2.5

Happy 2 1/2 years old Birthday Harper!!!  Here are a few things Harps is into lately...

 showing her muscles

• still LOVES to sing, her teachers told us that they had to stop playing Christmas music at naptime because she would sing the entire time and not take a nap
• loves her baby, though she has many baby dolls she prefers a certain one and prefers for "baby" to have no clothes on and be called "baby"
• still obsessed with purses and bags....whenever we go somewhere her purse and her baby must go with her.  She wants to take them inside the grocery store, etc.  I always tell her that she has to keep up with them and she does a good job with that.  She carries a big old purse of mine on her shoulder and baby in her hand.  The purse contains things like an old cell phone, play groceries, and other trinkets.
• favorite TV show is Doc McStuffins on Disney (a little girl who fixes toys who come to life)
• a few weeks ago her teachers informed me that Harper cries when the other girls in her class go to dance.  She says she doesn't have a "bag," meaning a dance bag.  So, we will be starting her in dance in January just so she will have a "bag."...I can't wait!!!!

• says "yea Harper" or "yea daddy" after anyone does something
• went through a little phase a few weeks ago of her saying "uh huh" instead of "yes"  DROVE ME CRAZY!!!!  Thank goodness it has pretty much stopped
• about a month ago, she decided that she was scared of the bathtub...so now she will only take showers and she loves them.  
• we took a side of the crib down in early November, she loves to crawl into her bed now,  keeping her in the bed didn't last very long.  one time I found her sleeping on the floor in the middle of the night she will also occasionally get out when she wakes up from her nap

• she is obsessed with Aubie and Auburn...wants to wear her Aubie shirt to bed and asks us if we are going to Auburn tomorrow
• stubborn and hard headed..."Harper do it" and "I do it"...wants to do everything by herself...get dressed, brush hair, pick out clothes, fix lunch, crawl into car and car seat, everything...
• will not sit still except when she wants to cuddle or "hold you" - definitely a busybody
• has an incredible sense of direction, she knows (without us telling her) when we are headed to church, school, chilck fil a, or any of the other places we go to a lot simply by the turns we make in the car
• gets super excited when she sees images of Santa on TV...jumping up and down screaming excited
• started a few weeks ago saying "sure" instead of "yes" when you ask her a question

• also started asking "why" and "but why" over and over and over...
• she also always carries her phone with her in her purse,  she ends every pretend phone conversation with  "talk a minute."  I guess that is her version of "talk to you later"
• We are trying the whole potty training thing this week. She has been using the potty for months now, but we just never took a few days for the whole potty training bootcamp.  Honestly the fall is just really busy for us and the thought of having to use stadium toilets and other public bathrooms every weekend just grossed me out.  She has done well so far and the cheese puff bribes are a treat for her. 
• In the past few weeks she we have seen a big change in her imagination play.  Before she would do pretend play with her babies and in her kitchen.  Now, she might suddenly jump on a pillow and say "hurry daddy you better get on the boat."
• We still have not overcome our fear of the bathtub and only want to take showers  

Good Night

So I am thinking since I can't seem to get posts done then may e I can just post pictures😊 and just do all this from my phone. We will serif this works... Testing 123

Can I please just freeze this preciousness...

22 months

Wow this winter/spring has flown by!!! Folks we don't see everyday keep asking for Harper updates so here it is in my random thoughts and some pictures from the past 3 months

• She LOVES to sing. I mean sings all the time.  My favorite is when she mixes different songs together.  Ba ba blacksheep turns into Jesus Loves Me and ends with The Barney Song.  
• Her teachers say she loves music time and sings even if she doesn't know the words
• Songs she can sing by herself: Jesus Loves Me, ABCs, You are My Sunshine,  Ba Ba Blacksheep, Itsy Bitsy,  I like to eat eat apples..., I'm bringing home a baby bumblebee, Happy Birhtday to you, Where is thumbkin, rock a bye baby, twinkle twinkle, BINGO,  ring around the rosy, Barney song, Auburn Fight Song

• Loves to flush the toilet
• very picky eater
• this week when I was dropping her off at school, I started the whole talk about being a good girl and following directions, etc.  She looked at me with a big smile and said "I ready, I love school!!!"
• Saying a lot of 3 & 4 word sentences 
• Says "I do that" whenever she does something by herself

• bit at school this week, first time in 2 months!!!
• still hates to wear shoes
• loves crocs
• Loves to SING!!!!
• LOVES Maggie!!!!
• Harper is very loving.  She loves to say "I love you" and will often just randomly say it, which I love,  a lot of times she yells it as we are walking in the store, I love it, she yells "I love you Mommy"  it is so sweet!!  

• She still loves to read and flip through books
• loves to play with my makeup and try to put it on
• starting to get more attached to blanket and stuffed animals that she sleeps with
• DIP...dip, dip, dip,  dip...DIP...Harper loves to dip and sometimes we "dip" just to get a few veggies down.  
• still loves pushing stroller and grocery buggy

• she notices everything when we are driving...I often hear "mommy bird," "look mommy ambuluance." "motorcycle," "schoolbus,"  "Mommy Playground"
• loves to help me cook and unload the dishwasher.  If she sees me doing something in the kitchen she pushes the chair over to the counter so she can "help mommy"
• Did I mention how much she sings????
• She loves to put a purse on her shoulder and then make sure she gets our attention as she says "I be back" as she walks out the room.  

•  Whenever we pass Target or Publix in the car she starts saying "buggy, buggy" She loves to ride in the buggy at the store. Of course the car buggy is her favorite at Publix. I made the mistake of taking her during the busieset time and of course all the car buggies were gone and she pitched a royal fit as I tried to put her in the regular buggy.  
• She can throw a fit and will usually go and walk herself to the timeout chair, sit, and then she gets up like a different child and will do whatever she was telling you "no" that she wouldn't do
• When she wants someone to hold her she says "I hold you"

• Favorite foods: yogurt, ketchup, cheese, go go squeeze, pizza, fruit, cheez its, any type of meat
• Favorite movies: The Little Engine That Could
• Favorite shows: Barney, Elmo, Mickey Mouse Playhouse
• She can sing her ABCs, count to 10, and we are working on her colors, she says everything is "pink"

We can't believe you are going to be 2 in a few months.  We love you and you are such a blast!!!

Biting

It is official... most of you have heard...Harper is a biter.  She started her new school mid August and in 4 months has bitten 16 times...you can do the math.  Yes, we have been given a spreadsheet with her bite incident stats.  I know all kids bite. I have heard it over and over and over and over from a lot of people.  I know it is a phase... I know, I know, but it doesn't make it easy.


We have said it from the time she was a few months old, she is feisty and she knows what she wants and will do anything to get it.  So I wanted to share a little situation that happened back in the fall.  I just want to be sure I don't forget it.


One day I was talking to another mom as I was picking Harps up from school.  She teaches at a neighboring elementary school and we have a few mutual friends.  She asked for my email address and said we needed to get our girls together for a playdate sometime. (How fun!).  As we walked out we talked about all the fun things our girls could do, how cute they were walking down the hall together, and all that mushy cute stuff moms talk about.  Well when we got to our cars she said "let me ask you something...has Harper been bitten yet?"  Oh no...panic set in!!!!  Well it just slipped, just like that I lied like a little kid and said "yes." I didn't even think about it and just said it...I totally lied for my child... Well she then goes on to talk about how her daughter had been bitten yesterday.  Oops... we got a note for that one!  I go on and try to totally downplay the whole thing and tell her "oh this just happens at this age...it is a normal thing."  Totally telling her everything that everyone else has told me about biting.  As I am saying this I am freaking out and trying to escape towards my car because I realize that I just totally LIED and Harper is biting her kid.   She then says "I guess we just have a biter in the class."  I of course continue to try to downplay the whole thing.  Well then she proceeds to tell me that she has been thinking about talking to the director about it..."Well wouldn't that be a great idea!!!!", I thought.  By now I have escaped as much as I can and am putting Harper in her carseat. I tell her "oh..you don't need to do that... just don't worry... it is just a phase...have a nice weekend.  Bye!!!!"


Yes...I lied... and we have never gotten an email or an invitation for a playdate.  I guess maybe she found out...


Now we celebrate when Harper goes a week with no biting, and her daily prayers with us include "please help me to have self control and not bite my friends." 


They promoted her to the older class after Christmas.  The director told me that it is more structured, the children are older, and there is a lot more going on during the day.  So I guess they moved her because she is either A. gifted and needed a more challenging environment, or B. they got tired of mad parents.  (We think "A"!)  In talking to her new teacher about Harper's "behavior" she told me that "she won't have time to bite in here."  Well, we sure hope so. 


So the first week in her new class and I see the wonderful telltale white piece of paper in the cubby.  So of course I do what I normally do and make sure no other parent is looking as I sneak it from the cubby to my back pocket.  The teacher then informs me that someone bit her!!!!!  Hallelujah!!!  Apparently it hurt and Harper cried!!!  I couldn't help but be excited and I am pretty sure the teacher thinks I am nuts because I was.  We had a nice talk on the way home about how biting hurts your friends.  Hopefully this biting thing is over... we shall see...

Just look at those teeth  that cute smile!!! We could just eat her up...

long week...

I sure am glad this week is over. It has been long, tiring, and hard to get back in the routine.  We are glad for the weekend and hopefully we will all catch up on some sleep!!


I looked over on the couch tonight, and these 2 kiddos had crashed!!  They are my life, my heart, and I just love to watch them sleep!!!


Have a good weekend!!

18 months

I started this post when we were on Christmas break...  

I guess some day I'll get Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas pictures done.  

Harps turned  a year and a half the end of December and just seems to be growing more and more every day.  Since I can't dump my good camera pics, here are some random phone pictures and facts about our little Harpsy

her hair  is an awful mess every morning front and back are always teased and in knots

favorite foods: chicken, veggie straws, oranges, strawberries, peas, yogurt, apples, not a big veggie fan


says "whoooohhhh" when we turn a corner, slam on brakes, or do anything erratic in the car


she loves music. 
she will stop what she is doing if she hears music and usually dance


favorite songs on the radio: Party Rockers, sexy and I know it, tonight tonight


favorite songs to sing: itsy bitsy spider, ABC song, she also still loves wheels on the bus and patty cake


she will anticipate the next word or hand motion when we are singing itsy bitsy spider, wheels on bus or patty cake


she will sing along with you, sometimes her words make sense sometimes they don't, but she still sings and loves it

she got a tea set and play food from her aunts for Christmas and she LOVES them

she will set up her very own tea party all by herself

getting pretty good eating with fork and spoon

will NOT keep a pony tail, barrette, or bow in hair, will not...


she still always tries to take her shoes off in the car


she will let you know if she doesn't like the song on the radio  by saying "no, no, no"


she loves music with a strong beat, which is probably why she prefers 103.7 or 99.5

skyping with Nonni and Pops

loves to be silly!!


still does not like being confined in car seat, tries to bust out


loves to twirl around and around in circles

she woke up Christmas morning with a high fever and ended up having a bad ear infection 

likes doing forward rolls, with help of course


does this little tilt head to side thing when she dances


pretty much repeats EVERYTHING we say 


we were very excited to hear her say mimi, nonni, pops, amen, and acki over the holidays


we are still working on I Love You

she LOVES her cousin Jacob... she gets so excited when she sees him and will just follow him around


she is very very tickilish and we just love it when she laughs that hard

we never know what we will find when we go check on her at night

she still loves  books 


she will imitate reading the book, she puts it in her lap, turns the page, and her voice gets louder as she says a bunch of jumbled up sounds, it is so cute and makes this teacher momma happy!!


she goes to get the paper with Ryan every morning and still gets so excited when it is time

has learned what time out is, and it works!!


will count to 3 with you but really likes 2, usually it is "one, two, go" , she never forgets "two" or "go"

she wears a size 4 diaper


she will put her  clothes in the dirty clothes basket when you ask her to


she also doesn't understand that shoes don't go in the dirty clothes basket

Obsessed  with closing doors, loves to close herself into a dark closet and will stay there until I open the door


LOVES STICKERS and seems to always put them on her neck, we can't quite figure this one out


Loves to put on one of her many purses and say bye bye

18 month stats: 
32 inches tall 70th%tile
23 pounds 50th%tile 

We love you very very much Harper!!