Harrison's First Haircut!

Harrison definitely got his father's genes when it comes to hair.  Dark brown, thick and there from the beginning.  I was born bald and my first haircut wasn't until around the 2-year mark, so it hit me like a load of bricks when I realized it was time for Harrison's at just 9-months.  I found myself constantly wiping his hair out of his eyes. While I loved his "shaggy" look, it was becoming apparent that the long hairs on the front had been there for 9-months (if not longer) and were beginning to look a bit stringy.  Thinking of what my hair would look like if I went 9-months without a cut,  I knew it was time to give in.

It was a lot harder than I had expected it to be. I knew it would touch my heart to experience his first haircut, but tears?  Yes, I teared.  Seeing his tiny little body in that big chair was enough to make my heart melt.  He was such a trooper through the whole thing, more interested in the hairdresser's toys than anything else going on.  It wasn't until I was taking him out of the chair that he even realized there was a TV playing Curious George not 5 feet from him.  Apparently a couple of old plastic Cabbage Patch dolls is all he needs ;)  Along with the haircut, we also received locks of his hair for his baby book, a certificate and the comb used during the cut.  I don't think the comb was part of the deal, but Harrison grabbed it and shoved it in his mouth, so it therefore became his.  His hair is a little shorter than I imagined and its going to take me awhile to get used to his "big boy" look, but I have to admit its pretty cute!

"What is going on??"

Getting ready!

Official "before" picture

During

After--with his new comb!

9 Month Stats

Harrison had his 9-month appointment today and it was very nice for a change to not have any vaccinations! As the 9-month visit is simply a wellness check and things have been going so well, I was tempted to just skip it and wait until the 12-month appointment.  6 months seemed like a long time to be out of the doctor's office for the little guy and I decided to show up (if only just to have a "happy/no pain" experience for him).

He cruised around the office while we waited, entertaining himself with the assortment of toys in the office. I found myself praying they had been recently cleaned.  I restrained my OCD and decided to let the little man play, but it was disinfectant wipes to his entire body the second we were out the door :)  Our pediatrician and his wife had their second baby just last week and it was easy to see the haggard look of "new baby" on his face.  Ahh, seems like yesterday!  The role reversal was a little fun.

Harrison's weight is now 19 lbs 11 oz (up 2.3 pounds since his 6-month appointment) and his height is now 28 1/4 inches (up only 1/4 inch). He is now in the 10th percentile for his weight and the 25th percentile for his height. He continues to be a skinny man and it appears as though his genes have finally caught up to his height.  Having gone from the 90th percentile to the 25th seemed quite dramatic, but as our doctor said: "He's evening out now".  His nickname at home "Munchkin" is now becoming a reality.   He is more and more active by the day, just yesterday he took one step unsupported.  It was just one so we've decided to hold out for the real thing before we get too excited.  It wont be long I'm sure.  As you can see from the picture below, its becoming more and more difficult to get him on the chair and sit still.  Poor bear didn't stand a chance :)

9-Months

"I'm over this."

Happy 9 Months Harrison!

This little boy cant help but to amaze me!  Harrison is on the go and growing by the day.

2 weeks ago proved to be his biggest growth spurt in awhile.  The term "he seemed to grow overnight" was in fact, quite literal. Harrison went to bed in his cozy pajamas and awoke to pants legs to his shins and sporting quite the crop-top. He is completely out of all 9-month clothes and some of the twelve month clothes and very quickly becoming tight.

His motor skills have not slowed down either, Harrison is now cruising along furniture with no hands--he simply uses his sides to stabilize himself.  His periods of free-standing have increased in length (one incident just long enough to poop...)  He has also learned to climb his gate and cruise against the walls.  Frequently throughout the day I can be heard saying "No, no Harrison.  You're not big enough for that yet." The boy has his sights set high!

Harrison now has a new favorite food--pineapple.  Other new treats include blueberry puffs, pear yogurt and crackers, macaroni and cheese and spaghetti.  Even though we're trying our best to resist giving him "big people food" aka "not very healthy food", he has had a few nibbles along the way.  His favorites so far are cake frosting and the whipped topping from Caribou.  Harrison has also started using a sippy cup with a few ounces of water in it.  He is very good at holding it and directing it towards his mouth, but he is still grasping the "tip it up" concept.

This month we began using sign language with Harrison.  So far we have introduced "milk", "eat", and "more". He has developed an understanding of "milk" and "eat" and while he does not sign anything back to us quite yet, his excitement (which then leads to furious impatience) cannot be denied.  We're still working on "more"  Its hard to tell if he understands us when we sign it to him yet, but he definitely has his own way of communicating that need:  slamming his hands on the high chair and yelling.  It is said that when introducing new signs it may be 3-weeks to a month before an infant understands and/or reciprocates the sign.  That seems like a very long time, but with everyone on board I'm hoping we stick with it!

Other things new:

Harrison has decided that he likes to take of his clothes when he sleeps.  It first began with me finding him with his pants partially off.  It has now progressed to finding him with no pants on and his socks on the floor.

Our wonderful crib looks as though it has been through a war.  When we disassembled the crib for our move  a month ago small indents (2-3 total) could BARELY be seen on one of the rails.  It was discussed that we should look into rail covers.  Harrison then stopped teething and the phase seemed to be over.  Then....BAM.  Needless to say we finally purchased the rail covers.  I'm hoping that with a little sanding and staining that we can cover most of the damage.  And if not, at least the rail covers will hide the damage.

Harrison was baptized this month!  We decided to have Harrison baptized at Nativity Lutheran Church on July 29th.  It was a wonderful celebration with family and I'm glad we did it (better late than never, right?!)

Lions and Tigers and Day Cares, Oh my!

The month of July was an fun and incredibly hot one for Harrison!  We tried as often as possible to get him out and about while remembering how dangerous it can be for little ones when the temperature gets high.

Dan decided to take a day off work a few weeks ago so we could take Harrison to the Como Zoo bright and early before it got too warm.  Our sleepy head has become accustomed to sleeping until 9am recently so it was a shock to all of our systems to be up and ready to go before the zoo opened.  I was pleasantly surprised at how alert Harrison was during our trip through the zoo.  He could pick out animals from across the fields and stared with a bizarre intensity at all the strange creatures.  It was almost as if by seeing all of the animals for the first time, his understanding of the world had been shaken.

Harrison's favorite animals were the fish (REALLY?) and the giraffes.  While walking through the aquarium I realized that the little kids are the only ones that stop and look at fish while at the Como Zoo.  No older child cares about the walleye in the mucky tank.  My kid was thoroughly impressed. The least favorite animal of the day went to the gorillas. The gorillas were inside the morning we were there.  I rolled Harrison's stroller right up to the glass, the biggest gorilla sat approximately 5 feet away from him.  The intensity in that gorilla's stare was unnerving. Even though it was behind thick glass, something about the way he was staring at my baby set my mommy radar right off. I was officially freaked out.  Then the gorilla stood up and started pounding on his chest at Harrison.  That was all it took, I wheeled Harrison right on out of that monkey death trap :)

The animal adventures continued at the Slice of Shoreview.  Unfortunately we missed the parade (sleepy head decided it was too early to get up) but we did check out the petting zoo.  The petting zoo consisted of goats, a donkey, a camel and red kangaroos.  While a little too young to participate in the feeding of the animals, Harrison did enjoy staring at them!  I'm excited for the years to come when he will be a little older and able to participate in more of the activities The Slice has to offer.

July also marked the last month of Diana watching Harrison while I work.  We are so excited for her new job, but also sad.  I am incredibly grateful and blessed that she was able to watch him for so long.  I was very fortunate to never experience the tears and nervousness that comes with going back to work.  Harrison LOVED spending time with Diana and Noelle and I know he will miss them a lot!

We've started the search for a new place for Harrison while I'm working and now I understand why a lot of mom's stay at home with their kids.  99.9% of day cares are nightmares, and the other would require most to take out a second mortgage.  We haven't quite settled on a place for Harrison yet, but we're getting there.  The hardest point for us has been that I'm still only working a few days a week and many places have a 3-day minimum.  I'm imagining that the first place we find for Harrison will be temporary until I either obtain more hours or start working full time (hopefully soon!)  After that, bring on the big-bucks place!