Celebrating our Pregnancy with Harper (photo 11/27/04)
Celebrating our Second Pregnancy (photo 12/19/06)
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
A Much Overdue Attempt to Catch Up
It's been a while, so there's a lot to write. December was a busy month for our family. Ethan got a new job, and is in the middle of his second week at Self-Help. It was a good move for him and we expect he'll be a lot happier there. We also decided to buy a house, and we're both excited and anxious about the entire deal. It's a good choice: a good price, a modest and comfortable home, large cul de sac lot near a neighborhood park. We feel good about what we're doing, but it is scary to make the largest financial decision of our lives and commit to a mortgage payment that we're not used to.
And the most exciting of the life-changing news: Ethan and I are expecting our second baby! We had an appointment with our midwife yesterday and we were told the baby should arrive somewhere between Aug. 25th and Aug. 28th (thought of you, Katie). Although we'd already done five positive home tests, going to the doctor really sealed the deal in terms of this "feeling real". We had an ultrasound and everything looks good and we got to hear the baby's heartbeat. That one always elicits tears. We're all excited and Harper can say, "Harper big sister", but she clearly has no concept of what that is going to mean. I am constantly asking mothers of more-than-one how to help the big kid adjust but I haven't yet heard the magic fix to make it easy. I suspect, given how attached Harper is to me, that it will be a tough adjustment for her, but in the end she'll thank us for it. Having a sibling is such a wonderful joy in life; Ethan and I enjoy ours so very much.
And now on to Harper. It really is amazing how much she changes in a month! Since we suspected I might be pregnant, I've cut back on nursing Harper this month. We were nursing only morning (around 5 AM) and at night before bed. Both of those were a full-on feedings, multiple let downs, switching sides, etc. We worked on eliminating the morning nursing by gradually lessening the amount she was eating while also moving it to later and later in the morning until she'd have only one side, one let down at like 6:30 AM. Finally, we stopped nursing in the mornings at all. That's been for about the last two weeks or so. The first few days were tough-- nothing gets past this girl. She definitely felt the change and would say "Mama hold you" and reach for me all day. She needed reassurance that we were still lovey and on good terms, I guess. We have also reduced the night feeding to just one let down per side. At first, after we'd finish, in order to sort-of keep her distracted and get her to sleep, I'd stand up, take her to her room and sway and sing (like we do for her naps) until she fell asleep. After a few nights of this, Harper did something very sweet. Immediately after I took her off the breast, she'd crouch and lie her head on my tummy, both hands touching it too, and stare off silently. She didn't want to be stroked or sung to, or anything at all, just lie there close and quiet. Now that is the routine-- a quick nursing, which is just for comfort and getting smaller/quicker all the time, and then quiet, skin to skin holding in the dark. After she falls asleep I move her to her crib.
With the change in the night routine (shorter nurse time), Harper wasn't as deeply asleep when we'd set her in her crib this month. She'd cry when we set her down. For about a week and a half, Ethan and I had to work on helping her understand that she needed to sleep. Ethan was really great with her. When she'd start to cry, he'd say "No! Time to sleep." and she'd stop crying and eventually, she learned that she could go to sleep on her own. In the past we'd heard about different cry-it-out approaches to "sleep train" your baby and none of that felt right to us. Now, however, Harper is older and can understand what we're saying. Although she did do some crying over the week or so that she struggled, she was never alone to cry, and either Ethan or I would always say the same, consistent thing which helped her learn that much faster. Now, if she wakes when I set her down and cries out, I tell her, "Time to sleep" and she does!
She still wakes in the night, although I think the lack of AM nursing is helping to push that later and later. Her first waking is lately around 2 or 3 AM. She likes to come into our bed and lie on my arm while rubbing my belly. She falls right back asleep. Speaking of my tummy, Harper has become obsessed/in love with my tummy over the past few months. She squeals with delight when she catches a peek of it and she loves to bury her head on it and pick at my belly button.
Also connected to the weaning-- Harper has begun to drink milk! I had tried various cow's milk (whole, 2%, nonfat) in the past and Harper never took to it. Since we've cut back on nursing, Harper now has an 8 oz. sippy cup of half organic whole cow's milk, half organic soy milk every morning (first thing) and another one after her nap! This is great because babies need that fat for brain development and I don't have to worry as much about making sure she gets fat elsewhere all day! She guzzles these cups of milk, too-- like nonstop sucking. Super cute.
This month, some new play has emerged. Harper adores coloring! She has a table where she does her artwork and she's always saying "Mama color too!" She's also obsessed with pens, always asking for one to doodle wherever we are. She seems to favor the color blue and she definitely favors her left hand. She makes a lot of "lines and dots". Harper speaks in sentences most of the time. (ie. "Elmo thinking hmmm interesting" or "Dada here?" <- asked any time we go somewhere while Dad's at work, or "Mama nice too", or "Sat Taz go?" or "Where's Mama?") Where's Mama is now a hide and seek game that she really loves. During the Christmas season, we had a tree this year and Harper loved the glass balls. She'd say "Harper and Mama!" and stand by the tree, wanting me to come over, crouch down, and admire our reflection in one of the balls. She'd ask for others this way too-- "Harper and Dada!" or "Harper and Nana!" (that's Harperese for Grannie).
Harper received many thoughtful gifts for the holidays and among them was a new tricycle from Grandma. She loves being pushed around the neighborhood on it (it has a parent control handle/ override). She keeps her feet on the pedals, but can't reach far enough to actually rotate them yet. You can tell she feels like a big girl on it though. Every few minutes she pushes the bell button and you hear a sweet little "ding!".
Harper remains a joyful fun girl. She'll no doubt make a fabulous sister!
It's been a while, so there's a lot to write. December was a busy month for our family. Ethan got a new job, and is in the middle of his second week at Self-Help. It was a good move for him and we expect he'll be a lot happier there. We also decided to buy a house, and we're both excited and anxious about the entire deal. It's a good choice: a good price, a modest and comfortable home, large cul de sac lot near a neighborhood park. We feel good about what we're doing, but it is scary to make the largest financial decision of our lives and commit to a mortgage payment that we're not used to.
And the most exciting of the life-changing news: Ethan and I are expecting our second baby! We had an appointment with our midwife yesterday and we were told the baby should arrive somewhere between Aug. 25th and Aug. 28th (thought of you, Katie). Although we'd already done five positive home tests, going to the doctor really sealed the deal in terms of this "feeling real". We had an ultrasound and everything looks good and we got to hear the baby's heartbeat. That one always elicits tears. We're all excited and Harper can say, "Harper big sister", but she clearly has no concept of what that is going to mean. I am constantly asking mothers of more-than-one how to help the big kid adjust but I haven't yet heard the magic fix to make it easy. I suspect, given how attached Harper is to me, that it will be a tough adjustment for her, but in the end she'll thank us for it. Having a sibling is such a wonderful joy in life; Ethan and I enjoy ours so very much.
And now on to Harper. It really is amazing how much she changes in a month! Since we suspected I might be pregnant, I've cut back on nursing Harper this month. We were nursing only morning (around 5 AM) and at night before bed. Both of those were a full-on feedings, multiple let downs, switching sides, etc. We worked on eliminating the morning nursing by gradually lessening the amount she was eating while also moving it to later and later in the morning until she'd have only one side, one let down at like 6:30 AM. Finally, we stopped nursing in the mornings at all. That's been for about the last two weeks or so. The first few days were tough-- nothing gets past this girl. She definitely felt the change and would say "Mama hold you" and reach for me all day. She needed reassurance that we were still lovey and on good terms, I guess. We have also reduced the night feeding to just one let down per side. At first, after we'd finish, in order to sort-of keep her distracted and get her to sleep, I'd stand up, take her to her room and sway and sing (like we do for her naps) until she fell asleep. After a few nights of this, Harper did something very sweet. Immediately after I took her off the breast, she'd crouch and lie her head on my tummy, both hands touching it too, and stare off silently. She didn't want to be stroked or sung to, or anything at all, just lie there close and quiet. Now that is the routine-- a quick nursing, which is just for comfort and getting smaller/quicker all the time, and then quiet, skin to skin holding in the dark. After she falls asleep I move her to her crib.
With the change in the night routine (shorter nurse time), Harper wasn't as deeply asleep when we'd set her in her crib this month. She'd cry when we set her down. For about a week and a half, Ethan and I had to work on helping her understand that she needed to sleep. Ethan was really great with her. When she'd start to cry, he'd say "No! Time to sleep." and she'd stop crying and eventually, she learned that she could go to sleep on her own. In the past we'd heard about different cry-it-out approaches to "sleep train" your baby and none of that felt right to us. Now, however, Harper is older and can understand what we're saying. Although she did do some crying over the week or so that she struggled, she was never alone to cry, and either Ethan or I would always say the same, consistent thing which helped her learn that much faster. Now, if she wakes when I set her down and cries out, I tell her, "Time to sleep" and she does!
She still wakes in the night, although I think the lack of AM nursing is helping to push that later and later. Her first waking is lately around 2 or 3 AM. She likes to come into our bed and lie on my arm while rubbing my belly. She falls right back asleep. Speaking of my tummy, Harper has become obsessed/in love with my tummy over the past few months. She squeals with delight when she catches a peek of it and she loves to bury her head on it and pick at my belly button.
Also connected to the weaning-- Harper has begun to drink milk! I had tried various cow's milk (whole, 2%, nonfat) in the past and Harper never took to it. Since we've cut back on nursing, Harper now has an 8 oz. sippy cup of half organic whole cow's milk, half organic soy milk every morning (first thing) and another one after her nap! This is great because babies need that fat for brain development and I don't have to worry as much about making sure she gets fat elsewhere all day! She guzzles these cups of milk, too-- like nonstop sucking. Super cute.
This month, some new play has emerged. Harper adores coloring! She has a table where she does her artwork and she's always saying "Mama color too!" She's also obsessed with pens, always asking for one to doodle wherever we are. She seems to favor the color blue and she definitely favors her left hand. She makes a lot of "lines and dots". Harper speaks in sentences most of the time. (ie. "Elmo thinking hmmm interesting" or "Dada here?" <- asked any time we go somewhere while Dad's at work, or "Mama nice too", or "Sat Taz go?" or "Where's Mama?") Where's Mama is now a hide and seek game that she really loves. During the Christmas season, we had a tree this year and Harper loved the glass balls. She'd say "Harper and Mama!" and stand by the tree, wanting me to come over, crouch down, and admire our reflection in one of the balls. She'd ask for others this way too-- "Harper and Dada!" or "Harper and Nana!" (that's Harperese for Grannie).
Harper received many thoughtful gifts for the holidays and among them was a new tricycle from Grandma. She loves being pushed around the neighborhood on it (it has a parent control handle/ override). She keeps her feet on the pedals, but can't reach far enough to actually rotate them yet. You can tell she feels like a big girl on it though. Every few minutes she pushes the bell button and you hear a sweet little "ding!".
Harper remains a joyful fun girl. She'll no doubt make a fabulous sister!
Saturday, December 2, 2006
Another new phrase is "bless you"-- said after someone sneezes. Harper's picking up on the manners thing lately. When she needs help, she asks for it by saying, "Help, please." She's actually quite good about saying please; "thank you" is not as consistent yet but it's really neat to see Harper use these polite words. She is also getting good at saying "hi" to people when greeting them. She is still generally shy, but after 15 minutes or so in a new place, she starts to feel safe enough to venture around and be friendly. However she definitely wants her personal space and always stays within eye-shot of Mama or Dada.
We've already had a social weekend. Today was Avery's 1st birthday party and Harper had fun watching the little video that Tiff and Travis showed of Avery's first year. She danced to the music and shouted, "baby!" at the screen. She and Avery will be cute buddies as they get older. Last night was the Christmas Tree Auction, and Ethan and I had a fabulous time out with friends until the wee hours. Grandma babysat the girl and we had a great, carefree time. Harper is napping right now and so is Ethan. I think I'll go join them for a snooze.
We've already had a social weekend. Today was Avery's 1st birthday party and Harper had fun watching the little video that Tiff and Travis showed of Avery's first year. She danced to the music and shouted, "baby!" at the screen. She and Avery will be cute buddies as they get older. Last night was the Christmas Tree Auction, and Ethan and I had a fabulous time out with friends until the wee hours. Grandma babysat the girl and we had a great, carefree time. Harper is napping right now and so is Ethan. I think I'll go join them for a snooze.
Friday, December 1, 2006
Update, regarding the counting:
Harper now counts to 20 in English and recognizes all of those numbers, too.
Harper also LOVES puzzles these days. She's learned the word "almost" from doing puzzles. When a piece was not quite in, we'd encourage her by saying, "almost!" Now she says it for herself when she's close to fitting a piece in her puzzles or when we enter the neighborhood and she can see that we're "almost home". Pretty cool word. Harper has also learned the word 'patient'. Sometimes, when she was impatiently asking for something, I'd tell her "Just one minute, baby. Be patient." She'd stand there waiting and apparently she began to understand what it meant to be patient because the other day she was asking Ethan to read her a book and she walked over to him and said, "Read it- me, please. Patient." She then stood there and waited for his attention. Harper is also saying the word "pretty". She calls herself pretty when we do her hair or she looks at herself in the mirror. "Perfect" is another of her new words. When she completes a puzzle, I tell her it's perfect and she mimics that. I am not sure she really gets the concept of the word just yet, but give her a couple of days and she will. This kid is quick. Another of her sentences is, curiously, "Ahab says, 'Ahoy, Matey'". I know it's wierd, but she's got a little captain toy that goes with her boat in the bathtub and I've told her his name is Ahab and when I animate him, this is what he says. The girl repeats everything.
Since Aunt Danielle and Uncle Marty returned to Denver after Thanksgiving, Harper's been asking about them both. She plays with a retired cell phone and pretends to talk to them on the phone. "Hi Aunt D. Love you. Soon. (trans: See you soon.) Hi Marty. Marty nice. Soon. Bye bye Aunt D."
The girl is not sleeping well lately. The little fits that she's started throwing also occur during the night when she's not getting ninny milk. This kid would have me be an all night diner if it were up to her! We've been working on pushing the AM nursing from 3 AM to 4 AM and now to 5 AM. This has been tough on all of us. With each adjustment, she cried until she understood that she was still going to get what she wanted; she just had to wait and get it later than she wanted. The hope is that by moving the nursing to later in the morning, Harper's habit of waking at 3 AM and 4 AM and 5 AM... will eventually stop and she'll sleep for longer durations. By the way, Harper's usually going to bed by 8:30 or 9, and waking around midnight first-- don't go thinking that she's waking for the first time at 3. Oh no. This kid has some serious sleep issues.
Ethan and I think it might have gotten bad again because she seems to have more separation anxiety again. And we think that is because her vocabulary is (again) exploding and she's going through a growth spurt. With new skills comes new fear and she is particularly attached to mom lately. Maybe a couple months from now she'll be more comfortable and less clingy. Harper's really smart, but also (because of that) really needy: constantly wanting to talk/converse, read books, hug, love, kiss, be the center of your attention. She's not content to blend into the background, be passed around to strangers, or play quietly on her own when there are so many potential playmates in the room (Mom remains the favorite). Dad is no "chopped-liver" either. When Dada comes home for lunch daily, Harper squeals and runs to him for hugs and wants to play with him. All day she says, "Dada soon" as if comforting herself when she misses him.
After naps, Harper loves to dance with Mama. We put songs on the computer and dance around the loft. She hugs me tight, straddling my belly and slips her hands under my shirt to rub my back. She likes to feel my skin and lean her head against me. We're so tight and fit so well together this way that all the swaying and bouncing feels like one person, not two. Harper even sings along sometimes, catching the last word in the phrase of lyrics and repeating it. I think the dancing gives her a few minutes of quiet closeness that she really enjoys in her day.
Gotta run. The girl wants to play.
Harper now counts to 20 in English and recognizes all of those numbers, too.
Harper also LOVES puzzles these days. She's learned the word "almost" from doing puzzles. When a piece was not quite in, we'd encourage her by saying, "almost!" Now she says it for herself when she's close to fitting a piece in her puzzles or when we enter the neighborhood and she can see that we're "almost home". Pretty cool word. Harper has also learned the word 'patient'. Sometimes, when she was impatiently asking for something, I'd tell her "Just one minute, baby. Be patient." She'd stand there waiting and apparently she began to understand what it meant to be patient because the other day she was asking Ethan to read her a book and she walked over to him and said, "Read it- me, please. Patient." She then stood there and waited for his attention. Harper is also saying the word "pretty". She calls herself pretty when we do her hair or she looks at herself in the mirror. "Perfect" is another of her new words. When she completes a puzzle, I tell her it's perfect and she mimics that. I am not sure she really gets the concept of the word just yet, but give her a couple of days and she will. This kid is quick. Another of her sentences is, curiously, "Ahab says, 'Ahoy, Matey'". I know it's wierd, but she's got a little captain toy that goes with her boat in the bathtub and I've told her his name is Ahab and when I animate him, this is what he says. The girl repeats everything.
Since Aunt Danielle and Uncle Marty returned to Denver after Thanksgiving, Harper's been asking about them both. She plays with a retired cell phone and pretends to talk to them on the phone. "Hi Aunt D. Love you. Soon. (trans: See you soon.) Hi Marty. Marty nice. Soon. Bye bye Aunt D."
The girl is not sleeping well lately. The little fits that she's started throwing also occur during the night when she's not getting ninny milk. This kid would have me be an all night diner if it were up to her! We've been working on pushing the AM nursing from 3 AM to 4 AM and now to 5 AM. This has been tough on all of us. With each adjustment, she cried until she understood that she was still going to get what she wanted; she just had to wait and get it later than she wanted. The hope is that by moving the nursing to later in the morning, Harper's habit of waking at 3 AM and 4 AM and 5 AM... will eventually stop and she'll sleep for longer durations. By the way, Harper's usually going to bed by 8:30 or 9, and waking around midnight first-- don't go thinking that she's waking for the first time at 3. Oh no. This kid has some serious sleep issues.
Ethan and I think it might have gotten bad again because she seems to have more separation anxiety again. And we think that is because her vocabulary is (again) exploding and she's going through a growth spurt. With new skills comes new fear and she is particularly attached to mom lately. Maybe a couple months from now she'll be more comfortable and less clingy. Harper's really smart, but also (because of that) really needy: constantly wanting to talk/converse, read books, hug, love, kiss, be the center of your attention. She's not content to blend into the background, be passed around to strangers, or play quietly on her own when there are so many potential playmates in the room (Mom remains the favorite). Dad is no "chopped-liver" either. When Dada comes home for lunch daily, Harper squeals and runs to him for hugs and wants to play with him. All day she says, "Dada soon" as if comforting herself when she misses him.
After naps, Harper loves to dance with Mama. We put songs on the computer and dance around the loft. She hugs me tight, straddling my belly and slips her hands under my shirt to rub my back. She likes to feel my skin and lean her head against me. We're so tight and fit so well together this way that all the swaying and bouncing feels like one person, not two. Harper even sings along sometimes, catching the last word in the phrase of lyrics and repeating it. I think the dancing gives her a few minutes of quiet closeness that she really enjoys in her day.
Gotta run. The girl wants to play.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Thursday, November 16, 2006
It's been a while so there's tons to report. Harper continues to be a very sensitive, smart girl and she never stops amazing us. She is learning to be polite, using the words "please" and "thank you" when appropriate. She speaks in short phrases and sentences more and more. For example, she'll hand me a book and say, "Farm book. Read it to me, please." [The "Read it to me" part is sort of a blur of eedit me sounds, but the other words are perfectly clear.] She also narrates just about her entire life so we'll hear her say stuff like "one orange spoon" while she eats dinner, or "more pickles" or "dirty hands... wash", etc. etc. Speaking of dinner time, Harper is an olive fiend! She would eat an entire dinner of green and black olives if allowed.
ABC's and 123's
Harper knows the difference between letters and numbers, and enjoys being quizzed to show her knowledge. Harper knows all of the letters by sight and can even give you a word that begins with the particular letters when asked. For example, she'll say "M... Mama" and "D... Dada... Dutton" and "F... fox... flower", etc. When playing with her we'll ask her about specific letters, like, "What is the H for?", to which she'll reply "Harper!" We've always asked her this way, but this morning while E changed her diaper, I heard him ask her, "Harper, what letter says 'Mama'?" and she paused and said, "M!" He went on to review many letters this way. I thought it was cool that she could reverse her thinking and she understood what he was asking. When we say our letters, Harper will often know what letter is next, although she isn't yet singing the song. Harper counts to thirteen currently, and we're adding a number every few days lately.
She also enjoys putting her shapes into her shapes puzzle. Each time she gets a shape correctly placed, she claps for herself. Once completed, she tries to extend the fun (and praise) by removing a piece and asking me, "Triangle go?" to which I am supposed to say, "Where does the triangle go?" Then she'll replace it in the proper spot and clap again. We also showed her a couple more shapes (octagon and diamond) and she learned them instantly. It's super cute to hear her say "octagon"!
Speaking of her words, her vocabulary has become too large for me to continue to chronicle. Suffice it to say that she says just about everything you want her to, and even everything she overhears. One of her new favorite words is "awesome!" She says, "Dada's awesome! Mama's awesome! Pasta's awesome! Sat Tatz awesome!" (For those who don't know, our calico is named Sadie Katz and Harper calls her Sat Tatz.)
Harper is becoming more and more attached to her Dada as well. A couple weeks ago while Ethan was out of town for a board retreat, I tried to stay the night at the Ertls for fun. Harper loves her cousins and they treat her like she's the most special little girl. Although we had a great time playing throughout the evening, after bedtime was tough. Harper would not sleep. She would doze for about an hour at a time, sniffling the entire doze, and when she'd wake, she'd ask, "Dada at? Soon?" I always tell her "Dada's at work. We'll see him soon." so she crafted the question form of this to try to figure out what happened to her Dad! It was tough because she could understand that he was missing but couldn't really understand my assurances that he was returning soon. Finally, at 4 AM I packed us up and drove home. On the way home, I told her "We're going home, baby. It's night time and we need to sleep!" I figured, even if we got in bed at 5 AM, there was a chance I could get 3 hours of sleep out of the night and that would be better than none! From the back seat, Harper replied, "Dada home?" Needless to say, we were relieved when E returned home the next evening.
Harper surprised both me and Grannie the other night while Grannie was talking to her on the phone. Harper began actually talking back to Gran! She said, "Hi Nana! (pause... listening) Love you, Nana. (pause...) Bye bye Nana!" Since then, she is pretty good about talking and listening on the phone. That reminds me-- one of Harper's favorite children's songs is by Laurie Berkner and it starts out, "I called you on the telephone, ring a ling a ling, you weren't home..." Harper pretends to hold a phone to cue me to sing that song, stands up on the entry rug on the tiled, stage-like step, and stomps her foot to the beat, dancing. When we get to the next verse, "Went to your house knocked on the door, knock knock knock, and I knocked some more..." she turns and knocks on our front door behind her. Harper's a performer!
This kid loves attention and is used to getting it. Dr. Nagatani asked if Harper is throwing any tantrums yet and I suppose she has started to get angry and frustrated when she doesn't get her way. His advice was to ignore it if she did and that's basically what Ethan and I try to do. She usually gets upset if she wants "up jeear, Mama!" (jeear= there, me to pick her up) and I can't do it right then. Over the last three weeks or so, however, she's started to show a little patience if I tell her, "just one minute". Often, she'll stop protesting and wait for a while.
One of Harper's favorite ways to initiate play is to run around and say, "Catch you!" Her face lights up, and her mouth stays open wide when she's really excited and running with Mom or Dad. She loves being "caught" and ticked, turned upside down, and then set back down to chase some more. She pops around the sides of the couch to surprise you and gets a little scared when you pop around the side and surprise her. She loves to play this way. Harper likes to be physically active, run, tumble, dance. She likes to walk together outside, holding hands to get the mail and then play in the fallen leaves in the driveway for a while before going inside. She's beginning to lose some of the rolls on her thighs (frown) because of all of this running. It's sad to see them go, but her hair is getting longer and those bouncy ringlets as that happy girl runs around assure me that each new stage of her growing up will be full of beautiful surprises.
ABC's and 123's
Harper knows the difference between letters and numbers, and enjoys being quizzed to show her knowledge. Harper knows all of the letters by sight and can even give you a word that begins with the particular letters when asked. For example, she'll say "M... Mama" and "D... Dada... Dutton" and "F... fox... flower", etc. When playing with her we'll ask her about specific letters, like, "What is the H for?", to which she'll reply "Harper!" We've always asked her this way, but this morning while E changed her diaper, I heard him ask her, "Harper, what letter says 'Mama'?" and she paused and said, "M!" He went on to review many letters this way. I thought it was cool that she could reverse her thinking and she understood what he was asking. When we say our letters, Harper will often know what letter is next, although she isn't yet singing the song. Harper counts to thirteen currently, and we're adding a number every few days lately.
She also enjoys putting her shapes into her shapes puzzle. Each time she gets a shape correctly placed, she claps for herself. Once completed, she tries to extend the fun (and praise) by removing a piece and asking me, "Triangle go?" to which I am supposed to say, "Where does the triangle go?" Then she'll replace it in the proper spot and clap again. We also showed her a couple more shapes (octagon and diamond) and she learned them instantly. It's super cute to hear her say "octagon"!
Speaking of her words, her vocabulary has become too large for me to continue to chronicle. Suffice it to say that she says just about everything you want her to, and even everything she overhears. One of her new favorite words is "awesome!" She says, "Dada's awesome! Mama's awesome! Pasta's awesome! Sat Tatz awesome!" (For those who don't know, our calico is named Sadie Katz and Harper calls her Sat Tatz.)
Harper is becoming more and more attached to her Dada as well. A couple weeks ago while Ethan was out of town for a board retreat, I tried to stay the night at the Ertls for fun. Harper loves her cousins and they treat her like she's the most special little girl. Although we had a great time playing throughout the evening, after bedtime was tough. Harper would not sleep. She would doze for about an hour at a time, sniffling the entire doze, and when she'd wake, she'd ask, "Dada at? Soon?" I always tell her "Dada's at work. We'll see him soon." so she crafted the question form of this to try to figure out what happened to her Dad! It was tough because she could understand that he was missing but couldn't really understand my assurances that he was returning soon. Finally, at 4 AM I packed us up and drove home. On the way home, I told her "We're going home, baby. It's night time and we need to sleep!" I figured, even if we got in bed at 5 AM, there was a chance I could get 3 hours of sleep out of the night and that would be better than none! From the back seat, Harper replied, "Dada home?" Needless to say, we were relieved when E returned home the next evening.
Harper surprised both me and Grannie the other night while Grannie was talking to her on the phone. Harper began actually talking back to Gran! She said, "Hi Nana! (pause... listening) Love you, Nana. (pause...) Bye bye Nana!" Since then, she is pretty good about talking and listening on the phone. That reminds me-- one of Harper's favorite children's songs is by Laurie Berkner and it starts out, "I called you on the telephone, ring a ling a ling, you weren't home..." Harper pretends to hold a phone to cue me to sing that song, stands up on the entry rug on the tiled, stage-like step, and stomps her foot to the beat, dancing. When we get to the next verse, "Went to your house knocked on the door, knock knock knock, and I knocked some more..." she turns and knocks on our front door behind her. Harper's a performer!
This kid loves attention and is used to getting it. Dr. Nagatani asked if Harper is throwing any tantrums yet and I suppose she has started to get angry and frustrated when she doesn't get her way. His advice was to ignore it if she did and that's basically what Ethan and I try to do. She usually gets upset if she wants "up jeear, Mama!" (jeear= there, me to pick her up) and I can't do it right then. Over the last three weeks or so, however, she's started to show a little patience if I tell her, "just one minute". Often, she'll stop protesting and wait for a while.
One of Harper's favorite ways to initiate play is to run around and say, "Catch you!" Her face lights up, and her mouth stays open wide when she's really excited and running with Mom or Dad. She loves being "caught" and ticked, turned upside down, and then set back down to chase some more. She pops around the sides of the couch to surprise you and gets a little scared when you pop around the side and surprise her. She loves to play this way. Harper likes to be physically active, run, tumble, dance. She likes to walk together outside, holding hands to get the mail and then play in the fallen leaves in the driveway for a while before going inside. She's beginning to lose some of the rolls on her thighs (frown) because of all of this running. It's sad to see them go, but her hair is getting longer and those bouncy ringlets as that happy girl runs around assure me that each new stage of her growing up will be full of beautiful surprises.
Monday, October 23, 2006
Harper, Dada, and Bubbles
Harper LOVES the ocean-- calls it "bubbles". We had a great trip to the coast last weekend. We stayed in Cayucos at the Silvieras' beach house right near the shore. It was definitely a highlight of Harper's life. She enjoyed walking in the sand and playing in the waves with Mom and Dad (mostly Dad). When it was time to leave the water, she cried (both times) and reached out for "Bubbles!"
Two Ones!
In the bath this morning, Harper pulled the number one off the left end of the number line, and then snagged the one from the number ten on the right end of the numbers and said "one... one" as she pulled them off. Then she transferred them to just one hand and said, "two ones!" A few minutes later she pulled the six off and then the nine, rotated the nine to look like a six and said, "two six!" She's getting it!
Colors
Harper's got many colors down now. She can name and identify blue, orange, yellow, pink, black, green, brown, and red. It took her a while to transfer the learning from the pages of her book and the rainbow keys of her xylophone, but she started correctly identifying colors outside of those this weekend.
Fake Reading
Any time Harper recognizes that there are words (i.e. the words on the computer screen as I type right now), she points to them and fake reads. Apparently fake reading involves a lot of z's. "Zoogu bak za zib dood zuh..." I am sure this comes from the fact that the first word I ever pointed out to her was "zoo". It may sound random, but the reason why was because she brought me a book with that in the title and said "zoo" as she gave it to me. I responded excitedly and repeatedly pointed out the word on the cover. At first she generalized that and thought that every word was "zoo". Now she's beginning to understand that written words are like the words we speak and when she sees them, mimics speech.
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