Feet Finding

Hattie discovered her feet this week!  Which I've appreciated because now she's not sticking her hands in her mouth quite as much.  She's too busy playing with her toes!

Whoops!

Hattie loves playing in her jungle gym!  She swats and grabs at the toys now, especially her triangle.  There's a hanging triangle that for a couple weeks was the only toy she would play with.  There's a square exactly like it (but it's a square) and she would complete ignore it.  Over the last few days she's decided the other hanging toys are ok, but definitely still favors the triangle.  She also likes to kick the 'arms' with her feet to make the whole thing shake. 

While Hattie was playing in the jungle gym last night, I went into the other room for a few minutes.  I came back in and this is what I found!

The best part was that she totally didn't care.  She was just chilling!  Kicking her legs and moving her arms around.  After taking a couple quick pictures we pulled it off her. Hattie just looked at us for a second and then kept playing.  No big deal.

Bedtime

Putting Hattie down for the night is usually difficult.  For whatever reason she always fights sleep when night time rolls around resulting in a grumpy, fussy baby.  So last night we did something different.  While she was still wide awake I took her in my lap and we rocked in the rocking chair and read stories.  She was super fidgety for a while, but soon(ish) she was lulled to sleep.  And then she slept for 7 hours! 

Motherhood can be frustrating and difficult, but it's by far the greatest thing the world.  These small successes dull the sting of other sleepless nights and difficult days.  Already in retrospect I forget how hard those first few weeks were adjusting to parenthood while healing from giving birth.  Every day has purpose and meaning.  We are the teachers, protectors, providers, everything for this little soul that was sent to us.  We are Hattie's parents and I am eternally grateful. 

Family Photos!

Our family pictures are up on Poppi Photography's blog!  Kristina, our photographer, is amazing!  It was great to see her and great to have her take our pictures again (she took our wedding photos).  I can't recommend her enough!  We were lucky and chose a sunny day for the photo shoot, but it was cold!  We had to take a couple time-outs to warm up Hattie in the car.  She was a trooper!  Even though she didn't want to smile for the camera.  Maybe next time!

Look at our cute little family!



And our perfect little Hattie!

3 month pictures!

 

 

She still falls over sometimes!

And now she likes to chew on her dresses!  Tasty!

We love our little 3 month old!

Hattie Daddy Time

Hattie had fun with Kurt the other day!

When they sat down her head was under his chin.  Such a wiggler!

Later that night she got ahold of his fork!  (Please ignore the mess in the background)

Blessing!

Hattie was blessed Sunday April 14, 2013.  Kurt did the blessing and many family members stood in the circle with him.  I almost cried, but I didn't!  Hattie did great!  I feared she would cry through the whole thing, but she didn't- just cried before and after :)  During the opening prayer she began to cry loudly and I started to panic!  I said a little prayer (and Kurt did too I found out later) and she calmed down for the blessing!  Then during the sacrament she lost it again.  Oh well!  That's how it goes!  Here we are in the foyer after sacrament meeting:

Sofia wanted to be in the picture :)

Hattie's beautiful dress was made by my mom!  She used left over lace from my wedding dress. 

Then we headed back to the apartment for crepes!  We crammed around 20 people into our little home.  It was a great day!  I'm so glad we were able to celebrate our precious little Hattie!

And here are my homemade decorations!  Mom made the shoes Hattie's wearing too!

Hooray for Hattie!

3 Months

Noises!  That's the big change over this past month.  She almost laughs- it's more of a screech.  But whatever it is it's adorable!  She babbles and coos and sometimes screams.  I love her sneezes and her coughs- she even fake coughs!  It's so funny.  I have no idea why she does it!  Hattie is getting strong.  Her grip is tight and she holds her head up incredibly well.  Tummy time isn't so torturous anymore and you no longer have to support her head while holding her (but you still need to support her torso- next step is to sit up on her own!).  We get out of the apartment consistently now.  Hattie and I go to the grocery store (almost) every week and all three of us try to get out on the weekends.  Overall it's easier to put her down to sleep at night and she's sleeping better!  This past weekend she slept 7.5 hours straight two nights back to back.  It was amazing.  However, we haven't been so lucky the rest of this week!  She rubs her eyes when sleepy and will bat at hanging toys in her jungle gym.  She's started grabbing on to them now too!  She's a little squirm, especially in the jungle gym.  I'll lay her down and somehow she wiggles around 180 degrees and her feet will be pointing the other direction.  Other firsts this month include: first General Conference, first Easter, first time going to a restaurant, and first fire drill!  I love her so!

I took a few 3 month pictures, but they're no good.  I'll try again within the next couple days!  In the meantime, here's a video of our little squirm in her jungle gym:

General Conference

This past weekend was Hattie's 1st General Conference!  She really enjoyed it:

A year ago watching conference all I heard was "have a baby".  And I did!  This time around I had a much harder time paying attention because of that baby.  She did not sleep the whole time :)

And yes- those are Christmas pajamas I'm wearing.  One of the perks of General Conference Sunday!

Fire!

What a crazy afternoon!  I was sitting on the couch feeding Hattie and watching Netflix when the fire alarm went off in our apartment!  It was SUPER loud!  I grabbed the diaper bag, put Hattie in the car seat, put on some pants that weren't pajamas (yes, in an emergency wearing real pants is a must), and headed outside.  I could smell smoke but didn't see any flames.  I don't know what happened, but the apartment kitty-corner to ours (and on the same floor) was the culprit.  I went out front where a small group was gathered.  Soon two fire trucks came!  No one was hurt and I think most of the damage done was from sprinklers coming on in their apartment.  Hattie and I wandered around for 30-45 minutes until the firemen left.  People were told they could go back in to their apartments sooner than that but the firemen were working/standing in the hallway in front of my apartment.  I felt so bad for the family!  They had a baby younger than Hattie.  I asked if they needed help with anything (they said no) and told them I'm glad everyone is ok!  They'll stay somewhere else while maintenance fixes up their apartment.  Hattie was a trooper though!  She didn't even cry when the fire alarm went off- I think she was more annoyed when I cut her feeding short.  On the plus side- I now know how quickly I can get out the door!

Noises!

 

 

 

I've been trying to upload this video for a week now and it hasn't worked! So I ended up creating my first YouTube video and attaching it to my blog from there.  Whew! Glad it worked.  Anyways- Hattie has been making tons more noises lately! I love it!  Especially when we have 'conversation'. She tends to be the most vocal when she's lying on the floor so sometimes I'll lay down with her and we'll have a chat. Before I know it she'll be saying words!

UW

Hattie took her first trip to the UW campus this past weekend.  She got to see the fountain and Mt. Rainier:

We both got to see the new HUB for the first time!  They started re-construction the end of my senior year.  It was only finished recently.  We didn't get to see the inside, but most of the outside looks quite different!

And we sat on the Husky!  This Husky was installed outside the HUB while I attended UW.  However, it looks more like Lassie if you ask me.

 

 

 

And the main event!  The Quad was in bloom!

 



 

 

It was packed!

Hattie was super cute in her stroller- I bent down to check on her once and she was grasping the cup holders on each side.

And one more stop before heading back to the car- Suzallo Library! And the rest of Red Square :)

It was the perfect day to introduce Hattie to the University of Washington- not a cloud in sight! 

Easter!

We spent Easter with Mom, Clarence, Ani, Lili, and Jeanette.  It was Ani and Lili's first time meeting Hattie!  They liked her!  I'm so happy they do.  They don't always like babies.  It was a wonderful afternoon and it was especially nice to see the twins.  It's so fun talking to them and you never know what kind of conversation you're going to have.  Lili asked me a lot about blood.  If Hattie needs blood could I give her some?  Can Hattie donate blood?  Do Romanians have different blood?  I tried my best to explain blood types and that out of everyone in the world (even Romanians) there are only a few different types of blood.  They also asked lots of questions about Hattie- mostly about when/if she cries.  Hattie and I had a conversation (she makes lots of noises now!  She babbles and I respond- oh really?  That's fascinating!  Tell me more!  Oh, did Lili tell you that?  No, Ani did? Etc.) And the twins loved it!  They thought it was very cute.  Ani even asked to hold her a couple times and Lili helped me change her diaper (she handed me things). 

It was Hattie's first 'long' (over an hour) car ride and she did great!  Slept most of the time.  It was also her first day arriving to church almost on time- we arrived during the opening hymn!  Go team Biehl!  It was a very happy Easter!

We also dyed Easter Eggs!  Kurt and I have done this every year since getting married.  It's tradition!

Happy 1st Easter Hattie!