Playing?

Hannah got a play mat for her 1 month birthday from her Mimi and Papa John. She loves it. I know that sounds silly for a 1 month old, but it's true. She "accidentally" plays with the toys and really likes it. Her arms and legs are in constant motion so I strategically placed the hanging toys were she would be able to move them. She kicks the rattle and hits the butterfly and Sammy the Red Bird (We need the other names Mary Alice!). She makes lots of cute (non-fussy) noises while she's on the mat, which is nice to hear considering all the fussing and screaming we usually hear. I took a short video of it, but haven't played with the video camera enough to know how to download things yet. I'll figure it out soon hopefully. I know there will be lots of good times to come with the play mat!

Hannah had another play date today. Noah, future boyfriend, came over with his mommy this morning. We are so lucky to have so many friends that stay at home with their babies! Anyway, Noah just turned 8 months old and he made Hannah look so small! He loved Hannah though. He laughed at all her noises and got so excited when he was looking at her. He was practically jumping in Amy's arms he was so excited. We had to have a photo shoot, of course. Noah had his arm out and Hannah fit in it perfectly. Except... Noah couldn't keep his hands off of her! We hope this doesn't continue in the future, or Hannah's daddy will be very upset. We were able to get a few cute shots in despite Noah's best efforts.

PS. Thanks for the dinner Amy, it was delicious!

1Month Old

Hannah is a month old! I intended to get this posted yesterday, on her actual one month birthday, but it didn't happen! Here are several pictures from our photo shoot. The rest of them are on my Picasa website. There are some cute ones, there are also some bad ones, but you take what you can get with a one month old. Here are some highlights from this month:

• loves her swing and looking at herself in the mirror on it
• is beginning to like her bouncy seat
• LOVES to be outside
• likes to go on walks in her stroller
• no longer cries when put into her car seat, almost immediately falls asleep
• has discovered her tongue and loves to play with it
• sucks on her fingers
• sucks on her arms (give herself and occasional hickey!)
• likes to be on her tummy for a short period of time
• while on her tummy she gets up on her knees and elbows and then rocks herself so she ends up flipping on her back
• constantly kicks her feet (often resulting in rolling herself over)
• really loves to be swaddled, especially to sleep
• pulls burp cloths off your shoulder and then hangs on to it until you eventually take it away
• is VERY fussy (usually resulting in a screaming session) from 7:30pm until 1:00pm, only taking a break to eat
• is starting to get the hang of a pacifier
• likes when her daddy "throws" her up in the air
• has started giving little smiles here an there
• holds her head up straight for well over a minute
• will lift her head up for well over a minute (has been doing both head things from the very start)
• will focus intently on a face
• is making cute little sounds, other than cries
• will finally let you change a diaper without getting hysterical (not every time though!)
  

I will probably have to edit this list later as I think of more. It's been an eventful month and we are looking forward to month two and what it will bring.

Play Date!

Today was the second time Mary Alice came over for a play date. The first time wasn't very successful, as Hannah cried pretty loudly the whole time and the moms could barely hear each other. Today however was much more successful. Both babies were calm and peaceful enough for us to get in a good photo session. Then they both took naps (or attempted to take a nap) while Ali and I got to talk some.

We look forward to more play dates this summer and wish Mary Alice's mommy, Ali, good luck going back to work tomorrow!

Thank God for Grandmothers!

Hannah has decided that she is just mad at the world. She chooses to express this by crying and screaming for hours on end. Several things work to calm her down, but only for about 5 minutes at a time, sometimes less than that, and the next time you try that "trick" it may not work. At first it was just at night, anywhere from 8/9pm until 2/3am. Then this week she has decided to add days into the mix. Of course, this is Justin's first week back at work. Lucky me. For those who don't know, Justin leaves by 8am and doesn't get home until at least 8pm, but usually closer to 8:30 or 9:00. That makes for a looooooooong day with a screaming baby. This is where the grandmothers have come in. Thank God for them and the "sacrifices" of their time (neither one would call it a sacrifice, haha). My mom has come almost everyday after school for a few hours to give me a break, and then last night Justin's mom, Mimi, came to spend the night so she could take shifts with the screaming and I could get more than 2/3 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period. Of course, Hannah had a small fussy period around 10:30, but then went to sleep after each feeding after that. Between Mimi having her after the 10:00 feeding and Hannah sleeping after the 1am and 4am feedings I got a total of 6 hours of sleep. Wow! It's ironic of course that Hannah had such a good night, when we actually had help. Poor Mimi slept on the couch for nothing. I'm sure tonight will be back to the screaming sessions. We aren't that lucky!

Thanks so much Nana and Mimi!

Mother's Day & 1st Dress

It's Mother's Day. My first with Hannah, obviously. In honor of the day, Hannah got to wear her first dress. It's a newborn dress, but still too big for her! The little bottoms that match are way too big, but they haven't fallen off... yet. I also put a bow on her head for the first time. This will be the bow that she will grow into. I got the idea from the pictures on Wendy's blog, with her sweet Allie-Ann and the bow that seems to "shrink" each month. I am going to do the same monthly picture, but couldn't resist trying it out today too.

Happy Mother's Day!

Daddy's Little Girl

We discovered quite quickly that Hannah loves to be outside. If she is fussy and you take her outside she almost immediately stops (It works I'd say 95% of the time). {This does not count her 11pm-3am screaming sessions. Nothing works for those!} Needless to say, the fact that she loves the outdoors makes her daddy very, very happy! He has been off this week and has gotten a few things done around the house, but mostly loves to hang out with his daughter. If he can combine being outside with Hannah and getting something productive done, it makes things even better. I looked out the window earlier this week and saw this scene so I had to get the telephoto lens and take a few pictures, without disturbing anyone. Even Kodak was oblivious!

PS. And yes, he is taking the individual approach to weeding.

Hospital Picture

Hannah is finally on the Lexington Medical Center webiste. Check out the link to see our adorable little girl!

Belly Button!

Hannah's umbilical cord fell off yesterday. It was hanging by just a thread. As I passed her over to her Nana, the umbilical cord fell off onto Nana's shirt! Hannah is a big girl now!

Thanks for the Help!

Justin had to go back to work on Thursday and Friday. For the most part, I have things under control, except for 1 important factor, the pain of the incision. It is very hard for me to get up and down out of the bed, off the couch, out of chairs, etc... and walking up and down the stairs gets a little better every day. I still haven't attempted the stairs holding Hannah. Therefore, without Justin here Thursday and Friday, we had to call in for reinforcements. Thursday we had a revolving door of helpers, starting with Grandaddy. Hannah and Grandaddy had a good nap together. Aunt Jess came next and brought Mommy lunch! Aunt Jaime came next and all three of us had a good nap while watching a movie on TV. Nana came and stayed until Aunt Llora and Uncle Trip were about to bring dinner. They arrived about the same time Justin did and stayed to eat with us. It was lucky they were coming as Justin got a flat tire in the neighborhood on the way home and I can't drive so Trip drove Justin to drop off the Explorer at the tire place.

Friday was Mimi's day off of work and she came for the ENTIRE day. She was here from 9am to 9pm. Not only did she help with Hannah, but she made us dinner and breakfast for Saturday morning, and cleaned our house. Thanks so much for all of the help everyone!!!! Justin has all of next week off and by the time he goes back to work, I should be much, much better.

Family Album

To see more photographs (and I mean a TON of photographs) you can visit my picasa webpage!