Future Olympian?

Harlow went to a gymnastics class at Tumble today and Grandma told her about a leotard that cousin Amelia had picked just for Harlow. I hear Amelia was dead set that this was the one for Harlow. Pretty cute. As a former gymnast, this momma was so darn happy and proud to see her little monster all decked out for gymnastics. I might have been more excited than she was! She thought it was pretty fun after awhile and I started taking pictures of her. When I first put it on her, she kept patting her tummy and saying "pretty". And then I asked her to do a "ta-da" and for the next 20 minutes that was all I heard. This girl was a one track mind. Once she thinks of something, she plays it over and over again in her head. You can always tell what she's thinking about because she gets stuck on one thing, forever!

Anyway here is my future Olympian practicing her skills.




My favorite of the bunch :)

Catching Up

September is flying by. Now that we are back home we are just spending time soaking up the goodness of being back in our own house. I love that as soon as we got back to our house in Fresno, Harlow didn't skip a beat. She knew right where her toys were waiting for her and she had no problem adjusting to sleeping in her regular crib again (thank goodness). We spend a lot of time hanging out and I LOVE IT. Here is a quick catch up of whats been going on lately. Jenn came home for a visit and stupid me forgot to take pictures, Maria even stopped by for a visit too :( Oops.

Harlow making faces in the mirror.


This is her "say cheese" face. FYI don't ask her to say cheese if you ever want a decent picture of her.




Harlow riding on her dinosaur. She missed him.








Showing off her eating with a fork skills. (and saying cheese...)






Break the Barriers had their annual fundraising dinner. This is Pete and I before we left on our first date in many months.

Swim and Tumble Summer Carnival

Grandma Lori's swim and tumble schools had a summer carnival a few days after we got back to Fresno. We were excited to be back home and jumped at the chance to spend some time with our family that we missed so much. And I couldn't wait to let Harlow play with her Cousin Amelia. Harlow LOVES Amelia. It was a pretty hot night but we had a ton of fun. We are so glad to be back and be around friends and family again!

Aunt Jessi and Cousin Amelia


Daddy and Harlow


Cousin Amelia and Harlow


Bouncing on the tumble trak








Can you tell it was hot, they are both so sweaty.




Daddy helping Harlow at the dunk tank.




Alyssa and Harlow, the other kids did this activity blindfolded.






The slide... What an experience. haha


She was not thrilled about going down without Daddy.




And when she tried to turn around to go back to him, she ended up going down on her stomach the rest of the way.




Daisy the Dolphin. Harlow wanted nothing to do with her.


Cooling down with Grandma Lori.


Harlow and her Princess.


And just before we left, Papa Rick showed up!

17 Months Old

Crazy how so much can change in a months time. I feel like the last month's post was all about Harlow and her struggle to be more independent. Well, this month is the complete opposite. I'm pretty sure that I hear my name (mommy) at least 1,000 times a day. I don't think I'm exaggerating. In the car our conversations go like this: Harlow: "mommy?", Me: "yes?" and then repeat over and over and over again. It never seems to get old to her. When we meet new people she hides her face in my legs or shoulder if I'm holding her. She is constantly asking for me to pick her up and sometimes she even cries when someone she doesn't know comes up to her. She is fine if it is a complete stranger in the grocery store but if she is meeting someone that Pete and I already know, she freaks out. So weird...

She has definitely been going through a clingy stage. Sometimes it's good and sometimes it's bad. I don't mind that she walks by me in the hallway and without stopping says, "love you mom". And when she wants to cuddle on the couch and watch cartoons. Or when you give her something that she was asking for, she now says, "thank you mom". She is so small but sounds so grown up. What happened to "mama"? and when did it turn into "mom"?

Harlow is gaining a better understanding of cause and effect. She understands when you ask her to stop something because of the consequence. Ok, well maybe not all the time. But she does seem to understand a lot. She is talking up a storm. A lot more of her words are being strung together to form her own mini sentences. Because she is so petite, a lot of people are blown away when they hear her talk. She looks so much younger than she really is.

Her newest words:
Dirty
Yucky
Ewe
Park
Soup
Bowl
Dolphin
Animals
Shorts
Dwight
Popsicle
Head Back - for rinsing her hair in the bath tub
Shake it up - a Disney show about kids that dance on TV. She loves to sing the theme song and dance to it.
Pasta
Princess
Phineas
Ferb
Basketball
Shopping
Shopping Cart
Hey! - If you take something she wasn't done with, this is her response.
One
Two
Three
All Done
Lay Down
CD
Change
Light
Some? - She always has to eat what you're eating. This is how she asks for some of what you have.
Nemo
Dory
Yummy
Chocolate Milk
Cry - my personal favorite this month, when she is crying she likes to let you know.
Again
Glasses - for sunglasses.
Jamba Juice
Kisses
Excuse Me
Thank You Mom/Dad
Hi There
Hello
Bye Doggies
Hi Doggies
See Ya
Patty Cake
Diego
Big Girl
Chair
Purse
Where?

She can fist pump. (Jersey Shore style)
She is obsessed with Finding Nemo.
And she LOVES Britney Spears. She can sing along with "Till the World Ends". And will fist pump to it everytime it comes on in the car. We don't even have to tell her, she just knows.
She can unlock our iPhones and navigate through our apps. I had to put a passcode on mine to block her.
She has recently started playing pretend. She feeds her baby doll, Lucy, a bottle and puts her to sleep. She plays pretend kitchen with her Cousin Amelia.
She loves to dance. All.The.Time.
She is suddenly turning into a girly girl. She use to play with her blocks and trucks and alligator the most but lately she is all about Disney Princess and Baby Dolls and playing pretend.






























I wonder what the next month has in store. Will she go back to being independent? Or will she still want to snuggle all the time? I hope we find a happy medium in the next month. I like her to have a little of both :)