A Room With a View

Go Ahead, Jump on the Bed!

Yup, that's what my girlfriend told Harrison when we went to see her at the very hip, chic, frou-frou hotel she was staying at while visiting from out of town. In fact, it was her idea to begin with...

"Harrison, I bet you want to jump on the bed!?"

Little did she know what was about to ensue for almost an hour. Let's just say she got a good workout! Harrison does loves to jump and dive into/onto furniture and people's arms, and at 2 1/2, he doesn't easily tire right away.

So here are a few of the pictures from our day at the elite frou-frou hotel with BIG fluffy feather pillows and fluffy feather beds and fluffy feather comforters. Did I mention fluffy? All things white and dreamy like clouds - and don't forget the ocean view! Wow.




And, oh, how I love these eyes!

Bedtime Ritual - Theme Thursday

The theme this week as ritual and what better ritual to focus on than bedtime. Well, at least the first step of the bedtime ritual. It just so happened that I finally remembered to take my camera upstairs to take a couple pictures of Harrison in the bath, not great quality pictures - oh well. But I haven't taken bath pictures since he was a few months old!


The bedtime ritual is pretty simple but we vary it to keep things interesting... okay, really we vary it because sometimes we just can't do the bath thing EVERY night!! More like, I can't do the bath thing every night...

Any normal bath evening starts like this...

Me: Harrison, bath time.

Harrison, using the universal sign for stop with his hand, "NOOOOOOO"

Me: Five more minutes to play, than bath.

Harrison: No Bath Mommy!

Fifteen minutes later...

Me: Okay let's go for bath.

Harrison: Okay Mommy.

After several songs, playing with boats, ducks & frogs, washing of hair and nashing of teeth. Oh yes, nashing of teeth. It's time to end the bath.

Me: Okay, water has to go home now, time to get out.

Harrison and that universal sign for STOP again, "NOOOO! NO MOMMY!"



Well after a few more minutes of reminding him that, no, he can't sleep in the bathtub, and,yes, the water went down the drain - home, laying down and playing peek-a-boo over the sides of the tub, and accepting the annual, naked "hug-wet" from my my little boy just to get him out of the tub - we are on to the next, and newest, step in the bedtime ritual - the potty chair.



And that, my friend, is another story...

"No More Diapers, Mommy!"

It has arrived! The BIG milestone, the moment in mommy-hood I dreaded most.

Potty Training.

Yes, potty training. I just had NO CLUE how to start the whole process. It seemed so overwhelming. When do I know he’s REALLY ready? How long do or don’t I wait to start him? What steps do I take? Do I really want to wade through 2 million, 3 hundred and sixty websites & on-line articles about potty training – most of which either tell you what you are doing horribly wrong or how to get your child trained in just one day. Yeah, right. (I was never really good at following instruction booklets, anyway.) And are size 6 diapers & pull ups really that taboo?

But low and behold, Harrison took the lead. I bought a potty chair back in June and Harrison carried it around a couple times, sat on it once in a while and constantly pointed at it stating, “Potty Chair”, then he started pointing at regular toilets and saying “Big Potty Chair”, but that was it. Recently though, we got a couple (pretty lame) potty training videos (packed to the nines with silly songs) that he wants to watch over and over again.

Well lately since I found myself working a lot of extra hours, I really hadn’t done much else to further the process along. But one night, a couple weeks ago, when we got home from an outing and were getting ready for bed, Harrison looked up at us and announced, “No More Diapers.”

Okay, then.

Immediately after that he lay down for a diaper change. Nothing more happened for a few days and then one evening after his bath, he insisted on sitting on the potty chair, asked to sing the ABCs and went pee-pee. We yelled for daddy to come and see and we all did the Happy Dance!

For the last 2 or 3 weeks, he has gone every evening before bed, save one. But today, while home with daddy, Harry asked to “pee-pee on potty chair?” and off they went in the middle of the day!

We are on the road to potty training!

Theme Thursday - Remembering the Protectors of our Freedom

Freedom is so important to each and every one of us in so many different ways, freedom of speech, freedom in Christ, freedom from bonds/pain that bind us physically and/or emotionally, freedom as Americans - freedom to make our own choices. As Harrison grows, he'll learn about freedom and what it means to him and I hope that I will be a good teacher. Part of the lesson is sharing with him his heritage and who he came from. He will not have the opportunity to know his maternal grandparents and great-grandparents in person, but he will have pictures and stories about them and how much I loved them.

My grandfather, the last of those who raised me, was the most recent family member to pass away, a year ago August. But he was able to meet and hold Harrison. Making a career of the Air Force, he is one of those brave souls who fought to protect our country's freedom.

In honor of my "Papa Chuck"...

My grandparents circa early 1940s

Harry and Great-Papa Chuck - December 2005

Visiting the National Cemetary - 2006


"It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion- to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion- that we here highly resolve that these honored dead shall not have died in vain- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom-"
~Abraham Lincoln

Hope you talked like a Pirate today!

I love to just stop and observe Harrison as he plays; he’s just so fun. Like a few months ago when he plopped himself in a laundry basket with his telescope yelling, “Arrrr! Pirate!”

Well tonight the toy telescope had come back in play-circulation and Harrison was opening and closing it quickly, enjoying the sound it made. He thoughtfully looked at me, silently basking in his ability to make this sound and finally asked his favorite question:

“What’s that noise, mommy?”

You tell mommy, you’re making the noise.

He looks up at the ceiling, thoughtfully,
“I’m making noise in 'um house!”

Yes you are.

“What’s that noise?”

The telescope opening and closing.

He stops, puts it to his eye and exclaims, “ARRR! PIRATE!”

That’s my boy.

BSM - A Day at the Mouse House!

We have SO MANY adventures this week to share with you, from potty training to day trips, but those will all have to wait for now.

In the mean time, we wanted to share our absolute favorite picture from the weekend. A face that I often see on adventures but seems to always elude my camera. That moment of sheer exuberance!


What a great day we had! BTW, we call it the "mousehouse" when reffering to Disneyland in front our very alert 2-year-old! It's quicker than spelling out it out!







Walking with daddy at Disneyland - the best thing in the world!

"Boy, His Butt is Big!"

We went to the Aquarium on Thursday and we had a great time. Harrison became hysterical at the site of the first exhibit. I suppose it had to do with the immensity of the tank - it was two stories high and some of the fish were as big as he is. Unfortunately, my camera doesn't really like the Aquarium, so I missed the pictures of sheer exuberance on Harry's face. But all was not lost...

Here's a BIG FISH.

Although it's dark and grainy, this is my favorite picture of the day.


So, what is he looking at so intently?






Could it be this?



Or this?




Or possibly this.



Heck no. The exhibit that kept Harrison's attention the longest was this...



Yep, a scuba diver crammed into the fish tank doing a little cleaning. Don't they have fish for that?
But the best part is listening to two women discuss his better side.

Woman 1 - Boy, his butt is big!

Woman 2 - I think it's the glass, it MUST magnify everything.


Woman 1 - It could be that suit he's wearing.

Woman 2 - I'm sure it's the glass.

Woman 1 - I hope so, because that IS a BIG butt!

I mean, come on! This guy looked to be about 7 feet tall - like - Andre the Giant in there! Hello? Yet, they were pondering the "big butt." Next would be a discussion of his chosen water shoes...

But I will never know.

Just Wanna Give a Shout Out To...

The Ones I Love!
I'm sure that must have been what Harry was thinking at 4:00 a.m. Thursday morning when he decided it would be a good time to just - SHOUT. And being the in-tune-with-my-child-mom that I am. I awoke immediately.
(Yes, I have fallen flat with that whole in tune thing. Take language for instance. My 2-year-old's language, I don't always know what he is saying and believe me, he gives me PLENTY of opportunities to figure it out - and then who gets annoyed?! But I digress...)

So there it is, 4:00am In. The. Morning. I hear him and immediately pop one foot out of bed but before I'm up...

Silence. Nothing. He's out.

I'm out.

4:45 rolls around and once again, "MAAW-MEEE!" "NIGH, NIGH [garble garble] Yep, there's that language issue again. Of course, I am mostly asleep - down the hall and - Wait... Silence. Hmm.

Well, this went on until he got up at 7:00 am. Every 40 minutes or so he would just shout out for one of us. "Maw-Mee!, Daa-Dee!"
At promptly 7:00 he shouted, "Wake Up Time!" And that was that.

So this morning when 6:30 rolls around, Harrison yells, "Maw-Mee!"

I scream, "NOOOO!!!!" (Well in my head anyway.)

I call out, "It's still Sleepy time."

Harrison yells back, "NOOOO! (not in his head) WAKE UP TIME!"

I stand corrected.

Theme Thursday - Three is a Magic Number..

The magic of play.


I actually have found myself taking pictures of the most odd things since the stork brought Harrison along. Like toys, and ceiling fixtures and other obscure items to document Harry in pictures. One of my recent favorites - his "munder-mut" boat. Translation - Wonder Pets. In his eyes, the boat is perfect stand-in to fly or pull around the house singing, "Munder muts, munder muts. on. way! Save. a mamal. make the day! Yeaaah!!" The little gremlins aren't quite a guinea pig, turtle and chick, but he makes due.
I love this picture because it looks like it came from a magazine (IMHO) until one looks closer & sees the baby wipes sticking out of the basket in the background.
One word - PhotoShop!

Okay, so technically it's two words...

Below Harrison is watching, what else? Wonder Pets. Could be worse.
(Could be better - the TV could be off!!)

And in celebration of the theme this week, enjoy a little video courtesy of School House Rock, because after all, it rocks!!

Okay, now for more fun, head over to Tracey at Picture This to see more of Thursday's theme - Three!

As for ceiling fixtures, well, when Harry looked like this...

He LOVED to stare at this.

From this point of view.

Especially at night before bedtime, he would arch backwards in my arms and hang there to look at it as I sang "Mr. Sandman".
Then we moved...

Best Shot Monday - Mega Madness

After a long busy week, H. did some unwinding - literally. He ran around in circles with a megaphone on his head, unfortunately, I missed the initial moments but he willingly stopped, looked at me and proclaimed, "I'm happy, Happy! Happy! Happy!" and continued in a new rendition of the "happy dance" ala megaphone style.

Catch more great moments over at Picture This! (I have a button!) In the mean time, we're just crazy about Harry!...






Thank you, thank you very much...

Harrison has left the building.

Can I bring home the bacon & fry it up it the pan?

Apparently not.

Since I've been working full time, I haven’t had much time to share anything here, let alone cook a gourmet meal for my family - bacon or not. My house is a mess, my desk is piled high with papers, clean laundry is piled on the dresser, the windows, my car and the dog need to be washed, (have I mentioned the toy cars everywhere?) And although I know that H. has been his cute little adorable self and well worth bragging about (save for those few moments when "hands are not for hitting") I have just been too tired to retain it in my brain. Wait, isn’t that why I started this blog; to make it easier to record his early days and not have to retain every moment in my brain? Oh well…

One small moment: H. started a class by himself this week while I work in the office. He had absolutely NO transitional problems at all. Moreover, as soon as we set foot inside the building, he ran off to his classroom, madly waving his hand backwards, calling, “Bye mommy! See you, mommy!”

Although at the end of the day I had to bribe him out of there! Yes, bribe him, I know - bad mommy - with a hand full of pretzel twists (well actually it was two pretzels, which issue after he ate them and wanted more) but I was tired and wanted to go home! Heck, we had been there for 7 hours – that’s a long day for a 2-year-old with no sleep. Let alone his mom.
I think he wants to move into his school.

I guess I should go clean something...