18 Months Old!

Harper turned 18 months old a couple of weeks ago.  At her doctor's appointment last week, Harper measured 35 inches tall and weighed 30 lbs. 11.5 oz., putting her in the 100th percentile for both.  Life has been busy for Harper lately!  Here are some of the things she has been up to lately:

First pedicure!  Last month, Dallin and I went to Seattle to celebrate the wedding of our dear friends, Annie and Justin.  It my first time away from our sweet Little H, and I was SO nervous!  Of course, Harper had an amazing weekend, since she got to have a girls' weekend with her Grammy Sue and Auntie Annie.  She also got to enjoy a very exciting milestone: her first pedicure.  Well, really it was her two big toes that were painted red.  So glamorous! 

After our whirlwind wedding weekend in Atlanta, followed by Harper's fun girls' weekend the next, it seemed that all the excitement caught up with Harper, and she came down with a virus.  She had a high fever for several days, followed by a rash for a few more days after that...  The poor thing was totally down and out.  All that our typically independent girly wanted was to be held and snuggled.  She wouldn't eat anything but tortilla chips, and the only way I could get her to drink was to let her sip from my the straw of my Starbucks cold cup.  I can't say I blame her; sometimes a girl just need to be pampered.

Harper, having fun on the trampoline
with her favorite big-girl friends,
Maren and Lauren!

Fortunately, Harper made a full recovery, and she is back to her smiley, happy self!  The weather has been amazing lately, and we have been able to spend a lot of time outdoors, going for walks, and playing at the park.  At the park, Harper still likes the slide best of all, and Dallin even took her on the big kids' slide at the park the other day.  To be honest, that slide is REALLY HIGH.  I mean, I'm sort of intimidated by it.  Harper seemed to love love love it though!  Clearly she did not inherit her mother's sense of adventure (or perhaps lack thereof).

Harper's first painting

Harper has also had some really fun play dates lately.  Last week and the week before, Harper was lucky enough to have quality time with our dear friend, Talyn.  To say that Harper had a blast is an under statement.  Talyn and Harper played in the park, made play dough, Harper made her first painting, and Talyn even put Harper's hair in pigtails for the first time!  She had so much fun that it was hard to say goodbye to Talyn when she left for Florida, but we are already looking forward to hanging out with her again and making some summer treats.  In the meantime, Talyn shared her secret play dough recipe with us so Harper can make another batch if the mood strikes!  We put it on the inside of our kitchen cabinet, the very same spot that Harper's Grammy Sue kept our recipe when I was growing up.

Harper and Talyn

Baby gets some purple hair

At home, Harper's favorite plaything is definitely her baby doll (well, both of them).  "Baby" is also her favorite word right now.  There is a baby who lives a couple of houses away from us, and Harper is obsessed; she will point to the house and say "baby baby baby" over and over again.  With her own babies, she is quite the little mama.  She will carry baby, feed baby, snuggle baby with her blanket, push baby in the stroller, and even give baby a kiss.  Harper has also introduced baby to her crayons; I guess she thought baby wanted a few purple streaks in her hair.  It is really quite sweet, and also a little funny.

For Memorial Day weekend, Dallin had to work so Harper and I spent the weekend in Western MA with Harper's Uncle Ben, Viv, and her Grammy Sue.  It was a rainy and unseasonably cold weekend, but we still had a great time.  Harper and Grammy colored together, and Viv helped Harper set up her own little kitchen.  Grammy Sue also surprised Harper with her very first car; beep, beep, new driver coming through!

Harper wants to be an amazing cook like Viv!

Coloring with Grammy Sue

On the go

Grammy Sue, Harper, and I also went on an adventure to the Eric Carle Museum in Amherst.  I was a little nervous about taking Harper to a museum; my worry was that she is now a little too big to be very portable but perhaps a little young to enjoy a museum.  I was totally wrong, and all three of us had a blast!  The Eric Carle Museum was perfect for children her age--and there were lots of them there! We even met another little girl named Harper, who was about six years old.  Harper got to read stories inside a life-sized model of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, she got to see interesting pictures and paintings, and we all got to make a little garden together in the art studio.  It was such a fun day, and I hope we will get to go back again this summer sometime!

Our little caterpillar--reading stories inside The Very Hungry Caterpillar!

Helping Mommy with the glue

Putting the finishing touches on our garden with Grammy!

Sharing an ice cream cone with Daddy--yum!

After a chilly Memorial Day weekend, the temperatures skyrocketed last week!  We had three days of 90+ degrees, and we basically had no choice but to eat lots of ice cream and find creative ways to stay cool.  We decided it was time that we invest in a pool of our own to dip our toes in, and it made all the difference.  Harper loved splashing around in the pool.  We got her a watering can too, and she had a lot of fun pouring water in and out of the pool with her watering can.  The plants in the backyard were very grateful too, I'm sure.  Not surprisingly, Harper also loved our ice cream outings.  She often ended up wearing as much ice cream on her face as she got in her belly, but she was clearly in heaven.  She might not get her sense of daring from me, but she definitely inherited my sweet tooth!

Cooling off in the pool this weekend!

At 18 months, Harper's language skills are really starting to develop.  Some of her most-used words include: mama, dada, baby, apple, cheese, quiche, bye bye, no, all done, keys, up, bath, and ball.  She is also starting to repeat words that we say. It fills me with wonder to watch her develop her abilities and learn to express herself through language, and to connect words with objects.  It's all happening!  This summer promises to be a very exciting time for our sweet girl.

Little girl loves her Starbucks cups!