Walking Tall
A few more videos of Hazel taken this afternoon.
From walking to running… from esther benoit on Vimeo.
Reading and Running from esther benoit on Vimeo.
Filed under Hazel by esther | Comment (0)Brace yourselves…
For some serious cuteness… I finished writing my dissertation on Friday so I don’t have many words left in me for now- so I thought I’d post the latest pictures and videos of our girl. She’s walking all over the place now, enjoying fresh berries, talking on the “phone,”, she points at things and says a few words- so far she can say “key,” “tree,” “hi,” “cheese,” “woof woof” and “nose.” It seems like every day she’s up to something new. We hope you enjoy the pictures and video!
Bipedal from esther benoit on Vimeo.
Talking and Walking from esther benoit on Vimeo.
Mmmm Berries from esther benoit on Vimeo.
11 months
I can’t believe we’re just one month from Hazel’s 1st birthday. Has it really already been almost a year? Our girl has brought us so much joy these past 11 months. She has grown so fast and changed so quickly, she’s already taken her first steps, said her first sweet words and developed such a fun, curious and active little personality.
Having just celebrated my first mother’s day, I thought I’d use this post to talk a little bit about how becoming a mom has impacted me. Just a year ago Jered and I were anxiously awaiting the arrival of our little Juni- not knowing if we were having a boy or girl (I always had a feeling we were having a boy, boy was I surprised!).
I honestly don’t know how to describe those first few days, weeks, months with our little girl. They were a blur for me, so amazing, so hard, so sweet, so different from anything I’d ever experienced. I struggled. I really struggled. Having always done relatively well in things I set out to do, motherhood was a puzzle to me. I didn’t know how to do it well. I second guessed myself constantly. How would I know if I was doing okay? Was I giving Hazel what she needed? Was I feeding her enough? Too much? Should we let her cry it out? Was it okay to give her a bottle? Were we putting her to bed too early? Too late? Everyone had advice and I wasn’t used to getting it from so many sources all at once. Everyone’s advice was different. Making sense of all of it was completely overwhelming. For the first time in my life I felt really lost, and it was a terrible, terrible feeling- this was my role as a mom, my relationship with my daughter, my baby that I was struggling to figure out. Wasn’t it supposed to come naturally to me? Was I a bad mom for not coming home from the hospital all sunshine and roses and slipping into motherhood with ease?
Time changes things. As Hazel got a bit older (and a little less fussy!) I started to feel more comfortable in my new role. Having a supportive husband helped tremendously. Come to find out, Hazel is a bit more active than other babies we know. A “bit” might be the understatement of the year. Constantly exploring, moving, learning- Hazel wears us out, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. We still end most days pretty tired, and I still deal with my fare share of self-doubt, but the past 11 months have taught me quite a bit. I am so thrilled to be on this journey with Jered and Hazel (and hopefully another baby or two in the next few years). Here’s to our first year as a family and here’s to Hazel- our funny, beautiful little girl.
Peekaboo!
A quick update from earlier this week, Hazel is feeling much better- her fever came down and it seems she was just under the weather for a few days- she may be getting a new tooth in there somewhere. Hazel practices walking a little more every day and she’s getting really good at it. With all the activity (that word has become synonymous with Hazel’s name) there were bound to be a few bumped noggins. Today while Hazel was at Omi’s house, she fell down and bumped her head pretty hard- it shook everyone up, but she seems to be doing fine. Hazel has had quite the eventful week- we are hoping for a calmer end to the week, and hopefully a low-key weekend, especially since Jered will be watching Hazel in the mornings while I write!
I don’t have the energy to do a lengthy update tonight, but I thought I’d post this video of Hazel playing peekaboo- she loves to put blankets, laundry, even cloth diapers (clean, of course) on her head and “hide.”
Peekaboo! from esther benoit on Vimeo.
Filed under Hazel by esther | Comment (0)Walking?!?!!!
We captured it! Hazel was very very sleepy and sneezy and feverish today, but she managed to be the happiest little sick girl we’ve ever met. We had a pajama day here at the Benoit household and caught these videos of our girl taking a step, and then a few more!
Step by step from esther benoit on Vimeo.
And she walks! from esther benoit on Vimeo.
Filed under Hazel by esther | Comment (0)Sweet Girl
Our little Hazel is under the weather. This morning when we brought her downstairs for the morning she felt a little warm and was kind of lethargic and now she’s running a temperature of about 102 and has a very runny nose. We’ve put in a call to the pediatrician and they are going to call us back later today and arrange for us to come in with our little Hazelnut. This whole H1N1 flu scare has us a little anxious, but we’re hoping Hazel just caught a bug.
This week has been busy for all of us- Hazel is walking more and more every day (we have yet to catch her on camera), and she now says a few words, “Hi” is still her favorite word, but she now also says “Done!” When she’s had enough to eat, and DeeDee is her stuffed monkey. Just about the cutest thing she has done lately is making barking noises when you ask her what sound the doggy makes. It goes a little something like this: “What does the doggy say?”- Hazel: “Roo Roo Roo” followed by giggles and clapping. We’re going to catch that one on camera too- it’s too cute!
Last weekend when we were out and about on Saturday we stopped by a rummage sale and found Hazel a Strawberry Shortcake doll that sings songs and says a bunch of random phrases. Well, this Strawberry girl, as we call her, has become Hazel’s latest favorite toy- she loves the Friendship song that the doll plays, and whenever the song is on she rocks back and forth and clicks her tongue, clearly her very own style of dancing.
Here are a few pictures from last week’s big photo upload. Stay tuned for more updates!
