Harper's 6 month check-up

Harper is growing well. She's 16 lbs, 12 oz (64th percentile) and 27" tall (92nd percentile). She's almost too big for her infant car seat!

26 & 27 Weeks: Going Back to Cali

Harper is becoming quite the Trans -Continental traveler. We made our second journey across this great country of ours sans Nate. Well...due to some crazy circumstances (an expired ID), he did end up coming to the airport with us and helped get us through security with the massive (and heavy) carry-on, the stroller, the boppy (a must when traveling with an infant), diaper bag, and of course, Harper. Harper hadn't sleep AT ALL the night before. I had been up since 2am. It was a rough start. And we were seated in the middle seat next to two very unlucky gentleman. I chatted up the flight attendants while trying to rock Harper to sleep in the back of the plane and as luck would have it, just before take off, one of them came over and said there were two empty seats at the back of the plane that we were free to move to after take off. This saved us.
My cousin, Patrick, works for Delta and used to work at SFO, so my mom dropped his name at the ticket counter and God Bless Richard, who let both my parents have gate passes and they greated us as soon as we came out of the jetway. Huge sigh of relief! We made the long flight to CA.
The weather was absolutely gorgeous. Each and every day. I forget how lovely it is to live in a place that is temperate pretty much year-round. Yes, you may need to layer, but there is not a whole lot of extreme hot or cold; certainly no mugginess. It was AWESOME. I realized how much of a genius I was to leave muggy NYC for two weeks. Leaving Nate behind was brutal, but at least he was now able to go on his annual golf trip with his college friends, so I hoped that would break up the time.
My parents were so excited to have some quality time with Harper. My sister and her family were up in Donner so it was just the four of us for the weekend. Saturday we caught up. Lazed in their beautiful backyard. Gave Harper a bath outside. Put her to bed a little early, given the time change. I went to be early too. My dad had installed black-out shades in my bedroom which was amazing. Harper slept from 6p til 2a!
When I switched on my phone to see what time it was, I got a text message from my best friend, Hannah...who was pregnant with her 2nd child and due to have a scheduled c-section on the 7th of August..."I think my water just broke"!, it said. How exciting! I get to be here when her second baby is born for two whole weeks, instead of two days! I went back to sleep, and when we woke up at 6a (yay, Harper! Good Sleep!) I discovered that baby H's arrival was moved up to 8:30 that morning. Texts flew back furiously between Wade (her husband) and me. Hannah even got snuck in a phone call before her epidural! It was so amazing to be in the same time zone as it was happening and know that I'd see them all before the end of the day. For someone who lives across the country for nearly everyone nearest and dearest to her, this meant the world.
Sunday Mom, Dad, Harper and I strolled down B'game Ave and went to see a Beatles Tribute Band and have a picnic in the park. It was a lovely way to spend the day. When the music was done, Harper went back to the house with my parents and I jetted off to meet Grady Patrick, 6lbs, 13 oz (a bit smaller than his older brother who was 9lbs, 2 oz when he was born two weeks early). When I arrived, it was just Hannah and Grady in the hospital room. He was such a little peanut! You forget how little they are when they're brand new! Wade and Ethan (the big brother) arrived just after me. Ethan was very sweet with his little brother. Kept wanting to see "my baby." I was so thankful for that afternoon.

The next two days my Mom worked, I shuttled back and forth to the hospital while Dad babysat H and we prepped to drive to the mountains. Tuesday night we drove over to Kristie's and had a great dinner with Harper's cousins. The night took a scary turn when Matthew bonked his head on a chair and promptly got a big goose-egg on his temple. But within the hour and a unrealized trip to the ER, all was fine and Mom, Dad, Harper and I were on our way to Donner...in two cars, because of all the stuff we had... exersaucers and strollers take up a lot of space!
Donner was amazing! I was so excited for Harper to be there for the first time. For those of you who don't know, my family has had a cabin there since 1979 and my entire childhood is filled with summers (and some winters) up there. The lake is fairly small. Only 3 miles long, 1 mile wide.
..to be continued...

25 Weeks: Some Like It Hot

Harper does. Her tea, her baths, her bottles. It's pretty amazing. She'll shoo it away until its as warm as she likes.
The girl can stand the heat. Which bodes well for the hours she'll (hopefully) spend as sous chef in the kitchen.

Harper is officially sitting up! She also, as her Grandparents Miles pointed out on Skype, starting to grow hair finally.

Watch her show off her new skills!

Not much other to tell about this week. Most of it was spent prepping for our big trip to California. Monday night I did get to spend out: Nate watched Harper and I headed to Midtown for a fundraiser for the show I've helped developed that is debuting at Cherry Lane Theatre for the NYC Fringe Festival. For The Love of Christ is not for the prim nor the proper, but it is a smart comedy which centers around the question, when Christ said, "Love your Brother as yourself," did he mean literally?

It was a fun night out with my dear friends, Ben & Heather. It was a success. I even won tickets to see Next to Normal on B'way from the raffle!

24 Weeks: Adventures in Babysitting

This was the week of Baby-Sitting! I covered two yoga classes and we had our dear friend, Will, come to town Saturday night. So...Harper, meet Susan. Susan, meet Harper. Susan is a college friend of Julee's from KU. She works at Bloomies and therefore has some odd week-days and evenings free. Susan is great for Harper. She's very involved at playtime. ... And she's very calm and assured, which is great for me. It was important for me to have the same person do all three days so we didn't repeat the Houston debacle...lesson learned...have H at least be familiar with the babysitter before leaving her for three hours.
Monday Susan was here from 8am til 11am. Tuesday Harper accompanied me to a casting for Lunesta. Wednesday Harper accompanied me to get my hair done and was the rage of the salon. "So big!" "So alert!" "So pretty!" The compliments came all day long. Harper was a trouper as she sat patiently during the two shampoos and was passed around the staff during the cut. Thursday Harper spent the whole day with Susan from 8:30am til 2pm... I got to grab lunch and a mani/pedi! How indulged am I?! Friday we rented a zipcar and drove to Union City for a Hasbro casting for me, which we snuck H into as well. They were looking for new moms and 6month+ babies who could sit up unassisted...and well, H looks 6 months and she can sit for 1-2 seconds without falling over, so good enough...now she's in the file for Hasbro and BabiesRUs!
Saturday was the big day. Or night, we should say. Susan came straight after work, got there by 7:30. We fed H, thought about putting her down for the night hopeful that she would sleep until we got home at midnight, then thought better. We hoped H would be in bed by 8. 8:30 I made the mistake of texting to see how it was going. NEVER DO THIS! Let the sitter call you!
"She's a little bit fussy, but she doesn't seem interested in sleep" was the text back. It made me laugh out loud. This is my daughter...she doesn't seem interested in sleep...she really doesn't. She plays happily as long as she's engaged. It could be worse. Way worse.
Still, I was alarmed, because though she doesn't act like she's interested, she does need her sleep. Nate went out and called Susan, told her to bounce on the side of the bed with H cradled in her arms, holding on to her outer hand (which we've dubbed the stone crab claw) and gaze into her eyes. (Don't know why, but if you look into her eyes, she shuts them...look away and they spring open...she's extra-sensory.)
She was out within 10 minutes. "Worked like a charm." I was so relieved to read that.
Of course, she woke up when we got home. But that was fine. Overall it was a success. And though we didn't quite have the sparkling adult conversation we wanted to (because we were both a little preoccupied and obsessed with how things were going at home), we did have a successful night away and hopefully it's one of many more to come.
Right about now, I'm longing to have family close, so we could practice this more often.

Harper continues to work on her vocal repetoire. This week: Squealing. She can now sit up by herself (for up to 5 seconds) and she continues to work on her 'standing'.

And now...we boogie...

23 Weeks: Ladies who Lunch

I forgot to mention 4th of July weekend! Wow, last week was busy. We went a barbeque in Park Slope with some friends from my old band. It was a pretty mellow affair. We were home and in bed by the time the fireworks started, which was fine because they switched them over to the Hudson River this year, so we couldn't see them anyway. Sunday we headed over to NJ to hang out with Pete and Tara by their pool. We never got H in the pool, but she did sit up unassisted for one or two seconds.

Bedtime Story: Think Like a Chef

Look! No Hands!

Harper seems to have turned into an Elephant this week. Here she is showing off her new skills and soaking the front of her dress.

Harper, the Pachyderm

H has really been into grabbing her feet this week. Whether lying down or sitting in her stroller she seems to go into Happy Baby Pose. Monday afternoon we were hanging out in the backyard and she looked up to the sky when she heard a helicopter. I was impressed... Don't know that she knew it was a helicopter, but she's keenly aware of where sounds come from. Tuesday we were strolling down the street and I peeked to see if the sun was in her eyes, it wasn't...she was holding up her crinkle book to block the sun. She's a genius. :)

Wednesday we borrowed a car (Thank you, Elizabeth & Andy) and headed up to CT for the afternoon. This was Harper's first visit to Auntie Sari's house since she was born. She was an instant hit with Sari's cats, it was very sweet to see them all checking her out. H ate, we changed diapers and cars and drove with Sari, Joan and Debbie to Madison to Ann's for lunch. (Wwax family trivia: Ann went to SMU with Kristie's Mother-in-law! They were in the same sorority.)
It was a lovely lunch. Sari has the best girlfriends in the world. They are all so much fun. Always game for a good time and always doing for each other. It was fun to induct Harper into this circle. Everyone was impressed with her smiles ,her table manners and her love of 'walking' at just five months old.

Thursday H was in great humor. We had lots of fun with laundry and ribbons (who needs toys?!?). Later that night I got a well needed night out with my friends, Ben & Heather. (Thank you, Nate!)

Ribbons in the Sky Keep Me Laughing

This whole week Harper has been sleeping like a champ. Sunday night she managed to talk herself to sleep. Monday was tough. We let her cry for a long while, but eventually she dropped off and slept soundly through the night. Tuesday was better. Wednesday not a peep. I could get used to this...

Saturday we met up with our friends, Julee (Carrie's sister) and Brad and went to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens and then had a picnic in the park. It was a beautiful day. We always have a great time with Julee & Brad. I wished the day would never end.

Sunday we had brunch in our backyard with some of my friends from my old band. We got to introduce the newest member, Dori to the crew. It was so good to see everyone...bittersweet too, Elizabeth & Andy are leaving NYC next month to move to Denver.
It's finally getting to be summer here in NYC. Such a dilemma...get out and enjoy the day or let H get her nap in... I have a feeling all these days about town are about to kick us in the teeth.

Genius

Harper just looked up in the sky when she heard a helicopter.  

22 weeks: On the Town

General recipe for getting Harper to sleep: cool, dark room, swaddle, bouncing or walking in Bjorn facing in (course good luck getting her to stay asleep when you're transferring her out), humming or singing softly, ocean waves to drown out the A/C, the construction, ambient noise. Creaky floors optional.

We've found the 'sleep begets sleep' adage is pretty true with Harper. If you get her to nap around an hour & a half to two hours after she gets up, right when she starts rubbing her eyes and yawning, she's pretty easy to get to sleep. She'll even stay asleep after you put her in her crib if you wait till she's dropped off a bit. She might even ignore startling noises early on...after an hour though anything will wake her, even though she needs to nap at least a half hour more.

It's definitely true that no-sleep begets no-sleep. If she doesn't get at least two hours of solid napping in a day, it can take up to three hours to get her to sleep. The bedtime routine is good, but it's not THAT good.

So now that we have the ground rules laid out...let's break 'em! (We all need to get out!)

Harper has been to her first rock concert!
She got the whole director's row to herself. She went back stage. She even passed out. So...technically she didn't meet the band, but they met her.

The Laurie Berkner Band played Town Hall here in NYC. It's an amazing venue. The band has expanded to 4 with Laurie singing and playing guitar, Susie on keys, Adam on bass and Bobby on Drums. It's such a great show. They have a sweet set that has a scrim which incorporates art-work from all of LB's repertoire. After working with Laurie and the gang for 8 years now it was pretty trippy being there with my own daughter. The woman in front of us joked that we were there more for me than for her. I suppose that was true.
Shannon, Corinne and Katie really took care of us; made us feel like VIPs. It's something that I will treasure for a long time.
Hopefully we'll go to another once Harper can sing for herself.

That day Harper also experienced her first picnic in Prospect Park to celebrate Andy's 30-something birthday. Happy Birthday, Andy! Andy and Elizabeth have just decided to move to Denver. Yet another amazing couple leaving us for more affordable housing and an easier life-style. It was a spectacular day in the Park. But we had to get home to get H to sleep by her bedtime. No fair keeping her up while we're trying to work her sleep schedule out.

Since one must take advantage of every sunny day (there have been so few!), we've been getting out a lot more. Harper and I met two new baby friends this week: Dori, 3 weeks old, belongs to Mary & Gene (who used to be a band with me) and Lincoln, 10 weeks old (& survivor of congenital diaphragmatic hernia), belongs to Ashlee (friend from High School) & Jeremy. We also got to meet my mom's tap teacher and good friend, Deb & her husband, Lee.

Dori & Mary

Left: Lee & Deb, Me & Harper (hitting), Lincoln & Ashlee
Right: Lee, Ashlee, Jeremy, Lincoln & Deb

That was an interesting afternoon. Harper sat up by herself for quite a bit. She started to fall forward and held herself up with her hand. She did well being passed around, but started fussing and reaching when I was holding Lincoln. She followed that up with a swat at poor Lincoln when we took the picture. I couldn't believe she could be that possessive!

Aside from that, Harper did very well on her outtings. We always let her get in a good morning nap before we leave for the day. She's not so good at napping on the go, but we try to bump up her bedtime if she's had a particularly busy day. It is still time-intensive to get her to sleep (and recently to stay asleep). I'd say we're about 1/2 way there. But she's definitely getting more sleep and it shows. She's so much happier and can focus on playing and learning.

Now that she's mastered the sitting thing, she's loving to stand and walk the length of the couch (of course, holding on to our hands). She's reaching for toys, hair, anything really (child-proofing starts now!). Her feet actually touch the ground of her exersaucer. She's really wheeling around in the thing; turning herself to whatever toy she wants to play with. She does love to purposely rock the exersaucer back and forth though she doesn't have ultimate control over that big dome of hers. 'Weebles wobble but they don't fall down' springs to mind.