Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Happy Birthday Hazel!


It was a great weekend to celebrate the birth of my sweet daughter. I just can't believe how fast time has gone! Last night I was rocking with her and she put her little head in the crook of my neck with her body sprawled across mine. This was her favorite position as a newborn and young baby, only I could hold her there securely with one arm. I miss those days, but I am so in love with watching her grow and see each new stage she's in. Did you know that some people consider one year the beginning of toddler-hood? Oh my gosh - not ready to use that term for my little baby!! I actually need to get out of the habit of calling her "little baby" at work in conversation, as in "I have a little baby at home". I get a strange look when they ask her age and I tell them "a year". New goal: "big baby" or "young girl" or "young toddler" or "older baby". Hmm. Maybe I'll just say "baby". Anyway,these days Hazel has been busy! Here's the latest update:
- Stands in one spot for a few seconds.
- Will walk along while her hands are held.
- Says "mama" more often (still more like "maamaaa"), but still "dada" for most things including her daddy. Says "uh oh" (sort of) when she drops somethings with about 30% consistency and "Da!" for "doggie".
- Loves books and will usually sit to listen to half of a short baby book.
- LOVES DANCE PARTIES!! She will crawl up to our CD player when it is playing, turn it up, dance/wiggle, crawl away, dance/wiggle. The other night she was downstairs and music was on upstairs. She paused, danced/wiggled, then proceeded to crawl up the stairs, pausing every 2 steps to dance until she got to the CD player in our room to turn it up and dance some more. It is pretty dang cute.
- Improving on consumption of baby food, although she still mostly eats a wide variety of "big people food". Actually, she still mostly eats breastmilk with teeny portions of a wide variety of real food.
- Loves playing outside and eating dirt. Still loves the toilet. Loves toys that make noise, puzzles (she does not put them together - we're not that advanced), her lamby, and all her new Birthday toys! It's been fun playing with the new stuff as the old stuff has gotten ... old. For both of us.

We spent Hazel's party mostly indoors due to the surprisingly cold day. We ventured out for a bit at the end to play some outdoor games as it slowly but surely warmed up. We also played parachute games (thanks for the idea Ashley!), which were a huge hit for all of about 5 minutes (this is considered a success considering the age range of party guests).

On Hazel's actual Birthday we went to Irvine Park for a walk around the zoo and some swinging after church. It was nice to spend this time together, just the three of us. Happy Birthday little girl!