My Boys

Whenever Barrett is fussy, chooses not to nap or is up several times a night...

Whenever Harrison throws a major fit over something little, hurls his water cup across the room, or refuses to eat what he has just requested I make for him...

I just have to look at these pictures to remember what it is all about. This is how these two spent some time together this weekend. I'm looking forward to many more moments like this as they grow up.

Hiking

Now that the weather is finally not so hot, Harrison and Mark have been going hiking. They will spend about an hour and a half following the trail through the woods and then having a snack before heading home. Harrison LOVES it. He thinks this is the best thing ever.


Last weekend they went down behind our house all the way to where the trail meets the golf course across the canyon. On that hike he saw a coyote (and he was the one that saw it first and pointed it out to Mark!) and a deer caught in a feral hog trap. (Don't worry, the deer was fine, just mad).


He was just thrilled to come home and tell me all about it.


Later that day while he was napping Mark ran a few errands and came back from REI with some hiking boots for Harrison. They are seriously the cutest things ever. He now has special hiking socks too (like Daddy) and is just the cutest little hiker I have ever seen.


After that they went down and checked out a different trail, just a short drive down the street from here. It runs along a creek (dry of course due to our lack of rain) and Harrison was disappointed that the only thing he saw on that hike was a turtle. He had fun throwing rocks and sticks, but came home to tell me, "No big animals this time". Too cute.


On this weekend's hike he found a bone. He says it's a cow bone and has milk in it. Really? Anyway, he insisted on carrying in in the stroller yesterday while we walked and waved it randomly at people and shouted, "my cow bone!" to which I'm sure they thought he was crazy.


He decided this weekend that he has to be in the lead, so he refuses to let Mark walk in front of him, and he is the one who dictates their pace and when they stop for a break. He will all of a sudden say, "take a break" and plop down on the nearest rock for a snack.  Mark has taken some great pictures of him down in the woods:

First trip to the new hiking trail.

He loves to throw rocks!

Here he is in his hiking boots "taking a break" and having a snack.

Pumpkin Patch

We tried our best to get a good picture of them both together at the pumpkin patch this year.


Barrett can't quite sit up on his own.  Harrison was more interested in using his big pumpkin to collect smaller ones (that we ended up having to buy because he refused to leave them behind). So, that didn't bode too well for us, maybe we'll have better luck next year.

Don't fall over Barrett!

Just a few pictures in and Harrison is done and ready to leave.

The best one we got of them both in the pumpkins.

Not sure we've ever seen Harrison look so serious!

Sweet boys. I almost like it better that they aren't looking at the camera since that hasn't worked so well this time!

Studying all of the little pumpkins and gourds.

Loading up his pumpkin basket.

Happy as always!

Sweet Baby B.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween was a HUGE hit this year!


Last year, Harrison didn't really "get it". He was just too young to really understand what was going on, didn't enjoy wearing his costume and overall was unimpressed.


What a difference a year makes.


Halloween started for him at the beginning of October when I brought home his Buzz Lightyear costume (complete with light-up wings, of course). He was thrilled. A few times a week he started asking about Halloween, what we would do, dressing up, etc. He would say, "Halloween NOW!" quite loudly. We talked a lot about it on our walks in the morning because he loved to look at the houses that had decorated for Halloween.


At school they decorated t-shirts which were super cute. They used their foot prints to make ghosts and their hand prints to make spiders, all of which were complete with googly eyes (which he thinks are hilarious). They had a school party where his whole class wore the shirts they made, had pizza, and got to trick-or-treat to the other rooms. He came home thrilled and talking a mile a minute about the candy and again asking when he would dress up, say trick-or-treat, etc.


The Saturday before Halloween our neighborhood had the annual party at our park. He had fun on the bouncy slide, but had to stop once the big kids got a bit too rowdy. He got to decorate a cookie with icing and candy and polished that off quickly before having his face painted. We were surprised he would sit still for it, but he did and was thrilled with the big black spider and web that she painted on his face.


He played a couple of little carnival-style games where he won small prizes, his favorite of which was a "yummy gummy" that was basically a gummy worm in the shape of a skeleton. He had no idea he could even eat it, he just played with it and stretched it until it broke. That resulted in quite a few tears and a week-long discussion about where yummy gummy had gone. He would wake up from a nap and the first question he would ask was about yummy gummy. This kid never forgets anything!


On Halloween night, we started off with a pizza dinner in our cul-de-sac with our neighbors. Every year we end up sitting out there handing out candy all together, which is much more fun than sitting at home answering the door while the rest of the family is out trick-or-treating.


Harrison had fun just running around in our street without his costume on, eating pizza and being silly. We tried to get him to go in and put on his costume, but he had no interest in doing that. Then people started to show up in costume and trick-or-treat, and he began to get a bit more interested. By the time a guy showed up dressed like a giant monster on stilts, he was sold.


He and Mark walked with Harrison's friend Olivia and her dad. The kids rode in her wagon, so he was able to conserve his energy and hit more houses. He was thrilled each time they stopped at new house, and told everyone, "To infinity and beyond!" (which if you aren't familiar with Toy Story, is what Buzz Lightyear says) and then "Trick or Treat". He even managed to say "thank you" after he got candy.


After trick-or-treating they came back to our cul-de-sac and we told Harrison he could have one piece of candy. Of course he picked a full-size tootsie pop and actually licked the entire thing, all the way down to the tootsie roll. He presented us with a soggy stick at the end, and finally actually said he was ready for bed at around 8:45. Overall it was just a great night for him and I think next year will be even more fun!


Wondering where Barrett was during all of this? Asleep. That's right. I put him down for a nap at 4:45 and he didn't wake up again until 8:45 that night for a snack and clean diaper before going right back to sleep. Thank goodness our monitor works out in our street, as that way we could just hang out without worrying about him.


Here are some pictures of the fun:






Enjoying the bouncy slide at the neighborhood party.




Getting a spider painted on his face.



Heading out to trick or treat.



Perfecting his Buzz Lightyear act.



Back in the cul-de-sac with a pumpkin full of candy!



Enjoying his lollipop and some water after his evening of trick-or-treating. Gotta love the legs crossed...he looks so grown up!




Really enjoying his lollipop!



Mobility

Barrett is mobile.


He has graduated from the plank pose, to hands and knees, to now lurching forward to get what he wants. Sometimes it looks like he's trying to do the old-school breakdancing move the caterpillar. He kind of lurches forward off of his hands and knees and then pops back up and does it again.  It's funny to watch him move from the carpet to the hardwood, because he slides like crazy on the wood and sometimes ends up just spinning in circles like a sundial.

Look at me up on my hands and knees!

Harrison has been really good about sharing his toys now that Barrett is all over the place. Occasionally he will tell him, "no baby, that's mine" and take if from him, but for the most part he actually tries to show Barrett how things work.


Barrett is especially interested in all of Harrison's trucks. He loves the small digger that makes noise and moves on its own. On several occasions he has managed to push the buttons that make it go, and his face just lights up when that happens!

Barrett is thrilled with himself because he managed to scoot all the way over to the garbage truck and grab it.

Harrison loves to make tracks under the pool table upstairs. Barrett loves to watch the trains and attempt to play too. Thankfully Harrison is very patient.



Ha Ha! Harrison is asleep and all of the toys are MINE!



Six Months Old

Barrett is six months old!

I think these six months have flown by, because it seems like just yesterday he was a helpless little blob fresh home from the hospital. Now he's a full-blown baby, babbling and laughing and even attempting to crawl.

He checked out fine at his six-month visit, and is long and lean like his big brother.

26.75" (70%)

15lbs 14oz (25%)

The plank position was only a precursor to his newest trick, which is to get up on his hands and knees and rock back and forth. He started doing that on Friday, and shows no signs of stopping. He is a motivated little guy, trying his hardest to get to all of Harrison's toys, especially his trucks. Thankfully Harrison is still OK with sharing, although I'm sure that will change. Should be an interesting next few months around here!

New tricks...

Sunday started out with Mark making waffles. Harrison wanted to see what he was doing. So, he climbed onto the kitchen counter. Effortlessly. That's right, yes, you read that right. Just hoisted himself right up onto the kitchen counter.

He hasn't done this before and we were a bit shocked, but managed to just help him back down, look at each other and have our eyes bug out of our heads, and go on about the morning. Just to prove it wasn't a fluke, he did it again later that morning. Good times are in store here for us! I guess when you take a tall kid who likes to climb and has good arm strength and pair him with a fierce determination to get what he wants, this is what you get. Jealous?

Not to be outdone, Barrett has started his workout regime. After Harrison finished impressing us with his mad climbing skills, Barrett had to show off too. He now does "baby planks" throughout the day. Check it out...he is a strong little guy!

Look at that perfect form!!!

Just doing a little ab work so I can keep up with my brother.

Working out is fun!

Oh yes, another thing...the tongue. Barrett has recently discovered his tongue and LOVES to stick it out as far as it will go. He does this all the time now and really just makes us laugh. He also makes the people at the grocery store, Target, etc. laugh too since everyone now seems to notice he is doing this.

Such a happy boy :-)

Visit to Birmingham

At the end of September I took the boys to Birmingham to visit my sister and her family. Thankfully my mom flew with us...I have a feeling I wouldn't have made it without her.


Both boys were great in the airport and Harrison really enjoyed watching the planes out the window. On the plane Harrison was pretty easily entertained with the bag of tricks my mom brought (mini Toy Story friends and Dinosaur Train friends...yay!) and also really enjoyed wearing headphones and watching a movie. A few yogurt raisins and some M&Ms for good behavior rewards and we were all set.


We had a great time while we were there! Their new house had plenty of room for Harrison to chase the cats, which he really enjoyed doing.  We went to the museum, zoo, and park. We also celebrated Charlie's fifth birthday at his party at the bowling alley. And, Barrett got to go to music class--Susie teaches one for little babies his age so we were special guests. He had a great time.


Here are some pictures from our visit:




Barrett enjoying the aquarium part of the museum. There were a lot of brightly colored fish in this tank along with a very large green eel. He was really watching them.



More fun at the museum. There was an exhibit with lots of giant bubble shapes and Harrison and Charlie had a great time making giant bubbles while Barrett watched.

Hanging out with Aunt Susie while the boys played at Homewood Park...which Harrison asks to go back to frequently.

Barrett with Nonny and Aunt Susie.

Aunt Susie, Harrison, Charlie and Jeffrey at the zoo. It was a beautiful day that started off nice and cool, a welcome break from our hot weather at home.

Charlie was a great cousin and showed Harrison all around the zoo.

Harrison's first carousel ride.



Harrison, Charlie and Jeffrey at Charlie's bowling birthday party. Despite the strobe lights and loud music Barrett was sleeping so he couldn't join them for the photo.






Finally, here's a video of Barrett in the bathtub. At home we were still bathing him in the small baby tub, but here we just laid him on a mat in the tub and he LOVED it. He was so happy and just kicked and splashed forever.



Baby Laughs

There's nothing better than a good baby laugh. All I had to do to get this one was stick my tongue out at him.

Fake Snake

I love giving Harrison random things that coincide with his latest interests. Today I found a snake a the dollar spot at Target...and gave it to him for being a good boy while we took Barrett to the doctor to get a couple of vaccines.

Here's how the afternoon went...it gave me a glimpse of my future with these two.

Look at my cool snake Barrett!

YUM YUM! Don't you want to eat it? Poor Barrett...is this his future?

Harrison's latest adventures

Harrison has been enjoying school and looks forward to going each Tuesday/Thursday. He is now at the point where he can tell me what he ate for lunch (and I know if he's right since I pack it for him :-)), who he played with, and what he did. It's a really fun conversation in the car on the way home from school.


He's as silly as ever, and lately has been doing a lot of dancing. At school they play the "freeze game" where they play music and when the music stops and the teachers say "freeze" everyone has to stop. This, coupled with the "Dance Party" advertised on PBS at the end of Curious George has led to our own dance parties here at the house.


His version of dancing is a lot of spinning in circles and/or fast dancing around stomping his feet and also spinning in circles. Then he falls down, and says, "Harrison fall down why mom?". It's actually pretty entertaining and a good way to burn off some steam inside the house while it's still hot outside. Here is a dance party moment from last week--you'll hear him say "dance party" when I ask him what we are doing.

Harrison still has fun making us laugh by doing random things, like wearing our shoes or putting a basket on his head.

Here he is at the park this week being a "buckethead" as he calls it. He laughs as he runs into things and falls down while doing it. What a nut!

Here he is modeling Mark's shoes...notice his poses and silly faces. He loves to make us laugh!

We've been really into bugs lately. I knew going into this whole adventure with boys I'd have to tolerate the creepy-crawly things that I hate. A couple of months ago there was a week where Rhino Beetles were all over the park. We had lots of fun picking them up, playing with them and coming back to find more each day. Harrison was gentle with them and sad when he'd find a dead one.


We've been on a bug drought until last weekend, when we found a walking stick at the park. Harrison was thrilled, and carried it around in a bucket all morning. When he left the park he released it and we have yet to find it or a replacement again, despite many attempts on our daily visits to the park. He asks every day where it is and continues to look for it, so here's hoping we'll find another one soon!


Over the weekend our next door neighbors called to see if Harrison wanted to come see a big tarantula that was on the side of their house. He has talked about it every day since, and calls it a "ranta" since he can't quite pronounce it. I HATE spiders and am dreading the fact that we are heading into "tarantula season" around here where they seem to pop up all over for a couple of months. But, at least Harrison will enjoy looking at them.


To capitalize on his love of bugs, I grabbed a set of bug flashcards from Target. That's the best 30 cents I have spent in a LONG time! We have spent the past week or so at dinner (and other random times during the day) reviewing the bug flashcards and he has loved every minute of it. It's quite an interesting conversation with him when you talk about the fact that mosquitos and ticks eat blood...and that silverfish eat books and breakfast cereal (who knew??) but at least he's learning and I'm sure someday this will all come in handy for him.


This weekend we went to Harrison's friend Hunter's house to play. He loves to play with Hunter and they really play well together so it is always fun to see them.

He had lots of hugs for Hunter...and I'm not sure Hunter was really as "into" the hugs as Harrison was!



 I think this is the only picture we have of the four of us together...it only took five months.