Activities with Auntie

We are making a map of the United States and each state is a different fabric. I had Annie look up the meaning of each state and write them all down. Then, she used the map to map out each piece of fabric where it would belong. Fun project! We've been working for days now and we are about to get to the cutting out stage for each fabric!

A Bed Time Miracle

Miracles happen! Harrison was having a super hard time going to bed tonight and I was praying asking for help. After trying two separate times over the course of more than an hour, I couldn't try any more so I just patted his back, said good night to him and left the room. He cried for less than a minute and then was quiet. I thought he was messing around when I looked on the video monitor and he was laying down! He got up and moved a few minutes later, but then fell asleep on his own! Miracles do happen. I started crying because I felt so grateful!

Adventure at Alki Beach

Family Walk & Park Time

Evan and I are trying to be more deliberate about exercising. We eat really healthy, always have, but we just haven't been as active as we would like to be! This morning, we went on a walk/Evan jog to the park and home. The dog loved it and the baby loved it, so I think it was a success! As you see in the pictures, we let Harrison being our old toothbrush to keep him occupied and happy in the stroller.

Project Baby: 13 Months

So, I feel like a failure because I totally forgot to take pictures on Harrison's 13 month birthday last week. Oh, well! I thought about it at one point, but then just got busy with life. Hard to believe my little sweetie is already one month past his first birthday. Time is flying!

Here are a few things that he's been doing lately:

• Wants to walk EVERYWHERE! And by walk, I mean run. No more crawling for this guy.
• He loves going out in the yard with us and playing in the dirt and eating rocks. He is so obsessed with eating rocks. He wants to suck/chew on them. He always spits them out (at my command!), but loves just mulling them around in his mouth. Funny boy!
• Today, in the bath, he drank from the tap the first time. It was funny to see him look at it and then just try it out. I think he thought to do it because yesterday in church Evan taught him how to drink from the water fountain.
• Another bath time story... yesterday, Harrison looked down in the bath and noticed his boy parts for the first time. He could not understand WHY they were stuck to his body. He kept trying to pinch himself to get it off and then would giggle. Oh man... the joys of having a boy! Any thoughts on how to help a one year old keep his hands to himself in the bath? Or, am I just fighting an uphill battle?
• Harrison absolutely LOVES our dog! He wants to pet him and lay on him. He recently realized that our dog likes to eat Harrison's food. So, Harrison will hand Max his food to eat. So much for training the dog to stay away from the kitchen or table when we are eating!
• True to Harrison form, the boy STILL loves climbing. He realized now how to climb up on top of the dining room table. We had to turn over the chairs. Oh wait... and then he realized how to climb up on top of the turned over chairs! We've moved the chairs a few different ways and he always figures out how to climb up on them! Yesterday, he did get a little stuck in one of the chairs. It reminded me of some old pictures we have of my little sister and I stuck in a chair playing together.
• Apple slices have really been making Harrison happy lately. He loves to just chew and suck on them. A few months ago, we gave Harrison little pieces of apple but his teeeth just weren't able to chew them up properly so Harrison would just end up spitting them out. But, now, he is LOVING eating apples! He also loves pasta, bananas, pears, red grapes, chicken, beef, pork, (let's be honest... he loves any type of meat we give him! He even tried a piece of dog food and didn't spit it out. He is all boy!), all types of crackers, PEACHES (He will eat them whole!), and raisins.
• We realized we can't give him raisins any more, though, because he swallows them whole and then gets an upset stomach and gassy because his body can't digest them and he poops out all raisins. TMI? Sorry! Also, dairy has been affecting his body poorly too. I gave him baby food last week that had greek yogurt in it and he had a really upset stomach and diarrhea poops for a few days afterwards. He was always spitting up (even recently!) when I ate dairy so we are pretty sure that he has a lactose intolerance or aversion. At his doctor's appointment on Friday, the doctor agreed.
• Harrison had a doctor's appointment on Friday (albeit late) for his one year check up. He got up-to-date on his vaccinations and even had his blood drawn to check his hematocrit (for iron levels), poor guy! He weighed 24 pounds at his appointment, which may not have been completely accurate considering the guy was wiggling around on the scale the whole time! Also, they measured him inaccurately because, according to their measurement, he only grew 3/4 inch in 4 months. Evan and I tried to remeasure him while we were waiting to get his shots and we got that he was around 32 inches tall. This measurement seems right because it means that he has stayed in the 95th percentile for height and the 75th (or less) for weight. It's funny that the guy's weight is not a higher percentile because I feel like he is a tank, but I guess he does weigh more than average but there are kids who definitely weigh more!
• If Harrison is quiet, he is usually getting into trouble. His new favorite way to get into trouble is to sneak down to the basement to get into the toilet in the laundry room. Seriously, he can go down two flights of stairs SO fast to go check if the door was left open and if he can go play in the toilet. It totally grosses me out! That's the thing about this kid (and I'm sure all kids!)... he is so curious and constantly finding new ways to explore the world around him. He gets bored easily with the same thing and just wants to move on or else use the same toy in a different way. It is interesting to watch his personality start to come out. He is definitely a little smarty pants who KNOWS when he is getting into trouble! I will tell him not to do something and he will pause for a second, look at me, give me a super cheesy grin, and then do it anyway! The stinker! I love this boy more than words can express and am so glad that I get to be his mother.

Sunday Funday

Today was a busy day. Our dog went on three walks between Evan and I. Here are some other things we did: We attended church, had our home teachers over, I made dinner and lunch before Evan went to work, I taught a lesson in Relief Society, Harrison and I made peach/strawberry crisp, we visited Evan at work, we watered the garden, we played with Max, we read a couple books, we attended a farewell party for a family in our ward, Harrison had a bath, and we even got to talk with Oma for a little while on the phone. All in all, a productive, fun day!

Week at a Glance

Traveling with a Toddler

This is a comment I wrote to a friend who will be traveling with her baby across the country. I want to write this into a better, more-detailed blog post, but, for now, this will suffice!

HA! I just went on a month-long European adventure in 5 countries with a one-year-old! I have so many tips for you, it's not even funny. My baby doesn't like electronics (except to bite them) so I had to be really creative about what I did while we were gone. First of all, the best thing EVER were smarties! They are tiny candy that they cannot choke on, yet were good to keep him interested. Bring his a couple of his favorite books/toys. Also, buy him a fun (CHEAP!) toy for take off and landing to keep him interested (read: distracted!) so that you can keep him on your lap without a problem. Bring disinfectant wipes for his hands and don't worry if he gets up and walks/crawls around. They will do it. You cannot avoid it, unless you want a screaming child for HOURS. I also brought lots of all types of snacks. I will say I did use Benadryl for both 10+ hour flights. I wasn't sure if I was going to use it, but did and was SO GLAD TO HAVE IT! If the flight is short and not during a nap time or late at night, you won't even need it. I'm sure there is so much more that I'm not even thinking of, but this is enough to at least get you started. Ask if you have questions!

Family Park With Dog

Well, we got our first dog this week on our anniversary on Thursday. We went on a little walk with him as a family on Thursday, but today was the first time we all went together on a walk. We have a lot to learn about keeping up his training!

As you can see, Harrison loved the swings. He also loved the little tunnel/tube thing he could crawl through. I had to brawl through after him because Evan was with the dog, but whatever. It made Harrison so happy! He loved this park.

Happy 1st Birthday, Harrison!

ONE WHOLE YEAR. At the beginning, people would say that they couldn't remember what life was like BEFORE they had their child. Well, after Harrison was born, I could still remember what my life had been... and it involved sleep and less stress. Slowly, however, as Harrison and I worked our way into a routine together, I started to feel the same way. I now can't imagine my life without my little sweetie and can't (hardly!) remember what my life was like before my little sweetie pie arrived! He has brought so much joy into our lives. I am constantly amazed by all that he knows and is capable of doing and understanding. I love watching him learn and grow... seeing those wheels turn when he approaches a situation for the first time!

Even though this year has been of the longest and hardest of my life, I, too have learned and grown so much. My patience and faith has been stretched and tested. Some times I didn't think I could make it through one more minute of waiting for him to fall asleep. But, I did. We both survived this year. We love each other and Harrison is a healthy, happy baby! YAY!

For his birthday, we got hamburgers at the Rainier Bar & Grill like we did on the night he was born. Evan made a chocolate cake that we gave to him for lunch before Evan had to head out to work. We sang him "Happy Birthday" and each had a camera in our hands (one to video and one to take pictures). Normally, he is NOT timid about new food or new things to play with. But, man... he was so confused why we were singing to him and giving him this brown edible material on a plate in front of him. Eventually, we got him to eat it and he liked it (of course)! It was funny when he took his first bite, he took his hand away from his mouth, stared at the cake as if to ask, "What the heck is this deliciousness?" and then shoved it back in his mouth again.

That evening, Harrison and I went over to my sister, Nicole's, house for dinner and a little birthday celebration with her family and with my little sister's, Zandy's, family too. It was really nice of them to want to celebrate Harrison's first year with us! :)

He loves this play kitchen at my sister's house

Project Baby: The Past Few Weeks & Becoming a Stay-at-Home Mom

Although I'd really like to blog weekly about Harrison's growth and progress, my goal really was to make it to a year of blogging weekly about it. For now, new updates and progress will be labeled differently. I think it might be too much to label it "53 Weeks," which I initially considered. Also, this blog has been taken OVER by Harrison. Well, pictures and thoughts about him anyway. I'm not sure where I want this blog to go in terms of my own writing. I created another blog a while back for writing purposes. I would like to explore that a little further as I'm becoming a stay-at-home mom. I'm actually really looking forward to being home with my child and working on my own talents. Since I made the decision to take a leave of absence next year, I have been so excited! I hadn't realized before summer break started 3 weeks ago how much STRESS my job was giving me. I am now so grateful I made the decision I did to stay at home next year with our sweet boy. AND... surprise! We got a dog today, our fourth anniversary. He is a good dog named Maximus (Max) who was being fostered by a professional dog trainer until we adopted him today. I'll be busy with TWO babies now! :)

Thoughts the past few weeks:

• I am constantly amazed by all that Harrison knows and understands. For so many commands and phrases he is able to demonstrate to me his understanding! Love my sweet baby boy.
• This little guy has been a stinker about eating lately. It all started when we went to Germany and has only gotten worse since then. What it really boils down to is that he wants to feed himself, including this morning he actually grabbed my spoon out of my hand and was trying to get oatmeal out of my bowl with it! As of this week, he pretty much refuses to be spoon fed except for an occasional bite off of my spoon or fork as I'm eating. He also wants to have food that he can pick up himself. The only time I can really get him to eat baby food is in his bath at night! Sometimes I just feed him in his bath at night even though I've already fed him "dinner" just to make sure he has eaten enough.
• Another eating situation we have going on is that Harrison's patience with eating is short-lived. First of all, I have to have something for him to eat or do the second he is in his high chair. And second of all, he will only eat for 5 minutes max before trying to stand up and climb down from his high chair! This boy!
• Evan and I had to get a lock for our oven because Harrison kept opening it and standing on the door. This is bad for a few obvious reasons! Harrison gets angry now when he tries to open the door and it won't open for him. I try to let him explore as much as is safe, but that simply was NOT a good idea! He also loved opening the door and climbing in our oven in Germany. This guy!
• Harrison started clapping randomly one week ago today for the first time. I had tried to get him to clap before, but he wanted to do it on his own. He did and understood exactly what it was he was doing. It was so cute! He is my little sweetie pie!
• He wants to walk EVERYWHERE nowadays. He really is just set to walk as much as he can.
• Harrison has gone swimming a few times in the past couple of weeks and LOVES it! He can't get enough of swimming water. He has no fear of the water and just wants to start swimming like the big kids!