Some Summer Fun

Here are a few fun bits from the summer:

Our neighbor Fran gave Harrison this storm trooper costume her daughter didn't like - I promised on the spot it would get lots of use at our house!

 Playing around in the morning:

Cooling off with his buddy Gavin (the umbrella was their "shield")

Both kids love the new water table:

Tucker is 10 months old!

This kid is so much fun and seems to grow at lightening speed since his nine month birthday. He is fine tuning his crawling, cruising and eating skills, learning to do them all faster and with more precision and fewer mistakes.

 Grrr, Hulk Mad!  (that's avocados on his face!)

Preschool Graduation

Yes, yes, we agree that the notion of a preschool graduation is ludicrous but I have to admit being there was really sentimental and special. Since starting Miss Lovely's class, he can now write his full first name on his own (he used to only write the "H" reliably), color within the lines of a picture, know his letters by sight and sound (probably 22 of 26, we just did flashcards the other day and he really impressed me), use sign language for colors and more and count to ten in Spanish. His growth really impresses me and I know that I could not have taught him all these things at home myself, especially not with an infant in tow.

Harrison made a room full of friends this year. The girls are our neighbors so they play together a lot outside of school and I have made great friends with Brady's mom and we enjoy play dates together often.

Many thanks to Miss Lovely, a very loving teacher Harrison will always remember.

Little Gym Showcase

With the end of the school year comes the end of the regular season at The Little Gym. Tucker and I got to sit inside the gym as the Mini Flips showed off their skills. Harrison joined the "show team" in March and has made some strides benefiting from a much smaller class, spending more time on technique all the while still playing games and making it a lot of fun. Harrison is less flexible than the girls and doesn't have much (or perhaps any) grace in his moves but he can run faster and jump higher than any one and is never scared to try something new. I took several videos but again blogger won't upload them, sorry!

 

Yosemite

Grandmama invited the whole family to California for Memorial Day weekend in Yosemite National Park. This place is very special to Great Papa Hugh as he spent a couple summers working there, visited often and took his family there to share the awesome beauty.

Tucker and I decided to stay home since the trek to get there would be too much for an nine month old and that turned out to be a great decision. Michael and Harrison met up with the rest of the family during a lunch stop. Anxious to get to the cabin, our boys and Aunt Alexis jumped in the car ahead of everyone and got on the road. As it happens, the turn off they were looking for was right up the road and they proceeded on the highway without realizing they had already passed it. 

Evidently about 90 minutes into the drive they realized there weren't any cars around and no mile markers. Deciding it would be wise to consult a map, they pulled out their smart phones to find they had no reception. an old fashioned paper map? Nope, all they had were written directions to the cabin. Eventually they surmised that they were heading through the sierra Nevada mountains to the far, far, far side of the park boundaries. LONG story short, it was best to continue driving out of the mountains and transfer to another highway that would take them back into the park. They actually took the scenic route and reported it was indeed beautiful although all told it was an eight hour ride that should have been about three hours. 

Once they arrived they enjoyed hiking, swimming and breakfast at the Ahwahnee Hotel. 

When they reached the top of Vernal Falls, dad recalled the trip when he proposed to me and had Harrison pose to match this photo of mom!

Flying in and out of San Francisco, dad and Harrison got to spend a couple nights at Uncle Jon Jon's house, play with Argenta and meet his new little cousin, baby Falcon. Hearing about the whole trip, Tucker and I were envious, maybe we'll return in a few years!

Upon their return we celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary, low key at home in the middle of the week. Since we were engaged in SF and immediately spent a couple night in Yosemite, here are a few photos to commemorate!

More, More

Tucker learned his first bits of sign language. He tells me "more" by using a clapping gesture but with one hand positioned like a ducks bill - I have a video but it is refusing to upload. He also imitates "All done" which looks like waving both hands in the air, although he doesn't quite use it correctly yet - he does understand me when I use it though. Yeah Tucker!

Peek-A-Boo

Tucker is 9 months!

This is big milestone birthday for our Tucker-pie. He had been working on crawling and for the prior three weeks it was imminent that he would crawl however he just never seemed to do it. On his 9 month birthday I took him in for his 9 month check up and the nurse asked me if he was crawling. I gave her the "so-so, almost there" answer and then she left. While we waited for the doctor, I put Tucker down on the floor and he almost immediately crawled across the small room. I got a little bit of it on video but it wasn't quite as impressive as that initial sprint.

About a week earlier had also succeeded in pulling himself to standing inside his crib so dad had to lower the mattress and not a moment too soon as he now does it daily in his crib, in his little play house and on the ottoman. Has balance is still pretty wobbly but I noticed today when he takes my hands to stand, there is no struggle, his core strength is there and he knows what to do to get up.

Here are Tucker's 9 month stats: 

Length: 29.40 inches (85% percentile)

Weight: 20.90lbs (58% percentile)

Head: 18 inces (64% percentile)

Cuteness: 100%

Teeth count is now six (two bottom middle teeth and four top middle teeth). I had tried to give Tucker puffs and other baby foods that dissolve quickly in the mouth but he would try to swallow them immediately and then would choke a bit and threw up a couple times so I back off. Just before the doctor visit I started giving him the cereal puffs socked in water to soften them up and now several days later he seems to be happily chewing puffs, baby crackers and yogurt melts with no problem. I also gave him bits of soft pizza crust and tortilla and he gives me a big grin as he is so happy to have real food in his mouth. In fact, he is sort of protesting the purees he had previously eaten. Yesterday I am pretty sure he was starving but refused to let me put his favorite purees in his mouth, only the cereal puffs which he can't yet eat enough to fill up! Love this kid!

Mother's Day 2013

Since we just celebrated my birthday, I asked for a low key Mother's Day. We kicked it off early a Mother's Day program at Harrison's preschool. I have some sweet video of him singing "You are My Sunshine" using sign language along with his classmates on stage, but my video editing skills are lame and the file is too big to post as is. Sorry.

Earlier in the day the kids were asked "What does your mom do while you're at school?" Most the answers were "works" or "plays hide-and-seek" but my Harrison didn't have to think twice. Every day he asks me "what you going to do while I'm at school today mom?" As you can see below he knew that I exercise with Tucker at Stroller Strides right after I drop him off.  I love the picture of me with all the hair; hair is a drawing skill he says is hard for him to do. 

On Mother's Day, I again awoke to the smells of dad cooking in the kitchen. This time I was greeted with eggs benedict complete with lump crab meat and fresh hollandaise sauce. My husband usually doesn't have much time or energy to cook, but when he does - man alive - he is amazing!

Mom turns 34!

I often marvel at how quickly the boys grow but while I am distracted I seem to continue aging as well. For my 34th birthday, I awoke to dad juggling the two boys and successfully making breakfast for twelve although it was just us! I did my best to eat my way through the feast of pancakes, berries, bacon, sausage and orange juice and then I was told that I would be spending much of the day by myself at the Salish Spa, a beautiful resort next to Snoqualamie Falls.

 The Falls are a favorite of mine as Michael took me there on our first Valentine's Day and packed us a picnic of what I thought were fancy cheeses (smoked gouda, brie, havarti), but the northwest in February gave us lows clouds, misty rain and fog so we picnicked in my car. Totally romantic.

My spa day was very relaxing and I definitely felt pampered. Shortly after my return home, grandmama came to watch the kids while we went to dinner at "Charles at Smuggler's Cove," a french restaurant in Mukilteo on a bluff overlooking the Puget Sound with views of Whidbey Island and eagles floating on the breeze. We enjoyed our dinner next to a window so we didn't miss out on the view.

The next day (Sunday) was my actual birthday and we drove to downtown Seattle for Harrison's Little Gym "Show Team" performance at the Seattle Center. While there was a good chance he might freeze up on a stage in front of a group of strangers without mom or dad next to his side, he did not suffer from any stage fright and did his part.

We were very proud of his hard work. In this video, he is doing cartwheels which he struggles with; I won't lie, his are the worst of the group (the teachers are a bit confounded as he can't decide which foot he favors to lead with, he switches back and forth so it's hard to hone the skill). But I love the way he tackles them the best he can. By the way, he is one of only two boys are the team right now.

Tucker at 8 Months

I love these monthly stickers I found for Tucker. Obviously it is a great way to identify his age in a photo but it has motivated me to diligently take his photo on the 21st of each month. I recently put everything I have in a frame it it looks super cool, I can't wait to finish it off when he turns one.

Little dude isn't crawling yet but he will shortly. He is getting up on his hands and knees and rocking back and forth. He has also learned to start grabbing things (hands, the ottoman, his crib railings) and trying to pull himself up; he can get to his knees often but can't pull up to his feet without help... yet. Dad will be lowering his crib mattress this weekend just in case. If we stand him up he will hold on to the ottoman, lock his knees and stand and play there for awhile before either tipping back or crumpling to the floor. Life is going to change dramatically once he is mobile.

This also marks the first time I put a baseball hat on his head rather than a beanie or looser fitting sun hat and he didn't seem to mind at all. Harrison was always a great hat wearer, never batting it away or complaining like all the other kids his age did. Hopefully Tucker will continue to enjoy them, he looks so darn adorable and more and more like a little man wearing them!

This week I have also been trying to move him to a two-naps-a-day schedule which has been pretty successful. Looking back to a few months ago when he took 4-5 naps a days I am astonished at how this is even possible, that he can have grown so much to accomplish this.

In conjunction he is eating a lot more. Three meals a day of pureed foods, his favorites being sweet potatoes, squash, carrots and any fruit offered. This far the only green veggie he will consider eating is green beans and that is only mildly successful at best. We'll keep at it though. He will eat baby crackers that melt quickly in his mouth although half of it falls out of his mouth and ends up on him or the floor (Winston likes this kid more and more every day).

I introduced him to a sippy cup mid April and he loved using it, you could honestly see the pride in his face when he drinks from it. At the same time, within a seven day period he suddenly cut his bottled milk intake in half (he was barely meeting minimum recommendations). Worried about his nutrition I called the nurses line and ended up taking him in for a visit as they were sure he must have an ear infection or some other illness which would make sucking painful. Nope, nothing wrong with him at all. They told me to cut back his food so he would drink more milk ... as if I hadn't tried that already. Suddenly it dawned on me that maybe he was getting lazy, that sucking from the bottle just wasn't worth the effort past immediate hunger gratification so I got faster flow nipples and the problem resolved itself. Crisis averted.

Tucker is still the sweetest boy ever. He LOVES his brother, loves his parents and loves Winston, trying to pet him whenever he is within reach. We love you Tucker-Pie!