Having A Baby Is Like Joining The Navy...

You do it because you want adventure and exciting new experiences, but you end up spending all of your time swabbing the poop deck.  You cannot even imagine the horror I found when I went to change Harper this morning.

As of this past Wednesday, Harper is now 16 weeks old.  There have been remarkable changes and she is growing so quickly and yet still very slowly.  She's responding to stimuli but still not able to sit up, crawl, walk, dance or recite Shakespeare by heart. 

I am constantly baffled by how in love I am with this little girl.  I am much less nervous being alone with her.  She seems to be responding much better to me lately and just entering her line of sight makes her stop crying and start to smile.  I can't think of anything that could warm my heart more than that.

I had a dream two nights ago where Harper was 2.  I came into the room where she was and she jumped up and threw her arms around my neck.  We went for a walk together and, in the style of dreams, she was suddenly slightly taller than I was with long, straight, black hair and a flowing skirt.  We (Sara and I) also had a young son who was about 4 months old. 

Harper had her 4 month appointment this week.  She is currently 12 lbs, 6 oz.  She is a little small in terms of age and length, but she's proportional and within the range where she is supposed to be.  She loves standing up, although she doesn't have the balance to do so on her own.  If you hold her under the arms, or even just by her hands to keep her balanced, she has plenty of strength to do it and she smiles so big when she does.

It is very difficult, however, to catch that smile on film...  When the camera comes out, she looks at it with astonishment and wonder.

What is this thing I'm lookin' at??

I find myself just staring at her pictures throughout the day.  When I have a free moment, I'll open my phone and just flip through them, smiling to myself and wishing desperately that I were home with her.

With the improvement in the weather, she and I have been going for walks.  As of right now, she's not a huge fan of the stroller, but I think it might get better as she starts to sit up more.  Yesterday, I just carried her and we walked down the block.  I told her about the cars and trucks and we said hi to some neighbors.  I am baffled at how well behaved she is and quite thankful.

I'm hoping that she's able to sit up on her own soon because her outfits are super cute and it's difficult to get a good picture when she's scrunched up in a corner.

She moved a bit for this one...

I am still so amazed at how different she looks from just a few months ago.

For some reason, this picture makes me think of Dr. Suess...

I would like to post some more pictures, but the computer where I am sitting right now takes longer to load a picture than (insert analogy for a very long time.)

Am I glad it's Friday?  Yes...