Parks Parks and More Parks

We decided to take a nice long walk to Hager Park, Harrison slept there and back but played for awhile when we breaked for lunch on the greens.

Tuesday Harrison and I had the car so we took advantage of it! I hit up Bagel Beanery for a delish sandwich which I then took to Millenium Park and devoured while going for a nice long HOT walk.

Harrison tends to snooze on our walks. But I'm confident he enjoys them :)

This boy LOVES the Tour de France ;) I really can't wait til he gets his neck control down so we can get a burlee for him and I can jump on my beloved bike again. The past two days I had designs on going for rides when Jon got home, but by then I want to talk to him and read my new book (the Girl who Played with Fire).

In other news,
1) his sleep schedule is kind of working!
2) I am happy that Groupon is now in Grand Rapids- today they have coffee at Sparrows for $3, I think I'll do it!
3) I've begun to actually make proper dinners again ( I tend to recycle weekly dinners- mac'n'cheese, fish, chix, BORING) yesterday was baked ziti and the day before was peanut butter noodles
4) my sister is coming to visit this weekend- hooray!
5) the first friend I met in Jenison (3rd grade) had her baby last week! Yay Jenny and baby Jayden
6) tomorrow the little one is 2 months old, wow

Bedtime for Harrison

I have been trying desperately to update my blog! Harrison is not having it :) Also I'm experiencing issues with uploading his first video of his smiles and baby conversation. It's pretty cute, so I'll keep trying.

We were supposed to go to our free class of Stroller Strides this morning at 9:30 but we were too tired! His bedtime routine has officially started for real. It looks something like this (ideally):

7p: bath or stroll around neighborhood 

8p: last call for dinner! and a diap change 

8-10: convincing him to go to bed in his crib

1:30 midnight snack

3a: snack attack and diap change

6: breakfast

8: wake up for the day 

This might appear tiresome, and it can be, but I'm told it really could be much worse. So we'll take what we can get :) 

Big Week!

Two years ago today I married Jonathan in Grand Rapids. We sure packed in a lot of big events in those short years

*I finished my 3rd year of teaching in NYC
*Jon left the Trump Hotel and began his new job at the Photography lab
*We move back to Grand Rapids (Jon first, me 5 months later)
*I get hired then not at West Ottawa
*Baby Randall is discovered!
*Crazy pregnancy that really tests us
*Baby Harrison is born :)

Whew. Congrats to us.

We had an amazing week and weekend here. Kellie got to meet and spend some serious time baby time with Harrison. They only got in a tiff once :) Kellie even bought her wedding dress in Holland. It is gorgeous and I will not post it :) You'll have to check in October 2011 :) I know it's far away but I'm way excited to be in my FIRST wedding that isn't my own.

Congrats Kellie and Dikran.

Harrison met a bunch of people Saturday at our backyard BBQ! By the end of the night he was insisting on quiet space!

Harrison is quickly approaching the 6 week mark, wow. We are beginning to understand each other more. He's been a lot more eye bally lately and his range of noises has certainly broadened. My favorite growth is his smile, it's coming! We've caught a few lovely AWAKE smiles, the rest of his grins happen when he's passed out.

TIme Out

Baby is wayyyyyy fussy this morning. There are hardly any quiet wakeful moments today. Why is Baby so angry!?

There is a point when holding, feeding, burping, bathing, and changing just doesn't work. I reached that today and Harrison still wasn't ready to pass out. My ears couldn't handle it any longer so I calmly told Baby I needed a time out for 5 minutes and set him in his crib. He proceeded to wail and make his sad noises :( But I honestly needed my 5 minutes and so I excused myself from the room.

This was harder than I thought it would be. I feel really bad. He clearly is unhappy with the situation. But honestly, what can you do when Baby is truly unconsolable and you're the only caregiver?

Much to my amazement Harrison has drifted to sleep. No one can say for how long, so I too will put myself down for a naptime.

A Moment of Downtime

Hmmmmm, here we are again. Little Harrison is swinging, I am contemplating making some cinnamon rolls and maybe reading. I picked up one of my favs, the Grapes of Wrath, and started it yesterday. That book really makes me feel like I've got it easy!

In fact this is not that easy. Babies are hard work. Harrison is a good baby but even those make you work. Right now he likes to stare at things and make funny expressions. I find myself getting jealous of his dreams because that's the only time that he smiles. He has this huge grin that comes across his face during dreamland, also an Elvis-like snarl smile. I can't wait til he actually uses those sweet smiles on me. I'll do my best to capture those fleeting smiles with my camera.

For now I can be happy with the contented starring.

My boy the Squeaker

Sometimes Harrison makes the weirdest noises.

He squeaks like a chipmunk. He clears his throat like an old man. He burps like an obese man! He neighs like a horse. I am ridiculous, but I can't not laugh when he passes gas- so LOUD, oh dear. He screams like I'm murdering him. He chatters like a squirrel. He growls like a bear. He chirps like a bird.

Of all these noises my favorite is his silence :) But of course when that happens I need to make sure he is in fact still alive, so I'll touch his arm or stare at him hard to see his tummy move up and down.

My boy's a funny little guy.