Princess Harpy Harps

It's been a minute since I devoted a day to blogging. Since it is raining in the city, it canceled our plans to go to the zoo. The kids are at daycare. Even a WIFI outage at my house isn't stopping me, I moved to the Panera down the street. I am determined.

This post is dedicated to my princess. At least that is how she refers to herself now.

Here are the stats:
Weight-25 pounds 3 ounces 42%
Height-33.25 inches 27%
Head-19.25 inches 85%
Sizes-2T or 24 months. Shoes-6. Diapers (hopefully not for long)-5
Favorite food: Noodles
Favorite color: Yellow
Favorite activities: painting, coloring, dancing, taking care of babies, singing
Favorite songs: ABCs, 5 Little Monkeys, Ba Ba Black Sheep, Twinkle Little Star


Harper has always been the lover of the two. She warms up to strangers quickly. She is a great sleeper. She is pretty low maintenance (most times!).

She is quite a diva. Hence, why she is nicknamed Princess. She must have her sunglasses when outside. She rocks them too! One time, I lost the glasses for a short time. She screamed. Loud. It was embarrassing. She also has a very strong opinion on what she wears. I used to be able to just throw clothes on her and go. Now, she knows what she wants to wear and voices this opinion as often as possible. She speaks in Harper's dress code. A code I don't know.
Example:
Harper: Wear the pink shirt.
I grab a pink shirt.
Harper: No I don't like it.
I grab another pink shirt.
Harper: No I don't want it. She screams. Luckily we are in our own home.
I grab another shirt with very little pink on it.
Harper: Okay.
I go to put on said shirt. But she HAS to do it. It becomes a fight to put the shirt on the correct way.

This process is then repeated for shorts, socks, shoes, and hair bow. We are always late. Thanks, Harper!

Harper is not aggressive. However, Harper is VERY passive aggressive. She will give dirty looks to anyone that she questions their directives. Or because she is cranky. But most of her passive aggressive nature is shown through her interactions with Max. Oy!

Harper loves to sing in the car. Max hates it. So when Max asks Harper "Harper, please stop singing." She continues at a louder volume. She will stop when we ask her to. Then she will repeat words that Max says. "Firetruck, firetruck, firetruck." Again this will become louder at the persistence of Max.

At daycare, she is their "favorite". Mostly because she never has to go to timeout. She works well with others. She gives hugs. She has a very quiet indoor voice. We had friends that visited recently and asked if her voice was always this small and quiet. Yep!

Harper is a caretaker. She loves to take care of her baby dolls and even real babies. We had our first close interaction with a real baby, and she loved him!

Harper is very artistic. She loves to draw or paint. She is content sitting at the table to create masterpieces for long periods of time.

Harper LOVES food. She is a slow-eater though. She takes her time. We will sit and wait for her up 20 minutes after everyone else at the table is done and then we urge her away from the food. She likes to people watch and when we are out to eat this is at her detriment.

Harper talks a lot. There isn't much that we can't understand from her (or her brother for that matter.) She can repeat anything...which is dangerous.

She knows when she needs to go potty. But she is actually struggling with the whole potty training process. Maybe she isn't ready. She loves to sit there but nearly afraid to actually go. I thought girls were easier but maybe not. Hoping in the next month, we will be in her big girl panties!

She is shy around animals. She likes them but from a distance. The only animal that she will go up to and hug right away is her doggie, Bella.

She loves the water! She cries when we leave the pool. We got them Puddle Jumpers and I think she would have lived in the pool if we had let her. Which brings me to Harper's temper...it is crazy! She will throw the WORST temper tantrums. She will squeal a high pitched squeal and kick. Oh, she can kick. I know because I have carried her away from activities literally kicking and screaming. Buckling into her car seat is becoming more and more difficult as well. She will arch her back and refuse to sit down. We are getting really good a bribery and she is getting really good at manipulating us. Win-win!

I am so glad we have this spunky princess in our lives. She is just wonderful! Her snuggles and kisses make me melt. Her sweet, non-judgmental words make my day. (I have gained weight and in my tankini bathing suit she said "Mommy is a pretty Princess".)


-Lisa-

Harper

This one is all about my Harps! In case you missed the post on her ornery brother, Max, here it is.

Harper is the sweet and sassy girl to a T. She is a girly girl who loves to sing and dance. She is often found sashaying around the house. (No, really. She doesn't walk...she struts. It's hilarious!) She smiles to get out of nearly everything. And because she is so stinkin' cute...it almost always works! Stinker! 

She is the free spirit. She will often sing and talk to herself. (I posted a video below.) Harper marches to the beat of her own drum. She flirts and talks to everyone she meets. She is not shy and doesn't know a stranger. If you feel slighted by her brother's standoffish personality, she makes up for it with hugs, snuggles and kisses. 

She is not a dare devil. But she is a talker. She talks up a storm. Harper can repeat anything we ask her to say. She may not know what she is saying yet but she can say it. However, we have been super impressed with her verbal communication. She knows most animals and animal sounds. She can name and point to main body parts (eyes, nose, ears, mouth, teeth, tongue, toes, feet, arm, hand, fingers, hair, belly button). She is getting pretty good at her colors too. I am amazed on how much she is learning. 

We were out Black Friday shopping (but much later in the day) and I told Harper that she was "so pretty". She said "Harper's pretty" as clear as anything. It cracked me up. 

We were waiting to see Max's doctor for his ears a couple weeks ago. There was a picture of a fish and she started making fish sounds. Then reading a book about an elephant, she acted out the elephant's trunk while trumpeting like one. I am in awe of our smart girl!


Some of Harper's favorite things:

• Sitting on anyone's lap...she will just back herself up into your lap and plop down
• Dancing to Disney Jr songs when they come on
• Nonnie--her grandma
• Saying animal sounds---her favorite is "Meow"
• Coloring
• Destroying paper
• Pizza
• Hot dogs
• Bath time
• Putting her coat/jacket on---but don't try to take it off. Geez!
• Uh-oh
• Throwing food down for Bella
• Throwing toys over the baby gates and into the kitchen
• Running---all while twisting her hips as she does
• Being chased--"Harper I am going to get you" sends her into a giggling fit
• Painting
• Brushing her teeth
• Playing bubble pop on the tablet
• Her Minnie Mouse doll--she says "Meeennnneeeee"
• Waking up in the morning---she is always her happiest
• Putting shoes on
• Reading books---to herself or getting read to
• Wheels on the Bus
• Looking at picture albums
• Cheez Its
• Cookies---anything sweet. She has a sweet tooth and loves it all!
• Taking her socks off and losing them around the house
• Pigtails (She looks adorable!)
• Being wrapped up in her bath towel
• Wearing scarfs or even blankets around her head
• Carrying her purse around
• Hugging her brother

This girl loves everything so it was hard to think of things she DOES NOT like. 

Harper is a good little eater. The only thing she now won't touch is bananas and she used to love them. She can put away meatballs and spaghetti like it is her job. She is smaller than Max by height and weight. 

She is also teething again and those top molars are no fun. She handles it better than her brother but she is definitely uncomfortable. 

Harper's hair is growing like crazy. She won't leave barrettes in so we usually have wild and crazy hair or in ponytails. 

Girl loves her accessories!

Loving on her brother

-Lisa-

Weights, Royals, and Scratches

Max and Harper are 15 months old! We are close to saying they are 1 and a half. A HALF! They turned 15 months on the 11th but for some reason their age sinks in when we make a visit to the doctor. We had their 15 month appointment today. They only got one shot this time. Woo-hoo!


Dr. C was impressed by them. They are meeting their milestones way ahead of schedule and are growing right on pace with what they expect. They are just normal toddlers. We are even experiencing temper tantrums. Bad! Max throws himself on the ground and kicks, thrashes, and rolls around on the ground all while screaming in this ear-shattering high pitch squeal. It. Is. Awful. Sometimes it is hard not to laugh. He just looks so pathetic. It is mostly caused by not getting what he wants when he wants it. (He has a really tough life.) For now, we are just ignoring the tantrums in hopes they go away. After a few minutes, he will pick himself up and then act like nothing has happened. He will go back to playing, talking, and smiling. Such a little weirdo.


Max weighed 22.25 pounds and was 30.5 inches long. It put him in the 30% range. His head circumference was, of course, in the 78%! Harper weighed 21.81 pounds and was 29.25 inches. It puts her in the 24% range. Her head was in the 50%.


They really are changing so much. They are losing baby weight and looking like kids.


We live in Kansas City and it is such an exciting time for our city. My husband and I have been huge Royals fans for our entire lives. When we met, we instantly bonded over our love for our Kansas City sports teams. We have been to many games and are so excited to FINALLY see our team in the World Series. I was 2 the last time they won the World Series! Max and Harper are destined to be Royals fans (and Chiefs fans). They don't have a choice.

Also, remember me telling about Harper's scratch she got at daycare? (HERE) Well, the doctor thinks that this is going to be a permanent scar for Harps. I am so sad for her. It is on her face. I understand that a scar on her knee from falling or a scar on her finger. But her face! He said it will lighten and fade some but it looks like she will always have it. We are using Mederma for kids. Any other ideas of what we can use? She is still as cute as can be. I know it could have been worse, but it just makes me so angry that she will always have this. I hate to blame our daycare or the daycare worker. But I find myself doing just that. I think it makes me feel guilty that it could have been prevented if I didn't work...they wouldn't be at daycare. I know I need to let it go but it makes me feel so bad.

You can see the scratch of her right cheek in the above Royals photos and here is a closer one from last weekend.

More "non-update-like" posts are floating in my mind. Still just clearing it out so I can really focus on writing again.

-Lisa-