Urban Safari

Hannah is crawling everywhere now, and as this photo illustrates, she is able to pull herself up to a standing position. She loves investigating her surroundings, and here she is inspecting the jungle grasses on the high plateaus of her crib plains. She likes to stare at an object after we have pointed to it or tapped on it and repeated its name, and she has recently (but only on occasion, not consistently) followed the direction of an extended arm or finger in seeming comprehension that they are pointing gestures signifying a purpose.

We fledgling parents have been reading up on our "baby signs" and learning about the benefits of using infant sign language. we are hopeful that in the next 12 months a few signs might make their way into Hannah's repertoire and help her communicate her thoughts with us. She is clearly soaking up her surroundings and is already showing a healthy sense of independence. For example, a month ago Hannah would have accepted her pacifier happily if we held it up to her mouth. Now she will wave her hands in front of her face and bat our hands away in protest if we try to place the pacifier in her mouth, but she will peacefully accept the pacifier if we place it in her hands so that she can put in her mouth by herself. Little developments like this are happening daily for Hannah, making this time so much fun for us.

Hands of a Surgeon

Hand Shadows

Hand Shadows
Mary Cornish

My father put his hands in the white light
of the lantern, and his palms became a horse
that flicked its ears and bucked; an alligator
feigning sleep along the canvas wall leapt up
and snapped its jaws in silhouette, or else
a swan would turn its perfect neck and drop
a fingered beak toward that shadowed head
to lightly preen my father's feathered hair.
Outside our tent, skunks shuffled in the woods
beneath a star that died a little every day,
and from a nebula of light diffused
inside Orion's sword, new stars were born.
My father's hands became two birds, linked
by a thumb, they flew one following the other.

Tales of a 1st Grade Cousin

Olympic Rings Part II: Closing Ceremonies

As the games of the XXIX Olympiad conclude, Hannah has mastered the Olympic Rings and is changing the sport in ways no one has ever dreamed the Olympic Rings could be conquered. She has just discovered a new dimension to the rings, and is exploring the middle space her arms can fit through - something few have dared to try.

However, Hannah lives in a world of hypocrisy and irony, and she is aware that her creativity and style would likely be stifled by politically hungry judges with intentions that stray far away from her pure, unadulterated Olympic ideal. As well, she is far older then the average Gold Medal Gymnast - in fact she is older than the entire Chinese Gymnastics team by over a year, and she understands that she would be an elder stateswoman in troubled times at the games in London. Sensibly, she has started considering the wisdom of devoting all of her time to one discipline at such an early age.

Realizing that the Rings lack promise - but are still fun to keep around - Hannah has decided to pursue other avenues to stimulate her brain and fire her neurons... she is now deeply interested in the mystical world of composition, and finds that her intense training for the rings has helped her focus on her music. Her first Steinbeck piano is taking a pounding, but we are happy to see Hannah has wisely diversified her time and expanded her interests!

Crazy 8 (Months)

With the Olympics, we've all learned by now that 8 is one of the most auspicious numbers in Chinese culture. In fact, there are so many cool things about 8 that it'd take up way too much space here to report on them all. But for you numbers geeks out there, check out what Wikipedia has to say about it all. Anyway, we're happy to report that Hannah turned 8 months old today in this 8th month of 2008..!

A couple notes on her favorite activities these days:
- Getting faster and more adept at her newfound skill of crawling
- Going after everything in sight, now that she's on the move
- Putting everything she can now get her hands on into her mouth
- Trying to pull herself up on the coffee table, which she also likes to put into her mouth
- Suffering a few hard knocks after pulling up, and falling down
- Getting to ride around on Daddy's shoulders and pull his hair, which quickly eliminates any memory of hard knocks!

Happy 8-Month Birthday, Hannah!

Frozen Food

Our freezer is now the Fort Knox of pureed foods. We have anything one could imagine stored in ice cube trays and zip-lock baggies.

In addition to barley, oat, wheat and rice cereal, and of course, mother's milk, Hannah's diet has expanded to include a regular rotation of apple, apricot, avocado, acorn squash, banana, butternut squash, cantaloupe, carrot, cauliflower, peach, pear, prune, sweet pea, yam and drinking water. We have yet to try chicken, beef, beet, broccoli, chicken, corn, green bean, fish, mango, nectarine, plum, summer squash, zucchini... So far, Hannah seems to favor fruits (except bananas, ironically!), yams, and oatmeal.

Hannah's reactions to new tastes, smells, and textures are very expressive. She gives either a frown (expressing moderate dislike or uncertainty), a cringe-and-spine-curdling-shudder (utter disgust), or a pleasant and relaxed, open mouthed exhale of acceptance (approval). She sometimes will rub her face with her fist if she is leaning towards dislike, and pump her hands up and down in front of her if she is excited and happy... The highchair is becoming quite a fun destination, for parents and daughter alike... Bon appetit.

Whose baby is that?

Can you find five things that are different in these two photos, which were taken more than 30 (ahem) years apart??

Recipe for a Hippopotamus Sandwich

Recipe for a Hippopotamus Sandwich

by Shel Silverstein

A hippo sandwich is easy to make.
All you do is simply take
One slice of bread,
One slice of cake,
Some mayonnaise,
One onion ring,
One hippopotamus,
One piece of string,
A dash of pepper--
That ought to do it.
And now comes the problem...
Biting into it!

Happy Birthday Jack Wollan!

Happy 7th Birthday, Jack! We love you very much, and Hannah is very lucky to have such great cousins like you and Kate. Here are two special pictures which capture your vibrant spirit and very caring nature. Jack, we hope you have a wonderful day, and wish you well as you enter into your 8th year! Love, Hannah, Kristina & Jon.

Some famous people who share August 10 with you as their Birthday:
August 10, 1974 Walt Harris, Cornerback for the Chicago Bears
August 10, 1874 Herbert Clark Hoover, 31st President, 1929-1933
August 10, 1928 Jimmy Dean, Singer/ Actor/ Sausage Guy (we love Jimmy Dean Bacon)

On your Birthday, some notable events also occurred in the past:
August 10, 1821- Missouri becomes 24th state in the US.
August 10, 1846 - Smithsonian Institution Act signed to create the Smithsonian Institution.

Olympic Rings

Hannah, staring, bemused and somewhat perplexed after watching her strange dad organize her plastic rings while saying to her, "Citius, Altius, Fortius" (faster, higher, stronger). Baron Pierre de Coubertin ordained this phrase the official Olympic motto "for people who dare to try to break records." Hannah will hopefully come to appreciate the essence of the Olympic Creed as she experiences life: "The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well." Apparently the Olympic rings taste great too. The orange one is the best.

Mike "Avocado" Ditka

No I do NOT like Avocados, Sam I am,
I do NOT like them in a BOWL,
I do NOT like them on a SPOON,
I do NOT like them in a CUP,
I am NOT their number one fan.
I do not like my avocado mustache,
Almost as much as I do not like it
when the Bears QB drops a pass.
I will not eat avocados, Sam I am.
I am not their number one fan.
They make me shudder, twitch and cry
They taste so miserable Sam I am,
They bring out my MIKE DITKA STINK-EYE!