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!

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:

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.

Road Trippin' (part 1)

I don’t remember my first road trip… it was probably driving with my parents to see their parents or on our way out to live in Chicago. Since then I’ve become quite used to them, but 2 weeks ago I added a new element to the road trip: the little lady.

I had to be in NY on Thursday night for an industry awards banquet – at which a project I worked on was up for an award. Shiloh had to work late on Thursday night, so I decided to bring Harper with me. My mom loved this idea because it meant she got to spend the evening with her while I was in the city.

Taking Harper (and all her stuff) on a plane or train didn’t sound like much fun, so we packed up the dog and the car and headed up the road. My awesome neighbor helped me out big time and fed Harper while I wrapped up a few things for work – allowing us to get on the road on time and right after she had eaten. This proved to be the perfect combination.

Harper's View

We only stopped once along the way so Harper could eat and be changed, and Adi could go to the bathroom. We got to my parents house with enough time to get dressed and catch the train to the city. My dad, who had just had knee surgery, had fun interacting with Harper, who is a lot more responsive and playful than she was the last time he saw her.

The evening was great; we ended up taking home the award (!!), and having a really good time catching up with our colleagues from the NY and Chicago offices. Here’s our award:

The next day I had a great time following my mom around to all of her activities so that Harper could meet all of my mom’s friends. We went to the school she teaches at (got to sneak a peak at her teaching – she is SO great with the kids), and to a fabulous quilting retreat that a bunch of her quilting friends were having. They are such a fun group of ladies.

All the running around wore both of us out, so the second leg of our road trip was postponed until the next morning.