Hannah update 2.5ish years old

Hannah continues to amaze us with how smart she is!  She is awesome at puzzles, has just about all of her books memorized, and knows the words to an unbelievable number of songs.  She loves to sing both country songs and songs she has learned in Bible study.  It is the most precious thing to hear her belt out little Bible verses that her class has learned to a little tune.  Out of nowhere, she showed me how you draw an H, and has been asking to be taught many other letters.  She has also really taken off in her imagination.  She plays with her dolls and is such a good mommy to them.  She cooks up lots of goodies in her kitchen, and often tells me things like, "when I was a kangaroo, I could hop really high".  She is also incredibly tender hearted.  She cannot stand it when Ethan is sad, and often asks to pray for her friends and family.  She has gotten really good at jumping and still loves to dance and now "do ballet".  She is becoming pretty agile and has really good balance. We've been going to an open toddler playtime at our YMCA's gymnastics gym, and Hannah does the balance beam really well!  Hannah has also really gotten excited about dressing herself and she has such determination that she tries and tries until she gets it right.  She loves to pick out her clothes, and has lately not been wanting to wear dresses because she can't reach them by herself as they hang in her closet.  She seems to be a very cautious child when trying new things at the park, but she is also resilient, not allowing a fall to stop her from getting back to trying again!  She has grown so much and is wearing 4t clothes!!!  She can definitely still fit in most of her 3t stuff, but it is just amazing to me how much she is becoming a little girl, rather than a baby or toddler. She is silly, sensitive, smart, obedient, opinionated, and perfectly her!  We love our Hannah Page so much and are so excited to continue watching her grow!

A few cute things she's been saying lately:

"This is my special occasion book"

Mommy: "You are my favorite 2 year old in the whole world"
Hannah: "Yeah, I'm pretty good looking!"

"That's for sure"

"Mommy, this H is terrible" After drawing an H that had very squiggly lines.

While "working" at her desk, "Mommy, do you want an e-mail or an r-mail?"

"I haven't had _______ once in a while."

"Super why is a good ole boy!"

"Mommy, can I interview you?" while holding a cheese stick pointed at her mouth.

Ethan is 8 months

Ethan is 8 months old!!!  I cannot believe how big he is getting!  Ethan is so smart and has definitely started waving to people intentionally and has started to sign "all done" occasionally.  He is doing better and better with naps, though a consistent daily schedule, he has not.  He is mostly very adaptable and will be able to stay awake all morning if we are out running errands.  This sometimes leads to a nice long afternoon nap….but not always.  He is eating 3 meals a day and still nursing 5 times.  He had his first ear infection and a little cold bug, which caused some night wakings.  So there were a couple weeks when he went back up to nursing 6-7 times a day.  He has definitely been able to go longer than 3 hours pretty consistently between nursings, so I think it won't be long before he's only nursing 4 times a day.  He is crawling so fast!  He pulls up to his knees a lot, and tries to stand some, but is still very wobbly!  I know it won't be long before I have to go chasing him to make sure he doesn't go up the stairs!!  Ethan is very playful, loves to laugh, and loves people.  He is beginning to show some separation anxiety from mommy, but for the most part still does really well.  His favorite toys are his activity table, any ball or car, remote controls, and the spring doorstopper behind all of our doors!  He now has 4 teeth, as the top middle two poked through a couple weeks ago.  He is a great little sleeper, and is usually ready for bed between 7:30 and 8, and wakes up typically between 7:15 and 7:30.  I'm not sure how much he weighs but I'm guessing we are nearing 22 lbs and are probably right around 30 inches tall!  He is really fitting well in all of his 12-18 month clothes, and can still squeeze into some of his 9-12 month stuff.  We've had a couple days of nice weather and Ethan just absolutely loves to be outside.  He loves to look around at all the different noises and smile at passersby!!

January

We rung in the new year with some good friends and one family stayed for a traditional New Years Day lunch.  We had BBQ Ribs, collard greens, Hoppin John, macaroni and cheese, and cornbread.  It was all so delicious!!  We are so excited about 2014 and can't wait to continue watching our children grow!  Matt started the year off with a bang trying to get his footing with his new company.  So far, it has been an awesome transition and a welcome/encouraging place to be! He has been meeting old clients and new, and has been thrilled with the response he's getting.

This month has been a little slower for us, hanging out at home a lot just watching the kids learn and grow!  We spent a few nights in Asheville over MLK day, and while the days were fun the nights were LONG!!!  We were all in the same room at my sisters house, and both kids decided that sleeping through the night was for the birds!  We did have a wonderful playing with cousins, and exploring the Biltmore House.  Catherine was so sweet to make me a yummy caramel cake for my birthday, and Abby and Caroline played Happy Birthday on their new guitars!  I think Hannah's highlight for the weekend was playing with Molly and seeing a young bear just outside the window at my sisters!

We've had lots of little colds and virus' here and there this month.  Both Hannah and Ethan had their first ear infections, and they've both been battling a little runny nose and cough.  This has definitely left us a little bit cooped up!  However, one Saturday while we were all well, we went to Discovery Place Kids. Ethan and Hannah had so much fun!  The kids and I had been once when Ethan was about 3 months old, so it was really fun for Daddy to see it and for Ethan to be able to play a little bit too!  It is such a neat place!!!

Towards the end of the month we had about an inch of snow.  Hannah really enjoyed playing it, and eating it was her favorite!  It's always so nice to see the house and yard covered in white!!  Ethan was not so thrilled about his first experience in the snow, but we also discovered a few days later that he had an ear infection.  We are definitely looking forward to warmer weather and spring time!!