All of a sudden our big girl has decided she doesn't want her picture taken.
It all began when you'd ask her to say "cheese" and she'd give you this totally ridiculous grin with squinted eyes and an open mouth. Now she's evolved into frowns.
I've decided I like this big cheese face better. Better than the pouts. I can actually see her mouth making the word no in one of the pictures I took of her this month.
As a side note Leah and I are inventing pajamas that have zippers you can unzip to detach the feet from them. Harper is modeling a pair in the photo above. Brillant for a chlid that gets attached to pj's even if there toes are breaking from being far to tall to continue wearing them. I think we're really onto something here ;)
With H's anti-photo movement it's been easier to switch the lens in P's direction. She's getting so big and is so full of smiles and love. She is so curious about everything around her and she's so strong. She'll be sitting up alone in no time.
February was a good month. We had a couple little tastes of spring as well as a couple major snow storms adding to the overwhelming pile of snow that still covers New England. The good thing that has come from the recent storms is that we got our first snowman making snow. Harper was so excited to finally make a snowman. Unfortunately rising temperatures landed frosty in a pile in our driveway the next day. Luckily he was easy to put back together.
We also began a home improvement project this month. Will took out the wall between our dining room and our kitchen. The main purpose was to give us a little more space and a little more light. We were both thrilled with the results but Harper keeps asking when Daddy's going to "fix our wall." The wall he took out was a a load bearing wall so Ryan came over one day and helped in put in a support beam so that our house won't fall over. Thank goodness for Ryan. Lucky for Harper, Paisley and I he brought Dana, Alex and Kyler when he came. The kids had a great time together. Alex totally loves and cuddles Paisley every chance he gets. He's such a good big brother. They enjoyed a movie and some popcorn together as well as puzzles, hide and seek and more. We topped a great day off with a big trip to our favorite pizza place.
We tried to get a little crafty this month. We made some Valentines for Harper's friends. She really got into it so we've had the supplies out for more Valentines fun. The other day she decided it would be fun to have heart stickers on our faces. She was right. It was fun.
Leah and I hadn't gotten the kids together to celebrate birthdays so we decided to meet in the middle and go to the Mall of New Hampshire. Our friend Marge met us too and we attempted to manage 6 kids in a crazy mall by ourselves. The visit got off to a great start when I got lost and the extra driving was just enough for Harper to get car sick. It was extra gross and while I always travel with etra clothes for my infant the same cannot be said for my toddler. So luckily we were visiting a mall and parked right near the Old Navy where we could get some new clothes quickly. The rest of the visit was great. We took the kids on the carousel and let them ride in those rides that are vehicles that shake for a few minutes when you fee them some quarters. They were a huge hit. After the other girls headed home I took Harper to Build A Bear. It was my first experience but she had been before. We made a cute bunny who we named Bernice. (We already own a bunny named Beatrice.) It was a fun and busy day.
The photo above is Paisley wearing an outfit that was Leah's when she was a baby. Leah has a few gems that her mom saved for her that she's been generous enough to share with us. This one makes me smile everytime Paisley wears it. So special to share things with our kids that we wore as little girls.
In other news Harper is still the most amazing big sister that I've ever known. Paisley is doing more and more everyday and Harper loves watching her develop as much as we do. This week Paisley rolled over from back to front for the first time. Harper was right there next to me cheering her on. I feel so blessed to have such wonderful girls who already love each other so much. I know there will be sisterly spats along the way but I can already see the foundation of their relationship being built and it's so strong.
Our weeks are full of music class, playdates with our friends and Harper's school on Fridays. We have made some good friends in the Upper Valley and they make being a stay at home mom so much easier. It feels so good to have someone to call if you just need to get out of the house on a Monday morning. Harper loves her friends and she's learning to express it. This week she told me she missed her friend Jackson and she wanted to go to his house. So, we invited ourselves over and had a great visit.
Harper is also totally adores her cousin Emily. Emily and Harper are about the same age difference as myself and my cousin Christa, 7 years. I remember growing up how enamored of her I was. I can see those same feelings in Harper's eyes when she looks at Emily. It's total love and Emily is so kind and patient with her. Emily is such a great kid and she's a wonderful role model for Harper. Emily was there the night I went into labor with Harper and she was among our very first visitors at the hospital. Pretty special.
Now that snow is starting to melt we are wearing rain boots for the duration of this wintery mud season. Harper could not be happier to be able to stomp around in puddles any chance she can get. It certainly gets some energy out.
