FETCH!

We took this video a few weeks ago and were asked to post it on the blog.  Harper finally figured out how to make Rudy happy! (:  I want to post more picture soon as well... we've been in between computers, transferring from the PC to the Mac, so things have been in limbo for a while. I think we're fully up and running now, so once I figure out how to download all the pictures I'll start posting again. Until then... 

Halloween!

Harper is full of new surprises every day! She is now full on walking here, there, everywhere. She can turn corners and just last week she figured out how to go from sitting to standing without using anything to pull herself up. It all happens so fast! She was walking around everywhere in her cute Halloween lizard costume... Auntie Karen had made it for her son, Max (who is now 14!) when he was a baby & was kind enough to lend it to us. We stuck some pink flowers on it to make it "girly". Harper does "lizard tongue" on cue, so we thought this was a perfect costume this year. She had a BLAST at the neighborhood pot luck & parade. She greeted the few early trick or treaters that we had and waved good bye when they left.

Here are a few pictures from Halloween:

It's been too long!

Wow! It's been way too long since I've updated this blog! We've been on the move and busy! Harper is changing every... single... day! She is now taking steps on her own, 4 or 5 at a time, before she lowers herself to the ground. Just this week, she started walking from toy to toy, instead of from Mommy to Daddy... any day now, she's just going to decide it's time, get up and walk away. We're ready!

One of Harper's favorite activities is still reading. You can ask where is the banana, duck, dog, frog, etc. in her picture book and she points to them--and is very proud of herself! The other day, we caught her pulling a book off of OUR shelf and leafing through it as if she were reading. Ironically, it was To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee! She LOVES picking that one up and looking at the words.
She says quite a few words, some more understandable than others: dog, turtle, back, uh-oh, dada (that's pretty much everything & everyone these days), blueberry, Rudy, and a few other random words. She also signs all done, eat, milk, ball and occasionally more. She also points at everything and makes an inqusitive noise, as if she's saying, "What's that?!".
She knows what she wants when she wants it and isn't happy when she doesn't get it. Her most favorite activity these days is pushing thing... anything. She'll push her stroller, the grocery cart, chairs, toys, blocks. Anything that will glide across the floor. It's pretty funny to watch, but when it's time to end this activity, say, at the check out in the store, she is NOT happy. Like I said, she knows what she wants! Last weekend, she pushed her stroller all around the mall. She slept for a LONG time that night, she was exhausted! Harper is now napping once a day. She kind of made the transition herself, but it works out better for getting out and doing things. She sleeps roughly 7:30p-7a and then 12:30-2:30p. She eats three HUGE meals a day and two snacks. By huge, I mean 1 1/4 grilled cheese & ham sandwich, 1/2 an avocado, 1/4 of a tomato and some cheese puffs. It's insane! She isn't gaining much weight, but she's healthy! And a healthy eater!
She has four top teeth (with 2 more coming), 2 bottom teeth, and her top and bottom molars on the right side. She gets a little fussy when they are coming in, but nothing terrible. She's a trooper!
She had her 1 year check up last week (a little late because of delayed vaccinations) and she was 18lbs 8 oz, 28 1/2 inches tall and very healthy. She is completely on solid foods and cow's milk... and man, can she EAT! We are blown away at the amount of food she eats, and she's still so LITTLE. Her doc said she'll just be petite. Lucky girl!
We've been making trips to the WOW Children's Musuem, the Denver Zoo, parks, playgrounds, Sunflower Farm (where she had her very first pony ride) the mall and next week we hit the Aquarium. Harper's little buddy Silas spends Tuesdays & Wednesdays with us (which has been GREAT for all of us) and Harper spends Thursdays with Auntie Karen & her BFF Lola. All of this is just wonderful. Harper has interaction with other kids and I get a day off!
This weekend I head to the C Lazy U Ranch in Granby for a riding & yoga retreat... four days of rejuvenating, riding, good company and just aaahhhhhhhhh! I sure will miss my little peanut (and Tom too, of course!) but I NEED it!
Here are some pictures... they'll update much better than I can!

W

Walker...

Well, I guess it won't be long now... Harper got a baby walker from Mommy & Daddy for her first birthday and is all over the place with it! She gave it a try, had a few spills, and then got it down within a few days. Here, she is pushing her baby doll around--turn up the volume and you can hear her say "baby". That is one of her words she is saying pretty clearly. The others are: Daddy, Mum, dog, back, Rudy, Jake and most recently, Tom said she pointed to her turtle picture in her room and said "turtle". She understands a lot, just gets a little frustrated when she can't communicate. She speaks full sentences of "baby babble" as if she is having a conversation with you. She also does baby signs for milk, all done and more. We're working on a few more, but it's a start.

Movin' & Groovin'

Harper has gone from crawling to climbing and dancing pretty quickly! She loves to stand at the top of the stairs and "talk" to the dogs and dance for them. She says "dogs" and "Back, back" because we always tell the dogs to back up so we can open the gate. It's pretty funny!

Harper has also started using her sippy cup all by herself and is eating more on her own (finally!). She is also almost weaned. She will nurse in the morning and before bed, but that's pretty much it. She had her very first overnight at Karen & Sal's last weekend and didn't touch any of my milk while she was there. She ate solids and drank a ton of cow's milk. The sleepover went very well and we are all excited for the next one! Thanks Karen, Sal & Max! We had a blast and so did Harper!!!

Only nine more days of being a "baby"! Harper will be one next week and will offically be a "little girl"! It's bitter sweet! We'll have to do a blog page highlighting the milestones of the past year!

Crawling!

I just had to post a crawling video!

She's much faster & more coordinated now. We'll post a new video soon!

One BIG update!

Wow, we have not been very good about updating this blog! And yet, there have been so many great, new things to report! Firstly, Harper started crawling on July 21st! I took care of a little boy, Silas, who is walking and I think watching him move around on his own was her ultimate frustration. She just HAD to crawl so she could keep up with him! She took a few tentative, well thought out moves forward, and then, she was OFF! She got really fast, really quick! Since then, she can cover the main level of our house in a matter of seconds, pull herself up to standing, crawl up and across the base of the island in the kitchen and get just about anywhere. She's had a great time exploring here, there and everywhere! Everyone said we'd be sorry once she was mobile, but we are thrilled. She is so much happier now that she can get her own toys and go where SHE wants to go! One of her favorite places to go, unfortunately, is in Jake's food dish. Thankfully, he could care less and she has no interest in putting anything in her mouth. We try to put her way across the room when we feed him, but she gets so excited and crawls to his bowl as fast as she can, laughing all the way. It's pretty cute, but not the best habit. Jake is very patient and eats food off the floor, out of her hand, wherever it happens to be. The water bowl is also fun to splash around in. Oh boy...We spent my birthday weekend in Frisco with Rebecca, Luciano and Lola (who is 4 days younger than Harper). Adults and kids had a blast! We put the girls in the double Burley to bike around Lake Dillon & have drinks at the Tiki Bar on the lake. The next day, we hiked along North Ten Mile Trail and had lunch on the creek. It was a great weekend with lots of fun activities, great company and cool mountain air.Harper and I spent two nights at Karen & Sal's last weekend. It was rainy a lot of the time, so we didn't do too much outdoors, but it was nice to get away for a bit and give Tom some alone time at home. We're enjoying summer: trips to the pool, park, creek... bike rides, long walks, Farmer's Market, hikes... anything to get outside and enjoy beautiful Colorado!
At 11 months, Harper is eating just about everything we can throw at her. Most meals, she eats what we eat. She loves fruits, veggies, pasta, meatballs, fish, chicken, meat, cheese, burritos, pizza... everything. We got the go ahead from her doctor to begin introducing cow's milk gradually to work toward weaning. She's needing less and less of my milk, so we're needing to take advantage of this and get her onto regular milk. She still has no interest in feeding herself, but she is just starting to eat crackers on her own. It has to be something she can hold in her hand that is long enough to poke out. She hasn't figured out how to open her hand and get small foods into her mouth. But she is very good at feeding me, Tom and the dogs. (;
We've got some exciting things coming up... Harper will have her very first overnight at Karen & Sal's on August 22nd so Tom and I can enjoy an anniversary party all by ourselves! The following weekend is Harper's first birthday party, and then our fourth anniversary. I also just booked by very own, first weekend away in October! I'll be going up to Granby for a Yoga retreat and training weekend with Julie Goodnight. I am too excited for words. A full weekend of time for myself is very much needed right now. I'll miss Tom and Harper, but I'll come back refreshed and rejuvenated!
Starting in September, I will be watching Silas two days a week. His mom and I connected through Craig's List and it seems like a great match. Turns out, her mother in law is a volunteer at the riding center where I used to work, so she gave me a good recommendation. He is 6 months older than Harper, but they get along great, and he is very easy going. So, he'll be here on Tuesdays & Wednsdays, and THEN, Harper will spend Thursdays with Lola and her nanny. As much as I LOVE being home with Harper, she is needing more interaction with other kids her age, and I'm really needing a break here and there. So, this will be good for both of us. Then we can all enjoy family time in the evening instead of me running here or there once Tom gets home. We'll keep our fingers crossed that it all works out. Harper is going to meet Toni, the nanny, next week to make sure everyone is comfortable.

Harper & Lola in Frisco!

Harper watching "Baby Einstein's Baby Signs"