Summer Catch-up

So, as you can tell… my life has little time for blogging these days. A three year old, 8 month old, full-time job, husband and home keep me pretty busy. So this is a catch-up post of sorts.

My big 3 year old… Blair is my little shadow. She loves to help and follow me around the house. She loves to help with laundry (pouring the “blue and green stuff”), cook dinner, (pretend) vacuum, and when given a straightening up task – does so diligently. I don’t want to go overboard with the chores though, there are plenty of years for that.

Blair continues to be the very best big sister to Harlow. She does really well playing with her, distracting her (when needed), and having an overall sense of what it is to be the oldest. I have heard of the terrible two’s, and the troublesome three’s – but honestly, she’s been really great. She is still adjusting to not being the baby - but rarely acts out. We are still working on the typical behavior-type issues, but nothing serious.

She is learning more about time and whether things happen today, tomorrow, or in two weeks. If I say, “Mimi is going to pick you up after school this afternoon,” she immediately asks, “Today? Is she going to pick me up TODAY?” It is really cute how she is trying to understand and gets excited about future plans.

Harlow, Harlow. How can this sweet baby already be 8 months old? The time is passing so much quicker now. Or maybe I just have that much less time to marvel at each day and milestone with her. She is days away from crawling. Could even be less than that! It seems like Lo knows what the hands need to be doing, but not quite the feet. She is pretty determined and I don’t think it will be much longer until she is completely mobile and causing trouble with Blair.

Harlow is sleeping through the night – bliss! She has not been nearly as sick as Blair was (with the ear infections), so we were able to sleep train her much easier. And what has me most shocked, is that after rocking in the recliner for a few minutes, I lay her down in her crib on her side, and she falls asleep on her own. What a novelty! She still goes to sleep between 6 and 7pm, not giving me a ton of time with her in the afternoons – but for a little person that gets up at 6am every day, I certainly understand. This, of course, means that she wakes up on the weekends at 6:30am. So there’s my “sleeping in.”

Lo is eating pretty well and seems to like more foods than Blair did. She gets a bottle upon waking up, yogurt and a fruit in the mid morning, a bottle for lunch, 1 veggie & 1 protein (or another fruit) for an early afternoon snack, a bottle a couple of hours later, then a small dinner (1 container). She’s started on table foods and is doing really well. So far she has tried grilled cheese (loves them!), green beans, bananas, spaghetti, bread, mashed potatoes, toast, scrambled eggs and carrots. I keep asking myself, how can she already be ready to eat table foods?!? I just had her. Like yesterday.

  

We have had to start giving Harlow an allergy medication in the evenings to help with the drainage in her throat – which has worked wonders. We couldn’t get it to clear up with anything else and she would gag and throw-up due to the drainage. It. Was. A. Mess. But now, things are much better as long as she gets her medicine.

Harlow loves to clap and wave, play with toys, bounce to music, stand up (working on the cruising part), be tickled, read, eat, swim and splash, and give kisses and hugs. She loves any attention she gets from Blair… even when Blair makes squawking sounds at her in the back seat. She just laughs and laughs like it was the best joke in the world. Maybe it is some secret sister ‘inside’ joke. The only thing she truly dislikes is not being included. The other day while Travis was holding her, B and I walked out the room and she was so upset. Once I picked her up and brought her with us, she was a smiley, happy camper.

Harlow is such a dream baby. She’s really good-natured and happy and just fills out our family of four perfectly… like we’d been saving a ‘space’ for her since before she arrived. Sometimes Travis and I look at each other and can't believe how lucky we are with these two lovies. We know that we are incredibly blessed with their health, love and light.

In July, Travis and I made an ‘escape’ to New Orleans. We hadn't been on a trip together in over a year and were itching for some adult time. We love New Orleans, so it only made sense that we sneak off and spend a few days in the French Quarter. Although somewhat hot, we still had so much fun together. The quiet time away was nice (although we missed those little girls dearly!) and I relished not having to carry a huge diaper bag, multiple cups, strollers, toys, etc. to be hauling around. We ate some amazing food, including our first experience at Willie Mae’s – known for being the BEST fried chicken in the US. It did not disappoint. J After a few days in NO, we came back to Houston for one more night of vacation to attend a show. It was the perfect way to cap off the trip! Thank you to Blair and Harlow’s grandparents for watching the girls for a few days so T and I could get away. And sleep. J

As the summer wraps up, I am getting excited for my favorite season… FALL! We have so many fun events coming up, like my brother’s wedding, a beach trip to Florida, the holidays, and Harlow’s FIRST birthday!

Pictures coming in the next post!