It's been a long time since I've posted. Hana is doing just fantastic. She is turning into a kind, loving, intelligent, mischievous, curious little person! Every day she continues to amaze me with her ability to understand complex things, the stories she tells (some true, some not), and her ever-evolving imagination.
Two nights ago we had a conversation that left me in stitches:
Me: You're special.
H: No I'm not.
Me: You're not? I think you're special.
H: No mommy!
M: Yes, you are, you're special.
H: I'm not special mommy, I'm Hana!!!!!!
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Monday, January 3, 2011
2011 Has Begun
Hana is just rockin' these days. She is quite the comedian. We spent a little over a week in Tahoe with my parents and she was busy busy busy - running, moving things from place to place, showing off with the shape sorter, up and down the stairs, nearly pulling a whole plate of chocolate chip cookies off the counter, sitting in the kitchen window watching the sledders, standing on the kitchen counter and washing the window and cabinets with the sponge, insisting to go "round and round on the computer" (i.e., play the iPad app Wheels on the Bus), draggin grandma and grandpa into her new play tent with her, and just generally hamming it up.
She also developed an addiction to snow. Not so much playing it, though. More like eating it. She must have had a dozen snow snacks while we were there. A snow snack is a plate full of snow, which she would sit quietly in her high chair and eat. Sometimes she would go through three helpings. It was the only respite any of us got from her constant activity.
The funniest story from the week was her reaction to a waitress dropping a tray of water glasses at the diner we had dinner at one evening. After it happened, we explained that it was an accident and that the waitress had dropped the tray, the glass broke, the water spilled, then the man came with a broom and swept up the glass, then he brought a mop and cleaned up the water and it was all fixed. This became Hana's favorite story for the next 48 hours. First, on the way home from the diner, she was tired and cranky and completely fixated on "the man" in the story. "I want to go see man!" she wailed all the way home. The next day, she kept asking, "What happened the water?" And we would tell the story again. Then 5 minutes later, "What happened the water? Where's man?" And so went the day. Needless to say, the story was slightly embellished by the time she stopped asking - the water was everywhere, all over the restaurant, it made a big explosion when it fell, etc.
Last but not least, a big shout out to not-so-baby girl Hana for giving us the loveliest new year's gift ever by sleeping until nearly 8:00 am on new year's day. Ahhhhhhh. If only that could happen every day.
Lots of pictures to post - will get to that one day soon.
She also developed an addiction to snow. Not so much playing it, though. More like eating it. She must have had a dozen snow snacks while we were there. A snow snack is a plate full of snow, which she would sit quietly in her high chair and eat. Sometimes she would go through three helpings. It was the only respite any of us got from her constant activity.
The funniest story from the week was her reaction to a waitress dropping a tray of water glasses at the diner we had dinner at one evening. After it happened, we explained that it was an accident and that the waitress had dropped the tray, the glass broke, the water spilled, then the man came with a broom and swept up the glass, then he brought a mop and cleaned up the water and it was all fixed. This became Hana's favorite story for the next 48 hours. First, on the way home from the diner, she was tired and cranky and completely fixated on "the man" in the story. "I want to go see man!" she wailed all the way home. The next day, she kept asking, "What happened the water?" And we would tell the story again. Then 5 minutes later, "What happened the water? Where's man?" And so went the day. Needless to say, the story was slightly embellished by the time she stopped asking - the water was everywhere, all over the restaurant, it made a big explosion when it fell, etc.
Last but not least, a big shout out to not-so-baby girl Hana for giving us the loveliest new year's gift ever by sleeping until nearly 8:00 am on new year's day. Ahhhhhhh. If only that could happen every day.
Lots of pictures to post - will get to that one day soon.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
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?
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?
Sunday, December 19, 2010
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!
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!
Thursday, December 16, 2010
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.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Poor Hana
Hana is sick. :( Got a little virus bug with a fever, runny nose, and cough. She's been handling it well, continuing to be mostly in good spirits, playing and romping around as usual, until this evening when her fever went up a little and she was mighty unhappy. After a dose of ibuprofen and a good cry, she hit the sack around 6:15 pm. We're hoping she feels better tomorrow, because....we have Christmas shopping to do! And she needs a haircut pretty badly.
Yesterday we had Thanksgiving in SF with Marc, Jessica, Logan, Andrew, Vicki, and Izzy. As usual, Hana had a blast. She got quite possessive over Logan's balloon, which she declared to be hers right off the bat, and Logan was none too happy about it. The "mine" phase is quite fascinating to watch. In one sense, it seems so odd that kids develop the "mine" phenomenon. On the other hand, we realize we've been training her for it - "no, that's daddy's coffee, not for babies" "no, those are mommy's shoes" etc. We've basically been teaching her that objects belong to people, and lo and behold, she wants some objects, too.
Other than the bug, she's doing quite amazing. She loves to skype, play with buckles, eat by herself, and run away from me screeching and giggling. When she's not running away, she can't stand to not be touching me. I either have to hold her or walk with her. "Mommy walk" or "Mommy come" she says, leading me by the hand. While very sweet, this makes it nearly impossible to do anything. Pete has become the master cook, house cleaner, etc. She has become a very affectionate child, even though she's not particularly cuddly. She loves to give quick fierce hugs and spontaneous kisses, and she even said "I love you, Mommy!" the other night, followed by "I love you , Daddy!" even though Pete wasn't there. We are hoping she gets better soon so she can be back to her normal playful happy self.
Yesterday we had Thanksgiving in SF with Marc, Jessica, Logan, Andrew, Vicki, and Izzy. As usual, Hana had a blast. She got quite possessive over Logan's balloon, which she declared to be hers right off the bat, and Logan was none too happy about it. The "mine" phase is quite fascinating to watch. In one sense, it seems so odd that kids develop the "mine" phenomenon. On the other hand, we realize we've been training her for it - "no, that's daddy's coffee, not for babies" "no, those are mommy's shoes" etc. We've basically been teaching her that objects belong to people, and lo and behold, she wants some objects, too.
Other than the bug, she's doing quite amazing. She loves to skype, play with buckles, eat by herself, and run away from me screeching and giggling. When she's not running away, she can't stand to not be touching me. I either have to hold her or walk with her. "Mommy walk" or "Mommy come" she says, leading me by the hand. While very sweet, this makes it nearly impossible to do anything. Pete has become the master cook, house cleaner, etc. She has become a very affectionate child, even though she's not particularly cuddly. She loves to give quick fierce hugs and spontaneous kisses, and she even said "I love you, Mommy!" the other night, followed by "I love you , Daddy!" even though Pete wasn't there. We are hoping she gets better soon so she can be back to her normal playful happy self.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Almost 18 Months
Hana is such a big girl now, she was able to stay home for 4 days with daddy while mommy went to Atlanta for work. Daddy and Hana had a lot of fun, but daddy was exhausted by the time mommy got home. :)
Other signs of her big girl-ness - she can almost put her pants and shoes on by herself. She asserts her independence by doing everything I say "no" about. (Perhaps a little reverse psychology is in order?) She can feed herself with a spoon, not elegantly, but she makes it work. Her hair is actually long enough for me to put it in a small ponytail or two pigtails, if she'll sit still and let me. I can't wait until the independence translates into potty training!
And she has a social life of her own, that apparently her parents are not a part of. I had the day off yesterday after being gone for 4 days, so I spent it with Hana. In the afternoon we went to the park. While watching the ducks, an adult walked up to us and said "Is that my friend Hana?" They chatted for a bit, shared a couple of high fives, and then she introduced herself to me. Apparently she has known Hana for quite some time, because she said that Hana is a very busy girl and is always asking questions like "Where's this? Who's that?" (Obviously, she knows here well. :) Hana spends a lot of time in the park with her nanny, so this must be how she has gained her celebrity status. She also periodically asks about Tucker and Angie, neither of whom I've met, but I assume are park friends.
We took Hana to her first soccer class last week and she loved it so much we are going to try to sign her up for the winter session. So Mia, if you're out there - the pressure's off! We've got the soccer player in the family covered. She learned to score a goal, stomp on bubbles with her feet, do soccer stretches, say the different colors of the different balls, and do some counting. Oh, and by the way, she can count to 5 now. The other morning she just busted out with it!
New phrases and sentences:
"Go see truck" (when she hears one, she wants to go see it)
"Go see kitty"
"I want get OUT!!!" (of car seat, high chair)
"I like it."
"No like it."
"That's mommy's/daddy's [spoon, shoes, shirt, etc.]. "Where's Hana's [spoon, shoes, shirt, etc.]?"
"No [pinch, poke, bite]." (immediately after she says this, she proceeds to pinch, poke and/or bite, but lately she has sort of caught herself in the act and says "hug" and switches to a hug which is very sweet and also much less painful)
On another note, the moms from my moms' group with dads and toddlers are coming over tomorrow for a brunch. Hana enjoys nothing more than a house full of kids to play with. It'll be a fun day.
Other signs of her big girl-ness - she can almost put her pants and shoes on by herself. She asserts her independence by doing everything I say "no" about. (Perhaps a little reverse psychology is in order?) She can feed herself with a spoon, not elegantly, but she makes it work. Her hair is actually long enough for me to put it in a small ponytail or two pigtails, if she'll sit still and let me. I can't wait until the independence translates into potty training!
And she has a social life of her own, that apparently her parents are not a part of. I had the day off yesterday after being gone for 4 days, so I spent it with Hana. In the afternoon we went to the park. While watching the ducks, an adult walked up to us and said "Is that my friend Hana?" They chatted for a bit, shared a couple of high fives, and then she introduced herself to me. Apparently she has known Hana for quite some time, because she said that Hana is a very busy girl and is always asking questions like "Where's this? Who's that?" (Obviously, she knows here well. :) Hana spends a lot of time in the park with her nanny, so this must be how she has gained her celebrity status. She also periodically asks about Tucker and Angie, neither of whom I've met, but I assume are park friends.
We took Hana to her first soccer class last week and she loved it so much we are going to try to sign her up for the winter session. So Mia, if you're out there - the pressure's off! We've got the soccer player in the family covered. She learned to score a goal, stomp on bubbles with her feet, do soccer stretches, say the different colors of the different balls, and do some counting. Oh, and by the way, she can count to 5 now. The other morning she just busted out with it!
New phrases and sentences:
"Go see truck" (when she hears one, she wants to go see it)
"Go see kitty"
"I want get OUT!!!" (of car seat, high chair)
"I like it."
"No like it."
"That's mommy's/daddy's [spoon, shoes, shirt, etc.]. "Where's Hana's [spoon, shoes, shirt, etc.]?"
"No [pinch, poke, bite]." (immediately after she says this, she proceeds to pinch, poke and/or bite, but lately she has sort of caught herself in the act and says "hug" and switches to a hug which is very sweet and also much less painful)
On another note, the moms from my moms' group with dads and toddlers are coming over tomorrow for a brunch. Hana enjoys nothing more than a house full of kids to play with. It'll be a fun day.
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