Work Hard Play Hard

Hannah is a blur of activity. So much so, that it has become MUCH more difficult to take decent pictures of her in action. (Kristina does a much better job than I, but hopefully I will learn to use my camera more effectively in the coming months). Hannah loves to walk around and investigate each room in the apartment, checking out shelves and corners, often carrying something - or things - in both hands. She is a confident walker, and is now walking over the inch-high raised tile in our kitchen without slowing down her speedy trajectory. She loves to dance, and she loves to make herself dizzy by following her arm around and around in circles until she careens into something or topples over in glee. Her balance is great, yet she still has yet to stand on foot. The books say this will happen soon. She loves loves to climb/scale anything, and she is equally fond of being picked up and held chest-high so that she look out and can see the world from a higher vantage point.

She loves physical games like tag, tickling, wrestling and "pillow-sandwich." She can easily climb stairs now, and she is getting more confident going down stairs backwards despite getting frustrated and losing patience with the extra time required to cover the desired ground. She loves to play with her plastic purple ball, and her favorite game is to play catch with both Kristina and I at the same time, so that she can walk between us and throw the ball to each of us in turn. She can't catch yet, but she knows to look for the ball rolling at her feet and how to pick it up and release it in a desired direction. Playing hide-and-seek or peekaboo is her other favorite game.. and the louder we yell when we jump out and startle her, the MORE she laughs and wants more...
She has a corner where all her toys and books are "organized" and she likes to relax regularly behind the arm of our couch and get some quality time by herself. Intently, she will flip back and forth through her books. At her age, apparently the page turning is indicative of the sense of accomplishment that comes from the physical activity of turning each page at a time, and it is not just about the pictures.

At this point, Hannah seems to have a clear preference for her left hand when eating. She loves to hold her spoon and feed herself, but we still have to scoop the food up for her most of the time, and then let her take it from there...