By September you loved to play and interact with everything around you. You loved playing under your activity center. It had a bird attached to the top, and both of you would reach up and grab it and pull it off within 30 seconds of me turning it on.
You also got strong enough to be able to kick the posts out, so we had to keep a close eye on you. This was when I started calling you my destructo-babies:)
Your toes were still one of your favorite toys. You loved laying on the floor and grabbing at them.
Both of you started babbling away this month, and you became little rolling machines. It became much more difficult to leave the room at all because we never knew how far you would roll. Daddy was still dressing you most days, but despite his lack of fashion sense the two of you were the happiest most adorable babies ever.
Since I was working during the week, I had to set up my photo shoots on the weekends. I took every chance I possibly could to document our life. You were growing and changing so fast that I wanted to make sure we had a photo record of it.
By this time, things were going pretty well. Daddy and I were feeling like we had this parenting thing down pretty well except for one aspect - sleep. Specifically, Harper's lack of sleep. By this time Tannah would sleep for 6-8 hours straight most nights, but Harper, it took forever for us to get you to sleep, and you would only sleep for 2-3 hours when we finally did get you down. Since Daddy was going to have to go back to work soon, we knew that we had to do something to help you sleep better. We moved your crib into the spare bedroom so that you wouldn't keep Tannah up if you cried. Your bedroom looked so empty with only one crib.
The first night was so hard. You cried, and everything inside me screamed to go pick you up and make you happy. Daddy convinced me to be strong by telling me that this was the first time we were actually doing some parenting by helping you learn to sleep and soothe yourself. It was rough, but you slept all night long on the second night. We only had to keep you in a separate room for a few nights, and then we moved you back. While you both still usually woke up 1-2 times per night to eat, it was much easier to get Harper to sleep after that, so Mommy and Daddy actually got to eat dinner together. It was also really nice to get more than two hours of sleep at a time.
As I mentioned before, you were growing so big that you outgrew your bouncy seats. You didn't want to just sit around anymore. You wanted to stand and jump.
Since we were up nice and early every day, we had been taking you to Farmer's Markets all summer long. We went to Michigan the weekend before you started daycare, and we went to the Farmer's Market with Grandma and Grandpa. We needed a family picture for daycare, so we took a fall-themed picture to send with you.
The day you started daycare was another hard day for me. I was nervous about leaving you with new people, and I didn't know how you would react. Daddy and I went together to drop you off. We stayed and played with you for a little while so you could get comfortable with the teachers while we were there. I took the day off of work so I wouldn't feel rushed, and I wouldn't have to leave you all day long the very first day. I'm not going to lie, I went home and took a nap. I called to check on you that day and every day for at least the first week. They always told me you were doing well, and that made me feel better.
I loved getting notes about your day and hearing that you went for walks or did art projects. Daycare gave us a list of things to send for you, and they wanted three outfits for each of you. I thought that seemed excessive, but you managed to get your clothes dirty at least once pretty much every day. I never knew what you would be wearing when I came to pick you up.
One of the many nice things about daycare is that you were tired little babies by bedtime. They kept you busy playing with friends and all of their toys, and you were always ready to snuggle with us at night. You also started going to bed pretty easily at night, which was nice for me and Daddy.
You were growing and growing and getting so big. I loved dressing you in our new fall clothes. I remember thinking that you looked so grown up, but that's funny to me now knowing what you look like as we near one year old. You're still wearing the jeans from the pictures below, but they actually fit you now.
Your new found interest in the world around you included an increased awareness of each other. It made me so happy when you would look at each other and smile, but you also loved to grab each other's ears and mouths.
The two of you became so much fun this month. You loved to play with us, especially peek-a-boo. You would get so excited when you would see the monkey blanket coming down over your faces. You would smile, and kick your little legs excitedly. Coming home to the two of you was the best part of my day every day.
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