Sunglasses

Harper tried on sunglasses for the first time this weekend. She thought they were hilarious. We spent hours putting them on and taking them off. Every once in a while it would make her giggle (sadly, a rare occurrence for her), so we know she was amused.

Today, when we tried again, she mostly wanted to eat them.

P.S. Yes, I do usually clothe her - this was as we were getting ready for bed tonight.

The Last

Ten years ago this month, I graduated from high school. Some days it seems much more time has passed than that, other days I feel like it was just yesterday. Either way, the fact that my youngest brother is now celebrating the end of his high school career is an odd feeling.

Today Ben - the last sibling in both my family and Shiloh's - took the long-awaited walk for his high school graduation. We are so proud of him and all he has already accomplished. We are excited to see what he chooses to do with his next 10 years.

I'm not sure that I would have guessed that I would be where I am. But I'm happy to be here. I think that's the best way for life to happen.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to make Ben's ceremony, but we thought of him a lot today. He's such a good kid & brother & uncle & friend. Here's the announcement I put together for him.

Congratulations Ben! We love you!

mobility

Ready or not, Harper's world is about to become much more... accessible. She has never been much of a roller, but has perfected scooting and spinning on her stomach. Her latest discovery: knees. For now she isn't actually moving, but will rock back and forth on her hands and knees.

This is a picture of her just a week ago, she would try to balance on her knees but would quickly fall forward.

As you can see, she seems pretty proud of herself.

We sure are.

today

i know I promised before and afters, (which are amazing!) but a stomach bug has kept me doing this almost all day today:


I had no idea how hard it is to be sick and a mom. However, this little sleeping companion makes being in bed all day not so bad.

Relief...

...has arrived.

Before and after pictures (and temperatures) coming soon!

six months

The rumors are true (it seems like I'm saying that a lot lately) - six months old is a great age. Harper is learning and growing so much! Here are her stats, as of 10 a.m. Friday morning:

Height: 27 1/4 inches (90th percentile)
Weight: 15 pounds, 12 ounces (50th percentile)
Head: 16 1/4 inches (25th percentile)

This month, Shiloh is making his premiere appearance on this blog to provide a little wrap up:

Harper does stuff. It’s pretty cool. She does gymnastics in her crib at night. It’s funny to see the different positions we find her in in the morning. She chomps on her tongue and sometimes makes noises to go with it resulting in a “ba ba ba ba,” sort of thing. She falls asleep without being swaddled now, which is particularly helpful since our AC is out and the house averages about 92 degrees during the day and only cools down to about 85 at night with all the windows open and fans blowing full speed. She can also pull herself up to a standing position if she gets a good grip on something stationary. She responds to her name. We suspect she has recognized her name for a while, but now it is unquestionable that she responds to it. She reaches for anything she wants, including people. And by people I mean Mom whenever Dad is holding her. She pulls herself forward from sitting to a kind of almost hands and knees position. She has also made some cursory attempts at removing her diaper. Fun. My favorite, though, is when she grabs moms face with both hands and pulls it to her mouth so she can chew on moms chin. Funny stuff.

A few other things:
Although Harper has been smiling since just a couple weeks old, she isn't much of a laugh-er. This month we've been helping her find her inner giggler. She makes us really work for them, but we've had a few really good laughing session.

Harper had her first (and hopefully last) ear infection. She had a cold and we thought her throat was sore because her voice was hoarse and every time she burped she would scream like she was in pain. I took her to the doctor first thing in the morning to get the true verdict. The doctor looked at me like I was a terrible mother. Sheesh. After a dose or two of antibiotics Harper was good as new!

As previously noted, she has mastered sitting, eating, dancing, chatting with her dad and growing hair. I really can't believe how much she has changed over the last month. I feel like this month she has changed from a baby to a little girl. Today, I road the bus with a girl who looked like she was 13 or 14. It's no secret that I'm pretty nervous to have a teenage girl, but while I watched the girl on the bus, my fears diminished (if only momentarily) and I got so excited to get to watch Harper grow up - even as a teenager.

We celebrated Harper's half birthday at my parent's house last weekend. Since we were in town, and my brother is awesome, we did a mini photo shoot. Here are some of the shots:



P.S. To see more of my brother's photos - including others from this shoot - check out his blog or flickr page.

bath upgrade

Now that Harper can sit up on her own, she's graduated to bathing in the kitchen sink. I'm not sure it's really an upgrade from her sweet baby bathtub, but it's nicer on our backs and she seems to love it.

sitting

With perfect posture, Harper has now mastered sitting without support. This is a milestone that she seems thrilled about. Now she can look around, reach for toys & the dog, and interact with us on a whole new level. It is so exciting to see how much she really loves growing up.



This milestone not only means a new perspective in life, the doors have now opened to a whole new realm of food she can try. We've also enjoyed getting a better view of the NECK she's developing. While we love the rolls, we won't miss cleaning them out.

Life just keeps getting better every day.

Hair

it's coming back....

bouncer

This little lady has always loved to be vertical. She has become a big fan of her bouncer over the last few days. She dances around, squeals and throws her toys on the floor - usually getting dog hair all over them.

Check out her sweet moves: