{7 Lovin'}

How in the world do I have a seven month old?  This month is hitting me more than the 6th month did.  I think because I'm realizing she's closer to a year than to her birthing day.  WOW.  It's true. Time does fly.

This month has just been so great! I am seeing why lots of people have said to me that 5-9 months is their favorite stage.

Harper is so curious and adventurous! She just loves to look around and be in on the action!

April 29, 2012

Weight: we don't go to the doc this month, but according to our scale she is about 16 lbs

Diapers: size 2, size 3 at night

Clothes: 6 months, 6-9 months

Eating: she's eating baby food 3 times a day now, cereal twice a day
{Fav. foods: squash, bananas, carrots, peaches, everything really!}
Bottle: she's eating 6 ounces every 4 hours until the last night bottle, which she waits 5 hours to get

Sleep: YAYAYAY! Our baby girl is sleeping wonderfully through the night! She is in her crib and does not use a swaddle.  She goes to sleep with her 'Raffi (sound machine) and we put her down awake. Naps, well, we are working on those, but she takes 2-4 a day in her crib or in the car

Movement: She is not crawling yet, but it will be soon! She scoots around everywhere. Once she's on her knees, she uses her head to move instead of her hands! Doesn't get it quite yet! She can crawl backwards! HAHA  She also rolls and does an 'inchworm' move to get to something she really wants or puts her butt in the air and gets around like that.  Harper can get to a sitting position from on her belly or on her side.  She can also lean over and grab something and sit back up. Harper also LOVES to stand and can pull herself up onto a coffee table, music table, or ottoman. She is seriously a crazy climber.  Yes, scary! She will also crawl up your leg if you are standing and pull herself up. She loves to 'walk' and moves her feet perfectly if you are holding on to her hands. She'd much rather be standing or pulling herself up than sitting. Harper is also able to very easily pick up things with her hands and put them into her mouth. HA! No, but she has really good hand-eye coordination. We thought she was definitely right handed, but she picks up stuff equally with both hands as of right now.She's also figured out the Jumperoo and loves that thing!

Paci: At first, the girl loved her paci, but now she will only take it at night and at naps. We don't mind at all! She usually just chews on it and plays with it - putting it in and out of her mouth or tossing it and picking it up.

Fun Stuff: She is giggling so much at pretty much anything! Sometimes, we can't figure out why she is giggling! She also loves to squeal SUPER loud during bathtime and it's hilarious. Harper also goes everywhere in the front of a cart now! Hello, life made easier! She loves to shop at places where she can get inside her floppy seat cover and look around. She thinks it's so fun!  She also 'talks' non-stop. We have no idea what she's saying, of course, but she just babbles and dada's all over the place! Sometimes, it's pretty loud, but she's not screaming, just laughing and talking loudly! I see no more 'quiet' dinners in our future for a while! But that's ok! I'd rather her be happy and keep on talking!
*she also laughs with her ENTIRE face now! it's so different and hilarious!*

Bath: Harper is now in her own bathroom in her bathtub. She sits in the little 'seat'. She loves this so much more. She plays with lots of her bath toys and doesn't really like when it is time to get out!

{pictures are getting very hard! she'd rather climb over that chair than sit there!}

A 'free' Day

Up until this year, I would have NEVER taken off a day of work for no real reason. I mean, I usually don't even use my Personal Days (we get 3 a year) within a school year.  We don't receive any vacation time since we are off in the summer, but we can save sick days if we don't use them.  Well, I saved a TON of days over my 7 years of teaching, letting me be able to comfortably take off 3 full months with my sweet baby.  I went to school last year some days puking all throughout the day, but knew I needed to save those days for my time off.

Well here it is in late April.  I have a few days left that I strategically kept in case Harper or I got sick and needed to take days so that I wouldn't have to take days without pay.  A very wise friend at school, Liz, mentioned to me on more than one occasion, that to be able to be a working Mom, you'll need to take a day here or there and be with your baby to keep up your momentum for being a working Mom.  Well, I needed that today.  Luckily, Harper hasn't been sick enough for me to have to take off and I haven't either, so I have a few days left.

I decided to take a personal day off on Friday and be with my baby.  Boy, it has been just what I needed!  We've had a wonderful and happy day together! Each moment of feeding my baby, putting her down for her nap, playtime; I haven't taken for granted today!  I also took Harper up to see my Granny. She hasn't seen her since January and I knew she was just dying to see her again.  Harper luckily warmed up to her quickly and showed her sweet personality to Granny. She was soo excited.

love that little curl!

90 1/2 year old Granny - she looks good!

showing Granny what was in her basket!

It has been an awesome day and I feel so rejuvinated! I just love my baby girl and seeing her sweet smiles all day!

We even hit the park for a bit!

sun was in her eyes! whoops!

LOVES herself some water

I'd say Harper was a pretty happy girl to get an extra day with Mommy!

I think it's time...

I put Harper down in her crib for nap.

About 10 minutes later I heard the mobile on.

I didn't turn it on.

Looked in the video monitor, couldn't see her.

Went in.

Harper was sitting up in the corner of her crib. She had somehow turned on the tiny button to the mobile and was batting at her friends dancing around in a circle.

Our little girl is a fan of pulling and climbing - thank goodness she hadn't climbed up and over that rail!

I think it's time to move the mattress down!

Seriously, when did she get so big, so adventurous, and so smart?!

how i found her. so proud of herself!

this tiny button! how did she know to push it up to turn it on???!!! so weird!

***UPDATE***

In the same day....

I put Harper in her pack'n'play. I left her view for maybe a minute. I turned around and saw her STANDING on the edge and looking over. Seriously?!?!?  Ok, it is SO time to move everything down!

My girl just got big overnight! She is just so curious!!

update on Sleep Training & Food

I'm a little late posting this, but after Harper's 6 month check-up, her pediatrician got real with us. She basically said we were losing sleep because H was not comfortable and she needed more food. WHOOPS. I mean, we are dumb, but dang!  She's a happy baby, how were we to know?!?!

Sleep:
So, we went cold turkey. On everything! We placed her in her crib for the first time, NO swaddle, and we did not rock her to sleep. Oh dear!

That first night was super rocky. We let her cry it out and it was AWFUL. We both kept going in and patting her and making sure she was ok. After 40 minutes of crying, she fell asleep. I'm not sure that Brian or I slept very good that night!

The next night, we were scared.to.death. I already told Brian I was going to have to leave if she cried again. I just couldn't stand it! But, he laid her down awake, and she rolled around for about 10 minutes, and went right to sleep...and slept THROUGH the night! Since then we have placed her in her crib and she puts herself to sleep. It's soo amazing!!! :)

I've also worked very hard at getting her to sleep at least 1 nap a day in her crib when I'm home - mostly over Spring Break. To most of you, that seems really silly. But if you remember, she would never sleep unless we held her or she was in her vibrating seat. She sometimes sleeps in her pack'n'play for the sitter, but never for us. It's been a bit of a struggle but she has taken at least 1 nap a day in her crib and sometimes more! YAY! Free time?! Yea, now I see how SAHM's are able to do so much during their kid's naps...they aren't holding them!

Napping has been getting easier and easier with the crib, so I'm hopeful I can get a good routine in this summer when I'm off. On the weekends, we've pretty much set when her naps are according to when she's tired and she usually sleeps in her crib for an hour each time. That's amazing for her!!

So, although I was planning on swaddling Harper until she was around 5...looks like we don't have to do that!

Food:
We also started baby food when H turned 6 months old. We've just now finished having her try all the first foods for a few days.  I made a handy-dandy spreadsheet where we checked off how many times she ate the food and if she liked it, etc.  Um, girl takes after her parents! She loves to eat! Everything! She definitely has her favorites, but she will eat anything you put in front of her!

Anyone else think making a new schedule and figuring out how much your child should eat is confusing?!

When I Fell In Love

Dear Harper,

I vividly remember the day I fell head-over-heels in love with you. 

Although I loved you more than anything while you were growing in my belly; it was a different kind of love.  I loved you while you were there, but I did not know you. I didn't know what you would look like. I didn't know how you would act. I don't think I could physically and emotionally understand the love I would feel for you.

The moment you were born, that love that I had felt for 9 months changed.  I loved you little baby.  I was in total amazement at you and still haven't figured out how something so beautiful and sweet could be formed inside me.  But Mommy was in a lot of pain so I couldn't enjoy all of you. Through the first month of 'getting to know you' and learning to be a Mommy, I loved you. I mean, you were mine. All mine.  And I loved every piece of you. More than I felt I could.

But the day I fell totally head over heels-no going back-no greater feeling than this was the day you turned one month old. 

I was taking your picture and trying to get you to smile as you had shown us several times before. You belted out this HUGE laugh and smile that completely covered your entire face.  I thought my heart might burst out of my chest.  I remember catching my breath and getting light on the knees.  I remember kneeling down beside the rocking chair you were in and thinking, oh my gosh I cannot believe this feeling.  Because like I said, I thought I had loved you when I was pregnant; I thought I had loved you when you were first born.  But the feeling of seeing you interact with me. So happy. So trusting. So loved. That's when I felt my heart had no more room in it...it was going to burst! That was the true moment that I fell so hard in love with you that I truly never dreamed possible. 

Personally I don't think I ever would have imagined loving someone like I love you. I love your Daddy, but not like this. I love your GG and GDaddy, but not like this. I love your cuzzies and your auntie, but not like this.

Sweet Harper, I love you more than you will quite possibly ever know.

*and I just happened to get a photo of this moment...

The verse to the right of my blog; I added that the day we decided to begin the journey. I kept it on my blog because sometimes I wasn't too sure if it would happen. But He knows all in His timing.


Dear little Harper, you bring us so much joy each day. My heart is so filled with you. Thank you for letting us be your parents.

Love you peas,
Mommy

Another Weekend at Keeneland:)

Listen friends, our baby girl loves it and we do too! A win-win!!

Last weekend, my fabulous friends, Katharine and Andy came in this weekend and it was SO good seeing her. I just wish so much that she still lived here. We used to work together and became great friends.  She's just one of those awesome people you hope you have a chance to have in your life! Aggh, I wish you could move back!

We spent our Saturday at Keeneland with her, Sara, and Patrice from little burlew.  Abbott, Patrice's son, is 2 weeks older than Harper. It was neat seeing her interact with another baby her age - we've never seen that before! Basically, they stole each other's toys and Harper tried to grab Abbott's face. HA!

please take note of the horsey shoes! love them! thanks GG!

On Sunday we met Katharine, Andy, and Sara at Drake's.  We love Drake's, but we were not being smart that day! We forgot they only have super high table tops...so we improvised... Good thing our girl is tha bomb and just went with the flow all on her own. HA!

Then we finished off our weekend playing with GG and GDaddy and have a 'picnic' outside!

Thanks Great-Aunt Dorothy for the picnic basket...it is a favorite toy right now!