Harrison the Eloquent

This week we were iced in for 3 days straight. (More on that later) We found many things to do, but most definitely had some cabin fever. Harrison was very happy to play his XBOX 360 (or Kevin's) and would come to Kevin for help now and then. At one point Kevin came down to help him and Harrison says, "How do I get out of this crap?" Well said, son. He gets that from Kevin.

Ian is 4 months old!

Ian had his 4 month well visit today and made Momma proud. He's 16 pounds and 24 1/2 inches long. 75%ile for weight and around 50%ile for height. That's code for "short and fat". He handled his shots like a champ. Harrison asked to leave the room during that part. We got the go ahead to start solids, which I'm not in too much of a rush to do. I couldn't wait to start them with Harrison, but with Alex and Ian I've waited a bit because honestly, it's just more work! You have to remember to bring all the stuff with you when you go out to eat and it just makes me more tied down. Oh wait! Three kids is the definition of "tied down", that's right! Just kidding. :-) Anyway, Ian has been a happy baby today and the shots don't seem to have made him fussy or anything. He showed off his rolling skills for Dr. Wells and also tried to grab all of her instruments. He's just a joy and we all love him to pieces.

On a side note, he's doing really well adjusting to the crib in the nursery. He hasn't skipped a beat!

I'll post a recent picture of him tomorrow. Harrison says he's a "bucket of chubb".

What is Alex again???

So an update to the sleep saga...Alex finally slept through the night last night. Nap time was a different story. He slept for 20 minutes, woke up crying and when I tried to stand by him to get him back to sleep, Ian woke up, the phone rang and I could hear Harrison downstairs clogging the toilet. So, I had to abandon ship. He cried for 30 minutes, then got out of bed and cried at the door. I kept going n without saying a word and put him back in bed. 35 times! He stayed in bed, but cried more until 2 hours had passed and Ian was needing me again. We'll try again on Monday!

Anyway, during all of this Harrison was reading his cool Star Wars reference book and kept wanting me to play with him. Guilty feeling mom kept having to say, "In a minute." He wanted to act out being the sand people and was assigning all of us rolls. I was the mom, Kevin was the dad, Harrison was the kid and Alex was the...the..."What's Alex again?" Hes asked. "A German??" Toddler was the word he was searching for, but all I could think off was, "Pain in the butt." It's a good thing he's cute!

First night down in flames

We were off to a good start. He went to sleep without a problem. I went in to check on him right around 10 and found him precariously perched in between the bed rail and headboard. In my attempt to shift him he woke up and got upset. I got him back down quickly and thought we were home-free. After an hour I heard a thump and running little footsteps with loud crying. Guess who???? I met him at the top of the stairs and decided to give up on the big boy bed for the night. That was around 11. Very long, long, long story short...we finally were all asleep at 2 am. Ian was up at 5 to eat and then we all woke up for the day a couple of hours later.

Today I was able to have him nap in the big boy bed. He was really tired and half asleep from driving home from the pet store (that's a whole different story!). He slept for an hour, which was way too short, but not much different from his recent routine. He went down tonight without a problem, so we'll see if not having Mommy waking him up helps make it a successful night.

One of Harrison's presents from Santa this year was a Sponge Bob Fish Tank. We went today to get fish for it and he picked out a very nice Black Molly and was so proud of it. He very carefully carried him to the check out, talked to him all the way home, and told him he hoped he liked his new home while we were trying to acclimate him to his new surroundings. His name is Jack and unfortunately Jack is already "sleeping" belly up in the tank. Guess who's going to be making a speedy trip to Petsmart while Harrison's at school tomorrow??? At least it's an all black fish so he can be fooled easily.

Stay tuned for the latest on Alex..hopefully I'll have nothing but great things to post tomorrow. Tomorrow is another day, right??? Please????

Alex is officially a big boy!

We spent all week and this weekend getting Harrison's room ready to welcome his little brother. Ha ha! The closet is cleaned out and reorganized, the playroom is more spacious and orderly with all the toys in their places and Alex's twin bed is made complete with a bed rail that will hopefully keep him in. As much as I am ready for Ian to go into his own room and for Alex to move in with his bro, I will have to admit I'm a little sad that Alex is going to be sleeping in a big boy bed. No matter how ready you are to have them get bigger and act bigger, it's still sad. Kevin TOTALLY disagrees with me and is thrilled! I guess I want to keep them my babies forever...well as long as they move out, go to college and get good jobs. Yeah, that kind of baby. I'll let you know how the first night goes tomorrow! Stay tuned!

Something to think about...

I had to get this down before I forgot. Harrison was asking Kevin tonight at the dinner table how to do something. In a quick response, Kevin said, "Use the force." Harrison comes back with, "My force is charging." What does that say about our house and what we rely on???

Happy New Year!

I'm finally able to see my kitchen floor after getting home from our vacation on Friday evening. Yes, I said Friday. Yes, I know it was four days ago. It was a HUGE pile! Anyway, it is done and I feel much better. The next step is taking down Christmas decorations which always makes me feel a little sad. Our house looks so bare after taking everything down. I'm ready to declutter, so it will feel good when it's done, but it's SO not a fun job.

In the next few weeks we're going to move Alex into Harrison's room and into a big boy bed. Ian is ready (i.e. Mom is ready) for the big move into his own room, which displaces Alex. I hope it goes well and that he loves his new found freedom. Well, maybe freedom isn't the right word. I hope he loves it in a "stay in it all night, cuddly and grown up" kind of way. Harrison isn't totally thrilled with the new plan, but hopefully he'll grow to love the extra bonding time he'll have with Alex. In order to accomplish this transition, I have a lot of work to do shifting toys and clothes around. It will all happen eventually.

Christmas was wonderful. The kids had a lot of fun opening all of their presents. They got so many nice things. Harrison especially loves his R2-D2 droid that follows voice commands. He's convinced he can teach it to do his chores. Note to self...give the kid chores. He also loves his Shell Shocker, which is this hideous looking remote control thing that is supposed to be some sort of alien. Alex had fun unwrapping everything and loves his new driving simulator. I also couldn't resist getting him massive amounts of Mr. Potato Head stuff. He now is the proud owner of a Spud Trooper that has a potato masher weapon. Too cute!

Harrison enjoyed his time with Grammy, Pappy, Aunt Leslie and Uncle Ian. Each evening he would watch a couple of shows in Grammy's bed while the adults were drinking and playing games. He came out when he got lonely and wanted Grammy to go cuddle with him. She said she would and he warned her that she would also be cuddling with the Shell Shocker. Not the most cuddly of toys he owns. It was very cute.

He loves Aunt Leslie and Uncle Ian's drawing capabilities. He was and still is convinced that they both could help him make a REAL Star Wars Imperial Walker. He had his blueprints ready and everything. He told me only Dad would be able to drive it to school (because obviously mom's don't know how to do that) and all of his friends would be SOOOOO jealous. We just ran out of time! Next visit, I suppose.

Harrison and Kevin had a great time on their mini-vacation to New Orleans. Harrison felt very special even though Rice didn't win.