Yes, Harmon still exists, even though we haven't posted an update in a while. He just turned 18 and will start college in the fall! So, yeah, I wish I could blame my lack of updates on the holidays but it's already Jan. 8 for Christ's sake. ANYWAY, Harmon is doing wonderfully well. He was hopelessly spoiled at Christmas by both sides of the family. In addition to a day care center's worth of toys and books, he received probably two laundry baskets full of clothes, pajamas, shoes, slippers, etc. I don't think I can fit much more in his closet or his dresser drawers. We were in Michigan with my family on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (mmmm, turkey) and then spent Dec. 26-30 with Kevin's family in Illinois. I think when Harmon woke up at home on Dec. 31, he was flat-out bored. For a full week, he had no less than four people playing with him and then it was back to just me and Kevin again and we're not the most exciting pair so …While we were at Kevin's parents' house, something exciting happened (aside from me seeing the new Rocky movie AT THE THEATER); Harmon weaned himself from his bottle. Although he's been without the daytime bottles since his first birthday, he still was getting his bedtime bottle. And, since the holidays are so hectic and we knew we had to travel, Kevin and I decided to wait until after the New Year to wean him off that last bottle. But, apparently, Harmon had different plans. Our first night away, he drank most of his bottle and, the second night, he only drank half. By the third and fourth nights, he wanted nothing to do with it. And, at that point, we decided to just go with it. So, now, at bedtime, we put on his pajamas, wash his little face and hands (which he HATES), brush his 10,000 teeth, read him a book, and then he simply puts his little head down and falls asleep. It almost seems too easy. He has had a few nights with nightmares, especially right when we got back home, but it seems to be going OK. If only potty training can be this easy!
Ah yes, the 10,000 teeth – or so it seems. Right before Christmas (Dec. 17), he cut his first molar and was working on one of his eye teeth (lower right). Well, those are through and two more have followed – a molar on the bottom left followed by another eye tooth (lower left). So, 12 total and the upper eye teeth have almost broken through as well (for #13 and #14). And, I can't imagine what's going on with his upper molars. They may be through for all I know, especially since we can't see up there. All these new teeth and you would never know it. He's been so good while sprouting these things!
OK, I know everyone has the same burning question and, no, no walking yet. He's content to crawl and cruise and that's fine by me. I stressed about the crawling and since that worked out OK, I told myself I wasn't going to stress about the walking. Over the Christmas break, Kevin's aunt told me that once they start walking, it's like you lose your baby so he can take his time. He's stood up by himself and, as I said, he is cruising so I'm sure it will happen sooner than later. I was about a year old and Kevin didn't walk until he was 15 months so he's somewhere in the neighborhood.
Although he's not walking, he is making up for it in talking. He is a blabbermouth, which is cute unless you're in church (like yesterday). Since yesterday was Epiphany, all the Christmas decorations were still up so he had to say “tree” about 23,000 times. And, the little kid sitting next to us had a puppy stuffed animal and that about sent Harmon over the edge. All I heard for a good five minutes was “pup-py,” “pup-py!” So, his vocabulary includes: dada (his favorite), mama, mommy, hi, bye, bye bye, nana, baba, papa, puppy, kitty, kitty cat, ball (his second favorite, although said with much more enthusiasm than dada), pretty, bop, boppy, tree, santa, Harmon (said like armen) and lots of other words I either can't remember or can't understand (this is more likely). He responds to so much too, it's just amazing. We got him this big tiger (about the size of him) stuffed animal for Christmas (his kitty) and we'll tell him to go give his kitty a hug. He then crawls over to it, hugs it while laying his little head on it and then pets it while making the cutest little "awwww" sound. Also, if you say "touchdown," he raises up his little arms like a referee. Unfortunately, he didn't get much practice with this during the Rose Bowl. Well, at least not with Michigan touchdowns.
Ah, let's see, what else. At day care this week, he will start transitioning up to the next group, the waddlers. Although he technically can't make the move until he's walking, he will be sleeping and playing with them throughout the day. So, no more sleeping in the crib at day care. He'll now just sleep on a mat like the bigger kids.
That’s all for now as I have to save some Harmon stuff for his 14-month update on Friday. I can’t believe he’s going to be 14 months old!
Before I go, a blast from the past, “The State” style!
