Dear Harper,
I know I skipped your 11-month blog, and I feel bad about that. I also skipped your 1-year blog, as well as your year and a half blog, which I feel even worse about. In all honesty, though, it is not my fault. You see, you are a tiny little terror dressed in a cute, chubby cheeked, smiley faced, giggling ball of adorable costume. To those on the outside, you look like a sweet little girl, but to me, I can't turn my back on your or shut my eyes for even one second, because there you are getting into trouble, you are a whirlwind of energy, and awesome... but also mischief. Lots and lots of mischief.
So, here is your 2nd year of life blog (with some additions from the previous ones that I should have written.)
By the time you were eleven months old you had successfully started walking. I would love to say that you are an old pro at it now, but you’re not. You can walk, but you definitely got the klutzy gene from every side of this family possible. We’ve joked about renaming you Grace a few times because you are covered in bruises. You can just be walking along, and fall out of nowhere. You always pick yourself back up, and rarely cry though, so I have to give you credit for that I just can’t believe how 75% of your time you are walking and 25% of the time you’re falling or tripping, or some other mishap. You poor thing. You had bowed legs until you were about a year and a half old. I was starting to get concerned but was told repeatedly that you would probably grow out of it, so I had to hold off on taking you to a specialist as long as I could, and then, magically, one day, they seemed to be gone.
We enrolled you in swim school, which was at Daddy’s work, and it was a 4-week class right before you turned one. I was actually rather shocked by your reaction to the class. You love taking baths and playing in the water, so I thought, naturally, you would love swimming too. You didn’t hate it, but you didn’t really seem to enjoy it. You just kind of tolerated it. Maybe it was because your parents had to come with you, and you couldn’t just be set free (to be fair, the water was about 4 feet deep, we kind of needed to be there) but you didn’t like all the silly games, or songs that they made us do with you. (That’s ok; we didn’t really like them either.) Outside of swimming classes, we got to swim in a pool one other time that summer, and you really just wanted to ride around on people’s backs as they swam. This year though, we’ve taken you to the splash pad, and we have a little pool set up for you and your sister, and you really enjoy those, so maybe it is time to give the big pool another try, because we didn’t do swimming lessons this year.
For your first birthday, we chose the appropriate theme of monsters. You really liked it. It had many colors, and the monsters were super cute. You had a pretty messy smash cake, and the frosting that didn’t make it onto the floors, walls, or your mouth, was all over your face. The majority of the frosting was a lilac color, but there was a smidge of black for the eyes and mouth, and some green for the trim; once it was all smashed together, and you got to work your magic on it, it looked like you were a lumberjack, with a full facial beard in a lovely shade of brownish greenish black. You really dug in though. You were eating cake like it was some pretty serious business. I finished your blanket just in time for your birthday so you got that, along with a few other gifts. We took you to the aquarium in Jenks, Oklahoma, since you really seemed to be interested in our fish tank at home. You love just sitting in front of it, and one of your first few words was “fish.” I think it was too crowded and possibly a little overwhelming for you because you seem to enjoy our fish tank at home a lot more.
About a week after your birthday, your dad had to go to Texas for some work stuff for about a week. I freaked out a LOT because this would be my first time alone with both of you for a REALLY long period of time with no breaks. So, for a week, we moved in with Granddad and Nana so that I made sure we all survived! I tried to get some pictures of you and your sister, and while you were really good, and cheesing it up for the camera, Quinn was not. She was throwing a fit for almost 3 hours while the poor photographer, Nana, and I tried feverishly to get not only a good few pictures of her, but a few good pictures of you two together. It didn’t work. This time was also the birth of your beloved Taggie. You see, for your first Christmas, we got you a Taggie with a lion’s head on it. Quinn had her own Taggie when she was a few months old, and you occasionally showed some interest in it, but not really, so we were just grasping at strings when we bought the lion for you. The lion Taggie was a source of comfort a few times a week when it came to getting you to sleep, so we had it on our little adventure to Granddad and Nana’s house while Daddy was in Texas. Well, Granddad and Nana also had a new puppy in the house, and she chewed off the ears of your lion. While it wasn’t a huge deal Nana insisted that we buy you a replacement one, even though the lion was ok and just had nubs for ears. I searched high and low for Taggies in general, and all the places that I had seen them they no longer carried them. When I finally did find a store that still had Taggies I was upset that I couldn’t find the same exact one you had so that we could actually fully replace it. Instead, I found a special edition owl one that you fell in love with immediately. You take it everywhere. You cannot fall asleep without it, so I guess it was a blessing that the dog ate the other one. Even a year later, you still take it with you. No other will do. Trust me, we’ve tried. Once we realized just how attached you were to this one, we tried to get another one just like it in case another accident happened somewhere down the road. Special edition means that you will NEVER find it every again. Needless to say, we have a few more Taggies in our collection now, that all get ignored, and shoved away when we can’t find your owl one. Panic hits about once a day when you’ve misplaced it (or hidden it so well, even you can’t find it) because sometimes that’s the only thing that will calm you down. It is really your best friend. You still mumble and groan when you’re nodding off to sleep, but now, you’ve added in the Taggie to your routine which you rub all over your face, and you put your fingers in the little tag loops so you can hold it tight. Sweet moments to watch.
The rest of the time between then and now has pretty much been a blur. You are quite the escape artist, and there is not much holding you down. Our living room looks like a tiny prison, yet you still manage to break free of the walls. You either climb them, move toys to jump over them, lift up the actual pen itself and crawl under, or you just simply push until it is meeting the ground and walk right on over. It makes me incredibly nervous because baby proofing the house has seemed absolutely pointless. You can get those plug protectors out better than we can, and you’ve almost mastered the doorknob thing too. Most of the time on your escape route, you stop and hide under my desk. That is your favorite place to hide. Sometimes you go into the spare bedroom (which is filled with boxes, and plenty of places to hide) and hide in the elevator (the closet.) One day though, I could not find you anywhere… I was home alone, and panic had started to set in even though all the doors were closed and locked, I had no idea where you had gone. Well, I found you in the refrigerator, with the door only open about an inch or two. Barely noticeable. That has been your new go to place for a while, and it really pisses me off. You claim every time you’re in there, that it’s too hot. The truth is, it’s cold. You’re generally naked. See where I’m going here? If you manage to make it all the way in there (I’m not doubting you can) one day, I’m afraid it may be a while before I can find you. Luckily, you usually do this when I go to the bathroom, or go to change your sister. What if I was taking a shower? Who knows how long you would be in there? Ugh. You’re going to be the death of me. That’s for sure.
In December we travelled, by car, because we’re insane, to Arizona to visit Grandma Lynn for Christmas. I’m not sure how, but we survived. The trip there was pretty smooth. Both of you were exceptionally well behaved, even though you were trapped in a car for two (very long) days. I would like to thank the manufacturers of portable DVD players for that one. There weren’t too many meltdowns, and you either watched movies (a lot!) or slept so that was somewhat nice. Your sister was sick half of the trip on the way there, so your cooperation and good behavior was much appreciated. Once we got there, we got to see a lot of family and friends that you had never met. It was a pretty good time; it even snowed on New Year’s, which is pretty crazy for Arizona! The trip back was miserable. Everyone was sick. Only you and your sister were diagnosed (ear infections) so momma and daddy had to drag the trip out an extra day (so three days total, ugh) before we got home. We were also pulling a trailer, which had a ton of stuff for you guys from Christmas, and all the toys that Grandma Lynn had stashed away. Once we finally got everything unpacked and thought everything was “back to normal”; wouldn’t you know it, we all got the flu. It was the first time you have ever been sick (like, really sick) so it was nerve wracking for me, because I didn’t know what to expect from you. You ended up at the ER one night because the flu medicine made you sick (kind of silly that’s a side effect) so we made sure you were hydrated, and they gave you something to help keep it all down. Again, we all survived, and sometimes I’m not sure how.
We’ve recently discovered the joys of indoor play areas and the splash pad. The indoor play areas are nice because… well, they’re indoors and it keeps you focused on the play area and not everywhere around it. You mostly like them, but you are still timid when it comes to them getting crowded, and prefer to stay where you can see us, which is ok, you will get adventurous outside of the house someday. We already know how adventurous you are inside of the home. The splash pad I think has been one of your favorite water experiences. Water shooting everywhere and you can run around like the crazy little thing that you are.
As for food, you have always been a good eater. You are willing to try most things, and you and usually pretty good about eating what’s in front of you or at least putting in a good effort. A few months ago, you decided that you really like “fry fries” which are French fries. You also really like chicken nuggets and mac and cheese (you say it “mach an cheese!” with excitement, but you will eat mostly anything, especially if someone else is eating it and they let you steal it off their plate. You are a VERY messy eater though. You like it dirty. The messier the better. For instance, if you’re eating a peanut butter sandwich (butters sandwich, as you and your sister like to call it) more of it ends up on your face, your body, your hands, and your hair, than in your mouth. Same deal with spaghetti or mac and cheese… pretty much anything that can be smeared, you get it anywhere, and everywhere you can. It’s ok though, I’m starting to get used to it, and my ability to clean you up is getting quicker by the day (unless it’s one of those REALLY bad situations where we just throw up our hands in defeat and try to get you into the bathroom without letting you touch us, the walls, the dogs, or pretty much anything in your path.)
Your second birthday was held at the YMCA because they have a birthday room, and we could rent out the indoor play area, so it was dedicated playtime for just you and Quinn. It was a small party, it was just Quinn, Daddy, Nana, Grandad, Grandma, Pappy, and I, but you seemed to really enjoy it this year. You were running around and giggling almost the entire time. Your theme was minions because you absolutely LOVE minions. You are minion crazy. We can be in a crowded store, and you could spot a tiny little minion sticker from across the room, and shout and get super excited until you get close enough to see it. The day before your birthday, we took you to your second movie theater experience to see The Minion Movie. Your first was earlier that year when we took you to see Home. The first experience was miserable. You didn’t know how to hold still, you didn’t want to hold still, and you just wanted to crawl and play on the movie theater floor. Yuck. Lucky for us we were pretty much the only ones in there besides one other couple. The Minion Movie was a little better, but it was a LOT more crowded. You almost made it to the end before you started getting antsy, and you were definitely captivated by it a LOT more. I am telling you… you only have eyes for minions!
Most of your adorable chub has been exercised off. You never stop moving. You still have some delicate chubby cheeks though, which are super kissable. Your hair is starting to grow long, and you no longer have a crazy little Mohawk. For a while, you had a mullet (sorry!) but we got through it-- your hair has always kind of grown in a weird way. You are starting to show your sparkling little personality, and it is great. You have such a sense of humor, and are so kind most of the time. You love kisses and hugs (receiving and giving) and are always willing to make someone smile. You still haven’t gotten rid of the Scofield Scowl, but it makes an appearance much less than it used to. You also still have your little heart between your eyebrows. It has started to fade a little bit, so I hope that for your sake it continues so you don’t have to deal with anyone making fun of you. It does seem to stand out when you are upset about something, but other than that, it’s not something that is easily noticeable anymore.
I can’t believe how much you have changed our lives (for the better!) I can’t believe how much you have changed, and are still changing before my eyes. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for you, but at the same time, I wish time would just slow down already.
Love you little squidget.
Love,
Momma
