wow. i’ve really been neglectful lately. perhaps it’s because the only time i actually have to blog is late at night and these days, i’ve been popping a bag of popcorn, pouring a glass of chardonnay, and watching my dvr’d shows literally every night after putting H down. she has been straight up wearing me out lately. she now has 4 teeth on the top and i think more are on their way with all the drooling and random crying fits. she is getting super clingy (i was wondering when that separation anxiety would kick in) and at least pretending to show an interest in possibly walking sometime before her 15th birthday.
the first thing people ask after i tell them she is almost a year old is “is she walking yet?” and when i answer no, then it’s “that’s ok, she’ll get it”. right. i know. don’t feel sorry for my kid. there’s nothing wrong with her, but thanks. i’m happy she isn’t walking yet. have you seen babies that walk? their fast! and they hurt themselves. and yeah – i’m not even ready to have a kid that walks. i’m having a hard enough time grasping that my child is almost a year old without her literally walking away from me. why the rush people? why?
today as i sat cross legged on the floor, she crawled over to me, used me to stand herself up and then let go. she stood there for like 20 seconds. i saw her tiny toes digging into the carpet when she teetered forward and them let go as she teetered back. balancing. when she fell down, she climbed up and did it again. i love it when she learns something new and then it becomes “her thing”. so by the time Scot walks in the door, i can be like “show daddy what you learned today” and she does it. crazy bambino.
and then there is this sillyness. her other new favorite thing: trying to do a headstand. she laughs like it’s the funniest thing ever. i personally do not like the feeling of all my blood rushing to my head, but she seems to thoroughly enjoy it.
it’s been an exciting week around our house. the H monster has finally accepted a sippy cup into her face hole. words cannot describe how miraculous this is. for the past few months i’ve tried everything imaginable. i didn’t even think it’d be an issue, but holy cow, was it ever. i always thought it was the milk itself she liked so much. nope. it was her bottle.
when Harper was about 3 months old, the Bilbreys were over one weekend watching football. Scot made Harper a bottle and brought it in to the livingroom where i was holding her. as i grabbed a bib, she saw it and started flailing her little chicken arms like a mad woman. David is all “why is she doing that?” and i was all “because she’s fat and she sees her bib”.
seriously – that may sound mean (and now that i’ve typed it i feel kinda like i should have kept that joke between the 4 of us…), but all joking aside – this kid would freak out at the sight of her bottle.
so when i first attempted the sippy cup, i figured she’d drink out of a tin can if it meant her milk was in it. boy was i wrong. sometimes, she’d take a sip (so in my mind she knew it was her food), then literally HIT me or throw the sippy cup across the room. i wish i was joking. she would get pissed. sometimes she’d look at me as if i was trying to poison her.
so, i’d wait a week and try it again. no dice. i bought different cups. i knew there was no rush, so i kept waiting. then i’d try another one. she would REFUSE it, then watch me pour the milk into a bottle, and happily drink the entire thing, as though starving. wow. my kid is a drama queen. her mothers daughter, if you will.
that’s about 40 bucks worth of sippy cups right there (because some of them were 2 packs). she thought all of them were crap. neat. except the one on the far right. she finally, after months of trying, has embraced the thinkbaby training cup. ::cue angels singing::
she hasn’t had a bottle since sunday night. i wasn’t even planning on completely cutting out bottles, but she has taken to the thinkbaby cups so well that i packed up the dr. browns tonight. yes, i shed a tiny tear as i packed up them up (especially when i pulled out the box and saw the little 2 oz bottles we used at the beginning), but she is growing up and i have to accept that.
this week she has also started self-feeding herself most of her meals. this is huge for both of us. i could tell she was getting really frustrated with me feeding her for the last couple of weeks so i decided to let her do her own thing. mealtime is much happier. i’m happy she is giving me her cues and i am seeing them. but there is just something weird about making coffee and looking over to your baby and seeing them feeding themself breakfast.
this is all part of turning into a toddler. which is what she is doing and what i need to accept. there is only but 15 days until her 1st birthday. besides, it not like i’ve been sneaking into her room after she’s gone to bed, scooping her up and rocking her in the chair for hours while she sleeps or anything…
my very talented and awesome little cousin Sammy is at grad school at NYU. she made this video for one of her class projects. it’s AWESOME and i seriously heart it. enjoy!
seriously…Harper’s birthday pics turned out sooooo good! click here to see all of them and PLEASE, if you live in the Puget Sound area, use Stacy Jacobsen for your next photo session! you won’t be dissapointed.
