February 14th

I always say that the holidays don't really seem like "holidays" anymore since I am not teaching. There is just something that makes holidays seem "real" when you are around children. Today is Valentine's Day and I am a little sad that I'm missing the Valentine's Party with a class full of kiddos. I always loved the last day of January because I took the children's picture and put them on my door saying Mrs. Heathcott's Heart Throbs. I loved making Valentine's as a class, doing a making words activity out of the word Valentine, reading Junie B. Jones & I love you Mr. Hatch (and crying), graphing and learning about quotation marks with conversation hearts. I love all the seasonal activities! But today seems a little more "real" because not only is it Valentine's Day it is Harper's half birthday.......6 months old already.....how can that be? So as I miss out on the fun at school, I'm celebrating at home with my precious and healthy 6 month old!

I'm going to try to be brief but there is just so much I want to say about this milestone. Six months just seems to be so important, it's the magic number, like turning 18 or 21! I'm going to attempt to recap this past month.......

I always say that I see a huge change month to month........but this month takes the cake. Harper can now officially sit up! No more face planting into a pile of toys. He can sit up on his own...Which works out really nicely for pictures! He can also sit up in the bath tub and play with his toys. It is so fun to watch him splash and chew on rubber ducky. He is in LOVE with Baxter, all I have to say is bbbaaaxxxttterrr and Harper grins ear to hear. He enjoys watching Bax whenever he's on his tummy, but as soon has Harper is out of sight, he's on his back. (Harper hates to be on his tummy......that's my fault, I used the bouncey chair too much!)

This week Harper put his hands straight up in the air to be picked up. Wow! Talk about the warm and fuzzies. Cam was conveniently out of town so he missed this 'first.' :( I was one proud mama! This week we also gave him a sippy cup of water. We are practicing using a cup, he doesn't quite have the hang of it. He has to suck and he would rather chew on the spout. Speaking of chewing, no teeth yet! We are anxiously waiting, I don't know how much longer he will "teeth" with no teeth!

Harper has been eating vegetables all month, he loves everything orange.....sweet potatos, carrots, and squash are his favs...... green beans and peas are not so delish! We go back to the doctor next week and will hopefully get the okay to start fruits. I already have a pantry full of bananas, applesauce, and prunes (yuck)!

Harper has definitely grown! I can't wait to see if he is still in the tenth percentile. I'm thinking he's moved up to the 30th. He has filled out all over and now has some serious thunder thighs..thanks to the cereal, formula, and vegetables. He still wears a size 1-2 diaper, but any day he could move up to a 2. He is in between sizes in clothes, he mostly wears 3 months......that's why I think he's not in the 50th percentile yet. He's just got some short little legs :) His hair is growing, but don't worry he still has a baby mullet! As Aunt Rachel says he has "duck fuzz hair!"

------------So Happy Half Birthday baby Harper!!