12 months

Well, in my typical fashion, I am a little late on this post.   So here are Harps' 12 month stats. She was 29" long and 19lbs. 14oz. at her one year old doctor's visit.

When I finally downloaded all the pics from this month, I realized that I majorly slacked on taking pictures, sorry.

We pulled out the baby pool at the beginning of June (which we bought at the end of last summer on sale).  She definitely loves being in the water, but after being in it nearly everyday for 2 weeks, (after a back to back lake and ocean trip) she seemed to grow pretty tired of it.   

*Harper discovered how much fun toilet paper can be.  (Yea for us)

* She loves to say "uh oh" for everything and what is so funny is that she even uses it in the correct context

*loves saying "Aggie" (maggie)... too bad maggie runs from her most of the time

* She is obsessed with the cozy coupe car that she got for her birthday...pushing it, riding in it, whatever, she just wants to touch the thing as much as possible

* Just now started paying attention to stuffed animals that have been in the crib for months.  Every single time we go to get her out of her crib, she always starts handing us stuffed animals. She wants us to hug them and give them kisses, apparently that is amusing to her.  

"What is that on my face you ask...oh, just some chemical stain probably made in some foreign chemical plant."
Earlier in June she suddenly discovered that the crib railing makes a great chew toy.  This is what she looked like after an afternoon nap.  Her face and clothes were covered with whatever paint or stain was used, nice.   Ryan says surely it is unleaded nowadays, but if she ends up with some blonde moments down the road, we'll blame it on the crib stain.

*It obviously tasted pretty good because as soon as we put the protective cover on the front, she started working on the back rails.
*She still HATES riding in her car seat even facing front.  I honestly think she just does not like having to sit still and being confined from being able to move.  She will just arch her back and scream out randomly. It is like she is trying to break free from the straps!

*She points to things that she wants and so she points a lot!

*BUSY.  That is the one word that people use to describe her, busy.  I'd have to say we definitely agree.

We celebrated a very special guy on Father's Day.  Happy Father's Day Ryan!  I am very thankful to have him beside me on this parenting journey.  Harper and I are very thankful for him and love him very much!

The big news was that lightning struck our house a few days before Harpers birthday party.  Thank goodness it did not turn into a fire. Both corners of our porch looked like this and electrical items in the house have gone haywire.  It has been a pretty big pain, but we are thankful to still have a house considering what could have resulted.  That was a pretty expensive week for us.  I had to have a new transmission, the lightning strike, and of course the birthday expenses all in 1 week.  What joy!

*Crazy girl has learned how to take her clothes off during her so called nap time.  Then she acted like a wild monkey when I go to check on her.  Obviously someone was not interested in a nap that day.  
*She has figured out how to take her diaper off so we have to keep her in full clothing during nap time.  Ryan is petrified that he will walk in to a finger painting masterpiece one day.  It will be gross and hilarious seeing that I'm sure.
*She is also learning the routine about getting dressed. She will step out of pants and put her arms through her shirt when we get her dressed in the mornings / evenings.

*She has developed a fear of the hairdryer and vacuum cleaner.

*She is learning what NO means...learning, not obeying yet.

*She gets upset and frustrated when she doesn't  get what she wants.  We are overjoyed at the prospects of this when she gets older...

*We are trying to teach her that it is not nice to pull hair or bite.  When she is frustrated she likes to bite.  We sure don't need trouble at big girl school next month.

*Hershey's chocolate syrup is the first thing she grabs when we open the refrigerator.  She will always go for it and turn it up like she is getting something out of it.  She is truly after her daddy's heart and he hopes she loves chocolate as much as he does!

* Harper loves to stuff things in small places- magnets behind the fridge and wall, etc.  We are having to be extra careful with our babyproofing!

* She really is a good eater.  She will eat just about any meat and veggie, but still not a fan of fruit.  Banana is pretty much the only fruit she will eat consistently.  She loves to eat though and we are glad for not having to fight her in this!!!! 

* She took her first steps on June 27th and has been going full force every since.  Thank goodness that was the first day of my 2 week vacation so I was able to watch her try it more and more everyday. 

Birthday Orange Roll Breakfast

Sometimes on your birthday you forget your table manners.
Yes, those are Easter pajamas...we like to get our money's worth.

*She can always tell when we are eating something different from her. She only wants what we are eating and will stop eating her food and point / reach to our food. 

*She has started to love board books and will try to "read" out loud to us.

*She is staring to get her back right molar, but not too fussy about it surprisingly.

*She loves to hand us things and say "ank u" (thank you)

*She still puts her head down and gets shy around men.  Daddy hopes this continues though not in a flirtatious way.

Happy Birthday Harper!!!  We love you very, very much!!!