Otto's Baptism

Otto is ready to get started

The godparents also the grandparents

Hansbauer/ford baptismal gown

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Paddlefest music fest

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Sent from my iPhone

Posted via email from Hansbauer Family

Greta and Ellie - Sandbox Fun

I think I might need to build a sandbox in our backyard...

Greta Climbs the Hill

Greta doesn't usually dive into anything adventure related... so I was surprised today when she decided to bypass the stairs and climb up the hill in front of our house.

Lucky for me I have a brand new iPhone 3G S to catch the action... check out the video, it's not the world's best quality, but it's on par with our cannon.

smiles

what a little man!! and he has started smiling at us and "talking"....it's the best.

fashion sense?

i never thought of putting this hat/shoe combo together. so stylish. although doesn't it look like she could have a head full of dreadlocks under there??!! what a hippie chick...

playtime

otto loves this mobile that hangs in his room. he coos at it like it is going to talk back to him. greta likes it too. we told her that it is "just for looking at", so she will walk right up to it and put her face really close to it. she also likes to lay next to otto when he is playing under the mobile. since this is in a corner of the room between the wall and the closet, there's not much room for greta's body AND otto's. as you can tell by the look on otto's face as greta makes her way over to him, it's close quarters and is often close to greta steamrolling otto accidently.

not only does he love to watch the mobile, but he LOVES to watch greta. his eyes will dart all over trying to keep up with her whenever she is in view.

to our 20 month old steel trap

one more month passes and you have grown and changed and LEARNED so much. you have taken a sudden interest in letters and numbers, much the way you did with colors. and just like with colors, your interest coupled with us telling you names of letters has resulted in you learning several names of letters. you recognize the letters a, e, i, o, u, x, g ("for greta"), r, and t. not only do you recognize those letters, but you have started pointing out letters everywhere. on a stroller ride last week you pointed at a stop sign and said "letters". when we read books with numbers, you like for us to count the items on the page and tell you the names of the numbers. you don't know the names of any numbers yet, but are sure to tell us all the numbers that have an "O" in them, such as 6 or 8. lately you will count, "one, two three, nine, ten". you are also able to recognize certain symbols and pictures, such as when you see the cincinnati reds "c" you say, "go reds!"
your papa calls you a parrot because all of the sudden you are able to say (and repeat) just about anything. you are able to converse with us, answering questions about your day. the more words you learn the more i think you are satisfied that you can make your needs known, like when you stand at the front door and yell, "outside!" over and over.
you like to sit on the potty chair papa got for you, and all of the sudden you are very aware of when you have gone to the bathroom in your diaper. you will tell us "poo poo" when you have gone or are about to go, and once you have gone you aren't able to sit down until we change your diaper. sometimes you even get a diaper and a wipe (yelling "need a wipe!!" until someone gets you one) and then lay down on the changing mat and pretent to change your own diaper.
you have also been pretending to change diapers and give bottle to your baby dolls and stuffed animals.
you have some funny habits and behaviors. like when you are tired in the car, you fold your arms behind your head. and sometimes you like to rub your pointer and middle fingers together, almost in a "fingers crossed" sort of way. when you sit with mama or papa to read books or watch tv, sometimes you like to sort or rub or pinch on our wrists or hands.
you give hugs....you gave hugs before but now these are REAL hugs with your arms out wide and that contain an actual squeeze. i love your hugs. your kisses too.
your memory for names and faces continues to amaze us. i was telling you that jena was coming to visit, and that we had gone to her house once and you replied, "doggie". it took me a minute to realize that indeed jena does have a dog that you LOVED. could you possibly remember that from a few months ago?? i love listening to you read your books, and sing songs with most of the words such as ring around the rosy or baa baa black sheep.
you are such a sweet little thing with a such a sharp mind...thanks for keeping us on our toes.

princess greta

to our one month old wiggle worm

one month ago today you were born. wow how time flies. so far in your one month of life you have shown us a few things that you like. you like to lay on your belly, that is FOR SURE. you like to look at the mobile in your room and stare up at the black and white pictures. you have done some of your first "talking" while looking at it. you seem to like bathtime....you were pretty calm even for that very first bath. and you like to eat. you eat mostly every 2 hours, which is very very often. at least you are an efficient eater and can finish a feeding in 15 minutes or so.
things you don't seem to like include sleeping. much to mommy's chagrin, you don't really sleep for any length of time, but prefer to take 30 minute catnaps, even in the overnight hours. you also don't seem to like riding in the car. the car was a miracle elixir for your sister, knocking her out as soon as the car started moving. you somehow often manage to stay awake, even for longer rides.
you are this adorable little guy, with big blue eyes and long legs that you like to stretch out, but that you also like to tuck underneath you when you lay on your belly. you have a funny habit of grabbing a handful of your own hair, and then instead of letting go you hold on supertight and cry because your hair is being pulled.
you are NOISY. you are constantly making all sorts of snorts, huffs, grunts, and even your breathing is loud. and you also have not yet mastered the art of spitting up. instead of spitting up out of your mouth, you often have it come out your nose. this is still very scary for mama and papa, just as it was in the hospital. we often had to call the nurse in to suction out your nose when this happened.
we feel so blessed to have you, our son. so far you seem like a pretty easy going guy. you cry when you are hungry and when you need a change of scenery, but that's pretty much it. you don't seem to mind too much when your sister and your cousins try to entertain you by getting right in your face or giving you a push in your swing. we love you and your crazy hair and your tiny chin and all the parts of you that we have already, in this short month, come to know and love.

Cousins, Corn and Slides

We made a quick post-nap trip up to Grandma and Grandpa's house this afternoon to go swimming, play on the swing set, and eat some dinner...

Greta is a pretty cautious kid, and is usually pretty unsure about slides...but she was having a great time climbing up and going down the slide with Hannah.

Greta has been loving corn lately, and today we found out she can chow it down straight off the cob.

Fun Saturday

Greta, Otto, Melanie and I headed out to Mt. Airy Forest on Saturday. I'd heard about Everybody's Treehouse... a very cool treehouse built to allow those with mobility issues to acces... very similar to Everybody's Playground at Sawyer Point.

It was pretty, cool, though there's not a ton to do there... but Greta loved walking back and forth on the path to the treehouse... and it was nice since we had Otto in a stoller.

Then we played in the playground there for a while before going on a short hike (Greta's first real hike). We only went probably a half mile each way, but Greta walked the whole way down the hill and back up... Quite an effort for someone two foot tall :)

Comfy Couch

Otto and Greta

Here are some videos over the last few weeks... Greta has been amazing with Otto... always curious about what he's doing, the noises he's making. She's always helpful and looking after him and always concerned about his well being when he's crying...

So far we couldn't ask for a better Big Sister than Greta... here's hoping it continues!

Greta and Her Hoop

Greta saw some kids playing with hula hoops at the Zoo Tunes and Blooms and thought it was great... she then saw one at Toys R Us and had to have it... she certainly can't Hula yet, but she loves walking around with it and dragging it on the ground.