Harlow's weekend fun

We went to dinner for Dax's early birthday at Grimaldi's in Palm Beach, FL. Who would have thought we could do that? It was delicious and yummy and everything Dax wanted for his 31st birthday! We also had a BBQ at our house on Sunday complete with watermelon and pool time. Harlow really didn't love the watermelon, but she is a good sport and always tries everything. At least so far! How beautiful is this little gal?

By the way, a big thanks to my family members who obviously didn't vote or are two faced!! My one and only vote is from Dax. And that was just a pity vote. Gotta go now, Harlow is now eating my flip flop.

This is why we call her "Cholo-lolo", please don't take offense anyone!

Yup, I look like my dad

What is this??


I'm gonna try it

Nope, don't like it

Thanks but no thanks!

Who does Harlow look like?

It's pretty obvious these days that she looks like a girl version of her dad. Check out these pictures and tell us what you think. Dax always tells me she looks like me "because she is a girl". I'm like ummm...what do you mean? Of course she looks like a girl, SHE IS ONE. That doesn't count towards her looking like me just because I happen to be a girl too. I'd rather he just admit that she doesn't look like me. HA! He's just trying to make me feel better. The truth is, I think my husband is a very attractive man, and his family members are too, so if Harlow ends up looking more like them than me, that is A-OK! Sometimes I capture a particular expression that just screams Dax.

This one falls into that category for me:


Here is the creepy photo that combined a picture of us before Harlow was born:


And here are pictures of us to compare with a picture of Harlow:

So...what do you think?? Make sure you pick one on the poll located to the top right of the screen!

8 months

Here are Harlow's 8 month pictures. She was so chill the night we took these! Poor baby has had a runny nose now for a couple of weeks. She doesn't let it get her down though. It bothers me and Dax more than her! Harlow has recently learned how to perfect the sign "eat". Now it is a delicate tap to her lips. So cute! Also, yesterday she said her first word! Mama! She was rolling around on the floor babbling and I heard "mamamamama" which really isn't anything new. She has said "mamamama" and "daddadadada" lots of times. But this time, I picked her up and praised her when she said it. I waited until she did it again and repeated the praise. Within a few trials, she understood that when she said it, she got picked up and praised! WOW. Smart gal. Of course, with a behavior analyst and teacher as a mother, she didn't really have a chance at not getting that. I hope I don't therapize her too much. The really funny part is I was so excited I called Dax, my mom and Sheri to tell them what she did and put them on speaker so they could hear her. It was sooooooooo cute. But after I hung up with everyone, Harlow kept on saying it. And of course, I had to keep picking her up each time. But it was time to make dinner and get ready for work! Haha, baby girl just learned how to always get my attention no matter what!!!!

This is what happens now when we do our monthly shot! Soon she will just walk off when I try to do my photo shoots!

Weekend Fun!

Harlow had a busy weekend with lots of new activities. From pools to puffs to sign language, her life keeps getting more adventurous!

Auntie Maggie got Harlow a pink kiddie pool for Easter, and we had some fun playing in it Saturday afternoon.

Leyla must have been thirsty!

Harlow is still trying to figure out how to crawl....same thing in the pool. She gets up on her knees, scoots and slides, kicks and screams but still no crawling. Should be any day now.

What a cutie!

We started giving her puff cereal this weekend too. She likes them when you feed them to her, but isn't sure what to do when she picks them up herself. It's funny to watch her try and figure it out.

Now you see it....

Now you don't...


Eventually she forgets it is even in her hand, and we feed it to her anyway.

We'll keep working on that one. The other big development of the weekend was Harlow's first sign for "eat"....no coincidence as eating is one of her favorite things to do! Mommy has been working hard on helping Harlow learn to communicate, so this was exciting. We are working on video, so stay tuned...

Update on the screamer and Harlow at the Little Gym

Harlow had her 7 month doctor's appointment last week and it seems that all is well with baby girl. We haven't been able to find any reason why she is having a little harder time sleeping except for the old fallback of "teething" or a sleep regression that is quite normal for her age. Sometimes she comes to bed with Dax and I and sometimes one of us rocks her back to sleep trying not to fall asleep ourselves. It's one of those times when I am thankful I can usually take a nap to catch back up on my sleep or we just go to bed early the next day. Poor Dax isn't doing too well, I think he is coming down with something. Hopefully, a few good nights rest will do him good! Our house is so small that it is difficult to rest when Harlow is upset, no matter who is tending to her.

We have been attending a place down here called the Little Gym. It is a gym that has classes for all ages of children starting with 4-10 months old, otherwise known as "Bugs". Harlow LOVES her class and it has been so much fun watching her with the other little babies. I have been trying to make some new friends as well, as it can be somewhat lonely to not have many people here, specifically no other stay at home mommies. So far, we really have been enjoying our time here each week.









I also found some cute shots of Hank and Harlow. We can't wait to show them all of these when they are older!!

Faux Hawk

Sleeping

HELP Mama, I'm stuck!

What happened to my baby?

So, I guess we jinxed ourselves? Lately, Dax and I have been doing nothing but gloating how awesome Harlow is, what a great traveler she is, what a great nighttime sleeper she is, etc. etc. Our baby just whimpers when she needs something and remains relatively patient until those needs are met. Well. All of the sudden, a new baby has emerged. This one can start screaming so loudly and forcefully that you are certain when you reach her something is terribly wrong with her. Something life threatening. But, when you get to her side, you realize that nothing is wrong, except she is just unhappy with her current conditions and wants to be attended to. It has taken us several nights to really believe this. At first, we would run to her, snatch her up and inspect her head to toe. Does she have a fever? Does she have a rash? Are her gums swollen or teeth popping out? Is her diaper wet? Are her clothes too tight? Is she hot? Is she cold? Is she hungry? Is her stomach upset? Does she have an ear infection? Once we rule out the most obvious of inflictions, we are left stumped, and stumped is not a good place to be at 2 AM in the morning. Why is it that our once calm and gentle baby has now realized that she can scream so loudly that her bleary eyed parents are jolted awake like we have been shocked by an electrical current? Even after several days of this new screaming behavior, we are still just as shocked when it is emitted from her mouth. I happen to believe that she scares herself it is so loud.

Every parent knows there are several levels of crying. The 1st level is a whimper or a fuss. This is the level we are most used to around our house. The 2nd level is a more urgent cry. Usually it is a specific cry for hunger or if baby is sleepy or needs her diaper needs changed. This is also a level we are used to dealing with at our house. Then, there is a 3^rd level of crying that says “attend to me NOW” and usually means something is very wrong. This is a cry we rarely deal with. Apparently, there is a whole new level of crying, Level 4. This one requires a set of earplugs or you may risk hearing damage. I know most of you are thinking, “She is really exaggerating. There is no way Harlow can scream THAT loud”. Come on over for a visit. You can take the night shift.

All kidding aside, I still am not totally confident something else is going on with my Boo. Maybe she IS teething and it hurts more when she is lying down? I know she still suffers from frequent constipation, so at our doctor’s visit this week for shots, I am going to try and get some answers. But, my gut feeling is telling me that nothing is really wrong and this is just another dimension to our daughter’s personality. How delightful ;-)