Our little Hannah is 15 months old today!
(And Sylvia is 4 years, 1 month, 19 days)
And today is also Buca Day (the day before our wedding anniversary, when we drive too far to have dinner at a Buca di Beppo):
Like last year, we were not quite sure if we would be able to keep our little tradition alive. (Also like last year, Hannah is not at 100%, and the nearest Buca is over 30 minutes away.) But, again, we made it! Even though Hannah spent the morning screaming and fussing, she was somewhat rejuvenated after a 3ish-hour nap, and our Buca outing was generally pleasant -- even the car ride!
Both girls have been in school full-time for 3 weeks now. They are both doing very well, but the school schedule is rough for Hannah, who only recently graduated from 2 naps a day to 1, and that 1 nap usually started much earlier and lasted much longer than her naps at school do. She's been increasingly tired and grumpy, which is not helped by the runny nose, congestion, and new teeth. (She has at least 8 that have broken through total: 3 front bottoms, 4 front tops, and one bottom molar; and other molars and teeth seem to be pushing toward the surface). The last couple days last week, her teachers commented that they were surprised to find that she is, actually, not always happy. No, she's certainly not. We call her "Hamster" (derived from "Hannah monster") for a reason!
Both girls have grown up and matured so much since our big move. Hannah is getting better and better and walking and climbing. She says up, mamamama, daddada, moh (more), muh (milk / food), hi, and she shakes & nods her head to indicate no and yes respectively. She also waves to greet people or say goodbye or good night. And she responds to many questions that we ask her or instructions we give her (like, Do you want food? or Get in your high chair.) She also loves to go outside and play on the playset, and she is far too bold about climbing & sliding
Sylvia is in another golden age of good behavior right now. Of course, she still gets in to trouble and has fits, but she is much more likely to pull / keep herself together and be sweet and helpful. Albeit ridiculous. She is ridiculous. For example, today her baby doll "kept hitting" her, so she put her on time out. She asked me if the baby doll could come to Buca. I told Sylvia that she couldn't come unless she was going to "be nice". Sylvia "asked" her, and the baby "said" no, so Sylvia decided to leave her in the car. That's probably not the best example; just the most recent!
Her motor skills have been noticeably improving. For example, she can now write her name (kinda... S's are hard!!) And she can write other words with some guidance. And she is generally very good at a game that is basically identical to the classic card game "War", except with a special deck of cards that each have the numeral, the written word, and the correct number of fun animal cartoons, and the word "war" never comes up. Like Kurt, who introduced us to this game, we call it "One, Two, Three Flip." You might wonder what it means to be "good" at war -- arguably the most dull and least skill-based game of all time. Well, what I mean is that she almost always knows which number is bigger, which I don't think she would have been able to do a few months ago. This version of the game also incorporates some simple addition, which Sylvia has been doing well with. With guidance, she has been able to add the numbers in the deck (0-13) and the plus cards (+1, +2, or +3). Today, for the first time, she started "counting on" by herself for the first time. (This is when you see 3 + 2, and instead of having of having to count from 1, like 1-2-3-4-5, you start with one of the numerals and count on, like 3-4-5.) This may be more interesting to a developmental psychologist than it is to other people...
One last thought... Lest you think that the ice cream that our family posed with in the above picture was in a normal margarita glass, I give you:
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