Harper's 1 month stats

Baby girl is growing like a weed! She had her one month checkup on Wednesday, and the numbers confirmed that she is definitely changing right before our eyes. She was also given the second dose of the Hep B vaccine, and she cried only for a second after feeling the pinch. Just like her big brother, the tears were gone by the time the band-aid was on her leg.

weight: 11 lbs. 7 oz. (96th percentile)
height: 23 1/2 inches (99th percentile)

Harper loves her big brother!

starting to smile on purpose :)

Ryder loves to take care of his little sister.

Happy 2nd birthday, Ryder!

Ryder was lucky to have both sets of grandparents (as well as Aunt Angela and Cousin Parker) in town for his birthday this year. I went with a pirate theme since that's one of his favorite things right now; Andrew made the pirate ship cake (from scratch, I might add!), and I shopped for the pirate accessories. Ryder had a busy, fun-filled day despite the fact he decided not to nap.

helping me put out some decorations

"Uh oh, where did they go?"

Andrew was trying to teach Ryder how to spin the gold coins.

Parker and Angela

Grandma and Grandpa

The balloons were a hit!

Grandpa and Parker

sampling the cake

Harper loved all of the noise and commotion!

Christmas morning 2012

Santa was good to Ryder this year and brought him the bicycle he'd been talking about for months. Ryder was excited to find the bicycle under the tree but wasn't a fan of wearing the helmet. He spent the day playing with all of his other toys instead, and I honestly think he was just overwhelmed with the whole gift-opening experience. He has since become a fan of riding his bike after opening an early birthday gift from Ali and Steve--a much cooler shark helmet than the original black one we had. Harper was content to hang out in the Rock 'n Play and listen to her big brother run around. There wasn't much that this 4-week old needed, so she just had some stocking stuffers this year.

"Hmmm... what should I ask Santa to bring me next year??"

Harper: 1 month

December 27th
It was a little more difficult to stage this one-month picture of Harper than it was to do Ryder's one-month picture. Perhaps there's a little more going on in our household now? ;) It wasn't until after I had taken the pictures that I realized I hadn't made a "1 month" sign to tape on the chair.

Harper likes...noise, being held, rocking in her swing, big brother's kisses, diaper changes, warm baths

Harper dislikes... having the hiccups, not being held, having shirts pulled over her head

Just in the last few days she has started sleeping longer stretches at night: 4 hours between feedings instead of 2-3, which Mommy appreciates. :) She has more "awake" times during the day, and she enjoys looking around the room and tries to focus on our faces and other objects. Her next well-visit is on Wednesday, so we'll find out how much she weighs. Andrew and I feel like she's gotten so big and changed so much in the last week!

"We have to do this every month?" (Doesn't she look concerned?)

focused on her big brother, as always

modeling her snowman bib

Oh so sweet

Some sweet pictures of my sweet babies...

dressed like a "candy cane", according to Ryder

snoozing at the park in her new winter coat

I mixed up the dough for my grandma's spiced sugar cookies, and Ryder helped me use cookie cutters and add red and green sprinkles.

such a mess but so much fun!

love my boy!

the finished products!

sampling one of his cookies

Ryder's newest trick: showing us his "surprised" face :)

fish lips

dimples!