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.

Harper and Theo relaxing with some George

Birthday glorious birthday

Her actual birthday morning, a new doll and a bed for her & Lulu

More birthday!!!

23 months....last post before 2!!!

December was such a fun month. I keep saying it keeps getting better and it really does. Harper has had a word explosion in the last couple weeks and she can communicate so well. She says please and can let us know if she's hungry and what she wants to eat. It's really wonderful. She's also growing. Still a peanut but definitely a little girl. no more baby. She has begun to play make believe and sometimes I catch her holding anything she can find up to her ear and pretending it's a phone. She loves phones.
Earlier in the month we enjoyed a visit from the Adam's family. It was the first time that we got Harper and Theo together that they actually played. Like chased each other around, laughed, copied, danced and had so much fun. Past visits they have done more watching and standing back a little. Now they are officially fast friends and Harper can't wait for their next play date.

December also brought some snow....Harper had her first taste and has bundled into snowpants several times. She was also lucky enough to get a sled for Christmas that we have already been enjoying.

Harper took part in the holiday decorating. Once I got the lights on the tree she walked around it a few times pointing to each light and saying "and more, and more, and more...." very cute. I captured the end of it in the video below. She also likes to play with my nativity. I remember doing the same thing when I was a kid at my parent's house.

But....besides the excitement of the Theo weekend, the snow, the holidays, there was one December event that beat all the rest. Harper got a new kitten. She named him Bleu Cheese (the Cheese is silent) and although she can be rough with him at times and each of us has tons of cat scratches on our hands and legs he is so sweet. He is actually curled up next to her in her bed now as I type this. We're pretty sure they are going to be lifelong pals.

Below are some favorite photos from this month. And also two videos....the first is of Harper naming Bleu and the second is of Harper enjoying the Christmas Tree. Enjoy and all good things in 2010!

A kazoo in your stocking...pretty much as good as it gets.

Harper counting

Bleu's first day in his new home.

Snowy evening

22 months

Harper is 22 months old today! I'm not sure if that's is more shocking or the fact that I'm updating the blog on time.
In the past few months Harper has totally become her own little person. She is absorbing so much and surprising us every day with what she understands and does.
A few days ago she impressed us all by counting to 4. I tried to catch it on video but so far the sight of the camera is a total distraction. She holds up her little fingers as she counts and claps when she's done. It's heart melting.
I think this November was the fastest month to date. We started a house project in our living room. We painted which involved two colors and some detailed work and touch up. But it looks great. We bought curtains for the room but we are waiting to hang them until we put up the crown molding. Hopefully this month.
Will went on a hunting trip over Thanksgiving so Harper and I spent the week in Brattleboro. It was a nice treat to see so much of Nonie and Poppa and Harper got to see a little extra of Alex and Kyler which is always nice.
Harper has become a bit of a climber. As you can see from that egg on her head. She actually fell off two dining room chairs at two different houses in one day. The first fall she hit her chin and the second got her forehead. Aiyiyi.
Other than that we've been enjoying our friends Stella and Jackson in Lebanon, taking lots of walks with Bella and trying to get Harper used to riding in the ergo again since it could snow anytime. We have a couple parks near our house, one of which is at a school and has a couple of slides. Harper went down the park slide alone for the first time. She was clearly nervous but excited when it happened and did it again and again. She has had lots of practice with the mini slide in our yard.
Harper's favorite things are birds, fish, the moon and of course elmo. She loves to be outside and look for birds, squirrels and the moon and she is constantly talking about fish. She always asks to read fish books. She recently got a super cute pair of elmo slippers from Auntie Megs that we haven't been able to take off of her.
Below are a few of our favorites this month:















Holiday art project



















Bundled up and ready to play












Bird watching at Nonie & Poppa's













Sliding all by herself

21 month's old

October brought us lots of beautiful fall days. We tried to soak up as much outdoor time as possible and shared the joy of leaf piles with Harper.
This was Harper's second Halloween. We (Papa) made her a bumblebee costume that was very cute. She wore it at her music class the week of Halloween and then again at the party at Will's fire station on Halloween night. The best moment was when a little boy came to the station dressed as Elmo. She spotted him from far across the room and walked right up and stared. Then she kept saying "Elmo shoe" and pointing at his red fur covered sneaker which he kept showing her.
It is fitting that Harper's birthday photo this month is with Mallory because she LOVES her. It's a little reminiscent of Lennie from Of Mice and Men because she just wants to hold her and squeeze her and while Mallory is very accommodating the elderly cat can only take so much. To date there has only been one incident of a scratch and it was well warranted. She getting better though because she'll pick her up now and after only a few seconds say "down" and drop her (literally.)
Other exciting things this month include learning to say and recognize the color purple. She also practices counting on her fingers although the only number she seems sure of is 3. The most fascinating part of her development is still her speech. She can understand virtually everything we say to her and as her vocabulary grows so does her understanding of things. Will, Harper and Bella went for a walk the other day and Harper pointed to the brook and said "Wa wa fish." Her favorite food is "Papa cheese" which is a fancy cheese that the two of them enjoy together (but cream cheese works in a pinch.) The second we pull out of the driveway to go anywhere she says "where's bella?" or "bella walk?" which can get old, but "yesh" is still one of her favorite answers (unless she really means "no") and I'm thankful for that.
Lulu is still very important to her and she just loves babies in general. Lucky for us we know a few people with real babies on the way!
Here are a few of our favorite October photos:














Say cheese Harper!













Very cool



















At Jackson's birthday party















We put her in charge of the stickers.

20 Months Old!!!

September was the perfect kick off for fall. Harper had her first experience apple picking (she ate more then she picked.) We also visited a farm and picked some pumpkins. Harper liked the baby pumpkins. We have also been exploring the leaves that are falling at an amazing rate. Our first trip in September was a visit to Maine for Jaiden's first birthday and enjoyed a visit with Theo.

This month Harper took her first dance class. It was a five week class and Harper got more and more interested every week. She can even show off a few of her moves. I'll try to catch her on video soon.

This was also a fun month for Will and I as we went to one wedding in September and another wedding in early October. We also celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary on October 1st. That means we had three date nights in only a few weeks. Definitely a special treat. Grandpa Gerry has gotten really good at getting Harper down to sleep. We're trying not to abuse this new skill :)

In other news Harper is still at a super fun stage. She learns new words everyday and shocks us with the things she knows and understands. She's becoming my little helper in many ways. She is also starting to exhibit some confidence and defiance. If she doesn't want to do something she let's you know. A few of her favorite things include her baby doll Lulu, coloring and playing with stickers and going for walks. We are also taking music class again and it's so fun to see how much she remembers and how much she enjoys it. I also have to admit that singing goodbye to those instruments a few times every week makes transitions at home a lot easier.

Here are a few of our favorite Harper photos from the past month:

Relaxing

A quick wash in the sink. Harper LOVES to brush her "cheeth"

Say cheese!

It's the pumpkin queen!

Mmmmnnnn fresh picked apples

So blond!
Click here to see the rest of the September photos.

19 Months!

August certainly was an eventful month!
We began the month in Chicago visiting with family. We spent the first half of the visit in Lockport with Joel, Ami and Abi and went to the zoo, ate lots of delicious food that Aunt Sandy made and even made a trip to downtown Lockport. Then we went to stay with Aunt Sharon and visited millennium park, went shopping in the city, and went to Indiana to visit with Gail at her house. Harper had the best time with all of her cousins. It's so great to see her interact with all of our family. We're already looking forward to the next visit.
When we got home Harper and I had the pleasure of meeting Ella (Cedar's daughter) for the very first time. They were visiting New England so we got to have two playdates with them and it was so good to finally see Ella. She and Harper are going to be pen pals until their next visit!
Next we enjoyed a weekend visit from Jim, Julie, Bailey & Ali Young. They drove down on a Thursday and spent Thursday & Friday nights in the Lebanon area and we visited Quechee & Simon Pearce, the Montshire Museam, King Arthur Flour and went out to dinner. We even had a slumber party at our house with Ali and Bailey on Friday night. Then Saturday we all piled into their van and went to Brattleboro where we all visited the Retreat petting farm, had some VT ice cream and visited with my parents. Sunday we had brunch at my parents before they left. Harper was completely smitten with Ali and Bailey. She had their full attention and she loved it. They held hands the entire time and she was always reaching for them to pick her up or to rescue her from my arms. She really fell head over heels for them which was so fun to watch.
As if all of that wasn't enough Harper went to the doctor for her 18-month check up. She's in good health and nearly 18 lbs.
She has more words by the day. The other night she reached into the kitchen drawer and pulled out the ice cream scoop and started pointing it at Will saying "icshwem". Of course he gave her a little! She also got her first potty and started taking her first toddler dance class. She got her first doll in Chicago which we have named Lulu and she LOVES her. "Bebe" gets lots of walks around the house in her doll carriage.
Will and I are still trying to fully unpack but we are definitely getting there. We have a fence to put up and Will has already done a lot of yard work. We'll get there!



















New PJ's



















A little reading on the potty















New shoes!

18 Months

Oh boy is this post late. With summer finally arriving with the month of August and our annual trip to Chicago all happening on Harper's 18 month milestone I found myself falling farther and farther behind with the post.
We have had the rainiest summer I can remember so we've been making good use of the dry days we have. Harper enjoyed her first Fireworks and she made all the appropriate oohs and aahhhs along with me.
July also brought a visit with Theo and his parents. The older they get the more fun it is to watch them play together. There was even some grape sharing.
Steph & I took Harper to a Junkman music fest in Woodstock. She seemed to enjoy herself and met up with another pal from playgroup.
In the most exciting news this month Kyler turned one. But she's already been walking since last month so she's an old pro now and it's so fun to watch her and Harper run around together. The entire dynamic of their relationship has changed now and they are on a much more even playing field. Harper still tries to smother her with hugs and kisses but now she can run away if she's had enough. But most of the time she hugs her back. They are adorable.
This month Harper learned to take bag clips off which has required some cupboard reorganization. But I still keep her snacks pretty low and if I'm trying to get something done in the kitchen I'll often turn around and she'll be gone. My first place to check is the bottom of the stairs where she sits with her newly found bag of snacks and helps herself.
We also learned this summer that she hates to get her feet dirty. My dad built her a sandbox but she prefers to play from the perimeter rather than diving right in. I can't say I blame her but it is funny at the beach. I ended up buying her water shoes to keep those toes as clean as possible.
Most of July was spent unpacking and trying to organize the new house. It's been fun and stressful at the same time but it feels more like home everyday. Now we just need some paint on the walls and a few final boxes unpacked. Come visit soon and weigh in on paint colors!














Pass the grapes please.















Daddy's girl


















Making music with junk...how fun!















High Five!

See all of July's photos here:
http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1072334016/a=13429038_13429038/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/