3 weeks after returning from Japan and Hannah's began to roll-over on her own. Turning over from her back onto her front. First always turning to her right, but now turning to her left too. Of course once she is on her front she is kind of stuck, like a beached whale. And she'd then start crying after 5 seconds or so. Now though, a couple of weeks alter, she keeps kicking, but she is beginning to try to use her arms -at least they are no longer in the way- and she does not cry for at least a couple of minutes. In fact now she turns over so often she's moving all around her little cot and we tend to find her in strange positions in the morning. In fact one noticeable change in the last week has been she no longer sleeps on her back with her arms above her head, but on her side! It's not quite as cute, but i suppose it is progress and is probably more comfortable for her. Funny seeing her in the morning, sometimes at a 90 degree angle to the bed. She's still sleeping well though, normally from 7-11 and then from 11.30-6.30 or so. In fact when Andrea and I wake up around 7am Hannah is usually already awake, quietly sucking.
Ahh, sucking. There has definitely been some progress there. It started a couple of months ago with attempts to shove her entire fist in her mouth which did not really work and led to a lot of saliva everywhere. But now she has mastered getting a couple of fingers in. And she is able to pick up some of her little toys and try to shove them in her mouth too (it's ok, they are too big to fit in, so its quite safe). Actually in the last couple of weeks there seems to be less saliva; for a while we were going through bibs and tissues like there was no tomorrow. Around the same time as the whole fist thing, Hannah has loved standing up. Of course she needs some support, but she can happily stand for 10-15 minutes with us keeping her from falling over. Her legs and arms are still pretty chubby so we hope she can start to burn off some of the fat! There has not been much progress with her being able to sit up yet though. That might still be some way off. She might end up crawling first. Let's see how much progress she makes now she spends so much time on her stomach trying to crawl.
After Tokyo (which involved me spending a large amount of time in the toilet trying to clean up Hannah's explosion) I had to head off to Shanghai for a week. By the time I had returned to Beijing Andrea had a new name! There had been some bureaucratic mix-up in Germany last summer but a new passport arrived. It was a very understated thing; but somewhat momentous. It was around about Hannah's 100-day birthday (a big deal in Chinese culture) too. Something we also failed to celebrate.
Meanwhile the weather is great; the pollution sometimes bad, sometimes non-existent. Beijing can be beautiful--and often is for at least 1 of every 2 days. Dry (almost too dry), hot and with bright blue skies. Avoiding the traffic by cycling is a great way to enjoy it. As is running. Andrea and I are now trying to get into a routine with running for me and swimming for her in the mornings. We take it in turns to spend time with the baby and then the nanny comes. It is a lot of fun playing with Hannah in the mornings; though unfortunately she is usually asleep by the time i get home around 7pm. However, the weekend is coming yet again, so more time outside with Hannah! For those of you in Europe, you'll get to see her beautiful big blue eyes in the flesh in a couple of months!
Ahh, sucking. There has definitely been some progress there. It started a couple of months ago with attempts to shove her entire fist in her mouth which did not really work and led to a lot of saliva everywhere. But now she has mastered getting a couple of fingers in. And she is able to pick up some of her little toys and try to shove them in her mouth too (it's ok, they are too big to fit in, so its quite safe). Actually in the last couple of weeks there seems to be less saliva; for a while we were going through bibs and tissues like there was no tomorrow. Around the same time as the whole fist thing, Hannah has loved standing up. Of course she needs some support, but she can happily stand for 10-15 minutes with us keeping her from falling over. Her legs and arms are still pretty chubby so we hope she can start to burn off some of the fat! There has not been much progress with her being able to sit up yet though. That might still be some way off. She might end up crawling first. Let's see how much progress she makes now she spends so much time on her stomach trying to crawl.
After Tokyo (which involved me spending a large amount of time in the toilet trying to clean up Hannah's explosion) I had to head off to Shanghai for a week. By the time I had returned to Beijing Andrea had a new name! There had been some bureaucratic mix-up in Germany last summer but a new passport arrived. It was a very understated thing; but somewhat momentous. It was around about Hannah's 100-day birthday (a big deal in Chinese culture) too. Something we also failed to celebrate.
Meanwhile the weather is great; the pollution sometimes bad, sometimes non-existent. Beijing can be beautiful--and often is for at least 1 of every 2 days. Dry (almost too dry), hot and with bright blue skies. Avoiding the traffic by cycling is a great way to enjoy it. As is running. Andrea and I are now trying to get into a routine with running for me and swimming for her in the mornings. We take it in turns to spend time with the baby and then the nanny comes. It is a lot of fun playing with Hannah in the mornings; though unfortunately she is usually asleep by the time i get home around 7pm. However, the weekend is coming yet again, so more time outside with Hannah! For those of you in Europe, you'll get to see her beautiful big blue eyes in the flesh in a couple of months!
If you can't wait, check out some of the photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/adamsphotos/collections/72157629293313887/
