Month 15

Holy crow is this late. Life at the Herrera household has been near chaos as of late with new schedules and new "behaviors."  Now that I'm back in the swing of working full time,  I get home at around 6:00 pm each evening. This has been great for Daniel and Harrison to have some "guys time" between daycare and when I get home, but has been quite the adjustment for me.  While the increased tantrums and whines still make it nice when 7:00 pm rolls around and Harrison is quietly sleeping, I try to cram in as much Mommy-Son time in the hour I have with him.  I miss him terribly most days.  The nice notes and updates I get from day care about what a great time he is having and all the friends he's making helps ease some of the sadness. Thursdays, my day off, have become our day to hang out.  Some days we do absolutely nothing except play on the floor with all of his toys, read books, and cuddle.  Those days are perfect.  Other days I try to get him out for a little bit. With me working so much during the week, the weekends have become our family time.  It has been nice to spend some quality time the three of us with out always running all over the place. I pray these weekends can last as long as possible.

"Yay puzzles!"

That being said...Harrison continues to test our patience. It is a favorite game of his to do things he knows he shouldn't while watching us from the corner of his eye. He also loves yelling.  Like, red in the face yelling.  Not always because he's angry, more because he knows it gets a rise out of me :)  And just when we think we may pull out all of our hair, he'll blow a kiss, run to you with his arms wide open, or simply lay his head on your shoulder.  It is amazing how such little gestures can make you forget that he just stomped his feet and threw himself down in the aisle at Target.

Thrilled

Amazing mittens that go up to his elbows.  He's not a fan.

During our 15 month well check for Harrison, I had a nice long conversation with our Doctor about "behavior modifications" and the importance of setting boundaries at this age.  I have never been good at telling Harrison "no".  I will typically avoid it at all costs.  I would rather pick him up and move him myself then to tell him "no".  This is not good.  We have started using a counting method as opposed to saying no all the time.  In this method, instead of simply saying "no"  or "don't do that", you count to 3. (I'm sure everyone remembers the:  "Don't make me count!", but this is a little different)  It  sounds a little something like this:  "1, Harrison you know we don't stand on the couch.  2, Harrison sit down please.  3, Mommy said sit down and now you need to listen."  After counting, we correct the behavior and Harrison is to sit on our lap for 30 seconds before he can go play again. Granted, he's 15 months old so it doesn't work all of the time, but with repetition and practice I have no doubt he'll get it.  We have noticed him picking up on the key words, and as long as we use the right tone of voice, he puts the pieces together. The reason we decided to go with this method was really decided in one sentence from our Doctor.  "Why not give him the opportunity to do something right, rather than just tell him he's doing something wrong?"  Perfect.

"Nice try Dad."

Harrison also received 3 vaccinations at his appointment.  Harrison has never had any bad reactions in the past, but he managed to develop a hematoma on his thigh from the DTaP vaccine.  We're not sure if a blood vessel burst simply because of the pressure of the vaccine or if it was knicked by a needle, but either way it looked pretty bad for awhile. At first there was a large nodule and bright red circle on his leg and we thought he may be developing cellulitis, but thankfully that wasn't the case. The hematoma and swollen tissue was ever present for about a week until it finally went away.  Hopefully it wont happen again!

Day 4

Height: 31 (25th percentile)

Weight: 23 (25th percentile) 

Favorite foods: apple sauce, meat balls, corn bread.  Pears have also made a comeback.

New physical endeavors: Climbing Climbing Climbing.  Harrison also likes standing on unstable objects and then raising his hands above his head.  He's trying to give me a heart attack.

New words:  Papa, sheep, baaa (sheep noise),  roar.  Even though we're at around 12 words now, Harrison still prefers to talk in Klingon.
Naps:  The second nap is officially gone.  For good.  Sigh.  Harrison is still sleeping 12-13 hours a night with one nap at noon that ranges anywhere from 1.5-2.5 hours.

HAPPY 15 MONTHS HARRISON, WE LOVE YOU!