Happy Birthday Harrison!

Harrison is every bit of his 9 months, sans teeth! He's so busy crawling and getting into everything - drawers, knobs, door stops, carpet fringe, and fixtures are just a few of his favorite toys. He loves to bang his hair brush on the floor and hear the loud noises it makes, and loves to sit with me while I put my make up on, loudly clanging everything in my vanity drawer. One of our favorite times of day is after Harrison's bath, when he tries to squirm away from the diaper and ends up crawling around, laughing, naked as a jay bird while we try to catch him. He hasn't stained the carpet yet, but it's bound to happen. (Note: Harrison is so long and squirmy that it's easier to change him on the floor!!)

In addition to crawling like a champ, Harrison is pulling up on anything he can get his hands on. This has invariably led to a few bumps on the head, as he tries to scale the wall or our wooden doors. Most recently, he has found the baby gates to be a source of entertainment, however once he pulls himself up to standing, he gets nervous about the hard floors and alerts us for help. In his crib, the daily nap routine is lights out, blankie and paci ready, and in the crib he goes. Two weeks ago, he would crawl around in circles and eventually fall out exhausted, but now he pulls to standing within minutes, falls, repeats several times, then eventually goes to sleep. All the while, we watch on the monitor ready to run in at the sound of a head bump against his wooden crib! At least he knows how to "fall," if there is such a way!

Mealtime has become the messiest time of the day, by far. I love that he loves to feed himself, but ohmygoodness! Harrison has not learned the good manner of picking one piece of food up at a time, and instead acts like he's never been fed before (at every meal), voraciously grabbing a fistfull of veggies and stuffing the entire fist into his mouth. Unfortunately for him, he has only a 30% hit rate! Needless to say, mealtime is so very messy that I resorted to using washcloths to help save the environment from the rolls of paper towels we discarded daily. But, he is perfectly transitioning to what I call "human food" and it's sad to say that in just 3 months he won't be taking a bottle anymore. I ask again - where did the little baby go that I gave birth to just weeks ago?!!

Today, Harrison had his 9 month check up:
Height: 29 1/2 in. (90%)
Weight: 19lbs 5oz (30%)

He might have the Smith chins, but three things are for sure: he's got his Daddy's height, weight, and dimples!

A few pics from my cell phone taken today:

Mom says "NO," but where there's a will there's a way!

Too long!

I left early on Father's Day for the airport to head to Rye Brook, New York for a week of training. David had planned to attend the US Open in NY, but he and his clients cancelled their flights Friday night due to the awful weather in NY. Too bad Pfizer doesn't cancel training due inclement weather! Mom flew in Saturday morning to keep Harrison until David returned from the Open, but instead got in some good quality Grandma time with an extra set of hands from David.

It was so hard being gone all week, but thankfully Harrison was in the hands of the people who love him most. After Mom left on Tuesday morning, Victoria was with Harrison during the day, staying late until David got home from work. It's so incredibly hard trusting someone with your baby, but Victoria is truly a blessing to us. We love and trust her so much, which made this 6 night trip a lot more bearable for me. At night, Harrison was very well taken care of by David and his parents! They spent three nights with David, offering much distraction and entertainment to Harrison. It sounded like both David and Harrison were well taken care of - from the wonderful home-cooked meals to the bedtime stories!

Harrison woke hungry at 5am Saturday morning (gotta love growth spurts) and I'd only been home for a handful of hours due to a major flight delay, but I rushed into his room and scooped him up. He was sleepy eyed, but while I gave him his bottle in his dark room, he just stared at me and ran his hands across my face and over my lips. "Yes, Harrison, it's Mama," is all I could say as I choked my tears back. I had missed my sweet baby soooo much! I brought him in bed with us and he fell asleep on my chest, making those little baby noises of contentment that are so sweet to a parent's ears. Saturday was a wonderful day and I am not sure I can leave Harrison again!!!

Saturday morning fun in my float!

What?

I LOVE feeding myself!

It's 730am, but Happy Father's Day Daddy!

Teary-eyed and one step away from walking out the door to get to the airport...

Mommy is going flying today!

Where's my baby gone?

Crawling is sooo yesterday - Harrison is having fun trying to walk everywhere! My back, on the other hand, is killing me from assisting him! I miss the days of "sit right here and play and Mama's going to cook dinner..." yeah, right... now it's more of stir the potatoes, run to keep him from toppling over onto the hard wood floors.... put the chicken in the oven.... run and aim him to crawl away from the electrical outlet. He is pulling up to a standing position now, and it's more of a game than anything... "let's see what I can pull up on now..." I called the baby proofers a week ago and got an appointment for this week, so all will be safe after Thursday. Thank goodness.

Now you see me sit,

now you see me stand!

These hardwoods are killing my knees - I think I'll improvise.

Yummy big people food. Today I will eat it for you, tomorrow I will spit it out and seal my lips.

Dinner at the Salems - David racing cars with the big kids

"I wanna hold the baby!" - Ben, 2yrs

"Why didn't he like me holding him?" awwww!!! :)

Happy Birthday David!

Thursday David turned 36!! We had fun celebrating his birthday this year. Last year, I had an additional appendage, as I was about 6 months prego with Harrison. We were in NC, and my Mom did all the preparations for the birthday from the meal to the cake. So this year, I decided to step up to my wifely duties and make David's favorite dinner and a birthday cake!!

Preparing the icing started on Monday after a grocery store trip and continued until I finally baked the cake on Thursday. It's been my experience that the more you stir the icing, and lick the spoon, the better the cake will taste. As I decorated the cake and attempted to write "happy birthday" I had yet another epiphany - it's always possible to wipe the cake clean, take care of the extra icing your own way, and start over. HAHA! This was my favorite part, as Harrison sat in his high chair watching Baby Einstein and eating a snack, thinking what is my Momma doing with white and blue stuff all over her face. So, after 30 minutes of trying to "ice" a birthday cake for David, I came out with a big 3-6 on the cake. It was so ugly, but it was definitely my favorite part of the meal!

Audrey and Harry came over early to entertain Harrison while I wrapped up the meal. It was nice to have some diversions, as Harrison only wants to "walk" and be with the "big people" these days! Harrison loves his Granma and Grampa!

I do have to tell one additional story... As I was on the phone with my sweet grandmother this morning, I was telling her about the "netbook" I got David with a webcam and how I was going to take it to NY when I have to go for a week at the end of June. I was explaining how people can talk "over the internet via camera" and she stopped me mid-story with "Oh, like using Skype?" I almost fell over! My grandmother is officially a techie!! I really need to get with the program!



Harrison STILL doesn't have teeth, but every week David and I swear that it's the week he will get teeth. It's always the perfect excuse for a fussy baby! In this pic, Harrison is chomping down on his ice cold teething cloth, which he loves. We swear this is the weekend the are coming!

Birthday dinner with David's parents

WOAH, Dad - What are all those orange things on your cake??!!!?

Moooove over Dad, these are MINE!

Playtime in the sink...

Dad, there is SO much to play with in your office - a stapler, sharp pencils, a keyboard, a mouse - WOAH this is going to be FUN! Mom, I'm ignoring you. How many pictures of me do you need?!!?

Almost Crawling Pro-Level!

Harrison will do anything for 1) my cell phone and 2) the remote control. He also still goes crazy at light switches, computer keyboards, and electrical outlets. I'm thinking he's going to be an Electrical Engineer and a Ramblin Wreck! :)

8 Months Old

Saturday Harrison turned 8 months old. He's crawling and babbling away!

At the Children's Museum

After a family outing to Babies R US to get my big boy car seat and umbrella stroller!

Harrison wanted to sit in his new stroller the whole day! When we walked past it, he'd reach out and grab for it until we put him in it. He'd just chill while we unloaded groceries or cooked dinner!

Pooped and ready for bed after having dinner at Chuys with the Foertsches... And time for a bigger carseat!

Daddy singing Harrison the "It's Bathtime" song - can you tell how much Harrison loves and anticipates bathtime!!!???!

Almost there!

Rounding the corner to the bathtub!