Wednesday, February 29

{5 Months} of Harper Love

Where does the time go?! Our little one is such an explorer these days. This has by far been the best month of Harper's life for Brian and I both!

Luckily, this is a Leap Year, so Harper actually gets a 5 month birthday!!

Sept. 29, 2012

Weight/Height: {our guess, no doc appt. this month} 14 lbs
Diapers: size 1, sometimes 2 at night
Clothes: 3-6 months, 6 months
Eye Color: some days blue, brown, or green! we don't know what will stick yet!
Hair: it's growing back in and growing back blonde! Too funny!
Nicknames: H, Harpie, Harpsie, Baby Love, Pretty Girl

New Loves: Harper loves to eat her toes and constantly take off her socks! She finds it so amusing! She also gets very intrigued with pretty much anything! She's begun playing more with the toys that are hooked onto her car seat.  Speaking of the car seat, she's back to loving it! {yay!} She holds on to 'Elephante' while we ride. This girl is so smart! I will ask her from the front, "Harper, where is Elephante?" and she will look for him and pick him up!! What a genius! HAHA  She also loves rocking on LuLu ladybug and playing in her Exersaucer. Watching her explore that thing completely amazes me! Harper has begun sitting still longer when books are read. She really enjoys the touchy-feely books! She loves playing with bath toys and splashing in the water - I'm thinking pool time will be fun!

Giggles & Squeals: She giggles and squeals and it is SO cute! The best is right before bath time, when she's nakey and we tickle her belly. She loves it!

Sickness: Poor little thing has really had her bout with colds.  Of course, major Mother Guilt has come this month with this as we are sure she's getting it at the sitter's house. She had a cold, fever, and a major cough that sent us to the doc this month. We are also wondering if she's beginning to teeth, but no teeth yet!

Eating: H eats about 30 oz. a day.  She usually eats 5 oz. every 3-3 1/2 hours throughout the day. We are not starting cereal until 6 months. What are your thoughts on this? I read several different things about this, and we've decided to focus on trying to get Harper off her Alimentum and on to some regular formula to see if she actually has the milk protein allergy or if it was her colic causing her crying.

Sleeping: Girl isn't sleeping through the night again yet. BOO! On good nights, she wakes up once to eat. We put her to bed around 8-8:15 and I wake her up at 6:30am to feed her and change her and get her ready for the day. SO hard to leave her still.  We haven't begun sleep training or CIO yet, but I am thinking we are going to have to start...Tips?!?!? She is still being swaddled at night with her Swaddle Me and she sleeps in her Rock n Play sleeper.

Her Favorite Pastimes: shoving her feet or fist into her mouth, taking off her socks, touching the faces of the people holding her
Favorite Moments: Harper plays back and forth but the best is when she takes her paci in and out of her mouth or finds her paci in her vibrating chair or carseat and picks it up and puts it in her mouth! I just think that's sooo amazing!! I also LOVE when I pick her up from the sitter. She smiles instantly and SO BIG and starts kicking her legs everywhere! Even though I hate that she's not with me during the day, at least she gets so excited to see me!!

Family Time: Family time has become so much more important to me now. My weekends are so precious to me. I really feel like I am still 'missing out' on so much working during the week and when I know I get to be with Brian and Harper on the weekends it just puts a sense of calmness on me. I was hoping by now working would be easier, but it's not. It's not that I dread going to work, it's just everything else that goes in it. But that's a whole different post. ;)  I also appreciate more and more when my family wants to come and see Harper and when they take the time to come play with her for a few hours through the week or on the weekends. The same goes for my friends. It means so much more than I ever thought to have a friend call me up and ask me if they can come over and see Harper or ask my family to do something, meaning it's OK for Harper to come. It just makes me feel proud that people want to be in her life and care about her, too!

{showing her long hair on top!}


{she's definitely a baby...not an infant anymore...}

{she's not afraid of the camera!}

{H and Dottie}


{chunky thighs!!}

{reading a little about baby Jesus}



Happy 5 Months Baby Girl! We love you SO very much! You bring a joy to us we've never felt before!! We are so blessed to have such a happy and healthy girl.

12 comments:

  1. She is to cute & I'm loving her chubby cheeks when she smiles. She's gotten so big, I can't believe she's 5 months already. My baby girl turned 15 months today :(

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  2. Good to hear she is still in the rock and play! So are the twins!!! We say we are going to move them to cribs every weekend and then it is a new week and they are still there! They might be in high school before I do it! Ha. They just sleep so well and I don't want to mess that up.
    We don't give ours cereal, but the sitter does. We will be starting foods soon. I am so nervous. Mine also eat about 5 oz every 3.5 hours. I'm going on a school trip this month and am trying to get 250 oz frozen for the week we are gone. Ohmy! I only have about 55. I need to get busy. :)
    She is getting prettier every post. Love that hair. Too cute. I hate that you are hating work and I hope that gets better. Keep up the great work momma.

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  3. Happy 5 months! Good luck with the cereal. We kind of skipped over cereal and went right to solids and she seems to like almost everything we've given her (not avocados though). She has the cutest smile and I hear ya on the weekends...seeing that smile all weekend is the best!

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  4. It is so fun that our girls are the same age! I love reading about Harper and seeing the similarities/differences between her and Em. She is such a cutie pie and I wish we could meet up for a play date! :)

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  5. Happy 5 months Harper! You are just the sweetest little thing. I can't believe how much she is changing. Beautiful girl:)

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  6. She is so stinkin' cute Megan! Seriously! I started solids with my girls when they started waking up early from naps/nighttime. I finally figured out they were hungry. Sadie didn't start till 6 months and Norah at about 5 months.

    She's a good age to start CIO. I used a timer and did it incrementally each time. Let her cry 1 minute, then go in and comfort. Next time, 3 minutes. Next 5. And then 10 min thereafter. It can take a good 3-7 days to re-train her and teach her how to self sooth. It's hard not to give up, but so great after you put the work in and they're able to fall asleep on their own! Good luck!!!

    And babies get sick. If she didn't get viruses from the sitter's, she'd get it from church, friends, etc. I've stayed home with both girls. Sadie was sick ALL the time with tons of ear infections and Norah hardly gets sick at all (and I know her sister exposes her to lots of icky germs from school).

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  7. What a doll! We started cereal and stage 1 foods at 5 months after talking to our pediatrician. Codi was eating 32 ounces or more of formula a day and the doctor agreed she needed more to eat. This was evident because when we started solids we did not have to work at it. Codi was ready! She is 7 months now and still eats every 3-3.5 hours and usually has 5-6 ounces. She also has cereal 1-2 times a day and 3 jars of baby food. She is a eater!

    We are sticking with the Alimentum because Codi was diagnosed with a milk protein allergy. Due to the severity of her reaction we will have to use it until at least her 1st birthday!

    Good luck switching formula!

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  8. She is getting so big and is so pretty! I think you are wise to wait until 6 months (or close-ish) for solids. We started Jade at about 5 1/2 months and that was okay for her, but if I hadn't felt pressured, I definitely would have waited until 6. These next few months are going to be so much fun.... :)

    We tried the CIO method one night and it was awful. Didn't work AT ALL. It just resulted in Jade being tired and Dave and me feeling super guilty. So, my only advice is don't do it unless you are absolutely comfortable with it. Don't feel pressured! :)

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  9. Happy 5 months Harper!!! I am sorry work is still so hard. It took until ivy was over 1 for me to be okay..... And by ok, I mean I am at peace most of the time. There are still days, weeks, and even months that are so hard for me. This is not what I would choose but for now it is my only option and I know I am helping my family in the best way. I try to focus on the positive. All your feelings are totally normal and completely justified. I am sorry you are having a hard time. Try to find a way to break up home stresses- cleaning, cooking, meal planning, etc. Email me if you need to chat. I understand how your feeling in the worst way!!

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  10. Happy 5 months, Harper! She is so stinkin' cute!! I love her little smile :) She looks exactly like her mama!

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  11. Oh my she is so cute! I love the picture of her reaching for the camera! We started Gavin on solids around 5 1/2 months. My doctor told me that by 6 months he will need a little extra stuff that he can't get from formula, so I just wanted him to know how to eat by 6 months. I think no matter what you decide though, she will be just fine. I haven't read all of your entries (yet) so sorry if I'm repeating anything, but I'm not a fan of crying it out at this age. I feel like they are just too little. If he fusses a little, I'll let him fuss, but I won't let him get hysterical. I used a technique with both of my boys where I would soothe them (rock them and use a pacifier) until I see their eyes closing and getting a little sleepy. THEN I put them in their crib to fall asleep on their own. The key is drowsy, but not asleep. I didn't want to totally rock them to sleep, so that they were dependent on me to fall asleep. I only had to do that for a little while with both of my boys, until they knew how to fall asleep on their own. Now I just put my 7 month old in his crib and walk away. No rocking. No crying. No big deal. I've also tried to be really in tune to his biological clock. I would put him to bed around 8:00, but then wake him up around 10:00 at night to give him one more dream feed bottle. That bottle HAD to be between 10:00 and 10:30. If it were earlier or later, he'd wake in the middle of the night. For some reason, that's just what his body needed to sleep all night long for me. Now I can give him his last bottle when I put him down at 8:00, and he usually makes it all night. It works for us, but I'm sure not for everyone. I'm sure you'll figure it out soon! Good luck!

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  12. LOVE it! Too cute!! I enjoy reading these, Our youngest (Hannah) is 4 months old now, so I find it interesting to see what Miss Harper was up to then and the months later! Thanks for sharing!

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Thanks for taking the time to comment! I love hearing positive comments from you!

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