Spring Break

Enjoying the good life.....too bad John Harrison wouldn't take his naps on these pool beds

How can a liquid look so much like a solid??

After working 6-7 LONG days per week for nearly four and a half months, we packed our bags and headed to the Dominican Republican. We spent March 10-17 enjoying the Carribean sun :) with our precious son. I wanted to post a few pictures from the trip. The first day we arrived in the DR, I didn't know what to do with myself---I felt like I should be working. Never before have I had a problem relaxing as soon as I get to a vacation destination.......but, never before have I worked so much and so hard!! Our most relaxing time was while John Harrison took his naps (often on the beach!) and after John Harrison went down to sleep.

You know that you are in the Carribean when.....

1-You are allowed to bypass the extra "security" screening at the gate at the airport just because you have a baby

2-Your server asks if your baby wants a beer or cocktail with breakfast

3-The gate agents instruct passengers to board the plane from both the front and the back---with no regard to zones or rows (what a mess!!)

4-Natives go crazy over your fair-skinned, blond-haired, blue-eyed baby BOY

5-Non-potty trained babies are allowed to swim in the adult pools

By the way---At his one year check-up, John Harrison weighed 23 lbs 13 ozs and measured 31.5 inches tall!

Celebrating One Year

first encounter with sugar

sporting a chocolate mustache from a cake icing sample, eating lunch, and holding a party blower (John Harrison's favorite party "accessory"--he kept sticking the end in his mouth, but he couldn't figure out that you blow to make the end unroll).

L-R Great Grandmama, Grandpa, John Harrison, Grandmama, and Grandad

It's both simple and difficult for me to believe that one year ago, I was holding our tiny new baby in my arms. Our then helpless little baby is now feeding himself, walking everywhere, interacting with us, weaned (as of tonight!), and sleeping for 10+ hours per night.

Today was a near-perfect day. It would have been perfect if David's mom, sister, and brother, and my sister, brother-in-law, brother, and sister-in-law could have joined us for John Harrison's party. We took plenty of pictures and recordings of John Harrison to capture the day for the family members who couldn't be here due to illness or distance.

John Harrison woke up this morning around 6:30 after sleeping through the night (first night in nearly 2 weeks that he has done so since he had been sick with a cold). He ate and we played this morning and then we went to the store to buy party decorations and a few food items. John Harrison fell asleep in the car on the way home and slept for 2 1/2 hours---John Harrison NEVER takes naps that long for us! Not wanting to wake the birthday boy up from his good nap, we went ahead and ate lunch. John Harrison was upset when he woke up because he was hungry. I let him eat lunch before giving him cake. John Harrison wore an adorable blue gingham dress shirt, jeans, a sweater vest with an airplane applique, and some navy sandals. Well, he didn't wear that while he ate cake---he actually just wore his diaper when he dug into his homemade giraffe cake. John Harrison's hands and face were messy but he didn't smear icing all over himself like we expected him to do. He really enjoyed squishing the icing in his hands....as well as eating it. It was awesome when he took huge chunks of cake and went for his mouth---then threw the huge chunks down on the floor beside his chair. Thankfully, we put a sheet under his chair so that made clean-up a lot easier. After the cake-eating and extensive photographing time, John Harrison opened his gifts. He got a variety of awesome gifts---his favorite seemed to be a fun steering wheel interactive driving toy from Uncle Jon. After everyone left, David and I took John Harrison for a walk to try out the new Ergo carrier from my parents. I am impressed that I didn't have a sore back after carrying around my 23 (or so) pound baby on my back for 30 minutes!! After we came back home from taking the walk, John Harrison had some milk and then we played outside for a while. The weather was awesome here today and the day couldn't have been a prettier day for early March. John Harrison received calls today from his aunts and uncles, Great Grammy, and Grammy. He loved hearing each of their voices :). Well, to close out this day, I had best get some sleep myself.

Happy Birthday, sweet boy!

Compared to Mommy.....

Catherine--less than one year old

John Harrison---11 months and change

What do you think---does John Harrison look like me (Catherine)?

Catherine at four months old

Catherine---a little over a year old

Our little boy is almost ONE! Here are some pictures of me when I was a baby.....I will also scan and upload some pictures of David when he was a baby. David and I both think that there is a lot of resemblance between John Harrison and me when I was a baby.

John Harrison is becoming very attached to his "baba" (bottle) since he only has "real" milk once per day now. His main words are "baba" and "mama." "Baba" can mean "bottle," "Raleigh," "ball," and a variety of unidentified objects or concepts. John Harrison is a skilled walker and loves to play. Last night, David and I took John Harrison up to the playroom and David pushed the Fisher Price corn popper around the room really fast---John Harrison loved laughing and running around chasing Dad. He even pushed the corn popper some when he could get it away from Dad:). John Harrison eats two to three "real food" meals each day--chunks of pear, peach, avocado, broccoli, and spinach. His favorite food seems to be fresh pear. I am hoping to introduce meat chunks soon.

In the next day or two, I will post some photos to recap John Harrison's first year. I am still trying to pick out what John Harrison will wear to his first birthday party. So many choices. No, I am not the mom who bought a fancy smocked jon-jon for my baby's first birthday---there are some adorable outfits out there, but for one, David wouldn't appreciate that type of outfit on our little boy too much ---and two, I think John Harrison will be much more comfortable. John Harrison will probably wear jeans or kahkis and a cute shirt and sweater or jacket. I'm sure we'll take plenty of pictures!

Handsome Boy!

We joined our church on Sunday and John Harrison wanted to dress up for the occassion. In reality, he slept as we were introduced, stood at the front, and were greeted by the body.

Enjoying a hearty breakfast!

First Cold of the Winter

A week ago Saturday: spent the evening playing (see above pictures) with Grandmama, Grandad, and Great Grandmama while Mom and Dad went out to dinner.

Saturday (today): awake and crying on and off all night for the past three nights, up for the day at 5:20 am, drank five large bottles of milk and one meal from Mom, ate two large pears, took two naps, sneezed numerous times, shed many tears over Mom wiping a very sore nose, experienced short-lived happiness after rejuvinating meals and naps, went from wide awake to sound asleep within seconds at bedtime

As you can tell above, today was not a normal day for John Harrison. He has had a cold for about a week and has been feeling pretty under the weather for about the past three days. I am hoping that John Harrison will start getting better soon! I am thankful, though, because this is really the first time John Harrison has been sick for more than a day or two since he was really sick last summer. We have been really careful to wash our hands and his and are mindful of keeping John Harrison away from other sick people and kids and out of many crowded locations---I guess most of our efforts have paid off.....but, germs have a way of spreading even when you are cautious.

Hopefully, at least, he'll be well in time for his one year birthday next weekend! Even though John Harrison has been much, much sicker, it is still hard seeing my baby sick. I really hope (for John Harrison's sake and ours!) that our sweet boy sleeps better tonight than he has the past few nights.

My parents came over for dinner tonight, which was a lot of fun. My moma commented tonight how hard it would be to take John Harrison to a photography studio since our little boy rarely stops moving and is always reaching out to grab everything around him......I am very thankful that she is a such a great photographer who "sets up shop" whenever she is around John Harrison. It is fun to see my moma chasing John Harrison around trying to get him to look at the camera. As you can see in the pictures above, John Harrison is getting better and better at posing for the camera. John Harrison is wearing his "bad hair day" shirt in the pictures above. David and I were at Gymboree a few weekends ago and found the shirt for about $3 and couldn't miss out on a bargain and a laugh. We also found a great Hawaiian print shirt for around $4 that will be perfect for our little guy when we go on vacation this summer.

Keep posted for John Harrison's first year photo recap coming soon!

Spring is in sight!

I'm so happy that I'm wearing Dad's old outfit that I'm sticking my tongue out!

spinach face :)look at those sweet blue eyes

wearing new pjs from Aunt Lisa

Today was a reminder that springtime is not too far away. The temperature got up to around 60 today and so I decided to take John Harrison outside to play while I took a break from working. John Harrison isn't used to meeting any resistance when he walks so I think he was a bit intrigued when he tried to walk through the thick bermuda grass. He tried to eat grass, leaves, the gutter, gravel, and even the patio furniture:). I am really looking forward to warmer weather so we can go to the park and zoo and spend more time outside.

Our sweet boy will be ONE in two weeks. Today there were some more reminders that he is growing up. For instance, instead of trying to eat the book, he paid attention while I was reading a book to him. He also felt the animals' "fur" in the farm animals book were reading.

My dad and David's mom have each continued to babysit John Harrison several days each week while David and I work. I am so excited about being able to spend more time with John Harrison in the near future. John Harrison is at such a fun age and I hate to miss a moment.

Our precious Valentine

giving a "tisssss" to Dad

Bookshelves are only for holding books until the books can be thrown onto the floor....

John Harrison has progressed pretty quickly with walking since he stook his first step on January 5th. He is walking all over the place and has been doing so for about a week and a half. He can walk across a room and take 20-30 steps in a row. He still crawls some seems to prefer walking to crawling. John Harrison loves waving his arms up and down when he is excited :). He also will sometimes give kisses (he occassionally says "tissss" before he gives a kiss). He is very much a boy and enjoys knocking down block towers that David and I build. John Harrison is within two weeks of being weaned!! We introduced cow's milk about two weeks ago and he has been doing really well with it.....so I am also eating dairy products again. I think his food and protein sensitivities are finally starting to settle down--finally!!

After doing some research, we decided to give John Harrison hormone free non-homogonized whole milk from a dairy about 1 1/2 hours away that raises grassfed cows.....the only catch is that the milk is only sold at one chain of produce stores in town and the closest store is 30 minutes away. We are able to get fresh produce in the same trip, though.

John Harrison nurses when he wakes up in the morning and right before he goes to bed and usually takes two bottles during the day (he sleeps from around 8:30 pm till 5-6 am). The fact that he is only nursing twice a day is a HUGE blessing and success considering that only a few weeks ago, if John Harrison was with me during the day, he would nurse at least 6-8 times in a 24 hours period. He has started to feed himself pieces of fruit and vegetables, but we still puree his meat. I am so, so excited about the progress. I feel like my baby has become a toddler over the past month.

My moma took these pictures last Saturday---she and Dad watched John Harrison while David and I went out to dinner for Valentine's Day. This was the first time David and I have done anything fun together in months and months and months!!! I decided to risk it and ate a steak, salad, and veggies without knowing the ingredients. John Harrison has seemed to have done fine with what I ate.

David and I have both been working quite a bit this month but nothing like the hours we put in last month. The next few months will be busy, but hopefully, life will continue on the trend of settling down so we can become more involved serving with our local church, spending time together, and spending time with our precious son.