Weekend Happenings

Our weekend was pretty fun and, as usual, over way too quickly!

On Friday, Harmon and I went to the mall to continue building his summer wardrobe. Kevin's Mom gave us some money to buy him some clothes so I wanted to make sure I had a few things in his closet before their upcoming visit (they'll be here Memorial Day weekend). We found some things and I think Harmon was bored by it all as he slept the entire time. After the mall, we met up with Kevin and made our way to Home Depot. We needed to make some decisions on trim, doors, ceiling tiles, faceplates, etc. for the basement (which Kevin and his Dad will work on during their visit). Earlier in the week, we finally purchased the paint so, with that decision out of the way, it was a little easier to decide on every thing else. As for the paint, Kevin let me have my way and we are painting our new basement family room Caramelized Orange (since Behr paint doesn't have any on-line paint swatches, the best way I can describe it is a burnt orange or Texas Longhorn orange). I can't wait for the room to be done!

On Saturday, our entire focus was getting Harmon's hair cut. His hair grows like crazy! So, we once again paid Laurie at Carnival Cuts $14 to cut the hair of a screaming, writhing 17-month old. It must be like trying to cut the hair of an thrashing octopus! He actually did much better than the last time, but only after she put Elmo on the TV and I sang the ABCs to him a billion times. Going through this every five or six weeks is exhausting for everyone involved but we don't want to buzz cut him just yet (although his cut is just one step away from that). We figure if we can get to his second birthday with him not looking like Mr. Buzzcut, we'll be OK. And, it's not that we're attached to his HAIR, it's just that he looks like a LITTLE BOY instead of a BABY when he gets his hair cut and that, quite frankly, makes us sad! As a reward for sitting through yet another haircut, he got an extra long wagon right Saturday evening. He just loves that wagon!

Yesterday, we finally got out to Comerica Park for our first Tigers' game of 2007 and the Cardiac Cats did not disappoint with a 4-3 win over the Twins! They won on a walk-off homerun from an unlikely source, Brandon Inge, and they needed the win to avoid getting swept for the first time this season. It was a fun game and Harmon, once again, was a very good boy. We stayed in our seats for the first three innings and then took Harmon on the carousel, which he loved. We then watched the last three innings as we strolled through the Comerica Park concourse and into the line for the Kids Run the Bases event. Since Harmon was getting tired, Kevin and I took turns walking around with him (while the other person held our place in line). In the line, you could see the game but, walking around, you really couldn't. Of course, Inge hit his homer when it was my turn to walk with Harmon so I didn't get to see it leave the bat. But the place was electric and we won and that was enough for me. As for the Kids Run the Bases, I think maybe we'll pass next time. There were so many kids and they were running so fast that I was afraid they would knock Harmon down so I picked him up and ran with him (which is allowed). He still had a great time – he screamed with joy the entire way because he thought all the kids were chasing him! I think maybe we'll try it again later this summer or next season when I KNOW he won't get steamrolled!

I love the picture with this post. After we ran the bases, everyone was able to take pictures on the field. As you can see, Harmon is peeking into the Tigers' dugout. God, I hope he loves baseball!

Wednesdays

According to the Hebrew Bible, Wednesday is the day the Sun and the Moon were created. Well, maybe it's because we're Catholic but we rarely see the Sun and the Moon around here on Wednesdays, as my Mom can attest to.

I've been back to work for 15 months and, during this time, my Mom comes to our house each and every Wednesday to watch Harmon. Unfortunately, most of the Wednesdays – no matter the season – have been very crappy when it comes to weather. At this point, it's a running joke in the family. We check the forecast all the time and it seems like every Wednesday is rainy and cold and thus, my Mom is banished indoors with a very energetic Harmon.

Last week, since she couldn't take him anywhere OUTDOORS, they were forced indoors and decided to go to Fantasy Forest. Of course, he loved it but she nearly ripped her arm off taking him down the slide! The week before, her hopes were to go kite flying but, you guessed it, it rained. They went to the hobby shop anyway to get his kite (also pictured above) and, one day soon, they'll actually get to fly it.

Every Wednesday morning, when my Mom is getting ready to make the drive to Ann Arbor, my Dad drops hints about taking the day off from work and coming with her. She keeps telling him to wait until it's nice outside so they all really can enjoy it. Hmmm, I wonder when that will be!

OK, the forecast for Wednesday, April 25 – showers and 60 degrees. Looks like Harmon won't be seeing his Papa tomorrow!

My education has gone to the birds

They say birds of a feather flock together, and that will happen on the wall of our den this summer when I finally hang my master's degree. Yes, it has been a long haul, but I am officially done being a college student with my pending graduation from Eastern Michigan University with a Master of Arts in Communication. With that, my two degrees have a fowl taste -- from the Redbirds of Illinois State University (where I earned a Bachelor of Science in Journalism) to the Eagles of EMU. Now for the Academy Awards section of this entry. Much thanks go to my parents for supporting my educational pursuits, both monetarily and emotionally. But I honestly would not be writing this today without Aimee. She helped me get the ball rolling at EMU in 2003 after I had been out out of school for almost a decade, and has been a very supportive and loving wife. I know it has not been easy, especially during the week of my graduate exams. I know how hard she worked to get her MBA, and how she kept everything going while I was at class at night, especially during a whirlwind 2005 when we bought our first home and Harmon was born. And how can I forget my little buddy? There were nights when I came home from class and only saw him for five minutes before he had to go to bed. And his constantly wanting to "read, read, read" makes me realize every day how important education is. He is getting a good start! Now, where is that Ph.D. application at?

Random stuff

On Sunday and Monday, Harmon slept until 10 a.m. On Sunday he stirred a bit around 7 a.m. and we thought for sure he was going to wake up but it didn't happen - it was cool! On Monday, I woke up at 9 a.m. and was stunned he wasn't awake yet. He even slept through Kevin getting ready for work at 6 a.m. I was very happy to have time to eat breakfast, take a shower and work on some laundry before he came to. Again, cool!

All of the sleeping could be the result of the magic carpet rides my Mom gave him on Saturday night. Here and here are some videos of said rides (and we do apologize for the TOTAL DARKNESS - we took these with our digital camera instead of our real video camera).

OK, more random things. Below is a baseball that Kevin got me. His intention was to have Harmon give it to me on Opening Day but he was too excited and he caved and he gave it to me early. Regardless, I LOVE it and am sorry it's taken me three weeks to post a photo of it. He ordered the ball through the Walgreens photo website and used this photo.


And, here is a Easter egg that Harmon made at day care. It's the first art project he's brought home from his new day care (he used to bring things home all the time at the old place). I'm hoping the art will increase because I love it!


This is a sad, sad photo. As you all know, my Mom watches Harmon on Wednesdays and, when he's napping, she does things around the house like clean and cut up our fruit, wash and fold laundry, clean pans and sinks, do yard work, etc. Of course, we don't ASK her to do this stuff - she just can't help herself. And, after all this work, she can't even finish her Jimmy John's cookie. You would think she could eat 10 of them - I could. In fact, I think my thighs are made solely of chocolate chip cookies. Anyway, it was sad to see this when we got home so I took care of it for her. And, when I say "took care of it," I don't mean I threw it away, I mean I devoured it like a boll weevil.

17 months old

Harmon is 17 months old today, almost a year and a half old – GOD! He is just so fun!

We spent the Easter weekend with Kevin's family in Illinois and they were floored at how he has grown and all he has learned. Although Kevin's Dad saw him in February (when he was up here tirelessly working on our basement), Kevin's Mom hadn't seen him since Christmas. So, needless to say, she had a good time with him. They got him a ton of stuff, including lots of balls and books, which are his favorite things in the world. And, more importantly, they got to spend a lot of time with him. We were able to get out a bit too on Saturday as we went to see Blades of Glory – hilarious! I know, we're Will Ferrell junkies – what can we say. On Sunday, after Mass, we went to Kevin's aunt's house for his family's Easter celebration. There were a million people there (like his cousins Kourtney and Katelyn, above) but that didn't seem to matter much to Harmon. He walked and played wherever he wanted, no matter who was in his way. He played so hard, though, that he tired himself out and completely slept through the annual Easter egg hunt that Kevin's family does for all the kids. It was really cold out and he's probably still pretty clueless about Easter so I don't think he missed too much!

One of Harmon's Easter presents from his Grandpa and Grandma Bergquist was the book, "Where's Spot?" And boy does he love this book! Since getting it last Friday night, I swear that we've all read it AT LEAST five million times each! When he gets it and comes walking toward you with it in his hand saying "read, read," get ready to read it a few (thousand) times.

Although it probably didn't sound like it just now, we are THRILLED that he loves to read!

School loans, be gone

I am SO happy right now! I just wrote the LAST CHECK to pay off my student loans. I finished my MBA in May 1997 and started paying on my loans right after graduation. So, it’s been 10 YEARS that I’ve paying for my graduate education. Some years have been better than others (2002, for example, sucked as it was hard to write loan checks when I didn’t have a JOB) but it’s finally done and over with. And, I do feel fortunate that I had loans ONLY from graduate school (my parents and I somehow managed to make it through my time at U-M without any – whew). Just to make myself feel better (or feel worse, actually), I looked at the amount I originally borrowed ($17,000) and the amount I paid in the end ($21,649.88) and saw that I paid $4,649.88 in interest – that’s always a good time. Gotta’ love interest!

OK, OK, I’m focusing on the wrong part of the story. The most important thing is that I no longer have to pay for school of any kind for myself. It never seemed like this day would come. Now I can use my money to buy Harmon more things (like he needs more things, can you say SPOILED?). Or, maybe I should buy myself a little present in celebration. This looks nice (in Vine Green).

This is funny, just as I licked the envelope holding my last payment, Craig Monroe hit a grand slam for the Tigers in the top of the 12th inning. It was like he was celebrating with me!

There is more Bergquist education news to share so be on the lookout for some blog news from Kevin!

Socks and slippers

Last night, as it was nearing bath time, I stripped Harmon down to his onesie and let him play around for a bit. After I stripped him, I folded up his dirty clothes and put them in a little pile as he crawled all over Kevin like he was a jungle gym. Once he got bored, which took about two seconds (he definitely got Daddy's attention span – damn it), he went over to his pile of clothes and grabbed his socks and slippers. He then crawled into his little chair and attempted, for about five minutes, to put his socks and slippers on his chubby little feet. It was the cutest thing even though we had to watch him out of the corner of our eyes in an effort not to interrupt. I wished we would have had the video camera but I knew getting up to get it would have disrupted him. So, we just had to sit, watch and enjoy. We just love little moments like this!

'Nater behavior

20 quick Harmon quirks:

1. His tongue quivers when he cries.

2. When he sits on his chair, he sits on his leg (just like his Mama).

3. When you hold him, he grips tight onto your closest finger.

4. When he sits on the floor, he sits in reverse Indian style (just like his Nana).

5. He scissor kicks you when you try to change his diaper.

6. He talks in his sleep, with his favorite words being bippy, ball, wawee (water) and dada.

7. He LOVES to read and, when he goes to his bedroom door and says “read,” you know it is nap time.

8. He has gender confusion, sometimes calling Kevin “mama” and me “dada!” And, sometimes, no matter what, EVERYTHING and EVERYONE is Isabel (or IS-BA, as he says)!

9. When he doesn’t want to eat what you’re feeding him, he starts rubbing his eyes and acting like he’s SO tired (even if he just got up from a nap). Also, to avoid bites of food, he will whip his head to one side or act like he’s REALLY drinking a ton from his sippy cup.

10. He is afraid of his baby monitor. One day, Kevin was in his room and I was playing with Harmon on our bed. Kevin slowly whispered Harmon’s name through the monitor and it freaked him out. Now, each time he sees the monitor, he stares intently at it. And, if you do the whisper voice, he will get all afraid and start to fret.

11. If you say HAR-MON SPEN-CER (in four slow syllables), he will respond with an enthusiastic “uh, uh, uh.”

12. When you call his name, he responds with a hearty “huh?”

13. When it’s time for his bath, he sits at the bathroom door and says “bubbles.”

14. If he gets full while eating, he starts hiding food in the sides of his highchair. When you take him out, you find a buffet of food items.

15. When Harmon blows kisses or gives kisses, he makes a loud "mwah" sound.

16. When we ask him if he wants a diaper change, he'll walk to our room, get his own diaper and hand it to us.

17. When he wants to read, he brings the book to you and demands that you get on the floor with him. He then does his best to burrow into your lap.

18. He has eagle eye vision. When he finds things on the ground, even the smallest of things, he picks them up and brings them to you.

19. No matter what delicacy he has in front of him, he is always WAY more interested in what you're preparing next for him OR what you're eating.

20. When he gives hugs, he puts his head down on you and lightly taps your arm or back three or four times.

Editor's note: For those of you who do not read our blog regularly, you might be wondering why we call Harmon, "'Nater." Back in his first few weeks of life, we started to come up with the requisite nicknames you give a baby. Don't know how, but for some reason we started calling him "Harmonator." That eventually gave way to "Nater." But, it really caught on when I started calling him "Nater" and his face would sour and he would stick out his big lower lip. Of course, we thought this was great fun and did it often. He is over it now, but the nickname has stuck. Our latest variation is to call him, "'Nater potater."

Easter wagons, not Easter bonnets

When I was pregnant, Kevin called me the "baby wagon." Now that Harmon is almost 17 months old, he's finally got a NEW baby wagon.


My Mom and Dad wanted to get him something special for Easter so they bought him this new awesome wagon (in addition to a ton of clothes – they can't stop spoiling him)! When I showed it to some people at work, they commented that it sure was different than the old, red metal Radio Flyer wagons!

We went for a walk with him in it for the first time Monday afternoon and he loved it! I think he likes being able to sit up and see everything. One thing we will have to do is bungee or tether any toys he takes along with him. On more than one occasion, I was chasing balls up and down the street after he fired them out. Of course, he thought this was hilarious!

Since we won't really get to celebrate Easter together at home, we've been getting Harmon a few things here and there. We got him his new chair and a lot of clothes for the spring and summer. We also need to get him some more books (all the kid wants to do is READ – I hope this isn't just a phase) and we thought about getting him this little push-along lawn mower so he can imitate Kevin when he's out mowing the lawn. There's also a fancier one with bubbles. I guess we'll see what Toys "R" Us has in stock.

One last Easter-related note – my Mom has been singing the Peter Cottontail song to him and she switched up the words a little:

Here comes Peter Cottontail
Hopping down the bunny trail,
Hippity hoppity,
Easter's on its way

Bringing lots of toys for him
Toys for baby Harmon
Hippity hoppity,
Easter's on its way

It's really cute as he gets all excited about it and, when he tries to say "hippity hoppity," it's very funny. It comes out like "hop-pippy."

Hope ewe (ha, ha) all have a Happy Easter!

Frankenstein

Although Harmon technically started walking when he was 14 months old, the last two or three weeks, he's really been putting it all together. There was a span of five or six days when he was with either me, Kevin or my Mom the whole time and he really took advantage of this. Although our house is not that big, he's explored all of it on foot!

Our favorite part of this whole thing is the way he walks – like a little Frankenstein. He's still perfecting his balance and learning to go AROUND things (instead of over them) but he's not quite all the way there yet. He sometimes looks like a miniature Godzilla, destroying the village below – the village that consists of all his toys and books, TV remotes, blankets … and the rabbit!

It's so fun to see him at this stage – at such a milestone. We just can't get enough and neither can he as evidenced by the sweat on his little head (after all that hard work) and the fact that he's been wearing himself out SO much that he'll even sleep in until 9 a.m. sometimes! I hope all his milestones will be this much fun!

Missed again

Today was Opening Day for my beloved Tigers. I was a little melancholy over the last few days as I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to go AGAIN. Before last year, when we just couldn’t find a way to solve Ticketbastard (I mean Ticketmaster), I had been to about 10 in a row. And, unlike many people there today, I’m sure, I was in the stands when the Tigers unfortunately lost 119 a few years ago.

This year, since everyone loves a winner, the Tigers sold a TON of season ticket packages and were only left with about 1,000 tickets for the public sale. Because of the intense demand, they Tigers’ ticket office decided that, instead of a public sale, they would do a lottery. Evidently, over 158,000 people entered the lottery for these 1,000 tickets so my odds were never very good (plus, I’m just not lucky). And, to make matters worse, Opening Day tickets were going for some CRAZY ASS prices from ticket brokers. I think the cost of one Opening Day ticket equaled the cost of my ALDS, ALCS and World Series tickets from last year – combined! So, with no luck and no money tree growing in the backyard, I just had to suck it up and deal with watching it on TV (at least I took the day off, which was something I forgot to do last year and it sucked). It was a good game – it went to extra innings – but my Tigers ended up losing 5-3 in 10 to the Toronto Blue Jays. Here’s hoping the opener isn’t a sign of things to come, especially for Fernando Rodney!

The good news is that we’ll probably be able to go to more games since I didn’t want to spend a million dollars on the home opener. I’m hoping we can go to one per month and, hopefully, go on Sundays since those are designated kids days and I am DYING to see Harmon run the bases

SPECIAL NOTE: In addition to today being Opening Day, it also is my Dad's 61st birthday. Happy Birthday, Daddy! I love you!