Hannah at 12 Months or *GULP* 1 Year!!!

**Sorry this post is so late. It's been a crazy busy month and these monthly wrap-up posts seem to take me forever to put together. The info here was from January 28th to February 27th when Hannah turned 1 year old. Also, some topics and pics in these monthly updates will be repeats as someday I hope to put a book together of these posts which are monthly glimpses of my baby girl**

How can time fly so quickly??? I know many have said this before me but I'm going to jump in and say too that the time that seemed to drag as I awaited Hannah's referral suddenly has sprouted wings and is flying by at an alarming rate!! Noooo!!! The thought that my maternity leave is almost half over makes me sad. I will be forever grateful to the Canadian government who recognizes the benefits to both mother and child being able to spend this amount of time together to truly bond. I don't talk about it here often as I know many are not as fortunate but there are times when I'm just overwhelmed with thankfulness as it is allowing me to spend every moment of every day with Hannah. Soon I will need to force myself to leave her but so far that hasn't happened other than to go downstairs to teach. Or, a brief 11 minute trip to the grocery store while she was with Sharon and where I cried all the way to the store, ran through it and grabbed the one item we needed for supper and had to placate myself with chocolate. Soon I will need to leave her but I just can't bring myself to do so yet.

The speed that time is flying by hits me every single night as we're enjoying our bedtime routine of books, kisses, prayers, bottle, snuggles and bed, that another day has passed. Wasn't it just minutes earlier that I was doing this very same routine last night?

Hannah at 12 months/1 year
Height: 30 1/2" (she grew half an inch this month and is in the 90th percentile for height)

Weight: 18.125 lbs. (she only gained half an ounce this month and is in the 10th percentile for weight)

Teeth: Four!! Hannah cut 3 new teeth this month! Saturday, Feb 13th her top right tooth came in. Monday, Feb 15th her top left one and Tues, Feb 16th her bottom left tooth. Yes, she cut 3 teeth in 4 days!! She was a trooper through it all and I didn't know she was teething until they popped through.

Unfortunately cutting those 3 teeth in such a short amount of time was tough for my sweetie and by the end of that week she was one sick little girl. She had an ear infection and ran a fever hovering between 100.0 and 103.2 for 6 days. Poor sweetie! We were at the doctor's twice and the second time he diagnosed her with an ear infection and prescribed an antibiotic for her. Within a couple of days she improved greatly and by the following week was back to her normal, cheerful, happy self. It's awful to see your little one sick and not be able to do more than you were. We'd alternate ibuprofen and infant Tylenol every 4 hours and that did the trick to control her fever.

Hannah's illness also meant that she avoided her next set of immunization shots. She was due to get the third set (6 month ones I think) but we'll have to wait until our next appt. in mid-March to get those.

My long 'n lean little girl is still wearing a combination of 9 and 12 month clothes and size 2 diapers. We received some size 4 diapers in a diaper cake as a gift but at the rate she's going I'm not sure she'll ever get there. Most of her sleepers are 12 month size so that they fit her in the length and even those she is filling from chin to toes.

Hannah's mobility also improved a lot this month. She began pulling herself up using furniture and then walking along some of that furniture. Her little legs are getting so strong!
After a little while she also began standing alone without holding anything! She would get engrossed in a toy or dancing and suddenly she'd let go and be standing alone. Sometimes she'd realize what she was doing and clap long with her mommy. Standing is a reason to celebrate!
Hannah is also much more stable on her feet these days and when she does go down she either makes it to her seat or if not, she's much better at protecting her little head. It still bonks sometimes but not as often as it used to. Another thing is that by about 7:30 at night, as Hannah gets more and more tired her stability virtually disappears. It's at this time she becomes mommy's little buddy and goes into a carrier to help me with dishes, bottles, laundry, etc. Bedtime is normally around 9:30 - 10:00 and she sleeps until 7:30 - 8:30 the following morning. She wakes briefly a couple of times each night but a quiet 'shhhhh' or a gentle hand on her belly with a whispered, 'It's okay Shaoey, Mommy's here' will normally calm her. Other times she needs a little cuddle and I'm only too happy to provide those.

Here's a video of Hannah 'helping' mommy with the laundry just before bedtime. I can't figure out why daily activities take longer than they used to. :o)

We also began to attend a weekly baby music class with our friends K1, Chick and Pea. We both really enjoy this class and Hannah likes to play with the shaker eggs and tambourines. She's not too sure about the parachute at the end but is getting better with it.

Hannah made my day when she began to say, 'Mama' on Feb 11th. To this day she uses it sparingly but she knows who Mommy is for sure and truly that's what matters.

This month Hannah and I enjoyed cheering for the Canadian athletes as Vancouver hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics. We watched a lot of the events on TV and if I'd say, 'Go Canada Go' Hannah would look at the TV and begin clapping.

Speaking of athletes, Hannah is loving her swimming lessons and does so well!

She enjoys the water and goes under like a champ!
We celebrated our first CNY together by going for lunch with friends from our China travel group.

Hannah also became an official Canadian citizen this past month! What a wonderful day that was. Even though it was official the moment her feet hit the ground in Canada there is just something special about receiving her citizenship card in the mail.

Dancing became a daily/hourly occurrence this month and she made me smile every single time she did it! It doesn't matter what she was doing; when the music started she started dancing! The funniest had to be the time she fell asleep on the way to church and as soon as we hit the foyer and she heard the music her little eyes popped open and she started dancing from her head to her toes even though she was still in her car seat! Here she's playing with a little activity table that a friend had when her daughter was young. She sure does like this little table and dancing to the tunes that it plays!

The month came to a conclusion with the wonderful celebration of Hannah's 1st Birthday!!! She was surrounded by family and friends who love her and had a great day of love, laughter, gifts and cake! Happy 1st Birthday baby girl! Mommy loves you!!!



Some favourite pics from this past month:
Hannah enjoying some playtime under the kitchen table. This was a favourite place to play...and sometimes get stuck.

Some new eating habits were established this past month too. Sometimes trying new foods from mommy via chopsticks.

And, Hannah decided that her toes made a wonderful bedtime snack.

I love these beautiful little hands with the gorgeous long fingers

Have I mentioned how busy and inquisitive my sweet baby girl is? Here she found my wallet and helped me organize my receipts. Guess it's time to update the budget.

Celebrating her first Valentine's Day
Special time with special friends

Oh how I love her!!!!! My precious baby who is already 1 year old!