Happy New Year from Houston!

It's been so long since I've posted anything. We moved to Houston in the beginning of October...I think. By the time we got settled, it was the Holidays. I will try to back-track. For Harper's sake more than anything else.

Harper is moving to Texas!

Harper and her family are moving to Texas! Next week!
Nate got a job working with a great group of guys, some of whom he worked with straight out of college. He's looking forward to being a part of growing this small company of energy advisors.

So we're moving to Houston. Via California. The movers come Monday to pack us up. The truck comes Tuesday to collect our stuff. We fly out Wednesday to SF to visit Grammie & Grandpa Wax. Harper will get some much needed TLC and QT with her grandparents. Nate and I hope to sneak away to the city for a night and to Napa for two. Our first nights away from miss H!
We're moving into a rental first: a great 4 bedroom house with a jacuzzi!
Plenty of room for visitors!
We had a babysitter twice last week so we could celebrate our 6 year anniversary and have some last meals here in NYC. Saturday we went to Apiary. Chef Scott Brian (from Veritas & Indigo) gave us an incredible tasting menu. And Harper slept the entire time we were gone! Whoo hoo!
Monday we went to Le Bernardin for an incredible meal. I'm so glad we were able to get in and experience Chef Eric Ripert's amazing seafood...Heaven.
Afterwards we went to Rudy's Bar where Nate and I shared our very first kiss. It's still a dive. It still gives away free hot dogs with purchase. It still has a giant pig guarding the entrance.
Harper did well with our babysitter, Susan. She woke up for a bit, so at least Susan got a chance to say Hi and Good-bye. We'll be sad to leave Susan behind. She's really connected with Harper.

We'll be sad to leave NYC and all our friends here. But we're looking forward to spending lots of time with Carrie and Tim (college friends of Nate) and their boys, Will & Nick. They're almost like family. Will & Nick really seem to like Harper. They play well with her and Harper loves to see older kids who have mastered the skills she's just now trying out (walking, talking, etc.)

Nick, Harper, & Will

Where's the baby?

Harper is babbling away. I'm sure it's actual conversation to her... She's mastered dada, mama, and nana. It all started with blah, buah and bah, but we don't hear that as often anymore.
She's still a fan of the raspberry and what we have dubbed 'the elephant'. She very specifically does a version of a 'motor boat' when she doesn't like something. She'll say nana often when she's lost something (namely her pacifier) or is otherwise dissatisfied. She speaks dada when she's just hanging out and happy. And, of course, mama is uttered when she needs comforting or is looking for her favorite person. ;) I'm not saying she's using language deliberately yet, but it is pretty amazing to see that natural language instincts follow what the latin based world has adopted.

Harper loves to stand and walk. If you try to sit her up, she inevitably goes all the way up. I call it 'the waterskiier'. She pulls herself up to stand now using the arches of playgym. She pulls herself up to stand using pretty much anything. Her crib went down to the lowest level just in time.
She is crawling commando style, but bets are still being taken as to whether she'll crawl or walk first.
She is a happy kid. She can wave hello (by either sticking her hand out in the general direction and/or slapping her thigh) to new friends. She give big droolly, open mouth kisses. She loves her mommy. She loves her daddy. She loves peek-a-boo.
And she loves to have a laugh-off. She laughs, you laugh. You laugh, she laughs. It's a fun time.


Harper is eating solid food now. She's a great eater. Just like her mommy. No doggy bag for her! She's friends with pears, apples, bananas, carrots, prunes, peaches, raspberries, oatmeal, rice, toast, guacamole. She's had very limited experience with adult food, mostly just sucking on apple, melon & celery. Nate and I are little paranoid to start finger foods, but we keep trying new pureed items. Harper is decidedly NOT a fan of peas. As a matter of fact, I tried to give her chicken and veggies tonight. I didn't realize til it was too late that there were peas in there. She did the motorboat, gagged repeatedly and then vomited all over the place.
Don't know if it was the peas or the chicken fat, but I think we'll cool it on both for a while.

There's is so much more to be said about the move and life with Harper, but as we're trying to get our apt packed up, say good-bye to NYC and as many people as we possibly can. I have such small sips of time to sit at the computer, upload photos/videos. Hopefully the photos/videos will speak the volumes I cannot.

American Baby Models have a playdate: Meridian, Eva & Harper

Harper & Dori (they're getting so big!)

Harper & her Italian boyfriends: Elio & Leo

Family picnic at Brooklyn Bridge Park

Harper is starting to crawl

Harper is starting to crawl...

Breakfast with Harper

Have breakfast with Harper!

this week...i've lost count...

Apologies to anyone who checks this blog regularly. Since we've returned from Cali, I just can't seem to stay on top of all the cute things Harper has started to do...
So I'm going to deviate from my regular format and hope that some day I'll return to cataloging week by week, but that's just not now.
California was awesome. Seeing all the kids was great. Having Harper spend a long weekend at the cabin with her two cousins, Drew (3) and Matthew (1)and their cousins (which might as well be her cousins too, since we've known their dad, Brent all our lives), Blake (6), Casey (4) & Scooter (2) was the best ever. the only thing better would have been if Brady, Brent's sister and my dear friend since I was 4 had been there with her son, Zachary. Then the whole gang would have truly been together. As it was, you'd think it'd have been mayhem having 6 kids 6 and under under the same roof, but it was sublime. Brent's kids are the sweetest and all the kids did great.
We went to the beach, BBQ'd hotdogs for lunch, went crock-a-dad (aka crawdad) fishing in the afternoon. Life was great. We all missed our spouses, but it was a sweet week regardless.
I hope we can make it annual thing.
This is the short version. I'm leaving out tons of dear friends and stories. I'll incorporate photos later, though they're already up at Picasa.
This video could not be left out though...

Big shout out to my friend Chrissy who flew in from LA and extended her stay. She's my best friend from college, yet I had no idea she was the kid-whisperer. She gave nature talks, help build forts, took dogs for runs...My god! She was truly amazing. I feel in love with her all over again.

Back in NYC, yes, we made it one piece. Nate was over-whelmed with how much Harper seemed to grow in two weeks. She's even more aware, she's quick on the draw, she's starting to get into crawl position, and she's starting to babble in syllables..."baba", "dada" we're still working on "mama". And she laughs if you laugh. Which is pretty awesome.

This week she had her first piece of toast. We sat on the living room floor and she had toast while I had toast with eggs. It was the first 'tea party' of many and it was one of the most incredible moments of motherhood thus far. Second only to lounging in bed and whispering back and forth to each other. Harper is going to be a great friend and it those moments when you are so sure of what the future has in store that you realize you are just where you are supposed to be and you are grateful for all you've been blessed with.

Harper has also started to bounce this week, spring with her legs from standing to sitting and back. She is pretty sturdy on her legs too. She may walk before she crawls! Well, she's doing her own version of crawling now...she uses her head instead of her arms to pull her body along. It's pretty funny. We've had to double her 'play area' to an area rug so she has something soft to crawl on.

This is the reason I decided to get up to date on this blog...

Harper can also do the stately Queen Elizabeth wave now. Not on cue, we're working on waving and kisses (right now she just presses her mouth to your face, like she wants to eat you). She spends a lot of time relishing all the skills she's acquired. We look forward to what's ahead of us while cherishing each and every moment of the here and now.
Speaking of...I have a baby who's sick of seeing her mommy at the computer...

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...