I have started writing so many new posts….but life has become a crazy whirlwind and nothing gets finished!! I am determined though that tonight will be different! 🙂 This will be long, but I have a lot to update!
Every day is filled with baby giggles, shrieks, grunts (oh the grunts), screams, & cries. I love it! These past few weeks have brought a HUGE change in Harper! It is incredible to watch. Just after turning 6mo she started sitting up unassisted. At first she was pretty unstable (and has a few bruises to show for it!) but now she only tips over if she gets super excited and turns her head too quickly. We learned that putting the boppy around her helps to cushion so we don’t get any more bonks on the head…..except now she loves to throw her arms up and fall back (fully expecting us to be there and sit her back up promptly!). Just the past few days she has shown signs of trying to sit up on her own after falling back. Those tummy muscles are working! She is showing no signs of wanting to crawl (if we put her on her belly she rolls right over and looks at us like we are crazy), but I did notice her grabbing her zany zoo toy yesterday and kinda lifting her upper half. I think pulling up isn’t too far away! Oh I don’t think I am ready for a mobile child…..Eek!
She is still extremely vocal and will “talk” all.day.long! She started saying da-da around 6 1/2 months….but she hasn’t really associated it with Dan yet. Her favorite thing to say is “hey da” which is pretty funny since it sounds like she is calling out to Dan. She also likes to complain when she is displeased with something we are doing. It is pretty funny listening to her cry and “complain” to us (especially after her bath when her pjs are being put on….the girl loves to be naked!). The tone of voice and facial expressions leave us to believe that if we could understand her there would some disciplining. They can’t be nice words!!
It is just so much fun to watch her change and grow. It does make for a long and exhausting day though. WOW! She wants to play constantly and while she is getting better at independent play she still wants mommy a lot! She is starting to try & mimic things we are doing – clapping, waving, signing. She tries so hard to clap but can’t make her hands come towards each other! Instead her arms go up & down, up & down. She gets so excited! She is also trying to wave “bye-bye”…although she does it with her hand faced towards her. A+ for effort though! I haven’t been great at signing with her but she is showing signs of recognizing “nurse” and we do “more” and “all done” during dinner. Around 9-10mo babies start signing back…I can’t wait!
Sleep is still not her specialty. She was getting better around the 6mo mark (even sleeping 6hrs straight once or twice!), but around 7mo it all went crazy again. Oy! It seems that she is reverse cycling and wanting to do all her nursing at night. From what I’ve read/heard this is pretty common in babies around her age because they are so busy playing/learning during the day they don’t want to stop and eat. I try all day to get her to nurse but she will only take a few sucks and then arch, twist, & wiggle to get away and play! Even in a totally dark/quiet room she will refuse! Apparently staring at a dark room is more enthralling than nursing. To make up for the lost calories she eats all throughout the night (waking every 2-3 hrs…I’m getting newborn flashbacks!). We had thought about transitioning her out of our room….but with this new development I am content to leave her with us! If I had to trek down the hall that many times a night I would be a crazy woman! To ease her into the transition (we will probably really start trying after Dan is through with training in April) we now put her on her floor bed in her room at the beginning of the night and bring her in with us after we go to bed when she wakes up. I am really hoping that this is just a phase and we get back to nursing normal again! I really miss rocking/cuddling my little girl! She is growing too fast 😦
The other big update is the start to the new chapter in our lives….Dan got his official orders!! They arrived tonight and it is so exciting/scary to see a piece of paper from the US government telling you what to do! haha! He is to report to Montgomery, AL on March 9th to begin Commissioned Officer Training (COT) and will graduate on April 8th! I am not looking forward to being seperated for the month. 😦 After COT he has until the 12th to report to Lackland AFB for his official duty. It still seems unreal that it is happening. We have been working on this since September of 2009! We thought it would be so easy….boy were we wrong! Dan has put in her notice at work and the 25th is his last day. This leaves us with about 10 days to make it down to Alabama! We plan to make a little vacation out of it and see the eastern side of the US. We have officially made a triangle with all of our moves! TX to CA, CA to IL, IL to TX……we have seen a huge portion of this nation! 😉 In the meantime we have to: get our military IDs (yay!),  schedule the movers to come (it is weird not packing up your own house! Driving me NUTS!), find renters for our place (please let this be easy!), pack up what I will need for a month in TX (and hope it fits in the car!), find a place to rent in San Antonio (we have a few prospects…just want to actually see them first!), learn all the do’s/don’ts of military life (oy!)………so much to do!!
I am ready for this next chapter to start. It will have some definite downsides, but I honestly think military life will suit Dan an I perfectly! We are already talking about where to move to next (I’m still rooting for Germany!). I also can’t wait to have a house in San Antonio! I love my condo, and it is perfect for living in the city like we do now, but the thought of having a yard…..bliss! I have found a couple of houses that are for rent and have a decent commute to Dan’s work. We hope to get a 4 bedroom house so we will have an actual guest room. I guess we will see!
I am getting a little sad to leave Chicago. It really is an amazing city and I just started making friends here (figures). I have even enjoyed the winter this year! It decided to test me with the snOMG Blizzard of 2011. It was unreal seeing the city blanketed under 20 inches of snow! 20 inches! The city handled it amazingly though and there will be ice piles for months I’m sure (some of them are taller than I am!). Luckily we are keeping our home here so we can come back if we want to at some point (one of the graduate programs Dan is seriously looking into is here in Chicago). I am going to really miss the public transport though! TX needs to get it’s act together!
All right I am calling it quits for now. My bed (and baby) are calling me! I promise to post some pictures with my next post (and talk about Harper’s crazy birthday party I’m planning!)….I just have to find my camera cords! 😉
Passports & Prams 