Babbling and Climbing to New Heights: Week 57

Dear Nathan and Hannah,
It's been a pretty hot summer, but compared to past summers, it's actually been pretty mild. Nathan mentioned again the other day how we should move to Illinois because it is less hot. Don't worry, it should start to get cooler as the days go on.

We've gone to the pool twice this week. Once with daddy and once without. This week, Nathan you have learned to swim with your arms as you kick your feet. You even realize how much faster you can go if you use both your arms and legs. Your favorite thing to do right now is for me to push you away on the inner tube, you flip into the water and you swim back towards the stairs.

One time as we were getting ready to leave, I turned for a few seconds to dry Nathan off, and Hannah, you start climbing up the back of the lounge chairs!

 We hope to go to the pool a few more times before it closes for the season. Hannah has been able to swim about 2-3 feet and when you pop back up, you don't even cry or fuss. You have definitely learned how to hold your breath under water.

Nathan, one of your favorite things to do right now is completing a maze. I've started with easy ones and we are now at this level. As you can see, Hannah likes to join in on the fun as well. You have learned to start the maze and when you are at a fork, you will go to the end and trace your way backwards to find the correct route. Problem solving at its best here!

Help the dinosaur find the chicken leg. 

 And when you complete the maze, you do a little dance and beg for another more difficult one.

Help Nathan find his daddy. 

 Nathan, you are really starting to understand how gentle you need to be with Hannah and Hannah, you have learned how to roll with the punches (literally) and both of you are now starting to play pretty well with each other. There are so many times when Nathan does something that looks a bit too rough and I think that you are about to cry, but more often than not, you start bursting out in laughter.

You love it when Nathan does crazy things: slide down the edge of the bath tub; do a front roll on the ground; shake his head crazily like a mad man while dancing. All of these actions will cause you to laugh hysterically. It is adorable!

Baylor homecoming is coming up in a few weeks and this year, we plan on going for the parade. I couldn't pass up this opportunity to make Hannah a cute green and gold tutu. You absolutely love it! Whenever you wear it, you bounce up and down. When I bring it out, you quickly come crawling over, with body language that conveys how much you want me to put this on you. Tutus and necklaces... will you become a girly girl? 

 Nathan, you have started to play pretty rough. You like to wrestle with bigger boys, play guns, and yesterday, you were a zoo keeper who was catching stray animals. Here's your best animal catching move.

 Something pretty cool happened yesterday. We had just gotten home from our afternoon walk and I had to prep dinner for a bit since everyone woke up from your naps early yesterday. I asked you, Nathan, to go upstairs and play Thomas, and while I was expecting a, "But I want to watch Thomas!" you actually surprised me by saying, "OK!" and gladly marched up the stairs. On top of that, you even called Hannah to follow you and you cheered her on as she climbed up the stairs.

While I prepped dinner, I kept a "watchful" ear on you guys and everything sounded great. Trains dropping occasionally, you two babbling back and forth peacefully, no crying. 20, yes, 20 minutes later, I went upstairs to join you two and walked into this situation.

 You two were playing peacefully, with Nathan showing Hannah how to connect the track and how different things worked. How cool!

Oh, and Hannah, you are officially past the 13 month mark and can now walk about 10 feet before you topple over. I find that you can walk farther if you have something in your hand and you are trying to get somewhere. When I have you walk towards me, you get too excited and fall down after 2-3 steps.

If you are holding the popcorn popper, you can pretty much walk as long as an obstacle doesn't get in your way. You haven't quite gotten down turning, but let's take this one step at a time (literally).

Today, I started holding a chinese story time / play date at our house. While Nathan is at school, I got a chance to do something fun with Hannah. I feel bad because for the past year, whenever we do something, it's usually geared towards Nathan's interest and now, I get to do something that really focuses on Hannah. I look forward to this time together alone. 

Another thing Hannah has been doing lately is babbling a lot. You will just say phrases like, "Waya, waya, waya" or "Bee-dee bee-dee" just as if you were having a conversation. You are also signing "sleep" when you are ready to go to sleep. 

Well, things are going well in the Havlir house. Life is good. We are blessed and I thank God for this time of happiness. Until next week, 

Mommy