Harrison's First Christmas

We had so many gifts this Christmas they didn't fit under our tree.

Christmas morning in Christmas PJ's.

Opening the first of many gifts.

Harrison with all his gifts.

Harrison and Elmo.

Look what I can do!

Sorry the video is dark.

I learned to sit after Mummy told the Doctor I could only sit with support!

I am not sure why I look drunk in this photo?

Harrisons 6 month Appointment.

So, we went to the Doctors at 4.30. I wont be going that late again, it was full of kids and the after school crowd! Lesson learned.

He did GREAT! He had 3 shots including a flue shot, and some polio stuff. He cried so briefly it was over and done within seconds. The nurse was super quick! I also think it helped that today was a good nap day. More on that later....

So Harrison's Stats:
Weight: 16lb 12oz 30%
Height: 271/2 inches 85%
Head: 43.6cm 50%

Harrison is still long and skinny like his dad! The Doctor said he is burning lots of calories as he is starting to get more mobile, and once the solids increase he will start filling out again.

So, more on the naps...
My days now fall into two categories, "Good nap day" and "Bad nap day".
A good nap day means Harrison has a 9am, 12noon and 3pm nap. He needs his sleep he is super grumpy without it, just like me ;-)
We never (well other than once last week!) have a a problem with the 9am nap, he has a bath, gets dressed and down he goes down, no fuss! We seldom have a problem with night time either, straight to bed at least 90% of the time. But sometimes he just wont go down for his other naps, even though i know his tired. So we are reading Good Night Moon before every nap, and it seems to be sinking in that Story = Sleep. Its all about routine!

Happy Half Birthday!

Harrison turned 6 months old today. Can you believe he is half way to 1 year old!

I am both happy and sad to see how quick my baby boy is growing up.

We are off to the Doctor for his 6 month check later today, I will let you know how we get on later.

Nap time? Noooo Tummy Time!

Yesterday morning Harrison decided he didn't want to nap, he wanted to do tummy time! I found him in his crib playing like this twice before he finally went to sleep.

I can do that!

Harrison thinks he can feed himself, he doesn't realise that he has to actually put food on the spoon first!

Jump! Jump!

Yesterday Harrison taught himself to Jump in his Jumperoo!

I think this will make cooking dinner a lot easier.

Food glorious food!

Just a little update on what foods Harrison now enjoys!

Peas, Carrots, Sweet potatoes, Bananas, Apples, Zucchini (Courgette). Baby Rice, Baby Oats.

Coming soon!

Cauliflower, Pears, Green Beans, Butternut Squash, potato and whatever else I can think to try! If you have any suggestions on what he might like let me know!

I did a little cost comparison, and making baby food costs about 1/4 of the price to make!

Santas on his way!

This weekend we put up our Christmas tree! As its going to be Harrison's first Christmas I am super excited! He loved the tree, we put an old train set underneath it and Harrison and Guinness watched it go round and round for ages.


For those of you who remember last year we had a fair few Christmas tree ornaments vanish. Lots of glass balls disappeared......into Guinness's MOUTH! Yes he ate glass, silly puppy! So we have already had one casualty on the tree this year, before the tree was even up an hour! I am off to purchase baby (Dog) gates tomorrow!

Harrison gets to enjoy his first Christmas at home this year, and share it with a house FULL of people! It will be great memories for us, and so great that we get to share it with so many wonderful people. At the last count we are having 21 for Christmas day including Harrison. I am thankful for our big house. Lets just hope that Turkey fits in our oven!

Harrisons first Cup.

Matt and I have started to teach Harrison to use a sippy cup, he is a very quick learner as you can see! He doesn't really drink anything out of it yet, but he sure likes to use it as a teether!

Harrison and Jonathon "play"

Go Here to see Harrison's photos from his play date with Jonathan yesterday, they held hands so cute!

Harrisons first Thanksgiving.

We went to Dayton for Thanksgiving. We spent the day with The Blakes and The Franks, and one awesome Turkey! We had a lot of fun, here are some photos of our day.

Harrison, Gracy and Jeffrey.

Solids~A Video

Do you think he likes it?

Baby food!

Today I decided to make my own baby food. It was so easy to do! I hope Harrison enjoys it!

I made pureed Apples and Carrots. I need to go to Wholefoods to buy more organic veggies, Kroger has a limited supply. I used the baby food blender I was given at my baby shower, and it did the trick so well. Just steam the veggies, puree in the blender, add water or breast milk to make to the right consistency and freeze.

I will let you know how the carrots go down tomorrow, he has to eat peas again today as one food has to be introduced at a time to check for allergies.

Solids round 2

So, we tried solids again this week, with much more success! Harrison loved it, and has seemed really happy and satisfied. He was starting to just be hungry all the time, and not napping well as his hunger seemed to be waking him up. Well, that's my guess anyway!

A picture of the peas he got last night.

Finally, after eating his peas last night, and some rice cereal this morning, Harrison napped for his usual hour again this morning! Yay! He also napped again after lunch, so he seems back on track and a happy, satisfied baby who's tummy is full enough to sleep.

5 Months old (3 days late!)

Harrison turned 5 months old at the weekend. He is getting such a big boy now!

Jumperoo, Snow, Jason, Grand Mimi etc etc!

We went to Cincinnati for the weekend. Harrison met lots of people, including many of Grammy and Pooh-Bahs lovely Friends! Here we are all dressed up for the baby-show-off.

Harrison tried out his Jumperoo for the first time. He loves it, he can't jump very well just yet, but he loves the horses mane and the noises, its very cute to watch.

Harrison is sitting very well now. He falls allot still, but he gets better every day!

Harrison meeting Jason.

Visiting Grand-Mimi.

It snowed for the first time this year yesterday. Just a dusting, it was pretty but very cold! I hope we get a white Christmas.

Frustration & Laughs

A video of Harrison laughing at my voice today.

Harrison gets frustrated when he wants to do something and cant! Its very cute to watch.

This is a little video of him looking like he is trying to crawl.

Enjoy!

Some random photos and a video.

Here are some photos from last week.

Tummy Time.

Tummy time with Me!

Harrison modelling his new Gap jeans-size 6-12 months.

Auntie Julie bought these for Harrison at my baby shower in CA.

They are awesome aren't they!

More tummy time.

Harrison in the rest of his outfit from Auntie Julie.

Harrison rolling over, he did this at 11 weeks, but this is the fist time i have it on Video.

Blink and you miss it!

Harrison went to the Doctors this weekend. He has goopy ears. Fortunately he doesn't have an ear infection, the Dr said its probably a virus as he has been grumpy and had cold symptoms. I have some ear drops to soften the goop!

He has also been waking up more at night, a few times last week and the last 3 days. I am so not used to it I had to take a nap the last 2 days! I cant decide if its from being sick, a growth spurt or if he is ready for solids as night waking can be a sign.

Obama for President

I know this isn't Harrison or Blake family news, but I wanted to write about the Election so that Harrison knows what major events went on while he was a baby. I plan on printing out the Blog as a kind of baby book for him to look back on in years to come.

So, on Tuesday November 4th 2008 Barack Obama was elected 44th President of the United States of America. The first African American President. He will take over the presidency from George W Bush, who doesn't seem to have done a very good job.

Barack was campaigning for Change. I believe him to be an inspirational person and I am excited to have him as President of the country I chose to live in. Unfortunately was not able to vote as I am not a citizen.

I am excited to think that Harrison will be brought up in a world where people are not judged by the colour of their skin, and that maybe by the time he is old enough to understand racism it will no longer exist. That is probably too much to hope for; it seems to me as we except one race we seem to ostracise another.

I hope that President Obama lives up to his expectation and makes the world a better place for my son.

Trick or Treat!

So we dressed Harrison up as Tigger for Halloween. We think he looks adorable! I am sure you will agree.

Our baby boy is growing up fast!

On a side note....this last week Harrison has not been his usual self, in fact i wouldn't be surprised if some baby snatcher swapped him for a grumpy baby! Matt and I put it down to the cereal, so we have stopped with it for now, we're just not sure he was ready for it yet. Even though we stopped the cereal Wednesday, he has still be rather fussy, even crying! OMG Crying! Harrison NEVER cries! I have found out what its like this week to actually have to work at being a good Mum! Anyway, he seems a lot better today, so lets hope that's all over and done with.

Happy Halloween!

Where to start?

First things first: SHOES!
As any Mom will know, when you get pregnant your feet grow. I have been living in flip-flops or too tight shoes since I got pregnant, hoping, no PRAYING, my feet would return to their nice normal pre-preggo selves. No such luck!
So, I mentioned to Matt that I needed to replace my "Shoe Collection". He suggested i think of it more as "Some Shoes" than an actual collection. Anyway, I started with 3 pairs, Trainers, Comfy winter walking anytime shoes and some nice heels for Dates and such. My "Collection"Still needs a lot of work as far as I am concerned but its a start.
Oh and I almost forgot, I used to wear a size US7.5/UK5 I am now a US9/UK6.5!!!! Can you believe 1 1/2 sizes! Crazy feet! If you have big feet already and have a baby you must end up with giants feet!

The start of my new shoe collection.

The Game.
On Saturday night we stayed in and all watched the Penn State Vs OSU game. Matt should probably be blogging about this, but anyway, it was a BIG deal! PSU had not won at OSU for 30 years. I have never seen Matt so worked up, he was pacing the floor like those men in films waiting outside a delivery room! Anyway, PSU won, thank goodness! Go Penn State!

My Boys: Before the game.

Gardening.

On Sunday we did more gardening, we dug out more big ugly bushes in the back garden. I have not taken photos yet, but I took one of Harrison in his new hat! He just chilled outside and watched us while we worked!

Harrison in his cute hat.

Feet.

Harrison decided to eat his feet for the first time. I wish I could still stretch like that!

Harrison eating his feet.

The big FOOD finale!

We tried Harrison on solids on Sunday night! It was a mixed experience.....
We made up 1 tsp of baby rice cereal and 3 tsp breast milk. Its a lot like just milk at this point, just to get him used to eating off a spoon and to practice using his tongue. Here's how it went!

Waiting in his Highchair.

Ooooh whats that!

Mmmm i think i like it.

Let me have some more please!

Now!

Thanks!

Ok, I have had enough now!

So that was our weekend!