Terrible Twos Already?

Just like no one tells you that the first three months are rough, or that breast feeding can be very challenging, no one tells you that the terrible twos start before age 2! Now don't get me wrong, I would never use the word terrible to describe Hannah, as she's a delight. But we now understand what people mean when they say their kids are in their terrible twos.

For Hannah, that means learning how to use the word "no" (Hannah, can I have a kiss? No!), and a stronger personality. It's actually quite funny. When she gets upset, her entire body tenses up and she whines or screams. Two seconds later, it's over and she's on to something else, but staying patient during the outburst is an artform.

Even though she's entered a new phase of her self expression, as you can see from the pictures, she's still an amazing little girl who inspires us to love in ways that we previously couldn't imagine. She's out sweet boiba. Our Louie. Our Zeesa Punim. Our Hannah.

Like Whippets they Dance (1/08)

Hannah has loved music her entire life, and now that we finally have a video camera, we can actually record some of her memories. Of course, recording means work uploading and editing, but I guess that's better than splicing 8mm film together :)

Walkathon (12/07)

When Hannah (or any child for that matter) started walking, it was both a blessing and a curse. The blessing was that it was yet another amazing step in her development, and with her ability to walk, we had some new found freedom to go out and do things that were previously challenging. The curse, however, is that Hannah always wanted to walk. She didn't want to be carried, and she certainly didn't want to be in her stroller. She wanted to explore her new world on foot. She didn't completely stop letting us carry her, but the only way we could appease her was to put her on my shoulders. And I'm sure you can imagine the challenge of letting your toddler walk around the mall or other busy place. Regardless of these challenges, we were very proud of Hannah when she started walking. She was now a full-fledged toddler.

Walk this Way (11/07)

Early this month, Hannah starting walking. Enough said.

Halloween #2 (10/07)

While it was her second Halloween, it was the first one where we dressed Hannah in a costume and took her out. Out for her meant stopping by her grandparents house, and visiting Joel, Michelle, and Vivian for a few minutes. Hannah was going to bed at 6/630 around this time, so we didn't have too much to work with.

Halloween is a fun holiday, but I always feel bad for the kids who get put in these awfully uncomfortable costumes by their parents. Hannah liked being a Bumble Bee, and in contrast to some other things we've tried to dress her in in the past, she kept her outfit on the whole time and liked the attention. She even got a little candy.

Yom Holedet Sameach (9/07)

September 2007, the month of Hannah's first birthday, came much quicker than we could've possibly imagined. It really is amazing how fast children go up. It felt like yesterday that Hannah was just a little itsy bitsy baby, easily held in one hand/arm. In some ways, looking at her, she will always be that little baby. But in reality, she quickly became a full fledged toddler, with an ever-expressive personality, a curiousity about the world that only a child can have, and the sweetness of our dreams. Because they grow up so quickly, we have to constantly remind ourselves to enjoy and cherish every moment and every development with Hannah, because at the blink of an eye, she'll be a teenager, cursing how annoying her parents are :)

Hannah weighed 17lbs 13oz, was 27.75 inches long, and her head measured 46.8cm.

Louie (8/07)

August was a fun month. We put Hannah in a swim class, and although she was probably a little young for it, she enjoyed it. She still only had 2 teeth around this time, but she was almost completely on solid foods. She would eat almost anything we gave her although there was the occasional gag if she didn't like the texture or if something wasn't soft enough. Her favorite food around this time was Peas, and she didn't like Tofu at all. It was the food most responsible for her gagging.

We had an afternoon BBQ at Rusty and Patti's this month, where Hannah got up close and personal with their dog Louie. Little did we know that we would adopt Louie as one of our nicknames for Hannah.

I took a trip to the East Coast this month for a Camp Reunion, but unfortunately Hannah and Maria stayed home. I was the proud dad, though, and showed all my friends from camp (who knew me as a younger, much different person) pictures of her. I hope we're able to send Hannah to Summer Camp when she gets older. Some of my best childhood memories are from camp, and I want Hannah to experience the same thing if she's interested.