The Reynolds Fam: Ten Months

Welcome to double digits sweet Harper! :) This has been my most favorite month so far... probably because I've gotten to spend all my days hanging out with our little girl. It is so neat to watch her like a little sponge, absorbing everything around her and learning constantly. I'd say she may be a little nosey... but we'll call it curious - when we are out and about she is always twisting her little head around so she can stare at people, waving hi, and even trying to go to strangers sometimes! haha She has definitely turned into a little social butterfly!! She is still a bit of a mama's girl but definitely doesn't flip her lid when someone else is holding her or when I leave the room :)

We have little events that we go to throughout the week - swim lessons twice a week and a couple days of the week we'll go to story time at the library. Harper still loves the pool! So much that we signed up for another month of swim lessons before the outdoor pool opens at the end of May. The library is fun... Harper loves reading books but storytime is more like her time to crawl around and see what everyone else is up to. She's usually the youngest; most of the other kids are walking. And they are so sweet to her, always wanting to give the baby a hug or pat her head. They blow bubbles at the end of storytime which H loved so we got some bubbles for home which have provided lots and lots of cheap thrills :)

We spend lots of time outside, playing on the deck or in the yard. If we are in the yard though, you will always find us on a blanket which serves as an invisible fence for Harper... she haaaates to sit in the grass! If you try to set her down she will pull her little legs up into her chest and if you finally do sit her down she won't move but will just start to cry lol. She prefers to crawl around her blanket and pick grass with her hands. She doesn't mind the cement and will do a little bear crawl around the driveway to keep from dragging her knees around as much.

She is getting more and more talkative and one of our most favorite tricks is to ask her 'what sound does the sheep make?' She says 'baa' in the sweetest little voice. Typically we stop with the animal noises there because little does everyone else know, but ALL animals in harper's world say baa ;) It is interesting though because when we sing old mcdonald she doesn't make any particular noise until i get to the sheep and then she always starts baa-ing.... so maybe she does know something about a sheep? Speaking of songs, current favorites include old mcdonald and the wheels on the bus. She has a puppy that sings songs when you press its limbs and whenever the music starts for head, shoulders, knees and toes, she always starts patting her head. It's so neat to see what little things she has absorbed.

She is so, so busy. She literally never sits still and is constantly finding something to entertain herself. She is professional unpacker and if you have anything organized in a stack/basket/bag, she is bound to find it and pull everything out one by one. Harper is by no means a cuddly baby at all - she just doesn't sit still long enough to cuddle. She does specialize in 'wallering' (if that's how you spell that). If you are between her and toy that she wants she will pull up on you and dive head first right over. At night when she gets tired she will come lay her head on us/pillow/blanket/couch for 5-10 sec then pop up and crawl around for a couple more minutes... repeat that cycle times 30 :) She has been pulling up now for most of the month and is trying to pull up on everything!! She's getting a little braver as far as letting go and cruising between things but her feelings still get a little hurt whenever she falls down. She did bust her lip when her feet slipped out from under her and she face planted on the hardwood :( It was pitiful and her little swollen lip made me feel awful!

Andy is amazed at how she can appear to be totally in the zone and ignoring you yet if you ask her a question or request for her to clap or high five or something, she will often stop and pay you attention. I told him that's how kids know all the dirty little secrets of families - parents think they aren't listening but they are alwaaaays listening! ;)

We did a few fun things this month - went golfing with Dad (harper didn't mind sitting on the putting green), went to the blue/white scrimmage, went to Gatlinburg w/ Andy's family and celebrated Andy's 28th birthday!!! Harper was pumped about the cake and I believe she is going to devour her cake in a couple short months :)

At her doctors appt last month Harper was 28.5 inches long and 15 lbs 14 oz, 85th and 15th percentiles. I was kind of worried that she wasn't gaining enough weight but she eats a ton and they reassured that she was growing just fine! We've expanded foods to include meat - her first was salmon and she has also had beef. I think her favorite foods right now are oranges and cheese. She also loves yogurt, bananas... and ice cream. haha

Here's a few pics from this month! :)