Hannah's Piano Play-A-Thon

Today, Hannah got to play a piano piece at the mall! They were doing a fund raiser called "Key Up for Kids" to raise money for the American Family Children's Hospital, which is where Hannah had her tonsils out. Hannah, along with 17 other students of Ms. Joanna, performed at Hilldale Mall here in Madison. We were so proud of Hannah--she did such a great job, and was quite the charmer, too! She played "Hot Cross Buns" with her teacher, Ms. Joanna, accompanying. She also was extremely well-behaved while watching all the other students perform! Click on the video below to watch her performance!

Movement?

Eli has started to show some interest in crawling! Yikes! He's been flipping and flopping around on the floor, and has even managed to find his way up onto his knees a few times! I think it won't be too long now 'til he's mobile. Bring on the baby gates! He's also been really having fun with toys--more and more all the time. Before, he would just kindof look at them wondering what in the world they were there for. Now he actually interacts with them. Well, at least his mouth does. :)

Chicago Trip

On Monday, we went to Chicago for the day! Hannah was out of school for MLK day, so it was the perfect day to go. Mom and Dad are shopping for a new car for Mom, so they needed to go to Chicago to see the full range of available cars (which weren't all here in Madison). So, while they were car shopping, Hannah, Elijah, and I spent the afternoon with my friend, Beth! We went to Johnny Rockets for lunch and to the DuPage Children's Museum! Elijah particularly enjoyed the museum because they had many areas for babies with busy boards he could sit in front of and play with, which he LOVED! Hannah also had fun visiting the many exhibits, especially the one where you could draw with light! Then, we all met Mom and Dad at the Oak Brook Mall and shopped at Hanna Andersson for clothes for the kids and had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Yummmmm... Then, we drove back to Madison and got home around 11. It was a very fun day! :)

The Winter Party

On Saturday afternoon, our neighborhood had a Winter Party. I helped set up, so Hannah and I headed over a bit early. Elijah was a little to young to enjoy the festivities, so he hung out with Grammie and Gabah. :) Hannah had a lot of fun decorating bags with stickers, which was one of the craft aftivities. We also had fun making a snowman out of marshmallows and candy--this was a joint project! You'll notice from the picture that our snowperson has earmuffs, skis, and a purse!!! The highlight for me was that I won a raffle prize of a 30-minute massage!!! I've never had a massage before, and I can't wait!!!!! Anyway, it was a fun time. I also just had to tack on a couple pictures to the bottom of this post of Eli playing because they turned out so cute! And it's just amazing how much he's starting to look like a little person (rather than a newborn baby).

Splish Splash, I Was Takin' A Bath...

Today was Elijah's first time taking a "big boy bath" where he actually was sitting up in a bath tub. It was great! He had SO much fun because he discovered splashing!! And he also discovered the bath toys and how he can put them in his mouth (ah...more teething items...) I actually had to move almost everything off the countertops because he was getting everything absolutely SOAKED! But he was having such a good time--splashing, smiling, laughing, and having a great time! :)

Teething

Elijah has always (well, since just a couple months old) been teething. He got his first tooth on December 1 (yep! Hannah's birthday!) He's now teething as much as ever, but now he's at least able to hold things in his hands better to bring them to his mouth, and he's allowed finger foods (including Zwieback toast), which is great! He is loving the Zwieback and also the veggie wagon wheels. He also LOVES this think on his Exersaucer--it's a flower that's supposed to stay attached, but for some reason it doesn't, and he's able to pull it off, which is really funny--he just "plucks" it from the toy an chews away!

Wii, Hair, Jumping, and The Doctor

Wow...that's a lot in one post! :) Well, one thing at a time, I suppose! I just have to say that the Wii is one of the coolest things I've ever seen. I got it for Christmas (yes, I realize that I'm 31 years old...), and it is so fun! We've all played it--that means ALL the generations from Hannah through Paw Paw! Hannah has a profile created, even on the Wii Fit! And Dad and Paw Paw played a game of bowling together. My favorite game is Wii Play, which is incredibly addictive. I especially like shooting, cow racing, and fishing. I'll be exercising on the Wii Fit board, too. (for those of you who don't know, I'm doing Weight Watchers, and since I joined (I think it was in August), I've lost 25 pounds.)

Now for the hair part...Hannah got her hair cut yesterday!! It was so long before that! I mean it had gotten VERY long! She had been telling me for a while that she wanted it shorter, so I finally obliged. We had about 6 inches cut off, and I must admit that it really is adorable. You should have seen the floor at Cost Cutters where the hair they cut off was! WOW--there was A LOT!

Jumping...just had to include a picture of Elijah in his Jumperoo. He LOVES to jump. He does it on your lap, too, and it completely wears you out! He knows the word jump, so if you say it, he starts jumping! It's very cute. :) Doctor...Eli had his 6-month doctor's appointment today! He now weighs 17 pounds 3 ounces, which puts him in the 45th percentile. He is in the 50th percentile for height. Just perfect! Everything else about his growth and development is also perfect, not to mention that he totally charmed all the nurses and doctors (and the receptionists, too!) :) Unfortunately, he did have to get four shots. He was not too happy about that. But he quickly got over it. He is now back in his Jumperoo having a fine time. :) Happy 2009, everyone! :)