harper’s first halloween

Happy Halloween! No fancy costume for little Harper, but we took some pictures with a pumpkin Gram got her when she was here. The kitties wanted to be included too.

Harper has started smiling! It’s usually when she’s in her bouncy seat or after a sneeze. A few times she has smiled back at me! It’s hard to get it on camera, but I’m sure I’ll have many more opportunities.

1 month old

Little Harper Cate is one month old! She’s looking around a lot and making eye contact. She smiles a bit in her sleep and is starting to show smiles randomly while she’s awake. She’s still madam fussy-pants a lot of the time, but she’s just as darling as can be! Here are a few shots from our photoshoot.

harper at three weeks

It’s been three weeks at home with our little chickadee and we’re coming out of the fog. No real routines yet, we just take our cues from the little lady when it’s time to eat, time to sleep, time to kick around and time to rock. She’s enjoying bathtime more now that she’s lost her umbilical cord stump, but her favorite part is when it’s all done and she’s nice and lotioned up and toasty warm and clean. She likes getting her hair brushed – like any girl does! And she’s much more alert now!

She also drank from a bottle for the first time. She sucked it down like a champ in like 2 minutes!

Here are a few shots we took at home – can’t get enough of babies with ruffle butts! Thankfully she was nice and calm after her bath and cooperated!

harper at two weeks

Our little Harper is now two weeks old! Days go by so fast! We took her to her first pediatrician appointment and she weighed in at 8 lbs 2 oz. Above her birth weight – success! My mom came to help out for a few days and definitely hasn’t lost her touch. We try to do a little tummy time when she’s awake and spend a lot of time rocking. We’re starting to see dimples when she smiles – just like me!

For comparison, here’s a picture of me at birth. I definitely see some similarities!

family of three

While my sister was visiting, she took a few pictures of the three of us. It was a good excuse to get cleaned up and put a cute outfit on the baby.

bringing harper home

Two days after her birth, we brought our baby daughter home. She slept through her first car ride – lulled to sleep by the bumpy roads and Austin heat.

Her first excitement was meeting our two cats. Just as we expected, they tenatively approached her and sniffed her. Margot was very skiddish and hid under our bed for a few hours and Maeby got used to her and went back to her normal routine.

Harper was a little bigger than I was expecting, so her coming home outfit was a bit snug. But we squeezed her in it just for the day.

We took our first family photo – the first one being not so successful…

Followed by a daddy daughter nap.

We were pleasantly surprised by how much hair she has. She has some of my features – my mouth, my long fingers.

She did pretty well with her first bath.

Aunt Lisa visited and was extremely helpful – cooking, laundry, rocking the baby, being at my beck and call. She also knitted some cute gifts for her! An elephant, a blankie and a hat!

Harper already enjoys the handmade quilt from Aunt Kari!

Harper loves being swaddled like a burrito and taking naps with Daddy.

At a week old, we took her on her first stroll through the park. It was a gorgeous day in Austin, not too hot with a slight breeze. She loved it!

One of my favorite moments all week was when I found her sucking her two middle fingers – the same hand and same fingers I sucked as a baby. I couldn’t believe it! It’s the little things right now that are so remarkable. She’s definitely my daughter!

We have thoroughly enjoyed our first week home with our darling little girl. Each day we’re getting more comfortable as parents and settling into a semi-routine. We have plenty of family sprinkling in their visits for the rest of the year – it will be fun to share the excitement!

one week on the outside

The last belly pic I took was 38 weeks. Miss Harper came at 39 weeks – a week early! Thank goodness she did! I couldn’t wait another second. She came exactly when I wanted her to!

Here she is at one week old. She’s been doing well her first week and gaining weight!