the time, she's doing this new movement only for a couple of turns, before she falls back to the old routine.)

Today, we went to Tübingen for a punt boat ride on the river. Our friend Satsuki steered the traditional Stocherkahn along the Neckar river. It was a beautiful sunny day, and we all enjoyed the ride, and concluded the day with Italian food.

On the train.

Crossing the main bridge to Tübingen's inner city.

Lots of fun during the calm and relaxing ride.

So much too see for Hannah.

Yesterday, Hannah had fever (39.5°C in the evening), but (with a suppository) she slept well, woke up early, then fell asleep again after drinking 100 ml milk. She eats very little during the day, and sleeps a lot. This evening, her fever is back, but a more moderate 38.5°C.

Chatting on the Internet?
No, currently a disconnected keyboard will do.

The fever is gone, but Hannah still suffers from severe toothache. The second upper tooth is already peeking through, and it looks as if teeth 3 and 4 on the lower jar are preparing themselves for arrival, too. Hannah has very little appetite, just eats a few spoons of fruit & milk mash, then soon pushes everything away. For the past two nights, she slept in our bed, yesterday only falling asleep (after many bouts of crying) after midnight.

cute shots

Still asleep on a sunny morning.

Playing in underwear on a hot summer day.

Getting a good portrait photo has gotten harder…

…Hannah barely sits still!

Hannah now utilizes the baby sign for thirst (making sucking sounds). Well, she's not yet totally consistent, sometimes she also makes the sound just to express the concept of bottle, and then promptly declines to drink when offered.

Hannah's teething problems slowly subside. She still occasionally wakes up in the middle of the night, and we then have to take her into our bed, but mostly she's sleeping fine. We're very glad that she has eased into a more normal sleep rhythm: She now skips her nap before lunch and instead goes to bed early, between 12:00 and 13:00, then sleeps for about three hours.
We've also firmly established a nice evening ritual: After dinner, we make the baby sign for reading (flapping one's hands), to which Hannah responds with smiles and shrieks of joy. After being lifted out of her chair, she proceeds to the armchair on her own and eagerly awaits daddy with her favorite picture book about a farm.

Continue with month 13 - Kirchheim am Ries…