Hannah (in) Montana

Sorry for the long break between posts. We're finally settled- more or less- in our house. (This is our fourth house in four years, so it's hard to work up a lot of enthusiasm for decorating...especially since it's a rental and we'll be moving again.)

We're trying to figure out what life as usual is going to look like here, so I thought I'd just show some pics of what Hannah has been up to lately:

She LOVES to be in things. We didn't put her in this crate (although it's not the worst idea we've ever seen). She climbs into all kinds of cabinets- her favorite one is a tall door in her changing table. She can get all the way in and close the door behind her, which creates kind of a poltergeist effect if you walk in the room but didn't see her go inside. She also likes to close regular room and closet doors behind her. We've taped over all the locks- my new worst nightmare is a 15-month-old who has locked herself in a second-floor bathroom.

No, she doesn't have some kind of terrible skin disease/rash. This is the end result of a tantrum. Sadly, she doesn't even have to cry that long (maybe 2 minutes?) before she ends up looking like the poster child for plague. I hope her complexion toughens up a little before she hits the jr. high years.

Baby buddies! Hannah loves spending time with other little people. She and Ellie shared the back seat very well (holding hands, passing each other toys) when our friends Bob and Andi stopped by on their cross-country RV trip. Yep, over a month in an RV with a 10-month-old. They are much, much tougher people than we are.

I don't seem to have any pictures of her with CC, the daughter of my childhood friend Emily, who happens to live less than a 15-minute walk from here. She and CC spend a lot of time together, but CC is usually crying. Hannah terrifies her. She has two older siblings, but there's just something about Hannah that puts her over the edge. Ok, Hannah is a little aggressively friendly (and occasionally just aggressive). I keep telling her that not everyone wants a running approach to a kiss in the face, but she doesn't quite get it yet. Emily and I have a childcare trade going, so we're hoping the girls start to enjoy each other soon. We keep telling them they have to be friends for the rest of their lives. They don't seem to listen.

Did I mention that Hannah is 1) very determined and 2) freakishly strong? This rock wall was probably as tall as her shoulders, but she decided that she MUST be ON it.

And, as usual, determination won out.

Our first family hike in Glacier. Unfortunately, due to the spur-of-the-moment nature of the trip, we chose our trail poorly and ended up doing a 4-mile hike on the same track that the horse rides use...yeah, not exactly the "mountain air" odor that we had been going for. Still, fun to be out and Hannah seemed to really enjoy her first experience in the backpack. Next time: more mountain views, less horse poop.

So this is Glacier Park, 45 minutes from our house. How could we not love it here??