siiiiick

I'm sure that's how Harper would say it if she could.

I came home this evening to what seemed like a grumpy/hungry baby that was ready to eat. This happens occasionally, so I didn't think much of it. Then she started to really cry and sounded a bit muffled.

After eating and a diaper change she was pretty much inconsolable. At times it seemed she just needed a momma snuggle, other times even that wasn't enough. I thought I had seen a Harper cold before, but apparently I was wrong. It took me nearly an hour to get her to settle down and sleep.

I feel so bad. She seems so uncomfortable.

Oh shoot. The little lady just woke up. bummer.

conversation

This evening, Shiloh and Harper were spending some quality time together. This quality time quickly turned into their first "conversation."

Harper has recently started blowing raspberries.

The conversation between the two consisted of a long back-and-forth exchange of raspberries. Shiloh would blow one, Harper would wait a few moments and blow one back. Shiloh would laugh then blow her another. The exchange lasted several minutes and made Shi's evening.

Efficiency

I have a bit of an obsession with doing things efficiently. I try to find the shortest or fastest route to getting from one place to another. I try to multi-task whenever possible (as we speak I'm watching Lost), in order to get everything done. Usually this characteristic means a fair level of productivity. Well, a few weeks ago the obsession backfired.

I had a meeting I needed to get to at 1:00, but hadn't had a chance to eat yet, so at 12:45 I got my lunch ready and ate it as quickly as possible. As I was rushing to get to my meeting I grabbed my cell phone, notebook, key card and the garbage left over from lunch. I swung into the kitchen and dropped the trash into the nearest garbage can and went on my way.

It wasn't until the end of the day that I realized I didn't know where my phone went. I looked everywhere in the office that I could think of, but ended up heading home without it.

As I was riding the blue line it occurred to me - I must have dumped my phone was in the garbage with my lunch left-overs. I panicked as I realized that the garbage would be emptied in a matter of hours, let alone before I got back to the office.

I ran home and used Shi's phone to call one of my colleagues... on the off chance that she was still in the office. In a brush with luck, she was.

I told her what the situation was and she offered to go to the kitchen, call the phone and listen in the garbage to see if it was there. In another brush with luck, it was.

Sometimes efficiency is a good thing. Other times it makes your co-worker dig in the garbage for your stuff.

Toys

Harper loves her toys. She has some pretty great ones. She spends hours picking them up, chewing on them, reaching for them, and giggling in delight when a new one is brought to her.

Grub

Right before she turned 3 months old, Harper started showing signs of being ready for solid food. It was a little earlier thank I had planned to try spoon-feeding, but we gave it a shot. I was amazed by how well she did!

She would get so excited when she saw the spoon coming her way. Check out how big she's opening that mouth!

She looks pretty satisfied to me.

Since then we've upgraded to all sorts of pureed foods. Her favorites seem to be sweet potato and carrots. Now she squeals when she sees me pull out a new jar of food and then wiggles all over as I'm trying to feed her. She loves to grab my hand and guide the spoon into her mouth.

She's growing so fast, some days it is hard to believe how small she was just a few months ago. I can't imagine what the next few months will bring!

For the Love

Harper and I are lucky enough to have our own, live-in, serenader... life is good.

Hot

Think it's time for a new air conditioner?

Please note: inside temp is 82 in spite of the 68 cool setting -- and this was at 9 p.m. with the windows open letting in a bit of cool(er) night air. We're running out of ideas for meals that don't involve using the oven/stove... any suggestions would definitely be welcomed!

A very WEEZER birthday

Sweetest birthday celebration.
ever.

I got completely spoiled this year. Well, last year too. But this year, Shiloh gave me something I've been wanting since I was 12 years old: tickets to a Weezer concert. Luckily, the stars aligned and Weezer was playing at UMD only one week after my birthday. On top of this - Ben Folds was the opening act! To say I was excited is a complete understatement.

If there was any downside, it would be the other attendees. The performance was part of the UMD "Art Attack" festival, so students got into the show for $5. To our surprise, we heard many people say, "Ben who?" Most days it seems like we just left college, and aren't too far removed from that generation. The fact that it felt like we were at a concert with a bunch of pre-teens made us wonder.

excitement.

excitement x 2

We had an amazing time. Ben Folds was hilarious and showed his piano skillz like mad yo. Seriously though, he is so talented. Weezer definitely did not disappoint. They played 5 songs from the Blue Album - my favorite - and almost all of their more recent hits. We danced, sang, screamed, jumped, almost fell over (several times) and loved every minute.

On the train ride home I think Shiloh got sick of me saying, "Dude, that was so fun." Thanks again Shi, this is one for the books. :)

Here are some shots from the show:

birth announcements

I know... she's 5 MONTHS OLD. Better late than never, I say. So here they are. They aren't perfect, but I really like how they turned out. The front photo is one from our 12 day old photo shoot by our amazingly talented friends, Jon and Melissa Smith. Thanks again guys!

Anyway, I finally got them printed and the address labels will be printed and stuck tomorrow. I NEED to check this item off of my list!

In the meantime, enjoy:

Train

On my birthday, Harper and I rode the Amtrak (another first for her) up to visit my sister who had just returned from a semester in London. She was going to travel to D.C. to visit us earlier in the week, but was held up in London because of the volcano. It was a quick trip, but was great to see Arrin (and the rest of the family), and give her a chance to play with Harper, who is much more fun to play with now, than she was when Arrin left. Here are some pictures of the trip:

Train Ride:

Visiting with Grandma Manning:

River Water

Today, Harper was introduced to river water. I thought her reaction was great:

The feet go in...

O Cold!

Adi, on the other hand, loved the cold water. Black dogs on hot days have it rough.

While we were at the river, Adi made friends with this guy:

He had just finished eating a fish and wasn't in the mood to play. Sorry Adi, maybe next time.

five months

Yesterday, Harper turned 5 months old. Shi and I had big plans last night (details to come), so we postponed celebrating until today.

Harper is getting so big. At her 4 month appointment, they let us know she was 50th percentile for weight and 70th percentile for height. She doesn't seem to be letting those numbers slip. She is already in 6 month clothes, and eats like a champ. When she was born, my brother, Chris, challenged her to a contest to see who could gain the most weight in a year. He's currently beating her, and will likely win, but she's putting up a good fight - and she has the chins to prove it.

Harper really loves her dad. She saves all of her laughs for him and seems to love the time they get to spend together.

Other milestones:

• Rolling over: On my birthday (April 24), Harper's gift was to master rolling from back to front. It was so exciting to watch her do it over and over. (ahhh the little things...)
• Teeth: She is currently getting her first tooth. To be expected, this means lots of drooling, a not entirely pleasant baby, and chewing on everything. Her favorite item to chew on: faces.
  
• Sleep: Up until 2 days ago, Harper has been sleeping a solid 10-11 hours a night! The new tooth has brought a new frame of mind: she thinks 2 a.m. is a great time to get up. We hope she'll decide it's not so great soon.
  
• Food: Rice cereal has gotten a little old, so we've branched out to sweet potatoes and carrots. She is great at eating off of a spoon. She loves "real" food so much that eating around her has become difficult - she wants everything that we are eating.
• Adi: Harper looooves Adi. She reaches out to pet her whenever Adi gets close enough. The other day Harper got a handful of Adi's ear and pulled. Adi isn't thrilled about this new development, but puts up with it perfectly.
• Hair: It's starting to come back!!
• Feet: She's recently discovered them. I love this stage.
  
• Bathtime: Her favorite. She would stay in the bathtub for hours - splashing and squealing - if we let her.
  
• Talking: Shiloh tells me she said her first word - prestidigitation. Her favorite time to talk is while we're riding in the car. It's hilarious to listen to her chatter away.
  

P.S. Happy Birthday (Grandpa) Lyle!

After these messages

So, I took a little break from the blog. This doesn't mean I haven't had things to blog about. In fact, I have several blog posts in process. For some reason I just haven't been able to find time to put them up. So now, a month later, I feel I need a post between "four months" and "five months". So here it is. Now back to your regular programming.