Harry Likes to Mimick

Harry and Sarah Closeup
Originally uploaded by brownorama

So a big change with Harry in the last week has been his sudden interest in doing things that the adults around him do. So some of the things that he has started copying include putting his finger up to his mouth and saying shush. Or putting his fingers up to his nose and "blowing." The other night we had kebabs and they come with bread and a yogurt dipping sauce. We gave Harry some of the bread but when he saw us dipping ours, he wanted to dip his as well. Of course, he ended up with white fingers and with a white ring around his mouth. We thought it was hilarious. Harry just looked at us with a "what?" look on his face. When I went over to a friends house for a play date the other day - a place we have been many times now - Harry was obsessed with playing with the toy kitchen they had - putting the food in and out of the frying pan and turning on the "water." He also would not leave the toy vacuum cleaner alone. These are all tendencies that I wonder whether I should be directing towards good use. :-)

Finally, on more of a general development front, Harry kicked a ball yesterday. For the first time it was a very purposeful and repeated action on his part. (As opposed to just something that happened in the course of walking near a ball.) He found it exceedingly exciting and was very pleased with himself when he did it too. :-)

Carousels Rock!

Yay! Carousels Rock!
Originally uploaded by brownorama

A couple of weekends ago we took Harry for his first rides on a carousel. We went down to Glen Echo Park - an old amusement park that was established at the turn of the 20th century that is now a national park. There they have a carousel that was built in 1921 that is still operating. The rides cost all of a dollar per person, the carousel animals are jauntily painted and the organ music is cheerfully loud. I wasn't sure how Harry would react to it all. It can be overwhelming and his recent sense of fear of things made me a little hesitant. So I anxiously waited with him in line as everyone came off and the next group were allowed on. We found our "horse" and got on and then the lady came and rang the bell and started the carousel. As it started to move round and round, I discovered two glorious things. First, Harry loved it! He spent a good part of the time giggling and yelling with glee and waving at his Daddy as we wizzed by. Second, I remembered how much I loved carousels and memories of the many,many times I went on them came flooding back to me. (My carousel of choice was the one down on the National Mall.) It was fun to have this experience with Harry and to have him enjoy it as much as I did. We went on it twice and then headed to the playground that was next to the carousel. Harry was entertained for a bit. But he was drawn back to the carousel - pointing and gesturing urgently to me - like a moth to a flame. It is satisfying to know that his Mummy's genes have been passed down so clearly.

What's new with us....Harry turns 16 months, is walking with ease, and is generally just a doll

Harry Close-up
Originally uploaded by brownorama

On the one hand, we have been going through a period of relative calm on the major physical developments front. Harry is now walking with confidence. Our little one no longer crawls after falling down, but rather stands back up - one's view of the world is much more interesting standing up. The little changes still come on a daily basis. As reported by the development books, he is in a push-me pull-me phase - in any given moment, Harry wants to run in the opposite direction at the same time as clinging to my leg. There are definite challenges given this contradiction. Not only is he walking with confidence, he is insisting on doing so on his own a good part of the time. Independence is the name of the game. But he is also scared when the door bell rings and Timber barks - so he rushes over for reassurance. As a mother it is hard to strike the balance between letting him do his own thing and providing the "protection" he desires. But we are working on it daily and I am sure we will find an equilibrium eventually. (Just in time for the next phase of development to hit. :-) )

Music class is something he is relishing these days. He spends most of his time walking around the room "singing" in a loud voice and then rushing back to me when the next "instrument" (i.e. shaker, sticks, scarves) is handed out, laughing with glee. He is particularly excited when the teacher rolls a ball over to him. What is also gratifying, is how the other mothers seem to appreciate his joie de vivre.

The teeth continue to come on in. The arrival of the molars was accompanied by a profuse amount of drool. It seemed, for a while there, that he would never have a dry chin and chest again. But it seems that they are in. So he now has a total of 12 teeth - including 4 molars. Teeth brushing takes on more significance when there is actually something in there to brush. :-) Of course, the push-me pull-me phase also makes that particular task challenging. But we always say that he has to be prepared if he sees our friend Tom - father of his friend Carter and budding dentist. Not sure if Harry is convinced, however.

Sleep has continued to be great (touch wood!) He is sleeping 12 - 12 and 1/2 hours at night and then an hour and a half in the middle of the day. It makes his mother feel much more sane. Of course, it hasn't helped my sleep at all. I still wake up every 2 hours without fail. A reality that is becoming more and more trying as the days go by.

From what I read, we are going into the most challenging period of the toddler stage and whilst I gird myself for the process, I am also feeling a sense of calm as a mother - the endless process of adaptation to the next thing seems easier and, dare I say, a feeling of confidence has developed. Of course, I could be back tomorrow saying I was wrong and what did I know. But I hope that maybe I am right and I can say that I have achieved a certain degree of serenity. All I need to do now is get a good nights sleep. :-)

The latest on Harry

Laughing Harry
Originally uploaded by brownorama

There have been so many things that Harry has started doing in the last couple of months....it has been a joy as a parent to see him gaining all of these new skills. Just to catalog a few of them..... (I know there will be some I will forget) He has a whole litany of animals sounds that he makes now and apparently according to the speech experts these sounds are considered words. So now he has sounds for:

- Lion
- Elephant (which he does with a swirl of his hand in front of his face)
- Cat (He started saying the word the other day)
- Dog (He says dog as well)
- Duck (He says duck)
- Car (This is a new one and yesterday we were walking through the parking lot at a Baysocks game and he kept pointing at the cars and saying "Ca", "Ca")
- Snake (Possibly the cutest animal sound he has so far)
- Bird
- Cow
- Monkey
- Horse (which isn't a neigh, but rather the "tic, tic, tic" sound a horse makes as it trots along.)

He has also been pointing at things and saying "what's tha?" Which gets his parents to endlessly describe his surroundings. Then there are the upturned hands with the "I don't know?" sound that he makes. Also, extremely cute. (Do you sense a cute theme here?)

On the walking front, we bought him his first pair of walking shoes. Very cute - there are pictures on Flickr.

He has started using sign language much more regularly. His favorite is "more." When he realized that we understood what he was saying there was much excitement. :-) But he is also using the sign for "milk", "done" and "up". Basically, there has been a explosion on the communications front in the last couple of weeks. He is babbling up a storm and using conversational intonation. You can just tell that he is dying to talk and can't wait until we can understand everything that he is saying.

It is so exciting to see him make these strides - literally and figuratively.

Harry is Walking!!!!

So after a long hiatus in the walking department, Harry is finally covering some ground with steps. He took his first ones almost 6 weeks ago - as evidenced by how long it has been since I last posted. :-) (Sorry about that, I promise to be better.) But he has not really shown much interest in the process otherwise. You could see that he was perfectly able just not willing to take the leap of faith necessary to go more than a step or two. A sense of caution that those of you who know his parents well, will probably not find all that surprising in our offspring. God forbid that a Holden-Brown take an unconsidered step. :-) But today he did it!!! So exciting!! We are so proud of our little boy! Every day he far exceeds our expectations and our love for him deepens, if that is possible. There have been other developments that I will save for another post because they are cute and deserve their own attention. So I will get to it and motivate to write more. I promise. In the meantime, our little baby continues his march (pun intended this time :-) ) towards becoming an independent being. Whilst it brings tears to his mother's eyes, she couldn't be happier. :-)

Harry Takes His First Steps!!!! Parents, Very Proud!!!!

Today, July 12th, Harry took his first steps. He has taken 3 sets of them. They are little and not a dramatic display. But a distinct process of moving forward and lifting his feet whilst standing. He has been threatening to walk for a while now - standing firmly and with confidence. But he hadn't made any definitive efforts to ambulate. Today, there was no doubt. Two days ago, he took at step but immediately fell over. Today, it was a series of little ones. A Holden-Brown shuffle, if you will. :-) He didn't seem to care about the huge thing he did today. He looked at me when I squealed with delight, with a: "Mummy, what is the big deal? I am not doing anything special." But his parents are very proud. We have caught one of the small steps he took on video. We will do what we can to upload it soon. (Be patient with the busy parents. :-) )

Harry's Accident

On Saturday, June 23rd, Harry pulled a cup of hot tea down on himself. It poured down the right-hand side of his face, his right arm and body. It gave him first and second-degree burns and led us to take an ambulance down to the National Children's Medical Center to their Burn Unit. It was the most terrifying experience for me as a mother and one that I hope never to repeat. I have been reluctant to post anything about it up until now. There are so many mixed emotions that go along with the whole experience. On the one hand, there is the relief that he is now healing well and Harry's prognosis looks really great. (At this point his wounds are healed, and we are waiting to see if he will have any skin pigmentation issues - something we will only know in a year.) On the other hand, there is the profound sense of failure I have as a mother to protect my baby in this most basic sense. Yes, accidents happen. But, that is a big part of what I am here for - to stop him from hurting himself with the dangers that he can not predict or anticipate. So in a sense, we are all healing. Harry, who seems oblivious to the whole event at this point, is doing his part in healing his body. We are healing in our role as parents - in getting our confidence back and learning to forgive ourselves.

Harry's First Birthday!

Blowing out the candle on Harry's First Birthday
Originally uploaded by brownorama

So on June 9th, Harry celebrated his first birthday! Yay Harry! Yay Us! :-) Much excitement for all involved. We held a party at the house and we had about 20 adults and 4 babies come to celebrate. It was a lovely day. The food was good, the company even better and laughter filled the house, which was wonderful. We did a good job planning and making the food this time since it was mostly done by the time everyone arrived, which allowed us to enjoy the party more. (A good thing since there is a certain level of chaos that develops around a party involving babies/children.) The weather was lovely and I think a good time was had by all. Harry carried himself with aplomb. There was always the concern that he would be freaked out by all of the people and cry. But he didn't. In fact, none of the babies cried. They all seemed to have a good time. Everyone was extremely generous and the table where we set out his gifts was full even before everyone arrived. (I promise, thank you notes will be forthcoming this time. :-) ) Harry was very excited - particularly by the tissue paper. :-) So all round it was a great day.

It was interesting to reflect on his birthday from the perspective of a parent and mother. A year ago on that day I was in labor and giving birth to this little person. As I get older, birthdays have lost a bit of their wonder and significance. They start to become a bit like any other day. With the stress on "older" one starts to reflect on the passing of time rather than the wonder of the day. As a mother, however, I realize that Harry's birthday will never just be "another day" to me. Birth was such an incredible experience for us. It was filled with wonder and awe and the amazing moment of being handed this little squirmy thing who had been inside of me. There are few words that are adequate to describe that feeling. It brings tears to my eyes now just thinking about it. Yes, from that moment on our lives were never the same. And yes, there have been sacrifices. But ultimately, Harry brings so many riches into our lives that those "sacrifices" cease to hold any meaning. Every day he is this tangible representation of life with a capital "L" and the importance of living in the moment. Little did I realize just how much my heart expanded on the day he was born - on his birthday - to accept him and to have an ever expanding capacity to love and cherish.

In Memorium - Our Dear Zebby

Zebby
Originally uploaded by brownorama

Saturday, a week ago we lost our dear pup Zebby. It was a horrible freak accident that we will never forget and it took our sweet, fluffy boy from us. He was such a presence in our lives, something we knew but the depth of which we could not have conceived until he was no longer with us. He was a wonderful, cheerful presence. He was my friend and shadow. He followed us everywhere and he loved us so much. He was my baby boy before I had a baby boy and the one who made me realize that I could be a mother to a boy. He was the one fluff in our house who unconditionally accepted Harry when he arrived and we thought that our son would grow up with Zebby being his dog. Zeb was a little boy's dog. But he was taken from us and we miss him so much. Our only consolation is that he is no longer anxious, will have an endless supply of soccer balls and is being thoroughly spoiled by my grandmother wherever they are together. We love you Zebby. Goodbye dear friend.

Harry is Developing a Sense of Humor

Whilst I don't always understand it, Harry is developing a unique sense of humor. The things that tickle him are often a little inexplicable but it is cute to see his personality developing in a such a joyful direction. On the one hand this development is simple - you will tickle Harry and he will giggle and smile. But on the other hand there is more going on in there as he finds things funny. Yesterday we were outside waiting for a friend and her son to join us for a walk and I was pulling old rose buds off our roses bushes. Somehow, my act filled Harry with glee and he would let out high pitched chuckle every time I pulled a bud off and the bush jiggled. He also thinks that feeding the dogs is humorous. He will drop a cheerio off one side of his highchair and as the one dog eats it up he laughs. Then he will go to the other side of his highchair and do the same thing for the other dog and laugh again. (It is good to see that he also has a sense of equanimity :-) ) Dan has started doing laughing "exercises" with Harry. The two of them sit and Dan will laugh and Harry will follow his lead. It is very cute seeing my boys laughing away together. Not only is this sense of a humor an exciting personality development but it is also good to see Harry gaining an appreciation for the funny things in life. I hope that this new "skill" will stand him in good stead through the years.