Half-Year Hannah

What? Where have these six months gone? It doesn't seem like all that long ago that we welcomed Hannah into our lives, although the days of that petite little babe with the lowest and quietest cry you ever heard seem like a distant memory. Because these days, Hannah is full of giggles (she giggles at everything and nothing at all). And ohh the chunk. And now she reaches, pinches, grabs, screams with delight, sits for minutes on end unassisted, and now she eats!

Two weeks ago we officially started Hannah on solids. (Although I would be lying if I didn't say that we let her suck on the occasional Honey Comb cereal before that, and had a little frozen apple at Nate & Dana's.) 

Her first "official" experience was with avocado; and she loved it.

As for other foods...

Bananas: Loved
Sweet Potato: Hated
Green Apple: Nearly Hated
Pink Lady Apple: Getting Warmer

This past month I have really seen the protective mommy-in-me kick in. A minor incident at daycare had me leaving their facility in tears. Last week, I received a call early that day that a bottle of Hannah's had spilled. I had extra milk in their freezer, so the problem should have had an easy fix. When I arrived to pick up Hannah, however, I was informed that she was fed her spilled bottle at her first feeding, and her next two feedings were supplemented with an added three ounces. What? Not only did they not feed Hannah a full bottle first, they supplement not just one, but two of her next bottles with an added three ounces! Why they did not simply give her a bottle that didn't spill first, followed by bottles with the normal five ounces she receives at each feeding, I have no idea? Rather, Hannah didn't get a full bottle at her first feeding, and was fed an added three ounces to supplement not just her second feeding, but also her third. 

I politely gave the teacher, and later the facility director, my two cents, but that didn't change feeling bad that Hannah didn't receive a single proper feeding while I was away. First, she didn't receive a full bottle, then, her little tummy was filled so full. Never have I given her a eight ounces in a feeding. I was thinking, "poor full girl," (but maybe in reality is should have been more like, "lucky girl"). In any respect, the situation brought me to tears. Knowing full well Hannah is fine and in the scheme of, well, just about anything, this is no big deal. But what I felt is that Hannah didn't get the best care she could get that day. And I wish I could have been the one to handle the situation.

No, I'm not about to quit my job to make sure something like this doesn't happen again. This type of thing could have easily happened any other time Seth or I wasn't watching Hannah. Rather, it is a bit of a reminder to have a conversation about how Hannah is being cared for when hiccups come along, even when the solution seems like an obvious fix.

Coincidentally, Hannah is going down to one day a week at daycare starting this week. A friend of mine is just returning to work after maternity leave, and the two of us have hired a friend of hers to watch our two girls. So, Gladys will be coming to my place M/W/F. And as an added bonus, Hannah will soon be multilingual; Gladys is from Bolivia!

Hannah loves peek-a-boo!