Angel

My little angel! Hannah has been with us recently for two nice dinners. Both times, she has been so good (as long as we overlook that she sticks her finger up her nose when she gets embarrassed). I always bring several activities to choose from, but Hannah typically picks coloring and does it with zest.

In the video, Hannah is singing "Angels we have heard on high." No, she doesn't get that Christmas is over this year (partly because we still haven't gotten the Christmas tree taken down, but that's a whole other story). Just to translate, she says, "Angels we have heard high. sweetly singing all the time... and mountains ... echoing their joy today." She is my sweet little angel!

To make my birthday very happy, Hannah has been practicing singing to me. See below.

Fearless love of animals

Hannah LOVES animals. She is so fearless around them! I, personally, am not the biggest animal lover. I love my dogs, but they stink and are big so they can make big messes with their clumsy tails. I love Gracie, my mom's beagle, who likes to snuggle and is obsessed with fetching. I like little dogs, too, for the most part. But Hannah is not particular about the animal; she loves them all. She can typically identify most of the 10 dogs of my parents, sisters, and home by their bark! I can't even tell the difference between my own dogs in the backyard unless I'm studying them. Mom and Dad adopted 2 horses this week. Hannah wanted to get in the corral with the horses and had no problem putting her hand to their mouths and patting them, while I was kinda nervous that they might bite at me. "I want to ride Chief." So, we let her sit on him as he stood still. Again, no fear! She loved it. She held on to the reins and swung them saying "Giddyup! Giddyup, Chief!" I can't wait until we can get her up there with someone who knows what they're doing who can hold on to her and manage the horse! She'll love it. On the car ride home, Hannah informed me, "I ride Sunny later." We need to go to a petting zoo soon. At Christmas time, Hannah got to rub the sheep who were in the nativity play our church put on. She is still talking about the sheep over a month later. She is not fearless in everything -- we have instilled a healthy fear of cars in her, but I hope she is able to hold onto her love of animals!

practically speaking

Hannah is such a big girl these days. In the past six weeks, Hannah has stayed with Mere, Jo, and Melanie (a friend of Jo's). I told her for a few days before they came over that they were coming to play with her, and she was okay with our conversation and comfortable when they each got here to babysit. From what I hear, she has done okay once I leave only getting upset a couple of times. Last night, I told her that Jen was coming over to play with her in a couple of days. She instantly was suspicious. "Where Mommy going?" "Well, I have a meeting to go to." No sense in telling her I'm going to be with the family at Bry's wedding. "Daddy, too?" "Yes. Daddy has to go to the meeting, too." She asked several more questions, and then I started asking her if she thought Jen would like watching "Horton Hears a Who?," coloring Strawberry Shortcake, reading Baby Danced the Polka, etc. She thought that Jen would like all that, and also thought she might enjoy playing blocks. She kept asking, "in couple days?" I assume she understands what that means, but who knows if she was just regurgitating words! Everyday, she amazes me with how practical she can be! Of course, she also is becoming so independent. Hannah overheard me talking to Mere on the phone about painting Hannah's room. Later, she started asking questions about it. "Mere paint Hannah room?" Yes. Mere is going to paint your room green. "I know, I know," she said with her finger in the air. "How 'bout pink?" How 'bout green? That would be pretty with all the things in your room. "Mmmm... I think pink." What if we do green, and we put pink flowers on the wall? Alas, she is a persistent one, so I guess we are going with pink after all. What a girly girl!