Harper is 25 pounds, 11 ounces and 33 inches long. She's moving so much that her baby fat is slowly disappearing! She took her first steps on October 13th. Since then, she's learned to run; walking didn't last too long because she really likes to explore. Everything is so exciting when you are learning what the world is like, so why not?!?! She loves to be chased and chase you. Peek A Boo is always entertaining. She likes to put her blanket over her head and walk around to find you. Sometimes she'll take off the blanket and say "boo". When playing chase and trying to get her, she laughs so hard and it's just the cutest. So much excitement from such a simple game. She's learned some of the gestures to "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" and the "Itsy Bitsy Spider". She likes to imitate me when I sing them and we do them at the library for story time.
H has 14 teeth. 10 fully in, the 4 incisors are all out of the gums and slowly working their way into that adorable smile of hers. She never fussed about her teeth coming in, so I guess we're lucky there. Molars, I hear, are a different story... Eating is still a favorite pastime. Especially snacks, kids love to graze! She's sort of a vegetarian because anytime there's meat on her plate, she won't touch it or just spits it right back out. The doctor says it's a normal phase though. Veggies aren't a top priority in her book either, so we've been struggling trying to get her to eat some that were once her favorites, like sweet potatoes, carrots and peas. The only veggie we can get her to eat is corn on the cob. When she gets that, she loves it and eats every single corn off the cob! Harper loves fruit, bread and cheese. Did I mention that she loves snacks? Favorite fruits include strawberries, bananas, grapes, blueberries, mangos and apples. She's beginning this little thing where she won't eat them sometimes if we cut them and she only wants to eat off the whole piece...independent woman :) Peanut butter and jelly, grilled cheese, macaroni and cheese, spaghetti, pancakes, french toast, rice and lo mien are her favorite meals. Harper likes snacks, just like her Daddy. She will have just finished eating and will go to the pantry (which she can open) to find some snacks. Her favorite snacks are peanuts, pistachios, pretzels, hummus, cheddar crackers, cheese or peanut butter mini ritz cracker sandwiches, and veggie straws. And just like her Gaga, she loves ice cream. We can't say the word without her going right to the freezer and waiting for us to give her some! 
She wakes up talking. Jibberish, but talking. It'd be amazing to know what she's saying, soon enough we'll find out. She can say a lot of words, including, go, dog, cat, duck, no, hot, cold, Mama, Dada, Nonnie (Seasun's Mom), Gaga (Seasun's Grandfather), Mommom (Seasun's Grandmother), Mimi (Seasun's Sister in Law), ball, block, milk, done, apple, bath, home, bye, hat, bubbles, snowman and Hulk. Yes, the incredible Hulk. She can also do the animal sounds of a dog, a puppy (there's a difference), a duck, a sheep, a cow, an elephant (arm gesture required), a pig (piggy face included) a bee, a lion, a fish (opens and closes her mouth in the shape of a circle a few times) and a snake. H still uses sign language for done, more, eat, milk, ice cream, bath, drink, ball, cold, please and thank you. Sometimes she'll yell "done" while she signs it and she always says milk when doing that sign.
iPad = Harper's #1 entertainment. We try to limit the time she gets to have it, but when she sees it, she gets so excited, like she's never played with it before. She's got a ton of games and videos on it. Her favorite games are Peppa Pig, Disney Junior puzzles, PBS Kids app, a matching game and some Lego Duplo games. There are a few apps that play videos where she's learned by seeing us do it, to fast forward, rewind, start, stop and turn the volume up and down. It's amazing how she can have so many different apps and things on it and can remember how each one is different and what to do/how to play. Other forms of entertainment for H are her wooden blocks and Lego Duplo blocks. It's so much fun to stack them up then knock them down. She got a few Duplo sets for Christmas that we haven't even opened yet. Not a day goes by that we don't read and look at books or draw and color. When she draws, she likes to draw circles and spirals. We have not been able to find out the meaning to that quite yet...She also loves to play in her kitchen and give us food/drinks to try. She'll go around the whole room and make sure everyone has had some. We got a kitchen helper for her to stand up to the counter to help cook. Usually I'll let her stir and she likes to watch everything I'm doing. She likes to play with Play-Doh. She loves to push her baby in the stroller. She also feeds it, takes the shoes on and off, and flings it on the floor. She's not the most nurturing mother sometimes ;) It's not that she's got a temper, I guess it's just fun to push the baby over a time or two...
Since her birthday 6 months ago, Harper has been to Kings Dominion with Alissa and Erin a few times at the end of the summer, GooGoo's (Derek's Mom) house in the Outer Banks, Florida to visit Nonnie (Seasun's Mom) for Seasun's Birthday, to Braehead Farm for some autumn fun, a trip or two to Richmond to visit her cousins, Sophia and Ben, a few drives over the mountain to Harrisonburg to see family and celebrate the coming arrival of her cousin Palmer in April and to Charleston, SC/Folly Beach with Derek for work. She's celebrated Halloween as a ghost, pigged out on macaroni and cheese for Thanksgiving and was showered with gifts for Christmas (many of which we stashed away to bring out later in the year.) She got a cold at the end of September but it didn't stop her from being herself. Mid December she got a viral skin condition called "Moluscum" on her left side. Luckily it went away rather quickly and she never missed a beat. Where and what will the next 6 months bring us or take us? We look forward to it all!
Harper truly is a sweet girl. She loves to give hugs and kisses. Hugs are accompanied with a pat on the back and kisses are made with a "mwah" sounds. She blows kisses to everybody; us, family, friends, cashiers, doctors, the UPS guy....She waves at anything; a giraffe in a book, people in the store, herself in the mirror. She loves to watch herself, sometimes in just a reflection. We'll catch her looking out the back door watching herself, talking and dancing. We stay busy by going to playgroups, indoor play areas and the library. H loves the Mother Goose time at the library because we sing and dance. Playing with other toddlers has been great for her! She's very entertaining to watch grow. Another 6 months and she'll be two, but let's not think about that yet!
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