parenthood

Lord have mercy where has the time gone? We have a whole one year old! It was just a few days ago, we were bringing her home in this small carseat that we didn’t know how to fix the car straps for, trying to figure out how to maneuver her in our home. Or, it seems like yesterday that I was taking her to my dad while I get acclimated back to the work place. They say time flies when you’re having fun, and I believe it. Although our first year as parents was very hard and stressful, we are so overjoyed with our “healthy, happy, and beautiful” little rugrat.

One of the things I am most proud of as a mother is that I did not compare myself to other parents and I only took advice I had with a grain of salt. Its like God equipped me with a different set of wisdom to use that I never had. My husband and I learned a long time ago, that children are different and we talked a lot of about our own childhood where we made a plan to fully rely on each other. I’m telling you, it is SO IMPORTANT to have a partner in child raising. I commend single parents and I really don’t know how they do it, but I know some of them would love help.

Harper is a funny kid. She is always smiling and laughing. As soon as she wakes up, she is smiling and talking. She loves to clap and she just started dancing. She loves to “praise the Lord” (we love Jesus over here folks) and will lift her hands every time she hears “Yes, Lord!” She marches to her own beat on her very own drums and she loves to give hugs.

We had plenty plans for her for the year of 2020, lots of travel, outdoor activities, swimming lessons, but COVID delayed all of that, and we’re just now getting her out but with much precautions. We will be able to tell her about this in a few years, that she spent most of her first year of life, in a pandemic. We will also tell her that we are sad that she didn’t get to meet our beloved Bishop/Pastor who witnessed mommy and daddy’s engagement, counseled us, and then married us. We also prayed that he would be the one to christen her, but the Lord thought it was time for him to come home. Harper is full of discernment, but is very friendly.

We are now in the stages of fully reading to her and indulging in the academic world just to get her more exposed to numbers, letters, literature and possibly different languages. We are so nervous, but excited. Although her birthday is October 7, feel free to wish her a happy birthday. We’ve been celebrating all month!

We have a 9 month old guys! Well, she’ll be knocking on 10 months soon, but our baby is growing! I look at this little human everyday and just thank God that I was able to give life to such a beautiful little person. Not many make it to this moment. So it is a blessing, I tell you.

Harper’s Growth Journey

What’s Harper Up To?

She is now on her feet trying to walk. She takes a few steps and then plops on the floor, but she crawls like a ninja! Its fun to watch her explore things in our home, especially the things she sees us use on a daily basis. So the kitchen is her favorite place to be and standing up on everything. Baby-proofing is still a work in progress so we’re kind of glad that she isn’t quite up on her feet permanently.

At her 9 month checkup, we were excited that her Pediatrician cleared her for table food, but still stay formula until she is one. We still give her baby food because we don’t want to rush things with her. We learned that slow and steady wins the race, plus she surprises us when she wants to advance to the next level. Sweets are her thing and she will only eat meat and veggies, if it’s human meats and veggies. That jar food is for the birds! “Mama, Dada, Nana and Papa” are her favorite words and she loves to scream at the top of her lungs.

We introduced Harper to the pool and she loved it! One of my goals is to get her in the water so we can start learning how to swim. I think swimming is more of a requirement than a privilege so it is very important she learns that. Harper thinks the swing is a mechanism for her to go to sleep so when we put her in the swing for the very first time, her eyes were getting heavy! We may revisit that a little later.

Harper’s Hair

I’m loving her hair! Her curls are starting to evolve and it’s completely different from mine. She has thick curly hair and I have about 20 minutes to wash, detangle, and style her hair before she gets upset. Currently, my favorite products to use on her are from the Auntie Jackie’s Curls & Coils Line. My favorite styles to do for her are finger coils, mini twists, and now that her hair is longer, I create small ponytails all over and coil the ends. As her hair gets longer and thicker, I switch up her routine a little bit, meaning wash days could be once a week or every two weeks. For her, less manipulation is key and also results in a happy baby and less tiresome mommy.

How are you doing as Parents?

Sleep is still non-existent! 😅 But we definitely enjoy every minute we have with her. Although we have fun, it is very challenging and we don’t always get it right. Sometimes Harper will wake up in the middle of the night crying and it takes us about 20 minutes to figure it out. There are days where we struggle to work or work on other things and she really wants our attention. Sometimes we wonder if we’re doing something wrong. But we never compare our child to someone else’s. Or compare ourselves to other parents. We all have difference journey’s in life and the more we focus on Harper and our family, we thrive. Its been less stressful, not to mention we keep “advice” to a minimum. There isn’t a handbook on parenthood and outsiders don’t have a handbook on your child.

Can we ever prepare for the upcoming years as a parent?

We can prepare as much as we want but we will never be ready. We don’t know what Harper will be like 5, 10, 15 years from now so the main thing we are doing is working on ourselves as individuals, as husband and wife so we can be the best parents for her. A lot of people are really against marriage before children, but a healthy marriage is a healthy family. But, we’ll talk about that soon. Despite COVID-19, God is still blessing me and my family and we cannot wait to see how the rest of the year plays out.