Enter... the EXERSAUCER MEGA (in safri print naturally)!!!

Now mind you, he's really not supposed to be in it until he's 4 months old (still a few weeks away for those of you keeping score at home), but it seemed like a good way to continue building neck strength, and something new for him to look at.

As you may have imagined, he absolutely LOVES it!

Head is up, giggling away, figuring out the parts, and also that he can move around in it!

I think the biggest entertainment factor is that he's vertical, and no one's holding on to him... he seems to like the feeling, but I can only imagine this is going to make him really want to run soon (heck with creeping, crawling, etc...)

What a weekend... First one spent at home with nothing to do, in quite a while.  Forgot how involving it is to be at home with the little man.  Also forgot how much fun it is.

It's been mentioned many times here in the past, but to actually get to see someone, a real person, develop before your eyes.  Especially when they absolutely hang on everything you do & say.  Incredible.

3 months old...

It's strange to think about how recent it was that everyone came down for the weekend for Harry's big party... Seems like AGES ago.  Now here we are, growing out of clothes, growing out of carseats, making all sorts of great noises when you're in the room (and they're even more fun while he's in his crib with just the monitor on)...

Kim was finally able to resume her Krav Maga this weekend.  I know this is a huge thing for her, as many of you know, it was a very big part of her life before Harry's arrival, and for her to be able to get back into the ring , literally, is great!  I think if I had to sit out from Hockey for a year, I'd be going nuts (even more) by now.

She also starts her new job at MedImmune today... Hope the cube culture is ready for her!

 

Harry can roll over now! It is official as of Friday (16Jul).
He has rolled over in the past, but it seemed to be by accident.
Now he is all over the place- mostly when he is getting his diaper changed.
 
Next new trick: learning to wave. Stay tuned.

rollingover.jpg

HARRY WEIGHS 17 POUNDS! HE ALMOST NEEDS A NEW CAR SEAT!

So, Harry had his first real baby sitter on Sunday! Both of our mom's have watched him before, and Aidan, but this was the first person we didn't directly know. Of course, Sydney came with the highest of regards from both Tara and Aidan. Oh, and her previous employer was Laura Bush. So, we figure, good enough for the First Lady, good enough for Harry!
In all seriousness, we were told both he and Bailey did fine. I think she even referred to Harry as a "cherub". Her words, not ours, of course. Normally, we would expect nothing less, but the fact is he has been teething for the past couple of weeks. Lots of drool, lots of unsuccessful attempts to get comfortable, and, yes, a little bit of screaming. But just a little. He's a cherub, remember!
Aside from teething a bit early, he is now officially in his 6 month wardrobe. He went to daycare today in his red & white striped romper from baby Gap, given to him by Don & Carol (I've been reading too much vogue recently). It seems like just EXACTLY 1 month ago he was in his 3 month wardrobe. At this rate, I am going to need another job so he can have a whole new wardobe each month.
The most exciting news, though, is he can now pick things up. His favorite object is his Sqwish Ball from Manhatten Toys that Aidan & Josh gave him. He can lift it and roll it and even put it in his mouth, which is convenient since his mouth hurts. Poor little guy. He is a trooper though!

Well, for those of you who do not already know, I have accepted the position of Study Specialist in Oncology at Medimmune, Inc. in Gaithersburg, MD. Yes, it is a hike. No, I will not have to travel as much. It all kind of evens out.
Though I was very happy at PRA International, this new position seems to be what is best for all of us. It is a good career move for me, I will be home every evening and Harry is happy in daycare. He is a very alert little boy and we really want for him to be around other kids and be active during the day. Although, when I say this move is good for everyone, it may take Bailey some time to adjust. I realized today that I think Bailey has started to get attached to Harry. She now sleeps under his cradle (as I expected she eventually would) and when she went with me to drop him off at daycare she was very displeased that I was leaving him somewhere. (She is sound asleep now and dreaming, so I guess the stress of the situation has worn off).
Another plus to this new job, we will get our extra bedroom back since I will not need a home office. If you don't mind sleeping on a futon, give us a call!

It's been quite a while since I've posted, and rest assured I've been reminded of that fact regularly.

Quite a holiday weekend, and the travel that seems to typify our family certainly accompanied it.

We started off the weekend with Harry's first visit from his Aunt Meghan. She was back on the East coast for the first time in quite a while, and was able to make great overnight stop on her way to visit the Magoo's in Ocean City MD.

Then the driving began!

We headed north to visit with Kelly & Pete in South Plainfield NJ, to finally make it to their annual July 4th celebration for the first time. Met up with Kim & John as well, and met a bunch of Kelly & Pete's friends... then back on the road to head to Wildwood for a relaxing weekend with the Wiley/Decker/Reis clan.

Harry spent his first afternoon in the Jersey Shore sun. Thankfully, he doesn't seem to have inherited my complexion. Poor Dom Jr. got his hotdog stolen by the seagulls, and just couldn't take it anymore.

Headed home on Monday, and decided to take a "shortcut." Unfortunately, not such a good idea. Needless to say, 6 hours later, all of the relaxation from the weekend was suitably out the window. Mental note, don't think so much when you're on the road... it'll get you into trouble.

Overall, a wonderful weekend and a great time with everyone! Summer's a busy time, and many more jam-packed weekends to come, hopefully I can do a better job keeping everyone in the loop!

Things Harry Can Do Now

Sleep in his cradle without a car seat
Smile on command when you take his picture
Imitate you when you stick out your tongue
Roll his tongue (which I cannot do)
Use a "quiet voice" when Daddy is sleeping

Things Bailey allows Harry to do

Touch her for longer than 1 second (we are up to about 12 seconds now)

JUST THE FACTS
Thursday, April 22,2004
Age: 2 months old
Height: 22 1/2 inches (40%)
Weight: 13 lbs. 6.2 oz. (90%)
Head: 16 1/2"
Eyecolor: Unknown
Haircolor: Yet to be decided
Clothing Size: 3-6 months
Favorite Movie: Baby Neptune
Favorite Toy: The fishes on his swing
Favorite ACtivity: taking a bath

Harry currently eats up to 36 ounces of Isomil per day.
This is normal. He doesn't eat when he is not hungry, and does not always finish his bottle. He is allowed to eat up to 40 ounces by the time he is 4 months old. It is possible he has had a growth spurt and may taper off.

What's next? Harry likes his bath so much, we are going to take him swimming and see how that goes. He will officially start lessons in the fall!

I have been concerned that Harry had not started reading yet. After all, he was approaching 8 weeks, and the books say you should read to them...The boy seemed to prefer bouncing to reading though. And then we became even worse parents and plopped him in front of his Baby Einstein DVDs for up to 30 minutes a day. I am happy to report that he has finally taken on more literary interests. His favorites so far are Hugs and Kisses, from Uncle Kris & Aunt Jenn (no relation, of course) and Rainbow Fish from his grandmom. Both books are large, so you can block out the rest of the world around him. Hugs and Kisses is about a beagle Casey's First Visit 001.jpg named Hugs who wonders around looking for the best kisses. Rainbow Fish teaches about sharing. It has pages of deep blues and purples with shiny scales. (As many of you may know, Harry is a big fan of the fish on his swing).So, it looks like Harry will be literate after all, and pretty soon he will be reading, on his own, all of those GREAT books everyone has given him!

NEW FEATURE ADDED!!!

Doing a little light reading during the ol' lunch hour about what's happening in the "blogsphere" (nice geeky name for the folks who publish weBLOGs like Harry's World), and noticed that there was an interesting feature that I had not previously enable on the site... LEAVE A COMMENT

So, in the interest of this compendium becoming a communal effort among those whom Harry has had the pleasure of meeting, and those he can look forward to meeting in the future, I've turned the comments part on.

Here's how it works:

You'll notice an link below each post that indicates if any comments have been left. Click on it, and you can read what someone else had to say, and even Post one of your own. If you do decide to post, please take a second to register so that your name comes up (I can honestly say that I don't seem to be getting any bad emails based on my subscription to this service, so I really do think it's safe in terms of SPAM) with your comments.

One request... please keep it civil. There are kids who read this, and I'd also like for Harry to be able to one day enjoy it on his own.

Enjoy!

Interesting article about Shearwaters.shearwater.jpg
It seems that female Shearwaters vary the amount of food they bring to their young, depending upon their cries, whereas the male Shearwaters always bring exactly the same amount of food. So, I guess Kevin is not just being cheap by only bringing Harry 4 ounces of formula regardless of how hungry he is. Kevin just can't tell how hungry he is - it is inherent!

Well, I guess everyone read the website yesterday, because I have received several inquiries about how Harry did in daycare. I am happy to report he survived with flying colors, and is back today for round two!
Today he had a little blond girl with dimples there with him, Susannah. She is almost 1, and was a preemie. They were about the same size! She was very sweet, and also gentle with him.
I think it is too early for separation anxiety, so I am hoping Harry's behavior is just a fluke, but he seemed a bit clingy today and last night. Sure, I picked him up from daycare only to ditch him again to visit that other Harry (Potter, the one with the movie), but he can't have felt neglected at this age. Nonetheless, he was pretty much up all night last night. Kevin and I slept more than he did, at least, but the kid was awake from at least 2:30-7. Every now and then he would check to see if we were still there, then go about his business. Hopefully tonight he will be more confident.
Tomorrow he gets to stay home.

Harry's first day of daycare is today. He is there for 3 hours, maybe 4 tomorrow.
Friday will be his first full day.

He was asleep when we arrived, and only the provider, Menike, and her adorable little nephew were there. He looked to be 2 or 3. No other kids this week, so hopefully they will have some bonding time.

It is nice to have the little break, and I am not too anxious about him being there. Of course, I have many irrational fears that I won't mention...I'll let you know later how this turns out!

Well, Harry's big day has come and gone, as have a multitude of family & friends. The three of us would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank all of you who were able to make and also to everyone else who was certainly here in spirit (especially those who came in straight from vacation, briefly showed, but retired early due to illness)! We had an absolutely wonderful day, and it was even better that we were able to share it with you.

As Kim and I were both carried away with seeing everyone, and introducing you all to our Harry, we neglected to take nearly as many photos as we had anticipated. I'll try to get the ones we do have posted as soon as possible!

Couldn't have asked for a nicer day... Perhaps a bit more shade for the follicly challenged, but we don't want to be too picky. I hope everyone was able to enjoy the live entertainment as well. Based on the feedback we did receive, we'll assuredly plan our next gathering around the neighboring church's tent revival schedule.

A big thanks must go out to Becky & Allen for supplying some incredible homemade desserts, Kayla's stromboli, and the extra chairs... it would've been tough to sit around all afternoon & drink frozen margaritas without your help!

Speaking of which, also a big thanks and lots of free plugs for the Margarita Man (or men...Dave & Glenn) of Baltimore & Annapolis for the chilled concoctions!!! Please give them a call or check out their website if you're ever in the mood for frozen beverages in the area!!!

Thanks also to Ethel & Toni for the much-loved handmade chocolate moons & stars and Billy's brownies. Bailey seems to have gotten her paws on a portion of the candies, and has reported no ill-effects so far.

Sincere thanks to 2 of the honored guests yesterday, that while we were busy making bottles we were unable to formally recognize... Harry's "God-parents" Bryan & Anna McDermott. We hope that we didn't get you into too much trouble by keeping you from the Yates reunion in Ohio, and are so glad that you were able to make it. You have some very big shoes to fill, based on Bill & Ethel's god-parenting of Kim all these years, but there's no one else we'd rather have! Thanks so much for everything!

Finally we'd like to recognize the guests en masse. Thank you all for coming to see us, spending your weekend on our behalf, and for the warmth and positive energy to get Harry's life rolling. It's wonderful to be able to enjoy you all so much!

I know the Baby Einstein DVDs state on the covers that they are for 1 year and up (Except one of the Baby Newton's, which is 9months+), but if that is the case, why does Harry stop everything to coo and gurgle, and kick and bounce when they are on? And then burst into tears when the DVD ends? It is possible that they have overstated the age criteria. More than likely, he is just absurdly advanced for his age.

Now, I have noticed that Harry has pointy ears. I am not a Trekkie by any means, but isn't that a Vulcan thing? Aren't they very brilliant minds? Or just logical folks?
Hmmm....Google shows me the following:

In the fictional Star Trek universe created by Gene Roddenberry, the Vulcan race originates on planet Vulcan which orbits either 40 Eridani or Epsilon Eridani (cites differ). The surface of Vulcan is much warmer of that of Earth as the planet is located around a red giant star. The planet's atmosphere is thinner than that of Earth's, as a result humans tend to tire out more quickly. The Vulcans are most noted for their attempt to live by reason and logic and to suppress all emotional influence by living lives of rigid emotional self-control through meditative techniques and training of mental discipline. The main external characteristics that distinguish Vulcans from humans are arched eyebrows and pointed ears, along with a slight greenish skin tint due to their copper-based blood.

Well, the pointy ear thing was right. And he does seem to be rather logical. Something about mental discipline...His skin is not green though. I am really not sure where I am going with this. Maybe too much of Jimmy Buffet talking about Cameron getting logical and being a Vulcan in disguise.

I know, I know! 3 Blogs in one day! It is a new record!

This one is important though.

Now that Harry is becoming more aware of his environment, we would like to request that no one contact us between the hours of 9PM and 9AM, unless it is an emergency. The phone wakes Harry up, and sometimes us. Oh, that is 9:00 EASTERN TIME :-)

Not that we don't love you all, we could just use some quiet time!

I want to buy Harry a little T-shirt that says "Don't stick your finger in my mouth, please." That's a lot of words, so we may have to add "cont. on back" in small font.

WHY DO PEOPLE THINK IT IS OKAY TO STICK THEIR DIRTY, GERM INFESTED HANDS IN HUMANS WHO LACK FULLY DEVELOPED IMMUNE SYSTEMS????

The worst part is, it is usually strangers who do this. Why would anyone do this? Let alone, why would you decide it is okay to stick your hands in the mouth of a child you do not even know?

I had to forcibly remove someone's finger from Harry's mouth just the other day. I made several polite attempts to say "Please, do not do that," but they seemed to have gone unheard. Next time, I think I will say "If you continue to do that you owe me $80 for medicine and need to come to my house a minimum of 4 times a day and listen to him scream while we give him medicine for the fungal infection you have caused."

It is not just Harry either. I have witnessed other people feed toddlers. Again, this is usually strangers. And usually older female strangers who have children of their own.

At parties, we put up "Don't Feed the Beagle" signs. Do we need buttons that read "Don't Feed the Toddler"? The best part is when people do actually ask. Usually this will take place while the donut is in the child's mouth. "Is it okay if I give her this?" why wouldn't it be okay to mess up the child's nutritional balance for the day and load her up with sugar? Or better yet, peanut butter sandwiches. Yeah, do that. You can be the first to find out if the child goes into anaphylaxis from a peanut allergy.

Please excuse my venting today. Perhaps the broken sleep is getting to me. Or, perhaps people are just stupid.

It's been a while since I've posted anything. My apologies for getting everyone addicted to the site, and then slacking off. I'm glad everyone seems to enjoy reading about Harry and our interactions with him and his world. It's nice to get so much feedback from so many different people who seem to be paying much more attention to all of this than I ever suspected they would.

Since I think my last post, we've had plenty of visitors, and done some visiting of our own both locally and on a few out-of-state junkets. Harry's dealt with all of it extremely well, some might note that he's done better than his dad on some of them...

It's also been incredible to see and enjoy everyone's reaction to him. Seeing people that we haven't in a while who absolutely gush over him, people we've just met who are intent on showering him with gifts (see "My first fishing rod & reel outfit"). It's just a great feeling.

As for Harry's World, it seems to be growing more every day. Today, he and I got to spend almost the entire day together while Kim finally got a well-deserved chance to sleep in, and run some errands in the afternoon. Nothing like a rainy Saturday afternoon to spend the day kicking back.

I got to see firsthand a lot of the amazing things that Kim gets to see every day. His cool little smile that seems to take up more of his face every time I see it, the subtle differences in his cries throughout the day as he makes a valiant attempt to communicate with us, Bailey getting more and more used to his sounds and movements - to the point that she even gives a bit of a sniff to him when we're all on the couch together.

You can really tell that he's noticing things. He sees things. He hears things. He reacts to things. As Kim mentioned, he actually was surprised to hear Bailey bark at the mailman today, and let out a full-body cry that made certain that we'd notice that he's not fond of Bailey's louder side... Amazing.

I suspected it would happen soon. For a while now, Harry has been starting to stir when there is a loud noise, like the phone ringing or a door slamming. Today, while lying on his changing table staring at the magical dog and bear that float from the sky and (we imagine) talk to him, the mailman dropped the days post and Bailey ran off barking (something she started to do only since Harry arrived, mind you). Poor baby - arms and legs started kicking and he let out a scared little cry. Sure, I was sad for him, but it was awesome to see his first extreme reaction to something. Yeah, he reacts to his Zantac, but this one was more emotional. And it was nice to be able to comfort him and make him feel better. I thik he is started to get to know us a little better, too.