5 Months and so many new things!

Harper turned 5 months right before Thanksgiving.  She is getting so big so fast, I can't even believe it.  She is definitely out of the confused newborn stage and into the curious about the world stage.  She is finally gaining weight and put on a full pound in the last month.  So she's a little over 14 lbs and 25 1/4 inches long.  She's still skinny and long but she still has awesomely chubby legs.  She's just too cute.

Trying to get her feet and hands to coordinate so she can play with her toy

Learning to sit up in the bumbo

Her best pal, Maggie, always in her face

She goes all the way across her crib now!  

She is learning to sit up and stand.  She still doesn't love tummy time but she will stand all day.  We are wondering if she'll skip crawling and go straight to walking.  She likes to stand at her play table and watch it light up and make noise.  It's funny to watch her try to figure out how to hold herself up with her hands and still try to reach for the toys.  She is definitely going to be a problem solver!

She's been on the same formula for 4 weeks now, which is a record!  I am thinking this one will be it.  She seems to be doing much better and is such a happy baby.  She has also learned what the word "bottle" means and what it looks like.  She gets very excited when she hears "bottle" or sees us getting hers ready.  The other day she saw Cody drinking from his water bottle and got very upset that it wasn't her bottle.

  

Learning to grab the bottle and trying to get it into her mouth

Sweet success!  

Her new favorite things are her toes.  She found them a few weeks back and loves to grab them.  One night she woke up at 2 am and played with her toes for over 30 minutes.  It was the first time that Cody and I thought she was cute at 2 am.  Such a funny bunny! 

Her other new toy is her exersaucer.  It was her cousin Grayson's first and now she's finally big enough to use it.  The lizard plays music and lights up so it's her favorite part.  And of course that means that I have that song stuck in my head for most of the day.  Maggie likes it too and likes to help Harper out by pushing the toys with her nose.  They are gonna be great playmates!

Her new tricks are so funny.  She loves to fake cough.  She'll stick out her tongue and cough 4 or 5 times and smile.  Of course we laugh and so she does it again.  She is also big into laughing right now.  The best is when you are laughing and she thinks you are so funny that it makes her laugh too.  Harper and Cody sat and laughed back and forth in the bathtub for 20 minutes the other night.  

Bathtime is still one of her favorite parts of the day

She is also big into her hands.  She loves to grab your neck, face, hair, head, etc and just hold on for deal life.  She's on strong little baby.  She is babbling non stop.  Cody swears she's says certain things but I think she's just cooing.  Her favorite word is still Hi.  You can always get a smile out of her when you say it.  Anything that she can get ahold of will automatically go in her mouth.  And if she can't get something, she'll use a finger or two.  I swear she's still teething because she's a chomping waterfall of drool most of the time.  But who knows when that tooth will actually pop through.  

Harper and Mommy laughing at Daddy

Trying to teach her to walk 

Thanksgiving

Her first Thanksgiving was fun.  We went to Cody's parents' house and visited with Nana.  And she even went Black Friday shopping the next day.   I'm pretty sure she saw what we got her for Christmas but I don't think she really knows!  

Her first Thanksgiving

Trying to learn how to use a fork

And then she almost poked a hole in her mouth and eye and thus lost her fork privileges

 Harper is a wonderful baby.  I absolutely love staying home with her.  We play together all morning and go for walks.  She is getting so much better with sleeping.  Most nights she will sleep from 9pm-7am and even will put herself back to sleep if she cries.  But once or twice a week she just decides that sleep is boring and is wide awake for a couple hours.  Those nights are not as much fun.  But we go shopping and to the grocery store every week and everyone she meets falls in love with her.  She's always got a smile for them and they think she is adorable.  We love her and we are so blessed to have her.

5 Month Photo Shoot

I can't believe that soon she'll be sitting up on her own, crawling, walking, and eating foods.  She's getting big way too fast!  But she's an amazing baby and we love her!

Cousins

My sister, Kristen, and her husband, Brian, went to a friend's wedding the other night so we got to babysit my nephew, Grayson.  It was so much fun getting the cousins together.  When I was little, we spent a ton of time with our cousins.  We always spent the night at my grandparents' house on Christmas Eve and Easter every year so Santa and the Easter Bunny could find us.  And each year, we all lined up on the couch to take a picture with all the cousins in age order.  We truly have such great memories.  And I'm super excited about Grayson and Harper, and any other future cousins, getting to be as close as my cousins and I are.    

Harper and Aunt Tay Tay

Grayson and Aunt Car Car

He is so funny with all the animal sounds he knows.  He kept walking up to our front door and saying "hoo hoo".  Such a smartie pants!

Bath Time

Cousin Bath Time

This is the only age where this will be appropriate.

Sharing toys

His favorite bath toy - spoons as drum sticks

Together in cute, little pjs.

Harper is always trying to love on Grayson and he gets a little concerned.

Harper has hit her sitting up time limit.

Sharing toys again.  Such a sweet boy.

Head bobs - the cousin kiss

They both slept so good that night.  I was impressed (and thankful!).  The next morning they were so cute and cuddly too.  It's funny to see how different life is with a toddler vs. a baby.  He ate people food, watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and ran around like a crazy man.  She pretty much sat in Aunt Tay's lap and watched everything he did.  

Good morning!  What a fun slumber party!

This little boy picks out all the fruits and veggies from his meals.  

I am shocked.  He loves "nanas".  

Before my sister came to pick him up that morning, we had so much fun.  We found a nerf dart gun of Cody's and he absolutely loved it.  I would ask him who he wanted to shoot, to which he would happily yell someone's name.  Then we would shoot them and he would squeal with delight.  Then he'd run and get the dart and we'd do it all over again.  When my sister got there, she was holding Harper and he kept saying "Baby, baby."  We thought he might want to hold her, so we sat them down and this is what happened.

Um...

I guess he wasn't saying he wanted to hold her.

We had a great time.  I love my nephew so much - he's so adorable!  And I can't wait for Grayson and Harper to grow up and be such great friends!

Harper is 4 months!

Harper is 4 months old now and she is SO cute!  She is one of the smiliest babies around.  And it makes you feel so special.  Plus, her smile takes up her whole face and makes her eyes get all scrunched together.  She is such a joy to have!

She's got the Klusman eyes

She is getting even stronger as each day passes.  We have been seeing a physical therapist to work on her neck muscles and it is already helping.  She can hold her head up now and look all around her.  And we are getting close to sitting up and standing.  What a big girl!

Getting better at tummy time and lifting her head

Two of her favorite places are her highchair and her jogging stroller.  She can sit in those two for hours.  Her absolute favorite place is being held, which happens quite a bit.  I don't mind admitting that we spoil her rotten.  She's just too cute not to!  

In her highchair with her favorite crinkly book

Here are two more things she loves... Her daddy and the Rangers.  She had a lot of fun getting to stay up late (not really) watching the Rangers in the World Series.  

She is very funny in the bath now.  She likes to sit and laugh, at what I'm not sure.  And she tries so hard to get all her toys in her mouth, most of which don't fit.  But the one thing she looks forward to every night is trying to drink the bath water.  She wants that water so bad!  She loves to suck the washcloth and tries very hard to lean over and lap up the water.  Such a funny thing to watch!

She used to fit on this!  My little baby is growing up so fast!

We have definitely had a rough time trying to figure out what was bothering Harper.  We have settled on a dairy and soy allergy.  So we have been through 5 formulas and are still searching.  But she is a trooper and she is much better than she was as a newborn.  We are venturing out on errands like the grocery store, Target, and dinner.  She is sleeping about 10 hours at night and takes a 4 hour nap from about 12 till 4.  It's awesome!   

First dinner out at El Chico's

Harper goes to her Mimi and Pop's house once a week while Cody teaches my sister Taylor the guitar.  She has a ton of fun and they love getting to see her all the time.  The only bad part is the 30 minute drive home when it's usually bed time!

Harper and Mimi

Harper and Aunt Tay Tay

For about 6 weeks now, we've been so sure that she was teething.  She's drooling like crazy.  I mean, like a straight up waterfall.  And she was a little fussier and running a low grade fever.  You can actually see the two bottom teeth, right below the gums.  So everyday we were so ready for those teeth to pop through.  But here we are and still no teeth.  Hopefully soon they will come through!

 Trying to see her teeth

Playing with Daddy

Daddy is so funny!

We are so absolutely thankful for our little girl.  She brings absolute joy into our lives.  We are having a blast watching her learn new things and get bigger everyday.  It's sad how fast it's all going!  But we are grateful that she is healthy and happy and that's what matters.