Keeping Busy

As you probably guessed, Harrison started walking for-real since our last post. Just in the last couple of weeks, he has started to prefer walking to crawling and he is getting better at it everyday. He has also learned how to strategically fall when he loses his balance, so that helps too! Now that he has walking figured out, it has been amazing to watch his other skills develop by the day. His verbal skills are getting better and better, and we notice him starting to mimic us more. He is also really developing his fine motor skills and seems to really like to organize (Yay, says mom!) He seems to really enjoy putting things in their containers and then dumping them out to start all over again! And, our favorite new developments are the clap and the wave. Waving is still very new, but it is so cute and he is very proud of himself!

We have had a great time this last month catching up with old friends and enjoying these long summer days together. Todd, Ali, and Ryan were kind enough to let us celebrate Memorial Day with them at the Lake, and as you can see from the new pics, we all had a great time. Their dog Callie REALLY enjoyed all the food that Harrison was kind enough to feed her during our stay! Harrison enjoyed his first boat ride and loved hanging out with Ryan.

Harrison also got a chance to stay with Aunt Katie and Uncle Brian one night this month so that Mom and Dad could attend an out-of-town wedding. As the pictures clearly show, they had a lot of fun together and Harrison was so sad to see them go the next day!

It's been a really fun month and we are enjoying the chance to get out of the house more this summer! We are also very excited to celebrate Johnny and Owen's birthdays soon. These boys are all developing such distinct personalities and it is an honor to watch them grow up together.

11 Steps!

Harrison is getting closer and closer to "full on" walking after a couple of weeks of taking steps here and there. Here is a video from this weekend of him taking some steps. And doing some trademark pointing...

Best Year Ever

It's safe to say that Harrison's first "birthday week" was a success. Harrison is incredibly blessed to have such an amazing group of family and friends to help him celebrate this amazing year. In order to celebrate with everyone, we ended up with about four little celebrations. He is so thankful for all of the fun gifts he received and excited to try his new toys out! And, Harrison had his first taste of sugar and we're afraid there is no turning back now. Ice cream is an official favorite! We've posted a bunch of pictures from the past week and hope you all enjoy!

Happy First Easter

Harrison had a very busy and fun schedule this past Easter weekend. On Saturday, he had so much fun hanging out with Johnny and his aunts and uncles for a party in honor of Annie and Mike's baby girl, due this summer. This little girl is going to have lots of "big brothers" looking out for her! Harrison and John were very helpful to Annie when she opened her gifts!

On Easter, we spent the morning with Tom's dad and his siblings after discovering Harrison's first Easter basket. We attended a beautiful mass in Lawrence before resting up for Easter dinner in Topeka with Amy's family. It was a big day, but so much fun! Lots of new pictures from our holiday weekend. Enjoy!

Dinner is Fun!

With the people watching, music, and Cheerios, Harrison was VERY happy at dinner this evening. This funny video shows him bouncing t the music and chomping on some O's.

Finally, an Update!

Well, we are entirely embarrassed by how delinquent we have been in posting these last two months. Work, winter, illness, traveling, and of course, Harrison has kept us very busy. While we have tried to keep the flickr pics updated, we are definitely overdue for an update!

February brought us Harrison's nine-month milestone and our first family vacation together. We joined Aunt Brooke and Uncle Ryan on a ski trip to Aspen. As much as Harrison wished he could ski with Dad, Brooke, and Ryan, he and Amy managed to have a great time just relaxing by the fire in the cabin, sleeping, eating, and playing. It was definitely a much needed getaway for us all.

The other big development is that Harrison finally figured out how to crawl over the last week. He is having so much fun now chasing after Sydney, grabbing his toys, and trying to pull himself to a standing position on just about anything he can find. We have also noticed that when he is standing and music comes on, he starts to dance! It is so much fun to watch.

Unfortunately, the whole family has been struggling with colds and, in Harrison's case, ear infections over the last couple of months. Now that the weather is starting to warm, we are keeping our fingers crossed that we have passed the worst of it! We are all ready to start spending time outside, especially once Harrison starts walking!

We've added some new pictures to Flickr from our vacation and of our newly mobile little boy!

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.