18 Months and A-OK

Hana had her 18-month pediatrician visit today. Nearly 26 pounds and still the tallest kid in the west. We told her we were going to see Dr. Meezan before we went, and she said multiple times, "I want to go see Dr. Meezan." Then in the car she began asking about "Dr. Berber" (Dr. Berberich) who is another doctor in the practice. The bizarre thing is, we saw him once, the day after Thanksgiving for a fever, and that's the only time she's ever seen him. I have no idea how she remembered his name.

All went well at the visit. She had shots and no tears! We got the go ahead to be a little firmer with her around the food throwing behavior. She throws food, we take it away. She doesn't get to eat while playing. If she wants to eat, she has to sit in her high chair. It's going to be a battle of wills, I can tell already.

Hana has (hopefully temporarily) lost interest in the potty. She has, however, developed a keen interest in removing her diaper and peeing and/or pooping on the floor. Oh joy. She is really quite fascinated with her own bodily functions, which is why I think she is doing this, but as with everything the novelty will wear off and we can return to diapers and the occasional trip to the toilet - or at least I hope that's how it goes.

Funny Christmas story. I asked Hana if she wanted to pick out pants to wear today. She picked out these green velvet pants that I have been saving for Christmas. I told her we couldn't wear them, they were for Christmas. She marched right out of the room with them and put them in the Christmas tree. Makes perfect sense, right?

Leaps and Bounds

Just in the past week or two, Hana seems to have surpassed some sort of cognitive milestone. Suddenly, she is a whiz at shape and color sorters. She knows the words and tunes to all sorts of songs. And she has developed quite the imagination. Tonight, while looking out the window at the rain, she began to sing the "Hello" song, and instead of singing "Hello to Hana" or "Hello to Daddy" like usual, she sang "Hello to raining." And then "Hello to Mommy's car" which she could also see out the window.

She also is able to make up "stories" about things. Today there was one deer in the yard, when there are usually two or three if there are any. She asked "Where's the other one?" and then answered her own question. "Deer is sleeping." She knows all the places we go and when one of us is gone she can usually tell a story about where she thinks we are, like "Mommy go work." And my proudest accomplishment of all, when you ask her who mommy voted for, she shouts "Obama!" Of course, if you ask her who Tigger voted for, or Georgie, she also says Obama, but whatever.:)

We also have hints of readiness for toilet training, but I'm not pushing it, just letting her take the lead. A child potty seat is on its way from Amazon as we speak, just in case.

It is very very hard to comprehend how such a bright and imaginative child can still act like such a simian at mealtime, but I suppose this phase will pass!

Christmas Is Almost Here!!

Hana is celebrating her pre-Christmas days by yanking the ornaments off the tree on a daily basis and giving them kisses. She especially enjoys the Frosty the Snowman ornament and also the Pinnocchio ornament (she is getting pretty good at saying his name).

She continues to be quite the talker. She mostly likes to observe the environment and then announce what is going on. "Mommy go work." "Mommy's home." "Daddy's sleeping." "I eating." "That's Mommy's spoon. Where's Hana's spoon?" Or else it's a declaration of immediate need. "I want to go downstairs." "I want cottage cheese." "I want to go outside." The best is the "I love you's" which are getting much more regular now. She's also become a diva, with her own special renditions of Happy Birthday, Twinkle Twinkle, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Hello Everybody.

Hana will become a stereotypical Bay Area resident beginning in January when she will start commuting. Our nanny is accompanying our share family to their new home in Orinda and Hana just loves Bina and the kids so much we couldn't bear to see them go. So we will work out something, for at least 1 or 2 days a week, and we'll just have to see how it goes.

Here are some pics of Hana in her winter get-up, courtesy of Grandma Sharon, as well as some other candid shots. So far, her favorite part of being in Tahoe is the snow - not playing in it, but eating it. To her, the snow is a wide, endless expanse of edible ice. Needless to say, our attempt at a family snow shoe outing was mostly a "let's sit down right here and eat snow for 20 or 30 minutes" kind of adventure. We figure by next year she'll be ready for this kind of thing, and maybe snowboarding too.