Hannah: 32 Months

Hannah Banana,

Wow! What a crazy month we have had! We spent the month dealing with more sickness, celebrating Fall and Halloween, starting ballet lessons, voting in the presidential election, and just having fun!

This month started with yet another runny nose for you! :-(. I tried a natural cold remedy that I found online (1T honey mixed with 1t cinnamon four times per day) but I honestly didn't notice much difference. Thankfully you are not usually bothered by a cold and still have a ton of energy and are just as happy as can be. You did have to miss one day of school this month because of all the snot though. :-(. At the end of the month I also noticed a rash on hour cheeks, chest and arms. It lasted for just two days and didn't bother you at all, so not sure what it was....possibly fifths disease or a reaction to a new pair of pjs you wore. Who knows!? During Emma's 4 month check up I also mentioned to the doctor that you are still walking on your tippy toes. She checked the range of motion in your feet and referred us for a physical therapy evaluation at the local children's hospital. We will make that appointment soon.

We took our annual trip to Cagles Family Farm to take pictures in the pumpkin patch and kick off the Fall season. You spent most of the time on the bouncy pillow thing and we had to literally pull you off of it to head home. You would have jumped for hours if we had let you! You were also a big fan of the pumpkin bread we had there for snack. ;-). The next day we went to the pumpkin patch at the church behind our house. Since both you and your sister started melting down the day before at the farm, we weren't able to purchase pumpkins there, so we picked them out at the church. We picked a big one and two little ones (one for you and one for Emma).

I tried to plan several fun at home activities this month. The first was building a pillow tower, which gave you hours of fun. You loved climbing on it and falling off. Lots of giggles and smiles despite feeling sick that day. We also made a sock puppet which you were in love with for several days! You held me hostage for the entire first day saying, "Talk to Hannah" and showing the puppet all of your toys. You also surprised me this month when I realized that you know nearly all the letters of the alphabet now. It had been a while since I "tested" you on them and you knew all but 5 or 6.

Naps were hit or miss this month, with days of napping vs. days of not napping being 50/50. We also noticed a dramatic decrease in your appetite this month. You eat very little at every meal and waste so much food unless it is a "snack", which you seem to have no problem eating! The few foods that you did like this month were feta cheese, watermelon, "oakie milk" (oatmeal), salmon, grilled cheese, candy, sweet potatoes, broccoli, pasta, meatballs, and cheese in general. One of my favorite quotes from this month was after I had a very rough night with Emma and I told you I needed a nap. You said, "Lets go eat. It will make you feel better Mommy." Haha. More of your other favorite quotes this month were, "Mommy, how does your neck feel?" (I have been going to the chiropractor for a while now because of my chronic neck pain), "Oh yeah", and calling me "Momma". Your go-to prayer at bedtime is "Heavenly Father, thank you Jesus for this wonderful day. Thank you for protecting us and making me feel better. Amen."

Your favorite things this month were the moon (when you see it you get so excited and say "hi moon"), going to the "toy store" (any toy that has toys...but you are so good because you never ask us to buy anything and when it's time to go you simply put the toys back and walk away with no problem), your pink lovie (you carry it around everywhere with you in the house but we have a rule that it has to stay in the house or in the car), when mommy talks for Emma to you ("hi sissy"), the song "Children of The Lord", when daddy does "roll the baby" in the towel after a bath, and singing yourself to sleep at bedtime and nap time. One of your least favorite things this month was washing your hair at bath time because of your fear of getting water in your ears. :-(.

We celebrated Halloween in a few ways this year. Our first activity was trunk or treat at your school. You dressed as a princess in one of mommy's old ballet tutus and a crown...so cute! Next was your halloween party at school. When mommy got to the school for your party I saw your class walking down the hallway and you were the line leader for the day! So cute! Our final celebration was on halloween when we went trick or treating with your friend Anne in her neighborhood. You dressed up as Little Bea from your favorite bedtime story because my was way too cold for your princess costume that night! For the first few houses you were very timid but after you realized what was happening, you had a blast and didn't want to stop! You also had a major obsession with our neighbor's blow up pumpkin. You would ask several times each day to "see that man's pumpin" and always laughed at the witch that sticks out of it.

We had your first parent/teacher conference this month at school. It was surreal to be on the parent side of a conference! The teacher pointed out that you are very attached to your friend Hannah and that you really don't play with anyone else. That made me a little sad because I want you to be confident enough to be your own person and not be a follower! But I also realize that not everyone can be a leader or should be. We will just have to be very mindful of the friendships that you keep as you get older as you will likely be very influenced by others! Speaking of friends...you had a very hard time sharing with your friend, Anne this month. She came over for dinner one night with her parents and you spent more than half the night throwing a fit over every single thing she touched. I hope it was just a combination of you being tired from no nap that day and the time change, but whatever it was, I definitely did not like it!

One of mommy's dreams came true this month when you started ballet lessons! Mommy took dance lessons for 15 years and absolutely loved dancing, so when I found out that I was going to be a mommy to a little girl I was beyond excited to pass on my love of dancing. Your first class on on October 29. We went to the local ballet store to buy your first leotard, tights and ballet shoes and you were so excited to be a ballerina! Your first class was a success and you loved getting to dress up as Snow White (each week you will dress up as a different character from a story). You dressed up as Sleeping Beauty in your second class and learned first position.

You came with mommy when I voted in the presidential election and really liked it. However, the only reason you liked it was because it meant that you got to play on the playground at the church (our polling place) after I finished and they gave you an "I voted" sticker. ;-). When I told you that our candidate didn't win (the next day) you said, "Awww, maybe next time." :-)

Other 32 month stats:
-You wear 3T and 4T clothes (size 4-6 leotard and size small tights)
-You wear size 8.5 shoes (size 9 ballet shoes)
-You wear size 6 diapers

Hannah Banana, you make me laugh. I love your sense of humor and the joy you bring us is immeasurable! We love you more than you'll ever know!