What's New HarpieGirl?

Hi Blog World!!  I have slacked again...but as I lazily sat in bed drinking a delicious beer tonight after a KILLER yoga class, I thought, "why not write a blog post?!"  I figured it had probably been since around Harper's birthday in May that I last did a developmental update.  So, let's start there!

What's new with HarpieGirl?

((Look at that cute child!!))  Well, as evident in this picture, Harper finally has some adorable prominent teeth!  At this very moment in time, she has 8.  Although, she has been mega-mega-mega-teething more than ever this last month.  Textbook teething-with the runny nose, drooling, and chewing on EVERYTHING...so I'm pretty sure even more toofeses are not far behind.  And more teeth is great!  It definitely helps out with her eating.

Her favorite foods right now are blueberries and tomatoes.  Those are the go-to foods for our girl when she is fighting mealtime.  She also loves lemons.  Crazy girl.  Yes, the above pic is of her fully noshing on a lemon.  Wow.  She loves them-great distraction when we go out to eat! ;-D  AND we now know that she did NOT inherit my disdain for pickles.  BLEH!!!  She ate a whole pickle spear yesterday.  I was definitely grossed out.  H loved it.  She is also fully on whole milk (side note: we weaned her off the boob at 13 months...we made it a year, go us!) and fully off of bottles!!  Huzzah!  Getting her off the paci at bedtime will be our next project.  

We are also officially on one nap a day.  This has been an amazing transition for us (especially me).  She will do one 1.5-2.5 hour nap each day around 12:30/1:00.  So, usually we play and get out of the house in the morning, come home and have lunch, nap, and then the rest of the afternoon just zips by until Josh gets home around 4:15.  As a stay at home mom, I find that the end of the day before Josh gets home can feel ENDLESS.  Sometimes it would feel like it took 3 days for that last hour to pass.  However, now that I'm getting a longer stretch of 'me-time' while Harper naps in the afternoon, it's not feeling soooo looooong.  Then, when hubby gets home, I am typically jazzed up enough to make it to the 4:30 yoga class.  And if I am makin' it to yoga, allll is good!

Right now, I feel like Harper's language is just soaring more than anything.  She is very verbal and it is amazing.  She is saying SO MANY words--and adding new ones daily.  It is the best!  And really helpful for both Josh and me.  She even knows how to ask for help when she needs/wants something.  My favorite funny 'talking' story right now is from a couple of weeks ago.  I was asking Harper what she wanted me to make for breakfast: Do you want me to make some oatmeal?  "No."  How about an egg?  "No."  Okay, well what do you want for breakfast then?  "Ice."  HA!  Sorry charlie, there is no nutritional value in ice ;-)  One of her favorite things is when I put ice in her sippy cup of water.

Her favorite playtime entertainment is still--you guessed it--WATER!!  She loves to swim, go to the spray park, play with her water table, or even take a bath.  She also likes to play kind of WILD at home.  She likes 'startle games' like hiding and peekaboo.  She likes us to chase her around the house.  She LOVES when Josh holds her upside down and tickles her. She likes to climb up and down the couch and roll around on the floor.  Such a goofball!

Harper also LOVES hanging out with her baby friends!!!  It's funny, because she is a very 'observant' child and is kind of quiet around her buddies.  So, watching them play you would never know she loved it so much!  But literally EVERY DAY she asks to see her friends.  "De-can" and "Guy-o" are her two best buds.  We get in the car to run an errand and she will ask, "De-can"?  Or "Guy-o?"  Too sweet.  And she also has huge and HILARIOUS obsession with Tom's cousin's son, Radley.  We would see Radley at our weekly pool dates.  He is a lot older than Harper (3, I think) and they literally never interact.  But, she also asks to see him everyday ("Ladley") and gets a RIDICULOUS grin on her face when we mention his name.  Oh, who can blame her, he is an adorable little guy!  Blonde, tan, and big blue eyes...something any almost 15 month old would fall for ;-D

Overall, our little family is truly doing awesome right now.  We are in a great 'life groove' and I am lovin' it.  Josh and I head out of town for a romantic get-a-way to Las Vegas on Tuesday (just the two of us!!!) and we both can hardly wait!!!  Pools, buffets, cocktails, some window-shopping, and most importantly, SLEEPING IN await us.  So, until next time!...

I'll Eat You Up, I Love You So

Okay-can I actually get it together to update this thing!?  It seems like every time I go to write a post, Miss Harper wakes up from her nap.  We've been having a busy and fun-filled summer over here at the House of Herbert.  Although, the heat has been stifling and I am definitely ready for fall (the best season here in the ABQ).  Sunscreen, hats, swim diapers, and swamp coolers are our best friends at the moment!  So far our summer has consisted of a little traveling, lots of playing outside, lots of waterbaby fun, lots of trips to the zoo and/or the aquarium, and lots of playing with other baby friends!  Many great memories have been made, and I really can't complain!  Here's a massive photo dump from the last several weeks:

Water = our go-to entertainment

Off to my 10 year reunion!  A weekend without baby girl and literally a whirlwind of fun for Josh and me. 

My BFFL, Alyce!  Friends for 16 years+!

Fourth of July!

Yay!!  The Secret's Out!  The Maples are expecting another bundle of beautiful BOY!!!!

So blessed to have ALL these guys in our lives!  Growing our families together--just priceless.

I have to say, this is by far the most fun stage of development for Harper thus far.  (Although, I think every parent says that about every age, no matter what age your child is at!)  Our girl really is a hoot and a half these days.  I barely have time to keep up with our blog because we are always on the go.  Besides keeping up with our busy little one, Josh is busy as ever at work and I am back to teaching about 3 classes per week and also taking 3-4 classes per week.  PHEW!!  But I feel like life is truly going amazingly right now.  We are also in the early planning stages of possibly putting our house on the market...it is such a chore, so we're still just contemplating right now.  We would LOVE more space for the future though, so we'll see what unfolds!  We are also (only slightly) toying with the idea of moving closer to my family in the great state of TX...but again, only a small inkling right now.  I hope you are all having a fantastic summer as well!  I will try to stay on top of my leetle blog better in the coming months, I promise!

Our beautiful Sunflowers!  Our yard is actually pretty dang gorgeous, finally!  Only took 5 years ;-D

Happy Harper, Happy Summer!

...it's a sip of wine, it's summertime!

Here are some of our summer highlights thus far!  

BBQ's with Family

Messy fresh fruit face!

Post-Bath Nekked Bebe! 

Fun at the zoo!

A few much-needed date nights!

One Year Update!

A LOT CAN CHANGE IN A YEAR!!!

Okay, we are waaaay late on this...but we JUST had Harper's one year checkup yesterday!  No surprise, little goober is thriving.

Stats: 20% for weight, 40% for height, and 80% for head circumference.  LOL!  Yes, she's got a big ol' noggin.  Well, mom and dad do, too!  Sorry kid!  It's to fit that impressive brain-since you're a baby genius and all ;-)

Language: I love watching Harper's language skills develop.  She is talking so much now.  I don't even know if I can name all the words that she says.  She is adding new ones everyday, and will repeat tons of things that we say.  She most frequently says water, woof (still-haha!), ball, magnet (she loves to play with the magnets on the fridge), milk, bottle, boom (she learned this one from her buddy Declan), hi, bye bye (although it comes out 'die-die'-haha, creeeeepy), hat, hot, wow, Harper ('hawpo'), teeth, snack, walk...and of course, mama and dada.  Josh also taught her how to say 'honk' when she honks our noses.  Funny girl :-)

Gross Motor Skills: She is walking everywhere now and is also really fast!  She likes to climb, squat, throw, and stomp.  She loves sliding down her slide. She has also started doing awesome baby dances.

Favorite Foods: Blueberries are always pleasing to Miss Harper.  They are definitely our go-to.  She's also a big fan of cheesy scrambled eggs.  She likes almost everything else we've given her too, but rarely sits down and eats a big meal.  She's much more of a grazer throughout the whole day.

Sleep:  We're finally getting some good sleep around here for the most part.  Although, since Harper has never been one for sleeping very much, I think we're already in the transition from two naps to one.  I read that this usually happens between 12 and 24 months.  No BIG surprise to me that Harper may be ready for that on the early end!  Actually, I may prefer just one longer nap in the middle of that day compared to two 'cat naps.'  We'll see, though.  We're still just feeling it out and experimenting.

Year one, officially done.  We've got a beautiful, smart, silly, athletic, talkative TODDLER on our hands now!  We love you Harper Jane Herbert.