6 Months Old!

6 months old!

On May 19, Harper turned 6 months old.  We are half-way to one year, which is absolutely incredible; baby girl is growing up so fast!


This week, we went to the pediatrician for Harper's 6-month check up.  Harper weighs 15 lbs. 7 oz. and measures 26 1/2 inches long.  She remains on the same curve, in the 50th percentile for weight and 90th percentile for height.  Her doctor was very pleased with Harper's progress.  That crazy girl was showing off, rolling from her back to her tummy all over the exam table.  When Dr. Mitchell asked if Harper was laughing yet, I told her "occasionally."  Then, as she proceeded to examine Harper, baby girl found absolutely everything Dr. Mitchell said and did hilarious--she couldn't stop laughing.  It was too funny; I guess that Harper just wanted her doctor to know that she really could laugh...or maybe I'm just not that funny so she hadn't had the chance to show off her skills yet.


At 6 months old, here are some of the things that Harper is up to:


Rolling- Harper has been rolling from her tummy to her back for a while now, but she just recently mastered rolling from her back to her tummy.  The funny thing is that she gets super mad once she's on her tummy, as if she feels she has been duped into tummy time. She often lays her head down like she's exhausted herself.  I guess she needs to realize that she's entirely capable of rolling back to her back--but we'll get there.  It is so cute to see how proud of herself she is each time that she rolls over though!

Yummy green beans

Eating- Baby girl loves her solid foods!  So far, she has eaten sweet potato, rice cereal, carrots, green beans, potato, apples, prunes, oatmeal, and avocado.  She seems willing to eat anything she is offered, and she definitely likes to "help" with the spoon.  It is messy but fun.  Just wait until she gets some teeth!

Baby girl loves playing in her new activity chair from Grammy

Sitting up- Harper has made so much progress sitting up by herself like a big girl.  However, she has become very grabby, and she isn't yet able to reach or grab for something AND keep herself upright.  She has definitely enjoyed practicing this new found core strength in the activity chair that Grammy Sue got for her!  

Harper in Mom and Dad's bed:
How does such a small baby manage to hog the bed?

Harper is at such a fun age right now.  She is so smiley and cuddly, and she truly brings joy to each and every day.  Of course, she can be challenging at times too.  Our biggest obstacle is her sleep.  Last month, we tried to sleep train her using the Ferber method, and she simply did not catch on to the concept of "self-soothing."  She also refuses to nap in her crib for longer than 20-30 minute stretches during the day; this is a huge frustration for us.  It is clear that Harper prefers the company of her loved ones when she sleeps, and she has often ended up in our bed and arms--sometimes out of necessity, other times desperation.  After consulting with her doctor at her check-up this week, we will be taking Harper to the sleep clinic for a consultation in a couple of weeks.  We hope and pray that a specialized sleep plan will be helpful to us--and, more importantly, will help our sweet smiley girl to get the rest she needs to keep growing bigger, stronger, and healthier each day.  After all, in another 6 months, she'll be 1 whole year old...

Harper and Daddy catching some Zzzs

How we adore our sweet, smiley little babe.

Farm Weekend

This past weekend, Dallin went on a camping trip so Harper and I decided to go out to Grammy Sue's house for the weekend.  Uncle Ben picked us up on Friday afternoon when I got home from work, and we headed out to Western MA.  The weather couldn't have been more beautiful so it was the perfect weekend to spend in the country.  Harper had a great weekend; here are some of the fun things baby girl got to do at Grammy's house...

Visiting with our dear friend, Mrs. Loux--
and Uncle Ben too!

Snuggling with Grammy at nap time...

Trying potato for the first time!

Using a big-girl spoon--oh my!

Hanging with Uncle Ben

Getting a little sun with Mommy

We had such a fun and relaxing few days that it was sad to say goodbye and head back to the city on Sunday afternoon.  Lucky for us, we're going back up this weekend for the Memorial Day holiday.  Fingers crossed that we will be blessed with another fun, sunny weekend!

Mother's Day

My Mother's Day breakfast from Dallin and Harper

Last weekend was my first Mother's Day with Harper, and it was the perfect day.  Harper and Dallin got up early together, and while I caught a few extra Zzzzs, they made me a very special breakfast: eggs Benedict, with tater tots, strawberries, cinnamon buns, and freshly squeezed orange juice.  The only thing more amazing than breakfast is my sweet baby girl, and I have never felt so blessed than I have these past six months.  Happy Mother's Day to me!

Momma and baby

Carrots

I'm not so sure about these carrots...

The orange food experience continued for us this past weekend, when we introduced Harper to carrots for the very first time.  She doesn't seem to like her carrots quite as much as she likes sweet potatoes--probably because they aren't nearly as sweet (baby girl likes sweets just like her Mom, it seems).  Nonetheless, she did a great job!  See for yourself: Harper's video debut, with Daddy feeding her carrots...

More Sweet Potatoes

After a fun and fabulously messy first experience with solids, we remembered to put a bib on Harper the next time around--and an adorable bib at that, thanks to her cousin, Kate!  I never knew that mealtime could be so fun, but our little sweet potato makes it quite an experience.  Here are some of my favorite shots from round two...

Don't let my bunny bib fool you; dinner time is serious business!

I can do it all by myself, Mom.

I love my sweet potatoes!

Oops, I got some on my bib!

Sweet Potato

At Harper's four-month check up with the pediatrician, we were given the green light to start solid foods.  First on the list: orange veggies, followed by rice cereal and then green veggies (much to Dallin's chagrin, meat will have to wait until after her six-month appointment).  We were pretty excited to see what Harper thought of "real" food, but it wasn't until a couple of weeks ago that we finally pulled it together to get her high chair set up (what a grown up girl--using a high chair!) and find out.


We started with sweet potatoes (yum!), figuring that a sweeter flavor might be a good place to begin.  Of course, we forgot to put a bib on her the first time around, and her white onesie will probably never be the same.  But other than that, our little sweet potato did quite well!

Baby girl isn't so sure what to make of this whole "spoon" concept...

Our cutie pie, trying to figure out how to eat from the spoon.

Very focused

Sweet potatoes are yummy--and messy!

"Helping" Daddy with the spoon

What, dinner is over?!

Eating solids is hard work!

It is the cutest and funniest thing to watch Harper eating from a spoon.  Obviously, up to this point, she only has experience sucking--be it nursing, taking a bottle, or sucking on her pacifier.  Of course, sucking isn't quite as effective from a spoon so she has been working hard to figure it all out.

Harper has also been trying to "help" feed herself; she simply can't leave her hands out of the equation.  Whether it is helping Daddy with the spoon, or sticking her hands in her mouth along with the spoon, our sweet girl continues to love love love using her hands.  We decided to let her try out the spoon on her own, but unfortunately she put it a little too far in her mouth, totally gagged--and scared herself, poor little thing.  But mostly she just adds to the mess, which is fun and irresistibly cute to watch.