I'm not ready to say "toddler"

But here it is - she's walking. Not just a few steps from Mama to Daddy. She'll go most of the way down the hall, or pull up to walk instead of crawling, or walk on her own when she could be cruising. She even walked some on the grass yesterday! (And got her first-ever grass stains, her first-ever time wearing tights.) The best part is the proud look she gets when she sees you watching her.

Here are some photos from the last few days' adventures with nature, a new toy (and it's packaging) from Aunt Claire, and the drum that's been mostly off limits until now. (Partly because it's a decent drum and I don't want her chewing on it, and partly because I already poked a hole in the head!)

Unedited Hannah time

I really wanted to catch her doing her new tongue-playing thing, so here's some fun Hannah rambling after breakfast.

Movie star

Hannah's been taking more steps on her own, so we decided to try again to get some decent footage. These are some clips we got a couple of evenings ago playing in the kitchen before her bed time. I kind of wish I had video of her right now, having an absolute ball disassembling the paper recyling behind my chair. Happy as a clam! Of course now I've broken the spell and she's off exploring the study with all of it's various cords and other hazards. And I'm off!

I just had to add...

Some more of my Hannah favorites...

Her extremely expressive eyebrows. Sometimes she'll see me and raise them just before she smiles. Magic.

Her love of pairs. Two things in one hand is her joy. Two of the same thing is bliss.

The fact that her hair is filling out in a nice mullet.

Happy feet. I'm sure it's something that many babies do, but she still kicks her feet sometimes when she's happy. Just in case she can't stand to take her thumb out of her mouth and smile, she can still let us know how she's doing.

When I pointed at a pretty sunset the other night, she pointed and sighed.

The fact that she fell asleep this afternoon even though a really intense hail storm started within minutes of me putting her down. (Somehow it always comes back to sleep.)

The sweetest Hannah things

Kisses - she'll lean in with her lips out for a kiss. The last couple of days, she's leaned over to give me a kiss before I put her in the high chair. I'm not sure why she does it, but I like to think it's her way of saying thank you for the coming food!


Standing - if we put her down standing, she'll just stay there for a while, looking around, grabbing her belly, contemplating life. Sometimes she'll even take a couple of shuffle steps before dropping down to crawl.


Laughing on the changing table - she loves to play with me with her feet after I change her. If I rest my head on her foot, she'll move it and drop my head on her belly. Big giggles for both of us.

The fact that she snorts when she laughs hard.


The silly grin - I have seen the face that she'll make when we tell her to smile for pictures when she's 4. It's this impish, squinty-eyed, toothy grin. Sometimes it's followed by a kiss.


"All done" - she's figured out how to sign it and does it when her tray is empty, or when I take the tray, or when she's playing, or in the bath, or... We're working on the meaning, but it's really cute when she signs!


Sleeping - which she's doing right now.

Here's a funny sequence involving the end of a banana...