The afore mentioned hallway

My Boys

 

Michael, Harrison and Winston are my boys. I would do anything for them. That is why after two years of deliberation, Michael and I have agreed that after June 1, 2011, I will officially become a

Stay At Home Mom (SAHM)

Prior to Harrison's birth, I had worked out a 20 hour position with my manager however while on maternity leave, there was "the recession" and the "TARP bailouts" (I work for a bank) and high levels of unemployment etc. Upon my return my manager had the hard task of telling me she could not offer me part time work as she could not add a position and my current job could not function at part time hours. Since Michael had lost a job 2 weeks before Harrison was born and was then just two months into starting the new job, we made the tough decision that I would work full time. In the time since then, we have made things work and life is good but what it really came down to was... life could be better.

We anticipate a lot of positive adjustments and improvements in our lifestyle. Mom will actually see Harrison in the morning (and can stop setting an alarm clock for 5:30 a.m.). Dad and mom can finally fit in time to exercise. Winston won't be as neglected and will take many more walks and won't have to "hold it" for 8 hours (which frankly has been more and more of a problem lately). Mom will be able to sew, make photo albums and edit family movies while Harrison naps. Dad looks forward to even more home cooked meals.

Most of all, we look forward to our quality time together. Mommy and Harrison will obviuosly have a lot more time together. I will be able to stay up a little later at night which gives Michael and I quality time. Winston will have company during the day again which he sorely needs.

Between now and June 1st, I need to start structuring our days and weeks so Harrison learns, plays and has social kid time and hopefully neither of us will want to kill the other. And heck, if it turns out I am no good at being a SAHM, then I could always take the easy way out and go back to "work" (I certainly have no illusions that staying at home will be easy!).

There is "mommy guilt" if you work and there is "mommy guilt" if you don't work. Thank you to my wonderful husband for relieving me of the guilt associated with not bringing in an additional income. Thanks to my friend Rick for relieving my of the fear that I will never be able to get back into the work force. Thanks to my SAHM friends already offering me tips and will train me for my new job. And thanks to our families that are willing to support us in our decision.

Potty Update

After two weeks of intense interest, Harrison won't go near a potty anymore. Not at all surprising but our hopes of getting out of diapers early are dashed for now. Oh well.

Snuggle Bug

At night, after I turn off the light, I usually sing a song to Harrison however he prefers to dictate which song I sing. For instance, if I start with "Twinkle, twinkle" he will whine "noooo" before I can finish singing "star." Sometimes I go through four or five songs and he receive the same reply.

Last week, was one of those nights so I made up a little song that was mostly the words "snuggle bug" drawn out for a few seconds over and over. After a few times, he started singing it back to me. After a minute, it sounded like this:

Me: "Snuggle Bug"
HJ: "Snuggle Bug"
Me: "Snuggle Bug"
HJ: "Mommy Bug"
Me: "Cuddle Bug"
HJ: "No, Mommy Bug"
Me: "Snuggle Bug"
HJ: "Mommy Bug"

...and then he was pretty much asleep in my arms. I went downstairs with a big smile on my face and told Michael "I win. You did the dishes and I got the sweetest little boy in the world!"

A Spring Weekend

Spring is finally here! Last week the cherry blossoms bloomed filling the skyline with pink petals and we had a few days with weather in the low 60's, a much needed relief from the gloom and doom of a northwest winter. We took the picture below on a sunny but freezing day in the dead of January (literally it was in the 20's). We took Harrison for a long walk to a playground but when we got there, he couldn't play because his little fingers were red with cold (even with mittens) and we had to carry him most of the way home to keep him warm (look how bundled he was!)

This spring weekend we were able to take walks without fleece blankets, moose hats, mittens and 3 layers of clothes; even if it showered off and on, there was also some sun off and on. After weeks of being indoors we were able to spend some quality time with mother nature.

On Saturday, we went for dinner in the city of Edmonds on a whim and 25 minutes later we were enjoying dinner a few blocks from the Puget Sound. Enjoying a short walk after dinner, we watched the ferries load passengers and cars. At bedtime we read a childrens book about a boy and his dog that visit Seattle, which  goes something like this: "Mom and dad, Pete and Larry, crossed the water on a ferry." I think the real ferry boats connected some dots in Harrison's brain.

We continued the fun teaching Harrison how to draw on the wet shore with a stick, strolling along getting sand in our shoes. Harrison observed seagulls perched on drift wood and dad pointed out a seal swimming 50 yards out. When it was time to go, I had to grab Harrison (who was running away from me) and tuck him under my arm then pass him to dad to quarantine on his shoulders, otherwise I think our kid would have played on the beach forever.

Continuing our sea theme, on Sunday we decided to pack up and head downtown to the Seattle Aquarium; evidently everyone else did too, it was packed and difficult to maneuver but we made the best of it. Harrison enjoyed watching the Harbor Seals swim around from the lookout 20 feet above their tank as well as observe feeding time for the Sea Otters. The River Otters are always fascinating, zooming through the water, jumping onto land, scurrying about then returning to the water.

 

After the aquarium, we had lunch at the cafe at Elliot's on pier 65. Harrison agreed to eat some cod in exchange for french fries (yes, we bribed him with fries - you got to take the wins where you can get 'em) while watching tourists load onto boats in light rain to take the Elliot Bay harbor tours. As we walked 10 minutes back to the car, we veered over to a large, empty pier that is used for concerts during the summer time. Harrison strutted around (seriously, like he owned the place, with a swagger), walking through puddles despite our admonishments his shoes and socks would get soaked.

Fanciful embellishment on a post lining the pier

My boys!

My Silly Boys!

10 minutes later Harrison was asleep in the car, the eventful weekend had taken a lot out of him. I neglected to mention that he went to bed at 10:30pm (!) Friday night since we had friends with a 3 year old over for dinner. What a wonderful weekend!

It's Potty Time!

In the last month or so, Harrison has show some interest in the kamode (aside from the elaborate toilet papering job he did to the downstairs powder room while we were in the living room with friends!). Thanks to Sarah H. and her twin boys, we have inherited two potty chairs that we placed upstairs and downstairs so that he can start to figure the thing out.

Last weekend, mommy was sleeping in late Saturday morning (my hallowed time and only day to sleep in!) when at 8am I am awakened to little hands attempting to open the bedroom door and daddy encouraging him to do so. What could be driving this insanity? Harrison gets the door open and runs up to me yelling, "I did it, I did it!"

Daddy then reported that our 25 month old baby boy just went pee pee in the potty. What a very proud moment. In fact, you know you are a proud parent when (a) pee pee in the potty causes that swelling feeling of pride and (b) you go around telling friends, family and coworkers what your son did over the weekend.

On Monday morning, I recieved a call at work and it is Harrison (and daddy) on speakerphone telling mommy "I did it, I did it!" I congratulate him heartily and then see my boss walk in the door at the other end of the hall to which I calmly say, "mommy is very proud of you but mommy has to go because mommy's boss is here!" My coworker who overheard the whole thing nearly keeled over in laughter.

Just as proud, daddy told several people at work as well. When he walked into a meeting with the big wigs, someone says, "I think Michael has something he would like to share with everybody..." and yes, Harrison, daddy told them you went pee pee in the potty. I believe there were cheers and applause (and laughter).

Harrison faithfully did his duty every morning, although it can take 10-15 minutes. One morning, daddy left him sitting there while he dressed and a few minutes later Harrison was yelling "I did it!" When daddy inspected the bowl, he found it empty. He was just about to begin a little speech about telling the truth when he looked over and realized Harrison had lifted out the potty insert and dumped the contents into the big toilet. Atta Boy!

We certainly have many more months of training ahead of us. He has never done it any time other than in the morning and never in front of mommy. It is possible that it is just a novelty right now that will fade and we may need to start over again. In any case, we are very proud of him!

Fish Tales

A short story for you to  muse over: A couple days ago, I picked up Harrison from day care just as the kids received goldfish crackers as a snack. When we arrived at home, Harrison pointed out to me that one had fallen from somewhere onto the kitchen floor, most likely it was previously stuck to our clothes. I didn't think too much of it since food falling from the sky is pretty common with a toddler around.

The next morning, I stand up from my desk at work to find a single goldfish cracker on the ground, partially broken as I had evidently stepped on it. As I waited for the elevator to take us downstairs, my friend commented that their was a lot of white fuzz on her black fleece jacket to which I replied, "fleece is annoying, but I evidently have goldfish crackers falling out of my wool coat!"

After returning to the office with our lunches, I hung my coat on the back of my chair rather than on the hook as I was eager to eat. Since my coat has a hood I always ensure it is flipped back rather than forward and over the front of my chair (simply because that annoys my sense of order!). To my astonishment, I glanced inside the hood to find:

You know you're a mother when you find several goldfish crackers stowed away in the hood of your jacket! I'm just glad it wasn't raining on my way to work...

Head Stands

When it's too cold or rainy to play outside at school, the teachers will let the toddlers spend some time running down a long hallway which they absolutely love to do. Evidently hallway time occurs around 5pm as I often see them running and giggling through the hallway. Harrison likes it so much that when I arrive I let him continue to run for 5-10 more minutes.  

A couple weeks ago the kids ran away from me and stopped halfway down the hall... to stand on their heads, as a group! None of the group pictures came out but I got one good one of Harrison. What you don't see is that once they are topsy-turvey they stick out their arms like airplane wings and try to balance on their heads - hilarious!

Also around the time of these pictures, I went through Harrison's drawers and closet to put away smaller clothes. When I was done, his entire middle drawer was devoted to track suits. I am not sure how this trend started as each outfit came from a different source, but Harrison has enough stock to outfit a high school track team. My plan was to snap a picture in each outfit but I am too impatient so here are a couple. Have you seen the movie "The Royal Tennanbaums?" Ben Stiller's family wears track suits the entire show so we sometimes call Harrison our little Tennanbaum (he even has that same track suit in blue - thanks Burke & Judy!)

A six footer like his daddy

Like a sucker I plugged in Harrison's stats into a "Height Predictor" on a parenting website, along with our height and got the "prediction" below. LOVE the fine print..."there is 90% chance [it will be correct] within 2.1 inches"... I think a monkey could have thrown a dart at a board and have that same accuracy!

Height Predictor

Your boy will likely be 6 ft. 0 in. at age 18.

Learn More

Young men often continue to grow a little past 18 until they reach 21, but their height at age 18 is very close to their final adult height. This prediction is a "best guess" but it's still just that -- a guess. Based on the formula we used* there is a 50 percent chance that your boy's full-grown height will be within 0.8 inches (above or below) of this prediction, and a 90 percent chance that it will be within 2.1 inches.

THE FINE PRINT: Parents' heights are a good predictor of a child's adult height, but heredity only accounts for about 70 percent of what goes into deciding how tall someone will be. The other 30 percent comes from environmental factors, like eating habits (poor nutrition can "stunt" a child's growth) and exercise patterns (a competitive gymnast may not grow to her full potential).

Sometimes a child will surprise everyone and turn out much taller or shorter than either parent. This calculator can't account for that possibility. It also won't work well for children who 1) are exceptionally tall, 2) are already taller than both their parents, or 3) have a condition that affects their height, such as growth hormone deficiency.

*Reference:
Predicting Adult Stature Without Using Skeletal Age: The Khamis-Roche Method
by H.J. Khamis and A.F. Roche
Pediatrics, October 1994

24 Month Stats

Harrison had is 24 month check up recently; here are his stats:

•  Length: 35" (65th percentile) 
• Weight: 27lbs 8oz (45th percentile)
• Head Circumference: 19" (45th percentile)

You can see here how he has grown:

Here are some things worth mentioning:

Words: he is using a lot of words and trying out a lot of words - he's gung ho for speaking now! If you ask him to repeat something he will usually do it enthusiastically. Lately he is putting a lot of effort into saying his own name, so that it actually sounds like his name - "Hair-seem" - as well as "I love you" which sounds like "low you." He has assigned a name to every member of the family and has started using animals names instead of referring to them by the sounds they make.

Sign Language: Harrison is now talking up a storm so he has almost phased out sign language except when he is really serious about something. For example, when he is hungry he tends to say "eat" while signing a the same time.

Singing: his new favorite song is "Happy Birthday to you" and we have randomly caught him singing "happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday." He also knows "I love to eat, eat, eat, apples and bananas" and will sing, "eat, eat, eat, eat, eat, eat."

Bedtime: he is stellar going to bed with dad but recently with mommy, he has regressed and cries loudly and begs me to pick him back up, jumping up and down on his mattress. I told him "you're a big boy now, go night-night" and he cries, "Nooo.... Baby!" I reassured him he is my baby but he still needs to go to sleep and then he cries "MAAAA-MEEEE!" Heart breaking but I have to let him cry himself to sleep.

Favorites: Harrison's updated favorites include Buzz Lightyear and his pal Woody; we watch all the Toy Story movies constantly. He still enjoys Sesame Street and he loves his new train set. Since it arrived on his birthday, he uses the word "play" a lot specifically referring to his "choo-choos."

School: he recently graduated to the "Toddler B" room with the 2-3 year olds and is doing very well. He loves his teachers and loves to play with all his friends. They are also teaching them to count to 3. Harrison seems to skip "1" or maybe doesn't quite get the concept of one and then "2" and "3" are all the same to him. Pretty much anything in multiples is 3 and we are still trying to make him memorize that he is 2 years old or he will tell you he is 3.

Whining and tantrums: this hasn't gone away but time outs, or the threat of time outs, is quite effective. Now that he is speaking, it seems like he can express himself better which can negate the necessity for the whining.

For fun, those of us around the lunch table at work read "Ask Amy" which is a Dear Abby type column in the Seattle Times. In light of recent festivities, I think you will find a good laugh reading this as well:

Dear Amy: We just celebrated my daughter's first birthday with a wonderful party at a lovely catering hall. We had live entertainment, food, an open bar for the adults, flowers, balloons, favors —- you name it!


I spent months planning for this party to make it a perfect event. This is my third child and every party has been a big event like this one. I put a lot of time into planning my children's parties and thoroughly enjoy doing it.

My problem is rude guests!

I had more than half of the party (20 families) respond several days past the RSVP date (I sent out the invitations six weeks ahead of time so they had plenty of time to respond). They showed up 1-2 hours late to the party with no apology or explanation (and some left early). These guests took it upon themselves to sit wherever they wanted, even when I had place cards with assigned seating that I spent several hours organizing. These perpetrators do things like this at every party. As much as I love to throw parties for my children, I find myself disappointed, insulted and feeling used in the end.

Should I stop having these parties or should I continue doing what my children and I enjoy and ignore the rudeness? Please tell me what I should do.  — Frustrated Mother


Dear Frustrated: It's somewhat refreshing to learn that even in this tough economy there are still people who throw cotillions for 1-year-olds.

You need a reality check. You also need a reality show. If you had your own show, your guests' rudeness — and the pettiness of your reaction — would be highlighted for the amusement of the rest of us.

Every time you host one of these extravaganzas you emerge with the same frustrations, so you should do an objective post mortem to figure out what you could do differently in order to have a different result. I suggest that you adjust your expectations somewhat regarding timely RSVPs, consider doing away with your seating chart and adjust the length of your event. You may notice that all of my suggestions involve you lightening up.

Birthday Party

Several weeks ago, I eagerly began planning Harrison's 2nd birthday party. Since he loves Elmo, we thought it would be fun to have a Sesame Street themed party. I found this on Etsy ; the creator emailed me the finished file and I was able to print them out as photos which I then mounted to yellow card stock.

We had an idea of getting Harrison a train set for his gift, but pricing out the train table, trains, tracks and accessories, it turned out to be an expensive endeavor! To make this project more manageable, we recruited some help from our party goers. I made a "wish list" on the Toysareus website and on the back on the invitation we invited our guests to help us build Harrison a train set. Thanks to all our family and friends! This photo only has a few trains on it; the next day we had to buy some big baskets to store all the pieces (ignore the pot, that shouldn't be there!)

Take notice of the butcher paper on the walls; I used crayons and drew pictures from "Elmo's World" including Dorothy the gold fish, shade and the family portrait.

Since our party consisted of infants to 5 year olds, I didn't do much in the way of games other than "pin the nose on Elmo" as you can see below. We let the two oldest kids go first, tying a tie around their eyes. Emma hit it spot on, we were very impressed. Then Will did the exact same thing... Michael said teasingly, "hey, are you guys cheating?" to which Will immediately said, "I could see it right there in front of me!" It's really cute on video. At that point, I took Harrison (unblindfolded) and spun him around in circles 3 times in the hopes of making him a little dizzy but he hit the nose right on the mark too, what a surprise!



After some pizza (Elmo's favorite food!), it was time for cupcakes and a Happy Birthday serenade. I found these cupcake toppers on Etsy as well and she customized them to include Harrison's name. Unlike the night before, Harrison knew just what to do when he saw these beflamed candles coming his way!

And of course, he already knew what to do with the cupcake... eat all the frosting off the top first!

As my enthusiasm overtook me during the planning stages, I insisted that we all have character T-shirts. Long story short, Harrison now has three Elmo T-shirts. My dear, loving husband is so patiently indulgent... papa bear got the most manly, street thug looking Oscar he could find; mama bear wore Grover with the street sign written in Chinese; Harrison wanted nothing more than Elmo of course... ah, just right.

 I made gift bags for each of the kids with a Sesame Street coloring book and mini pop up book, some snacks and luggage tags that I made. I don't have a "finished" photo handy but I tied an Elmo balloon to each bag, with the strings measured at different levels so you can see each balloon clearly; this was placed at the entry way so there was a bevvy of smiling red faces to greet party goers.

I slipped one of these photo cards into each bag (I wanted to affix it to the back but I printed them too large)...

After the party, mom took a longer nap than Harrison. At the end of the day, Harrison slipped on his new Buzz and Woody jammies, talked to us about having fun with Will, Beckett, Emma, Amelie and Jaden, played with his trains and went to sleep a happy, two year old boy.

Birthday Day Dinner

To celebrate the actual day of Harrison's birth, we ate at ye old pasta factory and invited Grandmama, Zaidy, Great Papa, Uncle Stephen and Gekki (Alexis). Little dude ate like a growing boy, scarffing down bread, applesauce, spaghetti and then polishing off the meal with some ice cream...

Despite his confused look, he really liked the singing and ice cream with candle routine. As we ended our meal, a couple other tables also had birthdays and when everyone clapped after the song, Harrison would say "YEAH!" and clap his hands with a big smile on his face.

Over the river and through the woods...

...to grandmama's house we go! Harrison experienced his first sleepover at Grandmama and Zaidy's house this past weekend. In fact, he spent two nights away from home as mom and dad spent the weekend in downtown Seattle. Together, we have never been away from him like this before and I was a little worried how things would work out. I may have mentioned this before, but from about 12-18 months, Harrison would scream and wail at the sight of his grandmama because when he was smaller we would leave him with her to babysit; too often we dropped him off while he was sleeping and he would wake up and we were gone. It took several months to let the emotional scars heal and many visits in which he was not left alone without his parents!

I am happy (or maybe a little sad?) that Harrison had a GREAT time at Grandmama and Zaidy's house last weekend. Evidently, he did not throw any fits, took great naps, ate the food prepared for him and didn't ask for his mommy or daddy... not even once! This is actually quite a breakthrough and we are all happy he is getting the hang of being spoiled by them. Yes, Zaidy, I said spoiled... don't think I didn't notice that you didn't cut that fresh apple juice with water like I asked, I could smell the natural sugars a mile away! Ha!

When we called to check in Saturday morning, we were told Harrison played in the bath for an hour, until his little fingers were prune like, and evidently had a lot of fun. Later that day, he also took a trip to a nearby farm and had a grand time stomping in puddles and meeting the animals. We called to check in (yes, again!) while they were driving home and we could hear Harrison moo'ing and singing to himself in the background. Might I add he had no interest in talking to us.

It also looks like he obediently brushed his teeth when asked:

It seems he got so comfortable there that he would wander into the family room and if Great Papa (great grandpa Hugh) was not in his usual chair watching tv, Harrison would say "Papa?" and shrug his shoulders. When he does this, he usually also says "where'd-go?" really fast but in a whisper (it's pretty funny).

When we arrived Sunday morning to pick him up, I walked past the large family room windows and he caught sight of me and started jumping up and down madly (to which I enthusiastically reciprocated), and then he made a dash towards the front door. Three seconds later I am turning the handle and hear him crying like he is wounded. Once inside, we checked him out thinking maybe he tripped and fell while he was running however he was determined to be unscathed. In the end, we think he was so overcome with emotion he did not know what else to do but cry! He was excited to see us, then probably realized he hadn't seen us in a couple days, and then realized we had left him for that whole time, and then relief that we came back... what else to do but cry?! Poor guy, but he was recovered a few minutes later and went about playing and working off some of that sugar in the afore mentioned apple juice.

In the days since, driving home from day care he has asked me about the whereabouts of "gamma" and "zzaa-dee." He also declared that a passing bus was "Zaidy's bus" because he knows that firetrucks are Zaidy's (he's a firefighter) and therefore all large vehicles must be his too. I told him his grandparents would be at his birthday party and he was very excited they plan to attend.

Our big guy

Our little Harrison is in the verge, nay, the very cusp of turning 2 years old! With the arrival of his birthday just a couple weeks away, we will cease to continue counting his age in months (mostly because we can't count much higher than 24). I haven't been as diligent as I would have liked in documenting his new skills but here are a couple of things that come to mind.

Last weekend, he pointed to his new track jacket hanging on the hook and said "GEEN, GEEN" and I suddenly realized he was saying "green"; until that moment, he had never before categorized a color (although I wonder if someone told him it was green and that is just the name he has assigned the jacket... I will have to conduct some tests).

 

 He wants to be like dad! Check him out in dad's ski helmet; not pictured are the giant ski gloves he wanted over both hands.

 

  

He LOVES Elmo and Sesame Street. In fact, he will beg to watch Elmo and read Elmo books. Aunt Sharon gave him this Elmo hat and while he doesn't always like wearing it, he likes to carry Elmo around with him.

 

He has learned to eat "real food." Up until recently, there was very little he would eat that wasn't fruit, pasta, cheese, pasta covered in cheese, or bread/tortilla covered in cheese. We made a major breakthrough one night when he asked to take "a bite" of my taco and then proceeded to eat most of it. The trend continued the next several nights which included some wonton soup I made; Po Po we knew you would want us to capture his first full meal of Chinese food! By the way, he refers to actively eating and drinking as taking "a bite." For instance, he asked me for a bite of my water or he will tell me to take a bite of his soup.

Harrison LOVES Buzz from Toy Story. I recently took him to the mall and he noticed the Disney Store for the first time... hard to miss with a revolving Daisy Duck and Chip and Dale in the window! Once inside, I decided to get him a piece of kids luggage because he will be staying at Grandmama's house this weekend. Once we purchased "Buzz," he insisted on pulling it behind him the entire length of the mall. Now at home, he asks to take Buzz with him to school in the mornings as well as up and down the stairs inside the house. His interest in Toy Story 3 makes TS 1 and TS2 look like a calculus lecture... you can't tear his eyes away from TS3. As a side note, his other favorite new movie is Ratatouille (which he calls "mouse"... it is hard to tell the difference between a rat and mouse). While we were watching it one evening, he pointed at my kitchen and and then back at the cartoon kitchen on the tv; then he pointed to his red play kitchen and then back at the tv. You could just see the light bulb turn on in his brain.

There is almost no trace of baby left in his sweet self. Just look at him here, he looks like a little boy through and through. He asserts his independence (except when he whines for mommy to baby him, pick him up, etc) and he wants to be like mommy and daddy. He asks to sit on the potty like us and he will pull off a bit of toliet paper and wipe his back side, throw it in the bowl and then flush. While his body has not associated when to "let it go" he is starting to take an interest. Also like a grown up, he seems to like some privacy when he has a BM... I can't tell you how many times he has walked out of the pantry with a dirty diaper! Totally a little man! 

Book Club

In early 2006, I started a book club because I loved to read and wanted to spend more time with my friends. These woman have become some of my closest friends and I am amazed at how our club has both stuck together and grown! Getting together and reading the same material and sharing opinions brings us closer to one another than I would ever get with most of the people I work with day in and out chatting about the weather or the weekend. These girls know I hate the romantic, perfectly plotted stuff of Nicholas Sparks and know I love works of fiction that delve into societal issues while giving us an interesting plot with interesting characters. And they know I LOVE to eat, in fact we all do and tend to choose the next read depending on the type of food we want to eat. I would rather choose the book first but the majority rules.

The first book club of 2011 gathered at Melissa's house in nearby Snohomish last weekend. Since we had chosen two books with Japanese characters, we had a sushi making party and I tried my hand at yakisoba. We don't regularly take photos so I am glad I have this one to remind me of how lucky I am to have these ladies in my life!

from left to right: Ellyce, Melony, Tina, Ashley, Melissa, Brennan, Sara, Alicia and Raina

The Many Days of Christmas (day The Last)

On New Year's Day, Michael's family came to our house after spending Christmas on the Washington coast. On Christmas Day, we Skyped with them from Las Vegas and it was really cool to be able to connect with them "face to face" although the proper way to open gifts is in person so you can really experience the joy. Of course the bulk of the gifts were for Harrison and by this, the LAST day of Christmas, he knew what to do and was fairly adept and tearing off wrapping paper. The hardest part is that he gets a toy he wants to play with and it is hard to keep him moving on to the next gift. At some point, I started tucking already opened presents behind large bags or behind the wall into the next room. When Zaidy gives you a cork pop gun and a dolphin that "ee-ees!" one can see why you would want to stop and play with everything!

Our dear family friend Sally made Harrison this fun fleece hat as well and these pictures were too cute to leave out; it kind of looks like his modeling in the last picture, striking a pose!

Dad and I saved Harrison's "big" gift until this day and I think he was thrilled with it overall. Not only did he get his own retro red wood kitchen, mom ensured he got all the right accessories. Wooden: pots and pans, cookies, apple pie, sushi, pizza and fruits and veggies you can "cut." Everything comes in smaller pieces and can be assembled using Velcro, so he can put the cookies on the pizza or fill the pie with carrots. Lots of fun!

My mom was going through some old photos and sent me this oldie of my first kitchen. I don't remember it, but I do remember the wagon as well as the Santa hanging on the door. Of course that wall paper will always come to mind, as well as the mirrored wall and wood paneling that you can't see!

Although this may have been the last day of Christmas, Harrison's birthday is in just a few weeks... I wonder if he will think it is still Christmas...

The Many Days of Christmas (day umpteen)

On December 27th, a weird snow storm hit the area but only in a convergence zone which evidently converged right above our house. Although the buses couldn't get in and out of the parking lot, once I drove about 5 miles south, there was no trace of snow or rain. Harrison's day care closed early anyway so mom and baby grabbed Winston and played in the snow in the park.

Harrison's snow mittens are too big so picking up the tennis ball is like you doing it wearing giant oven mittens. Despite that, he still managed some good tosses.

Now in the umpteenth day of Christmas festivities, Grandpa Dale's gifts arrived so that we had more boxes to open and snow showers of packing peanuts. Start to finish, it took me nearly two hours to get through layers of packing tape, gallons of packing peanuts and mounds of bubble wrap and then pack it all into trash bags.

Seriously, a quintuplet of Harrisons could fit in the box.  

Can you tell what it is?

NEIGH, NEIGH! Harrison's very own, hand made rocking horse, compliments of Grandpa and his woodshop in his garage. Cousin Argenta also received one which we saw side by side before they were shipped. Of course it is cool that my father made it but it's great that they are not identical, each unique in it's own way. Grandpa complained that Harrison's got a bit of a dent on the seat but that doesn't bother us at all, it just adds character. That and Harrison probably would have put it there himself given enough time.

As if this prize winning pony wasn't enough, Grandpa also made Harrison a cart to move around his toys. As a disclaimer, I was the one who put the toys in the cart but rest assured that Harrison pushed his toys in his cart all over the ground level of the house!

You may also recognize Uncle Jon's wood blocks in the cart he made for Harrison last year at Christmas. His block stacking skills have improved and he can how stack and balance upwards of 7 blocks of all shape and sizes and thoroughly enjoys it. What excellent gifts!