Let it Snow!

The Monday before Thanksgiving, the Puget Sound was beseiged by snow. While I was complaining that day care decided to close at 4pm and I had to leave work early for traces of snow (we tend to freak out at snowflakes around here), I was extremely grateful that I left work at 12:30pm... my coworkers that left at 4pm had commute times of 5 hours, 9 hours and even an 11 hour commute - she got home at 3:30am. While it wasn't a blizzard, it was significant snowfall and there were traffic accidents everywhere. Thankfully our family made it home safe and we could watch the snow fall from the comfort of our warm home.

Oddly enough, two days earlier Harrison and I found an awesome second hand kids store and we picked up snow boots and mittens. The zipper on his winter coat broke but that didn't stop him from getting on his gear and heading to the park across the street with mom, dad and Winston. The pictures below are on the last day the snow was around so there was actually more snow than you can see here.

We celebrated Thanksgiving and Uncle John and Aunt Shivonne's house with the whole family, however we have a bad habit of rarely taking photos. While we were there, my brother Jon called me and I told Harrison to say hello to Uncle Jon on the phone... he looked at me funny and then ran away. I thought he simply didn't want to comply with my request and then realized he ran into the kitchen to point to Michael's Uncle John. He never ceases to amaze us. Speaking of names, Michael used to call his older sister Alexis "Gekis" which we taught to Harrison since he cannot prounance her name either... he now calls her "Gekee."

Since mom had to go to work on the Friday after Thanksgiving, dad and baby came downtown to have lunch with mom.

While we avoided shopping on Black Friday, we did venture out Sunday to buy a Christmas tree, some lights and a new giant wreath for the outside of the house. Michael put the wreath over Harrison in the shopping cart and the expression on his face was priceless (although mom was too slow pulling out the camera)... his little mouth formed a big "O" and he blinked his eyes incesantly as if he expected the needles to get into his eyes and once his head was clear of the foliage he got the biggest smile on his face!

Later Sunday mom and Harrison went to the outlet malls as Harrison badly needed some clothes to get to tide him over until he hits size 2T. We picked up an awesome Columbia kids jacket to replace the cheap one with the broken zipper as well as this adorable moose beanie. The hat itself is cute but what really makes it adorable is the way Harrison says moose, like "mooosh." I was trying to get some pictures while decorating the tree and with the slow shutter speed in the low lighting I got this fun picture while the lights were moving around.

 

Look for the winning the picture in a Christmas card coming soon to a mailbox near you!

21 months and counting...

Our baby turned 21 months at the beginning of November and it is evident he is not such a baby anymore. Unless you ask him... new this week he started referring to himself as "baby" in the third person. You know, like Elmo: "Elmo went to the park today and Elmo had fun!" Harrison can't put more than two words together but this is the direction he is headed. He will point to a diaper or toy and say "baby" and it took us a few days to realizedthat he was saying that the diaper belongs to baby Harrison (not that the diaper is for any old baby).

Also in the past couple weeks his speech has exploded. Looking back for a moment, we taught him a fair amount of sign language (his teachers at school couldn't figure out he was telling them he was thirsty one day) which I think he clung onto slowing his speaking skills a little. As we taught him new words we asked him to say them and he often wouldn't try (or even tell us "no!") but recently he is making an effort to say all kinds of words and sounds, his most complicated being "octopus".

Harrison is now tall enough to take or place items onto the kitchen counter and he knows how to move his little step stool around the kitchen to increase access to prohibited items. The pantry has always been a favorite place to explore and now he likes to find the bag of dog treats and ask me if he can give some to Winston. He also likes to sit on Winston or use him as a stepping stone to get on the couch. Aside from the canine abuse, he also rubs Winston's belly or pets his back.

I think most kids put on their parent's shoes but I was surprised Harrison has started to do this already. He loves to shuffle around in my shoes although when he puts on daddy's dressier work shoes the bigger size, leather and heavier soles don't offer much movement.

The boy has also become quite the mimic. A few weeks ago I sat next to him as he was eating dinner and while we watched Sesame Street together, I rested my chin on my fist, elbow on the table. I looked over to see Harrison looking at me out of the corner of his eye with a smile forming on his lips and realized he was doing the exact same thing! He thinks he is pretty funny and laughs once he realizes I have caught him in the act. The best thing I taught him to mimic was to tap his pursed lips with his index finger and let out a "hmmmmm...." as if in thoughtful contemplation! He's a gas.

Speaking of Sesame Street, his favorite thing is to watch "Elmo" which definitely includes Elmo as well as most of the muppets on The Street. He also enjoys Curious George and animated movies. There is a part of me that feels like a bad parent for introducing tv at a young age and he watches probably 60-90 minutes a day (not all at once) which is more than what is recommended, but let me tell you that it has brought sanity to our lives. It is priceless to be able to just rest your eyes for 5 minutes or start dinner while he is entertained as he would otherwise demand our attention. So you out there, stop judging me!

Maybe this will buy us back into your good graces - our son LOVES books. He loves to have us read to him and likes to ask "what's that?" whilst pointing to a picture. He likes to flip through books on his own as if he was reading. Even though we have a good 50 or more books, we have read them all many times and now he is getting picky, not wanting to hear them again. Please take this as a hint that books would make a great Christmas gift!

BOO!

Prior to Halloween, Harrison had no concept of why I would put him in a blue monster costume every other day for 15 minutes or so, it was just something fun to do. Well the Friday before Halloween, day care wanted the kids to wear the costumes all day (except meal and nap times). Michael drove him to school in regular clothes and when the arrived, dad pulled out the monnster outfit and dressed him. Evidently the kids all walked up and surrounded him, oo'ing and ah'ing and touching the blue "fur." Dad said his costume was the best by far and we were both proud I used my refer-a-friend credit at Zulily to get it for $10 no less!

On Saturday, we loaded Harrison into his red wagon, bundled everyone up from the chill and walked down to the local market and picked out some "Charlie Brown" pumpkins; we named them thus because our arrival so close to Halloween left only the dented, dying and misshaped pumpkins to choose from. We already had one, big, perfect pumpkin from the farm the weekend before so the "interesting" gourds were fun to work with from my point of view.

The white one kept toppling over once we got it home, so I put it on it's side and made it a cat (clearly, we do not use any fancy stencils or even specialized pumpkin carving tools, just our kitchen knives!). Michael had the thought that power tools might make the job go by more quickly and the result is the pumpkin next to the cat. 

I attempted to make the pumpkin on the lower left resemble Harrison's little monster costume, but ears ended up too close to the three eyes so it looks kind of crazy. The last pumpkin was dad's second attempt with the dremel tool and it came out a bit more polished.

On Sunday, we met up with the Smith's at the Town Center for an early Mexican dinner prior to the treat or treating at the businesses. When we walked out of dinner we were surprised to see that evidently the entire population of Mill Creek was outside, ghouls and goblins running amok! Harrison and Amelie both seemed very interested in so many people in costume and were also happy to take treats from smiling strangers at every doorway. Their parents were excited that the donut shop gave away free donuts!

My boys with Amelie and Justin



After 45 minutes of that madness, we went home and joined up with the Tutrows to take the lion, monkey and monster around the neighborhood. Since Harrison cannot say any form of "trick or treat," we taught him to say "boo" emphatically at each door (often before the door was opened); he also helped knock on doors which is a newer skill he picked up a few weeks ago.

Krissi, James and Gavin (he and Harrison are destined to be best buds)

Since many families in our area have children, we have no choice but to leave out bowls of candy while we walk the 'hood with the kids. When we approached bowls with Harrison, I would stay close to ensure he only took one but he had already composed a system of self imposed restraint. He would pick up one, then another, then a third, then put one back, then pick up another, then put one back, then put back another and then walk down the steps with one piece remaining... all those mostly of his own accord! At some point he got some elven peanut butter crackers that he refused to put in his bucket and insisted on carrying with him in one hand the rest of the way home.

Happy Second Halloween Harrison!