Out of Ideas

There comes a point in every day where I realize that I am out of ideas for things to do with Harper. We have colored, played with blocks, walked around the neighborhood, fed the ducks, played on the playground -- I feel like I don't know what else to do. I quickly remind myself that Harper doesn't need me to entertain her and I just need to let her find things to do. It can be pretty exhausting following a kiddo who is 16 months old around the house. We have fun, but most days I am exhausted. I try to run during her second nap (around 2:00) so that helps me get a little boost of energy. When I run during her nap, it is on the treadmill -- don't worry -- she is not alone.

One of my biggest struggles with staying home with Harper is that her first learning is up to me. The burden/pleasure of teaching her colors, manners, words, habits, etc. falls mainly on me. On one hand that is exactly what we want -- on the other hand, it puts a lot of pressure on me to know what is age appropriate, what she is ready for (developmentally) and making sure she is socializing with other children. That is not to say that people who don't stay home aren't teaching their children, all I am saying is that I have 10 hours a day (at least) where I have Harper all to myself. I mean, if she were to start saying curse words, people will look at me to blame. :)

The main reason that I feel that I am able to handle this daunting task is because I have found a great group of moms. Not only do we arrange play dates and field trips, we also text each other hundreds of times a week (not an exaggeration) about bumps and bruises, dinner ideas for picky eaters, educational activities and the ups and downs of motherhood. This fall we are starting a weekly educational play date and I can't wait. Harper and I will also be starting a 10-week music class this fall, and hopefully a gymnastics class this winter. I am looking forward to having set activities each week with her because sometimes I am just so tired. And those times are when we watch Curious George or Sesame Street. Haha. No television before the age of two I told myself. Things change. It is so strange how the exhaustion I feel from a day with her is so different from the exhaustion of teaching four classes of 30+ sixth graders -- and teaching them MATH. Harper is the cutest little energy sucker I know.

Here are a few moments over the past week -- this girl is expressive, passionate and brave.

"rock rock" in her room

leaning in for a kiss from Jackson

at the park

Stilesboro Biscuits

she loves books!

her baby cousin, Hudson Tanner Perry

coloring with BFF Caroline

bothering Reese

helping mommy bake cookies

our finished project -- I will get better!

lunch at Marietta Diner with mom and Popi

a little painting

no no no!

eating yogurt all by herself

oh this girl is dramatic

loves to climb

loves being outside IN the bushes

taking baby "meme" for a walk

drama drama

post-nap snack

we love visiting the horses!

16 months

Harper is 16 months old TODAY. Again -- it felt like the first two months were in slow motion and now everything is speeding up. She is changing everyday -- and she is becoming such a sweet and funny little girl. She is talking a lot more AND she has a lot of opinions.

Harper can say several words, but that doesn't mean that she will say them all the time or even say them perfectly. For instance, dog still doesn't have a g on the end of it. She also says mommy, daddy, hot, done, cat, cow, Popi, sorry, God, no, yes...what am I forgetting?  She likes to play peek-a-boo and read books. Her favorite books have animals in them. She can bark like a dog and "boo" like a cow. Yes, our cows say boo. We have very scary cows in Marietta. Also, we say a blessing before dinner everynight and two nights ago she (without our prompting) put her hands together, bowed her head and said "God." We were shocked and so proud. She also likes to watch Wheel of Fortune with us. She always cheers when someone solves a puzzle. ADORABLE.

trip to the zoo

putting rocks in her mouth -- ugh!

so dramatic!

driving Daddy's jeep

movie night at Laural Park

We still spend a lot of time with the kids and moms in our playgroup. Whether it is going to music class, play dates or story time at the library, I feel that Harper is getting a lot of social interaction and is learning a lot. We will soon be starting educational play dates for the kids. (It helps that several of the moms in our group are teachers.)

hugging her BFF Caroline

Harper sleeps like a champ -- except, of course, when she is cutting teeth. She has 9 teeth right now and several more will be making an appearance soon. Yikes. She loves bath time, sidewalk chalk, playing in her water table, the zoo, watermelon, dancing, and playing with shoes. She claps for thunder (it happened accidentally and we ran with it.) She uses sign language when she is done or she wants more. She insists on joining me in the restroom. She calls Jackson "Jacks" and I love it. She refuses to let me cook. The kitchen is the one place in the house where she can't see exactly what we are doing and she hates it. That's why I want one of these. It is a learning tower. She can stand in it
and still be safe.

John and I are celebrating 8 years together. We have been married for 3.5 of them. I feel so blessed to have met him at a young age (20) and fortunate that we have grown together. We are hoping to take a family beach trip (just the three of us) sometime soon. If not in the summer then perhaps the fall. October is a big month for us -- weddings and such. September is also an incredibly special month because that is when we will welcome our new niece and nephew (Perry side.) It will be nice for Harper to have younger Perry cousins since she is the youngest on the Clark side.

Harper is one of the most expressive people I have ever met. She has this happy/surprised face that she does ALL THE TIME. I finally got it on camera. :) I took the picture with my phone so it's not great -- but I got it!

(I don't feel like proofreading this -- so please, as always, forgive me for typos and grammatical errors. I am going to hang out with my husband.)