Harrison- 19 Months

Disclaimer- I took these photos sometime between 18 and 19 months. It has been such an ordeal to take them (recently), that I gave him his Sock-Monkey-In-A-Box, and kept shooting. So, yes, he is wearing the same outfit, and the photos are from the same day, but I know you are over it, I am!! I was thrilled to get one where he looked at the camera!

December 14th- January 13th: This month, Harrison has found a new voice...A WHINEY ONE!!!!!!! I don't know how it started or what we did wrong, but he has started to whine when things don't go how he thinks they should. I first mentioned this in his 16 month post, but let me tell you- that was nothing!! He doesn't throw all out 'tantrums', but I almost wonder if I would prefer that, simply because at some point the tantrum ends. It is at its worst with us, those who love, feed and clothe him, after we get home from work. It somewhat reminds me of a period he went through at around 7 weeks, when he would cry from the moment Bryan got home, until he went to bed. That passed, so I am sure this will, too....right?

Food: DIP- DIP- DIP!!! We were at Buffalo Wild Wings, and Harry was watching us dip our wings and veggies in ranch dressing. So, of course, he wanted to try what we had. Now, he wants everything in dip...blueberries in yogurt, bread into hummus...EVERYTHING!!! He continues to be a good eater, overall (that is if he is not whining about what we decided to make for dinner).

Lodging: This is one tired boy. Harry's nap schedule has been ALL over the board. He is typically down to one nap, but some days he barely makes it through breakfast and to Erika's before he goes down for an 8:00 nap. Then, he will 'occasionally' take an afternoon nap, you never really can tell. Then, there are the days that he sleeps 2 hours in the morning, 2 hours in the afternoon, and all night. I LOVE THOSE DAYS!!!

Communication: Harry has started to grasp that he has a loud voice that gets attention faster than his normal voice. I laugh as I type this, because at church he is he kid that can't make it through the service in the nursery. They have pagers (think restaurant pagers), and about 20 minutes in, we get paged to come and get him. As we leave the sanctuary, we can hear him yelling, "mama", "dada". Moral of the story this month...this too, shall pass.

I promise, Harry does in fact have his good moments, too. We had a proud parent moment in ECFE. Some of the other parents were noticing how well Harry listens, and shares. They were amazed that he would listen to me when I told him to give another child the toy he had. He was just being Harry, saying please, and occasionally thank you (as we have worked on for months). It is nice when someone tells you that you have a toddler with good manners.

Transportation: Nothing new to report.

Entertainment: The CARS obsession has lessened, and reading BOOKS with mom and dad is now the "in thing"- YEAH!!!!


Trying to keep the Croup away, Harrison helped us nebulize him. Thankfully, a couple treatments later, he was healthy.








I have a HUGE bin of Christmas books that Harrison will pull out and ask us to read him. He will sit for 20 minutes reading with Bryan, or me, before bed.





I was making cookies, and one of those whining fits came on. I had to get them done for the bake sale, so Harrison became my helper. He was in a trance watching the mixer go round and round, and loved adding flour when it was time. Perhaps I should have him bake with me more?!




I finally tried Play Dough. I was sure that he would eat the whole container, but he took one taste and decided that it was not worth it! he stayed busy playing for another 20 minutes...which is a long time in Harry's world.

Playing with Jackson at grandma and grandpa's.





With great-grandma Pat.






We went to visit the great-grandparents for Christmas. Sadly, we only made it part of the way through the weekend before Harry got a stomach bug. I had planned on getting pictures with the other great-grandparents when we visited on Sunday, but it did not happen.

Harrison- 18 months

This is the "Mom, I have NO patience for these photos...you better give me something good to look at" look. You get the idea!

Life, over the Christmas season, got a little hectic, and I got behind on posting. This post will cover 11/14/11 - 12/13/11, including Thanksgiving. I could not post about thanksgiving without thanking God for the blessing that Harrison is to us everyday. We are so lucky to be his parents.

This month, Harrison has really started to pick up on things that we say and do at an amazing pace! He turns lights on and off when we enter/leave a room or just for fun! He will pull out the stool to wash his hands before we eat. He reaches out one arm (removing the car from that hand) to put on his jacket when we ask him to, and knows that he shouldn't go out without a hat (and will tell you). He has the strange ability to predict bath night, and will scratch at the bathroom door yelling "bass" (his word for bath), should you change it up. It is so fun to watch it all start to click...even though he most certainly has an opinion when things aren't working exactly how they should.

Food: Harry could live on oranges, raisins, blueberries dipped in yogurt and cheese (especially cottage cheese). He is still a big fan of hummus on anything and a continues to be a really good fruit and veggie eater (the kid even likes broccoli). He definitely has his phases, where he will love something for a week, then he shuns it. He has, and I fear always will be, 100% certain of what he wants and what he doesn't...gee, I wonder where he gets that from!!

Lodging: Sleeping all night. I NEVER get to post that, so I am sure I jinxed it for next month, but we will celebrate when we can!!

Communication: Harry is really good at naming facial features, body parts and animals. He is starting to transfer what he knows to new things (aka- pointing to the bunnies eyes, or the monkeys fingers). Things are starting to click. One day at the MOA, I taught him about elevator buttons. The next day, he was turning the thermostat down to 54...there were so many buttons to push. Just think of how many places a 3-foot tall toddler can find buttons.

I am used to his repeated language, that is saying car 75 times until he either gets what he wants or gives up. I liken this to the scene from Family Guy where Stewie says, "Mom, mama, mommy, mommy, mom, mama, mommy, mommy, mom, mama, LOIS...." This is our normal, but I can definitely see where it can drive someone who is not used to it crazy. I had not doubt that my offspring would be a chatterbox, so I am not surprised.

Transportation: He is now a CONFIDENT climber, which means that he has learned to stack up obstacle courses in the living room with the goal of climbing over the back of the couch, or up onto the dining room table. I am riding somewhere between Darwin- survival of the fittest, and put him in a padded room, but I know that he is just trying to explore and with the will come bumps and bruises.

Entertainment: WARM WEATHER!!! We have not had any snow at all this month...in Minnesota! It has been such a blessing to have outdoor time with a rambunctious toddler, especially since we finished his swing set in late in the summer.

Other than that, Harry is still a big fan of cars. Anything cars. Um...yeah.





Quality time with Mama, Toby (cousin-cat) and Lightning McQueen. Lightning McQueen (photographed) is currently in a secret hiding place that even Harry can't remember, but any other Lightning will come in as a close second! We came home one afternoon when grandma Suzanne had watched him, and he was snuggling with it in his crib. When I took it out, he woke up and reached out for his car!! YIKES!!! At least these cars are fairly cheap.


The collection is growing!

Cat-sitting for Toby cat.



Harry has started to LOVE brushing his teeth. He does such a good job!







Thanksgiving with grandma, grandpa and uncle Eric.


Folding stool...very awesome invention for small bathrooms/houses, and getting little independent hands washed for dinner. Not to mention, all-important tool in the climbing career of one Harrison Vail.

Toy shrapnel.

Crayon shrapnel.






While waiting for Santa photos with Jeremiah and Erika, the boys played with a Thomas the Train set. They were entertained for over a half an hour.







After taking pictures with Santa, we went to visit a few of the reindeer in training.