Even before Harlow was born I knew keeping up on life with four kids was going to be a challenge. What I didn't realize was how much of challenge. We are still mostly in survival mode, but I'm not willing to give up on this record keeping. If these past two months are any indication of how fast life passes by, I figure I better get these memories down while I can.
Yes, Harlow is already two months old, but I am still going to try to fly through a recap of our first month with the sweetest, most peaceful, and easy going baby we've ever welcomed into our home.
Bringing Harlow home was such a joy. The kids were truly elated to have her here, and I'm happy to report that the elation has yet to die down. Most of the month was spent getting to know and loving on our new little princess. The kids have have given her no shortage of their attention and watching them shower her with their affection has definitely been a highlight.
Max has been enamored with Harlow from the moment she arrived.
He's also very vocal with his admiration. I can almost guarantee in that first photo he is saying, "Isn't Harlow so cute?" He says that a lot. Interesting...since she definitely seems to resemble him the most. I think my favorite was when he asked me a few weeks after her arrival, "Is Harlow a lot of work?" I answered honestly to the affirmative to which he replied, "Well...at least she looks good."
Reed is our resident baby expert (as far as the kids go) and loves being the one I can count on to hold her and help me out. Aside from being a little too eager to show me how he is capable of holding her while walking around, he has been the perfect extra set of hands for me.
Ruby, amazingly enough, has shown very little jealousy so far. While she's happy to limit her "Harlow holding time" to a few minutes at a time, I do see a budding sisterly bond beginning to develop. I'm pretty sure in this picture she's saying something like, "Girls to girls to girls." Ruby definitely likes having another girl around.
The girl spent much of her first month sleeping like a champ. (A little too much for my worry level.)
When she wasn't sleeping, her eyes were wide open. And I do mean wide. During her first month she seemed to always be asleep or startled.
Asleep...
and startled.
Actually I lied...during her first few weeks she did also grace us with a few smiles...and we were giddy when she did.
It's never too early for a fashion statement. Just when I thought Ruby had exhausted all of the opportunities for adding ruffles and frills to clothing, Harlow broke new ground with these socks from my mom.
During her first month, Harlow also began what Max refers to as her daily "crawling practice". He is anxious to help her get moving as soon as possible. He likes to use toys to motivate her. She seemed pretty interested in the mirror he was inticing her with.
Check out Harlow's leg action. Not bad coach Max.
Harlow's first month was filled with visits from her Grandmother, Grandfather and Nana. I only have a picture of Nana (Sorry Mom and Dad.) We all appreciated the generosity of our visitors and I'm pretty sure we couldn't have made it without their help.
Wow! What a month! Thank you Harlow, for going to be early so I could finally get this done. I love you more than sleep.
