Grammy Susie and Grandpa Buddy Come To Town

So, first of all, I am apparently seriously delinquent.. I have over 400 pics that haven't been moved over from my phone to blog world, and also I apparently take a lot of pics!  In my defense, it has been a crazy couple of weeks at our house with Hunt getting a new job, travelling more, and various other things popping up along the way.  A friend of mine recently referred to her and her family's life as "never something huge, but always something" and I think that very aptly applies to us as well.

Hunt's parents came to town in mid Oct for a quick visit to get caught up with HG, and I think were pleasantly surprised to see what a chatty little person she has become, and how much more she seemed to appreciate the extra attention than when she was a little younger and more nervous with other people around the house.  I did a little prep work on the front end talking about how they were coming, etc and it seemed to really make for an easier adjustment.  She even went to Bud for hugs and sat with him to read books, which was huge. We went to an Oktoberfest and got to get a last visit into the zoo before the weather gets chilly, so it was a fun, low key weekend.

I am obsessed with this green necklace..

Little Saturday afternoon college football

Watching the Dolphin show with Grandpa Buddy

Daddy was more excited about feeding the birdies than the toddler, but she indulged him in it

Harper Do It

Ahh, the toddler has learned that she does not like diapies anymore, and that things are better if "Harper do it".  Unfortunately, despite her general disdain for the diapie, I don't think she is really very close to a consistent concept of actually using a potty for something besides an excuse to gather a bunch of toilet paper. Last night she actually undid the diap and then pulled it out through a pants leg... Kudos for the creative maneuver, but I feel like some wet pants/floors/who knows what else are in our future.  She also sprinted out of the bathroom completely nakies after her bath last night before I could even wrap the towel around her and went to go play with her cupcake kitchen, so I think stall tactics are in full swing.


A few pics from a rare Monday off, which was a fun (albeit exhausting!) day with HG.

At the library for toddler story time

Reading "Seals on the Bus" after nap time.. It's nice to see her content in her bed for a few minutes outside of when she is asleep

Took the girls for a walk.. the weather was lovely and fall-like which is my favorite. Taught Harper to say "BaBa, pick up the pace" which cracked me up 

Evening playtime

Toddler yoga

Houdini removes her diapie

There was a very satisfied smile on her face at this point

More Bed Please..

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I love to be in bed and I love to sleep.. other than eating, it is probably my next favorite.  And frankly, probably the same for Hunt.  So imagine my surprise that Harper is not an "easy" sleeper or generally ever content to just lay around.  Of recent, however, she has begun to find the entertainment in bouncing in our bed, and even run into our room and asked to be lifted up into it.  Yesterday was a particularly long day, long drive home and one of my single mommy evenings and I was just beat which is hard because I want to be fun and enjoy my time with her, but also really just wanted to do absolutely nothing at the same time.  Much to my delight, the word that she kept repeating over and over was not "bath" (which made no sense because she really never would ask for a bath), but was actually "bed" which I realized once she crawled herself upstairs and headed into our room.  We literally spent an hour and a half in my bed- me watching a movie on TV, and her doing puzzles on her iPhone with some occasional assistance.  While I know that I'm not winning any awards for letting her zone out with the iPhone, she was totally content to just lay there next to me and chill.  Maybe since she has transitioned to the two year old room and over stimulated again with all the new kids and activities, she just needed a night to veg out also?  Whatever the reason, it was amazing, and I'd be lying if I didn't say that I hope it happens again soon!

In addition to asking for "more bed please", she also asked for "more selfies" which I found quite amusing..

Weekend Fun

We have had a few fantastic weekends recently at our house.. simple, no stress and just really fun family time.  Harper has just been unbelievably cute lately, and if possible made Hunt and I even more obsessed with her.  She is so chatty and will randomly break in to "Happy Birthday ___ (fill in the blank.. George aka Curious George, yellow, Harper, Daddy, you name it)".  She has figured out that jumping in our bed is super fun and insists upon it before bed- she counts One Two Free and then flings herself down laughing the whole time.  Our new undeniably favorite thing is that she will grab both sides of our head with her hands and give us a kiss on the forehead.  I mean it is the most precious thing EVER.

Spontaneous dinner party at our house.. We did grilled salmon and blue cheese flank steak, and Melissa made her bloody mary's which Hunt and I are literally addicted to.. the secret ingredient apparently is the pickle juice!  After dinner, we got brave and pulled the s'more set out.. It probably could have been a little dicey with the toddlers, but they were surprisingly mindful around the open flame.

This past Friday meant a long awaited return to El Rodeo and a little celebration for Hunt's new job.. Rafael, the very nice gentleman that runs the restaurant always gives HG a lollipop, and not wanting to be a stick in the mud I smile and say "thank you".  Pretty sure the two year old working on a Tootsie roll pop does not win me any mommy points (except with the two year old), but she's happy and after a long week sometimes that's really all we can ask for, right?

Dr. Squeaky has opened up her practice for all new patients.  She is obsessed with taking her temperature under her armpit.. Nothing says I've been sick a lot this year like I know how to pull down my shirt and where to stick the thermometer.

Casual picnic with Edmundo and Mini Baba.

A rainy Sunday meant it was finally time to go join the local library.. Now that she has (mostly) stopped ripping pages apart and is totally into reading, it seemed like a fun thing to do, and she did indeed love it.

She looks like such a big girl in her boot cut jeans!

Perusing the selection

"Yama Yama"

Yoga Loving Squirrel

I rarely if ever like these random things, and actually give Carson endless shit for posting random animal things, but this little guy is just too good.  I literally laughed out loud when I saw it, and can't stop.  I live in yoga/workout pants, so I'm not sure that I experience a "season" per se but the sentiment is awesome!

Squeaky Stats

HG had her two year check up yesterday.. She weighed in at 28 pounds and is 33 3/4 in tall.. Both 65% percentile for her age so nice and symmetric!  We reviewed her developmental milestones, and when I told her Pediatrician that she can sing the ABC song and count to 10, she proclaimed that Harper is "advanced" with her language skills :-)  I did tell Hunt the very same thing last week after she randomly counted out loud to ten in the back of the car (although she has a tendency to skip six) that I felt like not all two year olds could do such.  Glad to know that I am not just biased!  In the evening we pulled out her new medical kit and she was enthralled with the thermometer, repeatedly pulling down her shirt in order to stick it under her arm pit and make the beeping noise go off.  Pretty hilarious to watch!