MONTHS 8, 9, & 10

Or the alternate title, hey I heard you were a wild one. My oh my, how our sweet, innocent 7 month old in the last post has changed in just a few short months. Kenny Chesney's Wild child is officially our theme song.

Harper started to crawl at exactly 8 months but was stuck in reverse for a solid month. As soon as girlfriend figured it out she was unstoppable. Most of the time she can be found waiving the laptop charger or pulling herself up on the toilet with her mouth firmly planted on the seat....In only a couple of months she went from 2 to 8 teeth, 3 of which came in all at once at 10 months. So for now, we'll blame the toilet licking on that. Since our last visit on here she has totally outlawed all baby food. French toast is her jam and she will make a piece disappear faster than you can cut it. She also loves chicken, carrots, bananas and anything beef. For us and for her, a Baby Led Weaning approach worked much better than trying to force cereals and purees on her that she hated. So far it has worked like a charm and we strongly stand behind it!

Developmentally she took her sweet time doing just about everything. At 10.5 months she's a strong crawler, says mama and dada, feeds herself, pulls up to her knees and almost her feet. It seems like everyday she starts doing something new. This past week she introduced us to her yoga skills with some downward facing dog, planks, and headstands (ehem, aunt Elise). She has also become quite the acrobat whether that means using dad as her own personal jungle gym or trying to escape the shopping cart at target. Anything is fair game for her. 

If you stuck around our way long enough growing up, you could hear my aunt sigh "child!" as my high energy cousin narrowly avoided death multiple times a day. Since Harper become mobile I've found myself doing the same thing and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

Harper finally hit the age a couple of months ago where she's content to just hang out and it. is. wonderful. I'm not sure if it was early teething, bad sleep (which she CAN do through the night but  still chooses not to), or we just got a disgruntled baby. Although we're starting to experience some separation anxiety, she is the happiest little lady. We've started taking her out on little adventures where she can see new things and watch the big kids play which is hilarious to her right now. It took a couple of tries but as long as she's fed, napped, and has her tunes (homegirl has needs) she'll sit in her Thule bike trailer for ten or more miles. It may not be the mountain trails that we were used to before we were momma and dada, but it's a new kind of fun watching her love bikes & the experiences they bring.

Hours adventuring usually results in a nice, tongue out kind of nap. For her, I mean :) 

Harper 6 & 7 Months

7 months?! Where has the time gone. Clearly, it's going fast because she's pushing 7 and a half months and we're just getting around to the 6 month update....HA. Since the last update, girlfriend has grown up so much! Crazy lady is rolling everywhere and getting into everything she reach with her chubby little hands. As you can see by our new board location, she will no longer sit on the couch. Or lay next to the board, or stay off of it.

Since the last time we were on here Harper has become an absolute wild woman. She's into everything and reaches for things the moment she sees them. I fear we may have an accidental shoplifter on our hands when she realizes she can grab things off of shelves. She's also stopped sleeping through the night. A normal night goes something like 7:45pm bath, 8:15 bottle then put in bed. 12:30-1:30am wake up and scream bloody murder for a bottle then I change her, put her back down, pump, and get back to bed by 3/3:30. She's usually up talking and kicking any time from about an hour after she's put back down until 4am but puts herself to sleep. Then anywhere from 5:30-7am is time to wake up for the day. She has also completely dropped naps again unless she's sleeping on me or one of her grandmas. Lady, REST! 

After 2 and a half miserable months we noticed her first tooth had finally broken through the night before her 6 month birthday. The next morning we rang in her half a year with strawberry jello cake only to notice a second tooth had cropped up right next to the other. Then we felt like jack wagon parents because we couldn't understand how one tooth could make her so miserable. Jokes on us.

After the teeth ordeal seemed to finally end, I took her to the pediatrician's office for her well visit and exactly 4 days later she woke up insanely sick. We went back and they confirmed bronchiolitis (infant bronchitis) and said they couldn't treat it with anything and her symptoms could last a month. Poor Harpie was miserable as could be and also had raging tummy problems which resulted in raging diaper rash, too. Her pouty face earned her as many bottles and snuggles as she wanted and within 7-10 days we were finally germ-free.

Six Months was about the time that her sleeping woes began, then around 6.5 months she finally started accepting food. We switched from rice to oatmeal cereal and it was a huge hit! Baby bird loves her food, I feed her 3-5 times a day and she screams if her mouth is open longer than a second and the "plane" hasn't landed inside. Ah, teenager attitude already. Other firsts include sitting up on her own & finally rolling to the right. She was stuck only going left at an angle, aka, making circles into furniture and crying. We wrapped up her half a year month with her first trip to the park. She was unsure in the swing but loved the slide....or whatever her BFF daddy was on.

In March, we celebrated Harper's first Easter. Holidays are so much more fun when you have kids, even if they have no idea what's going on! We kicked off the morning with some sparkly eggs, church, and then headed to nana and pap's with geema and pappy to open a million more baskets and eat too much chocolate. Harpie got to stay up past her bed time since Easter marked her 7 month birthday. As for Mr. Green boots and I, we spent the rest of the night cleaning the glitter from the eggs off of anything and everything. And eating more chocolate.

Another exciting first for Harper was saying "Dada". Her love affair with Justin has grown from cute to almost disgusting :) She lights up and giggles the second he walks in the door, likes to be thrown every which way by him and loves when he plays the guitar and sings to her. 

Every month (or two in this case) we say that we can't believe how fast this is going. It truly has been a blink of an eye since she was born and now our little swaddled burrito is trying to crawl. Time. Slow. Down. We can't wait to see all that month 7 has in store for you, Harpie!

xoxo,

Momma and Daddy in the green boots

Harper Lynn 5 month update

Happy 5th month of life sweet girl! Since this photo was taken (about two weeks ago) she's managed to put on another pound or so. This momma may or may not have had a meltdown packing away all of her tiny newborn Harpie clothes. I've also com to accept the fact that these will never ever be posted on time.

This month seems to be the month of firsts. First time in the snow, first solid food, first time rolling from her stomach to back, and first time laughing back as we laugh at her. She is thisclose to sitting up on her own (see failed photo below) and her first bottom tooth is almost through her gums. J and I have decided that she is never going to roll over from her back to belly because she hates laying on her beer gut. This winter has been perfect for giving us a few warm days to take her outside. So far she absolutely loves it! As for the food I think it is going to take a few tries. We tried rice cereal both with breastmilk and water plus bananas. All were rejected by miss priss. 

Harper used to be a rockstar sleeper from 9pm to 8am on the dot but has since changed. She still sleeps a good bit but some nights she wants to stay up and party until 10 or 11 and then wake up at 4 and pound a bottle or two. We're going to try some different foods this week and see if we can find one she likes that will stick to her ribs a little better overnight. Glory glory hallelujah she has finally started napping again during the day. Every 2-3 hours she's ready for a snooze and it. is. heavenly. Napping helped her attitude so much! She loves to play and hang out with us. Her obsession with Justin has grown from minor to full on daddy stalker. He's starting to rub off on her a little....

Her new favorite game is to throw her toys and make us get them. She's also discovered how to kick in the bathtub and it is the funniest thing ever to see her violenlty throwing her body around in her bath seat. Or crib. Or carseat. Actually, she just likes to spaz out wherever she may be. Half the time I get her out of bed and she's sideways holding onto the rungs of her crib. We recently figured out that she's much happier in the car since we took the newborn insert out of her carseat. We're getting to the time where we need to decide what her next carseat will be when she's done with her infant seat in the spring. I've been looking into this one but am open to any suggestions.

I cannot believe how fast the time is going, now we see how they grow up in the blink of an eye. She is the sass and spunk we always needed & we can't wait to see what's in store with this one. Happy 5 (& a half) months Harper Lynn, we love you!

Four Months of Harpie

Somehow another month (& a half by the time I got around to write this) has passed! I think it's safe to say that every month is my new favorite. 3 months was a big turning point for Harper as far as alertness, sleep, and development but the 4 month mark has been the craziest!

We tried to get a happy picture but figured this is a pretty accurate representation for how she is now. Totally happy or oh hell to the no mad. She's generally happy but if she needs anything she let's you know right away. She's been that way since she was less than 2 months old but now we've added temper tantrums to that. If she wants to lay on her back and play instead of her belly, tantrum. If she's hungry and there's not a bottle in her mouth rightthissecond, tantrum. If you look at her on a weird day, mega tantrum. We also got a video of her new favorite tantrum when she's laying on the floor and can't roll over by herself. We sat back and laughed. I know what you're thinking, parents of the year. 

At 4 months I think we've finally turned a corner with tummy time, I don't know if it's her big belly or just how she is but she hated it until she figured out how to turn in circles. The belly bumper and boppy were both a huge help when she was learning how to hold herself up. As you can see she's still obsessed with books too. The crinklier, the better :)

Her first Christmas was so much fun! Not only was it her first, but it was the first year Justin & I got to wake up and share the morning together :) Harper was confused when we started handing her presents and toys but she ended up loving it. We all watched frozen for the first time at her Geema and pappy's house on Christmas day & like all girls, she was obsessed. We headed from Geema and Pappy's, to Nana and Pap's, to her great grandparent's house to visit with them and her Mimi and Pap- Pap....She's a spoiled girl with not two, but three sets of grandparents to love on her! After our busy December 25th we spent the rest of our 2 day "Christmas break" hanging out in bed watching netflix & trying to recover from the mass amounts of food (and milk) we all consumed.  

Developmentally, Harper is so close to rolling over but isn't quite there. She loves to hold your fingers she can pull herself up to sit and stand. I'm convinced this kid is never going to crawl and will skip straight to sitting & furniture creeping. When I pump she sits in her boppy to eat and tries to sit up. Independent is the name of the game with this one. As far as sleep we typically start bath time at 8:15, give her a bottle and put her down by 9\9:15. Unless she's sick or having a bad night with her teeth, she sleeps until 8am. The pediatrician confirmed my suspicions at her 4 month check-up that she is indeed working on two teeth. Unfortunately she got the miserable attitude, fever, and pink cheeks to go with it. Teething breaks my momma heart. For the past week she has also completely outlawed naps and takes 1-2 10 minute power naps on me after her bottle and then wakes up crabby. 

Her favorites this month are snuggling her blankies, burying her face in your chest and growling, dancing, having "conversations", throwing her body out of her bath seat & picking her nose like a beast :)

They're not kidding when they say each stage breezes by & brings its own challenges. She may have grown out of her colic stage but her demanding attitude is equally as challenging, especially when she is going all day long. Lawd help us when she's mobile. Despite your dramatic, spunky, LOUD personality, we love you so much miss Harper Lynn!

Harper 3 months

Where has the time gone! Our once sleepy, yellow (jaundice) baby who never made a peep is now a chubby, loud, little girl who knows exactly what she wants. She started smiling last month but has really stepped up her game in the happiness department, we've even gotten a few giggles. If daddy is around? Total infatuation. 

Prepare for the baby spam. This month we celebrated her 1st Thanksgiving which was quickly turned upside down when she woke up with a fever & cold. We spent the holiday at my parents with my in-laws and grandma. Poor Justin was scheduled to work at 4 so our family time was cut short. The rest of the day consisted of 5 minute naps & temper tantrums because someone was overtired. She finally took a short nap on her Gee-Ma as my grandma and I housed a pumpkin pie. Black friday is typically its own holiday for me. With a sick baby I opted out which ended up being a good plan since I woke up friday morning sick as a dog. The holiday weekend did however get a little better when Harper gave us the shock of a lifetime and slept from 9pm-8am on friday. Just what this sick momma needed to feel slightly less dead.

Our smart cookie also learned how to hold her bottle this month. She can't do it completely by herself but she's almost there. Not bad for a 3 month old who was born 1 month early. She's also mastered tummy time. However, she will throw a royal fit unless theres a hockey game on to entertain her in said position. The older she gets the more content she is to hang out and look around. From 3 weeks to 2 and a half months she wasn't happy unless she was entertained 24/7. We thought we were totally screwed. She still has her moments but we continue to see the light at the end of the tunnel when she's happy to just hang with us. After Justin was finished working on friday we had another family first and purchased our 1st car as married couple! His current car is a bit too nascar and not quite enough dad. He's maintaining his manliness in a new Subaru XV Crosstrek. After looking for awhile we decided it was the one. Unlike his current car it's great in the snow and has plenty of room to toss a carseat in the back. We love outdoor sports like mountain biking and snowboarding so it is the perfect car to throw our stuff in and go have an adventure. All of our paperwork and bargaining took over 3 hours and little miss priss was perfectly happy to just chill. 

I'll probably say it every month, but month 3 has been my favorite so far. She's still tiny enough that she wants to cuddle with us but is old enough and developed enough to interact with us and her surroundings. Every morning I wake to her "crying" on the monitor and go in to a huge smile because she knows her fake yelling worked. With every nap is seems as though she's grown another month older and wiser. I feel like I finally understand the phrase "let them be little". Because even when the days are long I know we'll look back and wonder where the years have gone.

oh darling don't you ever grow up, just stay this little.

Why we chose to exclusively pump

Since Harper was born I've gotten asked "Are you breastfeeding?" approximately 7,000 times. At first I didn't know how to answer because yes, she was getting breastmilk. But no, not always directly from me. Harper was born just shy of 36 weeks with a host of preemie latch issues. She was also born with the worlds biggest tongue. Those along with some issues I was having made it nearly impossible to breastfeed. Before we left the hospital we had 2 meetings with the lactation consultant and it seemed like she was finally getting it with a shield. After 3 days home (and still no milk) it felt like things were going south. I began reading everything I could and eventually came to an article telling me shields decreased milk production. At this point we were trying to feed both sides for 10 minutes each, pumping and feeding her that with a syringe, 15 minutes of trying to get her to burp, washing all of the pump parts, changing her diaper, and getting her to nap. By the time the cycle finished it was time to start again. That was still not enough milk for Harper and not enough sleep for momma. No Bueno.

Harper's 1 week well baby visit actually ended up happening when she was 2 weeks old due to her jaundice hospital stay. Just like the "breast is best and pumping is the devil" boob thumpers, the doctor was less than impressed that we had already switched to only pumping. As she concluded the appointment by telling me I had a healthy baby, she also said she was going to schedule a 1 hour lactation consult before her next appointment to "get her back where she should be". Right after I knocked her out cold left the room I quickly scheduled her next appointment with a different physician, no consult. My baby was perfectly healthy, so we headed home and read up on just how to exclusively pump. Now, after 3 months I feel like we've gotten the hang of it & may have some helpful tips.

Here's what's up

1. Call your insurance company. Before you go and buy that $400 gem you read all about online, call your insurance carrier. Ours sent us a Ameda Purely Yours double electric pump with 2 sets of flanges, 4-6 valves, 4 storage bottles, and a carrying tote for all free. They also supply us with 3, 50 count refills of storage bags every 90 days sent right to our door. Call ahead while you're pregnant and before you register for gifts.

2. Free parts. Most hospitals have either a Medela or Ameda pump for you to use during your postpartum stay. If they have the same brand pump as you, take the parts! Ours had an ameda pump and we were able to leave with extra tubing, a set of flanges, 4 valves, and 12 storage tubes. Some may have the storage bottles, but take advantage of either! I still store small amounts of freshly pumped milk in the tubes and keep extras in my pump bag in case I make more than a storage bottle can hold.

3. Extra parts. Getting a few complete sets of pump parts will help you immensely. The parts that came with the pump plus the parts from the hospital still weren't enough. Our sweet friends recently gifted us 2 extra sets of storage bottles and it has made all the difference! It means no more washing in the middle of the night. Always have 1-2 extra sets of storage bottles than you have flanges and keep a few extra valves on hand. One night I was in a total panic that my pump had stopped working. After some research it turns out the tiniest of tears in the rubber can make the whole thing useless.

4. Nutrition. I cannot stress it enough, drink drink drink! I was a terrible water drinker before so this one was hard. I went from maybe 1-2 bottles a day to 1.5-2gallons. I recently added up and on average I produce from 1.5-2 liters of milk per day. The more you drink, the more milk you'll make. Eating is another thing. It's already hard enough to eat with a new baby, I keep a banana, protein bar, and giant mason jar full of water on the end table so even during the middle of the night I'm getting enough food and water to keep making good milk.

5. Storage. Most moms I know store their freshly pumped milk in either bags or storage bottles. If you're exclusively pumping and not just supplementing, this becomes a lot of work. To save time I pump and pour straight into the feeding bottles. We typically have 5-6 full bottles ready to be warmed, front left is the oldest that needs eaten, back right is the newest that can last. It cuts time and saves you from yet another round of dishes. We use the Latch by Munchkin bottles, they're rated as one of the best to go between breast and bottle as well as prevent gas with their anti-colic valve. Harper loves them and even did well in her preemie crappy eating days. However I have had some issues with them leaking around the valves. I purposefully chose them because they had less parts than the Dr Brown bottles, but I think next time we'll go with a simple design like the Phillips Avent bottles. I may have chosen the blue because I want a boy next time. Ahem, Justin ;)

6. Schedule. Just as a baby would want to nurse every 2-3 hours, that's when you should be pumping. Initially I pumped on that schedule, then as she started to stretch longer through the night and I went back to work my 2-3 hours turned to 4, then sometimes as long as 6. Not only did I end up with a nasty case of mastitis, but my supply decreased drastically. After a week of dragging myself out of bed on the 3 hour mark and sticking to the 2-3 hour rule my supply went back to normal and put out an extra 16-20 oz a day!

7. Accessories. My new favorite thing, a pumping bra. At first I thought I could wing it. Much to Justin's terror, I walked into the bedroom in an old sports bra with holes cut out of the middle. At first my redneck pumping bra worked, but as soon as the bottles began to fill they fell off. Our awesome friends who gifted us the storage bottles also sent over the pumping bra. It is a life. Saver. It also gives me the ability to pop Harper in the boppy and feed her while I pump. Hello multitasking. Second, get a good drying rack. We use the Boon Lawn with the Twig and Stem accessories. I can fit 4 complete sets of parts on here at once! Lastly, get a car adapter for your pump. Too many times I've been running errands and hopped in the back of my SUV to feed Harper wishing I could pump my ticking time bombs. Now, I can! Note: I have tinted windows and hand a blanket over the front and back headrests. No peep shows here :)

As long as my "factory" as justin calls it keeps going, I would love to keep feeding her breast milk until the 6-9 month mark. I would be lying if I said it wouldn't be nice to go between nursing and pumping, but this is what our situation calls for. You can read every article and have everything planned out, but once your baby comes you ultimately have to do what is best for them and yourself. These tips for pumping exclusively won't work for everyone, but this is what works for us. Plus....Bonus! Justin gets the experience of feeding her that he wouldn't get otherwise. 

We may have put her in a cat bed instead of the boppy at our friends house this weekend. 

Until next time, 

That girl in the ugly green boots.