It's the Little Things

This is the time of year when things start to feel a little crunched. That happy holiday bustle has turned into panicked holiday frenzy. The joy that overwhelmed me when Harper woke up from her nap and saw the Christmas tree (oooh, she said), has faded somewhat. We have things to get out and do, but frankly, she'd rather not be dragged in and out of the car a dozen times a day. And really, who can blame her. I know that we'll have a great time having Christmas with my family in Wisconsin and then more great times with bonus celebrations here in Ohio, it's just that getting ready for them is getting a little nuts. Our Christmas card envelopes have been ready to go for nearly a month, but there's no letter in them just yet. And I woke up Monday morning and realized there's less than two weeks until Christmas!!! Help!

Matt was in charge of Harper all day on Sunday while I baked and made candy to dole out with holiday greetings to our neighbors. Kind of a good will gesture since we still don't know some of them very well. Despite spending nearly all day on my feet and having a sore back the next day from leaning over a table well into the night wrapping caramels, it was nice not to be 100% percent in charge of anyone for a few hours. A much needed break. Unfortunately, when I went to deliver the tins of goodies this afternoon, only two of the eight people were home. Hopefully everyone will find the festive holiday tins on their doorsteps and get them inside before the stuff freezes, although the buckeyes are good that way. . .

Harper is reveling in some newfound independence, which is exciting and frustrating at the same time. She has had a lot of recent success with feeding herself. She can get the fork and spoon into her mouth with about 95% accuracy, as long as we put the food on first, and it isn't something like soup. The downside is that she now pretty much refuses to eat her yogurt in the morning unless we let her feed herself. At this point it's a very s-l-o-w process. I thought I might speed things up by putting the yogurt in a bowl that stuck to her tray, and letting her use this Gerber feeding utensil that is a sort of ridged plastic thing the food is supposed to just cling to. That worked for about five minutes before Harper decided to eliminate the middle man and just started eating with her hands.












































Something to smile about (besides the spectacle itself), even when eating with her hands, she didn't make too big a mess. Very little yogurt even ended up on the floor. That's my girl!