A star is born

As a typical 2-year-old, Hannah was testing her independence while riding from school to Half-Price Books. Usually, she wants to (and I encourage her to) take off her shoes when I pick her up from school. She seems more relaxed with her shoes off, and I know I love to kick off my shoes after a long day. Well, yesterday, I asked her not to take her shoes and socks off. I didn't want to re-dress her. So, when one shoe hit me in the head, I asked her to please make a good choice and leave the other shoe on, and then to please leave the socks on. Needless to say, that did not happen. Hannah and I communicate via the vanity mirror, but I sometimes forget. As I was fuming and making angry face contortions to keep from saying something that I would hear repeated back to me a thousand times, Hannah said, "You mad, mommy?" No. I'm not mad, just disappointed. "Are you sad, mommy?" Yes. I am upset that you made that choice. "Cry, mommy. Make a tear." I chortled and said, I can't just make a tear... Wait a second. Can you? At which point, she jutted that bottom lip out and started moaning. As a tear formed in the corner of her eye, I burst out laughing. Are you kidding me? Very few people I know can "make a tear." She must be destined for stardom. Either that or for turning on those tears to pull on mommy's heart strings. (Once I started laughing, though, she did, too. She did that I'm-trying-not-to-smile smile and continued to attempt crying, but it was all over at that point.)

I don't know what the future holds...

Hannah is 2!! I can hardly believe it. We went to the doctor for a check-up, and she did great. No tears were involved, but she was very shy with the doctor and nurses. She is still in the 90th percentile of height and weight. I just took a height predictor on www.babycenter.com, which predicts her height at 18 will be 5'9" (give or take a couple of inches) -- even with my whopping 5' and Dave's 5'7" in the mix. Wouldn't that be crazy? It's so strange to think of her in the future. I know she'll have a sense of humor -- not just because her daddy is hilarious, but she's also pretty darn funny, too. The BACKGROUND: We have a regular waitress, who is like a friend to us, at our favorite restaurant. Since Hannah's known and listed names, she's included Iris in her list of names. Iris always takes special care of Hannah -- bringing beans, tortillas, rice specially for Hannah. The FUNNY: So, last week Mimi had made chicken and rice for Hannah. She asked if she wanted more rice, and Hannah looked at her and retorted, "No, Iris, I don't want more rice." She paused a second, and then started her laugh that is her "I crack myself up" laugh.

What's in a name?

Hannah has begun calling me "mom." I'm not ready for that, so I have started calling her "Han" in response, which irks her so she goes back to calling me mommy.

On the way home from school the other day, she was talking about my school as we drove by. We started talking about the different names I have. What do you call me? Mommy. What does Daddy call me? Kristen. What do my students call me? Mrs. Harford. I was impressed...

So, then I asked her what different people call her. She busted out with BOOPSY as one of her names. Up until that point, I had never heard the name Boopsy, and I sure wasn't aware of that as a nickname for her. So, I pop open my visor mirror to look at Hannah -- BOOPSY? She just carcked up. From there, she made up a name for me and for Daddy.

Of course, she still won't name her baby dolls, but she's stuck with the same names all week for the three of us.

Radeo

We went to the rodeo Sunday, and Hannah was amazing to watch! She was so enthralled with everything. Mom said that Mere was more excited about seeing Hannah at the rodeo than she was to just be there! I agree. It's so much fun to watch her take in the world around her. She told us on the ride there that she wanted to see tractors. We typically walk through the exhibit hall, so someone in the fam must have told her about seeing the tractors. She also wanted to pat animals. I have been to the FW Stock Show & Rodeo nearly every year of my life, so in carrying on the tradition, Hannah went with us last year, too. Even at that age, she hardly flinched at the fireworks during the National Anthem. This year, too, she was taken in by the sights and sounds of it, but not at all jumpy or nervous about them. She jumps when our garage door goes up and she knows that Daddy is about to walk through the door, but no problems at the rodeo's loud noises. She got to pat several cows; see sheep, goats, llamas, chickens, ducks, horses, and rabbits; and didn't miss much of the action during the rodeo either. Even though we could see how tired Hannah was, she didn't want to miss a thing -- and didn't get cranky either! I figured Hannah's favorite parts of the day would include some of my favorites:

• Seeing the mommy pig with lots of baby pigs. She was talking to me yesterday about the baby pig biting the mommy pig, so I briefly explained that the baby probably doesn't have teeth so it didn't hurt...
• Watching the cowboys and cowgirls ride horsies and cows. Hannah even applauded when the bronc riders lasted their 8 seconds and was concerned when "Cowboys hat fall down on ground."
• "Riding" the tractors at the exhibit hall. I never before realized that tractors came in every color, but Hannah rode them all red, orange, yellow, blue, black, gray, green... At the John Deere booth, we looked at the toy tractors and asked which one she might want. She pointed to one of the real tractors that was probably the size of her room and said "I want that one."

But, no. Alas, when we loaded up in Daddy's pickup truck at the end of the day, I asked what her favorite part of the day was. She retold the "schtick skit" put on by the clowns where they came out in an ambulance (or a firetruck in our world) and dropped the girl on the ground and rode round and round...

Of course, at school the next day it was a different story. Reportedly, she told them that her favorite part was seeing cowboys. "Were they cute?" her teacher asked. To which she replied a resounding "Yeessshhh."

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!