20 October 2007

Happy Birthday Hannah!

Yesterday was the second birthday of my niece Hannah, who many of you know I am very fond of. While she lives in Chicago, I talk with her about once a week. The key phrase there is I talk. Hannah talks but she does more looking at the phone, surprised that there is another voice on the other end other than Mama or Dada or Nana.



Her favorite past time when on the phone with me is naming everybody who she knows. It's quite funny actually. I know she can make sentences because I hear her in the background when I call either my sister or mom. But for some reason she gets phone fright and only gives me words.

Also I am not Uncle Ryan. When I was back visiting Chicago in July, you could see the mind working but the mouth doth protest with so many syllables. I had a simple solution. Just call me Dude. So on that humid, hazy Midwest afternoon, we each took a moment of silence to bury the short lifespan of Uncle Ryan. And out of the ashes and overturned syllabaric dirt arose Dude.

Obviously yesterday (coincidentally a month after my birthday) was a big day for Hannah and my family. Really it is the first birthday she is what I would consider to be a human. She's got personality now and more than just a pooping, sleeping, bumping into things little baby.

Hmm....does she love Lamby more than Dude?!



As you can see, my mother and sister are having a bad influence on the poor little girl. All pink and purple. I have my work cut out to make sure she ends up being a tomboy who can throw a crisp 12-6 curve, can spit at least 10 feet and enjoys the outdoors. She does love water though.



Her big gift from her parents was a brand new push-car coupe. And apparently the little tyke is so attached to it, I wouldn't be surprised if she slept in the thing last night. She also has an affinity for animals - which is well understood since she doesn't quite live in a house but more of a mini-zoo: two dogs, three cats and a cranky old Cockatiel. Not quite sure how she feels about frogs though...



While I am proud to share these photos of her, this posting also has a dual purpose; just some embarrassing material whenever she brings a boy to meet Dude, which hopefully will be about 20 years down the road!!

Boys?!



ARTIST OF THE POST

Feist - Just something light and irreverent for such a pink post

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