One Sweet Behind

It looks like Harper is practicing for potty training. She's actually just enjoying one of her Christmas gifts from Auntie Shannon. It is a set of three wooden puzzles in a nifty holder that Harper has deemed the perfect bench for her little tush. We're pretty sure she'll play with the puzzles someday. . .







After shopping and packing and planning, it's nearly time to go. We leave tonight for Florida. I know we'll have a great time. I know I really need the break. But can someone please tell me how I'll possibly survive without seeing this little face for four entire days?

Victory

Harper must be part vine, or mountain goat, or aspiring CEO, because she seems to have an innate desire to climb things. First is was the stairs at my parents' condo, which she scaled successfully at first glance, never having encountered stairs before. Then she just started to climb on anything around the house. She likes to sit on our bathroom scale (not a challenging climb), on the crate I keep tutoring materials in, on the step ladder (which we now know we can't leave out), on boxes, and on the treadmill. Of course we keep the safety key out of the treadmill and out of her reach, so it will not start when she's on or near it. I let her climb on it originally because I felt badly that we didn't have anything else for her to climb on safely. It's not too high off the ground, and she is so proud of her ability to get on and off it.

Now Harper seems very intelligent in many ways. It does, however, take some things a while to occur to her. She has never seen us use the treadmill (because we don't let her around it when it's on), and it was only a couple of days ago that she apparently discovered, to her great joy, that she could actually stand on it. Again, it wasn't on, but she's quite the actress:












































She also seems to be practicing her victory stance for when she finishes her first marathon. You go girl!

I talk to Harper all day long, show her things, and hope she's learning and on her way toward meeting those "milestones". As I've said before, she seems to do things in her own sweet time. Usually just as I'm starting to worry that she's taking too long to learn something, she does it. That's how it was with signing, we tried for a long time to teach her the signs for "more," "please," "thank you," and, "all done," and she finally started using them. Now she has pretty much dropped "more" (the first one she learned) in favor of "please," which works just as well. She also seemed to take forever to learn how to crawl, then to walk, and now I find myself missing those days when she'd stay in one place! I am not too big a worrier, as a mother, but it's hard not to be aware of where your kid is on the timeline of accomplishments, especially if you know other people with babies. People ask me all the time if Harper is able to this or that. And we wonder how our kids get so competitive. . .

Today Harper did two things I've been looking for her to do for a little while now. At breakfast, I was asking her where various parts of her face were. Usually she just looks at me and waits until I touch, or help her touch, her nose, eyes, mouth, hair, etc. She's been able to find my nose for some time (which I'm trying not to take as a dig on how big it is), but never seemed too confident about finding her own. Well at breakfast she correctly identified her eyes, nose, mouth, and hair! We fell apart on the ears, but she'll get it.

Later today, while we were playing in her bucket of blocks, she actually stacked three of them. She loves to knock down towers that we build, but had never shown any interest in building her own. I think the building question is one the doctor might ask the next time we visit, so I will happily be able to tell her, "Yes, Harper can stack at least two blocks." What did I do when Harper built her tower? I clapped and cheered and then knocked it down. Ha! That's pay back kid, you'll think twice before you knock down my next pyramid. Fortunately, she laughed.

Looking Up

After a scary first afternoon, Harper seemed to improve quickly. Tylenol did its job and we made sure she drank lots of clear liquids and tried to keep her comfortable. Her temp never went back up over 100. Harper is now left with a very stuff nose, a picky appetite, and is slightly cranky, otherwise she seems fine. I, on the other hand, am recovering from the cold of death, which struck in full force Friday night. I spent most of the day yesterday in bed. A huge thank you to Matt for allowing that to happen. I sincerely doubt I spent more than five hours with my feet on the floor yesterday. I'm feeling a little better today, with the help of some cold medicine. It clears my congestion but makes me feel all floaty, which I could do without. Matt now seems like he might be coming down with this thing and we're hoping he gets over it fast because. . .

We're going on a trip!

Next week!

To Florida!

So I guess I am going to have to leave home again after all.

We've know about the trip for a little while actually. We will head to Columbus on Wednesday night, to stay with Dotto, who graciously agreed to open her home to us. Our flight leaves out of Columbus at o-dark-thirty Thursday morning, so we're getting a little head start by staying there. We'll fly into Ft. Meyers and spend the weekend in Naples, where we'll stay until Sunday. Matt won the trip through work, so it's Happy Valentine's Day to us!

The hard part, of course, is being away from Harper. Since I'd finished nursing I have been looking forward to maybe a night away with Matt. Four nights away seems a lot for the first separation. Fortunately my mom is coming to stay here. This means Harper will be on her turf, where she tends to be a more reasonable human being. It also means not having to take the dog to Camp Canine, which he loves, but it's not free. And Matt's parents are also right here, to lend a hand or provide adult company to Grandma. I'm sure she'll love staying with Harper, the two of them will have fun together. There are a couple of weekends coming up, when it may make sense for me to travel without Harper, this will be a trial run. If it's too hard to be away I might have to rethink things.

In talking to a friend last week, I realized I've never really been away from Harper for more than a few hours. I guess the longest was when we went to Green Bay to see a Packer game in October, and she stayed with my mom. We were probably gone for about seven hours, maybe not that long. As a full time mom, I really appreciate little breaks, Saturday mornings when I can run errands on my own, a night off to go to book club, sneaking off for a movie, even subbing for a day. I think these little times away help keep me sane, and I know I am a better mom because of them. But a long weekend, now that it's so close, is feeling like a really long time.

On the other hand. . . It will be a chance for Matt and I to be together, eat good food that I don't have to cook or clean up, and we won't be anywhere near a computer or work or laundry or basketball or dirty dishes or dirty diapers or dirty floors (hmmm, maybe I need to clean my house before we go?). It will be like a little retreat for us, and who doesn't need that?

Now I Know What Guilt Really Feels Like

Harper spent today at the home of a wonderful babysitter named Vicki. I met Vicki through some parents of children I used to teach. She has been a blessing in our lives, living just down the street from us and watching Harper lovingly while I tutored this summer. Since school has been back in session, she occasionally babysits when I sub, if Matt's parents aren't available. I was subbing today and when I got home there was a message from Vicki, saying she'd tried reaching me at school and on my cell phone and that Harper had a fever. I had left school by the time she tried to call and must not have heard my cell phone in my purse when I was on my way home. To top it all off, I stopped to run an errand, prolonging the window of time in which she couldn't reach me. I called her as soon as I got the message, to let her know I was on my way, and then flew down there.

When Vicki opened her door and I saw Harper with those glassy fever-eyes, I just started to cry. I'm not sure I've ever seen anything that heartbreaking in all my life. She was hot all over and just crying these tiny little cries. Vicki helped me take her temperature the way I knew the doctor's office would ask for it, i.e. holding her down while I stuck the thermometer you know where, and she had a temp of 103.1. This is the first time Harper's had a fever unrelated to vaccinations, and those were really low, hardly worth remembering. She seemed to be in a little better spirits by the time I got her home and got her some Tylenol, hopefully it will do the trick.

I can't believe this happened when she wasn't with me. I may never leave home again.

Super Bowl Sunday

We have a nice little Super Bowl Sunday tradition in our family, that has been going strong since Matt and I were married. His parents come over for a nice, quiet "party," during which we eat chicken casserole (a family favorite I grew up with), and actually watch the game and, of course, the commercials. In the football spirit, I dressed Harper in her Brett Favre jersey for the big day. While waiting through all the pre-game nonsense, she played a rousing game of Lay on the Kitchen Floor and Try to Kick the Dog in the Face. Guess who enjoyed it more. . .
















While I was preparing dinner, Harper and I had a little conversation about the big game. She looked at me, proudly patted her number 4 jersey, and gave me a look that clearly asked, "How many touchdown passes do you think my man Brett will throw during the first half? And do you think the Packers will win by more than a touchdown?"

I gently took my sweet angel on my lap, sighed, and explained that the Packers wouldn't be winning the Super Bowl this year, because they weren't playing in the Super Bowl. I felt it was only my duty to further inform her that Brett Favre may very well retire from football before next season. These are the times when it's hard to be a parent. Her look says it all:
















I know little one.

I know.

Thinking Hard

After taking a week off, I feel like there were all these things I wanted to mention about Harper that I still want to get to. Yesterday we were working on something (I don't want to say what because it might ruin a surprise for that person), I was writing a note on the back of it and Harper wanted to join in. I gave her the pen, with the writing point retracted, and let her add her two cents. She looked like she was working so hard to write the perfect thing. . . I wonder if that's what I look like to her when she see's me writing? If so, I need to lighten up. She was soooo serious!































When we were finally finished, she was apparently flooded with relief, and very happy with the results of her efforts.
















We had a great time while my mom was here. It is just so nice to have another adult around for conversation and back-up! It's a lot easier to get dinner made when you can tag-team the baby. It's a lot easier to do most things. The only thing I didn't do was get on the computer too often, because that just felt rude. Really, it's a shame Matt has to work. It's a lot of fun around here with two adults. Harper and I have fun on our own too, but you know, the more the merrier. Although that doesn't mean I want more kids right now! Not unless Grandma is going to move in with us, and I don't think Grandpa would go for that.
















See how happy Harper is to be with her grandma? We're lucky to have such a great family. Matt's parents help us all the time, they were with Harper this morning while I volunteered in the library of the school I used to work at. I love that I have people who can stay with her and I know she will be fine. It's a really good feeling. Thanks guys!

The Rise and Fall of a Cereal Artist

We're back! Actually, we never went anywhere. I did some school volunteering and subbing at the end of last week. Then my mom came to visit, so it has been very hard to get to the computer. Today was a quiet day around here. Nothing going on except a quick trip to Kroger, and Matt gone most of the day. Harper and I shared a little oatmeal as part of dinner. She's been showing some promise with a spoon lately, so I gave her the bowl and spoon. Of course, as soon as she had the bowl in front of her, she abandoned the spoon and dug right in. I should have expected as much!



Apparently, Harper enjoys the feeling of food between her fingers. Yuck!

Please notice that, while she wasn't eating with the spoon, she wouldn't give it back to me either.









Once Harper had her fill of oatmeal, she discovered an entirely new purpose for it. Art! She would stir the oatmeal around with her spoon and then proceeded to spread it on her tray and the counter. This is not an activity I would normally endorse, but I was interested to see what the results would be, and Harper was having a lot of fun.







The photo is a little dark, but here is Harper's first attempt at "food as art". Perhaps I can look forward to mashed potato sculpture in our future. . .

Alas, as with all good things, this fun with oatmeal could not go on indefinitely. When she started flinging the oatmeal, instead of merely spreading it, I had to put a stop to the creativity. Cleaning oatmeal out of the dog's fur is not my idea of a good time.





This is the tortured state in which Harper found herself after I cleaned up the oatmeal. She has a true artist's temperament! Her fit was completed by throwing herself face down on the kitchen floor after I took her out of the high chair. I didn't have the heart to photograph that, it was just too sad.

Not For the Faint of Heart

Seriously.

I mean it.

If you are even remotely squeamish, stop reading NOW. This post will contain information about the disgusting messes these two are capable of producing:

















So you've seen a picture, you've heard the warning, if you continue reading, it's at your own risk.

I used to think motherhood had made me pretty tough when it came to things like spit-up, leaky diapers, cleaning up after the dog. But nothing had quite prepared me for some of our recent messes. Yesterday morning Harper slept a little late. When I finally got her up, not only had her diaper leaked (this happens from time to time, but usually it's just wet/runny), but there were chunks of poo (I told you not to read if you were squeamish) all down the leg of her pajamas. Gross!!! Most leaks I can just stain-stick and then toss in the hamper, but I clearly had to de-chunk the pajama leg first, gagging all the while. Later the same day, she had another baby-sewage mishap with a onesie. Again with the de-chunking. And much, much, much scrubbing of hands!

Then, this morning, I wake up to the sounds of Rebound retching outside the bedroom door. I get out of bed just in time to see him deposit last night's dinner on the floor, looking more like wet dog food than dry. I think I stood there staring at it for about 30 seconds. There's just no appealing way to clean up doggie hurl. Then Rebound prompted me to action by starting to eat it. I grabbed some paper towels and a dust pan, scooped the pile into the dust pan, threw it in the trash can, and then spent the next half hour washing my hands and sanitizing every surface that the gunk contacted (again, with much gagging).

There really ought to be a mommy bonus for days like these. I'll take 100 toddler tantrums over cleaning up anyone's throw-up. Any chance we can get through childhood without Harper ever getting the stomach flu?

Oh, and hat's off to those poor school janitors and teachers who have cleaned up other people's kids' puke for years.

Peek-a-Boo!

Peek-a-boo has been a favored game in our household for some time now. It has taken on new dimensions since Harper has found her feet. This weekend Auntie Shannon (my sister) was in town and Harper had a rousing game of pee-a-boo with her from behind our dining room curtains.































We were so excited to have a fun weekend with Shannon. It is sometimes difficult to live so far away from our Wisconsin family, we always have fun when they come to visit. Next week Grandma will be here for a visit. Not only do we have fun with visitors, it is great motivation for me to get the house cleaned and I usually get a few extra things finished while they're here. The Christmas decorations are all taken down now! Yipee! Thanks Shannon!
















Peek-a-boo isn't the only game we play around here. Just this afternoon Harper invented a new game. She wandered into our bedroom, where there were several laundry baskets. Harper put a sweater into one of the baskets, then (supervised and properly spotted) she climbed into the basket. Then she sat down in it and held the sides, so I pushed it around the floor and made race car noises (anything for a laugh). Harper really seemed to enjoy this and it began a series of events that we repeated over and over for the next half hour or so. It went like this:

Harper puts the sweater in the basket.
Harper climbs in the basket.
Harper sits down and makes vroom sounds until I push her around.
I stop pushing and vrooming.
Harper throws the sweater out of the basket.
Harper climbs out of the basket (this is a little trickier than climbing in) with help from me.
And Harper puts the sweater back in the basket and we continue from there. . .

If it hadn't been time for a nap, we'd probably still be playing in the basket. I do not pretend to understand what happens here, I just tell you about it!

I need to take a moment and say thanks to all of you who have left comments in the last couple of weeks. Seeing the comments on the end of a post is kind of like going to the mailbox and getting something that's not junk mail or a bill. So just know you bring that kind of excitement when you comment. It's fun to know who is reading and get little messages about how you're all doing. Keep the comments coming!

Pleasant Surprises

A couple of very nice things happened today. After the complaining of this morning, I thought you deserved to hear the nice parts of our day as well.

Nice thing #1: I did end up taking Harper out to the fabric store, on my time, not hers, and she was very sleepy on the way home. She ate lunch and went straight down for her nap. I got through the entire hour of tutoring this afternoon without having to go in and lay her back down once!

Nice thing #2: My friend Giselle was reading the post from this morning and called to give me a little mommy time on the phone. It really is wonderful to talk to another person who knows the frustrations of living with a toddler, pre-verbal or otherwise, who can both laugh and commiserate. Plus, I hadn't actually spoken with Giselle in a long time, so that was a very good surprise.

Nice thing #3: I have actually had some comments, which I find very exciting. One of them was from someone I don't even know! I'm not sure how one would just stumble across this blog. I know it can be done (obviously), but I always kind of envisioned it just being read by our friends and relatives. I don't mind if other people read it, I just didn't think it would be very interesting! (Maybe it wasn't and she won't be back. . . ) Keep the comments coming!

Note to Jennifer, the commenter I don't know, if you read this again: I actually live right outside of Dayton! If you want to leave your e-mail address here, I'd love to connect with you. Moms can always use other moms for support!

Even though I spend many days alone in the house with Harper, it's sort of nice to know that there are friends out there reading and thinking about us. We are not alone!!!

Holding onto My Sanity by a Very Small Thread

This is the delightful Harper that makes appearances often enough to keep me from going totally insane. Isn't she sweet? And she looks genuinely thrilled to be alive and wearing those terrific purple stripped pants, thank you very much Auntie Shannon!

Why am I being forced to the edges of sanity, you ask? Take this morning:

Harper whined when put I her on the changing table to take her very wet diaper off. Why would I torture her with dryness?

Harper screamed when I wouldn't let her to continue to pound on my desk with a remote control. (Why have they not yet invented weightless remotes that hover just out of the grasp of all toddlers?)

Harper cried when I put her milk on the table after the umpteenth time she shook it instead of drinking it.

Harper cried more when I showed her I couldn't give her any more yogurt because the container was empty and the yogurt was all gone.

Harper turned red with fury when I put the lid back on the container of apple wheels she was eating. She's no dummy. She realizes that putting the lid back on, or closing the box, or sealing the bag means she isn't getting any more of whatever she was enjoying. Oh the injustice of it all!

To top it all off, she walked over to the door, sat down on the mat, pointed at her coat, and I had the audacity not to put it on and take her somewhere! I don't give into her every whim and this doesn't please the princess but at all.

So I have already put her in front of Elmo and taken a few minutes to vent here. I also closed my eyes and remembered how she patted me when I came home and picked her up after working out yesterday. I remembered how excited she was to see me when I first walked into her room to get her out of her crib this morning (before I tortured her on the changing table). And I remembered how much more other people's children can drive me crazy when I substitute taught yesterday. Those times away from home are very important because they help me remember, despite all the whining and crying and protesting, that this is really the best place to work. . . most of the time!

Computer Pictures

She'll be typing her tell-all memoir before we know it!

Older by the Second

First of all, the response to de-lurking week (see "Are You Out There") was horribly underwhelming. So, even though it's over, I encourage anyone reading this to leave a comment. A big thank you to Giselle, the only lonely person to leave a comment last week.

The reason I started writing this was to keep our friends and relatives up to date about what's happening here in Ohio and with Harper. It seems she has been growing and changing so fast, the last couple of weeks especially. She is walking more than crawling/scooting now. For a while it seemed like she would only walk if two people sat facing each other for her to walk between. She really liked the part where we clapped and cheered for her. She has finally come to enjoy being on her feet and this is now her preferred mode of transportation. I still find myself surprised to look up and see her standing in the middle of the room.

















She also surprises me with the things she knows or knows about. On Friday, Nana and Dziatku came over for dinner and to do some babysitting. We were all sitting in the living room, playing, when I said, "Harper it's time for bed." She put down the toy she was playing with, got up, and walked into her bedroom! Although she still wasn't thrilled with being changed into her pajamas and abandoned in her crib. . .

Her cute factor increases as she learns. Lately, when you ask her to hug her Elmo, or any other stuffed toy, she squeezes it and says, "Awww," in a perfect imitation of what we say when she gives a sweet little hug. We're also really enjoying her approximation of animal sounds. She is particularly attached to a farm animal book my friend Dotto gave her for her birthday. Harper has her own sound for the duck, lamb, cow, pig, goat, and rooster. Out of the context of the book, you'd have no idea what she's trying to say, but her attempts are truly precious.

As with most things she's not supposed to play with, Harper seems obsessed with the computer. We can no longer hope for her to play in the same room with her toys while one of us uses it. She will walk over to the keyboard and push anything she can reach. One day she was tapping on the computer chair and making very insistant noises, so I sat her in the chair to see what would happen. Here are the photos of a girl who is most certainly paying attention to what we do:

Grrrr! (That's me growling at the computer.) For some reason my pictures of Harper on the computer do not want to be included in this post. Stay tuned. . .

Are You Out There?

Okay, apparently, something called De-Lurking Week is going on in the blogging world. For those of you not so familiar with the lingo, "lurking" is when you read something on a regular basis, but never leave a comment so no one knows you're reading. Many of you send me nice e-mails so I know that some people are actually reading about the exciting world of Harper and family, but I rarely get any comments. Boo hoo. :-(

So, in honor of De-Lurking Week, I encourage all seven or so of my regular readers to attempt to leave a comment. Go ahead, give it a try.

And, to reward your efforts, here is a picture of what Harper looks like as she's climbing up my lap because she'd rather play with the camera than be photographed:




This is also how I imagine Harper would look in one of those funny carnival mirrors!

Holiday P.S.

Two final thoughts:

This is a picture from my grandparents' house on Christmas day. The people pictured, besides Grandma and Grandpa, are my first cousins. Only one is missing. There are also three great grandchildren in the picture. The spouses and significant others of the first cousins were not included in the photo. Perhaps it is easier to see why Harper found this holiday a little overwhelming. The aunts and uncles present were not pictured either!


















And, on the long ride back to Ohio, sometimes you just run out of ways to entertain yourself:

The Final Holiday Photos

Harper found such joy in the opening of gifts this year, I can't let the holiday season slip away without including a few more photos of her Christmas delight. And yes, I know it's not really the holiday season anymore. The middle aisle of our grocery store already looks like Cupid threw up all over it. And before long little green people will be marching everywhere with glittery shamrocks. It's still Christmas at our house though. Not because we're still celebrating, I just haven't had luck in getting Matt to bring all the boxes up from the basement so I can put everything away. I have enough trouble remembering to dust and fold the laundry, I'm hoping to have the Christmas decorations put away before UD's spring break. What's a mom to do?

Anyway, here are some photos of Harper and her gifts Christmas Morning in Wisconsin:































Later Christmas Day at the great-grands':





















Opening gifts the week after Christmas with Ohio family:


































The great part is I can get out different toys every morning and they are new to Harper. It's nice to have so many things to rotate.

Holiday Pictures

Here are some more pictures from our visit to see Santa, for some reason I couldn't upload them on Monday. These are actually in the correct order. Even though we traumatized Harper on Santa's lap, she cheered right up when she saw the massive gifts. She must have retained some memory of opening her birthday presents because she was suitably excited with her holiday packages.



































It's next to impossible to know which pictures and stories to include from our Christmas travels and celebrations. We are finally just about recovered and back on track after a whirl wind of three cities, 71 relatives, over 20 hours of car travel, and many many pounds of Christmas cookies and wrapping paper.

Christmas Eve, at my grandmother's house, we arrived early and put Harper down for a nap when there were about ten people there. When she woke up, there were 31 people there. It took her about an hour to get over the shock (and by "get over the shock" I mean stop screaming, and by "about an hour" I mean nearly 60 minutes of baby shrieking at its loudest). Later, after she'd opened gifts, helped everyone else open gifts, and been fed several cookies and some birthday cake by her grandpa, she entered a kind of Christmas mania. She was laughing hysterically as my cousins piled wrapping paper on her.

















I also think a reindeer costume might be in order for next year.

















More photos to come!

Holiday Wrap-Up (ha ha ha)

Oh dear. . . blogging regularly and then taking a break seems to be a little like working out. You don't mind it so much when you do it often, but stop for a while and it is mighty difficult to get it back into your schedule. We've been home for about a week now, but I've stayed away from the computer almost entirely for several reasons:

1) Many events this week.

Monday: unpacking and dinner with the in-laws (it was soooo yummy!). The highlight of this evening was that I finally stopped nursing so I could officially eat all the shrimp I wanted to.

Tuesday: family Christmas gift-opening and celebration with the immediate Ohio family.

Wednesday: book club, which also meant staying up until the wee hours on Monday and Tuesday nights trying to finish The Grapes of Wrath. I did get finished, even though it meant reading the last few pages on the way to book club (I wasn't driving.)

Thursday: celebrating Nana's retirement with a delicious dinner at Bravo. Congratulations again!

Friday: We didn't actually have any plans on Friday, but I did have to make a massive shopping trip to prepare for the weekend of cooking and hosting of family fun. And I took Harper to the last three quarters of the varsity girls basketball game at Alter. She didn't like the noise at first, but was bouncing and pointing and babbling away by the end of the game. She clapped every time anyone in the stands clapped, she hasn't got her loyalties straight yet.

Saturday: Making potato soup to be served on Sunday and trying to clean some of the tennis ball sized dust bunnies off the floor so we could have the in-laws and MaryEllen over with out dying of total embarrassment. Thankfully we just baked pre-made pizza for dinner. We had a grand time playing games and watching football.

Sunday: Getting the house ready for some extended family to come and have the last of our many Christmas celebrations. This involved much of the day spent running around like a head-less chicken and nearly having a panic attack. With Harper it really is great to host stuff at our house, her own bed, high chair, etc. I do like doing it, I just tend to freak out in the hours leading up to company's arrival. I let myself take a nap in the early afternoon because I'd gotten up and gone to 8 a.m. mass. I don't know if the nap was good (I was more rested) or my undoing (I lost over an hour of valuable prep time).

2) ( Do you remember that I was actually listing the reasons I haven't posted?) The holidays were so full and busy I am at a total loss as to what to write about and which of about 200 pictures to include.

3) I have an overwhelming need for time to myself to read or write and I try to get this in each day, but it usually comes in the wee hours after all other breathing beings in this household are asleep. Because of the busy schedule I have been up into the a.m. several nights this past week. While I appreciate this time on my own, I almost always regret it when Harper beckons me in the morning. Today she beckoned at about 5:30, which is early, even for her. Unfortunately, going to bed in the a.m., unless I'm taking a nap, does not a refreshed mother make. I should resolve to get more sleep in the new year, but I don't see that happening unless we find a way to add about three more hours to each day, and Harper sleeps through them!

But now that we're back and most of the holiday madness has subsided, I will try to get lots of adorable pictures of Harper on-line again. And if you've read all of this you certainly deserve to be rewarded with some photos:

Harper enjoyed gifts, especially the giant ones at the little mall where we went to see Santa:
















Of Santa himself, the girl was not so fond:

















There's nothing quite like scaring your children to create those warm holiday memories. Happy New Year!

Glad Tidings

Hello to all our family and friends from the frozen state of Wisconsin! Actually, it isn't too bad up here right now. I was hoping to send a post before we left, including a fine photo of Harper screaming on Santa's lap. Unfortunately I didn't get my act together so well. Matt got home from a meeting early on Tuesday, our departure day, and I hadn't packed for Harper or myself. We were a little late getting out. I didn't think, "Hey, could we wait another 1/2 hour so I can post some pictures?" was going to fly. Matt was infinitely patient with me as it was. And when we finally hit the road our drive was uneventful. Sadly, I'm typing from my brother's laptop and there's no way to get the pictures from my camera into here. Oh well. You can all look forward to a long and photo-filled post when we return to Ohio. (In my defense, Harper pretty much refused to nap Tuesday morning, robbing me of much needed time to organize and pack.)

I also wanted to take a minute and publicly welcome Calum into the world. Cal is the brand new baby of our good friends Erin and Brett. I hope they don't mind the shout-out. We've been doing lots of praying for the little guy's safe arrival and it looks like it paid off! I was telling my parents about it at dinner last night and my dad says, "Great, I can take them off my list!" Apparently, once the baby arrives, you're on your own! People must have stopped praying for us when Harper turned about 8 months, the age at which she completely ceased to be reasonable! (Just kidding, we're very blessed to have a beautiful and healthy little tyrant.)

I do not expect to get on the computer again before the holidays, so Merry Christmas to all. If we had a mic I would try to record Harper saying, "ho ho ho," for all to hear. For now you'll just have to take my word that it is one of the cutest sounds in the history of the universe. Safe travel and happy eating to everyone!

Some Events are Exciting, Others, Not So Much

We have lift-off!

The big news is that Harper recently took her first, actual, honest steps. By actual and honest I mean that she wasn't being shoved back and forth between Matt and I, taking one half-step, and then falling into the other guy's arms. Which is the closest she's previously come to walking. There was also one evening when she took one little step between the coffee table and the couch, because she was holding onto something already and I think she just forgot to reach out with her hands first.

Wednesday night, December 14, Harper walked (five or six steps) between my mother and I several times. Her grandma was in town, picking up Jamie from UD, and spent the night with us. I was trying to show my mom the way Matt and I had been kind of pushing her back and forth, when she said, "Well we just need a little more space here." She scooted so far back I was sure Harper would fall and get a face full of carpet, but, wonder of wonders, she just kept stepping! It was exhilarating and we are all so glad that she took those first real steps in front of my mom, who is usually far away in Wisconsin. At one point she actually teetered right past my mom and out the door of the room we were in before she realized what she was doing and promptly sat down. We even got her to walk down most of the hallway leading to the bedrooms. She's not breaking any land-speed records just yet. We've done some more of the back and forth, but the walking hasn't caught on, she still prefers her own unique half-sit/half-crawl method of getting from a to b. This may have something to do with the fact that her walk makes her look like she's just stumbled out of the bar at closing time.

First steps are really all the excitement one can reasonably hope for in a week, but we seem to have more than our fair share of excitement around here. Tonight we are having some folks from Matt's work over for a holiday party. I'm quite sure I wasn't thinking clearly when I agreed to that one! Anyway, my wonderful in-laws were over hear helping clean the house yesterday (a three person cleaning team is much faster than a solo effort, imagine that!) when I asked my father-in-law to take some boxes down to the basement. He comes to the bottom of the stairs and says,"I hate to tell you this, but you have some water down here."

When he says "some water" I'm thinking that maybe Rebound left a puddle in the basement. Then I go down to have a look. Some water actually meant about a 1/4 inch of water that covered at least a quarter of the storage room down there. (The silver lining to this cloud is that my obsession with storing things off the floor or in plastic boxes finally pays off!) Water in the basement is bad news itself. It takes a turn for the worse when you realize that the water has come up out of the toilet in the basement. Gross!!!! Yes, we had a clog somewhere, so that when we flushed the toilets upstairs, it backed up and came out of the toilet in the basement.

Let's just say I am not mentally capable of handling toilet backup in my basement. . .

Thank the Lord for my in-laws, coming to the rescue once again. They left me in charge of the baby and took the wet/dry vac down and cleaned up most of the toilet water. Then a very kind 24-hour emergency drain/plumbing person cleared out our clog. Forget professional athletes, someone with that job ought to get paid millions every year.

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!

Peace on Earth

It's not exactly the lion and the lamb, but she sure loves that dog. Rebound is just getting to the point where he'll let Harper pet him or sit near him. He used to get up and move whenever she approached. Perhaps his new willingness has to do with the fact that Harper mostly eats table food now and feeds him pretty generously by way of the floor. In fact, we usually know she's finished eating when she starts throwing her food to the floor on purpose and then watching for Rebound to come and get it.
















It will be great fun for both of them when they can chase each other around. Rebound, in his exuberant playfulness has managed to knock Harper over once or twice. I don't think he's ever hurt her, but it does startle her. She'll cringe when he comes running into the room, even though he usually misses her. Since there aren't any other children or dogs in the house (and no plans for either in the near future), they are each other's best bet for built-in entertainment. Me, I only have so many hours of playing on the floor in me each day.

They act remarkably like siblings at times. Harper has recently discovered the joy of tormenting Rebound. The other day we gave her an empty tissue box to explore. She absolutely delighted in banging Rebound on the nose with it. He kept trying to bite onto it but mostly just ended up making his head bob all around. Harper found this uproariously funny. Since then she has found great joy in tormenting Rebound with any number of household objects. Last night it was the plastic spoon we use for pasta. He's a good sport. To be fair, she also tries to play with him in nice ways. Yesterday he was all curled up on the couch and she got a rope toy out of his basket and, with much effort, pulled it up onto the couch to give to him.

Once in a while Rebound does get jealous of all the attention heaped upon Harper. Usually he lets us know by eating one of her toys. We've discovered certain things we must put away anytime we leave a room. Like the Little People farm animals. Sadly the horse is no longer with us. Fortunately Fisher Price must have anticipated this exact situation and a set of replacement animals (a new horse for now, and the rest as insurance) will be on the way to our house shortly.

So they torment each other, tease each other, play with the other guy's stuff. . . but mostly they love each other. And if there can't be peace on earth, let there at least be peace in our living room.

Giving Thanks

Much to everyone's relief, the digital camera has been returned! After a few lonely days in Cincinnati, it is back in my obsessive clutches and I can continue to document Harper's daily life with an unreasonable number of photos. Whew. I'll sleep better now and I'm sure you will too. Thanks to Nana, who let us borrow her camera in the interim, without which the previously posted lunch photos would not have been possible. What are grandparents/in-laws for, if not to grant access to digital technology in a pinch?

Here, at long last, are a few photos of Miss Harper on Thanksgiving Day. I would like to point out that her adorable outfit was a birthday gift from our friend Susan and her family in Nebraska. (Don't worry Susan, my concerns about the outfit being too big were not founded!)


















Want to entertain the baby? Put her in front of a window. Even better, put her in front of a window that she can look out while hiding behind some furniture. To make it totally irresistible, add the lure of an outdoor cat to the mix. We spent lots of Thanksgiving Day looking out those windows.


















Did you know that wicker furniture is also highly entertaining? Harper made beautiful music by alternately pounding on it and running her little fingernails over the surface. The girl has the music in her.

















Thank you to Kathy and Dave not only for hosting a lovely Thanksgiving meal, but also for providing a room full of furniture the perfect height for Harper to cruise around to her little heart's content.

Our Sweet Little Weirdo

Hello People,

Harper here. Want to know what I had for lunch the day these pictures were taken? Huh? Do you? Here it is:

1/2 a rather large banana
1/2 a (smallish) can of green beans
1 graham cracker
1/2 a turkey dog
1 slice of American cheese
lots of milk

I swear, it's true.
















While I lost a piece here and there to Rebound or my lap, most of that actually went into my mouth. Hard to believe they are having trouble getting me to gain weight, isn't it? I eat like a horse. I'm slim because I'm on the move. After the hour it takes me to eat lunch, I am itchin' to get out of that chair and go, go, GO!

Of course it wouldn't be lunch time without some entertaining antics for Mommy:































I have to warn you, this last photo is not for the faint of heart. Please remove small children from the room. Are they gone? Good. Now look closely. . . see that orange-yellow spot near my eye? Do you know what it is? Guess, I dare you!
















That's right People, it's cheese, a small piece of cheese, on my eyelash. Around here, lunch isn't a meal, it's an event.

Can you handle it?