Swim Lessons

Harrison just spent the first two weeks of going to swim lessons. We had a blast! Each day consisted of different activities: swimming on his belly, jumping into the pool, doing a back float, passing a ball, chasing after toys, and singing different songs. Harrison enjoyed almost all the activities...except that whole back floating thing. He was definitely not a fan! 

The best part of swim lessons was the long nap afterwards. Swim lessons were exhausting!

To officially pass swim lessons, Harrison needed to be dunked. Mom was extremely hesitant but the lifeguard assured her it was ok. After "1, 2, 3" and a quick blow in the face, Harrison went under! It lasted a nano-second but felt like forever to Mom! Harrison was not bothered by it at all! He just looked around and was ready to keep playing. Harrison is bound to be a fish in the pool!

Yay! He passed! :) Now it is time to spend the rest of our summer swimming!

Hi, my name is Trouble.

Oh boy, things have gotten exciting in our household. Not only can Harrison crawl but he can now pull himself up. Let me tell you, pulling himself up has got to be the biggest game changer yet. It has certainly made bedtime and nap time much harder. Who would want to go to sleep when you can stand and look for Mom and Dad?! It's also the most dangerous...we really have to make sure we have one eye on him at all times! This kid is fearless...he will try to pull himself up on anything! It does not matter how sturdy the furniture is. I thought I'd share some photos of our new crazy ;-) It's filled with bumps, tumbles, minor heart attacks and lots of laughs! (Apologies for some of the blurry pictures...a lot were action shots!)

Harrison used to sit next to the bear. Now he attacks it ;)

Mom was out celebrating her last day of school. Dad sent the following pictures:

Mind you...there was no help from Dad!

Mmmmm....my crib is tasty!

Harrison didn't realize that the laundry basket probably isn't the best thing to use to stand up...luckily Mom helped make it sturdy 

You may not be able to tell but he is climbing on the Bumbo to reach his high chair.

Take note of that last face. It's the face we see EVERY time he has tried something new...the riskier the better. We can't get enough of that face! 

7 Months and Counting

Height/Weight:

26 inches per our last doctor's appointment
Approximately 17 pounds per our bathroom scale :) (He has quite the double chin and a leg roll.)
Head...as large as ever!

Clothing Size:

Harrison is still living in 6 month clothing. We are transitioning to 6-9 month clothes. Watch out world! Someone is growing :)

Favorites:

*Food- Milk is always number one! Favorite solid is definitely still bananas. We can mix it with anything and he will eat it since he can taste the bananas. We have been trying new solids. Harrison seems to enjoy almost everything he has tried so far!

Likes: Bananas, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, chicken, apples, and pears.

Okay if they are mixed with one of the foods he already likes: Peas, green beans, avacado, and yogurt.

It is so much fun watching him experience new foods! I can't wait to see what else he will like. So far, we haven't found a food that he refuses to eat. Hopefully someone won't be as picky as Dad ;)

*Book- Harrison doesn't seem to have a favorite book. He just likes any book that he can shove in his mouth. So for this month we will list Mom's current favorite book, The Pout Pout Fish. My students listened to this story in class and I loved it! Harrison actually sat through the story which is a huge accomplishment!

*Song- Any song that Mom sings. It is so amazing to see how calming Mom's singing voice is to Harrison. It's funny since most people would find my voice the opposite of calming. However, if Harrison is fussy in the car all I need to do is sing and he calms down and usually falls asleep. We shall see how long this lasts!

Annnnd passed out after hearing "Wheels on the Bus"

*Toy- Toys continue to be a blast! Our playroom is now a disaster area thanks to the fact that he actually plays with his toys. While Harrison is enjoying playing with all his toys, he currently LOVES his Dino-Pop. He shrieks with delight when it turns on and immediately crawls to it.


*Non-Toy Toy- Oh goodness...EVERYTHING! He is keeping us on our toes because he is so curious about everything. He especially loves details on objects and anything that gives Mom a heart attack ;)

Ooh, what are these things? Buttons? They seem fun!

*Time of Day- Any time he has a full belly and doesn't need to rest! Separation anxiety is continuing to grow though. He has just started to cry at daycare drop off. One day he started to crawl towards me as I left. Luckily I know he does enjoy his time there since we have been going so long. If this had happened when we started daycare, I'm not sure I would have made it back to work!

*Things to Giggle At- Daddy. Nick is able to get that kid laughing non-stop! He looks at Nick and already starts laughing! He also loves when we play a chasing game. One of us will hold him while the other runs after him. He has some deep belly laughs during this game.

Observations/Firsts/Milestones:

*Crawling! He has his own unique version of the crawl that makes us laugh. He doesn't realize that you can use your knees to help you crawl so he lifts up his arms and drags his body across the room. That said, he can get on his knees and rock so we are think eventually he will get the hang of a normal crawl? If not, his version seems to work!

Harrison is starting to consistently sleep 8+ hours a night. Traveling and sickness will throw him off but other than that, he is starting to be a heavy sleeper. Mom is enjoying this :) Nap time is a whooooooole different ball game. Some days, naps last 1-2 hours. Other days, naps will only last 20 minutes. You never know what you are getting ;)

Sometimes, you just need mommy snuggles :)

Harrison is starting to spend time playing outside! We are enjoying the warm weather and getting a chance to explore North Liberty and play outside! Harrison isn't quite sure how he feels about the grass though...

Diaper changes have become an Olympic sport! Harrison likes to see how quickly he can flip over while he is being changed. Needless to say, Mom and Dad have become quite good at finding distractions. Mom's phone is especially useful when it is time to put on the sunscreen since that takes hours. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating but it's long ;)

Naked and his shirt around his face. We still aren't quite sure how that happened...

Month 7 has been a game changer thanks to crawling but we are LOVING it. It's so fun to watch the wheels turning in Harrison's head. He is so curious about anything and everything! We can't wait to see what he learns next month!

Harrison's Lady Friend

Oy vey! We are in trouble! Harrison is already a ladies' man. A few weeks ago, I was putting away Harrison's bottles at drop off when I turned and saw him holding hands with a little girl from daycare. Fast forward to Friday-Harrison's teacher had a picture she had to share. Look for yourself...

Gazing into the eyes of the same little girl!  Apparently they are drawn to each other! She also showed me a picture where the little girl is planting a kiss on his cheek! Here I thought I had a few more years to be his favorite lady.... ;)

Happy Monday!

Half Way to One!

How has it already been 6 months? I can remember October 29 so vividly that it feels like it was yesterday! These months have flown by and we couldn't be more in love with Harrison! Hopefully the blog will start blowing up with posts once school is out :)

Height/Weight (per our doctor's appointment):

26 inches = 24th percentile
15 lbs 8 oz = 16th percentile (Woo hoo! The double chin and leg rolls are growing each day!)
Head circumference = 83rd percentile
 

Clothing Size:

Harrison is rocking 6 month clothes. He can also fit into 3-6 month shirts as well as 3-6 month sleepers from the Gap. Gap has lots of leg room!

Favorites:

*Food- We had a big month! Harrison finally got to try some food! I was trying to wait until 6 months but Harrison showed every sign of being ready on every checklist that I read so I figured we could give it a try. It took a few times before Harrison got the hang of this thing called "eating". Nick took a bite of food right at the same time that Harrison went to eat and it was like a light bulb went off! After that, Harrison seemed to down his oatmeal. This month we tried: oatmeal cereal (liked), avocado (disliked but tried multiple times and he will eat it), sweet potato (really liked) and banana (LOVED)! It has been so fun trying new foods! We are also making our own baby food and so far it has been really easy! I'm sure we will get to the harder foods soon (ahem...meat....). We will make sure to update the list as we keep adding foods.

*Book- Jungly Tails. Harrison LOVES that he can chew on each different type of tail. Harrison also enjoy patting each book page and trying to turn the pages backwards.

*Song- Anything with hand actions! His top songs are "Monkeys and Alligators" and "Little Bunny Foo Foo". He especially loves when Mommy uses silly voices during the songs. 

*Toy- Toys are SO exciting to Harrison. If it seems really interesting then he will start to shake and squeal. However, toys only hold his interest for a few minutes so it's a good thing that he is a spoiled boy :) The Easter Bunny brought lots of fun toys that Harrison is having a fun time playing with.

*Non-Toy Toy- Everything and anything. Harrison also goes by the name Curious George now. If it is within reach, Harrison wants to explore it. He will look at the new object, listen to the new object and then can you guess what he does? If you said shove it into his mouth then you are right!

*Time of Day- He is still so happy as long as he is fed and well-rested! He is starting to have some separation anxiety. It tends to only come out when he is tired (luckily!). So far, daycare drops have been fine. 

Nick and I have a hands down favorite time of day. That is the moment when you walk into Harrison's bedroom in the morning. His face erupts into the biggest smile because Mom and Dad are there to get him up. It's worth the early wake-up time! 

*Things to Giggle At- He is starting to realize when Mom and Dad are acting silly and in turn finds us hiiiiiiilarious :) He cracks up when we talk in silly voices. He also finds it funny to be surprised/scared (...weirdo). He thinks Peek-A-Boo is the funniest game around, especially when Daddy plays it with him!

Observations/Firsts/Milestones:

*Harrison continues to master how to sit up. He is starting to be able to sit for minutes without support. It's taken playing to a new level. We were able to introduce our first sensory tub. The tub included: water, spoons, Easter eggs, and stacking cups. Harrison enjoyed splashing around!

*Harrison visited the greatest place on Earth....Kinnick! Unfortunately, the weather was quite windy and Harrison was having separation anxiety so he didn't quite appreciate it all its glory. Good thing he'll have lots of opportunities to visit it. 

*Harrison celebrated his first Easter! It was so fun watching his eyes light up when he saw his Easter basket. He enjoyed checking out each item, completely opposite of Christmas! At Christmas, he just looked around his toys so he could stare at the wall.

Lastly, I'll leave you with some photos that Nick took throughout the month. We are lucky to have our own photographer in our house :)

5 Months and Growing!

Just a little behind but it's time for Harrison 5 month update! Wow, time is flying by. We can't believe that next month he will be a half year old! (I apologize if the formatting seems weird, this is my first lengthy post on my phone so I don't have quite as many options. I have one cute little boy snoozing on my chest that I don't dare wake.)

Height/Weight:

We have our next appointment in May. We will update height and weight then! We did an informal weigh-in on the bathroom scale and he was at 14.4 pounds. Hopefully he is putting on some weight! Watch out 10th percentile, here we come! (Fingers crossed!)

Clothing Size:

Finally packed away all the 3 month clothes! 3-6 months fits best but 6 months are actually starting to fit! He's slowly getting some chub :)

Favorites:

*Food: Last month before solids! He is very happy to drink milk or regular formula. We tried a "gentle-ease" formula after his stomach bug. Harrison was NOT a fan! It was the first time we ever saw him refuse food. We made sure not to use that again ;) Hands also taste yummy!

*Book: I wouldn't say he has a favorite. He's tries to help turn the pages. (Usually going backwards but we will work on that, haha) He also enjoys munching on a good board book.

*Song: "Wheels on the Bus" Seriously. He loves it. If he is fussing on the car ride to/from daycare I will sing it and he immediately stops crying. If you are curiuos, it takes us 2.5 rounds of the song from our house to daycare. I also have a very specific order in which I sing the song. It's all very logical and I can sing it for you if you are ever curious!

*Toy: He is becoming so interested in different toys! For a favorite, he seems to love his linking toys. They meet Harrison's toy requirement: easy to hold and easy to suck. They are also super easy to travel with so that makes Mom and Dad happy!

The corn on his jumperoo is pretty fun, too. Can't wait until he can try Fincels!

*Non-toy Toy: Anything that he can grab and shove in his mouth! We have to be careful that there is nothing around him that we don't want to end up in his mouth. Poor kid ended up eating one of Daddy's dirty socks. Good thing he's too little to remember that! He also enjoys trying to take glasses off people's faces. (Don't get too close, he has a great grasp!)

*Time of Day: All day! As long as he is rested and has a full tummy then he is such a happy little guy. We know we have been blessed with such a great, easy going, happy baby! Now, if he is tired...watch out. He's a bit of a diva. You better be ready to hold him or you'll hear some crying!

*Things to Giggle At: His belly laughs are the most amazing sound! However, he is stingy so you have to work to hear it. Playing peek-a-boo and blowing raspberries into the crook of his neck are your best chances at getting a laugh.

Observations/Firsts/Milestones:

*Harrison is quite the roller! He is able to roll from his tummy to back and vice versa. He can now get around rooms by rolling over and over. He is also all over the place in his crib.

*As we mentioned in the spring break post, Harrison transitioned to his crib and ditched the swaddle. Such a big boy! We are pretty lucky at bedtime, he typically fusses for a couple minutes and then will put himself to sleep. Bedtime has become a heck of a lot easier! ;)

*He started to join us at the table in his high chair. A friend gave me the idea to get him used to sitting in the high chair to help him get used to eat before we introduce food. It's been fun having him join our dinners like a big kid! So far, just toys on the tray. No food :)

*Harrison is starting to sit up independently! He loves it! He can't last long on his own but is able to go longer with the Boppy pillow around him. Speaking of diva, I had to sit behind him for 30+ minutes one night when he was extremely tired because he decided the only time he was happy when he was sitting up (mind you, he can last about a minute...).

*He had his first stomach bug. We survived! Lots of laundry and bottles of Pedialyte later...Harrison recovered. Mom didn't even freak out too much (The doctor was only called 3-4 times over the week.) Luckily, it was over Spring Break so Mom was at home.

*He took his first big road trip! We went to Chicago and had a blast seeing family and friends! We left Friday night so Harrison slept during his bedtime. That was perfect as he slept the entire way. On the way home, we tried to time it with Harrison's morning nap. However, he only lasted about half the drive home before waking up. Thankfully he enjoys toys so I was able to rotate the same 10 we had for the last 2 hours of the trip. Very few tears, phew!

This past month sure was eventful! Can't wait to see what 6 months has in store :)

Harrison's First Solid!

Harrison finally got to try some solids! (Though, it's basically formula on a spoon so is it still considered a solid??) I'll let you be the judge of how he liked it...