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!

Bubbles

As Harmon neared the 15-month mark, we slowly moved him from his baby bathtub into the regular bathtub. He wasn’t at all happy about it so I spent an afternoon at Target buying a bunch of stuff to make his bathing experience more pleasant. I bought some balls, of course, which really helped and I bought some bubbles. I didn’t think the bubbles would make a damn bit of difference but they have become his favorite part of bath time. When it nears time for his bath, he sits near the bathroom door and says “bubbles” many, many times – it’s very cute!

Bubbles also have permeated other parts of his daily goings on. I have a set of large plastic jelly beans that I bought to hang from our Japanese Maple tree, if it ever warms up around here, and he is obsessed with these things. They are bright and colorful so naturally he wants to play with them. I’ve had to hide them in the linen closet because he's nearly impaled himself on our baker’s rack a dozen times trying to get to them. Every time I open the closet to get a towel or washcloth, he sees them and makes a beeline for the door. If I manage to get the door closed before he gets there, he’ll just sit there and cry “bubbles, bubbles” for a few minutes. I shouldn’t laugh but it’s hilarious!

BREAKING NEWS: It was damn near 80 degrees today so we finally hung the jelly beans (or bubbles, as Harmon calls them) from the tree. Glad we got it done before Easter or that would have defeated the whole purpose!

Cry for you

Today when we dropped Harmon off at day care, he cried when we tried to leave. He’s been going to day care for well over a year now and this is the first time it’s happened. I’ve always dreaded this and it was just as bad as I imagined.

At our new day care, all of the kids start in one room and then break into their respective age groups at 9 a.m. The teacher has told us, after only a few weeks there, that Harmon is none too happy with this arrangement. We’re not sure if it’s too much commotion with all the coming and going of parents, kids and teachers or if it’s just that he’s still adjusting to the new place. It also could be the simple fact that there just aren’t any balls available in this room!

Anyway, this morning, we put him down and we thought all was well as he made his way to Mr. Potato Head. But, as we started to leave, he started crying and reaching for me. I hugged him and calmed him down and we tried again to leave but, this time, he started crying and reaching for Kevin. At this point, one of the teachers stepped in, picked him up and tried to distract him but it didn’t work. Once again, he started crying and practically jumping out of her arms to get to us. Since I’ve always read that you just have to leave, that’s what we did … and it was awful. I barely got to the door before I was in tears. It was the first time in his short life that he’s cried and reached out to me and I wasn’t able to console him and make things all better. It felt terrible. Of course, Kevin was the strong one and he kept telling me it was going to be OK – I’m so glad he was there when this happened.

I thought about his sad little face (like above) all day long and all the feelings of guilt I have for being a working Mom came rushing back along with all the doubts I have about being a good enough Mom for him. I’m sure he was fine five minutes after we left while I spent all day worrying about him but I guess that’s part of being a Mom.

I was able to pick him up early today and seeing him so excited to see me made me feel so much better. I know days like today are going to happen – I just hope ANOTHER year goes by before we have one again!

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

If this and this keep up (we’re only in freakin' SPRING PRACTICE – what the hell is going to happen in the fall), we truly will be just like Ohio State! Well … minus the big-time wins, Big 10 championships, national championships, Heismans, etc.

So much for the "at least we run a good program with good kids" bit (what an OLD bit, by the way). We have thugs just like everyone else and, therefore, shouldn't claim to be some "paragon of integrity."

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

And, happy 48th birthday to Danny Ainge (I love you)!


ANYWAY, there was some luck of the Irish in Ann Arbor today as Tommy Amaker was fired as the U-M basketball coach. Although he did take the job under some really bad circumstances, cleaned up the program and brought it to some level of respectability, he wasn’t able to take it to the next level. And, thankfully, Bill Martin finally realized that and is making a change. Coaching searches at U-M are rare so the next few weeks should be interesting.

The last few days really have been fun as we’ve watched WAY TOO MUCH basketball. Even though U-M was not involved (AGAIN) in the NCAA tourney, it’s still such a fun time of year! Since Harmon didn’t even know he was alive for the 2006 tournament, he has gotten his first real taste of it this year. I used a vacation day on Thursday and I’m usually off on Fridays so I was able to watch a ton of games. Kevin was off too both days but that was because he was sick. But, being sick didn’t keep him from watching some hoops! One day, when Harmon is old enough to ask to skip school to stay home and watch the tournament, let me just say right now that the answer will be “yes!”

Don't mess with 'H'

Now on the other side of 16 months, there are a few things Harmon does not care much for. He used to hate when I called him 'Nator, he doesn't like waiting for his food, and you take your life, and your eardrums, in your hands when you pick him up to get him ready for bed. Even early on, he showed his dislike for losing to Ohio State (get used to it, kid). But, now that he is mostly walking and can get to us easier, he is taking a more hands-on approach to his most recent dislike. He does not like it much when Aimee and I hug. I am not sure if he is being protective of his Mama, because he thinks I might be hurting her, or that he just wants to be the one to say when it is time to dole out hugs. Whatever it is, he will physically try and pry us apart when we hug. Someday he will understand if it wasn't for hugs, he may not be here.

16 months old

Harmon is 16 months old today and is just rolling right along. He's walking, although not on a full-time basis. I assume one day he's just going to start running all over the place.

One of our favorite new things is when he stands at his bedroom door and says "read, read." He loves for us to sit with him and read, so much that we have to keep adding to his library. We read with him before bed and before naps and at other random times throughout the day and he loves it. Hopefully, this is a sign of good things to come.

Over the weekend, we made the trek to Pottery Barn Kids at the fancypants Somerset Mall. We saw the toddler chairs on-line and wanted to see how Harmon reacted to one of them before we made the purchase. So, we took him out of his stroller and put him in the chair and he loved it! He also loved several other very expensive Pottery Barn Kids' items (yikes) but we decided on just the chair. After we got home and had dinner, we put the chair together and he crawled right into it. We had it in the living room on our area rug with the back to the hardwood floor – which was a bad decision. While sitting in the chair, he kept throwing his head back until the whole thing flipped backward. Of course, he bumped his little head on the floor and was crying so we had to collect him and console him. I know you're not supposed to laugh at your kids but, once we realized he was OK, Kevin and I looked at each and TOTALLY DIED! I don't know if it was the look on his face as the chair was falling backward or that all you could see from our angle was two feet in the air or the fact that he still was in a perfect sitting position when I picked him up to hug him but it was hilarious!

We thought maybe he might be a little averse to the chair after the incident but it doesn't seem to have registered with him. Today, before I came to work, he sat in it and I sat alongside him and we watch Blue Clues together. Kevin then called me in the afternoon and said he was sitting in it watching the Wonder Pets too. So, he must like it and I'm glad because it's part of his Easter present!

Here and there

Well, it looks like we made a good decision in switching Harmon's day care. We got a call last night from one of the teachers from KidZone saying they officially are closing. Kevin and I both breathed a sigh of relief from our end but also felt really bad for the great teachers who now are looking for new jobs. Sad!

Our last few days have been pretty uneventful. Kevin's Dad left to go back to Peoria Friday morning. He was here working hard on our basement for a week. The transformation is amazing! On Friday night, we went to Pizza House for dinner (for the first time since New Year's Eve). Harmon was perfectly behaved but completely uninterested in dining with me and Kevin. He was WAY more interested in the waitress, the hostess, the people at all the tables around us, etc. Good times!

On Saturday, I had a 9 a.m. dentist appointment (no cavities, woo hoo), followed by a 10:30 a.m. hair appointment for Kevin and finally a hair appointment for me at noon – all in Waterford near my parents' house. It was a very busy morning. After all the appointments, we dropped Harmon off with my parents – where he proudly displayed his new walking skeels – and went to see Zodiac, which was a great movie. Speaking of Zodiac, I thought about reading the book so I looked up some reviews on on amazon.com and many reviewers were saying it was the scariest book they've ever read … so I don't think I'll be reading it. Kevin thinks I'm annoying NOW about being left alone; imagine life after reading that book!

ANYWAY, while we were at the movies, Harmon developed a bit of a fever. He had a bit of a cold, which we're more than used to with day care as a part of his life, but had some new things going on too. He had really goopy eyes and a slowly-disappearing hives/rash thingy. I had called about the hives/rash the previous Friday and spoke with the nurse who assured me he wasn't going to die of scarlet fever but then he developed the eye thing and I felt bad for not taking him in. SO, the rest of the weekend was spent making sure he was happy and comfortable.

Of course, directly following Harmon's cold is some kind of ailment for Mommy. Again, it started with a sore throat last Thursday and then, on Saturday, I began losing my voice. Saturday night and Sunday night were awful as every time I would TRY to lie down, I would start coughing violently so I got almost no sleep – so damn frustrating. Because I was a zombie, I called in sick on Monday and Kevin and I took Harmon to the doctor's office Monday afternoon. Turns out he had a bit of an eye infection so she prescribed him some drops and, after taking a look in his ears, she saw some fluid. She said there was no ear infection YET but it probably was on the way (thus the fever) so she prescribed us some more antibiotics. As for the hives/rash issue, apparently Harmon is allergic to fish, as this was the only thing he ate recently that was out of the ordinary. So, no eggs or fish for him for a while. I'm actually glad about the fish – I hate fish!

Not much else is new. Harmon continues to walk just enough to tease us and then goes back to crawling. I'm sure he's just going to take off and run one day and then we'll be in for it!

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

This morning, Kevin and I dropped Harmon off at his new day care center, Annie's Children's Center in Ann Arbor's Kerrytown District. It was hard but not quite as hard as it was his very first day in February 2006. We took him into the room where the toddlers were, put him down and he crawled over and got all involved in what the other kids were doing. We waved and told him goodbye and he was fine. I wasn't though as I cried when we left. It just feels weird getting used to new people taking care of the most important person in your life. I'm sure I'll get used to it quickly but the first couple of weeks will be hard. To console me, Kevin drove to Starbucks. When all else fails, a Venti Lite Mocha Frappuccino makes you feel a little better! I called Annie's at lunch and spoke with Harmon's new teacher, Abby, and she said he was having a great first day. He ate well during snack time and at lunch and he was playing well with the other toddlers. The only glitch in the day was some fussiness at nap time, probably because he was overtired. Abby did tell me that they have one toddler who is very touchy-feely and likes to hug everyone. Evidently, he was trying to hug Harmon, who was not having any of it. She said he was getting a little frustrated by this, which doesn't surprise me. He hugs when he wants to and, if he doesn't want to, he squirms and contorts his body until he can get away from the hugger! Anyway, I pick him up around 5:45 p.m. so we'll see how the afternoon went.

As for our old day care, when Kevin was there Tuesday for Harmon's last day, there still was no clear plan for them. It's a shame because it was a great place with great teachers. But, they've known about getting kicked out of the church since last April so it never should have come down to the wire like this. Hopefully, for the sake of the teachers and the kids who are left, they'll be able to pull something together.

A little Betsie has arrived!

Early this morning, my best friend in the whole world, Betsie (Simon) Feldman, gave birth to her first child, a tiny little daughter named Julia Charlotte Feldman. She was born at 1:16 a.m., weighing in at 6 pounds and 10 ounces and measuring 20 inches long. She’s a little one and she was a week late. Imagine how small she would have been if she was on time!

I met Betsie our freshman year at the University of Michigan. We were paired together as roommates in the desolate North Campus dorm of Bursley Hall but we managed to have a good time. And, for the next two of three years, I would live with her again – first in our house on State Street and then in our apartment on Hill Street – and continue to have a good time. There’s not much we haven’t been through together in over 15 years of friendship and I’m so excited to see how she’ll handle this next step in her life. Ever since I’ve known Betsie, she’s always taken care of everyone so I know little Julia is in great hands!

Congratulations to Betsie and Paul and I can’t wait to meet Julia!

OK, some photos of us over the years!

Here we are at graduation in the "Big House" in April 1995:

And together again at the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, 1998. This is when Michigan won the national championship and probably the last time we won a big game, let alone a Rose Bowl! Good times!

Home Improvement!

When we moved into our first house during the summer of 2005, one of the things that was attractive to us was the mostly unfinished basement. It does have a full bedroom down there, but the rest is pretty wide open. Right away, we imagined a carpeted family room with lots of room for a nice, fluffy couch and big TV for watching football ... I mean educational programs with Harmon. Well, work is now underway on this space. My Dad came up from Illinois for the week and has been working almost non-stop (with me for four of those days) to make our dream a reality. He makes Bob Villa look slow. The walls are up (this is a view from the bottom of the stairs into the back of the room), the wiring is in place and the insulation is placed. The room is so huge and will be great space for our family. Aimee jokes that it is my "man-cave," that one room all men have in their homes where they can go and drink beer and watch sports. Well, I don't drink beer and Aimee likes sports, too, so everyone is invited.

Let's Go Krogering

Almost every Monday afternoon, Kevin volunteers to do some of the grocery shopping so he packs up Harmon and they head to the local Kroger. In addition to these Monday trips, Kevin usually has to go at least one other time during the week to replenish Isabel's food. Although he doesn't mind doing it, he claims he sometimes feels like he lives at Kroger.

When I got home this past Monday and was talking with Harmon about his day, I asked him all about his trip to Kroger with Daddy. Since he's so good at repeating, I asked him to say "Kroger" and he did - just as plain as could be. Kevin heard it and came running in and he repeated it for him too.

I guess he likes going Krogering with his Daddy!

Also, another new trick, as reported by my Mom today. Apparently, he likes to push up the center couch cushion and then crawl up underneath it. He's been crawling up into the blanket basket for a few days but now he's taking it to a whole new levo!

Check-ups, baby steps, hair cuts, etc.

Harmon had his 15-month check-up Friday morning and it was uneventful. Usually, Kevin and I are full of questions but Harmon has been to the doctor’s office a bit more than usual lately with the bronchiolitis followed by the ear infection so most of our questions have been answered. Harmon checked in at 28.4 pounds (91st percentile) and 34 inches long (99th percentile). Needless to say, he’s still a big boy. He did have to get two shots but the good news is that he is done now until school starts. We didn’t do the blood test this time to see how the iron supplement is working so we’ll do it at his 18-month appointment on May 11. We talked a lot with the doctor about the whole walking thing and, thankfully, there was some progress to report. Last Sunday night (Feb. 11), Harmon took a few steps between me and Kevin and then, on Wednesday night (Feb. 14) when my Mom was watching him, he took four or five steps from her to me. He’s also finally taken a liking to his push toy, which is helping a lot. He’s all over the house with it now. So, overall, things are going well and we’re so thankful.

After Harmon’s doctor’s appointment, we ran some errands. He’s been wet a few mornings recently so I finally figured out that he needed the next size up in diapers. So, we bought some size five Pampers Cruisers. We also had to get him a lunchbox and some shoes for his new day care. I still need to get him a couple of back-up outfits so it’s on my list to stop by Once Upon A Child.

Because Harmon’s hair grows like weeds, we drove up to the Carnival Cuts at Twelve Oaks Mall again on Saturday. This is his third haircut but I think the best one yet. The stylist really sheared him in the back but it looks SO cute. Unfortunately, it makes him look like such a big boy.

Not sure what today holds. We were hoping to get Harmon out in the snow for the first time this winter but the forecasted high is only 20 so I’m not sure that will happen. It looks like 30s the rest of the week so maybe we can get to it sometime in the next few days.

A minor miracle happened today – Michigan beat Indiana in basketball for the first time in the Tommy Amatuer, I mean Amaker (or should I say, Coach Radio) era. To be more specific, we ended an 11-game losing streak against the Hoosiers. At this point in the season, I was just hoping we would continue to lose instead of winning a game here and there and getting our hopes up. Because, down the stretch, we’ll blow it like we always do and miss the NCAA tournament AGAIN. You know, it’s not even worth me blogging about.

On a much better sports note, Spring Training for Tigers’ pitchers and catchers started on Friday. The first day featured A LOT of pitchers fielding practice, which is no surprise! The rest of the team will be ready to go in Lakeland on Tuesday, Feb. 20. The first true exhibition game is Wednesday, Feb. 28 (against the Mets) and Opening Day (against the Blue Jays) in Detroit is Monday, April 2. Gotta’ love baseball! Go Tigers!

OK, one last thing. Here’s our Valentine from Harmon for Valentine’s Day 2007. Love those little handprints!

He loves his blanky

My Mom called me at work yesterday to tell me a cute Harmon story.

While she was watching him, he starting playing with this basket of blankets we keep in the living room. He often puts his little Roll-a-Around balls in there but he appeared to be doing something different so she went over to check it out.

He pulled off the top blanket, which was a U-M blanket, and then pulled off the next blanket, which is a Cardinals-Tigers combo blanket. Each time, my Mom thought he was reaching for that particular blanket. But, he really was trying to get to one of his baby blankets, this one with one yellow side and one green side. He used to sleep on this blanket on the floor for HOURS when he was just a few months old.

So, she pulled the blanket out for him and placed in on the floor. He promptly crawled right over to it, sprawled out and went to sleep. Is it possible he actually "remembers" this blanket? He never naps on the living room floor anymore but couldn't resist when she put the blanket down so it must have some meaning to him! I wish I could have seen this whole scene. It probably looked like this, only in a larger version (and minus the hat).

He is SO cute!

Will you be my valentine?

To all those who love me so much, HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!

As a small “thank you” for all you do for me, I got you all a little something sweet. It’s not chocolate. In fact, you can’t even eat it. You COULD drink it but you might just want to save it for a keepsake. If you DO want to drink it, go ahead because you still could save it for a keepsake.




Mommy and Daddy helped me choose this gift (using this photo) and do tags and bows for all my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. I hope you all like it.

If any of you would like to make a gift like this, you can visit the Jones Soda web site. It’s fun!

Love, Harmon

Zoned out

Harmon attends KidZone Child Care Center on Tuesdays and Thursdays. He’s been there for a year now (with his first day being Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2006). We visited five places before choosing KidZone in what was not a very fun process. It’s no surprise that it was hard for us first-time parents to find a place to leave Harmon (at only three months old) AND feel good about it but we quickly found that in KidZone.

When we chose KidZone, however, we didn’t know they would have to move at the end of February 2007. Currently, it is housed in Zion Lutheran Church in Ann Arbor but the church is going through renovations and re-claiming the space KidZone currently holds. For some time, the KidZone director has been trying to find a new location and, last week, after several other deals fell through, we all thought KidZone finally had a new home. We even received a letter on Tuesday giving the new address and asking parents for help with the move! Although the new location isn’t as convenient for us, we decided to make it work because Harmon really likes his friends and teachers and has done really well there. On Friday, however, Kevin received word from a friend of ours (whose daughter also attends KidZone) that the deal, once again, fell through. Evidently, KidZone made an offer on a property and the LOCAL sellers’ office approved it but the NATIONAL sellers’ office said “not so fast, my friend!”

This news was very unexpected and everyone now is in panic mode. KidZone is working up another offer and has received a 10-day extension from the church but no one knows what will happen. Several parents already have moved their kids because of all the uncertainty but there also are other parents, like us, who keep hoping things will work out. Friday’s news, however, lit a fire under us and we finally had to act on some casual calls we had been making to other day care centers over the past couple of weeks. Late Friday, we visited Annie’s Children’s Center, which was the first place we visited back when we first started this whole crappy process. In 2006, Annie’s part-time program required a minimum of three days of care and Harmon only needed two so it never worked out. The location was great – almost exactly between my office and Kevin’s office – the “tuition” was reasonable and we liked it a lot but, as I said, it just didn’t work out. This time around, though, you CAN schedule two days a week and there IS room for Harmon. So, Kevin and I have a big decision to make.

We could wait it out and, worst-case scenario, have KidZone close AND lose our spot at Annie’s. Best-case scenario, we could wait it out, have it work out and let Harmon stay with those he knows and loves. The other scenario is to pull Harmon out of KidZone and enroll him in Annie’s and hope and pray he adjusts OK. As an aside, if he cries when I leave him with perfect strangers – he knows now, he had no clue when he was three months’ old – I don’t know what I’ll do. ANYWAY, another thing to think about is pulling Harmon out of KidZone and then having the whole thing work out. We’ll feel terrible.

Whatever happens, we need to do what's best for Harmon and make sure he has good people to care for him two days a week so we're going to Annie's today to finalize everything. It sucks to go through this all over again but it is what it is and no amount of whining about it (on my part) is going to change the situation. Hopefully, we'll all adjust just fine - AGAIN!

Shredding

Kevin and I are a LITTLE behind with our shredding of receipts, documents, etc., so we need to have a midnight shredding session like Eddie Barzoon in The Devil's Advocate!

15 freakin’ month’s old

Harmon is 15 month’s old today. It gets old saying this OVER and OVER, but I still can’t believe it. He goes for his 15-month check-up on Friday so we’ll have all the official stats after that, along with any word from the doctor on when to start panicking about the whole walking thing. I told myself I wasn’t going to grip since the whole crawling thing worked out just fine after he waited forever to do it. But, as each day goes by, I find myself thinking about it a lot and hoping that everything is OK. He cruises a ton and will stand on his own so I know he can support himself. I think he’s just afraid – he HATES to fall down. I’m sure it will happen and then I’ll wonder just WHY I wanted it to happen but, until it does, I’ll worry – it’s what I do best.

The talking won’t stop, though, which is a very good thing. It’s time, however, for me and Kevin to start being REALLY careful about what we say around him. He repeats a lot, which is a little scary!

For his 15-month birthday and Valentine’s Day, we picked him up a few things over the weekend. He needed a new pair of gym shoes so we got these from Stride Rite. Damn, toddler shoes are expensive! We also are getting him ready for spring with his first denim jacket and his Easter outfit – shirt (in cactus) and, of course, sweater vest (in pudding).

BREAKING NEWS: As Kevin and I were getting Harmon ready for bed tonight, we spotted both of his upper, first molars poking through for teeth #15 and #16. The only teeth left to make an appearance are all four of his second molars. After that, he'll have his allotment of 20 baby teeth!

A not-so-good first

Over the last couple of weeks, Harmon’s favorite pastime has been playing with his ears. Since a fever never accompanied this playing, Kevin, the doctor and I all assumed it was just those upper molars coming in. Last Wednesday, however, while he was with my Mom, he developed a nasty little fever so we took him in to see the doctor. After taking a quick look, the doctor diagnosed him with his very first ear infection (in his left ear). I was bummed because he had made it almost 15 months without having one or having to take antibiotics but the doctor actually said that ear infections are common side effects of the bronchiolitis he recently had. Whatever the cause, he’s been on antibiotics since Wednesday night and has been alternating between Motrin and Tylenol and he seems to feel just fine. Other than a few hours in the early afternoon of last Wednesday, when my Mom said he was just not himself, he has been perfectly fine. We’re so thankful he’s still so good natured, laid back and well behaved even when he’s not feeling well at all.

OK, some funny things that happened while Harmon was “under the influence” of a mixture of Amoxicillin, Motrin and Tylenol:

1. In the waiting room, which was filled with only sick little BOYS (GD, where were all the girls? Wait, I know. Probably shopping since babyGap and Children’s Place contain 90 percent girl clothes), Harmon took a quick liking to a wall-mounted abacus that is in the waiting room (the beads look like balls – hence the attraction). Of course, as soon as Harmon started playing with it, another little boy – who was maybe four or five years old – had to come check it out. He (I think his name was Tyler) came over and started hogging it thinking Harmon would just move out of the way but he was sadly mistaken. Harmon stood strong, not giving up any ground, and continued to play until Tyler grew bored. All the while this is going on, Harmon was jabbering more than any of the other little boys in the waiting room even though he was much, much younger than they were. I looked at my Mom (who was nice enough to meet us at the doctor’s office so we didn’t have to leave work any earlier than was absolutely necessary) and said “why is my 14 ½ month old son the loudest of the bunch in the waiting room?” You would not have known he wasn’t feeling well if you would have seen him at that point – he would not shut up!

2. Once we got home, Harmon was being really silly, saying weird things and doing weird stuff. He also was tripping all over everything and falling down like a drunken sailor. I think maybe he was hopped up on some Motrin since the nurse gave him a dose more suitable for Andre the Giant than a 14 ½ month old!

3. Lastly, along the lines of doing silly things, Harmon finally discovered his football. He usually plays with every other ball BUT the football but, for some reason, he found it and could not get enough of throwing it. We thought it was ironic because Wednesday, Feb. 7 was National Signing Day. Maybe it’s a sign of things to come!

Bits and pieces

One year ago today, I returned to work after 12 weeks of maternity leave with baby Harmon. Those first few weeks were SO hard but I think, a year later, we've all adjusted well. When I came back to work, I came back 80 percent time. I still am doing that and it seems to be working for everyone so I hope to continue with this schedule indefinitely. I always thought it was ironic that I returned to work after the birth of my first child on my Mom's birthday. Maybe it provided a good reminder that I am a Mom first and an employee second – just like my Mom always was for me and my sisters. So, happy one-year-back-at-work-part-time to me and, more importantly, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my Mom!

Speaking of my Mom's birthday, we all took her and my Dad out to dinner to P.F. Chang's on Saturday night. We tried to make it a surprise but that's damn near impossible with my Mom. It was fun anyway and my parents LOVED P.F. Chang's (my sisters and I were a little nervous). My Mom commented that she's never had that much shrimp in an entrée before so I can see return trips to P.F. Chang's in the future – YUM! We all had a great time and had some very chocolaty birthday cake (and I had 1,000 Diet Cokes). Harmon was a little angel, eating all HIS food and lots of ours and being a good sport as he was passed around the table to be played with and tickled. We were there for almost three hours and he was perfect the entire time.

On Sunday, we stayed home to watch the Super Bowl. Since we were home all day, I thought I would give Harmon a special treat and let him play with ALL his Roll-A-Round balls (usually, we give him four or five at a time – and they ALL end up under the couch)! He was confused at first but had a good time.

He seems to say a new word almost every day and here are some of the latest: Harmon, Isabel, Erin, happy, bippy (my Mom and sisters call his pacifier a "bippy" and we call it a "binky"). He'll pretty much repeat anything you say to him and it sounds pretty close.

Valentine's Day is fast approaching so Harmon needs to get to work on his gifts for everyone. Kevin and I aren't sure what we're getting each other (if anything) but we know one of these will be involved.

Kevin's Dad will be here soon to help get our little basement project going. Kevin spoke to him last night to try to get an idea on time and it looks like that visit might occur in the next week or two. Yeah, a basement room soon!

OK, did you see this? Is that even a "real" number? Of course, the next president will spend a large part of his (or her) administration cleaning this mess up (budget should be balanced by 2012 – yeah right – conveniently AFTER "W" is gone) before getting to his (or her) own agenda and then it will appear he (or she) got nothing done. UGH!

On a lighter note, one of my guilty-pleasure shows is "My Super Sweet 16" on MTV. If you like that show, you have to see this! Funny!

Is this one yours?

My Mom watched Harmon today on her usual Wednesday and called us at 5:30 p.m. to see if we wanted to meet her at Chuck E. Cheese’s. Of course we did, so we went there right from work. We all had a great time eating pizza and watching Harmon take his turn on all the rides. He even scored yet another ball at the end of the night! As we were waiting to purchase said ball, there were three little kids in line in front of us. One of the little boys starting groping the little girl and her Mom looked at us and said, “Is this one yours?” We looked at her like, yeah, sure, he’s ours and we thought we would just let him stand there, in plain view, and rough up your daughter! Finally, “this one’s” Mom came over to retrieve him and the little girl and her brother (who did nothing, by the way – nice brother) left. As we walked back to our table to pack up, Mom called the other Mom a “dingbat” and, of course, Harmon repeated it! I guess we REALLY need to start watching what we say and evidently controlling our out-of-control children in Chuck E. Cheese’s.

By the way, make the world a better place, punch Nick in the face!

Pancakes and proposals

Over the weekend, we gave Harmon pancakes. On Saturday, we woke up and thought pancakes sounded good so Kevin dusted off the griddle. He mixed some batter for himself and Harmon and did a separate mixture for me that contained chocolate chips (Kevin makes THE BEST chocolate chip pancakes). Anyway, as Kevin and I were eating, we thought we would give it another go with Harmon. He tried them back during the Christmas break and wasn't at all a fan. This time, though, he loved them! After eating some of his usual breakfast, he devoured four silver dollar pancakes. It was very cute.

Turns out Kevin really needed those pancakes as he spent most of Saturday moving a huge shelving unit from one wall of our basement to another. After taking care of our little water problem (it was a clogged ground water drainage pipe, by the way, and thanks to Mom and Uncle Dave for helping us out with it), it's again full-speed ahead on our basement project. Kevin's Dad is planning on visiting sometime next month to work on it with him. And, I've already completed the most important part of the project – I've picked out paint swatches!

On Sunday, we took another trip to our local IKEA store. This time, we were on the lookout for some table lamps for our bedroom. Kevin has asked about these 1,000,000 times but I've been holding off thinking we might actually get a bedroom set one day. But, seeing as how that's not going to happen for a long, long time (mostly because the basement takes priority right now), I gave in. We found some cool lamps that look nice and they didn't cost too much. Amazing how much thought we put into a set of $14.99 lamps!

Over the weekend, we also finished Harmon's week-long breathing treatments. It's a good thing too because it was getting old for all three of us. He pretty much is back to normal (and back to day care) but, then again, you never really can tell when he's sick anyway. Even though he was feeling better, I think we did detect a food allergy or food intolerance to eggs. On four different occasions, we've given him eggs (straight versus mixed in something else) and he's either rubbed his eyes raw or thrown up or both. So, we'll have to take a look at it with the doctor at his next appointment, which is Feb. 16.

No walking yet but he is cruising everywhere and all he wants to do is walk with you. Sometimes, he even does a spider monkey (see photo above) kind of walk up and down the hall and along the gate that surrounds Isabel's cage. Any day now! The doctor and I both think that he's concentrating more on talking than walking right now and that would explain the almost-one-new-word-a-day pace. He now says "car," "cookie," "cracker," "water," "caca," "poo poo," "pee, pee" and is working hard on "love you." Also, much to my delight, "mama" finally has returned to his vocabulary on a regular basis. I just love hearing it!

OK, now on to the BIG news of the weekend. My little, tiny, baby sister is getting married! Her boyfriend proposed on Friday and she called me (and the rest of the family) and thoroughly stunned us all. Although they've been together for a long time AND have talked about rings and weddings and what not, it still was a surprise. Maybe it's because she just turned 23 in October! But, they are thinking about a late fall wedding in 2008 so she'll be 25 by then. So, congrats to them! And, I can't wait to help with the wedding!

State of the Union

Since I can't stomach a State of the Union Address from someone who still hasn't mastered the English language, I tend to boycott the TV on nights like last night. However, Kevin was watching MSNBC's Keith Olbermann (see, old SportsCenter fans have followed Keith into the mainstream) tear apart, word for word, every other Bush State of the Union Address and forgot to change the channel when the lies, I mean the address, started. So, on my way to the kitchen, I caught a glimpse of the TV screen and saw the following:


While the Pinocchio in the foreground made me want to put my head under a tire, the sight to the audience's right was rather refreshing. It was so awesome to see Nancy Pelosi – a woman and a Democrat – sitting in the Speaker of the House spot. Maybe there is hope!

By the way, do we really need a State of the Union address at this point in the Bush Administration? I think it's pretty well known that we're all screwed (well, unless you're rich)!

OK, one last thing - these cartoons are good!

Talking in your sleep

We know Harmon is a crazy sleeper, if only from where he ends up in relation to where he went to sleep. But, he also talks and crawls in his sleep. On numerous occasions, he’s blurted out his favorite words in the wee hours. At 3 a.m., for example, we’ll hear “ball” or “dada” and think, damn, he’s awake, what the hell is going on. But, he ALWAYS goes back to sleep. I guess he must be dreaming about his Daddy or his beloved balls! This morning, I witnessed this first hand (as opposed to just hearing it through the monitor). I stayed home with him today as he's still not 100 percent and we slept in a bit together. I woke up before he did and watched him sleep and say "dadadadada" in the softest, quietest, little baby boy voice. It couldn't have been cuter! Well, I guess it could have if he would have said "mama!"

In addition to the sleep talking, we’ve also noticed some sleep crawling. Sometimes, like when he might be having a nightmare, we’ll check on him and he’ll crawl from where he is back to his original sleep location. He also does this when we’re napping with him in our bed. He’ll get up on all fours and crawl back to where he started the nap. This sleep talking and sleep crawling usually takes place when his eyes are completely closed so he’s not awake. Who knows what goes on in the minds of babies!

Damn day care germs

On Wednesday evening, Harmon started to cough a bit. He also coughed a lot overnight but we thought it was just another damn day care cold. When we arrived at day care to drop him off on Thursday morning, two of the teachers wanted to warn us about cases of bronchitis and pneumonia. Evidently, several kids were out due to this. When we got him home Thursday night, his cough had worsened and by Friday morning (after another rough night of sleep), it was bad enough for me to call the doctor. Almost every other time I’ve taken him in, they’ve looked at me like I had lobsters crawling out of my ears and told me it was just a cold. This time, though, I was glad I trusted my instincts and took him in because he quickly diagnosed with bronchiolitis. GD day care germs! So, while we were in the exam room, we did a breathing treatment and he got juiced up with some steroids. We also were sent home with a prescription for the steroid, prednisolone, which we are to give once a day for three days, and another prescription for albuterol, which we are to give him a minimum of four times per day through a nebulizer. Basically, he has to sit and inhale this misty medicine every four hours or so. So far, we’ve given him five of these breathing treatments and it’s gone OK. It sounds like the cough is moving up in his chest and he seems to be better during the day but the night coughing is the worst. After waking up four times last night, Kevin finally decided to have a slumber party with him and sleep outside in the living room. After this, he was able to sleep until 8:30 a.m. this morning and he had two really good, long naps today. And, as usual, he handles sickness so well. He’s his normal, playful self and he’s eating and drinking like a horse. We put him to bed for the night a little while ago so, cross your fingers.

Of course, while all this is happening, I have to feel like crap too. I’m not sure really what is going on with me. On Thursday night, I had the chills and an upset stomach. Yesterday, the chills were gone but they were replaced with full body aches. Today, what a surprise, I’ve developed a sore throat and a headache to go along with the body aches. Who knows what tomorrow will bring. I feel so guilty about feeling sick because it puts such a burden on Kevin and I hate that. It’s just not my nature to sit around and let him do all the work. ANYWAY, here’s hoping Sunday will be a better day for Harmon and me. And, please dear Lord, don’t let Kevin get sick too. Yikes!

What a nice guy

So, a week or so ago we started watching the chick flick, "The Devil Wears Prada." Well, between taking care of Harmon and navigating Noah's Ark through our basement, we finally got back to it last night. Aimee had been begging me for a week straight to watch the ending. Being the nice guy I am, I took one for the men's team and sat through it. I am still searching for my manhood.

The effects of global warmings

Well, death storm 2007 hit Southeast Michigan Sunday and Monday. Unlike in years’ past, it came in the form of ice (and rain). Usually, by mid-January, we’ve had a ton of snow. This winter, however, we’ve had almost no snow. We’ve had a ton of rain, though, which has been a disaster for us because these Noah’s Ark-style rains have wreaked havoc on our basement. We had no problems last winter or last spring, the time when it’s usually the wettest. But, I guess with our plans to finish the basement nearing, it was better for this to happen now than when we get everything all done. I guess these are the effects of that alleged (said with extreme sarcasm) global warmings!

Branches of our lilac bush in the backyard:

Icicles on the telephone wire:

Frozen water droplets hanging from our big "Christmas tree" in the front yard:

Thin ice (with bubbles) on the branch of our Japanese Maple:

Looking through our Japanese Maple out into the street:

A suspicious squirrel in our pine tree:

Pretty

Since before Harmon was born, I have been on a hunt for a piece of jewelry that I liked (and would wear) with his birth stone. November’s stone is a yellow topaz, which isn’t the prettiest of all the gems, so finding just the right thing has been hard. After Harmon turned one, I started thinking about it again and thought a pendant would be nice and, if I got something I liked, I could wear it everyday. So, I started surfing the net but I couldn’t find much and, at that point, I figured I would have to design something myself to REALLY like it. Being that one of the diamonds in Kevin’s wedding ring fell out AGAIN, we were due for a trip to our jeweler. While we waited for Kevin’s ring repair, I decided to design a pendant with one of the jewelers. She was very helpful and we came up with something fantastic. Very simple but JUST what I wanted. And, much to my surprise, they put it all together while we waited. I thought for sure I would have to come back in a few weeks but they did it all right there – I guess that’s one of the reasons we love going there.

Anyway, it’s a round yellow topaz in a white gold bezel setting with a 17-inch white gold chain. I’ve had it on for two days now and don’t plan on taking it off anytime soon as it reminds me of my precious little Harmon. And, seeing as how we don’t have a money tree in the back yard, I made Kevin PROMISE that this would be my Mother’s Day gift, even if it did come four months early.

First trip to Chuck E. Cheese’s

On Saturday, Harmon had his first trip to Chuck E. Cheese’s. I had a hair appointment at noon back home (I can’t bear to leave my hair dresser so I gladly drive an hour every seven weeks) and Kevin tries to go when I go too. So, we met my Mom and Dad at Macy’s just before noon and they picked up Harmon and decided to take him to Chuck E. Cheese’s. He had a fantastic time, although they no longer have the ball pit, which I thought would be the highlight of Harmon’s young life. It’s been a while since we’ve been to a Chuck E. Cheese’s but evidently they nixed the ball pits for sanitary reasons - yuck. Anyway, after eating for well over an hour straight (he had fruits and vegetables from the salad bar along with his first taste of pizza), he got to go on all the rides. Early on, he had a great time! But, by the time Kevin and I got there (around 1:15 p.m.), he started to tire out and began to cry on every ride. That, and he was not a big fan of the Teletubbies! He had fun watching Daddy play pop-a-shot, though, and he had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa who, of course, spoiled him rotten. Since the first trip went over well, we’ll have to try it again soon!

14 months old

Harmon is 14 months old today. And, my present to him was a trip to our local Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Store (I’m really sorry, little guy). I needed to find some fancy tags for Valentine’s Day gifts and a friend of mine told me this might be a good place to check. Remind me to never visit this store again! We got there around 3 p.m. and it was nuts! There were crazy-ass women everywhere, in all the same aisles I needed to look and pushing their carts up my back as I walked through this maze of scrapbooking crap. As an aside, I thought after having Harmon that I might turn into the scrapbooking type but it didn’t happen and I’m actually pretty happy about it. ANYWAY, the women in the scrapbooking section were the worst offenders of all. So, with no more than three seconds to look for something before I had to move or be run into, I gave up. Harmon and I left and walked over to Target and I found just what I needed there, thank you very much. It’s no wonder it’s my favorite store! Plus, I was able to walk Harmon through the toy aisles to make up for the ½ hour he had to spend in the scrapbooking nazi store.

Another great gift to Harmon as he was nearing the 14-month threshold was two shots. On Monday, he had a doctor’s appointment to get the second half of his flu shot and his last one-year vaccination. Our doctor didn’t want him to get five shots and a blood draw at his one-year visit so he split them up, which was quite nice of him actually. This time, I did my best to be brave and I stayed near Harmon during the shots (Kevin usually does this as I hide away on the other side of the room and fight off tears). We each grabbed a hand as the nurse did her thing and, although I was looking away, I could tell the moment the needle entered his chubby little thigh as he tensed up so much. But, it was over quickly and he was fine the rest of the day with the usual exception of being a little tired.

Not much else is new this week although Kevin and I have been really bad at taking pictures lately (as evidenced by Harmon’s last photo on Flickr being from Jan. 2). We got a new digital camera for Christmas (thanks Mom and Dad) and we’re still learning how to work it. So, we want to use it but don’t know all the functionality yet and we’ve vowed not to fall back into the habit of using the old one. Basically, we just need to get it figured out and take some photos already before Harmon turns 12!

Digging in the dirt

If you were anywhere near a TV over the last few months, you had to have seen a commercial for the new FX series, Dirt, starring Courtney Cox. I swear that during the months of November and December I couldn't watch TV without seeing at least 100 commercials for this thing. I remember telling Kevin that if they just stopped with the ads already, I would watch. Really, I would, so ENOUGH! So, last Wednesday, at 10 p.m., I tuned in. I thought I would give it a try and then maybe flip around during commercials if I was bored. But, FX totally owned me by airing a commercial-free premiere, courtesy of Pontiac (I kind of sound like a NASCAR driving pimping his sponsors). Anyway, I watched it and really liked it. And, when Kevin came upstairs, fresh from his turn on the treadmill, I found out he was watching it too AND he liked it too. So, we set our DVR to do a series recording and we watched the second episode last night. Again, we loved it and we can't wait for next week's episode! I know, we don't get out much!

If you live under a rock and haven’t seen any ads, the gist of the show is that Courtney Cox is an editor of a sleazy tabloid magazine and her best friend is the photographer. There also is a full cast of actors, athletes, etc., that end up in her magazine, one way or another. The acting is pretty decent and the characters are interesting – especially the photographer. And, it's gotten some good reviews from the likes of the Washington Post and the Miami Herald so give it a try.

The only problem so far is that all the pre-premiere commercials featured Peter Gabriel's song, "Digging in the Dirt" and now I can't get it out of my head!

Are you kidding?

Red Jim Tressel sweater vest: $49.99

Payout for being in the BCS championship game: $14-17 million

Maiming your best, and fastest, player on the first play of the game: Priceless!

It's alive!

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!

It's a New Year (for everyone but U-M)

OK, first off, Happy New Year to everyone. It was a fantastic 2006 for our family and one in which we received many blessings. Harmon continues to amaze us every day, and our family and friends are happy, and most importantly, healthy.

And while it is a new year, some things never change. And if you have been to this blog before, you know where this is headed. But first a little history. Back in September when Michigan trounced Notre Dame 47-21, we received an e-mail from a friend saying, in so many words, that Lloyd Carr had silenced his doubters and that anyone who criticized him was wrong. Heck, she was practically soaking in the Gatorade bath the team gave Lloyd that day. It was an impressive win, no doubt, but a look at things since then shows that, well, all is not as great as she claims.

Fast forward to Nov. 18 when Michigan went to Ohio State and had the chance to play its way into the national title game. Other fans tried to blame the bad field, Troy Smith's shoe size, the location of the satellites in the sky. Whatever. We lost and did not deserve a rematch. I am down with that and accepted it immediately. But a lot happened between Sept. 16 and Nov. 18, and it shows that all is not well at Michigan Stadium.

So, Michigan finished 11-2 (this is being written as the Rose Bowl is still being played, but is the outcome really in doubt? No.), but after beating Notre Dame on Sept. 16, they reeled off wins over the following: Wisconsin (a legit win, I will concede that, but at home), Minnesota (fired its coach), Michigan State (ditto), Penn State (OK, but still a bad team), Iowa (please, 6-7 says it all), Northwestern (no comment), Ball State (I refuse to acknowledge this game happened) and Indiana (completion of a murderous three-game string).

With our annual loss at Ohio State and the pending Rose Bowl embarassment (32-11 at last count), Michigan is 1-2 in meaningful games since beating Notre Dame. And they will finish with a loss to Ohio State and in the bowl game for the third straight year. And be 0-3 in the last three Rose Bowls. Hopefully, we are not invited back for a while. The smog in LA is our stench.

So, while I wanted to believe 2007 would be different, it isn't, at least on the football field. Maybe we will get like Lions fans and become numb to it. But it hurts to continually be embarassed on a national stage. Remember, we were supposed to come out and show the nation how we felt about being snubbed for the BCS title game. Um, nice stand boys.

So, I will not waste my time checking for e-mail from this "friend." Go ahead and defend Lloyd this time. I can't wait to see the excuses.

32-11. Beauty. (Oops, meaningless touchdown, 32-18). Still a beauty.

Cough, cough, cough

Don't you hate having a cough? It's just SO annoying, that little itch in your throat that ALWAYS strikes right when you're finally freakin' ready to put your head on the pillow. Harmon came home with a cold about two weeks ago, which we've come to expect since he's in day care. And, EVERY time he gets a cold, I usually get it while Kevin goes unscathed. Not this time, though. Not so fast, my friend! This time, the lethal baby germs took down both of us.

A week ago Saturday, Kevin got a wicked case of the chills and went to bed early, which he never does. He said he had a bit of a sore throat, too. And, on Sunday night, I started feeling the sore throat thing. On Monday, my throat hurt so bad and so deep that it was making my ears ache. On Tuesday, we both started developing a cough and, by Wednesday morning, we both had a slight fever so we decided to call in sick. By Thursday, we woke up with a little bit of laryngitis but decided to make a go of it at work. On Friday, we both felt a lot better and were left with just a cough, a cough that won't quit. We're on our fourth bottle of Robitussin after trying some Delsym (which used to work for me before I apparently grew immune to it) and some DayQuil Cough. I'm hoping it's nearing its end but I'm not so sure. I guess I'll have to wait until bed time to find out! Of course, Harmon kicked it quickly, as he always does. But, I have noticed a bit more coughing again both yesterday and today. I hope we didn't give it back to him.

Last night, we were taking some pictures of Harmon and we got a good one of him crying. Normally, I don't like to take too many of those but this time the photo proved to be a valuable shot. We caught sight of his new pearly white – a molar poking through his bottom, right gum. I guess that explains ALL the drool and some recent ear tugging. We're not sure how long it's been there as it is damn near impossible to look inside his mouth. There could be MORE in there, for all we know.

We are pretty much done with our Christmas shopping, although, for some reason, I feel like we should get more for Harmon. I know he doesn't quite get all this Christmas and Santa stuff yet but I can't help it, I want to get him everything. I think I'm going to have to accept that fact that he's going to be a spoiled rotten first child!

Kevin and I took some extra days before Christmas to just hang out as a family as all the days between Christmas and New Year's Day are spent back and forth between families – it can be so exhausting. So, our last day in the office will be Wednesday. We'll spend Christmas Eve opening presents with my immediate family at my parents' house. We'll do Christmas morning at home and then head back to my parents' house as they are hosting the entire family on Christmas Day. The day after Christmas, we'll make the trek south to Illinois to spend a few days with Kevin's family. I'm hoping Harmon in the car seat for 6-plus hours will go OK. The first and only other time he did this trip was back in April when he still was pretty little and slept a lot – who knows what to expect this time. We'll come back on Dec. 30 and then have another couple of days to ourselves before returning to work on Jan. 3. I just can't believe the holidays are here. I look forward to them all year and now we're right smack in the middle of them. I hope everyone's holidays are going well.

Before I go, I had to share this video. My sister, Stacey, sent it to me last week, saying this is what Harmon is going to be like. At this point, I hope so. You see, Harmon has just totally abandoned saying "mama." He pretty much says everything but "mama." And, after ALL I do for that kid. It's just fantastic.

13 months old

Harmon is 13 months old today. I thought maybe time would slow down a bit after the big first birthday but momma’s wrong again. Anyway, he’s so much fun and he's learning new things every day. It’s so true – their minds are like sponges.

Anyway, for his first-year doctor’s appointment and his first-year evaluation at day care (which we still are in the process of trying to schedule), I had to fill out the Ages & Stages Questionnaire. This form basically tells you more about your child’s development. Kevin brought it home back in November (11/14) and I filled it out that night. One of the questions was about pointing, which, at that point, Harmon wasn’t really doing. But, I swear, no sooner did the damn ink dry in the “No” bubble on that form, did he started pointing at everything and hasn’t stopped since.

The night of our sixth anniversary, you know, when we did something so fun and outrageous like ordering our favorite Chinese take-out, Harmon amazed us by standing up all by himself. Kevin and I were sitting on the couch talking and he just stood up next to his toy bin and then promptly fell right on his little, diapered butt. He hasn’t tried it again lately but I sense there are more attempts to come.

On Tuesday, Dec. 5, apparently we weren’t getting Harmon’s dinner and drink ready fast enough so he crawled over to the open fridge, reached in and grabbed his sippy cup, took a big drink and then put it back on the shelf. Kevin and I both stood there, stunned.

This past Saturday, Harmon broke something of value for the first time. Although I bought drawer and cabinet locks a couple of weeks ago, we hadn't installed them yet so Harmon gave us a little reminder. He opened up one of the kitchen cabinets and pulled down my serving platter and serving bowl (that match my everyday china). Although the platter – which I barely use – was spared, my bowl was smashed to bits. I was a little mad because Pfaltzgraff is phasing out my pattern and therefore doesn’t make the bowl anymore (and even those replacement china web sites don’t have the bowl in stock). But, more than anything, I was glad the stuff didn’t fall on Harmon and cut him. So, after that drama, Kevin started putting on the locks (under supervision of the little man).

Lastly, we put up our Christmas tree this weekend and were a little nervous as to how Harmon would react. Much to our surprise, there’s no way he could be less interested! Every once in a while, he’ll take a break from playing with his 1,000,000 toy balls and crawl over to the tree. He’ll point at it, and sometimes pet it, talk to it a bit, and then go back to his baby business. It’s really funny. And, tonight, when we were watching the Grinch, he saw the Christmas tree on TV and then pointed to our tree – GENIUS, GENIUS, GENIUS! Just kidding, but I hope he is!

OK, enough Harmon. We saw a commercial for this tonight. Hilarious. Business in front, party in back! Kevin loves ALL the synonyms for the mullet.

Honeymoon memories

Six years ago today, Kevin and I returned from our honeymoon. Since we paid for our own wedding, we weren’t sure if we could afford a honeymoon. But, we didn’t want to be one of those couples who didn’t go right away yet swore they would go ONE DAY all to never go at all. So, we sucked it up and took on some extra debt. We knew we couldn’t afford something extravagant like an African safari (my best friend Betsie’s choice), but we wanted to go somewhere we probably wouldn’t get to again without some effort. So, we decided on Vancouver. I know, I know, Vancouver in December. We were crazy, right? CANADA + WINTER = COLD. And, and I can’t count how many times we were asked why we didn’t choose some tropical destination. We’re not tropical people, OK!

ANYWAY, we went to Vancouver and it was perfect (and it wasn’t that cold). We flew into Seattle (another place we hadn’t visited before) and spent a day there (doing the usual touristy things like the Space Needle, Pike Place Fish Market, University of Washington, Safeco Field, etc.) before driving up to Vancouver. It was an easy drive and, wow, so beautiful. That part of the country is so gorgeous. We stayed in Vancouver for four days and saw almost all of the sites. One of the many highlights was a day spent at Whistler, although the drive back, down the edge of a mountain with water below, in the blowing snow, aged us about 10 years. We spent lots of time walking in Stanley Park, explored Grouse Mountain, went to the GM Place to see a Vancouver Grizzlies’ basketball game (yeah, remember, before they moved to Memphis) and ate and shopped a ton. Everything was perfect!

We drove back to Seattle on Saturday as we had plans to meet up with one of very best friends, Tim Frank. His Houston Rockets were in town to play the Seattle Supersonics and he got us tickets. Tim was not able to make it to our wedding so this is how he made up for it. And, it was great to see him and fun to see a game at Key Arena.

Early Sunday, we caught a flight back to Detroit where my Mom was waiting for us. We headed back to my parents’ house to open more wedding gifts and try to recover as we both were headed back to work on Tuesday. All in all, it was an amazing time, one of the best – if not THE best vacation we’ve ever taken together. And, I guess that’s what honeymoons are supposed to be!

PS – If we would have had a digital camera at the time, we could have shared some photos. But, all we have are prints and we’re sure all the beauty would be lost in the scanning. Well, OK, here’s ONE!

BS, errrrr BCS

Well, once again, college football (Division 1-A) figured out a way to totally screw up its yearly mythical run for a national championship. In case you missed it, this past weekend former #2 USC lost to cross town rival UCLA. This sent the entire BCS world into utter chaos. Michigan, who was ranked #3, would move up. And, if #4 Florida could keep Arkansas from running one more trick play, it could hold on and win the SEC Championship and move up, too. From the minute USC lost, Kevin and I began thinking there was NO WAY all the pollsters (I use that word loosely – they're really just bitter sportswriters, senile coaches, coaches with grudges and dudes in their underwear sitting in the basement with their computers), would ALLOW Michigan to reach the national championship game and play Ohio State again, this time for the title. And, about 24 hours later, all our suspicions were confirmed. As an end-result, I guess I'm fine with this. It's the PROCESS that is so effed up beyond belief. Yes, Michigan had a chance to take down the Buckeyes on Nov. 18 and pissed it away. Yes, Michigan didn't win its own conference, which I always remember bitching about in the past (see Oklahoma in the 2003 regular season and Nebraska in the 2001 regular season). But, all these things didn't seem to factor into voting and polls and such BEFORE so I'm not sure why Michigan was made to pay the price NOW.

Frankly, I was surprised Michigan didn't drop more after losing to Ohio State. But, I guess a three-point loss in the Horseshoe had gained the Wolverines some respect so they stayed at #2. At USC continued to roll, it was no surprise the Trojans jumped Michigan and I was fine with that. Sitting at #3, Michigan was poised for a Rose Bowl bid but also waiting in the wings in case the unbelievable happened and USC tripped up. After watching the USC game, we flipped over to the Florida game and the amount of campaigning Gary Danielson did throughout the second half was disgusting. And, the minute that god-awful game was over, Florida coach Urban Meyer continued his public lobbying for his Gators to get their shot at Ohio State.

When the "results" came out the next day, via the embarrassing production called the BCS Selection Show, we weren't surprised but were left with many, many questions, thoughts, etc. Here are a few:

1. Why was Michigan ranked higher than Florida most of the season and, then, in the end when it really mattered, the teams were flipped in the rankings? Why was Michigan good enough until it was inconvenient to be good enough?

2. Why didn't the voters drop Michigan after the loss to Ohio State so as not to have to worry about the Wolverines anymore? Why didn't Florida jump Michigan then, you know, since they play in the most criminal, I'm sorry, I mean the toughest conference in America?

3. If Michigan didn't get the nod because it didn't win its own conference, how come both Louisville and Wake Forest weren't ranked ahead of the Wolverines too? They won their conferences and went 11-1 and 11-2, respectively.

4. It's been written that voters didn't want a rematch. And, if that's truly the case, shouldn't that be written into the ever-expanding list of BCS rules so we know what we're dealing with each and every year? Furthermore, why hate on a rematch NOW when it was perfectly fine for Florida to get a second shot at Florida State back in 1996? After #1 Florida lost its regular-season finale to #2 Florida State (by three points in Tallahassee – sound familiar), they were given a second shot in the 1997 Sugar Bowl. In the rematch, Florida won and claimed their first national championship.

5. Why is this sport's national championship based on voting, like say figure skating or gymnastics? And, this voting introduces biases and grudges and lobbying and campaigning – all like an election. At this point, shouldn't we just leave it to the computers? Does Urban Meyer really have to whine and cry and beg for his team to play? Shouldn't Florida's body of work speak for itself? And, why so much criticism of Lloyd Carr for NOT whining and crying and begging for his team to have a shot? I'm stunned since so many reporters and sports writers get on Coach Carr all the time for the whining and crying he does DURING the game.

6. A few years ago, there was an effort to really de-emphasize the strength of schedule factor when calculating the BSC standings. All I've heard about since Saturday at 8 p.m. is how Florida played such a tough schedule. So, strength of schedule must now matter a ton again, especially when pollsters need to come up with a reason to move Florida ahead of Michigan. And, if Ohio State played in the same conference as Michigan, why are the Buckeyes given credit for their schedule and the Wolverines given grief for it? Ohio State played Texas (#2 at the time, #19 now), in Austin, in its big non-conference game and won, 24-7. Michigan played Notre Dame (#3 at the time, #11 now), in South Bend, in its big non-conference game and won, 47-21. The rest of the schedules were pretty much the same with the exception of Ohio State not having to play Wisconsin (who now is ranked #7) during the conference season.

Ugh, there are so many things – I could go on and on. I just wish there was a real system so all this could be handled on the field. And, I'm not going this route because it's my team that got robbed – I've felt this way for a long time. It's just sad that in this day and age, college football can't put together a real system to determine a true national champion.

There is one thing I DO know, I hope Ohio State beats Florida by 10 freakin' touchdowns. Hey, unlike Ron Zook (nice program, by the way), I realize that an Ohio State win will be best for the Big 10 conference and might bring a little more money Michigan's way. In the end, isn't that what college football is all about anyway – money?