Shortly after Hazel was born, time flew by. The first three months of her life were gone in the blink of an eye. It scared me and was such a huge contrast to Clara. Having just Clara for so long allowed me to enjoy each and every day, make so many memories and not mourn the passing of time. Adding Hazel changed that. When Hazel was about 3 months old, I decided we needed to stop sitting around and start enjoying life. We did and it helped to make the rest of her first year of life fulfilling, rewarding and gave me adequate time to cherish her. We've had family time, one-on-one time, girl time and daddy time. It seems as long as I make sure to live in the moment and not the future or the past, it's easier to deal with the passing of each phase. Yes, she's growing, but as I try to enjoy each day, then we make memories that we can always hold dear even as we venture to the next stage.
For Hazel's birthday, my entire (ENTIRE!) family was here. I decided that's just another reason to keep having my babies in December - there's a good chance we'll have family in town to help celebrate. After the big dinner out with my family, we came back to our house for a hot chocolate bar and dessert (mini coconut cupcakes, lemon bites and chocolate peppermint thumbprint cookies). I made Jason hang the puff balls and admitted it was just for the pictures. Unfortunately, I had him hang them too high and it was dark so the picture quality is rather poor. Oh well, we didn't really have the option of doing it during the day, but you better believe I considered it just so my pictures would look better. Ha ha. I had Rachel take some and then forgot to get them from her before she left. Anyway. Back to the party. Hazel loved the cake (not surprising) and ate until I took it away from her worried she'd swipe it off the tray. She just stared at everyone singing to her and wanted to grab the candle. I made another mini cake like I did for Clara and wished I would have frosted it differently because it looked really, really cute until I frosted it.
Now for a bit about my little sweetie. She has 8 teeth. The 8th one came in a few days before Christmas. She doesn't teeth well so it will be interesting to see what she's like when the molars and canines start coming in. Other than that, she is a really, really good baby. If she misses a nap, she's manageable. She pretty much only cries if she is super starving and/or super, duper tired. And then usually it's not even a cry, but a yell.
I was so worried she'd be forced to be quite and not talk much because of the other talkers we have in this house. I'm happy to say I think she will talk sooner than Clara did and is not afraid to interrupt, contribute to conversations and voice her opinion. She is really good at repeating/mocking the noises Jason and I make. She says "dog" and "duck". They sound the same, but she says it when she sees either of them. She waves "bye" in her lazy, flapping style and says "bye" too. She claps for "more" and raises her hands in the air to sign "finished".
She is into throwing things. Hard. On Christmas Even, she would shake things than let them drop. It was hilarious because I could tell she was trying to throw the objects, she just couldn't time the letting go part right. In the last week, she's figured it out and can throw really good. She's also into throwing fits. A few days ago she started throwing her head back, arching her back and flailing all over the place when she doesn't get her way. It's often accompanied by a super high pitched screech that she does every now and then. One time it was in Costco and lasted about 30 seconds. I just sat and stared at her and tried not to laugh.
I nursed her 4 times a day until a few days before her birthday. On her birthday, we started just morning and night feedings. It hasn't been hard for either of us. However, I'm worried she has a dairy, or other food, sensitivity. Plus she doesn't really like milk. I just don't know what the best alternative is. Beyond that, she eats almost anything I put in front of her. With her expanded diet, she has gotten a little more picky, but more so when it comes to spices. For instance, she used to eat plain beans all the time. Now she eats them, but only if they have some type of spice or are in Quinoa salad or something like that.
The other day I thought she was in the kitchen by the sink and my heart sunk for a split second when I turned the corner to get her because I didn't see her on the floor. Of course I realized in the next split second that she had climbed inside the cupboard.
See? There she is.
She loves to explore and climb in things. As long as she's not hurting herself, someone else or something, I don't mind what she does.
When she was younger, she'd gently bop to music. Now, she moves back and forth pretty aggressively when she hears music. I think I could see it 100 times and still laugh at it.
I wish this picture wasn't so dark because it's hard to capture Hazel's big smile. It is so sweet!
This is her stare, which is easy to capture since she does it often.
Hazel's favorite things to do is most definitely undo anything and everything. For a few days, I took pictures of her destruction. This is what goes on at our house all day every day.
Jason doesn't remember Clara doing this, but I think there are two explanations for that. One, he wasn't really around. He was gone all the time between work and school. But also, in our last house, I shut all the doors and let her crawl all around the halls so there was less for her to get into. I think she was still busy and curious, I was just able to keep things off limits easier.
Hazel still just crawls and doesn't seem to be interested in standing on her own or walking. She seems to be a bit uncoordinated and will sometimes crawl faster than she can handle and face plant into the ground over her hands. Because she's so mellow, it was really hard for me to recognize her personality when she was younger. Now it's starting to be much more obvious and I just love watching her and observing how she explores everything endlessly.
I often ponder and think about what a perfect fit Hazel is to our family. I'm glad she's the second, I'm glad she came when she did and I'm glad she is so unique and has a personality just as lovable as Clara. Here's to another fun, memorable year with this happy little girl
:: Hazel's birthday (and party)
:: Sherlock Holmes with Kathryn, Angela & Clint, Don & Rachel and Jason
:: Sherlock Holmes with Kathryn, Angela & Clint, Don & Rachel and Jason
:: Try out Cafe Mix with Rachel
:: Sleepover at Grandma's for grandkids
:: Try out Cafe Mix with Rachel
:: Sleepover at Grandma's for grandkids
:: Drive to Summit at South Mountain (I can't believe I've never been up there)
Saturday
:: LGO with Angela, Clint and Rachel
:: New Year's Eve party at Ryan and Kathryn's (where someone {who invited the tiger?} was really, really excited about the firework going off)
Jason had the entire week off. When we weren't doing something with our family, he watched the kids, cleaned the house and let me run wild with my sisters. It was so nice going out to eat and being able to visit, going to my mom's while Hazel got to stay home to get a much needed nap and staying late to visit while he took the kids home and put them to bed. Isn't he great?
:: Drive to Summit at South Mountain (I can't believe I've never been up there)
Saturday
:: LGO with Angela, Clint and Rachel
:: New Year's Eve party at Ryan and Kathryn's (where someone {who invited the tiger?} was really, really excited about the firework going off)
Jason had the entire week off. When we weren't doing something with our family, he watched the kids, cleaned the house and let me run wild with my sisters. It was so nice going out to eat and being able to visit, going to my mom's while Hazel got to stay home to get a much needed nap and staying late to visit while he took the kids home and put them to bed. Isn't he great?
