Frog Prince!

Most nights, Harrison gets a bath and we use this adorable little frog towel to dry him off, however tonight he seemed to settle into the little hood perfectly and looked just delightful.



Dad and baby hanging out

Another new phenomenon are his toes. A few weeks ago he suddenly noticed his toes and while sitting up he would nearly fold himself in half, holding his breathe, in an effort to try to hold them. In fact, at the end of every bath, I sit him up in his little tub and he bends forward to play with them in the water. About a week ago he got very proficient at laying on his back and bringing his feet to his hands, allowing him to breathe. He can double fist with a hand on each foot although I haven't managed to get a good picture of it.

Second Cousins & Book Club

I am rather enamoured with Martha Stewart, especially when it comes to cooking, so I recently got her new "Cupcakes" book. For last Saturday's book club, we read "What is the What" by Dave Eggars (a great book as long as you can stomach the injustices of civil war and genocide as the back drop) and we did a "picnic" food theme. Since I had a cupcake book I naturally volunteered dessert and since it is also sherry season, I made these delicious Cherry Almond cupcakes; they were a bit more like a muffin than a cupcake but tasty nonetheless. Ground Almonds in the batter with a whole bing cherry pushed into the center. You can see the cherry juices started to leak out on the top, sides or bottom of each cupcake leaving lovely red juice spots. Delish!



Raina's Aunt Sharon and her partner Paul came up to Washington to visit her daughter's family (my cousin Terra - check out the Jacobs Blog on the sidebar) for the week which included some days in Seattle. They rented a big house on Lake Washington and invited us over for dinner. Terra had a great idea to lay all the kids on the floor in a circle for a shot of the "second cousins." Baby Jack was rather squirmy but out of about 15 shots we finally got this one good one.
Clockwise starting with Harrison is Bridger, Nolan, Carli and Jack.

Leave Your Pet at Home Day

Sadly my building would not let me bring Winston to work today eventhough my coworker Brian and I lobbied for it. Instead, we celebrated by printing this poster and displayed it at my desk and did so for several others at work. Actually it was less a celebration and more a slient protest against the canine discrimination that our four legged friends face in the work place!

Harrison, That's Me!

Yes, he IS really this cute all the time.

First Father's Day (part deux)

In part one, we expounded on the virtues of Michael and his Father's Day gifts. Part two is dedicated to what we did over the weekend.

Saturday morning we decided to meet up with Brian, Darcie and their daughter Emily for some good old fashioned beer tasting. What can I say, it's was Father's Day weekend and that is what our dad wanted to do! "The Washington Brewers Festival" involved over 30 breweries and something like 250 beers. You get a little beer mug the size of two shot glasses and tickets to taste 10 beers while enjoying some food or watching your kids play in the very well coordinated kids area (rootbeer garden, bouncy houses, face painting, etc). Harrison was happy to walk around with us in the bjorn and even feel asleep in it a couple times. The weather was mild ("perfect for beer drinking") and even though we didn't drink we enjoyed the fresh air and fine company.

Michael bought a shirt with this logo... it's pretty funny but I wouldn't drink something that promised to make me look like that if I consumed it...

After we attended "The Mother of All Father's Day Beer Festivals" we went to Romio's for delicious pizza where we realized none of us could remember the last time we atually dined in at a pizza joint, except for when we were kids ourselves.

Sunday morning, Harrison woke up at 7am so I grabbed him and the Father's Day gift and we crawled back into bed to celebrate with a droopy eyed dad. Once he gathered his wits and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, he opened the collages (see part 1) and proclaimed them wonderful gifts! We then snuggled under the covers, let Winston celebrate with us by allowing him up on the bed and the entire family fell back asleep for another hour or so.

Lastly, Michael wanted to have Dim Sum for brunch so we went to our favorite Eastside Chinese Restaurant, King's, and ate really fast... when we got into the restaruant we realized we had left the diaper bag at home so we were taking a gamble staying at all! The food, as always, was delicious and Harrison was fine without the supplies. I made dinner Sunday night and, being too tired to make his favorite oatmeal cookies, I drove to the ole DQ and picked us up a couple of blizzards (Heath for him, snickers with mint syrup for her). All said and done, we had a great weekend together as a family.

First Father's Day! (part 1)

Happy Father's Day, DAD! ~Harrison

Planning for Father's Day started on April 30th when mom took baby into Sears for his 3 month portraits. We arrived at 12pm on a Thursday and Harrison had just woken up from a nap, but instead of feeling invigorated and refreshed, he was cranky and very uninterested in posing for pictures. So I say to Harrison, "the nice lady doesn't have all day to wait for you to smile!" to which she replied, "actually I do - my next appointment isn't until 4:30" and I knew I would do my best to exploit her kindness and spare time.

She was very patient with Harrison and tried all kinds of tricks to get him to smile. After a full 60 minutes of taking photos, we ended up with about 80 usable images. As we sat at the computer picking out prints, the girl was doing her duty to get me to buy as much as possible. As I purposely hemmed and hawed, she started cropping photos and putting together collages to entice me. In the end, I bought a package that got me the 2 collages above and all the digital photos with the rights to them on a CD. Although it wasn't inexpensive, I know I got the better bargain. The 3 head shots below were given to all the grandpa's as Father's Day gifts.

This one is my favorite. Wells Fargo will let you choose a picture to place on your Visa card so I had it put on my debit card. I was SO excited when it showed up... I immediately showed it off to everyone at work. I would post a picture but then my card number would be all over the internet...

Harrison, Winston and I feel that Michael is such a wonderful father and we are so thankful that he is ours to love! Michael was picking up Harrison from Day Care last week and he sat down and said, "I just like to sit and play with him for 5 minutes before we leave becuase when I go home I immediately start working on chores." He didn't say this as a complaint but rather that he likes to go home and get things done around the house. A mother nearby heard him and said, "You do chores?! My husband doesn't do chores... tell your wife she is a very lucky woman!" I am indeed! He never complains and is always willing to help, no matter how tired he is (or how snippy I am). He gets up with Harrison at 2am every morning, takes him to and from school, ensures Winston is healthy (seemingly a full time job in and of itself... I think I failed to mention Winston ate rat poison last weekend), goes to work and constantly works around the house - all to ensure we are happy and cared for. Thank you "our dad!"

Auntie Barbara Visits!

Auntie Barbara (Michael's father [Earl's] sister) came to visit from SoCal for a week and she is always so much fun to be around. We enjoyed visiting with her and checking out photos of her cutie pie grand daughter, Paige.

One of the best things about having family visit is that the entire family gets together to be part of the fun. Everyone (but me) got on the sailboat on Saturday and sailed around Lake Union & Lake Washington and then docked in Kirkland for hamburgers at The Slip. Everyone (especially Michael, but not Raina) was excited to get Harrison out on the boat. Zaidy has an infant life preserver so they all assured me he would be safe although I don't think anyone considered that he would be uncomfortable in it; evidently he didn't care for it much. I will post these pictures once they are provided to me.

On Sunday, we gathered at the Haistings' house for brunch. Auntie Barbara made her husband Ron's Dutch Babies which were SO yummy and grandma Dreslaine made a delicious cheesy quiche.

Zaidy & Baby

Aunt Alexis & Baby

Once we were in the house for about 10 minutes, Winston came into the room and promptly coughed up some foam, which is not uncommon. Upon further inspection, I noticed it had a blue-green substance and after some discussion we came to the conclusion that Winston had eaten rat poison. Zaidy and Michael rushed him to the Emergency Vet; the good news was that we had only been at the house for 10 minutes so we knew that the poison had not been in his system for long. The short of it is that Winston will be fine but I shudder to think what would have happened had he not coughed it up in front of me.

Wednesday Barbara and Grandpa Hugh came over dinner before she left to go back home. Harrison got tired while we were around the table talking so I swaddled him and began rocking him while the gang started singing songs. This group sang the gamut, everything from "Your A Grand Old Flag" to "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" to "The California Drinking Song." I don't know what's worse - the fact that we were singing a drinking song to a baby or the fact that we knew all the words. Michael and I routinely sing all sorts of stuff to him, the oddest being The Brady Bunch theme song. The best songs are the ones that Michael makes up using familiar tunes, they're a lot of fun for us.

Monthly Milestone

Here is Harrison's progress report at school:

A Monthly Milestone

This month your child has developed their social skills by talking and laughing with friends.

Your child has also accomplished learning to sit while in the bumbo chair while developing his physical skills.

Harrison has worked hard developing his emotional skills by showing us how much he loves to smile with us.

Your child has also excelled this month in his cognitive development by recognizing faces with a smile!

Harrison had his 4 month check up on 6-2-09 and here are his stats:
Length: 24 inches (18th percentile)
Weight: 13 lbs, 8 oz (20th %)
Head Circumference: 16 inches (15%)

Wedding Bells

Last weekend I was a bridesmaid in my friend Ashley's wedding. She was a gorgeous bride and the wedding was so beautiful, held at Bastyr chapel in Kenmore, about 10 minutes from my home. One of my very first posts included a picture of me 5 months pregnant trying on dresses. I wish I could have lost more weight and toned up my muscles but then again, I wouldn't want to upstage the bride. Ashely was a b'maid in our wedding and it was really an honor to be able to return the favor for her on her special day.

Sitting Around the House

So far my favorite thing about Day Care is that Miss Ashley introduced us to the Bumbo Chair. It is molded out of a sturdy foam that is soft yet doesn't give way. Although Harrison can sit up, he lacks the balance to stay up... if we were to sit him in a high chair he would eventually slump down or fall over sideways. The Bumbo chair manages to keep him upright and happy. I also bought a tray attachment so I can set some toys on it and he can reach for them and try to pick them up.


Michael and I also love it because he will sit in it while we eat dinner. Until recently one of us would eat first while the other held him and watched the food get cold; either that or try to time our dinner around his nap time (futile -he usually wakes up!).

Watching Harrison sit in it, the best part is when he lays his little arms down around the sides like a little man relaxing in an arm chair!

The Dreaded "First Day"

I have been dreading today for weeks and weeks. Today was my first day back to work which meant Harrison's first day in Day Care. As most parents will tell you, Day Care is harder on the parents then on the child and I whole heatedly agree. I scouted out a great Day Care near the house and made a couple visits before enrolling him and Harrison and I hung out there for an hour last week - so I was well aware that he was going to be in good hands. That said, I have admittedly had a couple crying bouts as I didn't know how I was going to be able to leave him.

I put off going to bed Sunday night in a futile attempt to keep Monday away. It may have been the best thing though because I over slept my alarm by 75 minutes which meant I had to run around to get out of the house and get to work on time; luckily I had set the alarm a little extra early so it all worked out ok and I had prepped all the bags I needed the night before. Since I was in such a hurry, I didn't have time to fret over Harrison so it kept me sane. The worst part for me was that he was still asleep when I left so I didn't get to kiss him goodbye :(

Michael has been great as we have been working through this process. Harrison still wakes up around 3-4am and Michael is now the one getting up to feed him so I can sleep since I get up earlier. This morning he sent me a text message and called to tell me that Harrison did great at Day Care and asked about my well being. This made me feel good about the situation and since I was only working a half day I was looking forward to getting off early and picking him up.

When Michael got home around 5 he admitted to me that he nearly cried when he dropped him off...Harrison started crying and the teachers were finishing up with a couple other babies so they were letting him cry (not a bad thing) but poor dad felt awful about it so he ran over and picked him up to calm him down. It made me cry when he told me about it! I was little mad tat he lied to me but it was really the right thing as I didn't need to break down crying at work. We agree that there was nothing bad about the situation, we just feel sad and guilty leaving him there... it's insane how much you love your kid!

My first day of work was easy. Everyone was happy to see me and the work load was light; I deleted 3800 emails that somehow were in my Inbox (one would think they would shut it down when you are out on leave!). Someone had left some flowers for me on my desk, but there was no note or card and I never figured out who left them! I will need to do some sleuthing tomorrow to properly thank that kind soul. I still worry about working as i think I will be gone before Harrison wakes up in the morning and then will only have a couple hours with him in the evening before bed time. How does a mom go from 24/7 to 3 hours each weekday? I know people do it and I am thankful to have a great job, but I'm just not sure how I will get by mentally and emotionally...

Memorial Day Weekend

Team Fein decided to stay in town for the long weekend and enjoy some family time together. We started Friday afternoon off with a picnic at Juanita Bay beach. As it was a rather impromptu idea, we didn't actually have any picnic food so we stopped off at Little Caesars and picked up pizza, spread out our new picnic blanket and basked in the rays of the setting sun. Winston always gets so excited when we put on his collar as it usually means he is coming along, so he was more than happy to don the collar and trot out to the car with us.

We thought Harrison would be in a good mood as he had just woken up from a nap but he was actually rather cranky... no smiles for us this night!

On Saturday, we had lunch with Raina's cousin Terra who was in town for the weekend with a friend. Cousin Terra has four kiddos of her own so Harrison was putty in her arms.


Since we lunched at Cactus, the three of us took a pre-lunch stroll at the Kirkland Marina where Michael couldn't resist dipping his little toes in the sand - gravelly sand that stuck in his toes for the next hour.
Sunday, Harrison attended a volleyball tournament with Aunt Rae Ann, Grandma and Zadie at the UW where he was evidently the bell of the ball. We took this opportunity to have our first movie date away from Harrison. Since the weather was beautiful for the third day in a row, we lunched outside on the deck at Ivars on Lake Union (fish 'n' chips) and then went to see the new Star Trek movie. Michael and I both watched some of the Star Trek series growing up so we enjoyed this newest movie. The "best part" was as we were walking out of the movie theater, a girl with a group of teenagers said, "did this used to be a t.v. series or something?" Evidently 30 IS old!

As a side bar, Wil Wheaton (who played Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: Next Generation) often attends a video game convention my friend Robert runs. A couple years ago, Wil was in town so Robert made it a point to introduce me to him and them in typical I'm-going-to-make-this-embarrassing-for-you Robert fashion he says "Raina used to have a big crush on you." It's actually not true (although he was cute), but embarrassing none-the-less. I did get a great picture with him though!
We concluded Sunday with a BBQ at Brennan & Rudy's place which has a gorgeous view of Lake Washington. Monday we did some house work and Raina hit the mall and scored some major goods at deep discounts... it's so nice not to wear a stitch of maternity clothes any more!

First Night In His Bedroom

We had been putting off the transition to Harrison sleeping in his bedroom for several reasons but with me going back to work in less than 2 weeks, we needed to make this happen so we can hopefully sleep better at night. Part of this process was getting his room ready. Since Harrison was born early, his bedroom wasn't completed (at least it wasn't up to my standards) so we have been working on making it feel more "homey" the past week or so. We added the picture, book case, a set of hooks, a star light and a mirror is going over his dresser/changing table so he can entertain himself. Small changes really but they did a lot for the overall ambiance.


Pottery Barn Kids had this map printed on canvas for $99 which I loved but would not pay for. While there, I found the same map in a puzzle so we bought it, glued it together with Modge Podge and glued it on top of a canvas. The project cost less than $30 and is totally cooler!

So last night we began our new ritual. At 8:30pm we turn off all unnecessary lights and dim the rest. Harrison gets a bath and then the three of us go to his bedroom to dress him in his pj's while listening to soothing music. He drinks his bed time bottle in daddy's arms while mommy sits in front and reads a couple of books. Then the lights go off and he is rocked to sleep in mommy's arms and then into the crib for the night. This all went off well last night. He woke up around 1am (this is normal) at which point I fed him and he drifted off to sleep again. He woke again at 5am (as expected) ate again and then we rewarded him (us!) by going back to sleep in our bed, all cuddled up. Mom was able to stay sane through this process partially with the fancy new baby monitor which has a video camera and small screen with "night vision" so I can see him. When I put him down at 1am, I watched him on the monitor... he actually woke up and was kicking around and making a little noise. Normally I would have gone in and picked him up again but I nervously waited it out and within 10 minutes he had put himself back to sleep again. Hooray!

All said, we are very pleased with the transition and Harrison seems to be taking well to it too.

Work is around the corner...

Well, it's official. Monday, June 1st I will be going back to work full time and Harrison is going to Day Care :(

Many of you may recall I had a part time gig worked out and LONG story short, it is no longer available so I am going back to my old job. This isn't so bad as I actually enjoy my job however I really didn't want to put Harrison in day care full time. Michael and I talked and talked and talked about this and at this time it is the best thing for our family. I found what looks to be an excellent day care just up the street (two minutes and one stop light away) and from my several conversations with the staff I think that Harrison will be well cared for by loving people.

Michael feels funny taking him to day care since he will be working from home but he promises to try to head up there at lunch time and hang out with his boy; he can probably drop off a little later and pick up a little earlier than if he wasn't so nearby. I did the math last night and I think I will have to get up at 5am in order to get Harrison's stuff ready as well as myself and hit the Bus Park & Ride by 6:30am. I usually get home around 5:30pm (in decent traffic) which is going to make for a really long day.

We will probably reevaluate the situation in a couple months to see if it is really working for our family. I feel fortunate to have a wonderful manager and a great job when so many people are struggling in this economy but the emotions I feel as a mother are certainly strong so this was a difficult decision for us to make. Wish me luck!

Mother's Day, Viva Las Vegas

Raina & Harrison spent the last week in Las Vegas with Raina's family which included Sunday, Mother's Day. Sadly Michael could not come for the visit however he sent this new mommy a surprise fancy box of chocolates (see below, very cool).

Harrison, about 14 weeks & 14 pounds!

Fancy Chocolates that look like mice (but taste better!)

Although we were not with our little immediate family, it was still a very special day as my mother, Winnie, had all three of her children with her, as well as her new grandson, which is a rare occurrence since Jonathan lives in Boston and our visiting schedules seldom jive. In fact, a lot of schedules were arranged to make this a memorable visit. In addition to Jon, my Uncle Billy and his partner Paul brought my grandad (Winnie's father) from San Francisco for the weekend; Hart's son Burke and his wife Judy came to visit twice; Aunt Sharon came over twice and cousin Derrick came over for dinner too. So much family! On Sunday we visited the cemetery where Grandma & Grandpa Mapel and Grandma Ng is buried so Harrison really got the ancestral tour! Thank you to everyone for making the last week really great.

Uncle Jon

Judy & Burke

Winnie & Hart

Great Grand Dad

Aunt Sharon

Uncle Billy

Also on Mother's Day, we took Harrison to church to receive a blessing, which is customary in the Mormon church to start off the baby's life on the right foot, if you will. This entails a group of men to stand up and perform the blessing and I was so happy to have my dad give the blessing with Hart (mom's husband) and Jon there as well. I had hoped Harrison would fall asleep by blessing time and when he did not, I feared he would wail during the blessing but he managed to hold it together until it was over (thanks for making mom proud!). After the blessing and a trip to the cemetery, we gathered at mom's house for a little party. The food was delicious (mom's food is always delish) and the company great.

Blessing Day

Mom's Day was not the only big day during this trip... Harrison slept 8 hours straight one night and 7 hours another!!! Albeit he slept from 8pm to 4am (morning of 5/8), this mom could not have asked for a better gift! Around 1am I started waking up hourly, not because I needed to ensure he was breathing (although I did check) but because my instincts were telling me he was about to break the sleep record. Each hour I did the math in my head and once I hit 8 hours I got so happy that I practically woke him up to celebrate! Both instances occurred after particularly busy days and his naps were not as frequent or long as usual... this made him pretty cranky which was really hard to deal with (took me 4 tries and 3 hours to put him to bed) so I'm not sure it is a good trade off for longer sleep periods. I need to find a happy medium. Otherwise, he has been able to sleep 8 hours waking up around hour 4, eating and then going directly back to sleep without a diaper change, so that's nearly as good.

4am on May 8th (yep, mommy took a picture!)

Dad and Barbi have a big, new swimming pool that is perfect on a hot day; Las Vegas was about 15 degrees warmer than usual, pushing 100 degrees... ug, so hot! I bought Harrison some swim diapers and dressed him in his swim suit from grandma Dreslaine, sprayed him with sun screen and hat, and then dipped him waste high in the pool with Aunt Chyna... at which time he promptly wailed and we pulled him out and sat by the pool instead! Oh well, he will surely grow into a water loving baby. Raina would spend nearly every day every summer at Grandpa Ken & Grandma Ann's house in the pool with Jon and cousins Terra and Derrick. Hopefully Harrison will get a similar experience during future visits to Grandpa and Oma.

"Swimming" with Oma

Grandpa Dale is rather obsessed on Harrison growing up as fast as possible. It was all I could do to keep him from feeding Harrison a double bottle or bananas or ice cream. As you can see below, Grandpa thinks a 3 month old should be on the verge of walking. To be fair, Harrison will stride his legs if you pick him up under the arm pits ~~ sorry grandpa, it will be next spring before he is really walking!

Another highlight was visiting my best friend from high school Megan and her husband and daughters. They are expecting a little girl in a few months so we had plenty to talk about and her daughters were very intrigued by Harrison. I brought him over sleeping and they were begging to wake him up and share their toys with him - how sweet! Unfortunately once awake, he was pretty fussy for some unknown reason, evident by his expression below.

Raina & Megan, together again!

Below are a few random pictures from our time there; not really any stories behind them, more for your viewing pleasure.

Hart & Harrison. Hart is really a large man and the juxtaposition of their two hands was really sweet...

Dad took this cute picture of Harrison's foot; the pediatrician says he actually has big feet but they still look small and precious to me.

Baby's first BBQ; PoPo made really thick (and tasty) hamburgers which were nearly impossible to wrap your mouth around.

Uncle Jon & Aunt Chyna goofing around.