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!

Merry Christmas to Me!

So today I received my first Christmas gift of the year. Its a necklace that you share with your baby! As any Mom knows there comes a point in a babies life when anything that hangs in reach goes in the hand and then in the mouth! That includes hair, necklaces, earrings etc etc etc
So, why not wear a necklace that not only looks great but they can play with and teeth on! Great idea I think!
Its a very strong silver chain that has no clasp, you just slip it over your head, and hang 1, 2 or 3 silver rings from it. Silver is cool to sooth gums, has zero toxicity and it cant fall on the floor as you wear it! The great thing is it just looks like a beautiful piece of jewelry that you can wear anytime, even when you don't have a baby! Harrison is napping so as soon as he is up I will see how he likes it! Oh and it also works as a rattle as there are little balls inside!
Here is a couple of photos of my gift. Thanks you Mom and Dad Blake. :-)

Cutie-pie.

Marathon Matt

On Sunday Matt ran his 10th Marathon. I think you'll agree that's quite an achievement! Congrats Matt I am very proud of you, it takes a huge amount of determination to run like you do, and maybe a little bit of craziness too ;-)

Here is a photo of the 3 of us before the race. I had to wake Harrison up at 5.30 to feed him and get him ready, he handled it so well and wasn't grumpy at all! He slept 3 hours that afternoon though!

Matt at the 9 mile mark i think.

All smiles after the race.

Matt finished in 2hrs 58minutes and 36 seconds. What a great time.

After the Marathon Grammy and Pooh Bah (Bill and Kathi) helped us plant a new tree in our back garden. Its a weeping flowering cherry. I cant wait to see it in full bloom in the spring.

Harrisons 4 months check

So today we took Harrison for his 4 month check, and more shots :-(

He did well! He has reached all the milestones expected of him at this age, things like reaching out for things, lifting his head up high, trying to and/or rolling over.

He had 2 shots and some medicine, and he only cried really briefly! We were so proud! He is now sleeping.

Here are his stats:

Height: 26 1/2 inches 90th percentile (He doesn't take after me!)

Weight: 14lb 71/2 ounces 50%

Head: 41.9cm 50%

So he is still tall and skinny.

The Dr said we can begin to start him on cereal and see how he does. If he shows no interest she said wait another month and try again. After that introduce veggies and fruits. I am excited to let him try cereal, but i am not in any hurry so if he is not interested i will let him wait a while.

Here's a photo of him as I know how much you all like those!

Isn't his hair just hysterical! I love it.

We all Pat the Dog!

Harrison discovered Guinness yesterday.

Happy 4 Month Birthday!

Harrison is 4 months old today, Happy Birthday Little Guy!

I cant believe how fast the last 4 months has gone, i know that is so cliche, everyone tells you it will go fast, but you really don't GET IT till you have a baby of your own!

So, here are some of the accomplishments he has achieved so far.......
Allot of these notes are for my future benefit so sorry if some seem mundane!

He grabs his feet....In fact, he grabs anything he can fit into his hands and puts it in his mouth!

He can sit for a few seconds on his own

He smiles and laughs

He can hold his head up for ages

He can roll from tummy to back, but he doesn't :-)

He can almost roll from back to tummy

He can take his Binky out of his mouth, and put it back in, just not the right way round!

He recognizes mummy and daddy (and Guinness!)

He can, and does, sleep 11 hours at a stretch! Woohoo!

He sucks his thumb

He can pull himself up from a reclined position

He can spin the wheel on the Bopbadoooaaah!

He is wearing mostly 6 month and 6-9 month clothes

He is in size 2 pampers

He eats 4 or 5 times a day and is still exclusively breastfeeding

Here is Harrison playing DJ

Here is his 4 month old picture

He is so tall!

"I am this tall Mummy!"

He looks like his Mummy as a baby here.

This was Harrison a week old.

Exersaucer!

Sarah gave us Gracy and Jeffreys Exersaucer, Harrison Loves it!

Thanks you Auntie Cousfriend Sarah!

Almost!

Harrison was trying so hard to roll over yesterday! He was sooooo close to getting onto his tummy. He rolled over from tummy to back at 12 weeks, but hasn't done it since, so I am excited to see him go the other way.

The Zoo.

On Monday I took Harrison o the Zoo for the first time! We went with Sarah, Gracy and Jeffrey. You can see how much fun we had in the photos.....

Riding the carousel. Those things go FAST!

I will get the rest of the Zoo photos uploaded to KodakGallery so you can see them all.

Bee Bo!

Sorry its a little dark....and a little naked, but you never know when these moments are going to come up!

Our Garden

This last weekend Grammy and Pooh Baah Blake came up to help us tackle our garden! We have been rather embarrassed about the outside of our home, as we have been concentrating on the inside. We still have to paint the trim, and work on the back but here are some photos of what we did.

See those big UGLY bushes in front of our front windows?

Can you even see the windows?

We got rid of those.

Before.

And put in some nice new shrubs. We dug out the little red tree blocking the front door.

We planted the flower bed by the road.

Before.
After.
We planted lots of spring bulbs too! We really wont see the benefit until the spring.

And we changed the old lights too.

We are very happy with our new front garden (or Yard!)

It was hard work, those bushes and trees are hard work to chop down (apparently!)

THANK YOU Grammy and Pooh Baah (Bill and Kathi)

Our Weekend.

Harrison had a busy weekend! We went to BW3's to watch the Penn State game, Harrison now loves to watch TV. He is amazed by all the movement, even Oprah! I guess I have to be careful what I watch now. I am going to try and avoid him watching any TV as long as possible, it is recommended to wait till they are 2 years old, i am not sure if we will manage that long, but we will see how we go.

Anyway, after the football we attended Jonathon's first birthday party which was such fun! Harrison didn't have any birthday cake, so Matt and I had extra to make up for it.
On Sunday Matt and I took Harrison and Guinness for a nice walk, it was such a glorious day!

Here are some photos of our weekend.

Jonathon enjoying the chocolate cake.

Our walk in Sunday.

All smiles on at the half way point of our walk. The last few times i walked this path it took me forever as everything hurt! It felt so easy this time which was great, and I can walk faster than a snail again!

This week Grammy is visiting so Matt and I can go out to a gig! I am so excited to get a night out, Matt and I have had 2 nights out since we became parents, we had dinner at Jasons and my sister Jules looked after Harrison, and we went to see Radiohead while Aunt Barb and Uncle Tom watched Harrison, so it will be fun to get out again!

My little chatter box ~ Duvet days!

Harrison is a big chatter box just like his Mommy! I thought I would share a little video of him demonstrating this skill.............he can chat like this for over an hour, especially if he is in front of the mirror. Look how he loves to chew on things now too.

I also thought I would share a couple of new photos which I took yesterday and today.

Big Smiles & Stripey socks!

Sitting with no support for about 2 whole seconds.

I just thought this one was cute, recognise the outfit Sarah?

So, its officially Autumn! Matt's favorite time of year. It would be mine too if it didn't remind me that winter is just around the corner. That's why I prefer Spring, all those tulips and sunshine! The only good thing about Autumn (or Fall for the American contingent) is that I can get out the Duvet! There is not much that's more satisfying than snuggling up under millions of downy feathers at night!

Oh and I cant forget to give Jonathon Lyons a mention, its his first birthday today! Here's a little reminder of how he looked shortly after he entered the world exactly one year ago today.

Happy Birthday Jonathon!