The McCallen's Blog: 9 Months Old

Alright at this point Harper is getting too close to her 1st Birthday, she really needs to slow down... yeah right! This little baby is changing so fast and becoming more toddler like everyday. This has been a busy month, so many firsts and milestones to talk about. Harper had her first visit to a pumpkin patch, a family vacation in the beautiful Watersound, a visit to Farm Day, and her first Halloween just to name a few! She has perfected her cruising skills to now standing without assistance for brief moments. She has a mean squat too, this little girl has some thunder thighs on her. Will's favorite milestone this month was getting to hear Harper say "dada." It started out as a whisper but it has turned into a yell. She is getting quite loud these days. She has also mastered a sweet little wave. She will wave at people in stores, she waves at the pets, and she will wave at herself in the mirror. Clapping on the other, had her a bit confused for awhile. However, she just figured it out last week. Now she is a clapping fool! She absolutely loves to clap and does it perfectly every time you prompt her to. Watching her learn these behaviors have been some of my favorite moments so far. In other big news, Harper has finally had her top two tooth rupture through the gums. They came through just a day apart so teething has been a bit rough, but she was instantly better after they appeared. Harper now has a new favorite part of her bed time routine. I strip her down naked and let her loose. She will crawl at the speed of light to the bathtub and stand up and squeal with excitement as we get her bath ready. She still LOVES bath time and has intense splash parties every night.

Harper's Halloween was a huge success. We went trick or treating with some friends who have an 18 month old daughter. Harper went dressed as a pink Octopus and she was quite the hit. She managed to rake in an impressive amount of candy for her parents. Our church had a huge pumpkin patch so we took Harper and she made a new hobby of pumpkin slapping. She loved the sound it made when she hit them with her tiny hand.

We had a wonderful family vacation with all of the McCallens in Seagrove. Harper enjoyed all of the attention from the fam and hanging out with her cuz Nora. We went to a Halloween festival, and to the halloweiner derby which is a dachshund race. Harper seem to enjoy it all and did well in the mass crowds. Our last big outing this month was to Farm Day in Defuniak Springs. There were a lot of animals for her to look at, including donkeys, horses, pigs, sheep, and even camels. The point of farm day... I'm not sure I quite figured that out while we were there. Oh well, I got to pet a bunch of animals and that is always fun! After that we went to play in a giant cotton field at our friends house. They have a little boy that is a year old and he seemed to have a crush on Harper already.

Harper is starting to show that she must have her mom's tiny genes. She is in about the 15-20% at 17.5 pounds and 26 inches long.

Here are the pics of the month!

Clapping!