Holiday Fun Continued and Hannah Finds Her Lips

Hannah has made some big developmental progress in the past few weeks, including that she is much more aware of her surroundings, grasps objects and puts them in her mouth (very few items get passed the "Hannah taste test"), her Bumbo (foam-fitted seat, see green seat in photos) has immensely helped her posture and neck strength, she now reaches for and pulls off our eyeglasses if we close in on her for a kiss, and most recently (yesterday) she started making raspberries (the soft vibrating of her lips, which she sometimes couples with a few bubbles). With a significant amount of help, Hannah managed to open some of her Christmas presents -- she loves all of them. Thank you to Santa's assorted helpers!

We've had lots of visitors recently, and we've enjoyed every minute of each visit. Our good friends, Anna and Anik, stopped by while en route to their respective Christmas destinations; Kristi drove over after Christmas for a few days with the Eck ladies (Jonathan had to go back to work); Caroline and Ronan stopped by to meet Hannah; and Meredith and Colin, and Brandon and Nicole joined us to ring in the new year (Colin and Jonathan went skiing at Sunapee, while Meredith, Sarah, and Hannah had "girls' time," including a chilly walk to the orchard, and Brandon and Nicole joined us for a Thai dinner and a fun evening of games -- WARNING: Do not play Bananagrams with Meredith, she will beat you every time). Most recently, we celebrated Katrina and Seth's marriage in a picturesque winter setting in Vermont. The reception site was beautiful, as were the bride and bridesmaids, the food was delicious, and it was a lot of fun to catch up with so many friends.

So many fun things have happened recently that we cannot write about all of them without making this a book. Some of the highlights from Christmas Day included the following: Hannah receiving a beautiful new stocking from Mormor (Dayle); Hannah's visit with Karen and Elyse, and her first visit with Emily and Dave; and sledding with friends on the Masons' hill. In the late afternoon on Christmas, the Mason family gathered at Marilyn, Pete, and Jane's house for a family celebration. Hannah added a new element to the holiday festivities.

Jonathan has recently taken over bath-time duty with Hannah, which gives him a nice bonding opportunity with his little swimmer. He intends to teach her good freestyle technique in the not too distant future, but for now he is just pleased that she is so content when she's in the water. He has big plans for taking her into Kimball Pond come next June/July.

Stay tuned for all that 2010 has to offer! Please don't hesitate to post your comments -- we love seeing what you have to say and knowing that our time spent drafting these entries is appreciated.