eight months

On July 30th, Harper turned eight months old. At the time, we took a few notes, but have not had a chance to give a full update. So, without further adieu...

This month Harper had several firsts: her first plane ride, first camping trip, first family reunion, introductions to her great grandparents and the first time playing with her cousins, among several others.

Eating - Harper mastered eating real food this month. She enjoyed a meal of Gramma Jan's spaghetti and meat sauce while we were in Montana. The noodles disappeared into her little body (and to the seat of her high chair) nearly before we had a chance to take a bite of our own food. It was as if she had been introduced to a whole new world - and hasn't looked back. Ever since that trip, Harper protests the idea of eating pureed baby food. The only way we have been able to get her to eat it is by offering her some real food, wait for her to open her mouth, and then slip in a spoonful of peas, squash or some other nearly unrecognizable food. Before too long she had figured us out and would spit out the baby food as soon as she recognized it.

In other eating-related progress, Harper is doing really well at drinking out of a cup. She doesn't care much for her sippy cup, but loves drinking out of water bottles, glasses, or whatever else we are drinking from. This month, Harper also discovered the joy of snacks. It is amazing how many baby snacks there are. During a mountain trip in Montana, Harper even learned to share her baby "cheetos" with her Aunt Arielle.

Mobility - Harper has gone from an army-crawler to a bona-fide crawler. She really mastered the art while chasing her cousins around her Gramma & Grampa Allen's house. This month she also started pulling herself up on couches, coffee tables, legs of chairs and in her crib. As expected, this development has not been without its bumps and bruises.

Teeth - Harper got her second tooth this month, which was a much easier process than the last tooth. In fact, we didn't notice or suspect it was happening until it had already broken through.

Dexterity - Along with being able to pick up small foods, Harper has started to examine objects by turning them over and over in her hands - it's adorable.

Other items and pictures of note:
Harper started laughing a lot this month. However, the laughs sounded more like clearing her throat. She would "laugh" nearly all the time and would have laughing conversations with anyone that would humor her.

Playing in the mirror:

Enjoying occasional visits from Grandpa Manning while he's in town for business:

Riding on shoulders/tearing my hair out:

Hair update:

Independence

Happy (belated) Independence Day

We spent this 4th of July at my parents house in Connecticut. They will be moving in August, so this was likely the last time we would get to enjoy the 4th at Waveny Park. We had an excellent time.

My mom made delicious home made raspberry ice cream (one of our family traditions), which quickly was passed out to friends sitting nearby. We caught up with old friends and made a few new ones. It is so neat to see how my parents have really become part of the community in New Canaan. While I only lived there for three years, it is the place that feels most like home. We will miss coming back so often, although my parents are convinced we'll make fairly frequent visits...

As usual, the fireworks were spectacular. Earlier in the evening my dad had worked his magic and gotten Harper to go to sleep, even with all of the music and children screaming around us. We had put her in her car seat and covered her with blanket to help muffle some of the noise.

Sure enough, though, when the first of the fireworks went off the blanket was no match. For the first ten minutes, or so, she sat happily in Shiloh's lap, occasionally gripping his arm or looking a little worried.

We're not sure what set her off... an especially loud firework, or becoming overwhelmed with so many of them... but eventually she started to cry.

She spent the rest of the show cuddled close to me, occasionally burying her head in my shoulder. I can't say I minded.

Happy Fourth of July!

first joke

On Friday, Harper "told" her first joke. I was rocking her as we were getting ready for her mid-day nap and she was doing everything she could think of to keep herself from falling asleep. Finally, as she was lounging in my arms and sucking on a pacifier, she started to drift off. When she realized what was happening, she sat up and took out her binki to stave off her unavoidable fate a little longer.

She was pulling her binki in and out of her mouth when suddenly she stopped, looked at the binki, then looked at me. Before I knew what was happening, she stretched her little arm up and shoved her binki in my mouth. She stared for a minute examining what she had done. After a minute, she got a look of pure satisfaction with herself. and laughed.

I did too.

Good one, Harper.

Family Pictures

We had a small, impromptu family photo shoot a few weeks ago. Now maybe I can replace some of our nearly 9-year-old wedding pictures.

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.

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: