Harmon Girls' Update

Hey everyone:


Gracie is having a WONDERFUL summer. There are 9 kids in our little
neighborhood that she plays with everyday. Her best friend is Olivia
(not her sister), who lives a couple townhouses down. They have slumber parties and play all day.

Poppa Matt got her an early birthday present; a bike with training wheels and streamers. It's pink with ladybugs and a pouch with a zipper that attaches to the handlebars. She LOVES it! Now she rides with all the other kids.

We still take turns reading to Gracie every night, but now she reads to us. We check out "beginning readers" books from the library and we hardly have to help her, except those crazy words that don't follow the "rules" (the silent letters, like the "a" in "float"). We're VERY proud of her.

Olivia has discovered that talking with spit in the back of her throat
to make a gurgling sound is just the coolest! We can all feel her tooth,
but I can't quite see it yet. She's constantly sucking on her fingers and
drooling everywhere - that the part Gracie hates... in a loving, sisterly way :)

May 30th, she laughed for the 1st time, at Gracie being goofy. On June 1st we went swimming, but we only put Olivia's feet in :) On the 2nd, she
reached out with her left hand for her rattle, grabbed it, and shook it around for a couple seconds. On the 13th, she figured out how st suck her thumb, on the 14th, she rolled on her side, on the 18th she finally rolled over all the way. She's had a busy month.. and I didn't even tell you all I wrote down :)

Olivia rolls onto her stomach, always to the left, and back again. She is
learning to pull her arm out from under her when she rolls... but sometimes she's too tuckered out and mom helps her out. She does lift herself up enough to look around, and everyday she does it longer.

Both mommy and Olivia are learning to go through the day without me
holding her. I know, I know, EVERYONE (even strangers) said not to
hold her too much... but it's just so hard!!! So nap time has started to
become a hassle, and she tests me. She cries really hard for a few
seconds, then she's quiet, and when I don't respond, she cries real loud,
then waits. I go talk to her, let her hear my voice so she knows I didn't
abandon her, but I don't let her see me. I've only been at it for two days,
so we'll see how it works. The advice is great, but every child's different,
so you have to tweak it a little.


Talk to you all soon

The Harmon Family