Santa's Helpers

Happy Holidays from the Whittleseys!

As we prepare for Christmas, our house is full of holiday cheer. Grady has been supervising all of the wrapping

and Harper has been being extra adorable!

2 Months Old

Harper celebrated turning 2 months old this week. In honor of her milestone, we visited Dr. Peterson for a well visit check up. Harper is up to 11 lb, 2 oz and 23" long - which puts her in the 60 percentile for weight and 76 percentile for height. She eats approximately 4 ounces every three hours and her cheeks are becoming quite chubby! Dr. Peterson was pleased with her growth and said she was a beautiful little girl (Yup, doc, we agree!). At the end of the appoinment, Harper recieved three shots as a present. Although the nurse did an excellent job, Harper wasn't a fan of the shots and demonstrated her vocal ability to let the entire building know that it hurt. Poor kiddo. That evening, we snuggled and she took a nap on both Ross and myself before bathtime (one of her favorite things).

Silent Night

In the last few days, Harper has figured out that she should sleep at night. Previously she was a night owl - often staying up until past midnight. She was often overtired and cranky so getting her down at night was tiring for us. However, just this week, she decided that 8 pm is a good bedtime. Ross and I are loving the change in schedule - and that there is a schedule! We have also discovered what happens if you try to change her nap schedule - you get a very cranky baby!

Alice in Wonderland

We read to Harper as part of her bedtime routine. We started out with some of the books she recieved as gifts. However, recently Ross has reading her Alice in Wonderland. Everynight he sits down with her and reads a chapter of the story. It's a nice way to unwind for Ross and Harper loves hearing her dad's voice. Ross found an application on his phone with some classic stories so he has been using it to read her the book - ahhh, technology! No matter where the book is coming from, storytime has become one of the best times of the night.

Salt Dough Ornaments

On Sunday night we got a little crafty and made salt dough ornaments. We hoped to get some good hand and footprints from Harper to hang on the tree. I have to admit it's a little challenging to press an infants foot into the dough. It's even more challenging to get them to open their hand before pressing it down! We had fun trying and did get a few good ornaments to hang!

Daddy's Helper

One of Ross's hobbies is brewing beer. He has been brewing for a few years now and likes trying new recipes. Last weekend he started working on a New Castle clone . While the brew was simmering, he grabbed Harper and proceeded to educate her on the brewing process. Although she might not be able to recall helping him brew this batch, it will be a fun memory for Ross.

Cousins

Harper and I went to visit Stephanie and Reid this week. It was great to see Steph is doing well and Reid is flourishing. His color is amazing and he is very alert. He was constantly looking around the room and cooing. It was shocking for me to see how big Harper was in comparison to Reid. Both kids were 8 lbs 2 oz when they were born and Reid was 3/4" longer than Harper. While Ross and I thought Harper had been growing quickly, it was surprising to see how BIG she seemed when laid next to Reid. Although the kids didn't seem to notice one another, it was fun to get them together for their first play date.

A Weekend of Firsts

This weekend Harper had her first babysitter and attended her first wedding! On Friday, Ross and I attended my company's holiday party. We had a nice time - it was refreshing to get out of the house and have adult conversation. And, of course, it was fun to catch up with my coworkers. Harper was lucky enough to have Aunt Emilie come over to watch her. Kirk and Linda also stopped by for a quick visit. Harper was well behaved for Emilie so we hope she will be willing to babysit her again!

The next evening, we attended Karl and Heather Stoa's wedding as a family. We were pretty brave (or stupid) to bring a 6 week old baby to a wedding! Harper did awesome - she didn't make a peep during the ceremony and was a happy baby during the reception. Ross commented that he felt like a celebrity because people kept turning around to stare at Harper and were constantly coming over to take a closer look.

"Fixing It"

When Harper gets fussy, she can be hard to please. Typically she is just overtired, hungry or in a little pain from acid reflux. Sometimes just changing how she is being held will satisify her...other times she is more difficult to please. For those situations, we use the Fix It Walk. The Fix It Walk (which was named by Grandma Judy) is simply walking very quickly through the house. Harper seems to think that we are hurrying to fix whatever problem she has....and will immediately calm down!

Relief

Harper has been having a rough time lately. She hasn't been sleeping well and would fuss and scream when awake. No matter how much we tried to console her, Harper would cry for hours. We would walk, bounce, pat her bottom and rub her back. We would rock in the chair and "shhhh." We would offer the binky or the bottle. However, nothing seemed to make her feel better. Sometimes she just seemed fussy and overtired - other times her screams sounded like she was in pain. So, back to the doctor! (We've been there almost every week.)

Dr. Peterson listened to our description of Harper's behavior and looked her over. Of course, Harper was an angel at the doctor's office - the happiest baby in the world! Dr. Peterson wasn't fooled by her cheery disposition and diagnosed her with silent reflux and prescribed ranitidine (Zantac). After just one day, Harper's attitude improved. After a few days of taking the medicine, she is like a brand new baby - happy and content! She is already sleeping better and we hardly see any tears now! It's wonderful to know she is feeling better.