10 Months and Summer Fun

Harper is really becoming quite a character. She has her own personality and can be quite the feisty little thing sometimes. I still remember the NICU nurses commenting on how tough and strong she was when she was born. I guess those traits are here to stay. I love having such an independent and strong-willed daughter. She makes me feel so proud.

Harper is crawling all over the house and is pulling herself up on to everything. She is starting to cruise and will even stand for a few seconds on her own before she falls on her padded diaper tush.

We have a Tal clone on our hands. She is so funny, just like her daddy. Harper thinks sneezes are hilarious. You should see her crack up laughing when someone sneezes.

The loves of our 10 month old include: cell phones, water bottles, chewing on EVERYTHING, nibbling on Mommy, pulling hair, exploring the house, playing with the door stoppers, playing in Goldie's food dish, kicking her feet and pounding them on the ground, and eating. She is really in to finger foods right now. Bananas, black beans, popcorn (minus the kernals), cereal puffs, pears, peaches, blueberries, she eats it all folks! Although she is eating a lot of solid food, our girl still adores her bottles. She has started going crazy whenever she sees us making them. It's like we never feed her or something.

Tal and I are loving our summer at home with Harper. We take her on walks up to our neighborhood park to swing and go on the slides, play in her backyard pool with her, and we have even had some nice trips. We took her to her first family reunion on my side. It was so great to see her interact with everyone. We also took her to Olympia to visit my friends and family up there.

She is working on getting her two upper teeth. This caused some sleepless nights for us. We even resorted to me sleeping with her for a few nights because that was the only way she would get a full night's sleep and not scream all night. We are really trying to get her back in to a bedtime routine again though. Last night we started our first night of her bedtime routine. After dinner we give her a bath, then she can play for a few minutes, then it is bottle time, then rocking and story time, and then we put her in her crib and turn on her sound machine. We haven't put her to bed awake before so this is new for her. She cried for about 10 minutes and then went to sleep and slept 12 hours! I am hoping that she will continue doing well with her new routine.

Here are some pictures of our growing 10 month old:

What a goofball!

Pool time!

Climbing up!

Here we are at the Stayton 4th of July parade.

More pool time. I love this little Gymboree outfit!

Hanging out at the family reunion.

Snoozing on Grandpa.

Playing with her cousin Jackson.

Not too many 10 month pictures this month. She was really not in the mood the day I took them.

We love you Harper Lily!

Our Growing Girl

Here is Harper celebrating her Dadddy's birthday.

These few pictures were part of a photo collage I made for Tal and Tal's dad and my dad for Father's Day.

Playing with her poodle.

Goldie loves to lick Harper's slobber. Ew!!

Here is Harper with her grandpa (my dad) on Father's Day eating breakfast.

Harper with Grandma Mary.

We went walking at Tumwater Falls Park on Father's Day. My sister, Taylr, is having a baby in January. Taylr and Daniel's baby will be Harper's first cousin!

Just strolling the trail in her BOB stroller.

Feeding the ducks with Grandpa and Aunt Taylr.

Gnawing on a water bottle. Workin those little teeth.

My dad had so much fun playing with Harper on the toys. It was so fun to watch.

You can see her two little teeth in this picture.

What a big girl! She has changed so much this month.

This month has brought so many changes for our little girl. First of all, she is crawling! She crawled for the first time on June 10. She is just so proud of herself. We are too of course. She loves to crawl under things right now. Her favorite is getting stuck under her excersaucer.

Also, she got two teeth this month. They came at the same time on the bottom. They have made her uncomfortable on some days. But, for the most part, she is her normal happy self.

Harper just cracks us up. She is just so loving, happy, and full of spunk. I took her to visit my family in Washington this past weekend. She had a blast visiting with friends, her grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and great-grandma too. We were quite busy! Everyone always comments on how easy going she is. I agree, she is a pretty easy baby. I feel so lucky.

School is out for Tal and I now. We are so excited to spend the summer with Harper. She keeps us pretty busy around the house. I am really looking forward to blowing up her baby pool when the weather gets warmer. She has some pretty cute swimsuits to show off.

I took Harper on an 8K race this month in her BOB stroller. She slept the entire time of course. It was a very tough course but I was proud of myself for finishing and for being the only person pushing a stroller the whole time. I run my relay with my co-workers tomorrow and Saturday. We are running from Portland to Eugene in the Epic Relay. Wish us luck!

I just love my daughter so much. She has made me the happiest I have ever been in my whole life. I just watch her and thank God that I have such a beautiful baby. She is a miracle. I love her so much. Happy 9 month birthday Harper Lily!