Dying eggs

After our very successful amusing egg hunt, we went inside to dye some real eggs!  We had great hopes that this year, egg dying would be slightly more successful than last year's egg experience.  We had much different challenges this year - namely, helping Hannah drop in the egg and then very quickly moving the cup of dye out of her reach before she could dump it all over herself.  And me.  And everything.

We did have one very close call (her grip has gotten strong!) and a few tears (see below), but all in all, we had a good time.

After learning she could chew on the plastic eggs, she tried the same trick on the real ones with less success.

We eventually coaxed her hand to the cup...

And dropped in the egg (with a little dye to the face for good measure)

Success!

"I just wanted to stick my hand in the colorful cups!"

But then we rallied

Egg dying can be fun after all :)

The Hunt

In keeping with Easter tradition, we sent Hannah on her first Easter egg hunt!  I use the term "hunt" very loosely.  I scattered a bunch of empty plastic eggs around a small section of the backyard and she walked around picking them up and dropping them in her basket right back on the ground.

Even though she didn't really understand the concept, we still had a great time and got some fun pictures.

It started off well - bunny ears on and off on her search

Found one...

Showed some interest in the basket...

And then the ears came off and she was all "What are these colorful plastic treasures??"

And "Why are there so many of them??"

Followed quickly by, "why put the plastic treasures in the basket when I could pull the purple stringy stuff out??"

"Do I put them on my head?"

"Mom, seriously, what am I supposed to do with these??"

And then she figured it out...she can do what she does with all colorful plastic these days...chew on it.

Hopefully she didn't teach her sweet friend any bad habits for next year's hunt!

Happy Easter from the Heacocks!

Our Easter this year was much different than our Easter last year - last year, Hannah was only 7 weeks old and Easter was our first trip to church since she had been born.  This year at 14 months, Hannah went to the nursery for church, and we enjoyed an Easter lunch, an egg "hunt" and egg dying!  More on those to follow - too many pictures for one post!

We had a wonderful day celebration our Lord's resurrection - He is risen indeed!

 

Lambs in CW

I love Colonial Williamsburg - or CW as it is affectionately known by locals.  It's beautiful and interesting and they really do make history come to life.  It is a lovely place to walk, grab lunch, people watch, and in the spring, visit the baby animals!

This year, there are several lambs and an ox - they are darling and Hannah LOVES them.  She goes right up to the fences, sticks her little face up to the slats, and points and makes noises and just generally gets excited.  All of this activity makes for some great picture opportunities!

Toddling around on the lawn in front of the Governor's Palace

Took a glance back for the camera - check out those blond locks!

"LAMBS! Now if I can just crouch a little lower...."

"Umm Mom, the lambs are ignoring me.  What should I do??"

"Heeeeere lamb lamb.....come and seeeeeee me....."

"It worked!  He's totally coming!!!"

"Just a little closer now...."

"Success!  LAMB!!!"

"Whoa.  He is bigger than the lamb."

My favorite

This girl is my favorite tiny person in the whole wide world.  She is smart and funny and beautiful and sweet, and I am so blessed to be her mama.

Learning to use her snack cup means we can have snack time in the yard!

She was pretty proud of herself

Leonidas kept watch over his kingdom

Walking means she can explore the yard...which means I am constantly on guard for any dirt and grass consumption

Thankfully, she usually sticks to her snack

She got a few curls coming in!

My two babies

That face...those cheeks...I just love her

Mmmm goldfish

What a little ham

Gotta keep that snack clutched tightly in her fist

With this one, it really is smiles all around

So focused!

The slide!

We've recently discovered a new piece of playground equipment, in addition to the swings - the slide!  Now that Hannah is walking and (gulp) climbing the stairs, she can pretty much handle the slide all on her own (with a watchful adult standing behind her to prevent any mishaps of course).

She used to struggle to get a smooth ride - she kept getting stuck on the soles of her shoes - but she has solved that problem.  Watch for yourself to see how she does it...


Slide Adventures from Ashley Heacock on Vimeo.

She is a dancing queen!

Even at a mere 14 months old, our girl has some serious dance moves and she loves to show them off!  Anytime she hears a little music (you'll see below she is watching a scene from Frozen on the computer), or even a beat from banging on a table, she shakes her little hips, waves her little arms, and breaks out her moves.  Sometimes, she'll even dance just because I ask her to - shake what your mama gave you girl!


Litty Bitty Pretty One from Ashley Heacock on Vimeo.

A helping hand

Hannah always does her part to lend a helping hand around the house - making sure the dog is fed plenty of people food, taking absolutely every toy off the shelves so we have plenty of things to play with, and finding every piece of fuzz or clump of dirt on that the vacuum cleaner misses.  A few other examples:

Checking under the couch for stray toys or snacks that got away.

Taking her puppy brother on walks around the neighborhood

Manning the the fire pit with Dad

Finishing Mom's water at Chili's

And my personal favorite (hers too actually) - sorting the laundry

My messy eater

My new year's resolution this year was to cook more - Hannah is eating what we eat all the time (and with twelve teeth, she can handle anything), and I wanted to make sure she was getting lots of flavors and variety.  Plus, I really enjoy cooking, even if I don't relish in the dishes it creates.  So far, it has been a pretty successful resolution.

Hannah dives into her food like a champ, but since she hasn't quite mastered the fine art of the spoon, this makes for a messy (albeit hilarious) dinner, followed immediately by tubby time.

Tomato sauce usually warrants the full smock bib....

Which I neglected to use here, but it worked out that she was wearing red anyways :)

The ariel view - to highlight clumps of food in her hair

Tacos with guacamole - a girl after her mom's heart