Easter # 1

After spending about a half hour waiting in the cold, rainy line so Hannah could see the Easter Bunny, the experience was somwhat anti-climactic. We think the Easter Bunny was creepy! Hannah spent Easter with Grandma & Grandpa Van Zanten and Grandpa & Great-Grandma Schmock and Aunt Faith and her cousin Michael. At my mom's, we continued the tradition of finding Easter eggs in the pine trees outside and we played with bubbles on the back deck. At my Aunt Faith's, Hannah went on an Easter Egg Hunt and tried bowling for the first time. She had an awesome weekend!

Hannah doesn't grasp that running into the street is dangerous...Hannah's first attempt at bowling!

Fun with bubbles:

Take Your Child To Work Day!

April 28th was "Take Your Child To Work Day". I was nervous about Hannah being at school from 7am-10:30am, but she handled it fairly well (besides a minor bullying incident!). My students were excited to meet her & seemed to enjoy playing with her. My creative writing kids took her on a walk around the school; apparently, she said 'hi' to everyone they ran into. My 9th graders did a scavenger hunt with her. They had to read her a story, show her their best dance moves, get her "signature", etc. We had a blast! Check out some pictures/videos from the day:

Yikes! Update needed...

Life moves so fast...I need to remember to stop and reflect more often! The big update with Hannah involves language development. She knows these words: hi, bye, uh-oh, me, all done, Elmo, please, apple, dada, mama, off, wow, no, "boo" for book, up, "O" for Olen at her daycare. She knows animals sounds for cows, elephants, and lions. She understands more words than she can say, and she tries to mouth words when we say them. She's learning the actions to "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and tries to mimic them. It's cool to watch her learn! Here are some recent pictures and videos:

What a sorry excuse for Spring this has been...here we are enjoying the one nice day we've had lately. It was hard to get Hannah to come inside!

Dining el fresco - feeding herself yogurt like a big girl! Playing with her cousins, Nora (they were eating their first suckers ever!) and Hayden (playing at my mom's house):

Playing ball with Hayden:

Playing basketball...she's even wearing basketball shorts! Enjoy her "victory poses"...

Friends & New Toys

We went over to Elisabeth & Joe's last weekend so Hannah and Amelia could play (and so we could watch NCAA Basketball together). They had fun, especially when we went outside! It was tough to capture both of them together...they definitely have spring fever and were "running" around like crazy!

Jay and I have a bit of spring fever ourselves, so we decided to buy Hannah some outdoor toys today. We got her a basktball hoop (our original reason for the shopping trip) and then got suckered into a plastic ball house just because it looked really fun. Hannah loves them both, but especially the ball house:

She is clearly still mastering a graceful entrance and exit:

First dunk! This video will be worth a lot of money when she is a famous WNBA player...it's where it all began:

Video Clips Galore...

Get ready for videos galore! I have GOT to post more often...

Grandma VZ and Hannah playing in a tent - there is a super cute video below.

Hannah's first time reading Macbeth...
Playing in the dressing room:

NOT the best way to make friends...

Fingerprints galore, but at least she had fun...

Tickle attack from grandma...

Jello! What a strange food...

She finally conquered her fear of walking outside! We had so much fun!

Recent Hannah adventures - pics

Play date at Mckenzie's house...Isabella and Hannah loved the ball pit! All the moms and babies...I can't believe how much they've changed!

Hannah's favorite place to play - mom and dad's dressing room:

What a cutie!

Hannah's 2nd Valentine's day:

One Year Stats & Development

Hannah had her one-year well visit last week. Here are her current stats:

Height: 32 & 3/4 inches
Weight: 25 lbs. 1 oz.

She's doing really well - she made it through her first year without any illnesses (with the exception of a few colds). She is walking really well now...her current mission is trying to open door knobs since she can reach them now. She is babbling like crazy, and her newest word is "up". The best news of all is that she is helmet free. Her head shape is within the normal range, and we are really happy with the results. It's nice to be able to hug her without a hunk of plastic getting in the way. Good stuff - we'll see what year two has in store for us. : )