Life with the B's: August 2013

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

13 months

Nothing quite says happiness like mom letting you jump in the lake fully clothed!!

ooooh DIRT!

Age: 13 months. I will be the first to admit that I was not a fan of the infant stage (Harper and I had a rough go of it the first 6 weeks or so) but I'm digging this whole toddler thing. Talk to me again when we hit the terrible 2's

Favorite Activity: Anything outdoors. We had a busy month this month full of family visits, trips to the animal park, lake, and beach. This is a girl who is happiest on the go and with people to watch

so impressed with the ducks!

beach baby

first carousel ride. She wasn't quite sure she liked it

Favorite Toy: My my this little girl is fickle. Violet the talking dog has now been replaced by her baby doll Julia and her Aden and Anais security blanket (they come in a 2 pack...genius and has totally saved me a few times this month)

Favorite Book: Snow white and the 7 dwarfs. She picks this book out of the basket I keep in the car every time. It's funny to listen to her babble as if she's actually reading the book.

This month Harper learned:

* Facing forward in the car seat is AMAZING! It's like a whole new world! (And her legs aren't squished at a weird angle anymore)

*Peek a boo is the most hilarious game ever!

* Harper has had a language explosion this month and has added quite a few signs to her repertoire. She can now sign mom, dad, please, bye, thank you, baby, all done, milk, and more. Please is by far her most used sign followed by daddy (hmph!) Initially she would just copycat what I was signing but she will now answer questions with the correct sign. (Do you want more?--> please) Sigh...warms this interpreters heart to see her little chubby fingers signing (and so much LESS whining now!)

* Bike rides with auntie are so much FUN!!! and so are scooters!

This month mommy learned:

*To give up on sitting down until Harper is ohhh I don't know 18. Up down up down up down... just not worth it!

* Where Harper gets her hair coloring from...

...enough said.

Other family news:

*We've finally broken ground on our new house!! Hoooray!! We're only 2.5 weeks behind schedule...not bad right? Right? The original estimated completion date is October 31 so I'm going to say if we're in by Christmas I'll be happy. This house building business is not a impatient persons game but I'm doing my best (hurry hurry hurry!!). I'm pretty sure my builder will hate seeing my email address by the end of this.

*We made it through the bridal shower and bachelorette party now it's T-18 days until Melissa and James' wedding!!!

*Next race is the Auburn Lakes 1/2 in two weeks. Very excited for what will probably be my last 1/2 of the season. The last sentence is subject to change, I can be talked into races very easily ;)

Until next month...

Saturday, August 10, 2013

TWELVE (oh my god how did this happen so fast?) MONTHS

Age: 12 Months She's been moved into the toddler room at school which means she's officially a big girl

Weight & Length: 22lbs and 30" long, still growing out of her clothing faster than I care to spend $ on them…thank goodness for hand me downs :)

Favorite Activity: Climbing stairs…and she's fast!!! Turns out that Harper is quite the dare devil, climbing stairs or going down the slide solo at daycare are no big thing so needless to say she's been keeping us on our toes!!

Favorite Toy: Sadly Bubba the Bear has taken a backseat to Harper's new favorite toys--> Violet the talking dog (she cracks up every time Violet says "I love you Harper") and the new baby doll she got for her birthday.

Favorite Book: No clear favorites this month, instead Harper has decided that she loves ALL the books. We have book baskets in both her bedroom and the living room. When she's exhausted herself from climbing stairs (or the gate has been put up, same same) she'll go sit by her basket and go through each and every book. I'm hoping to turn her into a bookworm like I was :)

This month Harper learned:

* How to sign "Please" and "Thank you" on demand. She hasn't mastered any signs to tell me exactly what she wants but at least she's polite about her whining haha.

* How to brush her teeth. Now that we have 7 plus teeth we've introduced teeth brushing 2x daily into our routine. I let her "brush" for a few minutes (which really is her sucking on the tooth brush or gagging herself by accident) before I take over. She loves loves loves the toothbrush and our brushing sessions almost always result in her screaming to go back for more. I guess I can't complain that she has good hygiene habits right?

* Birthdays are AWESOME!!! They come with balloons, and bounce houses, friends, sweet presents but best of all CAKE!!!!
Nana and Grampy Rick were visiting from Texas right before her birthday so lucky little lady had two birthday celebrations :)

This month mommy learned:

Shoot I don't know, it's been a whirlwind of a month between my mom visiting, Harper's first birthday, building a house and hosting bridal showers….it's all been a blur. I do think next year Harper's birthday will be a more simple affair…I was so busy doing things at the party I don't feel like I really got a chance to enjoy the day with her. Lesson learned.

Races: I almost got talked into running a 9 mile trail run...errr death race up a Mtn (thanks Danielle) but luckily/unluckily when I went to sign up for it it was sold out. For a race that I had to be talked into doing I was pretty bummed I didn't get to run it. Maybe next year?? Next race is a 1/2 marathon the beginning of September. It's not nearly as flat as the Rail Trail so if I can keep my finish time under 2 hours I will chalk that up as a success!