Serious stuff

We took a trip up to Sundance for Turkey day. Seems like weeks ago now. Well, it was...

Scout took to her grandma and grandpa, that's for sure! Grandpa H. is a many of many baby-amusing noises. And Grandma H. just has that knack--darn it if that child didn't fall asleep right in her arms. Of course, in true Scout fashion, she wasn't out for more than 45 minutes.
Here is Cory sizing up the tree that would later stand in our living room.


And, there has been mention of the fact that the photos of Scout are largely either Scout alone or Scout with Cory. Mostly because I'm the one taking the photos, so I'm never in them. But here's one that my friend Diane sent me, she took it a while back. It's amazing how much hair Scout has lost--she looks like quite the "punker" as Grandma R. would say.

Latest happenings of the littlest Harper

Scout clearly is an outdoor gal. Whenever she's fussing, it seems a change of scenery to the outdoors often does the trick. Here she is all geared up for a brisk day and a little walk with her mom, dad, Beamer and Auntie Mary.

Here she is looking up to her older, wiser cousin Ella. Ella was down for a quick visit the other day, and boy did we have fun! Forget about oil, biodiesel, plutonium, whatever-- the world's energy crisis could be solved if we could figure out how to bottle Ella's energy! It's actually a little daunting to Cory and me to think that in a year or so we're going to have to keep up with something like that. Whoa. Tired just thinking about it.

Here she is proving that she's doing better at eating like a big girl! Yum, barley cereal. She eats barley in its cereal form, and her mom and dad will drink it in its carbonated beverage form. Double yum.

And, here's the "big stuff." She no longer fits in her little baby tub--not enough room to kick those legs, guys! Here's her first bath in the big tub!

The pony!

Scout is sporting the pony.
As you can see, it's a good look.
She is just the best.
Let's fill you in on the past few weeks. Whoa, it's been a whirlwind. There was a visit to the emergency room--Scout couldn't keep anything down, and wouldn't take the pedialyte, so we (mostly me) were nervous that she was getting dehydrated. Good Lord, that was a scare. Thank goodness that wound up just fine--she would drink the pedialyte if you gave it to her in a syringe, but not from a bottle. Fuss budget.
And then the rest of family got it... well, I did, and Cory is still waiting for the axe to fall. That was a rough couple of days.
Here she is with her "get well" gift from Aunt Lacey. Not a bad deal. I mean, she's only 5 months old, don't know that she realizes that she just scored for being sick.
And, even though there are more flattering photos of me, thought I would let you know that another huge part of the last few weeks was my multiple trips to the dentist and periodontist so that they could work on my tooth. FYI--I know the way to a patient's heart. Um, the periodontist sent me flowers-- probably only like the 3rd or 4th time I've ever received flowers--the day after my surgery. The card says, "Hope this finds you smiling." I think this photo says it all.

Little Miss Scout

Scout doesn't like her cereal. Not one bit. I don't think that this whole "turn your head from the food" thing came from either Cory or me. No sirree. We like food. Our offspring, in turn, should like food. Not the case so far.
Whilst my very sweet friend Jenny Yasmin was in town, we took in the sights of the 16th Street Mall. Why have I never noticed how horrendous downtown smells? It was really quite shocking. Yet, the trip was very nice despite odd odors. Scout has a staring problem, and really soaked up the people watching downtown.

See below--Scout enjoying Lacey and Mark. And the rest of us were about to enjoy some deeelish cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory. One question--why are the portions so gargantuan at that place??
And here with Jenny.

A preview of her spooktacular First Halloween! (Complete with bloomers)

More grammy and gramps photos

Well our visit with Grammy and Gramps went very well. They were able to spend a great deal of time with the little kiddo. There were multiple photo shoots. And lots of fun conversation surrounding her silly antics. For instance, she's very into clenching her fists hard and making a serious face. Also, she occasionally sticks out her toungue, and/or responds with a smile when you stick your tongue out at her.
Here is a serious bath time.
Here she is getting ready to take in her very first Packer game with Gramps. Don't let the pink fool you. She wears her team colors on the inside.
She's a nature girl.

Hangin' with the boys

So, Grandma and Gramps R. are here from Sheboogie. And life is good!
She's been loving her exersaucer. Oh, it's like having a carnival every which way that you turn.
Here's the gal with her Gramps.
Here she is talking to all of the crazy friends she meets on her exersaucer.
Here she is helping her daddy out with some pretty serious work.

Meetin' the great-grandmas

We made a trip to Sundance this past weekend, which now seems like decades ago despite the fact that it is ONLY Wednesday. The little girl did pretty darned good in the car--a ride that took about 6 1/2 hours on Friday and about that again on Sunday.

After a Friday night dinner of surf-n-turf (Margie cooked up some King Crab and Alan grilled us T-bones)... I got to thinking that 6 1/2 hours isn't such a bad deal.

Saturday, we went out to "the ranch", or, rather, Grandma Jean's place. Grandma Jean--who is great-grandma Jean to Scout--is an absolute doll, and she was especially complimentary to our little gal. Here Scout is sitting on her lap.

Then, we headed back to town and took a lovely nap while Margie watched the babe. Around 4:30 in the afternoon, Grandma Marlene and her fella Jim had arrived.

Scout, again, clearly the draw here. Quite the hit.

We had a lovely bar-b-que, complete with Johnsonville brats. (Although, it should be mentioned that there was NO spicy mustard for the brats, only the yellow kind. I guess that this is okay in other parts of the world, and would be deemed "acceptable" in parts other than Sheboygan. I'm kind of a snob, though, so I'll probably have to introduce my in-laws to a delicious dusseldorf or something of that nature.)

In general, Scout was spoiled rotten, as she should be!

The weekend was completed with a quick scrub in the tub, a.k.a. the kitchen sink!

Photo shoot!

Well, a few weeks ago, Grandma Harper came to visit. And you can see her behind Scout's oversized sunhat.
Well, I guess that Cory was having some fun with the camera, and here is what he captured... there were others, but a few actually looked like she was flipping off the camera so I decided it was best not to show those (this being a "family" blog and all).

Scout and the looking glass

This photo appears to capture her absolute bewilderment with that crazy baby staring back at her. She's becoming very good a laying on her belly, too. Even some rolling over--belly to back, never the other way around.
This photo is nothing more than Scout saying, "Mom, enough with the paparazzi-esque photography." So, that ended said photo shoot.
But, earlier in the week, we captured her sitting in her bumbo on the kitchen counter. Need I mention the bed head? And yes, those were roses. The very first flowers I've ever received from Cory! (other than the sunflowers in the garden)

Scout's got some fun ahead. She's got Grandma Harper coming into town next weekend and a road trip to Sundance in her future. She's quite the gal.

Meaty thighs!

Someone was having a pretty good time underneath her mobile, and I thought it was pretty remarkable how much her legs have filled out. She's still "bird legs," but not nearly as much!
She has found her feet, but has not started sucking on her toes yet. (Oh, those toe suckin' little perverts, those babies!)

Look at our garden grow!

This munchkin has our biggest zuchini beat!

A visit from Grandpa Harper was quite the highlight for Scout. I think she's been pretty bored with us, so it's good she finally got some attention!
And here she is wearing her peace-ful shirt in a peaceful pose!

Aunties everywhere!

So, in Nepal, they would call these folks Aunties... At the top is "Anne Auntie" and then there is "Amy Auntie" (holding our friends Kerri and Kevin's baby William), and last, but certainly not least, is "Mary Auntie."

The little Scouterpants seemed thrilled with all the attention.

We'll start with the happy
photo of Scout. And my dumb finger is in the photo because she needed a little prodding to get her to focus on the photo shoot at hand.
Today, Scout took in her very first rodeo. But I don't have any photos of her ridin' bare back to prove it, so I'll just show you these photos of her in her rodeo-wear.
And, even though it looks like this "joey" might hop on out, I assure you that she's very happy in her pouch. Well, at least we think so. Her not being verbal and all is somewhat of a hindrance in finding out her opinion on the matter.
And, FYI, at the doctor visit on Friday, she weighed 10 lbs. 9 oz. and was 23 3/4 inches. Practically two feet!

On the road...

We officially took our first "family vacation." Since my aunt and uncle so generously referred us to the Grand Timber Lodge , the clever sales team put us up in a hotel in Breckenridge for the weekend. The hotel was nothing special--in fact, it lacked the one essential of any hotel room for us: a remote control, but it was so fun to walk around Breckenridge. The city does an amazing job landscaping. I've never seen so many colors! Definitely worth a trip to check out the flowers. We had the pleasure of viewing a hummingbird feed from a petunia about a foot away from where we sat and ate our breakfast on Saturday morning.
And, this photo perfectly depicts how Scout took in the sights of Breckenridge from her sling. As one fellow patron at a restaurant said to Cory, "So, she [meaning moi] carried her around for nine months, and now you get to carry her around, huh?"

Squeaky clean!

This girl is wild about her bathtime. Which is a good thing... better to have a clean kid than a dirty kid, right?

She's a workin' girl

Going to work with Scout is the life. Since my wonderful employer, Advocates for Children, allows me to bring the bambino to work, it's really been a good transition back. Of course, next week she starts daycare on Mondays and Wednesdays, so ask me again in a week!
Here's the digs. And here is a photo of Scout sleeping on the job (well, almost sleeping...). Seriously, are we workin' hard or hardly workin'?
(And by the way, I had no idea how messy my office was until I looked at this photo...kinda like how Cory has no idea how big his beard is until he sees a photo of it.)