Finally a Hannah update

Hannah is almost 16 months old and long over due for a blog update. Our adorable girl is rapidly going from a baby to a very fun toddler, and I feel the urgent need to document her unique development.

She continues to defy all normal language development and surprises us daily with phrases such as,
"I have a bucket."
"I am fast."
"I picked it up!"
"Hello, I see you!"
"I pet the kitty-cat."
"What is this?"
"I did it!"

She seems to have grasped the "I statements" but still speaks in babel 80% of the time and rarely says single words. There is no pointing and saying "book", but instead "I read book." Elle was an early talker and by 15 months knew more words than I could count, including things like the names of colors,  animals and their noises, and she was putting together 2-3 word phrases. At this age Elle only used words and didn't talk in babel, but then again she also didn't speak in grammatically correct sentences. Where as with Hannah we have no idea what her vocabulary is, she talks continuously  in nonsense babel, and then astounds us with one of her perfect sentences. Basically, Hannah is taking an all or nothing approach to language but then again she takes an all or nothing approach to everything.


Hannah is FUNNY, and she knows it. She is also a ham and will do most anything to get us to laugh. She loves to walk sticking out her chest, or does a strange hunched over penguin thing but never without a sly glance to make sure we are watching. She is currently all about trying new things with her body be it attempting downward facing dog, walking on her tiptoes (a family trait that leads to define calves), or anything else she can maneuver her body to do. She lacks any normal fear of bodily injuring and plunges strait into whatever impulse she so desires-quite a change for us!  Going to the beach is very tricky with this child that lacks all fear as she is generally bee lining strait to the water, but then again Hannah is always determinedly bee lining strait to something.

And like all younger siblings Hannah wants to do whatever Elle is doing, and Hannah emulates Elle in every way. Luckily for Hannah Elle is the type of big sister that eats up this attention. Elle is always teaching Hannah one thing or another, or creating fun games for them both to do. Hannah is always included and is given a bigger role than just side kick. This harmonious sisterly love is not what we were expecting, but Joe and I relish in every minute of it. Prior to the move Elle requested that she and Hannah share a room in the new house. We were a bit hesitant but liked the space saving it would render so consented. It is unbelievable but them sharing a room has been AWESOME. If Hannah wakes and sees that Elle is sleeping she will often just go back to sleep. If both girls wake before we are ready Elle just climbs into Hannah's crib and reads Hannah books. There are lots of giggles in the crib and the girls will both last like that for nearly an hour while we lazily wake up-SWEET! On a side note if it were up to the girls they would dress identically to each and everyday.

With all that Elle attention Hannah is starting to pick up Elle's favorite past times such as drawing. For not even being 16 months old yet she is getting quite good with her scribbles. Luckily for Hannah, Elle is incredibly patient and most of the time puts up with Hannah's utter disregard for keeping the coloring utensils in order.

This little miss has continued on being her always happy self, except for when she is not. There is no middle grown with this kid, luckily it is generally smiles, babel and singing. She is always on the move, always exploring and always ready for a new adventure. She is a constant reminder of why this is my FAVORITE age.

'Except when she is not." Hannah DOES NOT LIKE things to not go her way. She is quite mercurial when told no-turns red, screams, cries, beats the grown with her fist and strangely yells HANNAH, HANNAH, HANNAH! As in "give it to Hannah!" She is also insanely stubborn and logical reasoning does not really work with this one-I promise I didn't expect it to but number one listened to logical reasoning at this age. This picture was a quick tantrum about the toilet not being a water table.

Luckily, Happy Hannah emerges quite quickly if we just ignore the outburst. We adore this girl and as stated before she is EVERYTHING this family needed to be complete.