Harper at Two

Harper had portraits made for her second birthday. She is such a sweet baby girl, quickly turning into a smart toddler.  She loves animals, her brother, her grandparents, Mike and Treva, and rice.  She is smart, sassy, cuddly, very strong-willed, and knows what she wants.  She is extrememly verbal and can clearly articulate what she wants and thinks.  Some of my favorite phrases are:

• "Hold you, momma!" 
• "Daddy, shake your booty!"
• "I CAANNNN'T! NO! I CAAAAAN'T!" (Used when she doesn't want to)
• "Awww, sooo cute!" (To anything little, in a very high voice)
• (To the tune of frere jacques): "Where is Dada, where is dada? Where is he? Where is he?" (etc)  She does this for everything.
• She knows about 1,000 songs!

What she loves to do: Play hide and seek, play outside, jump on the trampoline, hide (all the time), sing, dance, and cuddle.  She loves the Bubble Guppies, Frozen, and babies. She is naturally very maternal and loves to take care of her little toys.  Anytime someone coughs, she pats them and says, "You okay, Momma? Awww, you sick? It's okay. All better."  The sweetest, cutest thing, EVER.

She is such a beauty, and even prettier inside than out.

9 Months Already!

This sweet little sunshine is nine months old and gets more fun every day! Her personality is emerging and we love who she is becoming! At this point, I would describe her as sweet, happy, and independent!  She wants to do so much, even though she can't crawl yet!  She can bear weight and wants you to hold her hands so she can walk.  She is also enjoying playing by herself more, as well as getting into her brother's toys. :)  She loves paper and tries to tear things.  She also loves to pick up food and feed herself - she wants to hold her own food and sippy cups.  She has two teeth, which you can see in the first pic, and more on the way! :)

She is our little sweet pea!

7 Months of Harpiness!

Harper has developed so much over the last month!  She is sitting up very well on her own now, and loves to reach for toys and objects around her on the floor.  (Including her brother and puppy, both of which make her laugh!)  When she giggles at someone, she almost looks shy in her response to them, tucking her chin and turning her head just a tiny bit.  It's the sweetest expression.

She has two teeth now!  Her cute little bottom teeth came through at the same time, and she was so good about it. The only signs we had were lots of chewing and lots of drooling.

She is a happy, sweet girl who loves to cuddle.  She might be able to crawl, but none of us would know because we never put her down.  She is held 99.9% of the time, unless she is in her bouncer, which she loves, or playing with toys on the floor.  In the latter case, most of the time, someone is sitting behind her while she plays.

I love watching her little personality develop!  She lets you know when she is unhappy or wants attention, which is funny because I don't remember Beckett doing that.  At the same time, Beckett never really had much opportunity to have to tell us he was upset because he had our full attention all day and all night, every day and every night.  The little miss has to be a little more assertive. :)  I have noticed, also, that she is much more vocal when Beckett is napping or not in the same room as her.  She just watches him!  It's so cute!

Beckett is starting to respond to Harp a little more now that she can sit up.  He laughs at her and is very helpful and caring, giving her kisses on the head or helping with her paci when asked.  I'm so thankful for them and cannot wait to watch them grow together.  What an amazing gift and blessing!

Here's our little dolly at 7 months old! :)

5 Months Old

Harper has added unimaginable joy to our lives over the past five months.  This past month, her personality and motor skills have really developed.  She is grasping objects really well, and can take her paci out of her mouth and put it back in. She rolls front to back and back to front, and can travel across the floor with sequential rolls.  She is such a happy little girl, laughing and interacting with everyone.  She loves to cuddle and be held, and she is also very interested in books and voices.  She is extremely vocal, too!  I would say she is happy and content 99% of the time, unless she is hungry or tired. (And most adults would say the same thing!)

Here are a few pics of our little doll over the past month:

And some quick videos:

Happy 4-Month Birthday!

Our little doll is four months old today!  She is such a sweet pea and this month has really been all personality!  She is cooing, laughing, sustaining and seeking eye contact, and smiling all the time.  (Except from about 6:30 - 8:00 at night, which is when she seems to fuss a little.)  She has found her voice and makes a wide range of sounds, including some very high-pitched sing-songy noises.  Shonn and I agreed that we don't remember Beckett doing that.

She has her next doctor's appointment on Tuesday, so I can update some of her stats then. But for now, I can share that she is grasping her hands together and chewing on her fist constantly. She is also a little drool box and loves to blows bubbles.  Through a mother's biased eyes, I think she is one of the prettiest little babies I have ever seen, but oh boy - she has the WORST gas I have ever smelled, and that's a FACT! (I'm sure she'll appreciate me sharing that someday.)

Here is what baby center has to say about development at four months:

Researchers believe that your baby can now understand all the basic sounds that make up his native language. Between this time and 6 months of age, he'll develop the ability to make some of these sounds, which means you may hear the words you've been dreaming about, namely "mama" and "dada." While child development experts say it's too early for your baby to connect those sounds with you, that won't make hearing them any less exciting.

You can encourage your baby's attempts at communication by mirroring or imitating his expressions and sounds. He may try to imitate you, too. Say "ba" and he may try to say it back.

Reacting when your baby makes noises or tries to say something will help him learn the importance of language and better understand cause and effect. It's great for his self-esteem, too: He'll begin to realize that what he says makes a difference. Expand on what your baby says and try to give it meaning. For example, you can say, "Yes, that is a ball!" Soon, his "ba" will become "ball."

5 weeks old

We're going to have to bust out the wrinkle cream: My sweet cupcake is already 5 weeks old! She had her first Bjorn ride today, since she's over 8 pounds now!