1/2 a Year Old

Today marks Hannah's half birthday! With every passing week we see more and more of her sweet personality come out. I am awestruck by how different she is than her big brother. Hannah only wants the thumb. Jack was seriously attached to the paci. Jackson was (and still is) a snuggler. She only really wants snuggles when she's sleepy. Hannah is a bit more timid and reserved. She has a quiet little laugh. Whereas Jackson is generally the boisterous extrovert. Hannah studies people closely and is so curious of everything. She LOVES watching other children. Jackson was a colicky infant. Hannah is almost as easy going as it gets. (But she does have her moments!!)

And, she certainly sleeps less than her brother ever did! Jackson was a prolific sleeper! But, just this past month she began to nap anywhere from 1-2.5 hours at least 3 times a day. The length is never consistent, but at least she's happy either way.

Hannah really hit a growth spurt this past month and is devouring the baby food. She shows no signs of food preference at this point. She just wants it fast, without any pausing! I'm so curious to see how much she now weighs at her appt on Monday.

While bald has been beautiful, I'm thankful to see some real hair growth. :) It is really light blond so it doesn't really show well in pictures yet, but it's there.

She loves her toes!!

Saw Santa at the Mall Today

Today we went as a family for a little "Black Friday" shopping and ended up at the mall. Of course, Santa was there. Jackson said he wanted to see Santa so I [mike] took him in. I don't know why, but Santa didn't invite Jackson to sit on his lap, but instead Jackson just stood in front of him and talked. Santa asked him, "How have you been?" Jackson said, "I've been bad some. Sometimes I do bad things." Santa was impressed by his honesty and asked him if he was going to try to do better, to which Jackson said, "Yes." Then Jackson said, "I fall down and do bad things." (Translation - Jackson has been watching America's Funniest Videos and often the people on there fall down. Jackson calls that "doing bad things." Jackson runs around the living room and falls down and says he is "doing bad things.") So, essentially Jackson was telling Santa that he ran around the house and fell down on purpose and that was "being bad." Although, I think when Jackson was saying he did "bad things" that it did have a double meaning - getting in trouble and falling down like they do on TV.

After that, Santa asked Jackson what he wanted for Christmas. Jackson's only response was "a slinky." I'm not sure why he wants a slinky, maybe ask Courtney about that one. Santa asked if he wanted anything else. "No. Just a slinky."

Santa gave him a coloring book and asked him to color it and leave it under the tree for him. I'm sure it will be done.

Wish List for Santa

A conversation earlier this evening...

Jack: I know what I can ask Santa for Christmas!
Me: Oh, yeah? What is it?
Jack: I need batteries for all the toys I already have!

So sad, but true. It seems all the batteries in most of his toys are dead at the same time! We have several sets of re-chargeables (a must have!) that we are using, but certainly not for every toy. Santa might have to put some batteries in his stocking. :)

On a side note, we packed boxes for Operation Christmas Child the other day. Jackson LOVES to do this every year and announces to the cashier (or anyone within ear shot) that we are going to give a child their first Christmas present EVER! Jackson is even going around our house and pulling out his own toys to give to other children. Such a sweetheart! (These would not be for OCC, though, because the rule is to pack the boxes with new and unused items.)

Halloween fun

It was an unusually warm Halloween, but fun nonetheless! Jackson determined early on to be Superman and we found this cute costume in Knoxville (thanks, Mimi!). Hannah was a snuggly little bunny (only for a little while since she was burning up in the fleece!). I held her up to a mirror and she laughed so hard! She was so full of herself! She and I passed out candy together and went to a few neighbors homes. Cousin Ethan joined along again this year - he and Jack were the dynamic duo of superheroes.