Baseball and parks

Two words that summed up our Memorial Day weekend: baseball and parks.

On Thursday, it was finally our turn to use the tickets from the Tigers’ season ticket package we split with my parents and sisters. It was a fun game – we actually won – and Harmon was a good boy. We watched the first half of the game from our seats and then headed for the carousel and the gift shop. Harmon loved riding the tigers so much he cried when the ride stopped but he perked up in the gift shop when he spotted a Tigers’ diecast truck. Our next game is June 14 so I’m guessing Harmon will be excited to go back to the ballpark.

Kevin worked on Friday but his office closed early and he was home by 3:30 p.m. We headed out to Burns Park and then grabbed dinner at Harmon’s favorite restaurant – Pizza House. We had THE BEST waitress who was so good with Harmon. When we left, she gave me her name and number in case we ever need a babysitter. After dinner, we headed over to the U-M baseball game. Again, Harmon watched about half and then wanted to run around so Kevin took him while I watched more of the game. It was another good game of baseball as Michigan beat Purdue to advance to the Big Ten tournament finals.

Saturday morning, Kevin and Harmon ran errands and I got to worship the sun for the first time this year. I think I stayed out a bit too long, though, as I got a little burned. It was a small sacrifice, though, to get some color! Saturday night brought more baseball as we went back to watch Michigan play in the Big Ten championship game. They won a nail biter – 3-2 – and now will host one of the 16 NCAA Regionals this weekend.

Instead of going to my aunt’s house for a cook-out, we decided to go it alone on Sunday. We drove up to Kensington Metropark and took Harmon to the Farm Learning Center where he got to see baby pigs, sheep, lambs and cows – all SO cute. We then grabbed some sandwiches from one of our favorite markets – Colasanti’s Market in Milford – and ate at Milford’s Central Park. This park has a HUGE play structure and Harmon had a great time making his way through it!

On Monday, the actual holiday, we took it easy. We went for a long family walk, ran a few errands and grilled burgers for dinner. Monday was the hottest day so far this year but we refused to turn on the AC. Of course, that made sleeping a challenge. I think Kevin and I got maybe 2-3 hours of sleep and Harmon had a rough night too. He, however, got to take a three-hour nap at school yesterday to make up for it – must be nice.

Overall, we had a fun weekend and it was a relaxing way to start the summer!

Try again

Lately, everything has been “try again” with Harmon. If you do something he likes – like blowing bubbles with gum or tickling him in an extra ticklish spot – he’ll tell you “try again” rather than something like “do it again” or “more.” It’s very sweet to hear him say “try again” when he’s all excited OR in mid-giggle.

One thing that hasn’t been quite so sweet is his refusal to do something. For example, when we tell him to pick up his cars (before he gets out other toys), his initial response is “no, no, I won’t pick up my cars!” He has to include in his refusal the original request – kind of like phrasing your answer in the form of a question like on Jeopardy. Of course, a simple reminder that he won’t PLAY with his cars anymore if he doesn’t pick them up usually changes his tune.

Mom’s Day Redux

My Mother’s Day weekend was very laid back but very cool. On Saturday, Kevin, Harmon and I took my Mom (and Dad) out to dinner. They chose Pizza House, simply because Harmon LOVES Pizza House (that’s our boy). It was fun and my sister, Stacey, and I are sending my parents away to a cute little bed and breakfast in Grand Haven for a few days for a joint Mother’s Day/Father’s Day gift. I can’t tell you how excited they are to get away! Harmon also presented my Mom with a bouquet of flowers and she melted. It was the sweetest thing ever!

As for me, Sunday was cold and rainy so we stayed inside all day. We didn’t even bother to take showers. It was awesome! Kevin made me chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast and they were SO good. I ate so many that I wasn’t even hungry for lunch. I was ready to eat dinner, though, and we got sandwiches from Zingerman’s – always a very special treat. As for the gifts, the boys (and Isabel) outdid themselves once again. I got a dozen unbelievably huge and beautiful orange roses (I’m always begging for orange roses and Kevin finally found some), a book, a new Coach purse and a slideshow movie of me and Harmon, which was especially sweet because of the music Kevin used. There are two children’s songs – I Wonder If I’m Growing by Raffi and Theme Song by Baby Genius – that choke me up every time I hear them so I was crying like a baby. In addition to this stuff, Harmon also made me a magnet and a necklace at school. Overall, it was a wonderful Mother’s Day!

2 ½

Harmon is 2 ½ today – halfway through the “terrible twos!” While he’s a good boy most of the time, he sometimes can be a challenge. However, if my biggest complaints are him saying “no” a lot and demanding things without saying “please,” I think I’m doing OK.

We’re still working on the potty training, which can be frustrating. Sometimes it feels like one step forward and two steps back. He’s good in the morning and at night and after his meals but other times throughout the day are total mysteries. Stickers used to work as a bribe but we might have to step it up to, say, M&Ms. I THINK the fact that he’s in pull-ups more than diapers these days will help things along. I hope it all comes together soon.

Now that it’s warm out, he’s all about the park. But, instead of the slide, he is in love with the swings this year. He could swing for hours, if we had the time to let him. On Friday, we went to Gallup Park – a park he usually goes to with Nana and Papa. After sliding a few times and swinging for a while, we walked the inner loop of the park (which measures 1.35 miles). My Mom has told me he’s walked the whole way before but I still was surprised to see him do it. It’s a long way for those little legs!

Besides the park, he still loves his cars, his books, his Legos and his memory cards. His toy obsessions have been pretty steady over the past few months. His language improves each and every day (and blows my mind) but he’s had a funny way of handling plurals lately. Instead of trucks or cars, he’ll say “truckeses” or “caresses.”

School is going well, even though some of his older classmates have moved up to the next class, and he continues to learn so much from being there. I actually don’t feel AS guilty for having him there when he comes home signing and his cubby is filled with great art work.

I think he’ll have a fun summer with many Tigers’ games on the horizon along with a trip to Beloit, Wisc. for a Bergquist family wedding and a trip to visit Kevin’s parents at their cabin in Minnesota – a trip we’ve been trying hard to plan. The challenge has been scheduling time we ALREADY have to take off due to Harmon’s school closure for summer (June 30-July 4) as well as time for the wedding (July 12) and then trying to make it work to go to MN. It also doesn’t help that these basically are back-to-back weekends AND right around the holiday – can you say EXPENSIVE? Travel is SO frustrating.

After a few weeks of shopping, Harmon will be ready for all these summer activities. While we bought him all his summer shoes and a few other things, my Mom and Dad went bananas with the clothes. I’ve never seen so many shorts and shirts for a two-year-old! The kid has so much clothing for a boy! I’ve always gotten a ton of compliments on how I dress him and I promise not to disappoint THIS summer.

Like mother, like son

During the first two years of Harmon's life, Aimee often was bummed because everyone kept saying how he looks like his Daddy, or does things just like his Daddy did at the same age. Well, things have turned recently, and not only are more people saying Harmon looks more like his Mommy, he also is acting like her more and more every day. So, in honor of Mother's Day 2008, here is a list of the Top 10 ways Harmon is Mommy Jr.:

1. He loves chips and breadsticks. We figure he is at least 30 percent tortilla chip anyway, given his frequent trips to El Taco Loco when he was still in Mommy's bellly.

2. He constantly changes sleeping positions. Harmon is an octopus in his bed. His arms flail all over the place, and rarely does he end the night on his stomach. We often find his arms intertwined in his bed posts, and he has been known to completely switch ends of his bed during the night.

3. He is, in a word, orderly. Although the living room at the end of the day may show otherwise, Harmon loves order. He often lines his cars up in perfect rows, and if you accidentally kick one or nudge one out of place, hell hath no fury like jerking with Harmon's parking lot.

4. He appears to be a worrier. Mommy worries about everything, and often Harmon does the same. They share the same brown eyes, as well as the real estate above -- a wrinkled brow. He mostly is a very happy baby, but there are times he is, like Mommy, concerned.

5. His eyes are Mommy's. As mentioned in No. 4, Harmon shares the same big, brown eyes as Aimee. Early on, when Harmon looked like Daddy, ate like Daddy, played like Daddy, he always shared the eyes with Mommy.

6. He hates to be alone. Like, Mommy, Harmon needs human contact. If you leave to go to another room, he often is only seconds behind. And, two of his favorite phrases of late are, "Where Mommy go?" or "Where Daddy go?" Even if we have been there, literally, the entire time he has.

7. He is shy. Harmon talks a big game, but often when he gets around other people he clams up. He is better with kids his age, and women (that's my boy!).

8. He loves to swing. As Grandma can attest, Harmon loves to go to the park. And swing. And swing. He used to like to go down the slides more than swing, but lately it has been swing, swing, swing. Daddy can't do it because of his motion sickness.

9. He dances and sings. And sings. And sings. From an early age, Harmon has loved to sing and dance. He sings all kinds of songs, from lullabies to nursery rhymes, and often dances to the same songs. He also loves to sing and dance to commercials. An early favorite was 800-588-2300, Empire! Now it is freecreditreport.com.

10. Last, but certainly not least, he LOVES to read. He basically has been reading from the day he was born, but every night we read four books to him, and he often goes into his room alone to read books. Mommy reads lots of books, too. Daddy is another story. As Mommy says, Daddy has a hard time making it through a brochure.

So, while Harmon is a lot like his Daddy, as you can read from this list, his is Mommy's boy, too.

Baseball and Ozzie

So far, baseball season has not been fun for me. The Tigers started 0-7, which was stunning, and although they’ve recovered and are just three games out of first place right now, it’s still aggravating. For a team that was supposed to score five billion runs this year, they can be SO frustrating to watch. They just give away at bats – GOD! They did that this weekend against the Twins and it was awful. After sweeping the Yankees, they turn around and get swept by the TWINS – WTF. God, the Twins, annoying. I told Kevin I would rather lose EVERY game to the White Sox than lose to the Twins! I think I feel this way because I secretly love Ozzie Guillen. I should HATE him and the White Sox. They are a division rival and they totally own my Tigers but I just can’t hate them – because of Ozzie.

I love that he speaks his mind, no matter what anyone says, and I love that he’s so entertaining. There are so few personalities in baseball these days and I think I like him so much because he DOES have a personality. His latest rant is awesome and I must say that I agree with him. The White Sox won the World Series in 2005 yet they still are treated like dog shit in Chicago. The Cubs haven’t won a damn thing in a billion years yet they are the toast of the town each and every year. Baseball can be all kinds of confusing!

FYI – My favorite Ozzie sound byte – click on “AUDIO: Pssh Please!”