10 Months!

Our littlest girlie is 10 months old, and getting to be such a big girl! She's quite the character too - far more shy and clingy than her siblings, but also quite flirtatious when the mood strikes her. She has this cheesy grin where she will scrunch up her nose, squint her eyes, and "cheese." She can win people over in a heartbeat with that grin!
Hannah's biggest accomplishment of the past few weeks is standing well and almost walking. She takes one step at a time frequently these days, and took three steps all at once just the other day. She's quite proud of herself, and especially enjoys all the attention she gets from her parents, siblings, and the friends we are staying with.

Standing all by myself!

Practicing walking with Rebekah

Hannah has 5 teeth now, and 3 more soon to appear. She's been a bit miserable because of it, but her big sister is very faithful about keeping the teething rings in the fridge and pulling one out whenever she gets fussy.

Hannah's personality is really developing as well. She loves to tease and laugh. One of her favorite activities is "chasing" Rebekah and Daniel around the house. From any part of the house, you can hear all three kids just cackling when Hannah chases the older two. It's a very nice sound! Hannah loves being a part of whatever her siblings are doing. Recently we have occasionally allowed her to play in Rebekah and Daniel's room with them, and they all seem to love that and do very well together.

Even though Hannah is very sweet and cuddly, she is every bit as stubborn as the rest of her family. In the house we are currently staying in, there is a shiny metal drain in the floor right in front of the kitchen sink. Hannah finds that drain SO very attractive! She has been told "don't touch" numerous times, but the temptation gets the best of her almost every time. The other day, after getting her hand slapped a couple of times, she decided to try a new tactic. She has seen us standing in front of the sink with our feet on the drain. (Since if you are doing anything at the sink, you are probably going to be standing on that drain.) So why can't she put her feet on the drain? She crawled over toward the drain, but instead of touching it, she sat up and methodically swiveled her body around until she could put her foot on it. She left it there for a minute to see if anything would happen. When it didn't (I was just watching her to see what she would do), she gingerly reached out and put her hand on the drain as well. Oh my. We've got our work cut out for us with this one! Gotta love her. =)

Hannah's vocabulary hasn't increased much in the last month, but it is obvious that she is trying hard to communicate with us. She will often jabber on at a great rate, giving her opinions on something or other! She has started to say her own version of "Daniel" (sounds a lot like "dada") and "Uncle Sam" ("uh-sa") though, and she often tries to imitate sounds and words she hears Rebekah and Daniel saying. When Nathan comes home in the evenings, the older two usually attack him saying "Hi Daddy!!!" Hannah chimes in with her own little wave and "Hi Da!"

Hannah has learned her sign language a bit more in recent weeks. She still doesn't use most of the signs all that often, but she knows "please, more, eat, hi, bye, and all done." She uses "hi" and "all done" the most. She also understands the signs for "no" and "sit," and she will often shake her head (more like her whole upper body) "no" if she doesn't want whatever food she's being offered.


Our family is very much in transition right now, and that has been a challenge for Hannah. She was very clingy and insecure for the first week or so after we arrived back here, but she is doing much better now. She has become good friends with the couple we are currently staying with, and she no longer cries every time Mommy leaves the room (thankfully!).

It is such a joy to watch her learn and grow - especially right now when she's at an age where she's really maturing and picking up on a lot of new things.