Hannah Grace

The meaning of Hannah is "grace" - and so, our little double-portion of grace.

Grandma Engel & Hannah

Grandma Carr & Hannah

Our moms arrived 1 week before Hannah and are on their way home right now. They were so very helpful in tending to Steven, doing housework and making meals, as well as spoiling us a little with buying things for Hannah and Steven and things for the house. I'm so grateful for their time here. It was fun to see Steven bond with each of them. He's going through a little grandma-withdrawal today, as he's a little on the whiney side. Daddy has been great tending to him, though, and he's starting to behave a little better. :)

I'm enjoying being a mommy to our second child immensely. For parents of infants, I highly recommend the video "Dunstan Baby Language". I came across this video when Steven was around 4 months old, I think. It was SO helpful and has made things wonderfully easy with Hannah in knowing what she needs. I found it at the library. It covers 5 "words" all infants make in their cries and what they mean. Hannah has made all of them (except the one for deep gas pain). Here's some links to check out if you're interested:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ehv5m9gnu0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6CFSGAueyo

For those of you interested in infant pottying or ECing (Elimination Communication), Hannah has gone in the potty (her potty is a little rectangular plastic bowl) - 3 pees and 3 or 4 poos so far. These, of course, were just 'catches', she doesn't know her cue yet. I hope to establish her cue once she has more awake time. For now, I will tell her the cue and give her the opportunity to go when I change her diaper. Perhaps she will pick up on her cue this way, otherwise when she's awake more, I will train her the same way I did with Steven. (Steven has not regressed with his pottying, as this can be common with the arrival of another sibling - to my knowledge, as his grandma's and dad have been pottying him mostly for the past 2 weeks. He still does wear diapers, but has complete understanding of the potty and what to do on it, and, for the most part, prefers to go on it rather than his diaper. The PeeSpeak Documentary that Steven is in is still due to come out - it turned out to be a bigger project than originally planned.)

Steven has just started giving closed-mouth kisses and loves giving them to Hannah. I hope to capture one on camera soon! He likes to "pet" her gently with his closed fist - very precious.

I hope to write our birth story for Hannah soon and will post it when it's ready.