This weekend was a big developmental weekend for Hana. In addition to her first sled ride, Hana learned how to use her toy train as a walker. Once she figured that out, it's all she wanted to do - back and forth, back and forth, living room to kitchen and back. She especially liked crashing into things and then having to turn the train and go a different direction. (Bumper cars in her future?)
And here's the scary thing. She can stand. On her own. Not holding onto anything. It's only for about 10-15 seconds, but still...! I fear this means walking is not too far around the corner. I can barely keep up with her now. In fact, I've noticed a substantial decrease in my picture-taking, which I think is because she just requires constant monitoring and there's no room in there for pics. On Saturday, I turned my head for a second and she fell right into the coffee table and has a bruise and a scratch on her cheek. Bad mommy!
She continues to have such a pleasant and joyful temperament. Grandma and Grandpa Coan had a lot of fun playing with her this weekend, although I suspect she wore them out. It's a lot of work chasing her around everywhere. She's still a pretty good eater, although she has refused the red beans & rice and the dal I spent HOURS making for her last weekend from scratch, including the stock. Oh well. And the noises! New ones every day. This weekend it sounded like she was practicing her Russian.
Hana had a great first week with the nanny and her new playmate Penelope. She had lots of fun playing with them, took good naps, ate good food, and generally did not show any signs of missing us or feeling abandoned. Phew! In fact, when I handed her off to the nanny on Friday, she smiled and smacked her (this is the standard Hana symbol for "I like you") so that made me feel like we've got the right situation.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Chasing the Cat
Hana and kitty have been getting along quite well these days. Kitty has grown quite tolerant of Hana's grabby hands, and she just stays out of reach if she doesn't want to be touched. Even so, we try to watch it...there are sure to be some (hopefully minor) scratches in her future.
Check out the new purple outfit! We got this from A Children's Place with the Xmas gift certificate from Grandma Wendy. Somehow, in all the million outfits she has, there hasn't been anything purple. We have now rectified that.
Check out the new purple outfit! We got this from A Children's Place with the Xmas gift certificate from Grandma Wendy. Somehow, in all the million outfits she has, there hasn't been anything purple. We have now rectified that.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
She's Growing Up
Every day Hana seems more and more like a child, and not an infant. She's got such a playful, cheerful personality. We went to the grocery store today and she was smiling up a storm at everyone who glanced her way. She can get from one end of the room to the other in no time at all. She loves to play. Keepaway is the new favorite. It goes something like this: Mommy is trying to write something down. Hana tries to grab the pen. Mommy moves the pen away from Hana. Hana reaches for it again. And so on. And so on....Mostly, I still win this game, but this morning she won and dumped my cereal all over my lap.
Another big milestone is coming up - a nanny. I think we found a nanny share! I found an ad on Berkeley Parents Network from a family looking for someone to share their nanny. It turns out they live on the street right below us, literally a 3-minute drive. We met the mom, the other little girl, and the nanny today and everyone seemed to get along fabulously. If all works out, we'll start off slowly, but by March 1st will have her doing 1 full day when both Pete and I are working and 3 half days while Pete and I are trying to get things done around the house, errands, etc. and get some time for ourselves. We feel sad to leave her with someone but at the same time, we know it's good for her to spend time with other people and learn to feel comfortable when we are not there. It was clear from her interactions with the other little girl that she needs to spend more time around kids so she can learn to play without grabbing their faces and hair. :) In any case, it helps to know that she will be just a few minutes away, and one of the days the nanny will come to our house.
We made another trip to Tahoe this past weekend with four good friends. We had a wonderful time at the house. We also went cross country skiing in Tahoe Donner and Pete strapped on snowshoes and Hana and snowshoed between the trails with her. She had a blast, and two really good naps along the way. I think she is going to be a snow bunny for sure.
Another big milestone is coming up - a nanny. I think we found a nanny share! I found an ad on Berkeley Parents Network from a family looking for someone to share their nanny. It turns out they live on the street right below us, literally a 3-minute drive. We met the mom, the other little girl, and the nanny today and everyone seemed to get along fabulously. If all works out, we'll start off slowly, but by March 1st will have her doing 1 full day when both Pete and I are working and 3 half days while Pete and I are trying to get things done around the house, errands, etc. and get some time for ourselves. We feel sad to leave her with someone but at the same time, we know it's good for her to spend time with other people and learn to feel comfortable when we are not there. It was clear from her interactions with the other little girl that she needs to spend more time around kids so she can learn to play without grabbing their faces and hair. :) In any case, it helps to know that she will be just a few minutes away, and one of the days the nanny will come to our house.
We made another trip to Tahoe this past weekend with four good friends. We had a wonderful time at the house. We also went cross country skiing in Tahoe Donner and Pete strapped on snowshoes and Hana and snowshoed between the trails with her. She had a blast, and two really good naps along the way. I think she is going to be a snow bunny for sure.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
One Day. Five New Things.
1. Another tooth! I had no idea she even had one coming in, but it's already half way in. She was leaning back and I caught a glimpse of it - her third on the top, upper right. Perhaps that was why she was so cranky this past Saturday in Tahoe.
2. Pulling up. She's been able to pull up on our fingers pretty consistently, but pulling up to standing using an object has been hit or miss. Today I was in the shower and she was sitting on the bathroom floor. Every minute or so, I would peek out of the curtain to see if she was getting into any mischief. She was sitting...and then a minute later, she was standing with her hands pressed up against the mirror on the door! I couldn't believe it, especially because there isn't really anything to pull up on. I have no idea how she got there. I had to jump out of the shower as her feet began to slide out from under her, as she was wearing socks on the tile floor. She narrowly avoided a face plant. Afterward, she spent several minutes in her crib pulling up to standing, falling on her butt, and pulling up again. Amazing. And then on my pant leg in the kitchen while I was cooking. It's like she's been doing it all her life.
3. Her name. I think she might know it. Today she turned her head pretty consistently when I said "Hana."
4. The raspberry. Truth be told, this started about 2 days ago, and it's her favorite new noise. She especially likes to do it when a spoonful of food is right in front of her mouth, blowing food all over me.
5. "No!" She doesn't understand "no" yet, but she is starting to learn to stop doing something when I say "Eh!" This will come in mighty handy until we get this place child proofed.
2. Pulling up. She's been able to pull up on our fingers pretty consistently, but pulling up to standing using an object has been hit or miss. Today I was in the shower and she was sitting on the bathroom floor. Every minute or so, I would peek out of the curtain to see if she was getting into any mischief. She was sitting...and then a minute later, she was standing with her hands pressed up against the mirror on the door! I couldn't believe it, especially because there isn't really anything to pull up on. I have no idea how she got there. I had to jump out of the shower as her feet began to slide out from under her, as she was wearing socks on the tile floor. She narrowly avoided a face plant. Afterward, she spent several minutes in her crib pulling up to standing, falling on her butt, and pulling up again. Amazing. And then on my pant leg in the kitchen while I was cooking. It's like she's been doing it all her life.
3. Her name. I think she might know it. Today she turned her head pretty consistently when I said "Hana."
4. The raspberry. Truth be told, this started about 2 days ago, and it's her favorite new noise. She especially likes to do it when a spoonful of food is right in front of her mouth, blowing food all over me.
5. "No!" She doesn't understand "no" yet, but she is starting to learn to stop doing something when I say "Eh!" This will come in mighty handy until we get this place child proofed.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
The First Crawl
Monday, February 1, approximately 6:30 am. I was in the bathroom getting ready for work and I had set Hana down on the bathmat. She crawled over to my feet and promptly pulled my hair dryer out of the cabinet. And so begins the adventure of keeping up with a mobile baby.
Truth be told, she is still far more interested in walking than crawling. Even when she crawls, she's at least part way up on her feet, off her knees, to propel her forward, kind of in a downward dog pose. I don't think crawling is going to last very long if she continues to practice the walking. She and Pete came to visit me at lunch time today at work, and she was walking all over the place holding on to my co-workers' fingers. Very nosy - wanted to see everyone's office. :)
Unfortunately, with this sudden explosion of new motor skills comes two difficult issues: 1) separation anxiety, and 2) night waking. She has begin to show signs of separation anxiety, and I've read that it's very common for this to start when babies first develop mobility because they need to know that their mom and dad are still going to be right there as they begin to explore the world. It's also a sign of maturity and cognitive development, because it means they grasp the concept of "object permanence." Before, when I was out of sight, I was out of mind. Now, when I leave the room, she can hold the memory of me in her head and actually miss me. This has resulted in some tears, more so when she's tired or feeling otherwise overwhelmed, but it's clearly linked to my "disappearing" for a few moments.
The night waking is really a drag no matter how you look at it, especially since she has been doing so well at sleeping from 6:30 pm to 5 or 5:30 am with only brief wakings where she would fall back to sleep on her own. Now she wakes up 1-3 times a night and cannot/will not go back to sleep on her own. We've tried various levels of soothing, including Pete doing it instead of me, but she doesn't seem to calm down enough to go back to sleep unless I nurse her. So we are back to the night nursing for the time being, and I am a zombie at work. I have a feeling that the fact that she is learning all these new things is what's waking her up (busy mind and body) but she can't go back to sleep because once she's awake she notices we aren't there and she misses us. The nursing works to get her back down simply because it puts her in a food coma and then she's out...until the next time she wakes up, realizes she's alone, and then it begins all over again.
One day soon we'll catch some of the crawling and walking on video and get that posted.
Truth be told, she is still far more interested in walking than crawling. Even when she crawls, she's at least part way up on her feet, off her knees, to propel her forward, kind of in a downward dog pose. I don't think crawling is going to last very long if she continues to practice the walking. She and Pete came to visit me at lunch time today at work, and she was walking all over the place holding on to my co-workers' fingers. Very nosy - wanted to see everyone's office. :)
Unfortunately, with this sudden explosion of new motor skills comes two difficult issues: 1) separation anxiety, and 2) night waking. She has begin to show signs of separation anxiety, and I've read that it's very common for this to start when babies first develop mobility because they need to know that their mom and dad are still going to be right there as they begin to explore the world. It's also a sign of maturity and cognitive development, because it means they grasp the concept of "object permanence." Before, when I was out of sight, I was out of mind. Now, when I leave the room, she can hold the memory of me in her head and actually miss me. This has resulted in some tears, more so when she's tired or feeling otherwise overwhelmed, but it's clearly linked to my "disappearing" for a few moments.
The night waking is really a drag no matter how you look at it, especially since she has been doing so well at sleeping from 6:30 pm to 5 or 5:30 am with only brief wakings where she would fall back to sleep on her own. Now she wakes up 1-3 times a night and cannot/will not go back to sleep on her own. We've tried various levels of soothing, including Pete doing it instead of me, but she doesn't seem to calm down enough to go back to sleep unless I nurse her. So we are back to the night nursing for the time being, and I am a zombie at work. I have a feeling that the fact that she is learning all these new things is what's waking her up (busy mind and body) but she can't go back to sleep because once she's awake she notices we aren't there and she misses us. The nursing works to get her back down simply because it puts her in a food coma and then she's out...until the next time she wakes up, realizes she's alone, and then it begins all over again.
One day soon we'll catch some of the crawling and walking on video and get that posted.
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