Saturday, April 28, 2012

Kid Party

Our family was lucky enough to spend an evening with Reid and Sydney this weekend. Dave and Stephanie enjoyed a date night while we enjoyed playing with their kids. Reid and Harper hung out on the floor together - it's really neat to see them playing next to one another. Sydney was a great helper and later beat Ross at War (a card game). It's always fun to get the cousins together for a party.




Sick

The kiddos in the infant room at daycare all had a nasty cough last week. Harper's finally got so bad that it was waking her up at night - so we decided it was time for a trip to the doctor. We had just been in the office on Monday for Harper's 6 month well visit but decided we didn't want to go through the weekend with her battling a cold. It was a good thing we made the trip - in addition to battling a chest cold, Harper had developed an ear infection. Dr. Peterson sent us home with a nebulizer and some antibiotics.

Harper isn't a fan of being told what to do - so administering the medicine can be a challenge. Aunt Stephanie suggested removing the mask from the nebulizer - Harper thinks this is a much better idea and has even started holding the medicine up to her mouth all by herself. We hope that the medicine does the trick and our happy girl is back next week!



Thursday, April 26, 2012

6 Month Photos

We returned to Missie at ML Photography for Harper's 6 month photos. Missie is worth the drive - she did an amazing job with the photos. Unlike the newborn photos, Harper was kept awake for the session. Missie did her best to impress Harper - but she had a hard time getting our little princess to smile. Although she wasn't always flashing her gorgeous smile, she was happy during the photoshoot and enjoyed rolling around on the floor and playing with the ruffles on some of her outfits. Enjoy!











Monday, April 23, 2012

6 Month Check Up

Harper is already 6 months old! Our little princess celebrated her 1/2 birthday this month. In the past few weeks Harper has become a chatterbox. She will talk for hours sometimes - high and fast, slow and low. She has a lot to say about everything it seems! Perhaps she is excited to tell people about the new things she does and see. She has been changed so much in the past month and experienced many firsts. Some of her new experiences include....

  • Laughing. Harper laughed at her cousin Syndey at the last Wii Party. It was a deep and hearty chuckle!
  • Putting her feet in her mouth. She is flexible and it was only a matter of time until they ended up in her mouth!
  • Kissing. Harper first gave me a smooch a few weeks ago. Since then she has kissed her Daddy and cousin Brody. 
  • Noticing Mommy's hair. The first time she carefully caressed my hair; the second time she grabbed and yanked. Either way, she knows mommy has hair. Earrings are currently safe.
We visited Dr. Peterson for Harper's 6 month check up. Harper was 25.8" long (50%) and weighed 15 lb 13 oz (46%) on the day of her check up. We are also happy to report that we will be trying another type of formula and a steroid cream.  Dr. Peterson believes that Harper has eczema and an allergy to her soy formula. We are hopeful that the combination will knock out her rash, dry skin and occasional itchy fits!





Face Time

Although it's obvious to Ross and me that Harper has the strength to roll onto her stomach, she hasn't found a reason to do so. She obviously prefers laying on her back and sometimes her side to play with toys. She can roll easily back and forth from one side to another, but never tries to roll onto her belly. This weekend, she FINALLY found a reason to finish rolling - sleeping on her stomach! She enjoyed a good night's sleep on her belly and I predict we will find her rolling onto her belly more often in the future....even if it's just at night. 


Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Squash

Harper has mixed feelings about acorn squash. She hasn't been really enjoying any of her new foods lately...she'll eat a few bites but isn't anxious to get it into her mouth. Change is hard, I guess.


Easter in Iowa Falls

We celebrated Easter with Grandma and Grandpa Connell and the Harper families this weekend. Although we were getting together a week after Easter, the Bunny still managed to find Grandma Judy's house! The older kids (meaning 1.5 and up!) had a blast collecting eggs. After they finished sorting their haul, they went outside to jump on the trampoline and then rode the golf cart around the yard with the help of some of the adults. Even though Harper and Reid couldn't ride the golf cart, they still had an excellent time playing together and cuddling with Grandma.





Wednesday, April 11, 2012

New Toys!

Harper still loves to sit in her bumbo and watch Ross and I work in the kitchen. Sometimes she watches us intently - like she's studying to be a chef. Other times she plays and chatters to herself. We always provide her with a number of toys to play with but lately she's been drawn to our fruit and vegetable bowl.  Right now there is an onion and sweet potatoes (which we already know that Harper loves!) in the bowl and Harper just couldn't leave it alone. She kept contorting herself to get to the bowl so we eventually just moved it in front of her where she could happily admire its contents.

Also, notice how Harper is sitting in the bumbo. Although the bumbo is pretty straightforward, Harper has learned how to squirm into a position that is more comfortable to her - it looks awkward to us, but every time she sits in her bumbo she eventually ends up in a similar position!

Avocado, Bleh

Avocados are not one of Harper's favorite foods. She will stand a few bites but has no interest in finishing the jar.

Next up is acorn squash!

First Kiss

Ross and I give Harper lots of kisses every day. We know she will eventually make us stop, so we are trying to get in as many smooches as we can now! Ross likes to kiss on the back of her neck and give her lots of big smooches on the check. I take a gentler approach and give soft kisses on her check or lips. Sometimes she will reach her arm around and embrace my face while I kiss her - it's very sweet. This morning, after a round of kisses from both Ross and me, Harper wanted to give some love back - she opened her mouth wide and leaned forward to give me a kiss! I'm still ecstatic about her kiss. If I'm this happy about a kiss from her, I can't imagine the emotions I will feel the first time she says "I love you." I took the memory of the kiss with me to work and spent most of the day thinking about it and smiling - I'm a lucky mommy!

Monday, April 9, 2012

New Friends

Grady and Harper are slowly becoming good friends. On Saturday morning we brought Harper into bed with us for a few minutes. Grady likes to get loved up in the morning so he also joined us in the bed. Before we knew it, Grady had plopped down next to Harper and she was grabbing petting him. Grady has soft fur and we think Harper enjoyed playing with it. Although she would grab a handful of fur, she never pulled on it so Grady didn't mind too much. Perhaps they will be good friends after all!

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Harper's First Tooth

For the past week, Harper has been acting a bit different. Her nose has been running and her appetite has been weird. Sometimes she'll drink multiple 2 oz bottles in a row....and then she'll want an 8 oz. We kept saying, "Well, maybe she's getting sick. Or maybe she's teething." We didn't think too much about it though until Saturday morning she seemed warm - our poor pumpkin was running a small fever! So, we finally reached a finger into her mouth, and much to our surprise, found TWO teeth working their way out of her gums! Since then, she's been in full teething mode - runny nose and lots of pain! The pain comes and goes - sometimes she's happy and other times she's very uncomfortable. For the most part, Harper is being a trooper and we appreciate every smile she gives us during the day.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter from the Whittlesey Family! We had a wonderful holiday weekend.  We got up on Saturday and headed to Humboldt to spend time with Ross's family. We spent the afternoon at Grandpa Kirk's house. We had a delicious lunch and spent time chatting. Harper was in a great mood for most of the afternoon and took a good snooze, too. Linda took the ladies over to Wit's End - my favorite store in Humboldt. Wit's End has a little bit of everything that is interesting to women and girls.

That evening we headed back to Grandma Ruth's for a relaxing dinner. Around bedtime Harper's teeth began to hurt badly so she had a rough night. Although Harper (and Mom and Dad) were all tired the next morning, we still had a great time hanging out with the Thompson clan. Grandpa Dennis and Grandma Rutha are up to 10 grandkids - so it's a lot of excitement on holidays. The Easter Bunny dropped off bunch of eggs for the kids and it was a ton of fun watching them search for them. The fun continues next weekend when we celebrate with the Connells and Harpers!




Friday, April 6, 2012

Sleep Update

Well, Harper's ability to sleep through the night was short lived - it lasted exactly a week. Since then she's back to getting up once (or sometimes twice) a night. We are going to get strict with her and start enforcing the cry it out method during the night soon...but we plan to wait until after this weekend's Easter holiday when we will travel to Grandma Ruth's house. Currently we will let her calm herself down when we first put her to bed - she typically always wakes up as soon as we set her down and will cry for 10 minutes before playing in her crib for up to half an hour. Eventually she wears herself down and falls into a comfortable sleep. She's been consistently sleeping on her side for over a week now. We think she eventually will sleep on her tummy, but she just can't quite get there yet. Until then, her side seems the next best option.

Toothbrush

Although Harper is still a long time away from having teeth, we got her a toothbrush to begin massaging and cleaning her gums. Harper gets her teeth brushed during bath time. Usually we let her play with it - and she does a surprisingly good job all by herself. Before we get out of the tub, Ross and I will take a turn and make sure we got everything. It kind of massages her gums and she's not quite sure what to think of the new rubbing sensation.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Riley's New Friend

Riley often accompanies Harper and me as we do chores around the house. This evening she followed us into the basement to start a load of laundry. While Harper and I were busy starting a load, Riley found a dog in the t.v. When we came out of the laundry room she was nose to nose with the television. She wasn't angry or excited to see the other - just calmly staring at it. She came back upstairs with us to grab the camera and then returned to staring at herself in the t.v. Silly pup!

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Sweet Pea

Our Sweet Pea tried sweet peas tonight. She got down a few bites but wasn't feeling the bright green vegetable. She's been eating light the last few days - only eating some of her sweet potatoes and drinking only 4 oz at a time. Hopefully the lack of appetite doesn't mean she's sick, but instead that she is just having too much fun playing to eat. She'll continue to get sweet peas for the rest of the week so hopefully her appetite for them increases!

Party Weekend

Last Saturday was a fun filled day at our house. First up was a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Whittlesey and Aunt Alyssa!  They came over to the house for a few hours to catch up and hang out with Harper. We thought Harper would want to show off her new eating skills, but she was a bit shy and only ate a few bites of sweet potato from Grandpa Kirk. She took turns cuddling with everyone and told a few stories to the group in between naps.

Later that night we went out to celebrate Mira's birthday dinner. Ross had a tray of drinks spilled on his lap before we even ordered our meals - Brrr! (Except for the warm sake). Luckily the restaurant was close to home so he was able to run home and change before we even ordered our meals. Harper did a nice job at the restaurant - she spent a lot of time taking in her surrounds and trying to play with the chopsticks. After dinner, Mira and her gang went out to continue the birthday celebration. Dave, Steph, Sydney and Reid all came back to our house to hang out for a few hours. It was an action packed Saturday!