Harrison- Week 49

Happy Easter!!

We celebrated our first Easter as a family of three. On Saturday, before Easter, we went to see the Easter Bunny. Harrison LOVED the giant stuffed animal bunny, and could not get enough. We got some great pictures.

We started the day, on Easter, just the three of us. We gave Harrison a small Easter basket, with some little people, a book and some new sippies (and Rosie one with treats). Then, we went to church and breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa Blom and Uncle Eric. Harrison was great during church, with the assistance of some plastic eggs and little people. New toys are always great for a distraction. Plus, there was a lot of music at the service, which we all enjoyed.
Later that day, we got together at Grandma and Grandpa Gregory's house for an Easter Egg Hunt and dinner. Joel and Holly's family had gotten sick on the way to celebrate with us, so it was just our family, and Kevin, Erika and Jeremiah celebrating with Grandma and Grandpa.

We hung up Harry's swing in the backyard. It was/is a big hit!! Too bad it has been too cold and rainy to use it much, yet. We have been busy playing inside with the same old toys. I am actually rotating his toys to keep him occupied. He has MORE than enough toys, I think he just needs to forget about some of them for a while, and he will be excited to see them, again.

This week, Harrison has started to eat like he has a bottomless pit in his tummy!! I think he is making up for not feeling do great over last week. It is also great to see him that he is turning into a kids who eats almost anything. Harrison has been taking steps this week. He will stand for ten to twenty seconds on his own, and he can take 4-5 steps before tumbling. We think he can do more, but he gets nervous and topples. Maybe he will walk before his first birthday?


SWING!!!



Meeting the Easter Bunny.


The Easter Baskets.




Egg Dying the night before Easter.

Shower time with Dad.




Opening the contents of the Easter Basket. Of course, he liked the big eggs better than anything inside of them.


Clifford Swing at Grandma and Grandpa's house.




Hunting for Eggs.

CELEBRATE EASTER!!!


Harrison and Jeremiah displaying their current preferred modes of transportation!

Climbing the stairs.

Harrison- 11 Month Letter

Harry-
We are in disbelief that you have grown so much. You will be 1 year old in a month now, and too much had happened to wait for a 12 month letter!

You are making lots of noise, and have started to imitate this month. You are definitely understanding more than we give you credit for. Now, when we say “No”, there is a pause, and you can tell that you are aware that this means Dad, or I, will come and move you away from your current location/obsession, but you usually still need that redirection. When people come into the room, or you come into a room, you say “Hi” (selectively, of course, but there is no denying that is what you are saying). You have said some other words, “Mama” and “Dada” (now more accurately) “Bye-Bye” and “Baba” (bottle) are the most recognizable. Grandma said that one day when she was there, you even copied the dog barking :)

You started clapping this month, and continue to high-five. However, the biggest change is the wave! You wave hi, you wave bye, you wave excited, you wave hungry… needless to say, you love to wave. It is especially adorable when it is following “Hi”. At swimming lessons this past week, I got in the pool with you and dad watched from the side. Every time I asked where Dada was, you waved at the exact spot he was standing until he waved back.

BIG NEWS!!! You learned how to sleep through the night this month!!! YEAH!!! You would sleep from 7:00/7:30pm to 6:30am. It was short lived, though. You got a week-long stomach bug that took down your cousin, Jeremiah, too. Needless to say, the sleeping through the night has yet to return. The illness was somewhat of a blessing in disguise, as you are a much better eater now that you feel better than you were before you got sick. You really like toast with low-sugar grape jelly right now.

You have always been able to play by yourself for long periods of time, and this month is no exception. You have really started to like books for their pictures and words, and not just the fact that you can eat the cardboard they are made out of. You are still content to crawl, and are getting very good at it. You have taken a few steps into the arms of a person who will make a BIG deal out of you walking towards them. Otherwise, your preferred mode of transportation is crawling. You will walk around furniture, but really do not like when people hold your hand to walk…not when you are perfectly capable of crawling to get where you want!

You have eight teeth, four on top and four on the bottom. You are starting to get bumps where your molars will be, but none have poked through, yet. We thought you were maybe teething when you started to like using your bink, again (after 8 months of no interest what so ever). It seems, however, that you simply changed your mind about it. You do not want it to go to bed, but like to find it at night for comfort. You also like to have one when you are getting fussy.

It is so much fun to watch you change everyday,
Love,
Mom (and Dad, too)

Harrison- Weeks 47 & 48

You are probably wondering why I mashed weeks 47 and 48 together? Well, they were somewhat of a blur in our house. Harrison came down with the stomach flu (we think, anyways) on Thursday of week 47 and it stuck with him for 6 days. Luckily, he was the last of the boys that Auntie Erika watches (Andon and cousin Jeremiah) to come down with it. So, the day that I had to stay home, when I got sick, he could hangout while I got some sleep. It not only took out all the little boys, but also Bryan, my dad, and Kevin for a day or more. The biggest complication of this illness came when our very old washing machine decided to stop working between loads of laundry from a sick little boy. We researched, purchased and installed a new washer and dryer in a matter of 4 or 5 hours. We only had to rip out the drywall on both sides of the staircase going to the basement :)

After that, one would think that there is not much more to report. However, for a majority of the first week before Harry got sick there was a lot going on. Harrison learned to clap and successfully wave hi and bye-bye (reliably). He even says "Hi" when you come into a room now! I think he perfected it while we watched cousin Jeremiah for part of a Saturday. The big boys (Bryan and Kevin) had to work at the GSTA car show, so I had planned to pack up both boys and bring them down after their morning naps and a snack. They both slept at the same time for almost 2 hours, so we got started a little later than planned, but it was still a fun time.
Speaking of naps, we have been trying, now that Harrison is healthy again, to make him take 9am and 1pm naps on a better schedule. I realized, after having them nap together, how much easier that would be. So, hopefully he will cooperate :)

Other than that, we are party planning, for Harrison's first birthday!! It seems SO crazy to say, but I know that he is getting oh-so-close to that day.


Rosie does NOT like it when he uses her as a stepping stool. I do not blame her!


Tickle Monster

The drywall cut away for the washer and dryer.

Rosie checking out the newest items in her "room".

Our other washer and dryer had 4 settings, I think...



Waving "Hi" at the car show!



The boys had a chance to flirt with Miss Mary :)




We went to swing at the park. Harrison had a hoodie that was too small for him, so they had "matchy-matchy" hoodies on.

Checking the mail with Daddy.



The climbing has begun...

Rosie is SO patient. Her best trick...being a good fur-sister.