Harper - 7 months!!

Can you believe it! Time is flying. Harper is about to have another cousin - her first girl cousin! Yipee!! I feel like it was just the other day that I was 9 months pregnant and finding out Kristi was going to have another baby. And now that baby is going to make her big debut any day now. We cannot wait!!

Harper hasn't really hit any new milestone that you are not aware of but I thought I would do a post on her anyways since its been a while.

What describes Harper these days?

Sweet, sweet, sweet! She is still the most mellow baby ever. Smiles all the time but mostly when I am around. (I love that!) She has a special smile reserved just for me. Throughout our time in Colorado anytime I would enter a room she was in she would hear my voice and turn to look at me and SMILE. I love, though, that it doesn't make her upset to be with anyone else she just thinks its icing on the cake to have me there too. :)

She loves animals, as we discovered in Colorado. Any time she sees one she just starts laughing. I wonder if that is a trait that will stick. It will be funny if an animal lover comes from me. You know, since you all tease me about hating dogs. (NOT true btw!!)

She loves to bounce, jump and dance. Any time there is a beat she immediately starts the bob. She also likes to do this while I am holding her. It often turns into a head butt. Sometimes resulting in tears - give me a break. I cry easily these days! :)

She loves the sound of her voice and so do I! But I have to admit its about 3 octaves higher than the average, but its such a happy sound, how can I not smile? Her favorite sounds are "da-da", "hi ya" and what sounds like "hey there". She is also a big fan of the "ooooo" sound. Which makes for pretty funny facial expressions.

She sits for long periods by herself now and when we make her she will try to stay in the crawling position (knees tucked under and arms holding her up.) She knows she's doing something right and smiles big, even tries to rock a little but its too early for crawling. She tried to lift one hand once and splatted face first on the floor. I am proud of her resilience though. She tried it again shortly after but had the same result. Rylie would have been too scared to try again and would have just waited until she was sure she could do it. Its fun to watch how different they are in personality.

Whoa! This is new.

Hmm...maybe I'll move forward if I stick my leg out like this.

Her favorite game is for me to hide her paci in a bin full of toys. She pulls everything out until she finds it. Cleaver girl!!

Alright mom...I'm gonna find it! Just watch. 

That's not it. That's not it. 

Hmm...I like this toy.

Nope. I want the paci! 

Found it! 

Hmmm...now to get it in my mouth. 

This still isn't working! Any help mom?

This is tricky!

Oh! Got it!!

She loves being under furniture. Kind of strange! She is also trying to do a better job of sleeping. Starting to nap more consistently and usually sleeps 8-10 hours at night. She eats like a champ. Loves her baby food!! 

Carrots! YAY!!

The last thing to mention is a little embarrassing to admit but I am going to tell you anyway. She poops on the potty! Haha! Yep, its a pretty funny sight. A little back story: I had read in a magazine article about potty training infants when I was pregnant with Rylie, never really crossed my mind to try. It made sense to me though. I also have a friend that did it with her baby. Anyways, one frustrating day potty training Rylie I noticed Harpers face turning red and thought lets set her on the potty. Rylie got way in to that! So we did and we made up a little song for her. Yeah, no I am not sharing that one with you...that crosses the line! :) It worked - she went! Well, as far as Harper going on the potty it worked but as far as encouraging Rylie to do the same...not so much. The rest is history! It is very obvious when Harper has to go, her face turns all shades of red and purple, so I just stick her on the potty. Now, as I change her after nap I set her on and the majority of the time she goes. So funny! That was not my intent but hey fewer stinky diapers in the trash sounds good to me! And the best part is Harper loves it!! Every time she sits on her little throne she gives the biggest smile and after the deed is done she giggles at her little accomplishment.

Here are some more cute pictures. (Like you didn't already see enough!)

Ringing in the new year with mom and dad. Just couldn't sleep...too excited!!

Braving some Colorado weather! All bundled with her cute hat from Pippen.

Pigtails!