Harper's First Christmas (Season)

Our first Christmas season with Harper has been a lot of fun. Even though she is too little to really know what is going on, we still enjoyed watching her take everything in (a season full of pretty lights and songs is the perfect experience for this little 6 month old). Enjoy a few of the pictures from our holiday celebrations.

Meeting Santa at Macy's in Minneapolis

Inspecting Santa (again) in Chicago

Asking Santa to bring her doggy lots of bones. (And explaining to him that her shirt says "What Santa doesn't bring me Grandma will!")

Modeling one of her many Christmas onesies

Bouncing in front of the tree in Oil City

Christmas PJs from Grandma Drelick

"Hey, this wrapping is kinda fun"

More modeling

"Mom and Dad say I'm Santa's Favorite"

Ready for Christmas Eve Mass

Merry Christmas!

Our little Elf on Christmas Day

*I am missing a picture of our favorite Christmas Onesie....It has cookies and Milk on it and says "For Santa (Not Daddy)!"

Daddy Arrives in Pennsylvania for Christmas!

Harper and I arrived in Pennsylvania on Sunday the 18th but had to wait till the 23rd for Daddy to fly in. We had lots of fun with the grandparents, but this little girl missed her daddy - Here are some pictures  showing how much!

"Ship me to Daddy!!"

"I swear I won't eat the packing peanuts on the way!"

Princess PJs to greet her daddy (this little sleepy head had to be woken up to go get him - so she got to wear her PJs to the airport)

"Hooray!! Daddy is here!"

They were both pretty excited

Making sure that Daddy hadn't changed

Yep! Still my daddy!

Mwah!

Annual Christmas Shopping Trip

Harper took part in her first annual Grandma/Mom/Harper Christmas Shopping trip! My mom and I have been doing this since (I think) 2004. The trip is usually to Chicago, but was moved to Boston and New York City while we lived in Hanover (we had to take advantage of the east coast location!). We were excited to be back in  the familiar stomping grounds of Chicago and very excited to welcome Harper to the tradition. Things are definitely a little different now - early dinners, stroller maneuvering and bedtimes that rarely stretched beyond 9pm - but it was every bit as enjoyable!

Checking out her seat on the plane (she sat with me once we got going)

Brrr! 

Let me take a look at that menu mom

 Taking a break with Grams

 Say Cheese!

Shopping is exhausting! 

Bundled up in the Bjorn this time!

My first high chair experience! Now give me some food!

I could get used to this hotel stuff!

Hamming it up with other people waiting for a table at the pizza place

Gosh this is tiring! 

6 Months Old!

Playing on the floor

"Are you sure I need these shots mom?"

Maybe a roll of this exam table liner would make a good Christmas present! Endless entertainment 

Giggly girl

"What is that Daddy?" (Notice Hesburgh's interest too)

 Hmmm, Interesting....

I am not sure how much of the oatmeal actually got swallowed, but she had fun wearing it

Checking out toys at Grandma and Grandpa Drelick's house

** I did write post yesterday, on December 19th - but Harper had plans for me that did not include getting it posted!**

I cannot believe I am actually typing that Harper is 6 months old today! So much has happened since she entered our lives in June, yet it seems like it was just yesterday. Recently I was looking at pictures of her first few weeks of life and I honestly cannot believe that the little girl in those pictures is the smiling, belly laughing, rolling, sitting up, squealing little girl that I hold today.

We already can't remember what life was like without her - she has brought so much joy to our lives (and definitely keeps us on our toes).

Harper and I have already traveled to Pennsylvania for Christmas, so her Classic Pooh watch me grow picture will be late again, but I didn't want to miss blogging on this important milestone day!

A few highlights:

• Harper may be one of the best traveled babies out there - we calculated that she will have been on 15 separate flights by the time she is 7 months old (she has already been on 12) - not to mention the car trips she experienced between Vermont, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Minnesota! Luckily she continues to be a wonderful traveler.
• She is definitely rolling away these days - she rolls both ways without hesitation. She still doesn't use it very much to get places (like across the room), but I can see the wheels turning and she will be doing that soon.
• She is sitting up! If we set her down in a sitting position she can now stay there, pretty stably, for quite some time. She is sturdy enough that I now feel confident taking my eyes off her or sneaking in the other room while she is sitting playing.
• She LOVES Hesburgh. She lights up when she sees him come into the room and reaches out to pet him (or grab fistfuls of his fur). She particularly likes it when he gives her kisses. Hesburgh continues to be wonderful with her, but it is clear that he isn't really sure whether to try and avoid her or whether to relish in the new found popularity. (I can only imagine how this relationship will continue to change as she becomes more mobile).
• She loves to stare at her hands and put her toes in her mouth!
• She still doesn't nap consistently (or at all) in her crib - the car seat, our arms and occasionally the swing are her only daytime sleeping places. We tried to "train" her to nap but it hasn't worked yet - and we decided to take a break from pushing this as we are changing her eating routines, etc.  (As her doctor said - lets not mess with naps right now because we are "turning her world upside down" with food right now). **I do have to add that as I am typing this she is making me a liar - she went down - without a fuss - for a nap in the pack n play this morning in Oil City**
• As mentioned above, we are changing things up food wise. I had considered/planned to start supplementing her nursing with occasional formula feedings once she hit 6 months... her 6 month check up last week solidified this decision. Our little girl really is a little girl - so we are giving her formula for every other feeding. She seems to be enjoying what the doctor called her "protein shake" so far.
• We are also starting solids! (Well, if you can call runny baby oatmeal solid). She has had a few feedings so far and only seems mildly interested (she was very interested the first night but the novelty seems to have worn off). Hopefully it will grow on her. (We started with oatmeal because her doctor told me not to start with rice cereal because "rice cereal is gross - no one likes rice cereal")
• Lastly, her percentiles: Our little piglet was 13 lbs 12 oz  (14 percentile), 25.5 inches long (48 percentile) and her head was in the 34 percentile. (It is actually funny to look at her after having this information - because she actually has chubby cheeks and thighs, so she must just be wearing her weight in different places!)

Photo Catch Up

Harper is taking a rare nap (in her car seat after a Target trip, of course) so I thought I would do my best to get up to date on the blog! Here are some random pictures of our last few weeks.

Mommy's view from our dog walks (Hesburgh on the leash, Harper in the bjorn)

Wearing my first shoes! Thanks Lubabe!

Checking out my pooh bouncer

Being a little diva

Sitting on and checking out Hesburgh

Playing

She thought the wind during our cold dog walk was hilarious.

Watching mom bake bread (with strict supervision so she didn't tip herself over)

Laundry Basket baby!

Checking out her cool brother again (He is such a good sport)

Mom and Dad think this is a bad habit, but man is it cute!

Brrr~ It is cold in Minnesota.

Practicing Sitting Up!