Cheeks and steps

 I love Harper's cheeks. 

 And she can now climb up, and down, to the sink unassisted.  So the tally currently stands:

Bathroom Sink...check
Kitchen sink...nope
Couch...check
Chairs in living room...check
Dining room chairs...nope
Parent's bed...almost  She has the down, but not the up

We are running out of climbing obstacles.  

Lion Tamer

My dad gave Harper this little lion when we last visited Spokane in (I think) July.  She hasn't been able to pull the rip cord...until today!  Not only can she pull the cord, but she is trying so hard to get the wheels on floor so it can scoot around. 

I can almost see her brain growing!

Fork

I sound like Strong Bad, but we're building motor skills regardless.  I'll look back and wince at the "stabbing eggs" bit, but whatever.  Infant cutlery is extremely dull and it's a challenage to get food to stay attached long enough for a wee one to attempt putting said food in his or her mouth.  My solution is brute force. 

And a bit of cheese.  Melted cheese helps hold things together. 

Free to be

Harper and I escaped the house today with hopes of going to play at the park.  It turned out to be too cold for much outdoor adventuring, so we went to one of the most stressful places on earth to see if we could spend up a gift card - Bed Bath and Beyond.  Oh geez.  That places stresses me out when it isn't the holidays - I have no idea why I thought it would be good idea to go now, 8 days before Christmas. 

We were there for, maybe, 4 minutes. 

We survived. 

To take up some more time before going home, we went next door to a shoe store. 

Harper was wearing her White Sox snow suit when we came in.  I plopped her down so she could toddle about, and 4 sales girls were instantly ooh-ing over how adorable he was!  "Oh he's such a little trooper!"  "He loves the ladies!  Look at him giving us a big smile!"  And then an older gentleman walked by and said, "Hey buddy!"

I took it all in.  I just smile when these sorts of conversations start.  When I've corrected people before that he is really a she, they feel horrible!  They stumble over themselves, offering apologies and sincere regret for mistaking Harper as male.  If only we had a gender neutral pronoun.

 I could care less.  Harper isn't always the image of what people think a girl looks like.  

Harper in a navy shirt with a collar.  Apparently, this is improper girl attire.

Until she starts telling me how and what she would like to dress and wear, I'll stick with what I've been doing.  She could want to be all sparkles and pink tutus, and that will be fine.  She might ask to wear cargo pants and black shirts.  Great.  Those are easy to shop for! 

I'm getting myself prepared for how the world will try to tear Harper down.  I've seen it with other kids.  I've seen with my brothers and sister.  People can be mean.  I know I can't hide her from it forever. 

It may be clothes.  It may be how she expresses herself.  It may be who she chooses to love. 

Oh.  She wore it with a skirt?  Then that's fine. 

I want her to know she can always be who she is with me.

I'm still pretty shook up by the shooting in Connecticut.  I've been unable to keep myself from watching the news, and unable to keep from crying.  I just don't understand.  And I'm not going to get on a soap box and say what needs to change to keep this from happening.

The only thing I know for sure is the world can always use more love and understanding.  So, I will love my daughter and my husband.  I will love my family.  And I will continue to look at the relationships that are hardest for me, and try to love them too. 

Friends came over

There's a new gang in town!

Oscar!

 Some friends came over to see our place, watch the Bears game, and enjoy some food and company.  It was a huge success :)  There will be a new baby in the gang soon - Sarah and Roger are expecting their 1st child on Jan 6th and both came over to share in the fun.

Kian and Harper!

Sarah on the sofa with her baby belly :)

Greg and Harp

Harper's Library

With friends and family across the globe, I've been trying to keep people updated with Harper's life here on Pintsized.

With the holidays here, I've gotten many questions about the books Harper might like to have or what she already has.  I've decided to start keeping track of her library in print, and give access to all who are interested in adding to her library but don't want to duplicate titles.

This is a work in progress, as not all authors are present.  But, I'm pretty impressed in my ability to have anything like this made.

To access the sheet you can go to:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AgLSj64znz03dDE1RHRMeFlIZEFsUEdhMlp4ZG9qYUE

I hope this helps!

My little love

 I just heard about the school shooting in Connecticut.  20 kids are dead.  6 Adults.  The gunman shot his mother at the school.  My heart is hurting for those families and that community.  I'll be hugging my little lady even tighter tonight.  Most days it seems like she is my heart, walking around outside my body, making me so happy and so fulfilled.  President Obama is correct, our hearts are broken today. 

Earlier today, Harper and I did some baking, just like I did with my mom when I was young.  We strapped on our aprons.  We got out our tools.  We made a mess.  And in the end there is sugar cookie dough just waiting to be rolled out and baked. 

 I love you Harper.  Don't ever doubt it.

Potty girl

Harp loves brushing her teeth.  She loves it so much she will do just about anything to get it.

Including sit on the potty.

 We've been visiting her potty chair since it came into the house for her birthday, but its actual function hasn't been realized in her brain.  So, I'm perfectly happy to let her brush her teeth while sitting on the pot to help get her used to it. 

 Harp is very aware of the actual toilet.  She waves goodbye to her solids when we clean her diapers.  She loves to flush the handle.  She likes to drum on the lid.

 She hates to sit on it or be held over it.

 We've been making Psssss sounds.  She goes in with me when I go.  I even get applause when she feels I've done an especially good job.  (Good job mommy!)

In the last month, Harp has started bringing me diapers from her drawer when she feels wet.  I'm not pushing her to start potty training, but we're getting all the steps in place for when she decides she'd like to stop the diaper waddle and move on.

We'll see how far her tooth brush will go in this adventure. 

Cause and Effect

Harper has been a big fan of turning lights on and off for a bit now.  Today she got to take control over her own domain and decide if she wanted to play in the dark or with the lights on.  Granted, she didn't really play with anything other than the light, but she thought about moving on in a couple of instances.  That green ribbon is too darn tempting!

Whoa baby.

 

Some days it's all smiles and peanut-butter-happiness.  

 

Some days it's a snotty mess because what-do-you-mean-mommy's-panties-aren't-toys!?

 Harper has some more teeth coming in.  I can see at least one, but I'm hoping they are coming en mass like the last tooth round-up.  That, at least, would explain some of the instantaneous mood shifts that are happening.  Her stranger danger is also kicking in; clinging to me like sap, trying to crawl between my legs (no you can't go back in!), and hiding her face in my neck/leg/stomach/calf etc. 

 

But for fun, more pictures of her playing with underwear!  (She's going to hate me one day.) 

 

 Uh oh.  Melt down.  

Mom took the underwear off. 

 It is sooo hard being a baby.