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!

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:

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.