8 Months!

Harper turned 8 Months on August 31st. I know it's said by everyone over and over, but man they grow up so fast!! Yesterday we did Harper's 8 month photo shoot, and it was such a blast. She is so full of personality, and she makes us smile and laugh all the time. I spent most of Tuesday morning taking out all of the clothes that are too small for her and packing them away. It's kind of sad...But then I got to go through the clothes that I've bought on sale here and there that have been too big, and it was like shopping all over again! I remember looking at some of
these clothes that were in her "too big" pile, and thinking just how big they seemed at the time! She was so small when she was born that even newborn clothes were too big on her. We almost had to move to preemies. Now she's wearing 6-12 months clothes, and looking so dang cute I might add. Her crawling is more of an army crawl, but she gets wherever she wants to go. She can stand holding on to things. She's making little jokes, which is so fun! Her favorite at the moment is still her little head lean, although she's added shaking her head "no" while leaning it to the side. Didn't think THAT could have gotten cuter! She reaches for who she wants to go to, she has a fake cough that she uses to try to get someone's attention (including the dogs), her facial expressions are vast and very clear, she recognizes her family on skype, and she makes everyone smile who comes in contact with her! And, it's 7:23 in the morning and she's still sleeping...woohoo!!! Go to my Flickr page to see more great pictures of Harps at 8 months!

Catching Up

So the quality isn't the best in this picture, but that's right...Harper has officially crawled! Granted, she's forgotten again how to do it exactly, but she's done it! Her Nana has the video, so I don't have it to display yet, but she took 2 legitimate "knee steps" if you will. This was at her Aunt Lenny's house last Saturday. My whole family was there to see it, and we all cheered like she just won the Olympics. It was awesome! She has no problem whatsoever getting where she wants to go. She loves when her toys are out of reach and she has to work to get to them.

We think Harper's teething, again. She does this thing off and on where she takes things and rubs them as hard as she can over her gums. Well, that sounds like teething to me, right? She was doing it yesterday in the dining hall at camp, and someone said, "Wow, she's teething alright!" The problem is she's been doing that since about 4 months and still no teeth. She will be 8 months on Tuesday.

She had such a bad night the night before last that I thought maybe it was due to teething, but I actually think it was more about getting her back on schedule. As I've noted before, Harper is definitely happier with strict routine. Every time we come home from a trip, we always have a few fun days and nights trying to get her to sleep, or even stay awake, when she's supposed to. The other night was perhaps almost as bad as when we first brought her home from the hospital before she knew the difference between day and night! But yesterday I was even more strict with her nap times, and more importantly her awake times, and last night went MUCH better.

And in regards to her travels...Harper has now been on 14 airplanes! She is becoming as well-travelled as her parents. She has been to CA, GA, FL, IL, CO, NC and of course AZ. And this coming weekend we'll be crossing NV off her list. We're going to Laughlin to visit our friends Shaun and Melisa and Harper's bestie Braelyn. It's gonna be so much fun!

Here are a few more pictures from the rest of our trip...

Harper looking pretty with food on her face

Harper and Grandpa taking a nap

Harper and Nana having fun

Harps with Aunt Lenny and Uncle Mike

Harpitty Hoop Hop with Aunt Kelly and Uncle Bri Bri

Harper found Grandpa's nose (not that that's hard to do!)

Aunt Lenny feeding Harper while mommy eats

The Head Lean

Harper's newest "thing" is this cute head lean. She usually does it during her meal, and it's always to the left side (that being her left of course). She'll be eating and then she'll look at someone and then tilt her head and give them a super cute face. I love it! The other night my mom took us and my sisters and brothers-in-law out to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner. While my sister was feeding Harper, she kept giving this flirty glance to the couple sitting at the table behind Lynnae. The couple, and of course our entire table, was cracking up. She's so cute I'm in pain right now.

Family and Friends Introductions

We are currently on yet another trip with little Harper. Her Uncle Jeremy just got married this past Saturday to her new Aunt Kellie. (Not to be confused with her other Aunt Kelly on my side) So we were in Illinois for a few days, where she finally got to meet her Grandpa and Nana Holohan. She also got to meet great-grandparents, great aunts and uncles, and her 2 cousins! Now we're in Atlanta, where we're hanging out with all of her family on my side.

Last night we went out to Buford, GA. We lived there the first 3 years we were married, and have so many friends there that we haven't seen in a very long time. It was so great to see all of them, but most importantly to introduce them to Harper. She's just so important to us, that we want to share her with some other important people in our lives. Here are a few pics from our trip so far. We've had such a great time!!

At the Wedding Reception by the Water

The Bride and Groom

Harper with Grandpa Holohan

Harper and her cousin Kylee

Harper and Nana (my mom)

Charla and Harper

The Guys...Daniel, Chris, and Mike

Harper's Journal

Anyone who knows me well can tell you that I love to journal! I probably have about 15 full journals from over the years. So this year, instead of writing in my own journal, I've been starting one for Harper. I started it when she was about 3 months old, so the first entry is a long letter about all of the things I could remember from the first 3 months. It's not something I do everyday. Sometimes I write because she did something new or achieved a new milestone. Other times I write just because I want to tell her how much I love her! (I always tell her that anyway, but this way she can read it someday when she actually knows what the words mean) The entries in this journal consist of poop stories, the first time she sat up by herself, her first day eating solids, baby's travels, her sleep patterns, learning to razz, her first Easter, the story of her birth, how madly her daddy and I love her, and so much more...

Quiet Playtime with Harper

Ok, so I think we've figured out the biggest cause for Harper's sleeping problems. She's a curious little stinker! She wants to look at everything, and not just look at it...taste it, twist it, look at every inch of it, throw it, drop it, then look for the next toy! She gets bored very easily. She loves moving around, and so it seemed that when I put her down to sleep she just couldn't settle down. She would fall asleep right away, but wake up only 45 minutes later, and then an hour later, and then another 45 minutes. Man, that's not fun.

So we've done a few things differently lately, and it really seems to be helping.

1. We're putting her to sleep an hour earlier (it really does help!). So it's to bed at 7:00 rather than 8.
2. We took her off her sleep wedge, which she's used since the day she came home! She just moves around too much now, so it frustrated her and made her uncomfortable.
3. Less naps. She has always really loved her naps, and always acted so tired! But at her age, I decided it was time to push her awake time gradually each day. Now she's down to only 2 naps a day. They're between 2 and 3 hours, so they're good naps. But just 2. Every now and then she needs a short extra one if she wakes up early.
4. Re-established her routine. We've done a bit of traveling this summer, and so she got way off her schedule. She is definitely a baby that needs structure!
5. Lastly, and my favorite, we started a new "quiet playtime" time before bed. After she's bathed and dressed in her pj's, we give her her pacifier, dim the lights, and play quietly. No toys, just me, my husband, and Harper.

This is now one of my favorite times of the day! We sing to her, talk to her, cuddle with her...it's wonderful! And it seems to really calm her down from the excitement of the day. We also don't let her have her pacifier while she's awake. It's for sleep only. (Well, sleep and airplanes!!) So giving her the pacifier during this time I think shows her that it's time to get ready for bed. One of my earlier videos of her laughing when I started singing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" was taken during our quiet playtime. Tonight we cuddled and laughed together. Unfortunately, Chris was working, but Harper and I laid on my bed and snuggled. I would tickle her little ribs and she would start giggling. Or I would make silly little noises or sing songs, and more giggling would erupt! So now, her quiet playtime has also become giggle time. And I am more than fine with that!

Below you will find a picture and video that have nothing really to do with this post. However, I just took Harper's "official" 7 Month picture. Yes, the sign is what makes it official, not the date. There will be a few more adorable 7 month pics on my flickr page, but this one is just a taste. Also, a video of Harper in her bouncer. My mother insisted that I put this one up. What you don't see is Chris dancing behind me causing her to bounce in pure glee! And my husband has told me that if I want people to watch my videos I have to make them shorter. I think he has a point, but this one does have some great footage of her laughing at the end, so push through the minute and a half if you will. I don't think you'll be disappointed!