That bright shining smile

I've been working on this post for weeks, and now it's time to just post it even though I feel like it's not complete.  Here are some things I want to remember about my two and half year old Hannah:

Almost any word with a consonant at the beginning she says with a T or a D.  Girl is Dwirl.  Grandma and Grandpa are Dwama and Dwampa.  

The brightest shiniest eyes to go along with her little smile.

She has a dance all her own.  Usually it includes throwing one shoulder up and down and a big leg thrust to the side with a twirl.

I've never known a child who knows her own mind so well.  She is not easily swayed or distracted or redirected from what she wants.  One the best things about this girl is that she really doesn't give a crap what anyone else thinks.

The same prayer every night.  No matter if it's dinner time, bed time, FHE, whatever:

"Hevwy Fader thank you for this food to come home safewy in the name of Jesus Christ amen."

As I said before most of her consonants town like T's or D's.  So really what we hear is "Hevwy Fader tank you for dis food to tome home safewy in da name of Jesus Triste amen."

Don't you dare call her anything other than what she decrees her name is at that moment.  Sometimes she's Hannah Ayewen (Ayelen is her middle name), other times she's Quincy, sometimes Annie, sometimes she's Baby, and sometimes she's just "Little Kid."  No joke- the other day if I didn't call her "Little Kid" she either would correct me or just not answer me at all. Today it was "Tennis Shoes Girl."  There was a several week span where we were met with a loud screaming, "I'M NOT DAT NAME!!!" if we got it wrong!

When she is told to stop pulling or cuddling or squishing her brother she says, "But mom, I wuv him.  I WUV HIIIIM!"

When she is told to stop doing anything at all- "But i wanoooo."  That's enough of a reason for anything in her eyes.

She recognizes several letters and she calls H her own special letter.  Anyone else who tries to claim it- BEWARE. 

HHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhHHHHH (she was sitting next to me as I was typing this and wanted to type her letter)

"Wow thats a big pile of soup" story

She loves dress up.  Will go through at least 3 or 4 outfits every day.

She hates anything to do with her hair- washing it, brushing it, doing pony tails or piggy tails, taking out pony tails or piggy tails.  Everything except the finished result.  She LOVES looking pretty.  So if you ever see us and she has some cute little piggy tails in her hair...you can know that it is the product of lot of blood sweat and tears.  Both mine and hers.  But she's happy at the end.

ALL TIME FAVORITE HANNAH STORY:

One night Andrew went upstairs to help a crying Audrey after bedtime.  When he left the room again she started crying again and saying "Daaaaaddy....daaaaddy" over and over again.  Then we suddenly hear,

"I'M NOT YOUR DADDY!"

I was crying with laughter.  

That's the kind of hilarity she brings to our life!

Tonight she was sleeping in our bed (because she and Audrey have been a little naughty at bedtime if they're together) and when I went up around 11:30 to move her to her own bed, I was surprised to find her sitting up in the dark with a little frown on. I put Eli down in his bassinet then climbed in bed and cuddled my girl till she fell back asleep.  I laid there loving LOVING the feel of her chubby little cheek in my hand as I stroked it and the warmth of her chubby little hand in mine under the covers. She seemed to have a faint smile as she slept in my arms.  I reminisced about her and her great little two year old life so far.  And I felt again, for the millionth time in the last 4 years, that this is absolutely what I want to do with my life.  Be a mother to this girl and her brother and sister.

Every time I have a moment like this with one of my kids the thought going through my head is that this one little person right here in my arms is the love of my life.  And how lucky am I to have 4 loves of my life, including Andrew.  

She is so feisty and so sure of herself.  She is strong and smart and kind.  Im so grateful to have my Hannah.  I'd be just lost without her.

pictures at grandpa's grave i forgot to post!

she was DETERMINED to wear this 3 month outfit i was packing away.  it actually all fit except the length.  she was satisfied.

one of the last times she fell asleep in my arms.  she's growing up so fast , i had to take a picture

a loving big sister.  but if you call her that she will correct you and say that she's not BID she's WITTLE.

they both got dressed one day (we let our kids pick their own clothes) and we didn't realize till later that they were matching!

early days of eli's life brought sleep deprivation to all of us.  she was leaning on me complaining about something....

and suddenly was fast asleep

she had gotten a bad gash on her forehead one night when she and audrey were playing and being rowdy in their room after bedtime.  it was a quick ER visit to super glue it closed and then 3 weeks of a bandage on her eyebrow.  we've taken this girl to the ER more than me, audrey, and eli combined.  i dunno about andrew...this may be proof of her dobbins blood!

determined to not need help.  this is how she wore her dress the rest of the day.

we were trying to take a family picture.  this is what she was doing

she's always up for a selfie

or 5

or 20

oh and her hair is the most beautiful curly little afro I've ever seen. this is how long it is when it's brushed out.  i believe i will be trying my hardest to keep her curls for the rest of her life.  i've looked up a lot of tips and gotten some great advice from my two beautiful curly haired sister in laws

she will only try something new on her terms and if she likes it she's all in.  this was at the zoo splash pad.  it took us several trips before she would go in.  now she loves it!

sometimes when she's grumpy or sad we take a selfie.
when she sees herself she perks up and
either laughs or makes an even sadder face to see what it looks like

yelling at me for taking her picture

lately she's been addressing me as "my mama."  "can I have a drink my mama?"  "i love you my mama."  i guess because i call her my hannah sometimes.  i love it.

pictures from our family photoshoot a year ago

We love our Hannah Ayelen.