Better than the Discovery Channel

Hannah has developed A LOT this past week or two.  She is now able to see an object, reach for it, grab hold of it, and often pull it to her mouth or somewhere in the mouth vicinity.  She was able to hold things a couple weeks ago (remember the pics of her holding the highligher and the soy sauce packet), but only if we put those objects in her hands.  She has also gained a significant amount of core strength and is able to prop herself up on her elbows.  Now when we put her down for naps, she props herself up in her crib and looks around prior to laying her head down and drifting off to sleep (not to insinuate that her "drifting" off to sleep is always a quiet affair as it most often is not), and when I go in to get her after she wakes up, I crack up everytime I open the door and see her all propped up on her elbows watching for me.  It's adorable. 

Another development we can thank Grammy for is communication related.  Although I have every intention of teaching Hannah sign language so that she can communicate prior to learning how to use her vocal chords, I didn't think to have her use her body language this early on to indicate what she wants.  Rather than just take Hannah from my arms, Grammy stands beside me and holds her hands out to Hannah with a big smile on her face and waits for some indication that Hannah wants to go to her.  Hannah isn't developed enough to actually lift her arms or make it super obvious, but she will lean her head forward or reach her hands out toward Grammy's hands.  Grammy said that she started giving my brother and me choices early on by holding up two objects (sippy cup and toy for instance) and just letting us reach for the one we want.  That's a very simple way to let her communicate her wishes with me while also giving her the opportunity to develop her independence and ability to determine for herself what she wants. 

Motherhood has gotten a TON more fun since these developments!  Those first 3 months are a real mess....I mean, they have their joyous amazing moments, but they're also riddled with insanity, exhaustion, raging hormones, insecurity (both as a mom and from a body image standpoint), and a slew of other emotions that make life with a newborn (especially for a first time mom who despite nearly 20 years of babysitting various age groups includeing MANY babies had NO IDEA what she was getting herself into) difficult. 

We're really enjoying this front row seat of how humans develop--it's way more fun than any science class or Discovery channel show.

Along with Hannah wanting to eat everything, we've encouraged her to "kiss" which of course means opening her mouth wide and eating our cheeks leaving them dripping in drool.  It's pretty funny.  Here's a sequence: