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!

8 Months Old

Age: 8 Months

Clothes size: 12 month tops, 9 month bottoms

Diaper size: 4

 Physical achievements:  sitting, rolling, crawling, pulling up on objects, standing, walking along furniture.

Words: "Dada", "Mum" (YAY!), "Baba" (bottle)

Fine motor development: Harrison is beginning to use the pincer grasp and  has started self-feeding.

New Foods: This month we introduced rice wafers, rice cakes and veggie crunches. He also has learned to enjoy small pieces of watermelon.  Expanding his diet past baby food and bottles to include more finger-foods is a goal for this next month.

Favorite food:  Sweet potatoes continues to be Harrison's favorite-although he has yet to turn anything away.  Harrison has also developed a taste for grass.

Teeth: 7

Sleep: 11-12 hours at night, 2 naps/day at around 1-1/2 hours each

Favorites: Walks in his stroller around the parks, playing with the cat (aka trying to pull the cat's fur out), Swimming, bath time, and Little Einsteins.

Dislikes: Diaper changes, changing clothes, anything that requires being restrained or contained in a small area.

7 Months Going on 2 Years. Or So it Seems.

Our little cutie pie is now 7 months old! The past month has been one of big changes for Harrison.  Just when we think this little guy is going to slow down a little he takes off again.

Harrison now has 6 teeth.  Yes, 6.  Its ridiculous really. After suffering through the first two bottom teeth, he really has become quite a champ and pushing those little buggers through, with only a night here and there of waking up.  While its something out of the ordinary for Harrison to wake up in the middle of the night, these once-in-a-while midnight snuggle sessions do tug on my heart strings.  Daniel and I joke about how we got jipped out of a baby.  Harrison was sleeping through the night at about 3 weeks and never required much in the way of coddling as a newborn.  Last week, as I was laying with him in bed at 2:00 in the morning, giving him a small bottle to help calm him back to sleep, I couldn't help but feel like I may have missed out on something.  As long as my little man continues to be a snuggler in his toddler years, I think I can look past it.

Speaking of snuggling, holy cow is Harrison a "lap" baby.  I love that he has become a snuggle baby, often crawling up into your lap for hugs.  He has also learned how to give kisses (aka open mouth drool sucks to the cheek or chin). Since he was about 3 months old, we have tried to find a happy medium in the amount of time we will provide active stimulation with time to encourage individual play.  Harrison is just like I was as a baby, wanting attention all the time and sometimes relying on others to entertain him.  While this is wonderful at times, I do eventually get to that point of "Okay Harrison, time to play with your toys and let Mommy clear her mind for a minute."  It is a very challenging task to balance wanting to spoil and smother your baby yet allow room for personal growth.   

Another area of development is his new ability to stand.  It took Harrison quite awhile to put the pieces together when it came to crawling, but standing up was 1-2-3 and by the end of the day it was done.  Yet another moment of  "Yay! Look at him go!"  mixed with "Oh crap."  Harrison now pulls himself up on EVERYTHING.  Couches, TV stands, his crib, and toys (especially toys that are low to the ground and not suitable for standing support....) We experienced his first moment of not being able to lower himself back down once pulling himself up in bed.  Mommy still feels horrible about letting him "cry it out" for 5 minutes before realizing he was stuck standing up in his crib.  I'm quickly discovering that I will most likely feel guilty about something or other until he moves out....or possibly longer :)  Thankfully, he did teach himself how to lower himself down from a standing position quickly.  We've had a couple of "booms", but thankfully none that weren't made better by a hug, a kiss, and a snuggle. It is amazing to me how little ones learn how to do the most amazing things without any direction at all.  It is incredible how strong a baby's instinct is when it comes to learning movements.  I never once showed him how to do any of this (more because I was hoping to keep him still and in one spot for a little longer!) yet he just "figured it out". 

Now that he's mastered pulling himself up and standing, he is beginning to show signs of walking.  Every day he is getting more and more steady on his feet and will occasionally let go of what he's holding on to.  Brave little boy.  We've started playing a little game with him as well, where we will put an object (most commonly a TV remote) on the furthest cushion of the couch and watch as he side-steps his way down to the other end.

Harrison's diet has expanded quite a bit in the last month as well.  We successfully made it through all of the veggies, fruits and grains with no allergies!  Most recently, we've introduce Yo Baby yogurt into his diet.  He loves it.  It is the one thing that he will eat to the bottom of the container and want more.  We tried the grain "puffs" as a way to encourage his pincer grasp development, but he found those to be a little difficult to eat.  It may be the neurotic mother in me speaking, but they didnt quite dissolve fast enough in his mouth for my comfort.  I'm not ready to tackle the fear of him choking quite yet.  An awesome alternative we've tried is the yogurt melts.  He is still figuring out how to "let go" of the food once he has it in his mouth, but he'll get there!

During the days that I am home with Harrison, we have tried our hardest to get out and about.  We have been trying very hard these days to stay away from Target, and expand our adventures ;)  Most recently we have taken MANY walks around Central Park and trips to the library.  I wish I would have known earlier on about the baby play area they have at the library.  That would have saved many boring days! 

Harrison went swimming for the first time this past weekend, and he LOVED it.  Like always, the child had no fear and I felt like my heart was in my throat the whole time. There was only one incident of "face in the water" but like usual I reacted more strongly than he did :)  Since we started giving baths with him sitting up in the tub, I've been trying to "not prevent" water from getting in his eyes.  Mind you, I don't purposefully dump water on his head, but if it runs down his face I try to let him get used to it.  Apparently its paid off, he spent most of Saturday splashing himself in the face.

Yet another month has flown by and Harrison continues to amaze us.  I'm anxious to watch his vocabulary continue to grow (we've gotten "da-da" but no "ma-ma" yet...)  and hope that his physical development will slow down just a touch!

Half of a Baby: 6 Months

Today marks Harrison's 1/2 birthday, he is now 6 months old!  While each passing birthday  is another reminder of how quickly he is growing up, this one has hit me harder than the others.  I was pretty misty-eyed this morning after waking up and singing our morning song --no I will not sing it for anyone else, but for Harrison I make the exception :)  6 months old.  He is now "half a baby" and already halfway towards being a toddler.  Wow. I feel very blessed to have such a healthy, happy baby boy.  I am thankful every day that we are lucky enough to have this wonderful boy in our lives.

"Don't worry, I can get them myself"

"They're MINE!"

Harrison made his way to the doctor today (on his birthday, I know, I'm a mean mom.) and received his last round of initial vaccines.  I have to say, this time was 10x more difficult than the others.  I don't know if its because he seems like a little boy now or if its because he expresses his fears and sadness more clearly than just the cries of a newborn, but it was all I could do to keep myself from crying.  Standing there holding his hands and kissing his cheeks while he cried. Ugh. I could cry again.  Harrison measured in at 28 inches (up an inch and a half since his 4 month appointment) and 16.8 pounds (up 2 pounds) He is still in the 90th percentile for height and 25th percentile for weight.  Tall skinny minnie :)  I can't describe to you how thrilled I was to see 28 inches for height.  "YAY, WE STILL HAVE 2 MORE INCHES UNTIL WE NEED TO BUY A NEW CAR SEAT!"

Also at the appointment, we discussed Harrison's eating habits and his clear preference to solids over formula.  Harrison will be happy to know that as long as he gets 3 bottles in a day, he can eat all of the solids he likes.  This is exciting for me because I'm thoroughly enjoying introducing new foods to him.  So far he has tried sweet potatoes, peas, bananas, apples, pears, and apricots.  On tonight's menu is orange squash.  A few of the foods have been a little rough on his tummy (i.e. no poops followed by LOTS of poops), but he has yet to try a food he doesnt like.  I'm hoping that by continuing to introduce many different foods to him that he will develop a large palate.  No chicken nuggets or mac 'n' cheese here please...

In Other News...

Harrison is now sitting up during bath time.  This is a lot more fun for him, he is now able to play with all of his bath toys.  It is much more exhausting for Mom and Dad though since I'm not entirely convinced he's strong enough to not topple over into the soap dish.  That being said, 20 minutes of squatting in the back of the bathtub making sure he's steady is no fun.

Riding like a Big Boy

Harrison has mastered "all fours."  He can now easily get up on his hands and knees.  He hasn't quite figured out the "crawling" motion, its more that he throws himself forward.  Picture a baby doing the worm across the living room :)  He has also mastered "all threes"  Harrison has taken on his own variation of the tripod stance by getting up on all fours and then lifting one arm and pointing towards the ceiling. His version of Trikanasana.  Between this and his downward dog, I'm thinking we have a little Yogi on our hands!

Harrison demonstrating Downward Dog

Check out my teeth!

Harrison's vocabulary is also taking off in leaps.  He has developed into quite a chatter box, now using sounds such as "ba" and "da".  I'm still waiting on my "ma"...

Another month has flown by and our little man is growing bigger by the day.  Here's hoping the next 6 months slow down just a little :)