Quick Update

So, I don't have any pictures to post and I have a few videos, but not on my computer, so this will just be a quick update. Sorry. :)

Hannah turns one tomorrow. Holy cow! I can't believe it. I've really noticed over the last few weeks that she's definitely maturing and changing quickly. She's developing some great problem solving skills, walking with her little push-walker thing, imitating everything perfectly (did I mention she's a perfectionist?), starting to actually "play" with her toys, loves putting things in their proper location, and has started to be able to play by herself really well. We have a corner in our living room that's basically a stack of books and a bunch of toys, and she crawls over there and pulls out what she wants to play with and just goes to town.

We have this little farm animal puzzle that she really enjoys. Her favorite animal is the duck (one of her first words). She'll pick up the duck off of the puzzle, looks at it, babbles for a second, and then daintily places it back on the puzzle (not in the correct location, but she understands that you put the pieces back in the puzzle). And then she looks up at me with a huge, proud smile on her face, waiting for my applause. Once that ensues, she manages to applaud her self. :)

She has a very cute sense of humor. She says, "Hi", and does her pageant wave with both hands. She's a social butterfly, loves Tim and Jim, loves to play with other babies, and hates it when I pick her up from a social place. Hannah is a rather compliant child--she knows what "no" means, and only occasionally tries to push our buttons. But if we're consistent in not letting her get away with stuff and strategically stern, she responds very desirably. We've had to pop her a few times for copping at attitude and being deliberately testy. The two times I've done it have straightened her out real quick--she lets out a few crocodile tears, but is an angel once she's calmed down. It's amazing how much a change of tone really makes a difference.

I've also noticed that I can get kinda schizophrenic on her--what I mean is that I'll have the meanest tone when I'm reprimanding her for something (but I'm really not mad, just making a point), and then 2 seconds later, back to lovey mommy. Crazy. But, like I said before, she responds to it, so I guess that works?

This week, I tried going to one nap a day to see if that would help her sleep better and longer. Well, she slept longer at night, but when she would finally go down for a nap during the day, she'd only sleep an hour at a time. So, I'd try to get her to go back to sleep however I could, and eventually she'd go back to sleep. But she was so exhausted that I think we'll wait a few months to see if maybe we can make it happen. My concern was that she was only sleeping 10 - 11 hours at night with 2 naps a day, so I didn't know if she was sleeping too much during the day or what. But, she fell asleep on the way home from ACAC this morning, and has been asleep for about an hour and a half or so, so I guess she needed it!

We're looking forward to celebrating her birthday tomorrow with family coming into town. Yay! We'll have some pictures, possibly some videos to post from her celebration, I'm sure. :) 'Til then!