Harris's 1st Hannukah

We are having a wonderful Hannukah week!

The first night we spent home - just Mommy, Daddy, Harris and Jebby! Mom lit the candles as Harris looked on with amazement (definitely a sensation seeker!).


Then Harris opened and played with his first gift - a set of baby blocks.


The seond night, Mommy's birthday, was spent at Grammy and Pop's with the whole extended family. The day was full of gifts (including a rocking elephant - Elmer, and a ball pit) and lots of love.


The third night was time to celebrate with Grampa and Grandee. Dad and Grampa put together Harris's presents and spent some time trying each one out before it was the little man's turn!


Back at home Harris loves having all his new toys and we love watching him play - even if it means our house is turning into a toy store!

It Always Snows

Each year before Harris was born (sometime after the 1st of December), Adam and I would pack the car - Jeb and all and head to Boston to visit Brian, and more recently Kim too. Most years we would get into Connecticut before the white flakes would fall from the sky. One year the snow started before we left, we stuck it out - - a few years the snow waited until we settled safely into Brian's condo. It didn't matter when it started - it ALWAYS snows.

So it is no surprise that when Brian and Kim came to meet our little man the first weekend in December it snowed! Harris loved his first snow, we bundled him up and spent some time outside before we settled in for a night of cooking, games and good friends.


Some notable updates from the beginning of December:

1. Harris is laughing more and more - often in the bathtub when he is playing some spitting monsters!

2. Harris is eating like a champ the fruits and vegtables he eats are endless - currently his favorite is green beans, least favorite so far - avocado.

3. We started brushing Harris's teeth - well his gums and toungue - but so far no complaints on his end!

Sip and Roll

Harris is officially 6 months old. His six month check up went really well! He weighed in at 16lbs 12oz and 26 inches (both of which fall in the 25th-50th percentile - actual age!). The doctor was very pleased with his progress. Our little man impressed the peditrician when the doctor took his little hands and encouraged him to sit up -- Harris didn't stop there and, as he loves to do, proceeded to stand up and grin!


The doctor suggested he was ready to move on to more solids and that we could also
offer him a sippy cup with water. Both of which could not have come at a more opportune time; because since starting solids Harris has been much less then interested in his formula bottles and has been reaching for cups left and right. So we tried the sippy cup and Harris caught on right away - holding it on his own and, despite his less then accurate motor skills, he was able to find his mouth!


We have decided to make our little man baby food and so Mommy and Daddy have spent the last two days steaming and pureeing food. It is worth the effort because Harris loves it. Each time we introduce a new taste he first makes a funny face, swallows, kicks his feet in delight, and then opens his mouth for more.

Each day is met with amazement, today Harris rolled over from his front to back! I was home early enough so I got to see it first hand, well to be honest both the nanny and I missed it the first time. Luckily, he was so excited that he tried 3 more times tonight. Mommy and Daddy were so proud, but I think the the little man was even prouder of himself.









** Harris immediately after he rolled over

Where Did November Go?

A very good friend recently wrote me an email asking if we were OK, she hadn't heard from us in a while and then checked the blog and saw it wasn't updated and worried. I felt awful and confused and realized that though I had thought about her and her beautiful new twins almost every day, I hadn't picked up the phone in weeks, I had written "upteen" blogs in my head and none on paper, the pictures my family has come to depend on have not been uploaded in over a month... where does the time go?!?

November flew - Harris is getting bigger and bigger it hard to believe that he is going to be six months in two days!

Harris had his first real illness this month. A respiratory infection with a fever - it was hard to watch our little man struggle. The congestion left him struggling to breath and the doctors watched him carefully to make sure that this seemingly harmless cold did not progress to RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) or pneumonia (both major concerns for preemies). But with lots of care and time we managed to make it through without the congestion moving to his lungs - thank goodness!! And when he finally got over it, he was able to get his first round of Synagis. Ironically, Synagis is a series of shots that offer protection from RSV. The vaccine had arrived at our pediatrician the first day Harris ran a fever, and like with most vaccine's doctors will not give them when the baby is sick. So we had to wait it out!

Despite spending much of the month sick Harris is making tons of progress. Here are some highlights:
1. Harris is back on solid foods and loving it. Right now we are limiting to barley and cereal (each once a day). But we introduced bananas the other night and to his Aunt Hayley's disappointment - he LOVED them.

2. When he eats well - which is getting to be more days then not - and is not sick, Harris is consistently sleeping 8 hours at night! He then wakes up for a feeding and goes right back to sleep giving Mommy a pretty good night.

3. He is using his arms and hands much more every day. He seems to be favoring his left, but w with little choice (for instance when you had him a toy only within the reach of his right) he will grab with his right hand also. It is not perfect but so much improved then a month ago it is great!

4. Our Little Man is working hard on sitting and crawling. He is much more successful in the sitting department. Crawling is a long way off but when he is on his stomach you can tell he wants to move - right now it really just results in a frustrated scream - but we celebrate intention!

5. We heard him laugh. OK so it was only once or twice but still music to a mommy's ears.

Halloween Week

Harris had a great week full of exciting events (some Halloween related others not). All week long Harris dressed in his best fall and Halloween attire. At the beginning of the week Harris discovered a FAVORITE toy. Now I may have said before he had a preference for something, and even called it a favorite but now that I have seen Harris with this green ball I know everything else was just to pass the time. It is in fact one of the only things Harris will use both his hands on.

The Halloween festivities began on Wednesday night with an early trick-or-treat visit to Grammy and Pop's - they needed to see their little man all dressed up before they were off to Florida. Thursday was the parade and and festival (read band, fire truck and pumpkin decorating) in Princeton. Harris, Martina (Harris's beloved Nanny), and her son, Nicholas, met Mommy at work and we all went over together. Martina had found Harris and Nicholas matching Dragon costumes and they were adorable together! In true Harris form he LOVED the parade and the commotion but, despite being in an incredibly warm costume, was not happy as the sun set and had to be bundled up!

Friday Harris celebrated Halloween by going to dinner with Mommy, Daddy and Aunt Hayley. After dinner we ran a few errands... and by the time we got home the little man was exhausted.

Finally, Halloween came. Harris started the morning at music class, most of his friends were in full costumes, Mommy opted for the more manageable outfit. We waited for the rain to somewhat subside and then went out trick or treating at Grandee's & Grandpa's, Aunt Lynn's and Aunt Harriet and Uncle Bill's.

Developmental Follow-Up

Today Harris had his first appointment at the Developmental follow-up clinic. This clinic follows high risk newborns (i.e. those who were born very early, as is the case with Harris, or full term babies who had significant respiratory distress or a history of apnea). So today was Harris's 3-month appointment. No that's not a typo -- though Harris turned 5 months this passed Saturday the clinic records time by "corrected age." So though our little man has been here with us for 5 months the doctors and therapists at the clinic all consider him 3 months.

We arrived on time, even a bit early. Interestingly, while I have some personal experience doing these evaluations, being on the other side was 100x more nerve racking then I would have ever imagined. So maybe it was the nerves, or the fact that the appointment was at 2:00 just a precious 1 and a 1/2 (2 if we pushed it)) hours away from nap time, but the 30 minute wait seemed to be forever As the time ticked by and Harris charmed the other families in the waiting room with smiles and coos I knew the inevitable. He would do NONE of this in the room -- I briefly contemplated asking one of the mom's in the waiting room to come with us, you know to vouch for our little man's skills.

We entered the examine room with a wonderful physical therapist. She watched how Harris could (or should we say would) move his tiny little body. No surprises here... his head control - "age appropriate" (for a 3 month old), his ability to push his head up from his stomach - good; supportive sitting - impressive; supported standing - even more impressive; refusal to reach or grab with his arms - ummmm, well there is always room for improvement. All in all the effort we put in, the exercises and the encouragement has been paying off and before the PT left she gave us our next set of exercises so that we can work on his arms.

Next up the Speech Pathologists. Bottom line here is that Harris did actually smile for them (good thing one was a blond and he seems to have a thing for blonds) -- but despite this the speech team declared a slight delay in expressive language. (Remember in their eyes a delay is below 3 months). Why you ask? Because he doesn't laugh - well not out loud. I thought long and hard about how ridiculous this is and then realized maybe he is just a silent laugher. We all know those people the ones whose mouths open and bodies move but no sound comes out -- and this is exactly what our little man does!

Finally the medical team came in Growth - AGE APPROPRIATE (not corrected actual)
Weight - 15lbs (with a diaper and onsie - still I can NOT BELIEVE THIS)
Length - just over 25inches
General health good. You know with the exception of all the eating nonsense we already know about.

All in all a pretty good appointment. OH and by the way our little man is teething! So it seems that when it comes to how and when Harris is going to develop - your guess is a good as mine!

"I just can't...

...keep my fingers out of my mouth"




Could this be teething?