Hannah: 29 Months Old

Hannah,

What an exciting month this has been!  It has been a month of change around here.  You are now sleeping in a big girl bed!  This is a major development because it was something I didn't think we would do for a while still.  Mommy was so nervous to move you into the toddler bed because let's be honest...you are not the best sleeper!  I figured that as soon as you had the freedom of being able to get out of bed, you would never sleep again.  Well, so far you have proven me wrong....thankfully!  :)  We converted your crib into a toddler bed on August 5 (just one week ago) and you have yet to escape.  While I know that this won't last forever, I'm pleasantly surprised with how well the transition has gone.  I think it helps that the toddler bed still looks very much like your crib did, just with a shorter front rail.  Your sleep has not improved since we made the transition, but it hasn't gotten any worse which is all one could hope for. 

Since the transition to the toddler bed went so well, Mommy decided to get really crazy and take a shot at potty training!  On August 8, we started and for the next two days you were completely naked from the waste down.  The first day you did okay, peeing in the potty 3 times and only having one or two accidents.  However, you were definitely afraid of going in the potty.  The second you would start peeing, you would jump off the potty in fear.  This resulted in a lot of peeing ending up on the floor, which was not fun, but I was hopeful that this fear would subside as you got used to going on the potty.  On day two things went from bad to awful!  Your fear seemed to increase, causing you to hold in your pee for the majority of the day, despite showing obvious signs that you needed to go.  It was breaking my heart that you were so afraid and as a result so uncomfortable all day.  Not to mention that you hadn't pooped in over 48 hours.  You were becoming very resistant to even sitting on the potty, let alone going in it, despite all my efforts to bribe you with candy and special treats.  That night I had a minor breakdown, not sure what to do the following day - continue on in our potty training or throw in the towel?  When you woke up on Friday, I stripped you down and pressed on with our potty training adventure.  After two hours of nothing (you were obviously holding it in) I could tell you were going to have an accident any minute.  Emma was waking from her nap, so I asked you to sit on the potty while I was upstairs tending to Emma.  You refused!  I knew if I left you downstairs alone you would surely have an accident, so I asked again, to which you refused.  This was my breaking point.  I sat down on the floor with you and put a pair of big girl panties next to a diaper and asked you which one you wanted to wear - big girl panties like your friend Hannah or a diaper like a baby.  You immediately chose diaper!  Boo!  So that was it...back to diapers.  I told you that anytime you wanted to use the big girl potty that you should just let me know and we would.  Or if you wanted to wear big girl panties again, to tell me.  As soon as I put the diaper on you, you looked right at me and said, "I'm making pee pee in my diaper."  AHHH!  Thanks for rubbing it in little peanut.  What was I supposed to say to that.  I just said, "Ok" and then had a good scream in my head and moved on with the day.  While I was very frustrated that we had gone backwards in our potty training adventure, I have to say that there was a weight lifted off my shoulders having you back in a diaper.  Those two days of potty training were so exhausting and I wasn't enjoying being with you.  The moment you were back in a diaper I was able to enjoy my precious little girl again and we had the best day.  I know that you will eventually be potty trained (although I have a hard time believing that you will ever be willing) so I am trying not to stress about it.  We will try again in a few months.

With all this big girl transitions this month I have really noticed just how big you are getting.  Having Emma to compare you to also makes you look so big!  I have been looking back at pictures and home videos of when you were Emma's age and it makes me realize just how fast time has gone.  Where did my little peanut go?  

You continue to be the best big sister to Emma!  When you see her you say, "Oh, look at that little cutie pie!"  When she cries or fusses you love to comfort her and say, "It's okay little girl." or "What's the matter Emma?" and give her her binky or hold her hand.  Absolutely precious!  You love to hold her and your favorite thing to do is make the three of us hold hands (Emma, Mommy and you) and sing the Barney theme song ("I love you, You love me"). 

This month you continued to love playing with your little people toys and even got a new little people princess castle to add to your collection.  You love it!  Your favorite thing to do continues to be lining up all your little people in a large circle and then turning them all so they are in a straight line and then lying them down to go "night night" one by one.  You also love building castles with your princess legos, playing with your baby dolls (taking them for walks in the stroller, feeding them from your "boobs", changing their diapers, putting them to sleep, etc.), and reading books.  You also loved going to church (the one time we actually made it there), which makes me hopeful for preschool, which starts in two weeks (on September 4).  Don't even get me started on the mixed emotions I have about you starting preschool!!  :-(

I have to say, the funniest thing this month were the random things that would pop out of your mouth!  There were so many funny things, but these are the ones I can remember:

- "I actually need some ice in my cup.  It's a need." (whenever you would say you "needed" ice I would ask you if it was a want or a need, so you started answering before I asked. haha)
- "They are going to the hospital to see the newborn babies." (talking about your little people)
- "Look at these pitty (pretty) stairs." (we got new wood on the stairs recently)
- "Hello sweetheart." (to Emma)
- "Come in my payroom (playroom)." (constantly!!)
- "She's such a cootie (cutie) pie." (about Emma)
- "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls." (before you would put on a dance show for us)
- "Momma" (your new name for me)
- "I want to do ____ for a couple more minutes." (hold Emma, play, etc.)
- "Talk to Hannah" (when you want us to be the voices for all your toys)
- "You member (remember) when we went to that wedding?  We see (saw) Lauren and Brent and Cody and Kyle and Audee (Audrey) and Buddy and MeMaw and PaPaw." (referring to my cousin, Lauren's wedding back in May...your memory is amazing!)

This month we used your new "Okay to Wake" clock for every nap and at bedtime.  While I was very hopeful that this would be the key to better napping for you, it has not been a magic cure.  For naps the clock is set on a timer for 1 hour and 15 minutes and then turns green to indicate it's time to get up.  Despite reminding you over and over and over again that you need to be quiet until the light turns green, you still continue screaming during nap time the majority of the time.  For part of the month (mid month) you were consistently sleeping for one hour for naps, but by the end of the month you were back to not sleeping at all.  I have read that this is a normal occurrence as a child begins to wean from their daytime nap.  Your bedtime remains 7:30 or 7:45pm and for the morning your clock always turns green at 7:45am.  You are fairly consistent in waking up around 7:30 or 8am.  There were several nights this month where you would struggle to fall asleep (calling us back in to switch your blanket because you were "too hot") or would wake up in the middle of the night, screaming.  Most of the time when we would go in during the night you didn't even talk to us, making me think that you might have been crying out in your sleep and not truly awake.  I would just tuck you back in and walk out.  There were a few nights where I was up nearly every hour with either you or Emma.  Brutal!  Thankfully that has not been the regular pattern of the month, so I'm hoping that will be few and far between!  Overall, you continue to be a great nighttime sleeper.

Your appetite has definitely dropped again this month.  Breakfast is your smallest meal, consisting of cottage cheese (still your favorite food) or yogurt and fruit (raspberries are your favorite right now).  Lunch is usually leftovers from dinner the night before (grilled chicken, steak, pasta, etc.) or an almond butter and jelly sandwich, along with veggies and a piece of cheese (baby bell cheese is still your favorite).  Dinner is whatever we are eating (lots of grilled meats this month, since it is summer and it's the easiest and quickest dinner).

You continue to amaze me with your counting ability and you are starting to recognize even more letters of the alphabet.  I have been a little more intentional in working with you on these things this month, so that definitely helps.  You know every color, how to count to 14, how to count objects (one to one correspondence), and several letters (D, M, E, O, W, H, and others).

In two weeks you will be starting preschool at the local Methodist Church.  You will go two days per week (T and TH) from 9am-12pm.  I definitely have mixed emotions about this.  I am excited for you to have a consistent time away from me where you are learning and having fun with other children.  But I am also sad to not have you 100% to myself. :-)  I know it will ultimately good for both of us, but it's definitely bitter-sweet.  My little peanut is growing up and becoming more and more independent of me.  This coming week we will find out which class you are in and who is in your class.  Then the following week will be open house for mommy and daddy and then a day where you will get to go to the school for a Popsicle party to get acquainted with your teacher and classmates.  Big changes are ahead of us, that's for sure!

Other 29 Month Stats:
- You wear size 3T or 4T clothes (majority 4T)
- You wear a size 8 shoe
- You wear size 6 diapers, day and night

I love you so much Hannah Grace.  You are such a joy.  Your precious smile and silly laugh make everything so much better.  Your sweet heart and countenance brighten my day.  I love you all the way to the moon and back (that's a lot of love!).