Saturday, January 31, 2009

Happy Birthday Erica!

It has been too long since there has been an update so I thought I would just make a little post here until Erica has time to make a better post informing everyone of all the exciting stuff that has been going on around here. I also wanted to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERICA! Crazy to think that I've been around for four of them already. I hope your day is pleasant and I know that if it isn't I have only myself to blame. The photo below is a sneak preview from Erica's upcoming post.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

9 month update

Harper is now 9 months. We went in for her 9 month visit this morning and found out that she is . . .

27.5 inches, a little under the 50th percentile
17 lbs. 9 oz, around the 25th percentile

She has only gained 1 pound since her 6 month appointment, but her doctor said that this isn't unusual for breastfed babies around this age. The doctor was a little surprised that she isn't crawling. He kept asking, she's not even scooting? Or rolling? Nope. We are now under orders to sit her in the middle of the room every day with her toys beyond her reach to see if she'll be motivated to move. I doubt it's going to happen anytime soon, she's pretty content just sitting there.

Her latest skill is that she now not only enjoys removing blocks out of the box, but now she likes to put them back in.She also gets really excited about copying us and saying "da da da da da" really loud. I am relatively sure that she now understands the following words:
Dada
Mama
eat
more
outside
toys
nap
I'm not really sure about anything else.

Harper is really a great baby and we feel so lucky to be able to hang out with her everyday!

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Sunday, January 18, 2009

week of visitors

Our apartment was a little less quiet this week. First we had Denise, John, and AJ visit on Wednesday. Harper had fun playing with her cousin and watching him crawl around the apartment. Later that evening Tom's mom came into town for an appointment. It was a lot of fun having her visit and Harper had fun hanging out with Grandma.Then on Friday Tom's friend Mike came over to play video games. Tom used to have game nights every week or so, but since Harper came along they have become a little more rare. Harper had fun reading some books while they played games. And here's one of Harper on her tummy. She still hates tummy time, but will sometimes tolerate it for a few minutes. She can now scoot around a little and can turn herself around in a circle.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Harper, you crazy girl

Another video for your viewing pleasure. Harper loves those banging blocks. She has also figured out how to do a "big girl splash," which is an upgrade from her former wimpy splashes. I uploaded this one in HD (Vimeo limits you to only one a week now) so click here to see it in higher quality.


Harper, You Crazy Girl from Thomas Jackman on Vimeo.

Harper has taught herself to jam

It really is quite remarkable to watch Harper develop into a unique person. She is already exhibiting behaviors that are in no way related to any effort on our part to mold her. One thing that I find interesting is her extreme curiosity for new people and places. No matter how bad her mood, if we take her outside and go on a walk she INSTANTLY enters her Harper the Explorer mode and silently absorbs the sights and sounds like a sponge. As soon as she had the muscle control to move her head she has always made sure she has a clear view of what's going on. We look forward to helping that active mind find new things to explore.

Harper's latest discovery is how much more fun music is when you are jamming to the beat. I assure you this is not something she gets from me. Erica and I have the same cellphone, which has a radio that can play out the speakerphone. We may be getting a third one now that Harper has absconded one of them.


Harper Jams Out from Thomas Jackman on Vimeo.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

New Years Re-do

Tom and I weren't feeling very well on Near Years Eve so we fell asleep at 9pm. It was pretty depressing. So to make up for that, we celebrated on January 2nd with pizza and sparkling cider. 2008 was a really great year for us. Harper was born, I stopped working, Tom accepted a job offer, and he began his last year of law school. I'm a little nervous about 2009: Harper is getting bigger and we will stop being students and move into the working world. Crazy!

Monday, January 05, 2009

Christmas

I've been a little slow posting, but I'm working on catching up. This post is going to have a lot of photos.

We spent Christmas in Utah. The trip consisted of visits with my mom and stepdad, my dad, grandparents on both of Tom's sides of the family, some friends, and lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Before we left we did some gift opening at our house. Harper was very interested in the gifts while wrapped but didn't really get the whole unwrapping thing. On Sunday night we had a Christmas dinner with my stepdad's family. Here is my mom with Harper:And here is my niece, Hailey, jumping up and down:On Monday night we had a family party with my mom's family. It snowed A LOT and our car got a little stuck in the parking lot, but we made it out ok. Here is Harper with her great-grandma Montgomery:And here is Harper and I with great-grandpa Montgomery:On Tuesday we went to Orem to visit Tom's grandmother and his aunt and uncle had us over for dinner. Harper wasn't in the greatest mood. . . but it was great to see everyone.
We also got to visit my Dad on Christmas. And Harper watched some videos on Chase's cell phone:
We had a great Christmas and Harper got totally spoiled. She is loving playing with all of her new toys and we're excited to go back to Utah in February for Chase's farewell.Christmas Eve is also Hailey's birthday so we had cupcakes:Harper and Hailey (coincidentally) had matching pajamas.
Kara was really excited to get GPS for her car for Christmas (she gets lost a lot).Kara, Carly, and Kelly opening presents.Harper in a Santa Hat playing with some of her new toys on the couch with Grandma and Grandpa.Reading with Grandma.Playing in the weird hat that I knit for her.Harper was a little scared of the dogs at first, but she warmed up to them eventually.
We also got to visit Tom's Jackman grandparents and his uncle and cousins before we left (unfortunately no photos). It is so great to have such a large family that loves us, but it was a crazy week and we are still recovering!

the last first day of school

Thursday, January 01, 2009

8 Months

Harper is 8 months old now!
Harper is so much fun these days and she is definitely an independent little girl.
  • She is now saying Dada regularly (and she knows what it means)
  • She not only reaches for us when she wants us to pick her up, but she will pull on our fingers so that our hands are around her so that we'll pick her up
  • She says "mmm" when we feed her baby food. She particularly likes pears, bananas, and peaches. She still hates peas and green beans.
  • She is starting to use her pincer grasp. She particularly enjoys pinching my arm.
  • She is getting frustrated that she isn't mobile, but isn't showing any interest in crawling. We are still working on trying to get her to stay on her tummy for more than thirty seconds at a time.
  • She is still toothless. I keep thinking that I feel a tooth, but we haven't seen one yet.
  • She loves music and bounces along with the beat.

Happy Birthday!

This is a little late, but Tom's 26th birthday was on the 20th. We celebrated by doing something very exciting . . . driving to Utah! Well, maybe it wasn't that exciting, but he was a really good sport. We stopped by Cafe Rio in St. George and then had carrot cake at my mom's house. I am so grateful to have a husband who understands me, who doesn't complain about my cooking, and who puts up with me being a crazy backseat driver all the way to Utah and back. Thanks for being such a wonderful husband and father!