Beema comes to visit!

Grandma Siri came to visit and help out! This week we also were fortunate enough to have Hannah's cast cut down 4", which helped her begin to re-exercise her core muscles. Additionally, we began (and ended) Mandarin lessons for Hannah (teaching method was not appropriate, more below).

Hannah "relaxin"as she says.

Princess time with "Beema"

Playing peek-a-boo with the leaves of Lily's of the Valley.

Beema brought some vintage princesses to play with and Hannah loved playing with them.

Uncle Cory and Aunt Annie Strupp sent Hannah a bag of loot and this cube game was one of the treats inside. It's made by Melissa and Doug and when you put the two halves of an animal together, it makes its sound!

Hannah is particularly fond of the "chicken" (rooster).

Story time on the porch with Beama

Hannah loves books. We did start Mandarin classes this week when Beema was here, however they were short-lived because the teacher was not willing to alter her teaching style for a child this age. She was drilling Hannah by holding up a Chinese number 1 and making Hannah pronounce it. The reason we wanted to start lessons so early was because Hannah is a SPONGE right now! She could easily learn another language, if only someone would speak to her non-stop in the language while playing with toys, or pointing things out, etc....

Hot day. Hannah and Beema were laughing like crazy about a joke that Hannah made up about "choo choo"

Look at the beautiful bracelet that Raq made for Hannah! Thank you, Raq!

Beaming while in Beema's lap :)

When the Dr cut Hannah's cast down 4 " from the top, they also gave her a pink stripe, which she liked to show to people.

Memorial day parade in town!

Hannah's first Memorial Day festivities in our town.

Robbie did a great job with his speech at the Memorial gathering after the parade.

Beema was so helpful, holding Hannah and her cast for a long time so that Hannah could see the entire parade and the wreath-dropping on the bridge.

Juliana, Bea and Flo rode in the back of a truck in the parade!

Hannah is beginning to learn about emotions and feelings. For example, she often says "happy" when she sees something she likes or "sad" if she's wanting something that can't be delivered immediately. When she was going into the x-ray room, she said "crying" because she felt like doing that (and eventually did). I wonder what she would say to describe this facial expression.

MOOOOOOOOO -- this calf was one of Hannah's favorites at the farm (see the gang peeking at him/her (?) below).

So cute.

Even cuter.

Cutest.

Triplet kids born on Mother's Day at the farm.

On this particular day we were at the farm at 5pm, which is feeding time. The animals were going crazy! Mooooing, baaaaaaing, quacking, you name it, the noise could be heard! This visit was particularly fun for this reason.

Ponies and donkeys are another favorite.

These two little guys were head-butting playfully.

These two were so cute! Hugs after head-butting.

Hannah is very curious. She doesn't seem to miss a thing and is always very pensive.

Dad put a flag up for Hannah on Memorial Day.

What a beautiful day.

This is how we scoot! Thankfully, a friend in town managed to arrange for us to barrow a scooter from the elementary school in town for us to contrive something like this at home. Hannah loved scooting around after her ZuZu pet, Stinker.

At the PT "gym." Hannah had a blast showing Beema where we have been "playing" lately. A friend of ours invited us to play at the PT center so that Hannah could use the big swings that would accommodate her body cast. We also tried the ball pit, which Hannah was unsure of, but would probably love if she hadn't been in an awkward cast(?).

Look at these two with their matching stripes.

When Beema suggested that this is a princess swing, Hannah couldn't get into it fast enough! She has since started PT at this place and continues to talk about the princess swing.

Jen and Edward were nice enough to invite us to play at the PT center prior to Hannah's cast removal. When we return to the "gym" now for H's PT sessions, she still talks about Jen and Edward.

Hannah and Beema looking at pictures of Hannah as a baby. Hannah enjoys looking at Baby Hannah pictures.

Hannah had such a great time with Beema and we (S in particular) was SO thankful to have Beema's help during the final week before Hannah's cast was removed. Beema not only made it possible to run errands together, see people in town, and get out of the house, but also she entertained Hannah and provided her with a special growing/bonding time that Hannah will never forget. Thank you so much, Beema.