Recovered

Well, we recovered from that nasty stomach flu in time to host Kevin’s parents for the weekend. They arrived late Thursday afternoon and left late Monday morning. Although they were warned about the all-powerful baby germs ever present in the house, they were brave enough to make the trip anyway. However, they were not spared! Both Kevin’s parents spent most of Saturday in bed fighting off the stomach flu. They were the latest in the outbreak my sister speaks of!

Before the sickness hit on Saturday, Kevin and I were able to make our first visit to a theater since January and we chose to see The Da Vinci Code. Although neither of us read the book (it is on my list of books to read and I’ll be getting it from my sister soon), we really enjoyed it. Unlike most other Catholics, we didn’t find a problem with it at all but maybe that’s because we’re pretty cynical Catholics in the first place. It was very entertaining, which is usually the reason we go to see movies anyway, so it all works out. During the previews (which I think is the part I miss most about going to the theater), we got a sneak peak at that soon to be box office smash (yeah, right) Miami Vice. Evidently, we weren’t the only ones who thought it looked stupid as the guy a few rows behind us yelled out, “Oh hell no.” Too funny!

Kevin took a few days off before starting his new job on Tuesday. So, I decided to join him on Monday and we spent the day on campus. We’ve been meaning to do this but it just hasn’t worked out. It was a bit chilly today but it was beautiful outside so we made a go of it. Plus, we were scouting out some possible locations for Harmon’s six-month pictures. We had a great time and it was nice for us to be together as a family after a long weekend. With Kevin’s new job, we’re not sure when we might get another weekday to do that kind of thing!

Six-month update

On Friday, May 12, Harmon had his six-month appointment. All is well and his is doing just fine but here are some highlights:

Measurements:
He's now 19 pounds, 11 ounces and measures 29 freakin' inches long, which is in the 99th percentile. I never like to get too caught up in those percentiles but, geez, it seems he's going to be a tall one!

Eating & Sleeping:
Since Harmon still likes to be swaddled (he still has that crazy arm reflex thing that wakes him up when he sleeps on his back), we had to discuss it with the doctor. We were concerned the swaddling might be impairing his movement, but also were concerned that he sleep at night. When he's with us during the day, he naps on his belly and that goes very well so we were happy our doctor said it now was OK to put him to sleep on his belly overnight. Evidently, the risk of SIDS decreases dramatically after six months so it's all good.

As for food, we got the green light to start him on solid foods (other than cereal) and to start him using a sippy cup (and even with some apple juice). So after his appointment, we stocked up on all kinds of good stuff for him to try.

Development:
The doctor felt that Harmon is doing awesome verbally and socially but would like us to work with him on sitting up and rolling from back to belly. He said the swaddling may have slowed the back-to-belly rolling but he wasn't concerned. As far as the sitting up, he's ALMOST there. We're working on it daily so we'll keep you posted!

On Friday night, we got Harmon all ready for his first solid food--squash. The doctor recommended we start with yellow vegetables and then move to green and THEN to fruits. Since Harmon loves most things that go in his mouth, squash was no exception. He ate it up!

A few hours after that delicious squash, I was on the phone with my Mom telling her all about it and it made a re-appearance. He threw up EVERYTHING! Of course, being such a rookie Mom, my first thought was that I did something wrong (was it too much, was it too hot, too cold, etc?). But, as time would unfortunately tell, it had nothing to do with me. Harmon had caught a stomach flu bug that has been going around here and, after his bout with it on Friday, he passed it on to Kevin on Saturday. And, of course, on my first Mother's Day, I got it too. Kevin called in sick on Monday and Tuesday and I called in sick Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. We also kept Harmon out of day care on Tuesday so he didn't make all the other infants sick. Finally, we're all starting to feel a little bit better but the flu has spread even further--both my parents now have it. So sorry, Mom and Dad!

OK, back to Mother's Day for a second. In addition to the card and flower that Harmon made for me at day care, Kevin got me some very nice things, too. My first Mother's Day was wonderful as I got to be with my baby all day long--and it didn't matter a bit that we all were sick.

On Monday, as Kevin and I were taking turns in the bathroom and ingesting delicacies such as Jello, popsicles and ginger ale, we noticed Harmon's second tooth coming in. He now has both bottom, front teeth through the gums without much fuss at all. Hope we're as lucky with the rest of them.

If we're all feeling better, Grandpa and Grandma Bergquist will make the drive from Illinois this weekend for a long visit before they head to Minnesota for the summer. Hopefully, Harmon will be able to resume his squash eating for them!

An appearance

Yesterday, Harmon cut his first tooth (or yesterday was the first time we saw it)! I stopped home to grab some lunch after working a morning event and my Mom was all excited about it. She found it as she was rocking him before his morning nap. So, one lower, right tooth just two days shy of his six-month birthday! Although we prefer the gummy grin, I can't say we were surprised. He's been drooling like a St. Bernard for months and EVERYTHING goes in his mouth. His favorite teething apparatus has been his right foot – he just can't get enough! Harmon and his feet go together like peas and carrots. They're like two peas in a pod. They can't be separated. We've been walking in on him and his feet saying things like "so sorry to interrupt" or "don't want to break anything up." One night, Kevin said he was going to check hotwire.com to get a room for Harmon and his feet! All and all, it's great that he loves his feet. They keep him occupied for MINUTES at a time – minutes where we're actually able to get a few things done! Harmon has his six-month doctor's appointment tomorrow so check back over the weekend for an update. We'll be starting real solid foods (as opposed to just rice and/or oatmeal cereal) and the doctor says we can even start to try a sippy cup. So, things will get interesting!

In other news, my sister, Erin, went out and got a job already. So much for screwing around for a while after graduation – she didn't even wait two weeks! She interviewed Tuesday day and got offered the job Tuesday night so I guess she made a good impression. She'll start her new job as a copy writer at a company called Versacom (located in Dearborn) as soon as she gets a car!

Lastly, Kevin went to visit some of our old friends from U-M Athletic Media Relations yesterday. And much to our surprise (really), the biggest servers of the U-M cornbread are starting to doubt the recipe AND it's ingredients. Some members of the staff are looking to jump to the pro ranks because, at least with those teams, the "goal is to win." I guess winning isn't stressed too much anymore in the athletic department, which isn't good. You already can see the effects and that makes for a scary future if you're a Michigan fan – ugh!

Not to bring anyone down but I saw this report last night on ABC's Nightline and it was so sad!

On a lighter note, check out this video. Kevin loves it!

Out!

The Record stops playing

I have decided to leave my editor's position at The University Record to take a post with the Office of Medical Development and Alumni Relations. I have really enjoyed my time at the Record, but the medical position will be a great one for me and give me what I desire most--more variety and creativity in my job. It also will give me something I have wanted and needed in my career--experience in the medical arena. I am very excited to go there; my last day at the Record will be May 17. We all came in as a team at the Record in 2002, kicked its ass and turned it into a newspaper people wanted to read and have their stuff in. I had a great boss in Laurel Gnagey, who always stood up for us and did her best to keep the Record steaming along, despite everyone on campus thinking they knew what was best for us. There are still days when the politics and disrespect some people have for Record make it a tough gig, but we took full ownership of the paper four years ago and filled it with better stories, photos (thanks to the great folks at Photo Services) and overall content. I will miss production manager (yes, it IS manager) Todd McKinney the most. We shared a work area for the first three years, and it was then I realized he was one of the most professional, hardest-working people on campus. He has blown advertising at the Record through the roof and given others at the University plenty of play money. I hope people realize just how good and valuable he is and take care of him.

What's going on?

Last Friday, Kevin took a day off from work and the three of us went to the Domino's Petting Farm. We thought about going to the Detroit Zoo and visiting my friend, Helen, who is expecting a beautiful baby boy at any moment, but decided that $11 each was a little much especially since Harmon truly has no idea what animals are yet (with the exception of Isabel, of course). So, the petting farm was a great alternative. There were cows and horses and ducks and sheep and all kinds of other crazy things. Harmon had his picture taken with a two-day-old goat (or kid, for you Future Farmers of America out there) and it was so cute.

He also got to hear a lot of "real" animal noises which, I'm sure, are a vast improvement on my rendition of "Old MacDonald." One particular lamb was bitchy, though. I wanted to pet her (she was brown and white, so pretty) but she was having none of it. Kevin and I cornered her but she immediately started "baaing" and wouldn't stop. We left her alone but she continued to complain to the rest of the flock! We had fun and will go back again once Harmon is a little more aware.

After the petting farm, we visited Schneids at Ray Fisher Stadium.

He was preparing for the MSU@U-M baseball game so we stopped in for a bit. Harmon hadn't seen Schneids since he was about a month old so it was fun catching up. And, Harmon got his first taste of baseball, so Mommy was happy.

On Saturday, my sister, Erin, graduated from the University of Michigan. Although it was a long ceremony, there was a great speaker, Christiane Amanpour, from CNN. The first line of her speech referenced the currently-under-construction Big House and how she felt very comfortable there because she was used to being in bombed-out places. It went over well! Even though it was Erin's day, Harmon garnered his fair share of attention.

Maybe it was the hat!

At one point, my sister, Stacey, said, "Oh, I forgot the baby was graduating." Too funny! After the ceremony, everyone came back to our house for snacks and the NFL draft/Tigers' game and later we had a delicious dinner at the Gandy Dancer. All and all, good times! And, congrats to Erin! I can't believe that 15 years of my Mom and Dad hauling all three of us to Ann Arbor has come to an end!

On Monday night, something totally hilarious happened! The Detroit Red Wings lost AGAIN in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs! I'm not the world's biggest hockey fan and when I do actually watch hockey, I spend my time cheering against the Wings in the playoffs. The #1 seeded and seemingly indestructible Red Wings lost to the lowly, #8 seeded Edmonton Oilers – who would have imagined! It was during the Detroit Tigers' really bad, bad years (are we out of those yet?) that I woke up one day and realized that, with both teams having the same owner, the better the Red Wings were meant the worst the Tigers were. And, being a die hard Tigers' fan, I just couldn't take it anymore. I'm sure Kevin's hatred of the Red Wings helped these feelings along as well. At any rate, I derive great pleasure in seeing that team flop yet again when they were supposed to dominate. In reality, though, it's hockey and who really cares. It's what, the 10th most popular sport, behind NASCAR, figure skating, curling, etc. All I can say is too bad, Red Wings. Boo hoo!

One last thing, I hope you all saw these videos. Awesome!

Oops, and this. That's some crazy preaching!

OK, that's all for now folks but stay tuned as Kevin has some big news!