Growing up

I think our baby is becoming a big girl before we know it.

Getting Pretty

Yesterday, Hannah got into my purse. She normally pulls everything out and goes through my wallet. However, this time she found not only my wallet but my lipstick as well.


Just a little off the mark.

Bath time

We love bath time at our house!

Gymnastics

We had gymnastics class tonight, and much to Hannah's (and my) delight, Jason was able to get out of work a little early and join us! It was so nice for me to have a partner chase after Hannah. Once again, Hannah was a bit restless during the warm-ups, but once we got into the tumbling activities, she had a great time.


Rolling down the big hill.


Hannah loves crawling through the tunnel,...


..and jumping on the trampoline.


Daddy's turn to help Hannah through the course.

Making her way down the horse.

2 classes down and 4 more to go!

34 weeks

I'm now 34 weeks pregnant with Baby Boy Davis. Overall, I'm feeling pretty good. Of course, I have the typical pregnancy side effects like the achy back, spurts of energy and then exhaustion, and frequent potty breaks during the night, but I feel like I'm finally starting to get to the home stretch. I was so happy to sleep all the way through the night last night without getting up once!! It's amazing how refreshed you can feel after a full night's rest. I woke up this morning in full nesting mode, going through my to-do list in my head as I got ready for work. However, I also have pregnancy brain, so unfortunately, I now don't remember most of what I wanted to get done! Oh well. I'm sure whatever was on my list will eventually get done or else it wasn't that important in the first place :-)

My boss threw me a little baby shower this afternoon. Considering I'm an engineer and work with mostly men, I give my boss a lot of credit. He did a very nice job, especially since I think it's the first baby shower he's ever thrown :-) He even got blue plates and blue baby shower napkins. I thought it was funny that the guests were basically all men, except for a couple of ladies! It was very much my style - simple lunch, no games, and practical gifts - a Target gift card, diapers, and wipes.

Now just to get everything in order for our little man's arrival, if I could just remember what was on that list!


34 weeks with Baby Boy


35 weeks with Hannah

Cookies

Hannah and I decided that we wanted to make cookies today. I've attempted this in the past with her, but she was just a little bit too young. Today, however, she was actually a very good helper. She helped scoop the flower, measure and pour the sugar, and even did a great job cracking the eggs. We both had a lot of fun.


Just like daddy, loving the cookie dough!


Enjoying the fruits of her labor with a glass of milk.

Outside

Hannah LOVES to be outside. We took advantage of the beautiful weather that we had on my day off last week and spent a good portion of the day outside. In the morning, we visited the playground at Millenium Park (after I had shopped at Meijer, forgot my wallet, had to go home and get it and go back to Meijer to pay!). After spending an hour and a half there and wearing off lots of energy, we came home, had lunch, and Hannah took a nice long nap. When she woke up, we headed outside once again to play with some of our own toys that have been hibernating in the garage all winter long.


The water table is going to be a great friend this summer. Hannah spent 2 hours playing in it!


Unforutnatley, JJ thought it was a giant water bowl. I did my best to keep him out of it, but Hannah then got the idea to follow JJ's example. Ugh!!


Needless to say, when there's water and a 2-year old around, the 2-year old is NOT going to stay dry. That was all right, though. With temps in the low 80's, I didn't mind a bit.


While we were outside, Hannah noticed that the birds were visiting Daddy's new bird feeder. She had to go over and pay them a visit. She couldn't understand why they wouldn't stick around as she approached.

I was amazed to see that Hannah can now touch the ground pretty well on the tricycle that we got her for Christmas. I'm sure she'll be peddling up and down the driveway before we know it.

25 months old

It seems like just in the last month, Hannah has made the leap from the last little bit of baby to true toddler. She acts like such a big girls now. We've even started seeing some shades of the terrible two's. Here's a glimpse:

*She has had a word explosion in the last month. She is now regularly saying lots of phrases and tons of words. She can pretty well communicate with us just what she wants.

*She refers to herself as Hannah, saying things like "Hannah chair", "Hannah bite", "Hannah milk", etc.

*When we ask her a question and she doesn't know the answer, she'll say "no know" (don't know) while holding her hands out and shrugging her shoulders, or else she'll say "umm.." like she's thinking really hard about it.

*Once she makes up her mind, it can be very difficult to change it. Very often, she will say "Mama (or Daddy) hand" when walking and will throw a fit if the "wrong" one of us takes her hand instead.

*She now tells us when she wants to walk or when she wants up to be carried.

*She loves daddy's "boat boat", as she calls it.

*She is really good at putting her shoes on her feet all by herself. If we tell her she has them on the wrong feet, she will take them off and switch them.

*We may be getting closer to potty training(?). She's still not actually going, but she now tears off toilet paper and then sits on her potty and "wipes" herself. Unfortunately, this has also caused us to go through a tremendous amount of toilet paper!

*She's finally getting more interested in coloring, sidewalk chalk, etc. She loves to put stickers in her coloring books, too.

*She started tiny tot gymnastics class last week. She really wasn't interested in paying attention to the teacher, but she loves doing the obstacle course that the teachers had set up. Her favorite activities so far have been jumping on the trampoline, rolling down the hill, and crawling through the tunnel. (I will have to post about it after Jason can finally make a class and I can get some pictures. It's exhausting by yourself!).

*She is obsessed with the Mickey Mouse Club, thanks to Grandpa Cramer. Since we don't have the Disney channel, we watch episodes on You Tube. We'll frequently here her yelling "Oh Toodles" and asking to watch "Mit-y" (Mickey). It is now an occasional treat to watch at the end of the day before bed.

*She's also in love with the Lazy Town clips on You Tube. Her favorite is the Twenty Times Time song, which is all about brushing teeth. Anything that makes teeth brushing time fun is ok with us!

I am really loving this age. Although we definitely have begun to have some power struggles, she just so much fun to play and interact with. She does things daily that just crack us up. Total joy!

Family boat ride

Jason finally convinced us (me) to join him in taking the boat out for a spin this afternoon. It was really a perfect day - warm spring temps, no wind, sunshine. Hannah kept talking about the boat, boat as well, so I just couldn't turn them down.


Evidence that I actually went for a boat ride 8 months pregnant!


The little skipper. She did very well, especially the first lap around. Once she got a bit more acclimated to being out on the water, she got more into looking at the other boats and the ducks on the water. She really had a great time, and I must admit, so did I.

Potters Park Zoo

On Saturday afternoon, we took a stroll down memory lane and relived our first date(s) in Lansing, only slightly modified with a toddler in tow this time around. We drove past Mongolian bbq, the place where we first met. We then made a stop at Jason's old apartment complex where a bunch of us all hung out after dinner that first night. Little did either of know that 8 years later we'd be back there, only this time changing our toddler's diaper in the parking lot! We then visited Potters Park Zoo, the place where we went after dinner on our (2nd) first date 6 years ago - long story! However, this time, rather than leisurely strolling through the zoo, holding hands and talking about all of those things you talk about on a (2nd) first date, we were holding our toddler's hand, talking about animal noises.




The majestic bald eagle


Checking out the farm animal exhibit. Hannah liked to look on her own when the animals were far away, but when they approached, she was quick to want to be held by Daddy.


I swear the peacocks were everywhere. Mean little birds!


Getting a great view of the penguin exhibit from Daddy's shoulders.

As great as our first date(s) was (were), I think that revisiting these sights with our family 6-8 years later wins out hands down!

Happy Easter

We spent this Easter weekend with Jason's family in Owosso. The Easter bunny made an early stop at Grandma and Grandpa Davis' house on Saturday afternoon.


Hannah found her Easter basket pretty quickly with Grandma Davis' help.


Love it when the Easter bunny brings the good stuff, like applesauce and mixed fruit. Thank you Easter bunny!!


The Easter bunny has pretty good fashion taste. Hannah had to try on her new shorts right away.

This morning, we all went to church. Hannah made it through the first song before Daddy took her out to watch the service from the back. Really, she did better than I had expected. Can't blame a toddler for not sitting through church when she's normally used to playing in the nursery.


What a gorgeous day we had! By the time we got out of church, we didn't even need jackets. The daffodils were even blooming. I really cannot remember an Easter with such great weather.


Hannah in her Easter dress.


Our family of 3 (and a half).

After church, we headed down to Jason's aunt and uncle's house in Lansing to celebrate Easter dinner with Jason's extended family. We took advantage of the beautiful weather and let the kids play outside after we were done eating.


Maybe not a dunker, but a future point guard perhaps??

Hannah LOVED the cozy coupe, but she decided it was a little too cozy when cousin Colin tried to join her. Definitely not a car for two.

Rather than cram into the cozy coupe, Hannah and Colin decided to blow bubbles instead.

Before heading home, though, Hannah did convince Daddy to give her one last ride.

Of course, all of the Easter festivities pale in comparison to the true cause for today's celebration - He is risen!! He is risen, indeed!

It is a Good Friday

What a gorgeous Good Friday we've had! I can hardly believe that we're preparing for the Easter weekend in the 80's and shorts! Since Jason had the day off of work, and I only worked in the morning, we headed over to Reed's Lake with the boat after Hannah and I woke up from our naps. Unfortunately, a lot of other people had the same idea and it was an absolute zoo. In fact, the boat launch was so busy that we didn't even end up putting the boat in. Although I'm sure he was disappointed, Jason was a very good sport about it.

Instead of boating, then, we jumped to plan B. We took the boat home, and then headed downtown to a community Easter egg hunt. Again, thanks to the weather, it was a madhouse, but we rather enjoyed just walking around and didn't mind the crowds at all. I'm not exactly sure where or how they "hid" the eggs b/c we got there right when it started but didn't find a single egg. However, we did get a free capri sun, so it was all good.

Hannah burning off some energy running up and down a small hill near all the action.


I had to capture the evidence of her in shorts on April 2! Seems like it's more typical to have to wear winter coats over our Easter dresses.


Hannah spotted the Easter bunny, and was intially very excited. However, she then spotted the Easter gorilla walking around behind him and she suddenly became very hesitant. I can't say I blame her. The guy just looked scary!


Although we didn't find any Easter eggs of our own, one nice little girl gave Hannah 2 of hers. Hannah was very excited to open them up to discover the treasures inside.
After we'd had enough of the Easter egg excitement, we wandered downtown trying to find someplace kid-friendly to eat. Not an easy task, as most of the venues are more geared toward the adult crowd. We ended up eating at the BOB, which worked out perfectly. Still early enough to have the place pretty much to ourselves and also capitalize on the happy hour specials :-)

We just couldn't let this summer-like night pass by without enjoying a classic summer treat. We made our very first trip to the Double Dip Depot on our way home, where Hannah and I shared a turtle sundae. Note to self for next time: If I'm going to share with a 2-year old, don't order a sundae with nuts! I had to watch her every bite like a hawk so that she wouldn't accidentally choke on a pecan. Ah, live and learn.

I am so thankful for the time that we got to spend together today. I'm also thankful for the One who died on a cross for me 2000 years ago so that I can really know what love is all about. I love Hannah more than I could ever imagine loving anyone. Being a parent, I have so much more appreciation of how much God must love me to send his son to die for me. I could not sacrifie Hannah for a world of people who'd turned away from me, and yet Christ did it all for us. Love unimagineable, all for us...

Park

Since the weather was so beautiful this evening, and Jason had class, I decided to take Hannah to the park. She's so much more independent than last summer. She climbed right up to the top to slide down the slide.

I love that we could wear shorts on April 1!


Fearless. She's a little too small for this just yet, but she would have attempted to climb to the top if I'd let her.



She then discovered the twirly slide and made trip after trip up and down again.

Unfortunately, our time was cut a little short due to a major diaper explosion! We haven't had one of those in a very long time. She must have been too excited :-) Needless to say, we headed back to the car early to do damage control, but I'm sure we'll be making lots more visits to the park this spring and summer.

First pony

When I picked Hannah up from the babysitter yesterday, I was surprised to see Hannah had her first ponytail! I can hardly believe that her hair is long enough to pull back. She's growing up so quickly. I tried to get pictures, but none of them turned out very good. You can get the idea from these.

(yes, again with the boots!)

Daddy's helper

Jason had a helper when he fixed the sheer on our front door this week.

Hmm... an engineer in the making???