One day short of 6 Months

Dear Hannah, 

Have you been with us for 6 months already? You are no longer the tiny 6 pound baby that we brought home from the hospital, but now a sitting, rolling, and smiling 15 pound baby wearing size 3 diapers! 

 You are still pretty good at flinging socks off of your feet, especially now that you are always wanting to grab at your feet.

This week, you have started to be more aware about the living things around you. You've reached out several times to pet Teddy, and sometimes when other people hold you, you start crying.

You don't have any teeth yet, but I'm in no hurry for you to get them since you really don't need them right now. The foods you've tried so far (not including the foods that we put in your mouth to try to entice Nathan to eat his veggies) include avocado, sweet potato, and yogurt. You seem to really like yogurt.

Nathan tried to feed you last night and ended up accidentally sticking the spoon a bit too far in your throat, causing you to gag a bit, but you seemed ok afterwards.

 Afterwards, Nathan thought that it would be cool for you to eat his finger?

You seem to be a very curious girl who likes to pick up and explore different things. You seem to be getting into more stuff than Nathan did when he was your age. You also have quite an arm. Sometimes while examining something, you will fling it a few feet in front of you. We definitely don't want to be too close if you ever get angry!

One thing I'm a bit concerned about is the amount of giggles that you give off. There are a few moments where you will produce a quiet chuckle or giggle, but I really haven't heard a deep belly laugh. Maybe we are just not that entertaining. Hopefully those giggles will come soon.

Night time sleep has gotten pretty steady. You sleep for about 4 hours at a time at night. The books say you should be sleeping 6-8 hour stretches, but like your brother, you too are taking your sweet time. This is also causing me to become a bit sleep deprived as I often find myself pausing, staring off into space, trying to remember what I was about to do.

Well, other than that, I really have no other complaints. You are pretty much the perfect little baby. I look forward to having more fun with you guys.
***
Dear Nathan,
You are growing up to be quite the big boy. Your language has exploded and you are now speaking English 95% of the time. I still speak to you in Chinese, and you understand me, but I'm hoping that our trip to Taiwan will help you pick up a bit more Chinese before English becomes your dominant language for good.

For Valentine's Day, we all made some chocolate covered strawberries for dessert. You did a pretty good job dipping the giant strawberries in chocolate.

 Those lasted us for about 2 days and ever since then, you will ask for strawberries and chocolate when you wake up in the morning and from your nap. I have to explain to you that we are out and every time, I have to endure your disappointed little face :(

One morning, I was vacuuming and you decided that you wanted to help out. Before this week, you had always been afraid of the vacuum, but you are no longer afraid. You actually did a pretty good job with pushing the heavy machine around the house.

 One cold afternoon we were waiting for Hannah to wake up from her nap. You had suggested that we do some paining. I asked you if you wanted to make a dragon mask and you got pretty excited about it. We talked about symmetry, and different strokes. I added some eyes, you taped down some whiskers, and voila! Dragon. Just in time for Chinese New Years.

 The weather has been crazy recently. One day we will have a beautiful sunny day in the 80's and then the next day, it dips to a gloomy, dark day with temps in the 40's. Today, the weather is getting warmer, but so is the oak pollen count, so we will try to go out as much as possible before mommy has to stay inside.

Your newest favorite phrase is, "Nathan did it!" Not in the way a kid exclaims it after accomplishing something, but you say it to tell us that you did, indeed, do something in the past. Another phrase that you still use a lot is "[Person] doing?" or "That come from?" I'm afraid to introduce the word "why" because I know what that involves with a toddler.

Well, that is about it for now. I love you both so much!

Mommy