More Broccoli Please

I always thought Hannah's eating habits were a bit strange. She started out liking all the baby foods, which was great, but when we transitioned her to adult food, all she wanted was fruit, cheese, hot dogs, and unsalted vegetables. It took me quite a while to get to her to even try mac n cheese and only in the last few months has she started to like pizza. This may sound great in theory - after all, the things she wants to eat are healthy and it's never to young to teach good eating habits - but I did worry that she'd never like "regular" food. Recently she has started eating a lot more normal food, but this is the conversation I had with her yesterday (Mommy & Hannah were eating alone, so as a treat, I made chicken nuggets, potato wedges, and broccoli).

Hannah: Down please
Mommy: Can you take one more bite?
Hannah: One bite
Mommy: Okay how about a french fry?
Hannah: No
Mommy: Bite of chicken?
Hannah: No chicken. More broccoli please.

Where does she get this from? What toddler turns down chicken nuggets and french fries in lieu of broccoli? Oh and she didn't just take one more bite, she ate all the broccoli. I'll leave you with this final thing - one of the "normal" things that she has been eating recently: salad. Yep, my not-even-2-year-old loves salad with romaine lettuce, tomatoes, mushrooms, and blue cheese dressing.

10 Things I Love About Summer

In honor of the beautiful weather we've been having, I decided to create a list of all my favorite things of summer.

10. School is out, so no more slowing down in school zones.
9. More daylight means more time to get things done.
8. Fresh (warm) air in the house.
7. No need to be revived after opening our gas bill.
6. Nothing smells better than flowers that have just bloomed or fresh cut grass.
5. Lighter clothing means less laundry.
4. More playdate choices than just playing at someone's house or the museum.
3. No more wrestling a toddler into a coat, hat, boots, gloves, etc just to go to the store.
2. Evening walks are the perfect way to wear out a hyper toddler.
1. Sandels - the perfect excuse for a pedicure!

"New Bed"

This last weekend, I woke up early and headed over to the semi-annual kid sale they have around here. It's a huge garage sale and I was surprised how many people were already in line when my friend Amy & I got there at 7:40am. Amy was looking for a few toys and some clothes for her almost 1-year-old daughter and I was looking for a play kitchen and a toddler bed for Hannah. They had a play kitchen that was in good condition, but it didn't have a refrigerator with it (and that was my favorite part of the play kitchen I had as a child) so I decided to pass on it and will continue to keep my eyes opened. They did, however, have a pink toddler bed. I snatched it up right away and the people at the check-out seemed truly confused by my purchase of only 1 item. Perhaps because everyone in front of and behind me had bags full of items... Anyways, I brought home my new purchase and Hannah loved it immediately. She has been talking non-stop about her "new bed", as she calls it, ever since. I was going to put her in it right away while she was interested in it and before the newness wore off, but I had hesitated since we have both been sick. She seems to have made a full recovery and so tonight I decided to try putting her in it. I was worried that she wouldn't like it, that she would get up and walk around, or that she would just plain scream until I put her back in her crib. She did none of these things. She was fussing a bit when I put her to bed (I think that probably had more to do with me turning off Nemo), but after a few minutes, there was silence. I gave it 15-20 minutes before going up to check on her just so I could make sure she actually was asleep. When I walked in, she was sound asleep in her new bed. I couldn't resist - I ran back and got the camera. Here she is for the first time sleeping in her new toddler bed:

Cuteness Times Three

Cuteness #1: Hannah has taken to her dolls the way fish take to water. She loves to carry them around, hug them, ask them if they need an Elmo diaper, feed them her goldfish crackers and juice, etc. They come with us everywhere. The above picture is Hannah loving on her dollies.

Cuteness #2: Hannah has also learned to count to 10. She counts in that very slow and diliberate way that toddlers count. My favorite is when she says "three" because it sounds like "fee." She also rushes through "eight, nine, ten" as if it's a race to the finish. For some reason she occasionally says them slow, but it's funy to hear her say it fast. She usually requests a "high five" followed by a "bump" once she is done. I have it posted on my MySpace if anyone is interested.

Cuteness #3: I'm saving the best for last. Hannah has started asking for hugs and kisses quite often now. It's adorable to have a toddler come up to you and say "hug pease" or "kiss pease" (we don't quite have the "l" in "please" yet). Obviously I have been telling Hannah "I love you" since, well, before she was born, but tonight she said it back. Anyways, tonight I was taking her up to her room for bedtime and I said "Mommy loves you Hannah" and she stopped drinking her cup of water, looked at me, and said "love you." What a sweet girl!