The Rancourt Family: Happy 2nd Birthday Harper!

January was a month filled with birthday celebrations. The birthday fun started with a trip to Maine to help Theo celebrate his 2nd birthday. He and Harper had a great visit. Theo took Harper to his music class and he let her help him open a few birthday presents.
Our next taste of birthday came when we realized that there are four kids (including Harper) in our playgroup that have January/February birthdays.
Birthday became a big topic of discussion for Harper. My dad told her so much about birthday and cake and blowing out candles that she had a little tantrum because birthday wasn't coming soon enough. We practiced blowing out candles with my parent's dining room table candles and when asked Harper will tell you she's "2" and hold up anywhere from one to four fingers. Hey, it's a start.
Lucky Harper had a wonderful family birthday party in Brattleboro and another mini party with her friends in Lebanon. For her party in Lebanon we asked for donations to David's House instead of gifts. Everyone was extremely generous and we raised over $100. We are very excited to drop off the donation.
Birthday week was so big that we think it gave Harper a great big cold that she's still working to get over. We also had Harper's 2-year well baby visit. She is still tiny but growing well and very healthy.
Harper's words are still multiplying. She surprised us the other day by saying "mommy bless you" when I sneezed. Our appreciation of the words was evident so she continued to go through her laundry list "bless you daddy, bless you bella, bless you bleu, bless you nonie, bless you papa, bless you mimi..."
She is putting together sentences now and has a memory like a hawk. Will and I keep asking eachother "did you teach her that" when she says or remembers something that surprises us.
One of her favorite things to do when we have to run an errand is go to the "fish store" which is a pet store that we visit often and try to buy our pet food from to make up for the visits. They have an amazing fish area in the basement, a bird section and one day a week they have puppies. I took Harper yesterday and she was a little confused that the puppies weren't in their usual location. Will has taken her to see the puppies a couple times before and the first time they were watching the puppies play when all of a sudden Harper walked away from the puppies to the corner of the store where there was a small step stool. She picked it up and carried it back over to the cages and climbed up so she could have a better look. Luckily the dog breeders who bring the puppies thought she was great because we were there the following week and she did the same thing again. It was hilarious.
In other big news Harper has gone poop on the potty a few times. She is really proud when she does it but is far from telling me she has to go and sitting down on her own. One of these days.
February has been a snowless month so far and it makes spring feel closer despite the cold temperatures. We're definitely looking forward to getting back outside although we didn't get as much use out of our snow shoes as we would have liked. Maybe next year.