thanksgiving

greta had a great thanksgiving. we are fortunate enough to live in the same cities as both of our families, so we are able to see everyone and celebrate the holiday twice!! here are some pics from the day....

here are greta and her cousin shamus, patiently waiting under foot in the kitchen for some scraps at grandma joan's.

joe and roman try to stave off their hunger by building a tall tower for greta and shamus to knock down.

"goodbye everyone. thanks for the memories. we're off to have turkey dinner number two"

here she is, chowing down at the "kids table" at grandma and grandpa hansbauers.

and lastly, playing some holiday tunes to go along with the festive spirit in the air. happy holidays!

do babies fit in here?

lately greta is all about taking things out but more importantly, about putting things "in." here she is, putting herself in her basket of books.

say cheese

lately it is tricky to get a good photo of greta. she is beyond busy, and does not really care to stop for a photo op. and should we happen to find her in a moment of stillness and get a picture, this is what we get. here she is, "smiling" for the camera.

headbands are awesome

greta's papa put her headband on today. clearly, papa does not know how to properly put a headband on. greta didn't care. in fact, she wore it all day. she still had it on, in the same fashion, when she arrived home from grandma and grandpa hansbauers later that day.

baby belly

haven't really posted much about the pregnancy so far. i am sixteen weeks this week, which means the baby is about the size of an avocado. the fruit/veggie references were pretty amusing to me when i was pregnant with greta, and greta strangely enough had avocado for snack today. wait....that seems cute and interesting to me until i typed it.
anyway, our second baby is about the size of an avocado. in just four short weeks we will get to find out if we are having a boy or a girl. any thoughts? joe thinks girl, i feel like maybe this one's a boy. but who knows, really. this pregnancy has luckily been about as smooth as the last one, so far. they are monitoring my platelet levels and blood pressure a little more closely this time, since that is what sent me so quickly to the operating room with greta at 37 and a half weeks. but i'm feeling good. starting to show. and who doesn't love an avocado??!!

check out my mittens!

laundry

greta is a big help when it comes to laundry. she can sort lights from

darks and folds a mean towel.

is this a good idea?

greta loves playing with tupperware. her latest twist is to put a container over her face and walk around. she thinks it's hysterical. i'm not sure....something about it feels wrong. like similiar to letting her play with a plastic bag. which i would NOT do.....

to our girl who just turned one

when people ask me how old you are, i reply "13 months," never knowing if that is the right way to answer that. i mean, at the beginning of your life it that question was answered in weeks. around 12 weeks or so, the answer turned into how many months old you were. recently, the answer was things like, "she's almost one" or "she just turned one". but i feel like this month counts for something, and i don't want it to be ignored. for heaven's sake, we don't want anyone to think you are just 12 months old.

at 13 months it feels like you are just exploding into language. i remember from my child development classes that there is supposed to be a big language "explosion" around 18 months. and if that's true, i can't even imagine what that is going to be like. your list of words that you can say continues to grow. you now can say "up" in addition to signing it. you say "papa" and "bye bye" and "balloon", and you are making the animal noises for sheep, cows, and you make a little clicking sound when we ask you what a chick or a duck says. ?? you also say, "boo" when you are scaring someone, and "boom" when someone or something falls. these two words sound pretty much alike, so context is key. you also make a "choo" noise when someone sneezes, and then you laugh. your papa is trying to teach you to say, "oh man!". and i almost forgot, you have learned the mother of all words. the one that we laugh at now when you say it but ask me around 18 months how funny it is that you can say "NO." it's hilarious now. you will go behind the tv to where the wires are, and then come out shaking your head, swinging your arms and saying "no. no."
not only can you say a ton of words but you will TRY to say anything. we will say a word, ask you to say it and you always give it a shot. and the words that you UNDERSTAND....don't even get me started on those. the fact that you can point to your sleeve....your SLEEVE. and when mommy said climb you went over and pointed to the stairs. you like to play that game on papa's phone where three pictures show up and then it tells you which one to point to. we are constantly amazed that you can point to things like helicopter, milk (since you've never had actual cow's milk), robot, or bus.
speaking of milk (sorry, sort of uncomfortable transition), you are no longer taking a bottle or breastfeeding, and that transition has gone unbelievably well. even at bedtime....you get your pjs on , brush your teeth, read some books, say night night to practically everything in your room and you are asleep before we can get down the stairs.
lately you have been eating like crazy, even things like green beans. you like to make an "aaahh" noise after you take a drink and think it's fun for mommy and papa to do the same. you have been obsessed with trucks lately and will point them out when you see them. you still love dogs and cats. and you still like to bring books over for mommy and papa to read. what keeps you most busy lately seem to be things that aren't toys at all. like the other day when you were "doing laundry". you took laundry in and out of the washer for about 20 minutes. you would take it out, sort of toss it around, put it back in. you were very focused and clearly thought you were doing an important task. you continue to dance like crazy and have added a stomp to your list of moves. and you love to be outside. lately you have enjoyed walking up and down our sidewalk, picking up leaves and carrying them around.
so happy 13 month bday. well, i guess 13 months and 1 day would be what i should answer today.

baa baa black sheep

here is some cute video of greta "singing" baa baa black sheep. on this particular day she had been sick, and so was more willing than usual to sit with us and "talk". her little voice cracks me up....as does the way that both joe and greta react when i turn the video camera on. she loves singing lately, and will sing "baa baa" for this song and will do the hand motions to twinkle twinkle little star. last night she sat on my lap and just STARED at me while i sang song after song, and she was totally watching my mouth move as i sang. either that, or she was trying to focus on my mouth so she could tune out my lovely singing voice. be sure to have your volume up a bit to enjoy joe and greta's singing.

in costume

this little german lass says to look at previous posts for more pictures of her in her halloween

costume(s)....and she also says to keep your paws off her giant bowl of dum-dums. no worries, friends. she only had one.

our soldier

got a postcard from my brother (greta's uncle john) today. he is currently serving his second tour of duty with the ARMY in Iraq. he must have said 3 or 4 times how great it has been to get mail from us. 3 or 4 times on a POSTCARD. that tells me that the mail we are sending means more than we can ever imagine. to get in on the action, here is john's address. this address is a US postal address, so you can use a regular old stamp. even if you don't know john you can write him to just let him know people back home are thinking about him. tell him you support him....that you are proud of him....that his kids are proud of him. write him about the weather....the bengals win.....what you had for dinner last night. greta can't wait to see her uncle john back home safely.

John's APO address:

353rd Transportation Company

ATTN SSG Buckley, John 5605

COB Q West Base Complex Iraq

APO AE 09351