verbose

Hannah seems to add a new word to her repertoire every few days. I think my favorite word of hers is 'turtle'. She says it well, speaking with confidence and assertiveness. She's also a adept at spotting turtles in many forms: stuffed, puppet, cartoon, freshwater, and sea turtles. Wow!

She's adding lots of words and she babbles in sentences a lot. But so far we only hear her say single words - not yet speaking to words in conjunction.

Here is a list of her words that I can remember offhand (in no particular order):

go!
kitty
doggy
ducky
bird
fish
monkey
gorilla (not sure if she knows the difference between the two)
animal noises:

• mooo
• cluck cluck
• quack
• eeeeee (little piggies!)
• owww (as in meow)
• "......" (as in what giraffes say)
• and she pants like a dog in reference to dogs

mama
dada
Leila
Nandy (we think this means Sandy)
Ahnee (we think this means "I need/want")
kiki (her word for blanket)
baby
turtle
noodle
apple
key
light
ball
rock
stick
tree
leaf
nose
toes
shoe
hat
back
pea
car
Hannah
Elmo (yes, the notorious Elmo)
cheese
book
Boppy (which most definitely means rabbit - her own inventive contraction of bunny and hop)

Epicurious

Hannah is an enthusiastic eater, but she has discriminating tastes.

Right now peas are her favorite food. At dinner time, she asks for them by name (beeeeeeeeeez). As this picture suggests, she also enjoys noodles. I think pasta is her favorite of these, but she'll eat rice and egg noodles. It seems the thinner the noodle, the more likely she is to eat it enthusiastically.

She's getting accustomed to using utensils, but these are not first in her order of operations. Most everything is finger food first and foremost. And yet last night, she decided she would dip her spoon into a cup of milk. This went on for several minutes before I intervened.

Yogurt continues to be a big hit with her too. We are getting Greek yogurt for her simply because it is fat-rich dairy product - perhaps the fattiest we could find. I forget the name of the company, fund we've settled on a honey flavored preparation that goes over real well - with Hannah and me. It is so delicious!

More words

And lots of baby talk. Hannah is speaking in complete sentences, but I only catch the occasional noun. It's super cute though and she is quite animated. "Kiki" is a recent verbal innovation of Hannah's. She uses itto refer to blankets. She has a favorite blanket (with which she sleeps), but she enjoys all blankets. In fact, she has a habit of grabbing blankets, throwing them on the floor, and then lying down on them to test them out. In the event of multiple blankets, she will repeat this exercise to exhaust the blanket options. She has also been known to give this same treatment to towels, even small hand-sized ones!

I'm somewhat shocked, but Hannah has added "Bert" and "Elmo" to her vocabulary. We don't have Sesame Street paraphernalia at home, so it must come through her day care. She has also mastered some animal sounds, including some of her own devise. When we ask what sound doggies make she pants like an overworked dog complete with her tongue hanging out. She also willingly makes cute appropriate sounds for monkeys, cats, and ducks. And I taught her to "caw" like a crow this evening. We'll see if that lesson sticks...

Hannah is also a much more confident walker and I would say she's more proficient too. She now wears hard-soled shoes, and likes to clomp around in them, high-stepping and all.

She also has a mouth full of teeth now. 11 teeth have appeared with 7 seemingly fully grown in. She has four molars that have started to come in, and there are still gaps for the incisors.

It's official

Hannah is a Toddler.

She started walking last Friday and has taken to it with enthusiasm.

word

Hannah is developing her vocabulary. Here's a short list of the words that she uses:

No
Mama
Dada
Sandy (her Day Care Provider)
Leila (her best friend at Day Care)
Ball
Baaybee
Car
Kitty
Puppy
Nana (as in Banana)
Water
Key
Light
Uh-oh (it's actually pretty adorable when she says this)
wow

Post party

We've been on a blog hiatus for some time. Since Hannah turned one, we've been focusing on developing her independence. As part of this, we've encouraged her to make her own blog posts. This has not worked, so I have picked up the reins....and right where I left off.

Here are some choice photos from her three birthday parties. Thanks to everyone who was able to attend these events. Your gifts were generous and you help make the event exciting and memorable.

Un-wrapping presents is fun

Hannah discovers a new blanket, one of her favorites.

First taste of Cake

Word of the Day: Baby

Today Hannah loves the word "Baby"
One of the girls in day care has a new little sister, so everyone over there is a little baby crazy these days.

Party-Ready

Hannah is one year old today!

Good clean fun

Hannah is learning fast and seems more like a toddler every day. In the last month she's started creeping along the furniture and crawling on all-fours. Palindrome has realized she likes having her own way and is starting to throw mini-tantrums. She went through a week of screaming just for fun, then there was the "no" week. She calls the cats "Git-tee" and tries to imitate other words. Hannah looks more and more like Daddy, especially when she gets a big smile.

onwards and upwards

Hannah is now building on her pulling-up skills by climbing the stairs.

She also learned a new word, which she took home from day care. She now says "No" in all sorts of situations. Who could say no to this cute kid?