So, as always, in no particular order, our life:
Hartley is walking. Well, she's doing that cute dinosaur walk for up to a minute at a time. She's not a shoe-wearing, burning up the mall kind of walker yet. She took her first steps a few days before Christmas. I was the first to witness, and my dad was around helping me so he actually got to witness it second. For a week we'd catch her take a couple steps at a time. She was very cautious and definitely knew her boundaries. A few steps then a gentle drop to the ground to crawl to her destination. Then the first few days in January I hardly saw her try to walk, and I figured it would just come later. Then out of the blue, she walked across the living room. If you heard my cheering, you would've thought I won the lottery. God those proud mama moments are awesome. Everyday she seems more confident and balanced than the last. I actually am noticing that she's walking more than crawling.
Totally unrelated. When I was pregnant I dreamt of the things I'd do with my baby. Do you know what number one was? Art time. I have had high hopes of having a crafty child... for forever. So last week I ordered H some egg-shaped crayons that are supposed to be good for toddler hands. The day they arrived, I tore into the package immediately for our first art lesson. Hartley totally doesn't get them yet. She tried to eat them and then threw them. Sidebar: that kid has an arm. The crayons claim to be toddler tough and day one she cracked one in half. But everyday I'm going to show her them and someday it will click. Today I scribbled and she traced the lines with her finger so that's something, right?
Kind of related: Hartley is starting to point. I actually think she's mainly getting this from Brian who models it a lot when he reads to her. I'm making an effort to do it consistently, too.
The not as awesome news is naps are dead. Hartley has never been a great napper. I've brought it up to her doctors at a couple different visits They both told me, "you know, not napping is often a sign of good things. Gifted children tend to have difficulty napping". I told them they must tell that to all the moms of the no nap kids. But they told me it'd true; sometimes their smart little brains can't turn off. I researched this, and it's actually a real thing. I guess when their old enough to communicate, they express to their parents that their minds won't stop churning. *disclaimer: I'm not saying good nappers won't be smart. It's entirely separate from a correlation between the inability to nap indicating intelligence* I try to remind myself this when Hartley straight up refuses naps. Today she was up for 12 hours with a 20 minute stroller nap as her only break. It didn't phase her one bit. It phases me. I mean, 12 hours? Yeah, you spend 12 hours with a toddler and tell me how rested you feel. But it doesn't slow her down; that girl is pretty amazing.
Also, the warning I should issue to all moms. You know those oh so adorable PB Kids Anywhere Chairs? I've always loved them, well before I had Hartley. I mean itty bitty grown-up-looking chairs? It doesn't get cuter. BUT they are very light. The second we got home with ours I saw it becoming a dangerous jungle gym that required supervision. Today I was running to get my phone off the charger in the dining room, and for a split second I thought I should move her chair. It was in the center of room with nothing to keep it staying upright. I told myself "page, don't be that mom". 10 seconds later I heard heinous screaming and see that Hartley had climbed up it, flipped it and landed on her face. Upon picking her up, I saw blood streaming out the sides of her mouth. No exaggeration, she was crying so hard that she was choking on the blood. Everything ended fine. The crying and blood stopped after a few dramatic minutes. Thank you Sesame Street on YouTube for coming to the rescue! But a word of advice, if you own one of these cute but dangerous chairs - never allow them on it solo. I'm moving it out of our living room for the time being since its our "safe space".
Hartley's favorite things are playing hide n seek (especially using the curtain), eating puffs, watching Sesame Street, reading (especially Olivia), and climbing. She is all about shrieking with excitement. She now does this funny thing when she does a happy squeal and then Lays down and hides her face. It's bizarre and hilarious. She's almost always happy - unless you take remotes or iPhones away from her and then she hates you.
And that's all I can think of for now. It's her world, and I'm just living in it ;)
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