12/4/2008: Mara Danaë Hansen is born, 8 lbs 7.5 oz, 20.5 inches long
12/6/2008: First Car Trip, Came home from the hospital
12/15/2008: First Pediatrician Visit
12/17/2008: Lost Belly Button
12/23/2008: First Bath
12/25/2008: First Christmas
01/01/2009: Happy New Year!
01/04/2009: One month old!
01/18/2009: First Real smile
01/26/2009: First Flight-TO NYC to visit Giagia and Pappou
02/04/2009: Two months old!
02/09/2009: First Day of school
03/04/2009: Three months old!
03/11/2009: First trip to Canada-Second Flight
03/23/2009: Roll over Beethoven-ess…Mara rolls over for the first time
04/04/2009: Four months old!
05/04/2009: Five months old!
05/09/2009: First Christening-Ella Hagaman Mohr’s
06/04/2009: Six months old!
06/10/2009: Sitting up on my own & a new pink car seat
06/13/2009: First Swim in an Outdoor Pool
07/03/2009: First tooth
07/04/2009: Seven months old!
07/15/2009: Wiggle squirms and she is crawling
07/29/2009: Actually starting to like baby food
08/02/2009: Signing for milk
08/04/2009: Eight months old!
08/20/2009: First Word: Dada! She is definitely daddy’s little girl!
09/04/2009: Nine months old!
09/10/2009: First Wave
09/14/2009: Said HI!

We are so fortunate to have such very good friends to be invited to not one but three Christmas celebrations.

Christmas Eve was spent first with James and Diane and their family with lots of good food and conversation. I started to get a headache at the end of the evening but struggled through and we headed to Catherine and Tyler’s for a crazy Christmas Eve at their home. Her family is a hoot and we all get along so it was so much fun. Christmas Carolers even stopped by followed by a Dirty Santa game where I won a beautiful cutting board and Jay got me some Riedel wine glasses. Now those are my kind of Dirty Santa gifts!!! There were tons of kids around and Thane had a ball. Mara was the object of everyone’s attention and I did not even have to change her diaper the whole night!!! Wait, maybe that is my kind of Dirty Santa gift instead!

Christmas morning we awoke to find that Santa had arrived (even though we did not leave out reindeer food!). Thane made out like a bandit, with his favorite gift being a yellow FOOt-BALL! (that’s how he says it)

Christmas dinner was spent at the Culver’s and it was yummy. This is the second Christmas we have spent with them and we always feel like we have family in town when we are there. Thane and Mara made out like bandits there too and for dinner we got our Christmas present, the kids would be sitting with the “grandparents” and we all got to sit and chat and enjoy dinner. It was bliss.

During dinner, Mara started crying. I obviously did not get up fast enough because when I started to walk over, I saw Thane already there. I stood back and watched him give Mara her pacifier to soothe her. It was adorable. He promptly took it out, but, whatever.

Merry Christmas everyone! Thank you for opening your homes to us! It was a wonderful way to spend Christmas with our “family” since our family could not be here.

We went to the doctor on Monday, Mara was 50% for weight and height and 25% for head. So, basically, a square with a small head! Doctor said she was doing great, showed us an ultra-disgusting but totally different way to clean her belly button, and gave her the Hepatitis B shot we opted not to get in the hospital. He said she was doing great and that any amount of breastmilk she got was beneficial. He also said that the hole that I saw on her ear (which Jay could not see and others said was a freckle) was in fact a hole, called an ear pit. Bizarre. My child looks like she already has a piercing on her ear. Goth baby.

He also said that she is most likely going through the witching hour when she wakes and won’t sleep from 12-2 am. Nice.

Well, after a few more days of the 12-2 chaos, we decided to see if maybe it was that she did not like her bassinet so we put her in her yet to be completely decorated room. Sure enough, she slept great, waking at 11:30, 1:30, and 5:30. And going back to sleep each time!

Is our daughter already showing signs of independence from dear old mom and dad???