9 Months

The months are flying by now--it's time to celebrate another 27th.  Harrison is still working on crawling, although he's decided he might try the bear crawl instead of this silly hands-and-knees version that the other kids his age are doing.  Either way, I say, as long as that boy can start to get around on his own because he is getting HEAVY for this mama to hold all the time!  And let me assure you, he does prefer to be held all day long.  I call him my Velcro baby because he is stuck on me.  (And I pretend that I'm annoyed by it, but deep down I think it's so sweet.)

While he likes for me to hold him all the time, he still manages to be somewhat of a party animal.  Harrison is always happiest around lots of people and lots of action.  A nice relaxing day at home bores him, but take him out to the mall or a party or a ball game and he'll be so busy people watching that he forgets to eat!

Speaking of food--he's pretty much moved on to table food and we have yet to find a food he doesn't like.  Still no teeth in that sweet little mouth, but he isn't ashamed and lets those gums show in full when he gives me the good smile.  Boy, that smile lights up my days.

H-man, you're my favorite little.  Love you, kiss you, squeeze you.  Happy 27th, bud.

8 Months Old

Another 27th has come, which means that my tiny boy has inched one more month closer to a year old.  This time he's 8 months old and so much has changed.

He's gradually starting to work off those thigh rolls as he starts to try crawling (but don't worry, he's still as "plush" as ever).  He hasn't quite figured out how to truly be mobile, but he certainly gets around, usually by rolling multiple times to cover some ground. 

H-man is still very expressive with his facial features, but he's getting more vocal now, too.  He says "Dada" all day long.  Each time he says it Carter tells him, "Stop saying Dada, say Carter!"  Personally, I'm repeating the word "Mama" like a parrot to try and claim my name as his second official word. 

It's been fun to see him start to play with toys.  So far his favorites are the ever-popular ring stacker toy and a little toy train that moves and plays music.  Just like big brother, he loves music.  He would play patty cake all day, too, if mommy's arms didn't get tired. 

He's a good, good boy and I just can't believe he's so big.  Happy 27th, H.  Love you to pieces.

Lucky Number 7

Happy 7 months, Harrison!

Unfortunately, this 27th falls on a week when our entire family is fighting off an upper respiratory virus that just won't go away.  I really thought this might be the month in which an 'outtake' picture might have to suffice as THE picture, but in the eleventh hour Daddy and Carter managed to eek out this smile between coughs and sneezes. 

I love this picture because this is the face I see multiple times per day, every single day.  H-man loves to chew on that lower lip, and sometimes he just can't let it go, even for a big smile.  Of course, 'chew' might be an overstatement--this boy still just has a mouth full of gums.

He's eating lots of baby food and has declared a pretty strong distaste for rice cereal, but any other puree is fair game.  As he's gotten more steady with his sitting up, he's gotten more and more interested in the many toys his brother leaves around the house.  What happens if you put him in a jump up?  Well, he'll bounce and bounce until he just can't bounce anymore.  (Yet even with all that exercise, those rolls on his thighs just aren't going anywhere!)

Thanks for showing us a smile, buddy; we know you weren't feeling good, but this picture sure makes me feel better. 

"Half"-y Birthday

Today, Harrison Jeffrey is six months old.  We simply cannot believe we've gotten to squish this chubby bunny for half a year already.  As evidenced by his picture, he's grown in height and weight but also in physical ability.  This time I was able to leave him sitting up for his photo shoot, with strategically placed pillows in case that big ol' head knocked him over.

Day by day, he's outgrowing the colicky temperament that plagued us for so many of the early months, and guess what?  Underneath all that colic is a sweet boy who loves to smile, gets mesmerized by watching his hands work, and has a deep belly laugh that makes everybody chuckle. 

As he starts to develop more fine motor coordination, we see how focused and driven he is.  He has a very specific 'deep concentration' expression--lips pursed, eyes sharp, quick breaths--as he works to do whatever task he's decided on.  If he is successful, he completes the task with gusto--toy jammed promptly into mouth, or whatever.  If he is unsuccessful on first attempt, he usually throws a 5 second tantrum before trying again.  Oh, the fun we're going to have when his older brother invariably gets between Harrison and his goal, right?

We love this boy.  Can't get enough of him.  Still want to eat those cheeks for dessert every time I see him. 

Happy 27th, H-man.

A series of unfortunate events

I feel very lucky to work at an office where my hours and my work weeks are short, allowing me lots of time to spend with my kids. Currently on Mondays and Wednesdays I don't start working until 11 am, which means that I get two workdays per week to give the boys baths in the morning, get them fed, and get them dressed--all at a leisurely pace. We get to play a little and usually they are great mornings.

Usually.

Every once in a while, instead of a nice leisurely morning of playing and putting lotion on freshly-bathed kids, the wheels come off and chaos rules in our household. One such morning happened last Wednesday.

We had been having a great morning so far, just playing a little and talking some. Harrison took and good morning nap which allowed me to get dressed for work at a relaxed pace.

Right as I was preparing the necessary bottles for Harrison for the day, I heard him wake from his nap in my bedroom. He started to cry but I was almost finished so I quickly put the last bottle together and then went in to get the baby.

By the time I got into the room, the crying had reached a fever pitch. The sight that greeted me on the other side of the door was like a mommy nightmare--unbeknownst to me, Carter had gone in before me to 'help' calm Harrison in my absence. My sweet big boy was trying a trick he had seen mommy and daddy use to quiet baby Harrison--giving him some dark colored medicine from a dropper bottle. In his clumsy two-year-old hands, however, the medicine dropper became a weapon, essentially subjecting Harrison to a very traumatic intubation. (I exaggerate, but seriously, he had jabbed that dropper waaaay to the back of the throat and Harrison was not happy about it.)

Once Harrison had been rescued, I looked around and noticed that not only was my 5 month old's face covered in the inky black colored Colic Calm medicine, but so were three large areas of my carpet. My formerly white carpet. My carpet that I'm trying to sell (along with the house) in just a few weeks. Oh my. Clean up on aisle three!!

Got the carpet treated as best I could and then went into the living room to nurse Harrison. As soon as I sat down, Carter told me that he needed to use the potty. He's gone by himself before without incident, so when he told me he wanted to go 'by myselfs' I didn't argue. I was busy anyway, right? I could hear his progress from the living room: walking to the bathroom...going in the potty...pause for wiping...flush...pause...pause...flush...pause...pause...too much pause...followed by several more flushes. I put Harrison down and rushed in just as the water in the toilet bowl reached the level of the lid. It turns out that it only takes 1/2 roll of wadded toilet paper to clog our toilet. Who knew?

Flood averted, I returned to the living room with just enough time to finish nursing and get to work. I put on a video to distract Carter and fed H-man. Right on schedule, he finished eating and I moved him to my shoulder for a burp before I out him in the car seat and he erupted like a volcano. He spit up what seemed like a pint of milk. The little burp rag I had on didn't stand a chance. In the end I had to change my shirt, my pants, and the baby.

Somehow, someway, we still got to daycare and work on time. By the time it was all said and done, I was laughing at all the misfortune of our morning. It was high-pitched, crazy lady laughter, but, hey, laughing is better than crying, right?

As they say, the struggle is real. Ha.