Back on the Food Train

After a phase of not wanting to eat, Harper has finally jumped back on the food train! For the past week, she has been loving just about everything we can throw at her: yogurt, peaches, peas, prunes, soggy Cheerios, pears, avocado, sweet potato, toast, pancakes, croissant... she loves trying new things! I make most of her food, but gave in to some jarred baby foods when she wasn't wanting to eat. Making all of that food just to be tossed was getting annoying. Now, she eats mostly homemade stuff, some jarred (prunes, pears).

Harper is a rolling machine! She mostly rolls to the left... so she rolls the length of her room and then has to be turned around to roll on back. She LOVES it... smiles & giggles the whole time and looks so proud of herself when she reaches a toy.

She continues to be a good baby... hardly fusses at all (really, truly), sleeps great, naps, plays, loves to go for walks & drives, is content as can be when she's outside.

Harper & Squirt 8 months

We had our very first Mother's Day last weekend. Daddy & Harper cooked brunch while I went to my endurance swim group... I came home to my favorite flowers (calalillies & tulips), a nice card & photo of the two of them and an amazing brunch! It was the perfect first Mom's Day!

Summer seems to be offically here! The sun is out, flowers are in bloom, weather is nice... which means it's time for CUTE summer dresses!

Clever Baby!

Well, we always knew Harper was pretty smart, but last night she blew us away!  I happened to be up around 3am and thought I heard a little peep from her room.  I tip-toed to the door and low and behold, there she was in her crib, playing with her feet and cooing softly.  The crazy part is, her ocean wonders fish tank was illuminated and playing music.  She had turned it on all by herself.  I've seen her turn it off, but thought it was dumb luck that she had hit the button on the front of the tank.  This morning, when she woke up, I went in to feed her and she had turned it on again!  I have to think it is deliberate and she does it to have something to play with or to soothe herself.  What a clever little girl!  We are so proud!

Our month of visitors has sadly come to an end.  Grandpa, Memere and lastly Grandma & Crow, who left this morning.  Harper really enjoyed spending time with all of them!  Today, she is exhausted!  So much socializing has made her want to catch some good zzzz's, which is fine with me!  

She is now just over 8 months old.  She can now roll from her back to stomach (but doesn't care to, she much prefers to sit up or lie on her back), says "mum, mum" and "Ba, ba, blah", is back to eating some solid foods--but is as picky as her Daddy--her favorite being soggy Cheerios, sleeps all night, takes 2 naps a day and is generally very happy and content.  She is so inquisitive and serious at times, you have no question what she is thinking--all you have to do is look at her expression.  She is a very animated baby.

Harper and Mommy head back to Mass for 4 full weeks on May 27th!  We're so excited to visit everyone without rushing, and to go to Jeremy & Lindsey's wedding!  

Spring Fever!

We're heading into Spring and boy are we enjoying this great weather! Grandpa Jeff came to visit and we headed to Karen & Sal's for an Easter Brunch, spent a day in Estes Park, went to dinner at the Med and enjoyed nice walks in Boulder. Harper was such an angel, going here, there and everywhere without so much as a fuss. She really enjoyed her time with her Grandpa!

We had three full days of rain with a little snow last weekend. I think Harper and I were both in a bit of a funk and going a little stir crazy. But this week has been BEAUTIFUL with 70+ degree days. We have had a nice walk or hike outside every day this week! She has been in the best mood and is becoming hysterically funny. She laughs at herself all the time. And it's so easy to make her laugh... give her the raspberry and she is throwing her head back laughing!

Harper has decided solid foods are good again (thank goodness!). She's back on her favorite veggies and some fruits. Most fruits make her sick... she is very much a drama queen when it comes to eating. She gags, makes an awful face, then spits up everywhere. But, finally, she is enjoying pears and almost liking prunes. I'm still making all of her food and it's fun to experiment (except prunes, I buy those, not even sure HOW to make pureed prunes!). Her new favorite are "puffs"... tiny cereal pieces that melt in her mouth. When she was refusing all foods, that was what got her to try eating again. She's great at picking them up, but hasn't quite figured out that she can get them in her mouth herself. She'd much rather drop them over the edge of the table to the dogs... which is of course, hysterical to her. She cracks me up all day long.

Memere arrives this Saturday for one full week and we are very excited. Lots to do when Memere is here, and we can't wait for her to see how much Harper has changed.

Lots of new things!

I want to crawl!

Harper continues to grow, grow, grow! She is so lively and animated and has the cutest personality! She's starting to "play" with her other baby friends, reaching out to touch their faces and babbling back and forth & snatching toys from each other. It is VERY cute! She is completely sitting up on her own now and is kicking her legs when she is on her tummy, in an attempt to scoot forward. It won't be long until she is crawling around everywhere! She is generally content, rarely fussy, and is just an absolute Joie! She finally got the "nap thing" and takes 2 a day in her crib. She's still sleeping about 12 hours straight through at night too. Harper was doing great on solids, eating like a champ, until she got a little "backed up". We tried to feed her apple juice & prunes to help, but she didn't want to touch them. Could it be possible that MY daughter doesn't have a sweet tooth!? Absurd! So, she's been off solids for over a week now--won't even touch her favorites at this point. But, we're not pushing it, just letting her play with the food and figure it out. She's not "mouthy" yet... the only thing she puts in her mouth is her finger.

Harper helping with laundry & showing off her belly.

We head back to her doctor's next week for her next vaccination. We're still catching up on her 4 month shots, one at a time, to figure out which one gave her such a bad reaction at 2 months. We're fine with spreading them out, which is what we originally wanted to do.

We have lots of visitors this month! Grandpa gets in on Saturday for 5 days and then Memere visits for a week at the end of April. Grandpa has not met Harper yet, so we're pretty excited for his visit! And Memere hasn't seen Harper in over three months, so we can't wait for her to see how much she has changed. And then, Grandma & Crow visit in early May on their way back from Tahoe. After that, Harper and I venture back to Massachusetts for a full MONTH! Tom will join us for a week and a half in the middle of the trip, but he's sure going to miss his little baby girl!

Harper and Fiona playing

I'm so HAPPY!!!

We live for this! Turn up your volume and check out Harper's full on laugh! She is such a happy baby (except when she is tired, bored, confused or annoyed.)

Lots of new things!

Harper continues to amaze us every day and she is developing such a great personality! Because of daylight savings, we got to have our "first family dinner" on Sunday night. Usually, Harper's bedtime routine starts around 5:30p and she's sound asleep by 6:30p. But becasue of the extra hour, we had her eat with us! She enjoyed some yummy rice cereal while Tom and I ate our regular dinner. We found a "generic Stokke Tripp Trapp" that allows us to push her right up to the table so she can eat with us. We love it! Definitely a great find so we can enjoy her company (and vice versa, we hope!).

One of Harper's new favorite things to do is sit up in her crib after her naps and play with her aquarium (see photo). She's gotten really good at sitting up on her own, and she'll push the big blue button to turn the aquarium on and off. She is quite smitten with it lately.

She also loves to be in the Moby wrap, facing out, while we do our grocery shopping. Much more fun and interesting than sitting in her car seat looking up at the ceiling! She's quite a treat these days and loves going anywhere. So long as she has her naps, she's a pretty happy baby!

Today, we're heading to the gym to try out the child care while I take a spin class. Hopefully she will do okay with out me. Who am I kidding, she'll probably LOVE showing off for the child care staff... I'm the one who will miss being with HER! Harper at 6 months with Squirt... check out those legs!

Time Flies!

Harper wearing he new shoes from Elaine!

WOW! Harper is SIX months old today! She had her check-up yesterday and is now 15lbs. 12oz and 25 inches long. She is about average for height and weight. She had one shot yesterday and was such a trooper through the whole ordeal. As of today, Harper is: sitting up on her own for a little while, almost rolling from back to stomach but doesn't seem very interestd in doing so, eating carrots, peas (ick!) and sweet potatoes, taking two long naps a day in her crib and sleeping about 12 hours at night, rolling up from laying down to sitting with just a little help, but is getting much stronger. She LOVES: her nightly baths, kisses on her cheeks & belly, doing "sit ups", music, rides in the car, going for walks, walking around the yard to play fetch with Rudy or pet the horses at the back fence, having her diaper changed, her Glow Worm, "Piggy", her Gymini, her bouncy horse and just about anything else we can throw at her. I put her in the carrier to run into the grocery store and she just loved looking around at everything. She is so curious about her surroundings and just eyes everything calmly while taking it all in.

Happy "6 month birthday" Harper!! We are so lucky to have you in our lives and have enjoyed every second of the past six months!