Fall crafts a la Pinterest

Fall is one of my favorite times of year, especially Thanksgiving! Harper and I have been celebrating the season by making a few crafts that I saw on Pinterest. I love making crafts with her because it is such a fun time together and then we have our fun moment together marked by the craft so it helps us to remember that time! We still have more crafts on our fall 'to do' list but here is what we have made so far!

 Our fall tree 'before'. This was made out of a paper lunch bag and was so simple! I actually love the look of it without leaves, it reminds me of the whomping willow from Harry Potter.

 Here's the after. We used orange, red, and yellow tissue paper. Harper got to rip the paper in little pieces then we both glued it on the tree. Warning: you will be covered in glue and tissue paper by the end of the project (but we didn't mind!).

 This fall wreath is made out of a paper plate and leaves collected entirely from out yard! I think Harper's favorite part was picking up the leaves and putting them in our bag to bring inside. Note of caution: check leaves for bugs before bringing them inside!

How could you resist hanging out with this cutie?

Long overdue updates!

We've been busy in a fun way lately...I realized I am way behind in just general life updates. I thought I'd just do a picture update instead! 

 Harper's Aubie themed birthday party...from 'Toomer's Lemonade'..

 to a Caramel Apple Bar (not Aubie related, just super yummy and one of HG's favorites- apples!)

                                                           ...to Aubie treats as a favor!...

 Aubie on the birthday banner and the invitations and the food table...

 to a compilation of Harper's favorite Aubie highlights video...

 All Auburn All Orange (or something like that?). Harper was Aubied-out with an Aubie headband and pin!

 Old school Aubie on the cake!

 And even an Auburn wagon as a gift! She had a blast and loved every bit of Aubie!

 We made our living room into 'Publix' and she took her purse, grocery cart, and babies shopping.

 Picked out pumpkins...

 Went for a hay ride

 Gained TWO new members of our family (my nieces, Harper's cousins)

 Tailgated, cheered on our tigers even through a terrible season, and went to Tiger Walk

And this little peacock went trick or treating! 

Humbled

This is an excerpt from an email I sent at the end of June. I have debated sharing this story for several months because I don't want anyone to think that we think Harper is 'extra holy' or is better than any other child. As the joke goes, she is the best child I've ever had! ;-) Seriously, though, she has not done this as often over the past several months as she was at that time. However, I think there is an important lesson in her childlike faith. Jesus speaks several times throughout the gospels of 'faith like a child'. I think that as adults we let so much of the world influence our thinking that it is hard for us to revert back to the time of childlike wonder and awe at our awe inspiring God. I honestly believe that all people of faith should question their faith to some degree- a faith that is never tested is naive. BUT once tested we should be so moved by a God that loves us without fail that we do have that child-like wonder for our God. Here is the story:
You know how you never totally understand something until you experience it? Like when people say having a child is the most humbling experience you can have. Well, I know for sure that is true! Usually in the business of coming home, taking Toby out, unloading the car, spending a few minutes with Harper, putting away dishes, starting dinner, eating dinner, cleaning up, getting Harper ready for bed, then getting me ready for bed I don't have a lot of time (or don't make a lot of time) to remember to pray for other people. I even forget most nights that we even have a sponsor child, Abhishek. We even have a picture of him on our fridge to remind us, but I still forget. Harper, however, has been remembering lately. Every day, usually when I am cooking, she sits in front of the fridge, points to his picture, and says "Pray Abhishek". So we say a short prayer for our sweet buddy in India. Today, however, driving home, Harper asked "Pray? Abhishek". My 21 month old has a better memory and a bigger servant heart than I will ever hope to have! I am going to be praying for faith like a child from now on, because this little girl amazes me with her faith! She doesn't want to pray just because she is reminded by seeing a picture or because it is habit to do so before a meal- she actually thinks about this all by herself and wants to pray! I don't know why God has given me such a sweet girl but I am sure thankful for such a blessing! 

I added the alphabet over the woman's face because we are not entirely sure who she is and I don't want to get anyone in trouble! Our sweet Abhi!

So there you go. No excuses. If a 21 month old can do it so can I. So can you. I will strive to live a life worthy of the calling that I have received. Now let's go do it! 

Two.

Yup, it's official. My baby is two. I am pretty sure being two means I can no longer call her my baby. She has, in fact, been denying the fact that she is a baby for almost 6 months now (if I cradle her in my arms and say in my best baby voice "Are you Mommy's baby?" the response is always 'no'.). Here are the Harper stats:
Height: 33.5 inches
Weight: 26 pounds
Appetite: Ferocious! When people see her eat for the first time they are always shocked at how much she eats!
Academics: Still attending the same daycare. Which they call a "child enrichment program". Which is actually true because Harper can now identify a circle and a heart, count to 10 (rote), say MOST of her ABC's (everyone blurs LMNOP together!), identify A, B, C, D, H, and T, and identify purple, red, orange, and sometimes pink and yellow.
Social: Harper continues to amaze me with her social skills. Which are completely typical but make this Mommy very proud. The other day she introduced Jason and I to one of the servers at Chik-fil-A (patting Jason on the arm "Daddy Jason" then pointing to me "Mommy Meredith"). She is still friendly and says hello to random strangers. I also love that kids don't have judgements about anyone (well, for the most part). No matter how scary or dirty or tough someone might look she happily waves and says hello. Which I think is a great lesson for me. Harper plays well with other children but has some difficulty sharing (we picked up that lovely word "MINE!" from daycare), especially if she thinks the toy is hers. She still has several children (girls) that she prefers and talks about and she even knows her BFF Avery's last name and her parents names! Harper enjoys playing with the other kids at daycare but sometimes is content to play by herself, too.
Motor skills: I finally got to observe Harper's class that she takes at daycare that teaches gross motor skills in a noncompetitive environment. She absolutely loves it and had the biggest grin on her face the whole time! Harper can jump, kick, throw (usually it goes forwards!), catch if you position her hands prior to throwing, climb a ladder (!), climb stairs if she holds a rail or a hand, roll, and generally doesn't STOP moving! She holds crayons well, but often so hard they break (which is entertaining because they she tries to put them back together). We've never tried to have her string anything so I have no clue if she can do that. All other skills are still there that have previously been mentioned.
Speech/Language: I will try to make this brief since I updated on this recently. Harper is using possessives, present progressive, some pronouns, speaking in some 3-4 word utterances, answers basic what and where questions, answers some who and when questions, and generally uses language very well! Some examples of recent sentences are "Daddy truck dirty" (heehee!), "Mommy go over there", "Baby poopy diaper." etc. etc. She puts sentences together in a funny order, "walking man", "running lady". Maybe she will learn Spanish well! ;-) Her articulation is good and she has many of her sounds but her substitutions are funny, Jason becomes Dason, go is dough. All totally age appropriate and sweet. Oh, and she refers to herself in the third person still. Which we have encouraged far too long. But I love hearing her say "Hahpuh go potty" or "Hahpuh eat?".
Favorites: Harper's favorite song right now is probably "Bringing home a baby bumblebee". She says "Ma ma mommy beso powda me" for 'won't my mommy be so proud of me'. She also likes Old MacDonald which she sings "E I E I O. Farmer. Cow. Mooo". When it rains she like to sing "Raining Pouring Old Man" as she calls it. And if she requests that you sing a song for her you better sing it because otherwise you will hear this: "ABCs. Mommy sing it" over and over again. Her favorite toy would probably be one of her baby dolls. It varies week to week. Favorite book would be Hop on Pop or Go Dog Go by Dr. Seuss. Favorite pair of shoes: hot pink crocs. Favorite food: fruit, pasta, cheese crackers (like Goldfish or Cheeze-Its). She also thinks Gigi's cupcakes are her favorite but she has only eaten those twice in her life so....Favorite tv show: the only one she has ever seen: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Which she maybe watches once a week. If that.

I can not believe I am already posting on 2. Why does time fly by so fast!?!?!?

Conversations with Harper

Harper walks into the bathroom as I am using the bathroom. "YAY! Good job Mommy!"

Sitting at the breakfast table this morning "Bad bug. Over there. Grandmother kill. No. Daddy kill it."

(remembering when there was a roach and Jason killed it)

On our walk this morning: "Sunshine. BRIGHT LIGHT! More sunshine?"

(She literally screamed "BRIGHT LIGHT" like it was hurting then immediately asked for more!)

Me: Harper what are you eating?

Harper: "Goldfish"

Me: Where did you get those?

Harper: running away eating as fast as she could....

We haven't had any goldfish since yesterday! I guess she had them squirreled away!?!?

(Yesterday, when we were actually eating goldfish as a snack)

Me: The goldfish is swimming into my mouth, see?

Harper: "swimming!"

Me: Yes, the goldfish is swimming in the air!

Harper: "Swim in wawa." Giving me a look that I think we will see a lot when she is 16!

Silly me, of course swimming occurs in water and not in the air!

Gotcha!

I realize that as of late several of my blogs have been links to other blogs. I am certainly not a professional or terribly gifted writer so I think sharing the wisdom of others that you may otherwise not read is just fine. With that being said my very gifted and nearly professional (she's almost done with seminary!) cousin just posted on her blog and I couldn't help but share this beautiful post. If you've ever considered adoption, read this, she will talk you into it! ;-) Also, keep the kleenex handy...even stone cold me may have had a little moisture in my eye reading the words to her birth mom...

Happy Glad I Gotcha Day

19, 20, 21, 22, 23....

Wow how much has changed just since Harper's 18 month birthday. And by that I mean how much Harper has changed. I really didn't (and don't) intend on doing month by month blog posts about Harper after she turned 1, just every big milestone. But today she is 23 months old and I am blown away by her progress. I am also astutely aware of just how blessed we are that she continues to make progress and continues to grow and develop normally. I know that might sound weird "I'm glad my kid is normal" but the older she gets the harder and harder my job gets (much much more on that later but I still have a lot of praying and thinking to do before I post anything for the world wide web to read), the more empathy I have for parents with kids Harper's age or much much older that are not developing in a way that is typical. Anyway, below are a brief list of things that are new to Harper since her 18 month birthday. I have a feeling with all her birthday festivities I may not get a chance to do a '24' post until later!
- Harper is now talking in short phrases almost exclusively. Her MLU is probably around 2.5, for those of you keeping track of that sort of thing. Some of her longer phrases include "Chloe her home" (meaning her friend from school Chloe is at her house), "Nonnie/Grandmother make it" (referring to something, usually clothes from Nonnie and cards from Grandmother, that they made for her), "Toby up on bed!" (a demand to Toby),  "Daddy, Iluh too" (Daddy I love you too). There are many, many others but this is just a sampling.
-Harper's play is now more elaborate. She will often set up a whole play scenario (usually centered around some 'babies', either dolls or stuffed animals) and will talk aloud about what she is playing. "Hahpuh cooking. Hot food. Too hot. Blow. Eat (insert name of food). Pour tea. Get cup. Stir it up." etc etc. She also as of late has become obsessed enthusiastic about birthdays. She sings the birthday song A LOT in the car, says "Happy Birthday Nonnie" 'it's not Nonnie's birthday' "Happy Birthday Daddy" 'it's not Daddy's birthday' "Happy Birthday Hahpuh!". She pretends birthday party a lot with her play food and sing the birthday song, blow out the candles (when prompted by me), cut the cake, and distribute to all 'guests'. I think a lot of kids in her class at daycare have been having their 2nd birthdays and she has gotten to participate.
-Speaking of daycare, Harper's social skills are really starting to develop. She is mostly outgoing but can be shy when she first enters an environment with a lot of people, especially if a lot of them try to talk with her. She says thank you and please now, still mostly with prompts, but sometimes spontaneously (especially please). She is also beginning to use yes/no ma'am/sir but this is still most prompted as well. She usually says 'no ma'am' spontaneously if I ask "did you poop?". She understands the emotions happy and sad and identifies them in pictures or says when she is happy. This is not something we have ever worked on with her. She is also starting to form attachments to friends. She still seems to like to play with everyone, but she has a special friend at daycare who she talks about a lot and has to hug before she leaves. She also has a good friend in Auburn who goes to our church and they get to hang out a lot. Harper talks about her a lot and even knows her last name! It is fun to see these friendships develop.
-Educational: Harper knows a few letters (A, B, T..for Toby!), can sing her ABC's A-H, L-P, T-V, can count to 2 (usually it goes 1, 2, 5, 8), can recognize red and purple pretty consistently, yellow is emerging, knows the shape circle (which came as a shock to me last weekend when she held up a circle block and declared "circle" then picked up another one and said "other circle"). Most of these things are things that she picked up on her own or they taught her at daycare. It still blows my mind that children can learn things without being explicitly taught. Which is also scary. That means that everything we do they are learning from. NO PRESSURE!
-Motor: Harper is getting better at coloring and holding crayons, though she stills holds them too hard and they break sometimes. She colors on the pictures now, but does not stay in the lines (and I don't expect her to!). She still loves to dance but now it mostly consists of jumping, which is a relatively new skill. She actually gets both feet off the ground! She doesn't walk like a baby anymore, her gait is adult like now (thanks Jason for this observation!). She does still run like a baby/toddler now.
-Feeding: Still a garbage disposal. Her new teachers at daycare are shocked by how much she eats. They report that she knows her limits and she doesn't have to be 'cut off' after 3 servings anymore! Harper eats everything we eat now, with the exception of things that are especially spicy. She loves salsa and spiced food, but not things that seem hot (spicy) to me. Her favorites are fruit (blueberries, watermelon, bananas, etc), pasta, anything with cheese, and brats. That child ate two brats plus two servings of veggies for dinner once! She also has a sweet tooth and asks for popsicles, cupcakes, and ice cream a lot but since we don't usually have that type of food in our house, she doesn't get any!
-One more thing...being the 'evil' parents that we are (if you don't get that then you've missed out on the campaign to keep kids rear facing as long as possible, which is safer and a good idea, we just didn't quite make it to 2) we turned Harper forward facing. Having to travel almost an hour each way every day she was getting very uncomfortable. Not that she is turned around, though, she and I are able to have some good 'conversations' in the car. About how her day was, what she did, etc. These usually consist of me asking lots of questions and her responding with yes or no or 1-2 word responses. Okay, two more things. Potty training. Harper can volitionally pee every time she sits on the potty now (wow she will hate this blog in another 6-8 years). She has stopped pooping in the potty but now almost always tells me before she poops in her diaper. I am not forcing the pooping in the potty. She is usually fairly dry when she wakes up from nap or in the morning. If I stayed home with her I'd probably have her potty trained by now but I doubt she'll tell her daycare teachers that she needs to go.

Sorry to be so lengthy. :-)

Harperisms

Well, as we are sprinting towards 2 (AHHHHH!) I wanted to record for blog posterity some of the cute things Harper says because she is already 'outgrowing' some of them!

1) Doggle- probably our favorite of all time. And we still don't know what it means. And she only says it now if we ask.
2) "Iluh"- Pronounced as one word, but means "I love you"! She goes through the whole family, too "Daddy Iluh! Mommy Iluh! Toby Iluh". Sometimes she says "Iluh too".
3)Tobydog- this is one she has pretty much stopped saying. It's the WAY she says it that is so cute "ToBY dohhhhhg".
4) Dit- means sit. She is pretty bossy (though it is normal for a child her age to learn that she can control certain things in her world and desire to do so....) so she likes to tell us where to sit, "Dit Mommy" while she pats the spot where she wants me to sit.
5) Manu-manu- Watermelon. See video.


6) Mohk- /mok/ for those of you who read IPA. Milk. Often said in a really deep voice! Not sure why!
7) Hahpuh- she sounds so cute saying her own name!
8) 'Hola' and 'animales'- I love that her bilingual toys have taught her some words in Spanish! And she says the word 'animales' better than the word 'animals'.
9) Popbeers- popsicles.....
10) Then there are the standard kid cute ways of saying things, like wawa for water, duice for juice, etc.

When they say kids grown up fast, they sure aren't kidding! It is such a fun ride but you don't want to blink or you'll miss too much!

Heartbroken

Sorry about the quietness on the blog front. I've been working on spending more quality time with Harper and that leaves a lot of chores to do while she naps, which is normally when I blog. Anyway.

So, Jason will tell you. I HATE controversy. I shy away from it whenever possible. Wimp? Maybe. So for me to write ANY word about this whole crazy Chik-fil-A thing is shocking to even me. But I have been so heartbroken at the hurt and anger (out of hurt) that this has created. It breaks my heart to see people passive aggressively and just aggressively lash out on both sides of the 'argument'. When we go at each other out of fear or hate or blind rage it can not lead to anything good. I wish that people today, instead of eating at Chik-fil-A, had stayed home instead and fasted and thought about ways they could improve their own lives. Matthew 7:3 "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?". I can not put in to words what I feel about this, however, my sweet friend Andi (see her blog here) posted this awesome link to a blog by Perry Noble which pretty much sums up what is wrong with this whole situation. Look for the best line- "After looking at this list I would say we are all pretty much screwed unless Jesus intervenes." 
Read me please!
If you read this and you are hurt or offended I really am sorry. I put this link up out of love. 
Oh, and PS- I disagree strongly on one point he made. The 'Oatmeal Cookie Chunk' is NOT the best Ben and Jerry's flavor!

How to...

In honor of the 4th of July (tomorrow) I am posting a how to make the perfect BLT. As someone who loves to cook I realize making a sandwich isn't exactly cooking, which is why it is the perfect summertime meal. When it is 100+ degrees outside the last thing you want to do is turn on your oven! So here goes...

Start with the freshest tomatoes you can get. These came straight out of our garden (some of the few those darned birds didn't get!).

Next, get nice, crisp lettuce. I prefer Romaine because it seems to stay crispier and fresher longer.  This is crucial!

 Now, toast some bread. Please don't judge me on my crumby toaster, this is real life, people! Toasted bread is super important, otherwise you'll have a mushy texture, which maybe you like. In that case, save a step and don't toast your bread!

 I probably should have mentioned this before, but while doing all of this, you should probably be cooking bacon. Otherwise, it won't be a BLT! You want to cook your bacon to crispy but not burned. Once the bacon grease has cooled it makes a nice treat for your dog and helps keep his (er, their) coat shiny. Toby loves it! We pour it over his food.

 Now, it's time to assemble. This is actually a really important step, believe it or not. First, apply a thin layer of mayo to both slices of bread. For the perfect BLT I love the spicy mayo (not really THAT spicy, since I'm a wimp!) from Kraft (no, they don't sponsor our blog or anything!).  Then on one side of the bread place the bacon. On the other, the lettuce. The tomato slices should always be between these so they don't slip out. Otherwise you lose the tomatoes and it just becomes a big mess. Add a little salt and pepper to the tomatoes. Easy on the salt, since the bacon is fairly salty. Okay, really salty. Put the sandwich together and enjoy! Sorry I have no pictures of the completed project. Jason and I gobbled them down because we were so hungry!

Now, one last thing. The perfect summer BLT is made oh so perfect by its follow up, the all important dessert. Might I recommend a delicious south Alabama watermelon...

Or maybe some homemade peach ice cream using Chilton County peaches? I have the best recipe for homemade peach ice cream. Maybe I'll share that next...

                                                  ENJOY! Happy 4th! 

Summer fun!

Sorry to have been so quiet blog world, but we've been busy! :-) We packed about as much fun as you could have into the last two months! Up until last weekend from the weekend of my race until the third weekend of June we had not been home but one weekend! Oh, the life of a traveler! ;-) We are so thankful to have so much to celebrate and see! Here is a recap in photos of our summer (I really call anything May-August summer, though technically 'summer' has only been around for two weeks!)

Beach trip! Happy Birthday to me!

Atlanta for Rachel and Ryan's wedding! Such a beautiful example of God's faithfulness

The amazing Georgia Aquarium

And one more just because she's cute! We've been doing lots of playing inside because it has been so hot!

5/5 Complete with 3 days to spare!

I did it! I have completed the 5th and final '30 Bucket List' Challenge. Since I will be turning 31 (!?!?!?) in a few days I am happy to have this completed just in the nick of time. We found the falls at Chewacla. It was a beautiful day and the weather was actually not TOO hot. Harper loved watching the tadpoles ("baby fogs") in the puddles! Happy Memorial Day!

Enough

If you do nothing else tonight read this blog post. Awesome. Made me laugh out loud. And want to cry a little at our society. And made me feel grateful for a God who is enough.

Imperfect

So, sometimes by the comments I get (in person or via mass media) I get the feeling that some people think my life is perfect. Well, I thought I would share a little realism just so our blog doesn't sound like we live in a fairy tale. Now, I do think that God has blessed my life beyond belief, but just in case you got the idea that I was Martha Stewart married to Mr. Clean with an angel for a baby, here is the scenario this afternoon: I have a doctor's appointment at 4:15. Takes approximately 15-20 minutes to get to the office. At 25 minutes until the appointment I was changing Harper's diaper and preparing to put her shoes on. This is, by the way, not an ideal situation. Taking your 19 month old to YOUR doctors appointment. Thus is my life when I have her in daycare in another state, though. I hear a horrible retching sound from the living room. Toby was throwing up. I run out to see that "whew", only on the wood floors. I scream at Toby "OUTSIDE". Then I realize that I have left my VERY ACTIVE child on the changing table. So I run back in HG's room. Oops, I realize, I have failed to put Toby outside. I realize this because I hear him puking again. I know, I just know, this time it is NOT on the wood floors. "NOT ON THE CARPET" I scream. I realize that it is too late as I run back into the living room. This time I scream some not so nice words to Toby and put him outside. Then I run back into Harper's room and try to explain to her why I am putting her into her crib (she is a very helpful child. As in, she would "help" clean up by putting her hands in the dog puke). So, I have cursed at Toby, left Harper crying in her crib, and have two piles of puke that I can not just leave before we go to the doctor. So I commence to cleaning. And muttering things under my breath about poor sick Toby. Then I wash my hands, rummage through the house yelling about why we don't have Toby's collar in a designated place, open the door, put his collar on, literally grab Harper and run out the door. I tried some deep breathing on the way to the doctor so that my blood pressure wouldn't read sky high. Doctor's appointment uneventful. Dinner still not cooked. Life happens. This morning I hit Harper's jogging stroller as I backed out the driveway and knocked my bumper loose. Jason popped it back in place. Our purpose in life is bigger than dog puke or bumpers. I try to remember that. I fail. A lot. Happy? I am, actually!

4 out of 5 with 17 days to go!

So...Jason and I had the pleasure of a just grownups vacation this past weekend thanks to my mom and some careful saving on our part. Harper, of course, had a blast with her Grandmother (whom she started calling Grandaddy???) and didn't even notice we were gone! BUT, this trip also provided me with a new state- Wyoming! So check that one off the 30 Bucket List (see here if you are confused by that). It was a blast but we were both thrilled to arrive home (on Mother's Day) to our sweet girl! I also ate Rocky Mountain Oysters while I was there (Jason has a pic, not sure if he will want to share it) so I added yet another 'weird' food to my list as well. Don't be grossed out. They don't taste like anything but fried-ness. Now the texture... Jason did not eat any, he would want me to point that out. Here is proof of my time in Wyoming!

PS- Notice which item I haven't completed. THE ONE IN AUBURN! We will, this weekend. It will NOT be what causes me to not complete this list!

Success!

Thank you so much to everyone for all the kind words and encouragement! I successfully ran the entire 1/2 marathon without stopping (minus at the drink stations, it was HOT!). I have now completed 3 out of 5 items on my 30 Bucket List and more importantly proved to myself that I could do it! Below are some pictures and some highlights of the day.

Harper helping me stretch pre-race. My favorite picture from the day!

Me happy to be still for a moment after running for 13.1 miles!

Me with my support crew/coaches/training partners

Highlights of the day: 1.finishing! 2.food: no one told me they FED you during races, if I had known I would have run a 1/2 much sooner! 3.the crowd: the people of Nashville were out in force and I got more high fives from kids and cheers from people that kept me motivated than I ever imagined! Plus all the cute kids and dogs along the route were super entertaining! 4.the signage: there was no lack of motivational signs along the way...some that were HIlarious but I can't repeat on the blog because I'd like to keep this G rated (if you really want to know ask me in person!). 5.seeing Harper's face blowing me kisses after I crossed the finish line :-) 6.the two military guys walking to raise money for St. Jude...in full cammo, boots, and a packed ruck sack. It was SO hot in my high tech running gear, I can't even imagine wearing boots. THANK YOU for your service and THANK YOU for your support of St. Jude.

Oops, I forgot to add one more highlight: Getting to run past my freshman dorm (and wave to my old window) that is slated to be torn down next month. In that room is where I first got the illness that started this whole running craze. Good times in that dorm but good riddance! It needed to go a long time ago!

Why I run...

So, if you know me, you know I am preparing to run my first (and probably only) 1/2 Marathon soon! I am hoping just to survive the experience but am looking forward to seeing all this hard work 'pay off' (i.e. I finish the 13.1 miles!). 'Meredith' you ask 'why do you want to do this? you are not a runner?'. Right you are! Even the fact that the registration form/waiver says "athletes signature" kind of freaks me out because I am by no means an athlete. I do have my reasons for running and I thought I'd share them! Besides the 'check it off the bucket list', here is why I really run. Because I can. I am not trying to be glib or sassy in saying that. I run because there was a time when I couldn't. To spare you a very long story, when I was a freshman in college I got really really sick with a lung infection. It wasn't exactly life or death but required surgery and 9 months of medication and it left my lungs weakened and me unable to work out much at all, let alone run. I was never really a 'runner', in grade school I could run the mile without too much effort but I was never the fastest or the slowest. But when I COULDN'T do something it made me mad. I couldn't hold my breath underwater for as long when swimming, I couldn't do 20 minutes on an elliptical without being sick, couldn't run 1/4 mile without stopping, etc. With my personality, if you tell me I can't do something you might as well have told me I have to. So between grad school, having a baby, etc I've never made found the time to train. Having a toddler really doesn't help in the extra time department but I decided that before I am no longer 30 I want to finish this goal! This whole goal makes me think of the verse from Hebrews 12 "...let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Not just because of the word race, but because of the persistence and time it has taken to get to the point of being ready for the race. I wish I would set my eyes on Jesus and put the same effort into my pursuit of him. I would desire to spend time thinking on him, studying him, learning about him. However, just like in my pursuit of the 13.1, I often let other things get in my way and don't prioritize my time. I don't want someone or something telling me "you can't" to help shift my priorities. I want my love and desire to worship our Savior to capture my time! I want my time, words, and actions to reflect what is important to me. That is why I run. That is why I will continue the race with perseverance.

Chatty Cathy

So first of all, after I wrote the title, I realized I feel sorry for anyone named Cathy because I am sure at some point in their life they were referenced as a "Chatty" or a "Not so Chatty" Cathy. Anyway....that was way out of left field!

So I had an old copy of the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory from grad school (I've since used it a couple times at work) so I brought it home and Jason, Harper, and I filled it out tonight. Among other things it includes a vocabulary checklist (divided into categories such as Descriptive Words, Pronouns, Prepositions, Question Words, etc.). We used this to calculate Harper's total number of words said spontaneously as of today, 4/3/2012. She gets a new one almost every day so if we did this in another week it would probably be different. She currently has 186 words!!! That is so wild to me. But this mommyspeech-languagepathologist is very happy with that. I included Harper in the "help to fill it out" because we talked about it at dinner and she would pipe in every now in then with a word that we would be talking about "Does she understand what ___ means?" or "Does she say this spontaneously?". I am saving this in her baby book and will fill it out again maybe around her second birthday. I am just including it in the blog mostly for our families who I will probably forget to tell!


PS- If you are ever concerned about your child's language or speech please don't hesitate to ask your pediatrician for a referral for an evaluation. If they try to 'yeah yeah' you but you are still concerned press the issue. It never hurts to check it out and in most cases your insurance will pay for all or most of the cost of the evaluation.

Harper at 18 months "Doggle"

So I am writing this a few days late, but such is life with an 18 month old. So sad to see the sweet babyness fly by so quickly. We have a full blown toddler on our hands. For anyone that reads this (my mom), here are Harper's stats at 18 months (I will update this with height and weight after our Dr's appointment on Friday):
Speech and language: we have lost count of the number of words this child says. It is literally in the 100's now. However, many of those are word approximations that Jason and I would probably have to translate or you'd need a context to figure out (i.e. /mok/ is milk, /Emo/ is Elmo, /dada/ is that that, meaning 'what is that?' or 'I want that', /dIt/ is sit, etc.). She also says many words really clearly, too, now, like Toby (she rarely says "TobyDog" any more or "dog dog"). We are thrilled that she is saying everyone's name in the family, now. Guhdaddy is grandaddy, mamama is grandmother, Poppa and Nonnie are just as they sound, Katie is Tatie, and Meghan is /DedIn/. She says something for Rusty but we can't figure it out. She also can say "I love you" now which is probably my favorite word/phrase that she has ever said besides 'Mommy'. She also wants to know who loves her so at night or in the car she will ask "Daddy" and I have to say "Daddy loves you" or else she repeats it until I say that. She will run through everyone in the family, even Toby, until she is told that everyone loves her. She also likes to talk about all the kids in her class and I can even tell the ones who get in trouble a lot because she'll say "No no Jojo!". She is putting lots of words together, now, like "Mama sit" or "Good dog" or "no no dog dog". She understands SO much, a lot more than we even give her credit for, and we have to remember to be so careful what we say around her. For instance, I was on the phone with mom mom today and I said "Jason" and Harper says "Daddy?" she knows that Jason=Daddy. She also knows that 'not' and 'don't' are words of negation because if I say "Daddy isn't coming home yet" or "We don't have any juice" she says 'no'. She also has difficulty understanding things like why we have to obey mommy and daddy the FIRST time and why we can't eat the ENTIRE box of cheerios, etc. etc.
Motor skills: In February we enrolled Harper in JumpBunch, a class for toddler's that teaches motor skills in a non-competitive environment. They work on throwing, balance, kicking, etc. Our favorites they have done so far are karate and golf! We have already seen improvement in her throwing and balance and love that she can participate while she is at daycare. Harper can run and jump and balance while walking on a curb (with a hand being held), and she can climb up the steps of her playset and go down the slide all by herself, even decaring "yaid!" . She can climb up onto almost anything and gets down off the couch or bed easily. Sometimes the climbing is a bit of an issue!
General development: Harper enjoys being where we are and doing what we do. She likes to 'help' and generally is 'helpful' if we give her a way to help (i.e. give her a broom while I sweep, etc.). She also is really getting into pretend play and likes to make her babies or animals do things like she would do (swing, slide, eat, walk, etc.). She tends to be fairly bossy with her play and directs everyone as to what to do! :-) I don't know anyone that was like that! ;-) She enjoys reading out of her Bible and often gets mad if you don't pick it to read (though she can't make it through a whole story, generally). She says "bible" with a really southern accent, which is so funny! She enjoys all of her other books as well and we often have to read several books at a time. She pretends to read some on her own, as well, and even has memorized parts of some books (usually just one word at a time). We are also working on praying, which she enjoys, but does not want to pause on the eating to pray!

As for 'doggle'...this is a word that she says frequently and we think it is hilarious but we have no clue what it means! Maybe one day we'll figure it out!!!

Time

Yesterday Jason and I had the wonderful pleasure of going to see BB King perform in Montgomery. It was such a fabulous show and it was nice to see a true musician put on such a classy performance (I love that the entire band wears tuxedos!). After the show Jason and I got lured into Krispy Kreme by the Hot Doughnuts Now sign. Auburn- why no Krispy Kreme? Anyway, that is not the point of this post. The point is, I took my own President's Day holiday because I knew I would be worthless today because we got home so late. SO, I had all day to hang out with my little girl (oh yeah, and do massive loads of laundry). I have been reading a book recently World Enough and Time (have I already blogged about that? If so, then I am still in the process of reading it because of..well, that pesky little Time.). In the book there is a section devoted to what the author calls "Child Time". Child time is the time that children have free of demands and chores and outside influences, "time to muse and dream and do a blissful kind of nothing". Most examples of child time are out of doors. We as adults rarely understand child time, we try to do everything on our crazy warp speed adult time. At the end of every chapter in the book she gives you assignments. The one at the end of this chapter was to take a walk in child time. I decided today I would let Harper take me on a walk at her speed. Which we have never done. I always put her in the stroller and we go at my speed (which is usually a slow run). Oh, she always seems to have a good time but I thought this would be a good exercise for both of us just to go at her pace. It was HARD for me. I kept wanting to direct her saying "no, let's go this way" or "Don't walk in those leaves, you'll get dirty" but I just bit my tongue for the most part and let her go. As long as she held my hand while we were in the road. It was such fun! We picked flowers (weeds) and found that they had little purple spots on them in the shape of hearts. She was fascinated by the water trickling down the gutter. We watched the ants try to cross the water. We listened to birds. "bird! bird!" she says. We walked over to my neighbor's car several times so she could see the Aubie tail hanging on the back "hi Aubie!". As we went for a rather meandering walk that took a long time but we didn't go very far (I never considered going back to a place you had already investigated) we just got to enjoy creation. After a gloomy, rainy weekend it was nice to just be outside in the sun and see things in child time and from Harper's perspective. While walking my neighbor's son and his friend were out playing basketball. I heard the friend ask "Do you have a basketball game for your X-Box? Can we play it?" Really? You are outside on the gorgeous day playing real basketball and you want to go inside and play pretend basketball? It made me sad. I want Harper to enjoy Child Time as long as she can. I hope that she prefers REAL to X-Box (not that we will ever own one). If you have time I would a) recommend reading World Enough and Time, by Christian McEwen and b) take a walk on Child Time. "Go for a walk at the pace of a small child. Saunter, wander, loiter, look around; allow yourself to pause and to digress". No agendas.

Video of Harper talking

Even though my one year old rarely sits still, I caught her in a rare moment of cooperation but obviously some of these words still had to be prompted. She says all of these spontaneously, though. And a lot more, too! Enjoy!

Love

With Valentine's Day fast approaching all the stores look like some pink and red heart fairy has exploded all over! (Not to mention all the Easter stuff that is already out...but that is another post). I actually really do like Valentine's Day, I always thought it was fun to send your friends cute cards and you know any excuse to eat candy is okay by me. But LOVE has gotten so distorted in our society many people loathe Valentine's Day because it represents something they think they should have but don't. Anyway, I recently read this blog post, a response to the Huffington Post article "How to Talk to Little Girls", and I just had to share it with you. If you've read this blog before you know my take on the futility of trying to get joy from worldly things (and also how I feel about Proactive! Curious? Read this!. As a completely random thought- they no longer play those commercials. Thankfully.) However, as a mother (I think this should apply to any mother, not just mothers of girls) I am constantly questioning how I can instill in my daughter the idea that she has worth beyond what the world can give her. One of my 'resolutions' for this year is to be more intentional about modeling my faith to Harper and more intentional about talking with her about it. While she may watch me fail at that again and again, I want her to understand the simplicity of the love of God. He loves you. The end. No "what if..." or "I didn't..". He. Loves. YOU. Below is an excerpt from the blog I referenced before. This is how the author says he will talk to his little girl:
“I love you. I love the way your hair rolls into ringlets and falls into your eyes. I love the way you read yourself books, even though you can’t read. I love the way you dance and twirl around the kitchen. I love the way you wave at cars that pass on our walks. I love the way you scream “Dad” in the middle of the night. I love the way you say “do it again” when we do something fun. I even love the permanent marker custom design you put on my new Mac. But as much as I love you, Jesus loves you more. I sacrifice a lot because I love you, but Jesus sacrificed everything because he loves you. So if somewhere along the way you fail a test or love a boy who does not love you back or have a mastectomy or develop Alzheimers or gain some weight or lose a job, you will still hold infinite value because Jesus loves you. No matter what. You are loved exactly as you are. Always.”

Always.

15 months- a little late

Harper at 15 months (on Christmas Eve):
-I seriously can't even count the number of words this child says. New (ish) ones that I haven't listed on the blog before include: Grandaddy (dadadi), Grandmother (mamama), rock (as in on a horse or in a chair), bed, eat, door, open, close, roar (lion/tiger/dinosaur sound), horse, moo, meow, no maam, no way, good dog, sit, treat, tree, teeth, sign for drink, baby doll, happy (pronounced "Abby"), button, walk, bus, truck, ow/ouch, and go. She probably has more new ones than that but that is all Jason and I can remember. And that is plenty for a 15 month old! She puts together novel two word utterances now, like 'mama button' meaning "mama's button". She also copies us (when she feels like it) doing funny things like finishing the old Tom Jones song...if we say "What's new pussy cat..." she says "whoaaaa". Jason also thinks getting her to repeat the diadochokinetic rate ("puh tuh kuh") is funny. And she does it fairly well. I recently gave Harper a standardized language test. She scored a 128 on her understanding of language (following directions, understanding what certain nouns and verbs mean, etc.) and a 129 on her use of language (number of words she says, social use of language, etc.). Her overall language age was one year, eleven months. That is 9 months ahead of her actual age! Her age equivalency on the language use subtest was 2 years!
- Sassiness. Unfortunately (and fortunately) Harper is learning how to stand up for herself. She tells Toby 'no maam' if he accidentally knocks her down and shakes her finger at him. She also sasses us occasionally and tells US no. We are having to find other ways (NOT using the word 'no') to correct her behavior (i.e. 'feet down', 'be sweet', etc.). Sometimes she tells herself 'no' as she is doing something she shouldn't. I am not sure if she is trying to correct her own behavior or just remembering that she was told 'no' when she did it before!
- Social- she is fitting in well in her now not so new daycare class. She still does not like it if the kids get really rowdy and cries sometimes if it gets too crazy in her room, but overall she has adjusted well and is slowly learning to play with the other kids. She also tries to correct her friends at school sometimes when I pick her up, telling them 'no' if they are doing something she thinks they shouldn't. She thinks she is everyone's little mama. She takes a few minutes to warm up to new situations but once she has she wants to be the center of attention. When we flew to Virginia a few days ago she got the chance to wave to the entire plane and ate it up! She did her queen wave!
-Physical- Harper is quite the climber now. She will declare 'rock rock' and climb in her rocking chair in her room and sit and rock. She can climb on everything now! She also jumps now (in her bed!). She is still very much into dancing. And swinging between us if we each have a hand while we are walking.
Misc.- Harper's pretend play skills are really developing. She loves to feed her babies and makes eating and drinking sounds when she does it! She will also brush the baby's hair and carry it around. Her new play kitchen has been quite a hit, too, and she enjoys stirring things on her stove like mom!
Well, that is Harper lately. I find it hard to believe the difference between this Christmas and last year! Time goes by too fast!