Almost There!

This video shows just how close Harrison is to crawling. It’s just too bad that after all this hard work, Sydney the dog got up and ran away! She still doesn’t know what to think about his mobility. In other fun news, Harrison has started to pull himself up to low couches, toys, and anything else he can get his hands onto (including people). He's so proud of himself, and does a very funny little bouncy dance every time he makes it to the standing position.

On the verge of crawling!

We have been saying for over a week now that it is going to happen anytime: Harrison is definitely ready to start crawling, he just hasn't put all of the necessary elements together yet! He is rolling like a champ, and he can get up on all fours for a few seconds at a time and rock. He scoots if he can push his feet off of us for leverage. This development has also led to another change, which is that he is very squirmy when being held! He still likes to nuzzle, but more often than not he is trying to reach for something or roll around on our laps. Also, no more waking up in his crib in the exact same spot as where he feel asleep. Invariably, we now find him in the corner of the crib in a little ball. Our little boy is becoming mobile!

Another big change over the last few weeks is Harrison's range of noises. He does a lot of screaching, but now that involves noises that sound like his own little language. We can make out "dada" and mumma" in some of these noises, but we think they are purely coincidental at this point (we can't help but feel our hearts skip a beat when we hear it, though). The funniest thing is this new sound that he has developed that kind of sounds like chuckling, but the sound itself appears to really crack him up. So he makes this sound, and then he really starts laughing! Hilarious.

It seems that everyone in our family is finally healthy, but we are ready for Spring! We hesitate to say it and jinx anything, but Harrison seems to have gotten past the ear infections. Between that and all of these snow days, we are ready to get out of the house and breathe some fresh air!

Cruising in the Jeep

Here is a fun video of Harrison cruising around in his Jeep. It is really amazing to watch his little legs work to push the Jeep around. He's even taken to trying to follow Sydney the dog around the room. She's in trouble when he starts running!

Boy Time!

Amy had to go to Washington DC for a few days last week - leaving Tom and Harrison to their own devices! Despite missing Mom terribly, the boys managed to have some fun. In fact, they got to stay home on Tuesday for Harrison’s first SNOW DAY. Instead of sledding, the guys played with "toys" and took naps all day! Maybe next year they will try sledding.

Christmas, Part 2 (sort of....)

So, Harrison's first Christmas did not turn out as we had hoped or expected. On Christmas Eve, we took the little guy to the doctor, who confirmed our suspicion that he had pink eye. On top of that, he had an ear infection, and later that day we discovered tooth #2! Given all of his obvious pain, he was such a trooper and still found time to flash us his beautiful smile. We managed to spend some time that evening at Gigi's to celebrate Tom's birthday and Christmas Eve, but turned in early as Harrison's cough worsened and he needed his sleep.

Christmas morning, Harrison and Amy awoke to high fevers and it was clear that the trip to Topeka was not in the cards for us this year. We were so sad to miss Christmas with Amy's family and with Owen! We were especially sad because last year we were snowed in on Christmas day, so this is year #2 of missing out on spending the holiday with her family. We will reschedule and hopefully celebrate together very soon!

While this Christmas may not have been quite what we had wished for, we feel so blessed and will always remember it as our first Christmas as a family. We spent a lot of time cuddled up together watching movies and snoozing, and Harrison was able to open his gifts. Most importantly, we were all together, which is what really matters!

P.S. Harrison and Amy are feeling much better today and hope to be back to our normal routine tomorrow!

Christmas, Part 1

This weekend, we celebrated Christmas in Wichita. For the first time in a long time, we were able to get together with all of Tom's cousins, aunts, and uncles on his Dad's side of the family. And of course, we were able to spend some great quality-time with Dodie and Pops. It was a very special weekend, especially since we had two new additions to the family this year. Harrison and John had a wonderful time and seemed to really love their first Christmas festivities.

As you can see, we have been very busy documenting Harrison's first Christmas! There are new pictures posted on flickr of Harrison admiring our Christmas tree (he loves it when we get home in the evening and turn on the lights for the first time!) and pictures from our weekend in Wichita

Part 2 includes Tom's birthday on Christmas Eve and Amy's family on Christmas Day. Stay tuned!

Broccoli!

Here’s a video from last week. Believe it or not he loves the broccoli! And if you don’t believe that, check out the squeal at 00:27. This video also demonstrates one of Harrison’s favorite pastimes – banging on the counter.