11 Months (and some other stuff)

Before I get into talking about month 11, I had to include a  few photos that I found on my camera.  These are from our camping trip to Zion that I talked about in this post.  I guess I never took them off my good camera.  These first ones are of our campsite at the RV park.  It looks lovely, but it really wasn't that great.  We liked the stream though.

She couldn't move yet, so we could just sit her there without worrying about her crawling off the edge into the water.

She napped in her rock n' play with the stream as white noise.

Sitting on a camping chair.

From the mini-hike we did.

Now, onto this month.  Wow.  This month has definitely been a big one for Harp!  It seems like she started doing more new things this month than in all previous months combined.  So, she started to pull herself up to standing.  

http://youtu.be/w1mdoOLv4JQ

http://youtu.be/_LemC-8nTZI

It took her just a couple days to get really good at it.  That was at the beginning of the month, so she's been pulling up non-stop all month.  She also cruises along the furniture.  Sometimes she likes to let go of whatever she's holding onto and stand by herself for a few seconds.  She thinks it such a rush and her face looks like she's riding a roller coaster!  It's very cute.  

Like so: http://youtu.be/eG_4f3HD3Q8

Now that she's standing I sometimes put her in shoes, which is really exciting for some reason.

They're just so tiny and cute.

She learned how to clap and wave.  In fact she'll clap if we say "yay!" and wave if we say "hi" or "bye."  Right now she's obsessed with waving and is always waving at everyone.  Sometimes I'll see her roll over in her sleep and wave and then conk out again.  Another one is that sometimes if you say "biiiiig girl" she'll raise both arms high above her head.  She also learned how to climb stairs and can often slide back down them.  But sometimes she just faceplants.  I tried to teach her to go down backward, but she has NOT learned how to accept help yet!  She's also finally growing her two front teeth!  This makes it easier for her to bite chunks off her food.  

We casually handed her this orange at the store and she immediately went to town on it all the way til after we got home.  She ate a bunch of the peel and the inside as well.

Video of the above: http://youtu.be/6lDqphrxLZ0

Her hair is also now long enough to sometimes clip her bows right on her hair instead of a band.  Oh, the little things in life.

Another recent development is that she has become WAY more cuddly.  She used to never really want to be held and definitely never wanted to cuddle.  But now she wants to cuddle many times a day!  She cuddles right before and after she sleeps, pretty much any time I'm about to put her in her carseat and many other times.  We LOVE it.  Lately when I take her to 7 peaks, all she wants to do is this:

Speaking of cuddling, she also cuddles with the floor a lot.  It's really cute.

Video of the above: http://youtu.be/GC2ThpAd7Ww

Because she's been snuggling so much lately I thought she might like the carriers a bit more now too.  One day, Tom had the car but I wanted to go to a play group at City Creek.  It was about time for her nap, but I thought, "hey, maybe I'll put her in the Ergo carrier, hop on the bus and she'll fall asleep on the way!"  I'm adventurous, what can I say.  She definitely seemed more ok with with the carrier this time, which was great, but she still couldn't sleep.  She's too curious and she can't be able to see other people if she's going to sleep.  Oh well, she lasted alright without her nap anyway.  And now I'm hoping to use the carriers more!

Here we are on the bus.

On the other hand, she learned how to throw a tantrum.  It's one of her favorite tricks.

Now that she's such a big girl and can Quasimodo scoot and pull up on things and climb I've started taking her to the playground a lot.  She LOVES it.  I think she thinks she's one of the big kids and she almost always makes friends.  One time she was standing at the bottom of some stairs at the playground and this little boy came over, got his head right down level with hers and roared!  She squealed and moved around all excitingly (stamping feet, arms all over the place) and roared right back!  Pretty soon there were four little boys all roaring at her and she was having a black roaring right back!  Yesterday at the City Creek play area she made a couple of friends who were crawling around the floor on either side of her (even though they were much too old to crawl).  She looooves all the social interaction and is always waving to everyone.  She's a pretty tough cookie too.

Being a big girl and playing at the City Creek play area: http://youtu.be/M5suAhvzLh8

Exploring the tunnel at the park: http://youtu.be/QMCHDgx9FTw

Exploring the jungle gym at the park:  http://youtu.be/vg9uabWv9Cs

We also got her a new hat (that's stiffer and doesn't just flop in her eyes):

Here she is wearing it for the first time, trying to see the brim.

And an umbrella stroller: 

Clutching her trash.

One of the fun things we did this month was go to the Days of '47 Parade.  For those who are not familiar with Mormon history, it commemorates the year the Mormon pioneers came to Utah.  It's the biggest parade in Utah and it ends at Liberty Park, which is right by our house.  We went with our good friends, Jill & Dave:

Also, one morning, Harp woke up early and Tom needed a ride to work (usually he takes public transit).  So, we decided to make a fun morning of it.  First, we stopped at our favorite bakery, Eva's, for a couple of pastries.  Then, we ate them at Temple Square.  It was beautiful and very calm with the early morning light, all the flowers and the majestic temple.  

Harp enjoyed Quasi scooting around

http://youtu.be/XYVkYMfRCWo

 and got a little too into the reflection pool.

http://youtu.be/ghgeREfPmKM

This month I realized that it had been a while since I'd taken some picture of her with my good camera (as opposed to my iphone).  So, we had a little photo shoot, first at the park:

Oh, and bear with me.  I know there's a ton of photos, but let's face it, weeding picture out takes time and I don't feel like spending time on that.  Also, I wanted to capture lots of expressions, not just smiles.

Then on the front lawn, while she ate some watermelon:

She took the watermelon eating so seriously that she absolutely refused to smile at me.  She could not be bothered to even look at me really.

And finally, here are some photos that didn't really fit into any category:

She's a tummy sleeper.

She has taken a liking to clearing the bookshelf of all her books and climbing in herself.

Video of the above: http://youtu.be/rlENi-jHikQ

She has also acquired a fetish for scraps of trash.  One day she found one at the park and would not let go of it for hours.  Every time she dropped it she'd search for it frantically.  Here she is napping with it.  Ever since she's done this probably at least once a day with some random scrap of trash.

This happens every time I nurse her.

Every time I'm getting the stroller out of the car I sit her here and she picks the flowers/weeds.  She never gets tired of picking the flowers.

Picking the flowers: http://youtu.be/abus3iC7v_s

We went to the 7 Canyons Fountains at Liberty Park a lot again:

This little girl wanted a picture with "the baby."  Harp obliged and hammed it right up.

http://youtu.be/ZikoxZQVi7I

I think the dialogue between the other kids at the end of this is really funny.  This one little girl stops to look at Harper and the little boy with her says, "Come on Evelyn."  Evelyn: "She's so cute thooooough!" Boy: "Come ooooon.  Don't get distracted!  I know she's cute but we've gotta go!" "http://youtu.be/qGSo6MgyK-k

One day we went to the pool with Tom's sister's and our niece, E.  They have these great seats for babies and Harper loved them.  She totally looked delirious and drunk: http://youtu.be/VeQ1rW0F77g .

She loooooves brushing her teeth...so far.

Harper's cousin, E, is a huge fan of her.  Last time we were there she grabbed these chairs from all the way across the yard and brought them over (at great difficulty) so that "Hoppa" could sit next to her.  So cute.  "Hoppa" thanked her for her sweetness by pulling her hair every chance she got.

One day we were on a 90's boy bands kick and Harper got into it too: http://youtu.be/LMgGuc2gXks

What happens when Harper has THREE binkies (really cute): ttp://youtu.be/7p9dTtz0CKc

Harp meeting her fan for the first time: http://youtu.be/RO7wVE3wqrU

Delightful baby play: http://youtu.be/QmhZ5T6n2H0

Squealing along with herself while watching a video of herself: http://youtu.be/ymVh2BGAkMQ

Exploring the Liberty Park splashpad: http://youtu.be/7a7tiMocj60

Going to town on some watermelon: http://youtu.be/k6Wzp1KSqlY

Watermelon, kiddie pool fun: http://youtu.be/aZHK0ZctqxU

And, finally, here's her first experience with watermelon, at the Armstrong family reunion: http://youtu.be/zLVZH8yBR5c

She's cute.