5 Months Old

Howdy Y'all!

Harper is 5 months old (+1 day, if you are counting).  It is unbelievable how much she develops on a weekly basis.  I am so excited to see my family this week so they can see how much Harper has developed since last month.  I know I am biased, but I just love that cute face!  How can you resist that smile.

Here is a comparison to her 1 month picture.

So, Harper...what are you up to these days?

You are wearing 6-9 month clothes.

You wear size 2 diapers.

You probably weigh somewhere around 17 or 18 pounds.

You started eating cereal this month and after a rough start, you are a pro!

You love your Baby Einstein Jumper - and you think it is funny when we sing Jump by Kris Kross while you are jumping.

You love to smile when we play Peek-a-Boo or say Uh-Oh Spaghetti-O!

You giggle when mommy pretends to eat your toes or hands.

You copy mommy sometimes and it makes us laugh.

You hate tummy time!!!!  But, I think you look so cute when you are on your belly.

You have been rolling over from your back to your tummy since you were 3 months old, but you refuse to roll from your tummy to your back.

You still love bedtime stories!

Some of your favorite toys are your Musical Caterpillar that has that "crunchy sounding fabric", your musical book and your Soothing Seahorse.

And, last but not least, you got to sit in a pumpkin.  :)  ha!

We are so happy to have you in our lives - and these first 5 months have been a blast.  We can't wait to experience the next 11,345 months with you.  :)

Toodles.

Precious Things

Howdy Y'all!

My mom didn't save too many things from when I was a baby, but I cherish the things she did keep.  We brought Harper home covered in my baby blanket my MeMaw made me.

Harper has also been able to wear my pink shawl that my MeMaw made me.  Not only is it precious because it was mine and it was made by MeMaw - but, it is also precious because my MeMaw died when I was 4 years old and it is like she is with us.   These things are just so precious!

Now that I have learned how special my things are, I will be sure and save some things for Harper to have when she is grown too.

We had our last home visit today from our agency and of course, it went great.  We love Jazmin and all the support she has given us through our journey of adoption.

After Jazmin left today, we went to the mall to pick up a Christmas present for our niece that lives in Nashville.  While we were there, we went to this cute gift shop that I love called Melody's Choices.  They have the most awesome puppets there - and I decided it would be fun to start buying these one at a time while Harper is growing and by the time she is ready for a puppet show, she will have enough characters for a whole storyline.  She seems to love her first puppet...just look at her face.

Weekends are the best!  And, Harper has been in such a great mood this weekend that it makes me dread Monday even more.  But, off to work I go tomorrow.  Ugh!  We do what we have to do.  :)

One more thing - Harper has pictures scheduled Wednesday afternoon and I am torn on which Christmas outfits to take.  I plan on taking 3, maybe 4 outfits.   We have the following choices (pictured below).  1) Red Corduroy Dress with Harper on the sash - I will put a White Peter Pan collared shirt on underneath it.  2) White smocked top with elf legs and red and white polka pants.  3) Red Corduroy Romper - I will put a white shirt underneath it.  4)  Pink dress with ribbon tree.  5) White with red polka dots smocked pajamas.  6) Green smocked dress with Santa Hats.  7) Reindeer a-line dress to be pair with jeans.  Which ones are your top 3 or 4 choices? 

I am off to enjoy the last few hours of the weekend - they are just too short!

Toodles!

The Great Cereal Catastrophe of 2011

Howdy Y'all!

Harper started eating cereal a little over a week ago and we are trying to get the hang of it.  She did really well the first night and then the second night went way downhill.   She wants the instant pleasure of food like her bottle gives her and she doesn't want to take the time to swallow so she can get another bite.

I have developed my method of feeding her cereal - it may be a little unorthodox, but it works for us.  After the first few bites when she gets frustrated, I spoon in some cereal and then immediately but the pacifier in her mouth.  Tony calls it the "stuff and plug" method.  It really seems to be working for us and hopefully we can wean her off the method in a few weeks.

My mother-in-law was here this weekend and wanted to feed Harper her cereal.  She couldn't quite figure out the timing of the method I use so she gave up and gave Harper a bottle instead for a couple of nights in a row...so on Monday night after a couple of days without cereal, we had The Great Cereal Catastrophe of 2011!

Harper was all ready for cereal - and last night we tried Oatmeal for the first time.  Her first few bites started off great like always - she was smiling and she seemed to really be enjoying the oatmeal.  Then, her frustration set in and she started crying.  I looked away for a split second and during her crying, she lifted her arm and then hit her almost full bowl of oatmeal.  This caused the bowl to fly in the air and oatmeal went everywhere!  The floor, the highchair, Harper's face, Harper's clothes, my clothes, etc.

I pulled her out trying to keep the oatmeal contained and tried to lay her somewhere to get her clothes off.  The fit continued because she was hungry and now she had oatmeal all over her.  I got her down to her diaper and cleaned up while Tony cleaned up her highchair and the floor.  While she is screaming in my arms, I fixed her a bowl of oatmeal #2.  I got her strapped into her chair and she would not even calm down to take one bite.  After trying several times, I got frustrated as well.  :)  Eventually, the full bowl ended up in the sink and a bottle was made.  This little girl of mine can be so stubborn at times and she knows how to work the system.

We marched right upstairs, put on her PJs and snuggled while she ate her bottle.  Times were much simpler when she could just lay in my arms and drink her dinner.  :)

Like I said, I was frustrated - not at Harper, but just at her stubbornness.  But, look at this face, she is just too cute and sweet that I will forget all these crazy moments and remember how funny we looked with oatmeal all over us!

Tonight, she ate her whole bowl of cereal!  Yay!  But, of course, I had to use my method.  My question is this - did you ever have these issues when you introduced cereal?  And, what did you do to remedy your issues?

By the way, look how I found Tony and Harper on Sunday after I came downstairs from putting clothes up.  Isn't it the cutest?

Toodles!

Falling Back and Taking Advantage

Howdy Y'all!

Today is the day where we gain an hour from falling back and I took advantage by cleaning out Harper's closet.  It was time to get rid of the summer clothes and everything sized 0-3 months since we haven't worn those in quite some time.  I also took the tags off and washed all her 6-9 and 6-12 month clothes because this little girl is growing up so fast.  I kept seeing advertisements for the Shout Color Catchers so I decided to try them out with all these clothes I washed today.   It worked!  You should check them out too!

Harper's Grandmother came for a visit this weekend - and Harper got soooo spoiled.  She had a PJ day with Grandmother on Friday, Grandmother read bedtime stories to her, she fed her, she held her all day and she took her shopping.  Now, before you say "this child does not need any more clothes" because she still hasn't repeated an outfit yet, let me just say that Grandmother bought her a dressy winter coat and another more casual winter coat as well as some PJs in the next size up.  These are all things that we could use.  I won't mention the two outfits she bought her as well.  :)  Harper had a great time with her Grandmother!

My last blog was about the bumpers on Harper's bed and the trouble they were causing us.  This week we got the Breathable Bumper I ordered from Walmart.com and it has been working out perfectly.  Now I don't fear that she will get her face planted up against it and won't be able to breathe and we don't have to go rescue a leg or arm constantly from getting stuck in the rails.  Yay!  Thanks for all the suggestions.

Hey Nana, if you are reading this, Harper wants to let you know that she loves you too and she wore her Nana's Princess shirt to prove it.  She misses you and wants to hang out with you soon.

And, last but not least, I will leave you with a couple of pictures from Halloween night and my sweet little clown/Rainbow Brite (I called her a clown - others called her Rainbow Brite - and I am fine with both).  We sat outside with Harper and handed out candy.  She loved watching all the trick-or-treaters.  We can't wait until next year when we will actually take her around to go trick-or-treating herself.

I hope everyone took advantage of their extra hour - even if it just meant sleeping in for an hour.

Toodles!