Merry Almost Christmas!

There is a reason why we pay people to take professional pictures....because Hank is too wiggly and squirmy to sit still for two seconds and I have to literally take hundreds of shots just to get one decent picture. I guess it makes it worth all the hassle when I get a cute photo. Notice Hank has his two upper front teeth, his two lower front teeth and all four molars. I think he's working on filling in the teeth in between now though.

Let the Fun Begin!

This morning Hank and I stepped outside to pick up the milk delivery and found a package sitting on our porch. Not knowing who the sender of the package was, I opened up the box, secretly hoping that its contents were unwrapped. No such luck. I'll have to wait another week to find out whats inside the packages. Man, if Hank had this much fun with the packing peanuts, imagine how much fun the actual presents are going to be!

Let it Snow!

There are some places that wouldn't even classify the amount of snow we got on Sunday as snow since it barely even covered the surface and then disappeared as fast as it came. Over hear, we take what we can get and enjoy it while we've got it. Hank enjoyed the privilege of being able to play in the backyard but wasn't very impressed by the snow itself.

Daddy's Boy

Hank : 1

Score one for Hank. Every morning Hank and I engage in a battle over whether or not he gets to take his blankie into the bathtub with him or not. To appease him, I let him carry the blankie to the tub and then it sits outside waiting for him when he comes out. The other day, I ran out of the bathroom to grab Hank's towel, and when I came back, Hank had this smug look on his face and, sure enough, I looked down and saw that he'd snatched his blankie and was playing with it in the tub. Hank had a big grin on his face because he knew he'd gotten away with something but he sure wasn't happy when we had to wait for the blankie to finish drying in the dryer.

Dance Party

Hank is very open-minded in his music tastes - he appears to enjoy music ranging from primary songs to commercials on T.V. and even the ring tone on Aaron's cell phone. One afternoon last week, Hank had climbed his way on top of the kitchen table when a commerical came on TV and he didn't hesitate to bust a move.

Bad Idea

In my haste to spread the holiday spirit throughout or house, I made the mistake of filling our advent calendar with truffles and then leaving it in a place where it could be raided by Hank. The next morning, I come downstairs and find Hank sitting on top of the calendar, gorging himself with truffles, and little sparkly wrappers tossed about.

O Christmas Tree!

Last weekend we set out on our annual quest for the perfect Christmas tree. Apparently, we live in the Christmas tree capital because there are eight different Christmas tree farms right our on street. So, the search for the perfect tree was actually more like a ten minute park and shop trip. We had forgotten how much work is involved decorating a Christmas tree. We started out all gung-ho about it, but after a few hours of trimming it, hauling it inside, centering it, stringing the lights on, fighting with the garland, and then putting up the ornaments we were both ready to call it quits. I think the end result was worth the effort. I was a little hesitant to buy our tree so early in the month because I knew I would have to protect it from Hank. I was prepared to make a recording of myself saying "Hank, step away from the tree" to save myself the trouble of repeating the command every two seconds. It turns out that Hank is actually only interested in one single ornament. I finally gave in and let him have the ornament that he seems so fascinated with, and now he leaves the rest of the tree alone!

Big Boy

Hank is at the stage where he likes to copy everything mom and dad do. For example, last night, Hank saw that dad was wearing a hat, so Hank decided he wanted to wear it too.

Potty Time

Realistically, I know that I will be changing poopie diapers for another solid year, but it doesn't hurt to start encouraging a friendly relationship with the potty at an early age, right? Hank says the word "poop" and is beginning to take an interest in the goings-on in the bathroom, so the other night I let Hank practice sitting on the potty. I think I accomplished my goal of having Hank make friends with the potty because now, if I don't watch him like a hawk, he'll run off into the bathroom, lift the lid, and climb up on the seat and hang out there on all fours.

Thanksgiving

I think everyone had to undue a few buttons to accodomate all the food this year. We had a 25lb turkey with all the trimmings, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, homemade rolls, salads and appetizers, green bean casserole, broccoli casserole, and three kinds of homemade pie. It was a feast! We hosted the event at our house but everyone brought a dish so the food was a group effort. Besides Aaron, Hank and I, my mom and dad, my brother and sister-in-law, Aaron's mom and dad, Aaron's sister and brother-in-law and baby, and Aaron's brother-in-law's parents all joined us. I wish I had taken more pictures but everyone was too busy getting their grub on to pause for a picture. We had leftovers for days and days. As fun as it was, I don't want to see stuffing and sweet potatoes for another year.

Jabber-Box

Words Hank says:

Dada - his favorite
Mama
Hi Dad
Grandma thinks that he says 'Grandma'
I've heard him articulate 'Grandpa' perfectly, but only once
Ya ('Da')
Uh-oh
Water ('wa-wa')
Ball ('ba')
woof-woof ('fffff')
baabaa - what does a sheep say?
moo - what does a cow say?
Love you ('yav yu')
Bottle - ('baba')
Got you - ('Da-chu')
Burp - ('bup')
Poop - (pup)
Up
Hot - ('dot')
That - ('dat')
More ('ma')
Flower (aw-a)
Soap (ope)

Hank also waves, shakes his head "no", does the sign for 'all gone', 'milk', and 'more'. Hank is not the most verbal of babies, but he doesn't let his small vocabulary stop him from making his wants and wishes known. Hank points, pushes and pulls you in the direction of the object of his desire, and grunts until he gets what he wants. In addition to real words, Hank has developed his own language consisting of guteral grunts and inward noises. Sometimes Hank will sit in his carseat and carry on a beat of "doom-doom-da, doom-doom-da" for thirty minutes at a time!

New Cousin!

Yesterday we got to visit Macie Lynn Robison, Aaron's little sister, Robyn's new baby girl. Macie was so small and light! Its amazing to compare the growth and development between a newborn and a toddler. All day long I reminded Hank that soon we would get to go see the baby so when we got to the hospital, I think he was pretty excited to find out what all the excitement was about. We have been working with Hank on learning various body parts, so when we sat Hank near Macie, Hank immediately poked her in the eye, thinking he had just made a big accomplishment to find her eye. Macie seemed to tolerate his abuse - I'm sure in no time she'll learn to defend herself from her curious cousin.

Lookin' Sharp

This morning I took Hank to a Kiddie Cuts place to get his shaggy hair in for a trim. Since Hank is deathly afraid of the clippers, the experience proved to be quite traumatic. I offered him all his favorites: chocolate chips, my keys, and my phone but he was too upset to be amused. The hairdresser let him sit in the airplane chair, gave him a toy to hold, and put on an Elmo movie but Hank just sat and sobbed. I felt like a rotten mother holding my son down while he got his hair cut, but, in the end, I think the result was worth it.

Jack-o-lantern

For family night this week we rolled up our sleeves and carved our pumpkin. Hank got to help by scooping out the guts. He liked stirring with the spoon but couldn't bring himself to actually touch the pumpkin innards. He's always been fascinated by opening and closing objects so he especially liked taking the lid on and off the pumpkin. Check out the last picture in the sequence. Notice any resemblence? Big eyes? Button nose? Big grin? Two teeth?

Bubbles

I recently taught Hank how to blow so I thought he'd enjoy trying to blow bubbles in the backyard. Hank had fun trying to catch the elusive bubbles, but he actually seemed slightly more interested in playing with the soap solution than with the bubbles themselves.

All Bundled Up

We're hardcore about the playground--we don't let negative 10 degree weather stop us! Okay, maybe its more like 50 degrees outside, but it feels freezing to me! I still take advantage of every dry day to go out and play, whether we have to suit up in our snow gear or not.

Pumpkin Patch II

I think we are officially pumpkin-ed out. Two weekends ago we went to a pumpkin patch with Grandma and Grandpa Zollinger in southern Washington (see pictures of Pumpkin Patch I). This past weekend we took Hank to the pumpkin patch down the road from our neighborhood. He got to pick out his own pumpkin, walk through the corn maze, and pet the farm animals. Then, we supported "pumpkin fest" in our local town which consisted of a car show, an agricultural display, and food vendors serving various pumpkin recipes. I feel like we are definately in the fall spirit.

Pumpkin Patch

This weekend we took Hank to the Pumpkin Patch with Grandma and Grandpa Zollinger and Uncle Adam and Aunt Brittany. Hank had fun going on a hayride and feeding the farm animals.