11 Months Old!

11 months.  Holy guacamole.  For the last few days or so I have found myself watching Harrison go about his normal activities and simply taking it in. How far we have come! With the big first birthday just around the corner its hard not to be really excited, yet kind of sad.  My baby will no longer be a "baby" and we will be entering the toddler years.  I have made it a goal for this next month that I will not be sad, I will not wish for the days past, but will  live in the moment of each day.

Harrison has been growing in leaps and bounds (quite literally) as of late.  He is now running.  Of course this isn't quite the same as an adult running, but his little legs do try to move his body as fast as they can.  He has also learned how fun it is to be chased.  With his dad or I in the other room, Harrison will come peak around the corner to get our attention-- a "come and get me" look-- then turn around and book it as fast as he can down the hallway.  The cutest part is his little peak over his shoulder to see how close you are. This is followed by a big belly laugh when you've caught him.  I love that each month a new activity and a new understanding of his world appears.

I think we may have had another growth spurt! Tight jammies!

Harrison has also learned how to clap and smiles with glee by our enthusiastic praise.  We have been struggling lately with his eating. Harrison seems to have regressed some and has been putting up a fight when it comes to eating table foods.  His favorite time to applaud himself is when he manages to eat something like a noodle.  "Yay me!" he seems to say.  Another new activity is dancing.  Harrison has started "dancing" to his favorite songs (The Little Einstein's theme song, or The Wiggles).

Harrison and his lunch buddy Winston

Harrison continues to be quite the snuggler.  He is very into sitting on laps now and will curl right up.  He also loves giving kisses.  We have progressed from "Harrison, can you give Mama a kiss?" to Harrison initiating the kisses on his own (melt my heart!!)

First time in leaf pile!

The past month has also been a blur of booger and sneezes.  Harrison developed a cold starting the first day he went to daycare and while it has come and gone in severity I don't think it ever quite went away.  I've settled with the idea that the boogies may just be part of normalcy for awhile.  He handles is pretty well and so far has managed to continue sleeping through the night, but man do his sheets look gross when he wakes up.  Laundry has definitely ramped up significantly around here.

In other news, we have a third and fourth word!  Harrison's third word was "bye-bye" along with his little wave.  It sounds a little bit more like "die-die" but I choose to ignore that.  The fourth word was "kitty"  which sounds a little more like "giddy" but he definitely gets his point across as he runs across the living room chasing the cat!

Hangers are a new fave

We also have another tooth!  Yesterday at the doctor's office while Harrison was getting his flu shot I was finally able to get a good look in his mouth and the tooth that broke through was definitely a molar!  Three of its four corners have broken though.

For the last few weeks now Harrison has gotten to hang out with his cousin Noelle on the days I don't have to work.  It has been such a joy to see those two interact together.  It is very apparent how much they learn from each other.  In just the time we've spent over there, Harrison is already more vocal and has improved on his "bye-bye's" and clapping.  I guess it helps when there is another little one to do it back to him!  It has been especially fun for me since I was never really around when they were together the first time and I've been able to see first hand how much they like each other.

Harrison and Noelle--11 months

With the planning of Harrison's birthday party under way, we look forward to what the rest of Month 11 will bring and anticipate what is to come in the next phase!

Splish Splash!

Last week Harrison and I started swimming lessons at the Shoreview Community Center.  Harrison has always loved baths and this summer showed how comfortable he was in pools so what better way to kill some time in the evenings!  Now that its getting cooler out I'm thankful we have another activity to add to our arsenal.  Harrison has had two lessons so far and has had a blast at both.

We have been practicing back floats, blowing bubbles, kicking, and "scooping" with his arms.  The "scooping" is a little advanced for him (the class goes up to 24 months), but he has the kicking and back floating down.  The back float is definitely his favorite.  He lays there calm as can be, hardly moving at all.  Even his instructor called him out last night saying, "And then there is Harrison, who looks like he may fall asleep"  We're continuing to work on blowing bubbles, right now he is still more set on drinking the water than blowing into it.  I find it wonderful that he has no problem putting his face in the water though.  One thing I'm glad we did was get Harrison used to having water on his face at a young age.  While his daddy and I never intentionally dumped water in his eyes, if he was splashed or water ran down his face during bath time we never made a big deal about it.

It has been decades since I have been to a swimming lesson and from my perspective things have changed throughout those years. I was definitely impressed by all of the songs and games they have for the little ones.  Lots of splashing, and singing and spinning and even tossing the babies in the air.  For the adults its more like a water aerobics class using a 30-lb kettlebell.

The only bummer about the classes is that the Community Center has a "no video/camera policy"  (Seriously??) I understand the need for security and privacy, but how sad to not be able to record my baby's first swimming lesson.  Thankfully, my mom came with to our class yesterday evening and was able to sneak a picture of us before we headed out to the pool!

Entering Double Digits: 10 Months Old!

It has been a busy month for Harrison!  He is developing into such a big boy and its official:  WE HAVE A WALKER!  Harrison took his first "steps" awhile back, but within the past week or so he has decided to quit messing around and take off.  It began with 4 steps, then 8.  Last night he decided to walk out of his bedroom and down the hall.  Daniel and I just stood there and watched him.  Looking a little like a drunken man with a load in his pants, Harrison waddled his way down the hall pausing briefly to pick up a toy.  He is becoming more and more comfortable on his legs every day and has started turning directions and stooping down without toppling over.  Other physical advancements this month include him learning how to crawl up onto the couch and onto our bed.

Time to move up another shelf!

Harrison's taste buds are also developing.  He has decided that he no longer likes baby food (except for the sweet potatoes) and his high chair is becoming a "table food only zone"  Harrison's way of telling us that he's over the baby food business was to begin spraying it out of his mouth at us and throwing his spoon on the floor.  Some of Harrison's new favorites include peaches, strawberry and banana chunks, tortillas, cheese, crackers and Gerber's Maple Cinnamon Crunchies.  I emphasize the crunchies simply because he will down the container in a single sitting if you allow him.  And then he smells like a pancake, its wonderful :)  He has become more and more interested in using the spoon himself and has started to self-feed this way as well. Harrison is also mastering using a sippy cup.  This has been a little bit of a struggle for us simply because he would rather chew on the sippy cup than drink from it.  After buying several different cups (from the most popular to the "orthodontic approved") it was the cheap plastic one from Cub that he decided was the perfect fit.  Who knew.

Spitting is fun

We are still continuing our work on sign language, but I will admit it has been slow-going and there have been many times I've wanted to throw in the towel.  I'm not sure if it just takes a long time or if Harrison just doesnt care, but we have been working with "eat" "milk" and "more" for a few months now and we havent gotten anything in response yet.  He does know the words "eat" and "milk" now however and will respond accordingly when he hears them :)

A few months ago Harrison decided he would be a "paci baby."  Daniel and I have worked really hard to ensure that he only uses it in his crib during naps or at night.  I know it is his way of soothing himself to sleep as he keeps it in for about 10 minutes and it falls out until morning when he finds it while waiting for Mommy or Daddy to get him.  We must be getting the point across to him because all it takes now is "Paci stays in the crib Harrison..." and he will take it out of his mouth and drop it in his crib. Yay!  Hopefully by staying on top of it we will be able to easily replace it with a blankie or stuffed animal once he is old enough.

Speaking of blankets, Harrison has decided he will be a "blankie baby" too.  Anything soft and fuzzy in his hands causes him to bring his thumb into his mouth and roll up into a ball.  And by anything, I truly mean anything.  If he finds one of his socks on the floor that is all it takes.  Most recently while shopping at Target, he reached out of the cart, grabbed onto a sweater on a hanger and curled up with his thumb in his mouth.  Silly boy :)

Something fuzzy!

Playing in the ball pit at day care

In Other News:

Harrison had his first few days at daycare.  He had a blast while Mommy cried.  He did develop a cold after his first day, but he has been handling it very well and seems to be on the up-swing.

Harrison is becoming quite the helper when it comes to getting dressed and removing his clothes.  He is also getting better at leaving his shoes on!

We are getting very close to losing our 2nd nap.  Sigh.

Harrison loves walking with his train and running into Dada.  He finds it hilarious to "boom" into him.

Happy 10 Months Harrison!  We love you!

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!