22 Months

Hannah "Baby",

You don't know how good it feels to be able to write this letter to you!  After so much sickness (Mommy lost 23 pounds in less than two months!!) it feels amazing to be able to do anything more than lay on the couch!  I wish you knew how happy it makes me to be able to play with you again!  Even though I am still not feeling good, I am much better than I was before.  We were even able to send MeMaw and PaPaw home and Daddy back to work.  So now Mommy is taking care of you all alone!  I still have to take lots of breaks and fight off the constant feeling of needing to throw up, but it's progress and I'll take it!

So what are you up to these days....SO much!  Your vocabulary has literally exploded!  You say full sentences now - "Elmo sleep with me", "Sorry Mommy", "Help please" - sing lots of different songs - "I love you, You love me" (Barney song), "Oh Christmas Tree", "Twinkle Twinkle" - and say all kinds of words!  You can easily count to ten now and can name a few colors (pink is a favorite).  You are obsessed with little people toys and play with them for hours on end!  You love to line them up on the table and then make them all lay down ("night night") and then put them all back in a row again.  You also love to make-believe with them in their house and you call them all your babies.  Precious!  You have also started walking down the stairs all by yourself, although you still want me to carry you from time to time "old me" (hold me). 

You have started sleeping a little later in the mornings which I am so grateful for!  You typically wake up between 7:30 and 7:40am.  You are still my alarm clock and I roll out of bed as soon as I hear you talking.  Oh and can we stop right there and highlight the work "talking".  You no longer scream when you wake up, but instead wake up happy and well rested.  Amazing!  I now know that if you wake up crying it's because you are still tired and need to go back to sleep.  When I come into your room you often greet me with a "morning Mommy" which just makes me smile!  I always ask you what you dreamed about and you almost always reply "yayas" (lovies) and when I ask you what they were doing in your dream you always reply "night night" (sleeping).  Precious!  Then you show me each thing in your crib - lovies, teddy, blankie, water, etc.  Usually the only way I can convince you to let me get you up is to ask you if you want to eat breakfast, to which you always reply "YES"!  You are one hungry girl!

Bedtime is our favorite part of the day.  You are so silly while we are trying to get you ready for bed (which can be exhausting) but you are so happy.  You LOVE to be a naked baby and run around with no clothes on.  This has often resulted in your peeing on the floor, but lately we have been working on having you sit on the potty again (after a few month hiatus where you refused to sit on it).  You still haven't actually peed in it, but at least you are starting to sit again.  Our nighttime routine consists of eating dinner around 6pm, followed by playtime with daddy until 7pm.  Then we head upstairs to do the naked baby routine, brush your teeth, put on a clean diaper and pjs, read two stories, say prayers, and give hugs and kisses.  Lately you have been pretty stingy with your kisses though, especially for Daddy.  But as I put you down for the night and Daddy walks out of the room, you call out "Night Daddy" over and over as he calls  back to you, "Night Hannah".  I sing you your song "Good Night Sweetheart" and tuck you in.  You say, "Night Night Mommy" and/or "Yuv You Mommy" (Love you Mommy) which just melts my heart.  Love!!

Napping is a whole different story.  You have almost completely stopped now.  I still put you down for a full hour, but you rarely fall asleep and if you do it is usually for only 30 minutes...brutal.  I aim to put you down by 1pm and get you up around 2pm.  I try to use this time to rest but when youa are talking or whining the whole time, that makes it pretty difficult.  I sure hope this is just a phase and that you will begin to nap again very soon!  I know you still need a nap because just yesterday, when we were driving home from playgroup around 5pm, you fell asleep in the car!  Talk about brutal.

Eating is still your favorite activity!  You are obsessed!  If you aren't eating, you are asking to eat.  It's constant!  Just today I bought you some vanilla almond milk in hopes that giving you something other than water to drink would help fill you up.  So far you love it, but you still ask for something to eat every five seconds.  You'd think that I was starving you.  But then you'd see your growing belly and realize that I'm not!  You are off the charts girl....nearly 30 pounds now!  Yikes!  Your favorite foods right now are bunnie crackers (similar to goldfish, but the organic variety), blueberries (still), apples, daddy's grilled chicken, and yogi (yogurt).

You have become obsessed with our iPhones lately.  You can't get enough of looking at pictures of yourself ("Hannah pickies"), watching video clips of babies on youtube, or playing with the 'Elmo Calls' app.  You also love to hear "the man" on Daddy's phone, which is a James Taylor song that you love...'You Can Close Your Eyes'.  It's really precious.  You listen to it with Daddy and sway back and forth with him while you sing, "gonna be ayight" (You can close your eyes, its alright).

Other 22 Month Stats:
- You still wear size 5 diapers day and night (overnight diapers at night)
- You wear a size 7 shoe
- You wear mostly 2T clothes, with a few 24 month and 3T things mixed in

When I look at you now I don't see that tiny little baby we brought home from the hospital, I see a beautiful little girl! You have grown into an adorable toddler, full of joy and spunk. I could just stare at you all day....you are breathtaking!