Hair!

Hannah has really, truly crossed the threshold from bald-ish baby to having hair, amongst other significant changes in appearance and behavior in the last month. The most fun thing she has started doing is getting interested in clothes, so she'll bring me things to put on her that she finds lying around (isn't child development a great reason not to pick up laundry 100% of the time?).

This includes shoes:

And coats 15x too big for her:

She has also become quite vain. *Note length of pigtails!*

Fortunately, she can't see herself in the bathtub, right after the pigtails have been removed:

Also, as one of the students we work with so aptly pointed out tonight, she's getting so fat (aka, no more skinny baby)! *Note the double chin... she will kill me for this one in later years, but it's so cute.*

I wonder if this might not be due to her new-found status as a Peanut Butter junkie:

She's on an exercise program though, otherwise known as "learning to walk." Nothing extensive, but one should never start too quickly, right?

I couldn't get pictures of these, but she's started following directions to find her baby doll, then she'll have me rock it, then she'll give it hugs. She's learning and using 2 signs on a regular basis: "more" and "all done." "All done" was taught by Daddy, "more" she seemed to pick up on her own somehow- maybe from the other toddler on campus. No verbal words yet, but signs count, right? She'll be going to the doctor for her next checkup in a couple of weeks, and I'm curious to see where her growth percentages are now- they must be above 5th percentile with that awesome chin!

New Camera for Valentine's Day

There has been a dearth of pictures here lately, mainly due to the fact that I cannot for the life of me get a good shot of Hannah. She sees/ hears/ senses the point-and-shoot, and she's crawling towards it with her hand out to grab it before I can get the shutter to click. Most of my pics for the last month or so have had her as a blur. Case in point:

Ooooh, almost in focus! Better luck next time, mom!

So when a friend of mine was selling an 5 year old Nikon for a fraction of the cost of a new one, we decided we could use some of our Christmas money to invest in it. I think we made the right choice, as it doesn't look like a cell phone, doesn't beep, and has a nice quick shutter speed, even with the flash. Plus, it takes nicer pictures! 

Today, Hannah got presents in the mail from her Sha Sha. We took pictures.

Don't pants go on my head?

Hannah's first year

Click here to view this photo book larger

The new way to make a photo album: photo books by Shutterfly.

More Legend than Myth

Mythbuster: Breastfeeding Will Keep you from Getting Pregnant

Under Inspection

Breastfeeding is a means of birth control

Background:

In case you have never heard the phrase "you can't get pregnant if you're breastfeeding," now you have. And usually you hear someone respond to that statement by saying "Oh, so... I'll be expecting your next announcement in about a month." Here in America, it is common practice to put women on some form of birth control before they are cleared by their doctors to resume intercourse (usually at the 6 week checkup after birth). On the other hand, many medical organizations such as the World Health Organization teach the Lactational Amenorrhea Method (LAM) as a viable and reliable method of family planning. If you want a full description, read the link, otherwise, the synopsis is that full breastfeeding day and night with no bottles, formula, or solids has a 99+ success rate in preventing ovulation (and therefore pregnancy) as long as the mother's periods have not returned AND her baby is less than 6 months old. Please don't take sentence as a complete guide to LAM... :-)

Factual Experience:

Disingenuous, I know, given how much success we have at not getting pregnant on our own anyway. However, I was really interested to see what effects breastfeeding would have on the return of my "fertility," since I now have several years experience keeping track of it! Obviously (I hope), we didn't judge the results based on lack of positive pregnancy tests. Rather, I charted my fertility signs to see if I was ovulating or not. I don't even own a bottle, and while Hannah did end up taking a pacifier and not sleeping skin to skin with me, I got my 6 months and more. I was able to successfully identify my first ovulation and predict my first post-partum period 10 months after she was born. Yeah charting!

Conclusion that breastfeeding can keep you from getting pregnant according to the medically established LAM guidelines (and maybe longer): True!

<You may mentally insert a picture of a negative pregnancy test, but I never took one, because I never had reason to believe I might be pregnant.>

Fairy Princess

12 Month checkup, stats, and "Christmas" pictures

We went to the doctor today for Hannah's 12 month checkup and shots. She is 17.5 lbs, and 28in, and has made it up to the 25th percentile! Woohoo! I kind of thought she might have had a growth spurt when we discovered she could eat an entire chicken breast + veggies + fruit for dinner every night on the cruise. She did well with her shots, not even getting a fever this time, and we were happy because our favorite nurse came and did them while Hannah sat on my lap. I hate lying her on the table when I know it's perfectly possible to give shots to a baby in its parent's lap instead.

 Here are two pictures in front of the Christmas tree: