The world just got a whole lot bigger
Hazel is constantly growing and changing and not a day goes by when we don’t notice something new and different from the day before- but this weekend was pretty spectacular as far as changes go. In addition to trying her first piece of goat cheese (she loved it, more about that later) and cruising around the house at lightning fast speeds, we’ve noticed a change that is both subtle and striking all at once.
It all started about 10 days ago… We went from our usual easy-going routine into a tail spin of sleepless nights, harried days and countless frustrated moments in between. Suddenly Hazel seemed to be fussy all the time- nothing made the girl happy, not even the Boom Dee Yada song, and that’s saying something. I immediately chalked it up to teething as I am inclined to do. I had Jered convinced she was about to sprout a couple of pointy pearly whites. I was even pretty convinced myself, this amount of fussing had to mean teething, what else could it be? (a bit of dramatic forshadowing here- Hazel is still toothless) Lucky for us the craziness reached its peak after about a week- on Valentines Day, actually. We were up at least 5 times that night trying to soothe our pseudo-teething child back to sleep. We even gave her tylenol to take the edge off the pain we were sure she was experiencing. By Sunday morning last week we were spent and feeling a bit uncertain about this whole parenthood gig- would this be our new normal? Were we destined to have a child who constantly cried and couldn’t sleep longer than 45 minutes at a time?
Fortunately, the storm passed by about midweek. Hazel fell back into her usual pleasant routine and Jered and I breathed a huge sigh of relief. We were a bit confused, though- after all that fussing she still had no teeth to show for it. It turns out the whole thing was probably not related much to teething at all. It seems Hazel was making another leap- a developmental (and possibly physical) growth spurt. This weekend it dawned on us that our girl was different when we started to see her doing some things differently. She has been cruising for a couple of weeks now, but this weekend we noticed her stopping to bend over and pick things up. Then we would see her get herself from crawling to sitting to stop and carefully examine her blocks- pushing them around slowly, then banging them deliberately on a book or another toy. We watched as she stood at the gate separating her from the animals and reached for Oscar even though he was halfway across the room. And then tonight…
Jered snuck out to the YMCA for a late Sunday afternoon workout and Hazel and I were hanging out at home. We were doing our usual thing- chasing stuffed animals around the coffee table, playing peek-a-boo with her favorite blanket, clapping our hands, waving, nothing out of the ordinary. Hazel decides to crawl over to me and brings two little star shaped blocks with her. She sits herself down in front of me and places both blocks on the ground. She looks up at me and claps. I ask her if I can have a block… and she picks up one of the blocks and places it in my hand and then claps and squeals with delight. I then offer the block to her- “Hazel, do you want the block?”- She takes it in her hand and tries clapping while holding the block, squealing all the while. I ask her again, “Can mama have the block?” She gives it to me and squeals and claps. I have never been more delighted in my entire life.
So what’s so exciting about this simple exchange? I can’t put my finger on exactly what it was, but there was something in the way she looked at me while we were playing- like there was a new level of understanding, a depth that hasn’t been there before. I am so excited for this new stage and it kills me that we both have to go to work tomorrow.
We leave you with a few pictures from this past week- hope you are all well!
Fish!!
Aquarium from esther benoit on Vimeo.
Another fun video
She loves to stand from esther benoit on Vimeo.
Clapping!
Clapping! from esther benoit on Vimeo.
Swinging at the Park
Swing! from esther benoit on Vimeo.
New videos!
The Wonders of a Remote from esther benoit on Vimeo.
Some more firsts
The weather was gorgeous this weekend and we were able to take Hazel out and about a couple of times. Over the weekend we experienced a few new firsts. Hazel is now able to quickly crawl across the room- she is really really fast. We have all of this on video, but I haven’t uploaded anything because we’ve been busy enjoying the weather!
After she crawls across the room she usually finds something to pull herself up on- she is getting really quick at this, and just learned how to get down from a standing position. We’re so glad she figured this out- until now she would pull herself up and then get very tired and not know how to sit back down. She really loves standing up and does it every chance that she gets.
Last weekend Jered and I decided to join the YMCA. As part of our membership benefits we get free child care whenever we go work out. So we add to our list of firsts- this week Hazel experienced her first non-family day care. It has been going very well. She loves to play with the other babies and crawl around the very large room. She gets a work out and I get to work out too.
This morning we headed over to Sandy Bottom Nature Park for a walk outside and Hazel’s first trip to the play ground. She loved swinging on the swings and watching the other kids play. Later this afternoon we met up with our friends Michelle and Nora today and went to the Virginia Living Museum. Hazel was fascinated by the aquarium and couldn’t get enough of the big fish, sharks and the very large turtle. Again- I have this all on video but haven’t uploaded it yet. Check back later this week- I will try to post the latest videos and pictures.
January and February pictures
As you can see in the video I posted earlier today, Hazel is growing and changing so quickly now.
Here is Hazel with her new friend, sent to her by her Great Grandpa and Granny Scott. She loves that bear so much!
She still loves crawling and goes everywhere she can- we’ve had to gate off the whole house!
She loves to get all bundled up to go outside and even wears shoes sometimes.
She also likes to hang out in boxes.
She has especially liked all the visits she’s gotten from her Grampy. Here she is enjoying a little time with him.
Hazel loves spending time with her papa.
They hang out, even when she’s in “jail”
And in case you were worried she would be bald forever… her hair is finally coming in!
And she loves to stand up… all the time.
And finally- Hazel has been enjoying hanging out with her friend Nora- here they are eating Baby Mum Mum crackers.
She likes to move it move it…
Cruising and Dancing from esther benoit on Vimeo.