This Just In, Hear All About It: Harry Stands on His Own!

Today was a banner day in the Holden-Brown household. Not only did Harry use his first baby sign today - the sign for milk. (Yay! All the months of signing and patience have paid off!) But he also stood on his own! We were at music class and talking with another mother after class. Harry used my legs to pull himself up and then support himself. As he stood there and I was talking, he took his hands off my legs and he was just standing there. I would have missed it. But I saw him out of the corner of my eye. I squealed. He grinned. And I scooped him up with excitement. It was a special moment. Yay Harry! :-)

Harry's Tricks and Other Thoughts

Harry - Trying to Eat the Grass
Originally uploaded by brownorama.

As a parent one is exceptionally proud as ones child adds more skills to his repertoire. These become "tricks" you trot out to any observer paying even the scantest interest. :-) Harry has a few that are particularly cute. (I am not sure if I have mentioned these in previous blog postings - if I have, please forgive me. :-) )

• When you say "Harry, be Baby Gojira" he growls.
• He claps his hands when asked - something that he does enthusiatically now - particularly since he has figured out how to "play ball" with this large yellow plastic ball we got him. (He used to clap when we sang the "when you're happy and you know it, clap your hands" song, but he has since become bored with this activity. He is "beyond" it. :-) )
• He kicks his feet on command - something he learnt in swimming class.
• He blows bubbles when asked - another skill from swimming class.
• When he is sitting and you say - Dance, baby, dance - he bobs around and smiles. Just too cute! :-)
• Finally, when you ask him: "Harry, how does a lion go?" He smiles and growls loudly. :-)
  

Proud parent aside.....It is SO exciting to have such patent examples of how we are starting the process of communicating with our son. His personality is exerting itself all the more and the little person that he becoming is slowly becoming more distinct. He laughs a lot and it is fascinating to see the things that amuse him - for example, popping out from behind a wall or raising my arms above my head and saying "weeeee." It is such a thrill and so wonderful to have the privilege of witnessing it all. There are times when frustrations arise but they pale in comparison to the wonder I feel on a daily basis at the transformative experience of parenthood. Not only has it brought this new, incredible being into my life but it has strengthened and deepened my relationship with Dan and allowed me to discover parts of myself I never knew I had. Life has taken on a clarity that it did not have before. Every day I thank the gods for this privilege and try to remember it in those moments when patience wears thin.

Harry standing up! Very Pleased! :-)

Harry standing up! Very Pleased! :-)
Originally uploaded by brownorama.

I am sorry that is has been so long since I have posted to the blog. But things have been a little busy of late. That is really status quo, I guess. So I need to get my act together and just post more often. :-) Anyway....the latest.....the last time I posted Harry had sat up in his crib and we immediately lowered the mattress level. This was a good thing since shortly thereafter Harry started standing up! When Dan went away to Law Vegas at the end of March, Harry decided it was time to start standing up and crying in my direction. This may not seem like a big thing. But standing makes the crying that much louder and somehow urgent. So Mummy caved and went and got him each time - of course, the time when this happened got earlier and earlier in the morning and it took Daddy coming back to give us the fortitude to let poor little Harry finally crumple in a heap and go back to sleep. :-) Anyway...we made it through the standing up in the crib phase and he doesn't seem to be doing it as much anymore, which is a relief. :-)

Other developments on the Harry front....the standing up in his crib has been followed by a great increase in his pulling up on any vertical surface in the house he can get a grip on. Of course, this means that there is also a fair amount of falling over and bumping ourselves with the bruises to prove it. Fortunately, he seems to get over things fairly quickly and keeps trying again. I suspect that standing independently will happen any day now.

His sleep, as per usual, is all over the place. He is still sleeping well at night. But his naps are a constantly moving target. He does seem to be going in the direction of longer naps, however, much to the relief of his mummy. :-)

His eating is progressing well. He has tried pineapple, lentils, watermelon, and fish of late. He has started enthusiastically feeding us his cheerios - a mainstay of his diet - and then smiling broadly at us. He has gone off all pureed foods with the exception of YoBaby yogurt. Now before you shun me for giving my baby WAY too much sugar.....yes, I am giving him YoBaby but it is in an effort to get him to take his multivitamin. (A liquid vitamin that yes, smells as gross as you would imagine it would.) Hopefully the two do not cancel each other out. But I am doing what the pediatrician wants me to do. The nice thing is that he does seem to be enjoying the finger foods we feed him. He just likes to be in control - apparently a typical development as he makes his first steps towards independence.

Overall, he is still SUCH a sweetie. :-) He is, as a rule, even sweeter when he is rested. So we pursue the illusive sleep with much enthusiasm. It is definitely a moving target. But one that we try to hit as often as possible given what a wonderful little boy emerges when it is obtained.