january/4 months old!

4 months old!

Two little Hs at school together!

A New Year, new milestones...  I returned to work a few weeks ago, after being at home with my two little Hs for the past three months.  What's more, I returned to a new/old job.  Unfortunately, I was unable to work out the work schedule I was hoping for with my job, but despite my initial panic, everything turned out for the best.  A new position became available at my former company, the company I left after Harper was born, and I jumped at the chance to return to a workplace I loved, working in a new capacity, with the schedule I was hoping for!  And so Hunter began attending school with his big sister while mommy went back to the office.  Of course, it has been a huge change for us, but so far things are going okay...

Then, our sweet little guy turned four months old!  In reality, however, he's not so little.  At his doctor's appointment today, Hunter weighed 19 lbs. 7 oz. and measured 27 3/4 inches long.  This puts Hunter in the 95th percentile for weight and the 100th percentile for height.  Our cute guy is shaping up to be a tall drink of water, just like his daddy.  Hunter received a clean bill of health and was pronounced "perfect" by his pediatrician, but he also had to receive three shots and one oral vaccine.  He was pretty upset, but he rebounded like the little trooper that he is; whatever it takes to keep this sweet boy healthy.

This cute growing boy has been super active, especially with a partner in crime like Harper.  The two continue to be sweet little friends.  Harper loves the fact that Hunter comes to school with her now, and her teachers tell me that she is very attentive to her little brother, always running to check on her "buddy."  Hunter is loving his new school friends too.  The one downside to that is the fact that he doesn't want to miss a moment of activity, so much that he basically never naps during his school day.  Just like Harper, this little guy is proving to have sleep challenges of his own--namely nap time rebellion.  We are hoping and praying that these issues will resolve on their own.

Snuggling with Sophie the giraffe

Tummy time!

His lack of napping doesn't seem to be slowing him down, however.  It's interesting to note the differences in the way Hunter is developing, as compared to Harper at his age.  While Harper was more of a quiet, thoughtful observer, Hunter is much more physical.  He recently rolled back-to-front AND front-to-back for the first time!  We have also been working on tummy time a lot, and he has been grabbing everything in sight.  He occasionally even grabs on to of Harper's hair; that's pretty much the only time my cute girl gets upset with her bud.  One of the things I love the most is when he "talks," these cheerful little squeaks and squawks that brighten the coldest of these winter days.

Feeding the bunnies at school!

Harper has been keeping busy too!  It feels like she has become such a little lady lately.  Her language skills are incredible, and she has also mastered her colors and counting from 1 to 10.  One of her favorite activities lately is singing.  We take her to music class on Saturday mornings, where she has learned dozens of new songs and had the opportunity to play with different musical instruments too.  Unfortunately, our little musician isn't always the most focused of students; she is constantly running around the classroom like a wild little banshee.  Who knows what the other parents in the class think, but when Harper comes home and sings along with every word of her music class CD, I know that she is soaking it in--and that's what matters to me, as well as her having fun. 

Here are some of the other things my sweet girl has been up to lately:
   

Silly bath time fun

Most genius indoor activity:
thinking (and coloring) inside the box!

A little light reading--
also in the box

A visit with Great Gramzy

Bundling up to play in the snow

Mommy's little helper:
grocery shopping in the coolest cart

This weekend, we are looking forward to another important milestone, as we will be blessing Hunter in church on Sunday.  Also exciting is that Harper and Hunter's Uncle PJ will be coming up from Florida to spend the weekend with us and to participate in the blessing.  Hunter has never met Uncle PJ before, and it has been more than six months since Harper, Hunter, and I last saw him so--needless to say--we are all pretty excited.  It should be a really fun, special weekend.  Stay tuned!