Winter!

It's with apprehension and excitement that I look towards winter.  I have always loved snow (except driving in it) but I've lived my entire life in an area where snow usually melted by the next day.  On the rare occasion that we had an actual snow storm (more than a few inches) everything would shut down. 

I think I'll always love snow, but I might grow weary of it as the months go by in my first Utah winter.  We had a small taste of it the other day.  Most of it melted by the evening- I guess Ogden has decided to ease us in.

This was taken the day after it snowed.  I look forward to snow covered mountains!

I took Hattie into the back yard to experience a snowfall first hand.  Initially she made a stink face, but after a minute or two she seemed to like it!  Well, she liked twirling around and playing with me at least.

 

 

I should probably get some snow gear...

10 months!

Hattie's in the double digits!  In months anyways.  She is devouring food these days.  Her favorites are toast and yogurt, but she'll try just about anything.  We've given her pancakes, cucumbers, ice cream, crepes, potatoes, rice, beans, cheerios, and much more.  Hattie's a great little eater!  She now will bang toys together or hit them on furniture/the floor/whatever's in reach.  This means she doesn't always put things in her mouth first thing.  She's getting close to walking.  She'll walk holding onto only 1 finger and will use toys/chairs as 'walkers', pushing them around the room.  She even lets go of things and will stand on her own for a few moments.  She's wearing some 12 month size clothing and grew her 4th tooth!  She had her first Halloween and is gearing up for her first holiday season!  Including her 10 month photo shoot- I put her in a Christmas outfit so I could use one of the pictures for our Christmas card.  Also, I couldn't decide which pictures I liked best so here are a bunch:

I had a cute bow for her hair, but it lasted all of two seconds.

See?  She ripped it right off!

Hey look!  It's Gail!  The Octopus!

She moves all over!

  Including toward the camera.

The fast months

November through the beginning of January flies by because there's so much going on!  Halloween kicks things off, then my birthday, then Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and now Hattie's birthday soon after!

So we're in thick of it.  My birthday was on the 6th!  It was a lovely day spent with Hattie.  We took a walk- it was gorgeous!

That evening Kurt and I went out to dinner just the two of us!  That's the first time we've done so since Hattie was born.  It was strange (being alone, just the two of us at a restaurant), but wonderful!  And the food was delicious.  Kurt gave me some wonderful presents, including the Sound of Music!  Here's Hattie watching it:

She probably recognized some of the songs :)  She should at least know Edelweiss by now!  We sing it to her every night.

Megan watched Hattie while we ate dinner so we went back there after and all had ice cream cake together.  I received several phone calls, cards, and texts as well!  It was a wonderful birthday!  Thank you to everyone who made it so!

Happy Halloween Hattie!

Hattie loved her first Halloween!  Not only did she dress up as an adorable elephant, but she also ate jello for the first time!  I tried feeding it to her with a spoon, but she only took a few bites before deciding the correct way to eat jello is with your hands.

Then we went to Charlotte's preschool play!  She was the witch.  It was awesome and Char was wonderful!

Hattie and Olivia came in costume!

Next we went to the trunk-or-treat with the Roths then off to Kelly and John's for some tacos and trick-or-treating!

Cousins!

Here's Hattie at her first door.  She LOVED it!  I'm glad we bought her a warm costume!

It was a busy day, but I think it was Hattie's first Halloween was a success!

Little Elephant

Hattie dressed up as an elephant for her first Halloween!

And here's what the costume looks like in motion.  She was a getting tired of wearing the costume, but you get the idea.

New pediatrician

Hattie had her 9 month appointment!  And of course, it was with a new pediatrician.  Apparently there are more kids in Ogden than Seattle because I called a month and a half ahead and the earliest they could get me in was 2 weeks after Hattie turned 9 months old.  And only a couple doctors were accepting patients so we couldn't choose which one we wanted.  This all made me a little annoyed.

But!  It turned out well.  The office is definitely nicer (more updated) than where we went in Seattle, the front desk ladies were super nice (they LOVED Hattie), the nurse was excellent, and we like our doctor!  He is a man and I would prefer a woman, but I guess it's ok.  I LOVED our pediatrician, Dr. Seru, in Seattle.  She was amazing.  If/when we move back to Washington we will definitely take Hattie back to her.

Anyways, at one point Hattie was trying to grab my earrings, so before she could get a hold, I took them out.  A few seconds later the doctor stopped what he was saying, his eyes opened a little wider, and he said "did she just pull those out of ears?!!" with true concern in his voice.  I smiled and assured him, no she did not.  You always have to be a step ahead of your baby!

So here are the stats!  Hattie is 27.01in (23%), 18.01lbs (28%), and her head is 17.3in (44%).  So she's on the smaller end of the scale!  Which Kurt and I find slightly bewildering.  She's perfectly healthy and all other growth/health indicators are on target.  She's amazing!  We love her so!

Here she is eating toast for the first time.  She loved it!  She loves almost everything we give her.  Such a good eater!