A letter to our little boy

Today you turned 2 and further became a big boy. We have said how big you are getting for some time now, but now we can no longer tell people you are a “months” baby (16 months, 18 months, 23 months, etc.). We are so proud of you for how smart you are and how polite you are and how affectionate you are to all members of our family, not to mention most women at Target and the grocery store. You love to read anything and everything and you love everything that flies, especially “helpacas” (helicopters).

Your second birthday pictures show a little scar on your chin from a fall at daycare. You probably didn’t cry, and won’t remember it. But for Mom and Dad, it was a realization that things will happen to you during your life that we can’t prevent. We can only help to soothe you and tell you it will all be OK. We hope you will always come to us for that comfort and reassurance, like you do when you fall and bump your head or scratch your finger. You know we are good for a hug, and you are back in the battle in no time.

Speaking of daycare, like you were at your first daycare center, KidZone, you are a big hit at Annie’s. We always get great reports, and your teachers always tell us that you are so easy-going and well-behaved. You do have occasional mornings when it is tough to say goodbye to Mommy and Daddy, but you are so excited to see us at the end of day. When Daddy picks you up on Tuesdays, you immediately call for two things – helpacas and Mama. So, we pick Mommy up and swing by the hospital to see the twin Survival Flight helicopters. A month or so ago, you hit the jackpot, as one helpaca took off and another landed. These are just a few things that get you excited, right up there with semi trucks, buses (city and Michigan blue), cement mixers, tractors and pretty much anything bigger than an average 4X4. You have a cute, big boy haircut. Mom and Dad were so nervous to get your haircut for the first time. We didn’t want your hair to be too short, but now we get it cut every 5-6 weeks and you have a little burr head. The last few times your Nana has taken you for your haircut and, from what we are told, you were an angel. You were like that the first time we took you; after that, not so much.

We know that all babies are respectful to their grandmas and grandpas and aunts and uncles and cousins, but you are always so good to them, and they love you unconditionally. You call Grandma and Grandpa Saling, Nana and Papa, and Grandma and Grandpa Bergquist, Eema and Eepa. Eepa helped Mommy and Daddy finish their basement. Now, you can’t get enough of it down there. After shimmying down the stairs on your belly, you love to play with your new table and train set and birthday presents. But not far from your mind is your savior right now, Mickey Mouse. Some days you don’t go more than 10 minutes without asking to watch Mickey Moush or Blue book (Blues Clues).

We will wrap this up with a little story that sums up your first two years. While you were shopping today in Kroger with Daddy, you sang your medley of songs, “Ba Ba Black Sheep,” “Itsy Bitsy Spider,” “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” and, finally, “The Victors.” You are so creative and happy and love to sing any chance you get. And, you love to call Mama real loud, even when she is five feet away. You are a dream come true, Harmon. Thank for showing Mommy and Daddy how fantastic being parents can be. We are truly blessed.

Love, Mommy and Daddy

One of those days

It’s Wednesday, which means it’s a long-ass day for me and a fun day for Harmon because he’s with his Nana.

I called her earlier and they were making cookies. I wanted to cry.

Every once in a while, I have one of those days when I so wish I was a stay-at-home Mom. I envision a cold winter day and me and Harmon all warm inside making Christmas cookies. We have dinner ready for when Kevin comes home and Harmon is so excited to see him and …

And, back to the real world. I’m sure work isn’t helping today either as I have so much crap work to do. Things like mailings and gathering/setting up materials for an event this weekend – things that TRULY require my MBA skills (ha, ha).

Speaking of skills, maybe I revisit the textbook from my MBA statistics class and figure out my chances at winning the lottery to make my vision a reality. Dare to dream.

Toddler Speak

Each day, Harmon (who I'm sure was in the middle of saying something dramatic in this photo at left) adds so much to his language skills and, in doing so, he’s really funny.

On the way back from his birthday dinner at Pizza House, I was telling my sister, Erin, about the Pumpkin Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. I told her it was like pumpkin pie on steroids and Harmon piped in with the following:

Pumpkin pie, pumpkin patch, pumpkin pancakes

Because he said it all in one breath, he was totally out of breath by the time he got to pancakes and it was hilarious.

We’ve still never been able to figure out who “Dee Dee” is and now it’s even worse. He’ll say “Let’s go, Dee Dee,” which will prompt us to ask who “Dee Dee” is. He then goes on with “Let’s Go Doh Doh,” “Let’s Go, Day Day,” and, finally, “Let’s Go, Cheese.”

WTF!

He sings all the songs from the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and loves Choo-Choo Soul. He also can’t get enough of the Frog Dance (which they just pulled from YouTube – oh the devastation), not to mention he sings much clearer versions of "Hail to the Victors" - complete with the hand motions - and "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."

He’s also doing very well with the sentences. After opening presents in our new basement on Sunday night, he wanted to go down there again last night. He grabbed my hand and said, “Mama downstairs presents.”

Kevin noted that for the first time he feels like he really can have a conversation with him. Harmon and I called Kevin at work last Friday and they had a big chat about what he was doing, what he wanted to watch on the computer, what he had for lunch, etc.

Although I really, really miss my little baby Harmon, it’s so fun to see him growing up and expressing himself. Fun except for when we say something we shouldn’t and he repeats it – YIKES!

HALLOWEEN NIGHT!

As Harmon has been saying for the last few hours, it’s HALLOWEEN NIGHT! Harmon had his second run at the whole trick or treat thing and he did a fantastic job. He said “trick or treat” or “chocolate” at every house and then followed with a “thank you” and, instead of “Happy Halloween,” he chose to yell “Halloween Night” to each person dishing out the goods. He collected quite the loot and even got to enjoy some mini M&Ms, which I think might explain why he’s still not asleep.

He was a koala this year. It wasn’t my first choice (I wanted a frog costume but it was sold out by mid-September – what the hell) but it was very, very cute. He had a little koala in his pouch that he just had to share his chocolate with – so very polite!

He actually debuted his costume at the Halloween in Greenfield Village event we attended on Oct. 21. The three of us went, along with my parents and my sisters, and we all had a great time so I think we’ll go back again next year.

All in all, it’s been a great Halloween season!

A taste of his own medicine … kind of

Harmon woke up this morning IN LOVE with his snow leopard. He snuggled him in his crib, brought him along when it was time to get ready for the day and even took him to his high chair for breakfast. And, when Kevin got ready to head out for the usual Monday errands (today, we got new tires for the Liberty), Harmon wanted to bring along his snow leopard. As they were waiting for the tire job to finish up, they went for a walk and Kevin noticed Harmon fretting a bit. Evidently, he was trying to feed his snow leopard some of his raisins and was sad that he wouldn’t eat them. Kevin asked him what was wrong and asked if his snow leopard was eating and Harmon said “NO!” I guess maybe he now knows he we feel when he won’t eat his damn food!

A few other quick things. On the same trip, Kevin and Harmon were in Walgreen’s and Harmon heard a Michael McDonald song playing over the sound system and yelled ROCK. Um, no! To redeem himself, however, when Harmon sees my new Springsteen CD sitting around, he yells “The Boss!” Unfortunately, Kevin also taught him to say “mullet” when seeing that same CD. I guess Bruce could use a bit of a trim – his hair looks like a rat’s nest!

OK, more updates later on things like Halloween at Greenfield Village, Halloween (in general), toddler speak and my first real stint as a single parent (which was much better than I thought it would be).

Tuesday talk

On Tuesdays, Kevin and Harmon drop me off at work first. As we near the medical campus, Harmon starts yelling “HELPACAS” from the back seat. He knows we’re near the U-M Survival Flight helipad and he also knows that we’ll go see those helicopters on our way home. The second we turn onto Wall Street, where my building is located, he starts his goodbyes, telling me things like “bye, bye, Mama” and “Mama working.” Of course, after they drop me off, he continues to be a jabber box in the car and, depending on his mood, it’s either “friends, friends” or “no, no, no friends” on his way to day care! My FAVORITE part of Tuesday, though, is at the end of my work day. Kevin picks up Harmon and then comes to get me. As I leave my building, Kevin rolls down all the car windows so I can hear Harmon just yelling “MAMA” across the entire parking lot. After his yells of “Mama,” there usually is a round of belly laughter that I just can’t get enough of. It’s such a great way to let work melt away and dive back into being a Mommy!

Go play intramurals, brother!

This is my favorite coaching rant OF ALL TIME! Colorado coach Dan Hawkins just loses it!



It's even better because when we say it around the house, Harmon finishes it for us.

We'll say, "It's Division 1" and he'll say "football!"

We'll say, "It's the Big" and he'll say "12!"

We'll say "It ain't" and he'll say "intramurals!"

Finally, we'll finish up with "Go play intramurals" and he'll say "brother!"

What a great freakin' kid we have!

Ohhhhh, pumpkins!

By the time we got around to searching for a pumpkin last year, there were about two left in the pumpkin patch. So, this year, we vowed to go earlier and did so Sunday.

Even though Harmon was a bit under the weather, we made our way to Three Cedars Farm in Northville and had a great time. The first thing we did was get cider and donuts and both were excellent. Harmon didn’t like either so that left more for me and Kevin (luckily we had starved ourselves all day in anticipation). After our snack, we took a tractor/hay ride (or, as Harmon says, bumpy tractor ride) out to the pumpkin patch. As an aside, there was a HUGE corn maze there too but we decided not to push it with Harmon (we might go back later this fall). We wandered the field for a while looking for a nice pumpkin and finally found one. This search ended so much better than last year! We then took the tractor/hay ride back to the main farm area where we took some pictures of Harmon on an older tractor. He just loves those things (he is all boy)!

I think Harmon might have had a little more fun if he felt better but maybe we’ll go back. If we don’t get back there during the fall, we learned they also are open during the Christmas season!

23 months

This is pretty much the last time I can say Harmon is (fill in the blank) months old. Once he hits two next month, he’ll just be two … until he is three. It seems like just yesterday he wasn’t even one month old – time truly does fly when you’re having fun.

The last few months have been so amazing; mostly because of how Harmon's communications skills have continued to grow. He tells us what he wants (or doesn’t want) and, for the most part, we can understand him. Lately, if you ask him where something is, he will yell out “RIGHT THERE!” Ahh, yes, the yelling. It doesn’t go over so well in church so we’re trying to work through the whole inside-outside voice thing.

We decorated our house for fall a few weeks ago and, since then, he’s been obsessed with our pumpkin lights. We have lawn stake pumpkin lights in the front yard and he loves them. He needs to go count them every time we get home and he loves to tell everyone in the neighborhood all about them (yelling PUNKIN LIGHTS) when we’re out walking at night.

In addition to the pumpkin lights, he’s also obsessed with cars lately. We bought him a set of four small cars a few weeks ago and he can’t get enough. He runs them all over the house and then lines them up perfectly when he’s done. He also pulled some of his older cars from his toy box so now there are cars everywhere!

He still loves his stuffed animals, especially his sea otter (above), and his love of reading is as strong as ever. Instead of getting a lot of toys, we usually get him books. I don’t think we can enter a bookstore without exiting with a book. And, because of this, he can practically read his books to us. His language is amazing – he knows so many words and numbers and can put so much together. I hope this continues!

Although he’s never been much for TV, he has a couple of favorite shows that he’s really into lately. He loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Blue’s Clues and those are shows we actually can stomach. I guess we don’t mind them because they DO have some educational value. He goes crazy for all the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse music (especially the hot dog dance) and he can’t see a paw print without saying “a clue, a clue!” The other two shoes he used to like – Wonder Pets and the Backyardigans – have sort of fallen off his radar and that’s just fine. As Kevin says, we don’t want him turning into a “vidiot!”

Now that the Tigers’ season is over, we’re not watching much baseball so I hope he remembers it come spring. In place of baseball, he’s taken a liking to “Dancing with the Stars.” He’ll yell “dance, dance” and go to a spot in front of Isabel’s cage – a spot that isn’t carpeted – and dance up a storm on the hardwood floor. Although it will embarrass him a ton when he’s older, I must note how he also loves to dance to “I Feel for You” by Chaka Khan!

Other than all this, things are going very well. He’s doing awesome in his new class at day care and is back to using the potty (after taking a break for a week - I have no idea why). I honestly don't have a clue when he'll be fully potty trained but we’re going to spend a lot of time on it over the Christmas break. We don’t have much planned for his second birthday – just a family party – but it will be fun and I'm sure he'll continue to get spoiled. And, here’s hoping his twos won’t be so terrible!

What's wrong with this picture?

Seriously, what's wrong? Look closely.

Magic

This past Tuesday, Bruce Springsteen’s newest CD, Magic, was released. After reading a ton of awesome reviews, I was so excited to get it and it definitely was worth the wait. Since getting it Tuesday night (Kevin spent his lunch at Borders getting it for me), I have been listening to it on a loop. Whether I am at work, at home, in the car or listening to my iPod, it is playing and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! It’s awesome because it is such a great mixture of his sound over the years and, quite simply, it ROCKS. At this very moment, my favorite tracks are I’ll Work for Your Love and Livin’ in the Future. Since I can’t make it to his concert on Nov. 4, I’m hoping the tour will go well and he will come back to Detroit. It’s happened before so maybe it will happen again. At 58, you never know when it might be the end for the Boss!

First school photos

Two weeks ago, Harmon had his first school photos taken. His day care hires a photographer to come out twice a year to get photos of the kids. While I'm sure it's not easy to corral 70 kids under the age of five AND get them to sit still for a photo (getting them to smile is a bonus), I have a sneaky suspicion they get paid pretty well. Maybe I suspect that because I had to pay $60 for four sheets of photos! These people have a good gig going, they know parents can't resist photos of their kids so they just fork over the cash without even thinking about it.

Anyway, here are the photos (they are scanned so the quality sucks). I think they turned out OK, although I will dress Harmon in something different next year. I wasn't sure how this whole thing worked (rookie) so I just sent him in a polo shirt and shorts (nice denim shorts, dude). I didn't want to let him wear (and subsequently ruin) anything really nice and I didn't want to saddle the teachers with having to change his clothes so we just went with the casual look. Plus, Aunt Stacey is taking his two-year photos in a few weeks so we'll rock the more formal look then.

Out of the mouths of babes

Harmon took the next step to becoming a little boy when we bought him a set of four trucks. They are a little bigger than Matchbox cars, so he can't eat them, but small enough to race around on every surface. This includes the box from our new TV, which, despite being in the same room with at least 50 others toys, is his favorite. Harmon is really good at identifying all of his toys, stuffed animals, family members, etc. When we asked him about his four new trucks, he calls the fire truck, appropriately, "fire fruck." The train is "choo-coo frain." There is another truck which hauls two small, white cannisters. This is his "milk fruck." To us, the real mystery was, what would he call the fourth truck? It is pretty nondescript. It is not a dump truck, nor does it haul anything. But it does have a yellow hood. So, we asked Harmon what this truck was, and he amazed us with ... "yellow fruck." Don't babies just make it simple sometimes?

Harmon Spencer-san

You're alright, Aunt Stacey!

Let’s Dance

It’s a dreary Monday, all wet and fall-like outside. As I’ve said a million times, Mondays are hard for me as I have to leave cuddly little Harmon and work in the afternoon. Usually, I perk up on my drive in because I get to listen to the Jim Rome Show but, since the NFL season has started, WDFN cuts away to the weekly Lions’ press conference where the cornbread is dished out while it’s nice and hot. Since I am not a Lions’ fan (or shall I say sheep), I usually seek alternate programming during this time but it’s a struggle. I struggled again today and as I fumbled through my presets, I accidentally hit CD. Let’s back up a bit. We drive my ’98 Wrangler on Mondays (the newer car stays with the kid) and I can’t remember the last time I even HAD a CD in that vehicle. So, imagine my surprise when a CD (I have NO idea whose CD) actually starts playing AND starts playing “Let’s Dance” by David Bowie. God, I totally love that song! What a pick me up to my rainy Monday!

No October

As I type this, it’s Sunday, Sept. 30 and, unlike last year, I am facing an October without my beloved Detroit Tigers. As I watched Jason Grilli (of all people) strike out Chicago’s Toby Hall to end today’s game (and season), I cried. It’s been a long time since baseball meant anything to anyone around here – an entire generation of kids had no clue what Tigers’ baseball was – so to see another good season end was sad for me.

Now, I could be a pissed off Tigers’ fan because they failed to accomplish what they should have accomplished but I’ve thought a lot about it over the last month and I’m not going to be. If the 2007 season would have happened last year, the entire state would have been going bananas. For a team that was terrible for years to be playing meaningful baseball into mid-September would have been amazing. But, we all were surprised by the march to the World Series in 2006 so, naturally, 2007 was a letdown. Although injuries played a part, there are many other reasons the 2007 team isn’t in the playoffs. They couldn’t get the big hit when they needed it, they got outscored in late innings, they couldn’t get good hitting and good starting pitching at the same time and, when they did, the bullpen came in and lit the entire infield on fire. I could go on and on but I want to focus on the good because, for so many years, there simply wasn’t ANYTHING good to focus on.

Congrats to Magglio Ordonez for winning the AL batting title; to Carlos Guillen for his 102 RBI season; and to Curtis Granderson for his .302 average and his amazing accomplishment of being the first player since Willie Mays to hit 20 home runs, doubles and triples and steal 20 bases. Congrats to Placido Polanco for smacking 200 hits (with a third-place .341 average) and for finishing the entire season without an error at second base.

There are other accomplishments and so many wonderful memories from this season and I don’t think it will sink in that it’s all over until I come home from work tomorrow. Almost every night (and day) since April, I’ve had Rod Allen and Mario Impemba on the tube or Dan Dickerson and Jim Price on the airwaves bringing me Tigers’ baseball. It will be weird not to have that this week and for the next five months.

Thanks so much for a great season, Detroit Tigers! You brought baseball back to the Motor City and I, for one, cannot wait until 2008. Only 152 days to go – Spring Training starts Feb. 27.

To close, I love this quote from Rogers Hornsby:

"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.”

Chocolate

My parents and sister, Erin, were here recently to watch Harmon while Kevin and I went to a U-M football game. While we were gone, Harmon saw Erin eating M&Ms and asked to try one. Usually, when you give Harmon chocolate (or sweets of any kind) he ends up spitting it out. But, this time, he kept it in his mouth … and liked it.

Not that we want him to eat chocolate all the time but we’ve tried several different things (chocolate basically is a food group in the Bergquist house) and he never has taken to any of them. Not cookies, muffins, brownies, candy, cake or anything else. He DID eat a piece of fudge when we were in Traverse City in July, which was a shocker! Just ONE, TINY piece, though!

So, when he ate the M&M, we thought it would be a one-time thing. Not so much. Now, he says “chocolate” a ton and anytime we say “Erin,” he responds with “chocolate.” Erin came over tonight and the first thing he said when she came through the door was “chocolate!” The best thing about this is the WAY he says chocolate. He says it with a French accent, perfectly annunciating every syllable, which is hilarious!

Although I LOVE chocolate, I surprisingly didn’t like it at all while I was pregnant so maybe that explains it. And, like I said, it’s not like we’re begging him to eat chocolate and then allowing him to get his own M&Ms or Fritos out of the pantry. He’s an excellent eater (a healthy one too) and we’re hoping to keep it that way, with maybe an M&M or two every once in a while!

Sacrifices

We know that both sets of parents made sacrifices for us from the day we were born. And while this is a very small and seemingly insignificant one for us, it does show how your thinking changes when you become a parent.

As I type this, tickets are on sale for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at the Palace in November. Besides it being on a Monday night, and good tickets being $89 before Ticketmaster comes blasting in with surcharges and delivery fees, the timing is just not right this time around. Normally this is a no-brainer for Aimee, right up there with Tigers Opening Day (except for this year; cut it out 2007), Michigan football and the first night of any Will Ferrell or Vince Vaughn movie. We are finishing our basement right now, and that has been expensive, especially the past three weeks, but this is also about Harmon (in a good way).

Any time we plan something or go to buy something, we always think of our little buddy. For example, the day after the concert is a daycare day for him. Plus, the fact that we would have to drive home in the wee hours of the morning is not fair to his sleep. It is amazing as a parent to feel so strongly about your children and make sure they have all that they need and are not hungry, cold or sad.

Aimee is such a great Mom at this. Aside from my behavior in buying our new TV, I can be impulsive at times. My gut would be to buy the tickets and then figure out later who is going and how it is going to work out. Aimee is always thinking about what is best for Harmon. When she goes to the mall with him, who gets something? Very rarely her. It is usually Harmon, who also scores when Nana goes shopping and Grandma and Grandpa come to visit.

As I said in the beginning, I know this is a small thing, but Aimee has such natural instincts as a good Mom and Harmon is turning out to be a great son because of it. Maybe next time, Bruce.

Unexpected nap

OK, enough ogling of Russell Crowe! Let’s get back to it. As many of you know, Kevin and I split our Mondays – he works the early shift (7 a.m. – noon) and I work the late shift (12:30-5:30 p.m.). So, Mondays are always a little hard for me as I have to leave Harmon after spending a few fun hours with him in the morning. And, yesterday, he made it even harder.

It’s been a while since he’s taken a nap with us (at LEAST six months). We try every couple of weeks to get him to take a family nap but he wants none of it. Yesterday, though, after we had breakfast and played for hours, I got him all changed and dressed and asked him if he wanted to take a nap with me. He said yes but he’s said yes before so I was skeptical! We got all snuggled up together under the covers and he got comfortable on his Daddy’s pillow and then was snoring within minutes. Initially, I was afraid to open my eyes and look at him as he sometimes has this open-eyed, staring-off-into-space-but-still-awake look but he was dead asleep.

Of course, I wasn’t able to nap with him long as I had to get ready for damn work. So, I moved him into his bed and he took a nice, long nap. I was so sad that I couldn’t enjoy it more. Why a Monday and not a Friday or the weekend? Who knows when he’ll take a break from his busy toddler life to take another nap with us? Everything just goes by way too fast!

A sight to see

After two straight crushing, embarrassing defeats at Michigan Stadium, finally something good happened on the Michigan sideline on Saturday:


Ahh, yes, that would be THE Russell Crowe. He and Coach Carr became fast friends in the off-season and he graced Michigan Stadium with his presence on Saturday. I can't believe Russell freakin' Crowe was in my town! I love him (not to mention he's a tremendous actor and SO should have TWO Academy Awards - damn Denzel and that stupid Training Day movie). And, he's in my five. GOD!

Oh yeah, the game. Anyway, we crushed Notre Dame AGAIN, 38-0. I could get used to these yearly beatings. Granted they are a god-awful football team so Saturday's game was in no means a measuring stick for where we are at this point. No matter what, though, it's always fun to beat up on the Irish and their a-hole QBs (Quinn and Clausen). Guess it will be at least ANOTHER year before we hear from our ND friends.

The big 22

Any time someone has asked us how old Harmon is, it was fun to have answered eight months, 14 months, 16 months, etc. But, now he is closing in on the end of his "months" ages. Pretty soon, he will be our big 2-year-old boy. And, as he turns 22 months old today, he is growing up every minute of every hour of every day. He continues to amaze us every day with his intellect and his love for everyone (except, again, Mr. G). Here are some things he has been doing:

1. He is in love with his stuffed animals lately. His two favorite animals right now are a snow leopard he got when we went to the zoo two weeks ago, and a sea otter that Aunt Stacey got him in San Francisco.

2. He has always loved to have us read books to him, but now he is repeating words and lines back to us. It won't be too long before he is reading books to us. One of his favorite places to do this is on his potty chair. In the course of the rest of his chatter, he will say, "potty, potty" and off we go to his chair. He has gone several times for us, with a few false alarms.

3. The boy loves to count. He had become very proficient in counting to 13, but now he is going all the way up to 20. Tonight at dinner, he just kept going: 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20.

4. He does more than count numbers. He is getting more conversational every day. When we ask him if he wants something, instead of laughing or grunting, he now says, "yeah." Conversely, he has always been good at saying, "no." Dada has become "Daddy" of late, and last night he got to talk to his godfather, "Uncle Steve." He knows all of his aunts and uncle by name, but we still don't know who "Dee-dee" is.

We know it is still two months until he reaches those "terrible twos," but we don't think Harmon has it in his nature to be a bad boy. Sure, he disobeys sometimes and can be trouble at the dinner table, but he has been such a joy to watch grow up. As any parent knows, it is growing up.

Love you, little man.

Bergquist quote bag

When Kevin worked at the University Record, he and his co-workers used to keep a quote bag or sorts and they would re-visit them a few times a year for a good laugh. He’s suggested doing this at home so I finally got with it. Here are a few and we’ll see if we can keep this up.

1. Recently, Harmon said “hey, baby” to a cashier at Hiller’s and to one of the student helpers at day care. They both thought it was so cute!

2. Kevin used to work in a restaurant during his summers in Minnesota and the bus boys would yell “hot butter, gotta’ go” as they were clearing the candle-heated butter dishes that were used for the lobster. When we were out running errands on Saturday, Kevin taught Harmon to say, “hot butter, gotta’ go” and now he can’t get enough of it.

3. Kevin and I were watching VH1 the other day and a commercial for the Scott Baio show came on. If you’re not familiar, the show is called “Scott Baio is 45 … and Single.” Kevin suggested a new and improved title, to better reflect the star of the show – “Scott Baio is 45 … and a Tool!”

These next four are all Detroit Tigers’ related (what a surprise):

4. There was a quick shot of Pudge in the dugout and Kevin asked “is Pudge practicing his strikeout swing?’ All too appropriate this season!

5. The great Tigers’ TV analyst Rod Allen was commenting on Ramon Santiago’s fielding skills, calling him a vacuum cleaner. I replied with “yeah, and he bats a buck fifty!”

6. Kevin and I were discussing the recent demotions and promotions of pitcher Zach Miner. Kevin said I’m sure he’s thinking “I’m not your yo-yo!”

7. When discussing my favorite Tigers’ pitcher Jordan Tata, I mentioned that he’s from Texas. Kevin replied with “he’s from Texas, I wonder if he’s a prick?”

Wow, Coach, these are some IMPRESSIVE numbers!

Today’s U-M football game was filled with all kinds of record-breaking performances. Unfortunately, they all were BAD records. These are just a few to digest although I’m sure more will come out after the record books are inspected overnight. What can I say, I am SO proud!

1. Michigan’s 39-7 loss to Oregon was the worst since losing 50-14 to Ohio State in 1968 – the season before Bo Schembechler came to Ann Arbor.

2. Speaking of Bo, Michigan hasn’t won a game since he died the day before the Ohio State game last year.

3. Oregon rolled up 624 yards, the second-highest total by a Michigan opponent in its 128 years of football. The most was to Northwestern (654 yards) in 2000. While letting Oregon score at will, Michigan scored the fewest points in a game since a 9-3 loss to Purdue in 1996.

4. The last time Michigan started a season with two losses was in 1998 (with losses at Notre Dame and at home to Syracuse). The last time Michigan started a season with two losses AT HOME was 1959 (to Missouri and Michigan State).

5. This is the first time Michigan has suffered four straight losses since 1967.

You know, Coach Carr could have walked away a few years ago as a freakin’ hero. With his career record and his National Championship, not to mention all the things he does off the field, he could have ridden off into the sunset. He probably even could have had the new football building named after him. But, he insisted on sticking around way too long and now his legacy will be this 2007 season – YIKES. I feel bad for the seniors, like Henne, Hart and Long, who stuck around Ann Arbor for a chance at a National Championship. I also feel really bad for the U-M students who are having their college years ruined by 1902-style football.

I don’t even know what more to say. I am completely and totally embarrassed but I can’t say I didn’t see this coming. I think many people who have been critical of the program over the last few years aren’t surprised by this. We are disappointed but not surprised. As Kevin and I said today as we left in disgust during the third quarter, if we knew a change would come after going 4-8 or 5-7, I think most people would suck it up and endure. But, we don’t know and that’s what’s scary. I’m scared to think what kind of damage this is doing to Michigan football.

OK, on to humor (it’s how I deal, OK)! I read this on the U-M mlive.com forum a bit ago and died. Michigan Stadium is the hole that Yost dug, Canham carpeted, Schembechler filled and CARR DESTROYED.

And, this is something I said a few years ago (similar to Steve Spurrier’s “you can’t spell Citrus without UT” blast): You can’t spell underachievement without U-M!

Quick note: Thanks so much to my Detroit Tigers for once again pulling out a victory on a Saturday night after Michigan football completely ruined my Saturday afternoon.

Not in the job description

A lot of people are clamoring for LSU coach Les Miles to become the next coach at Michigan. There are many who object to that, in part because he is a little more vocal than what our fans are used to, and he once had the nerve to swear during a press conference. To that, Aimee replied:

"I don't care if he says f-ity, f, f, f throughout every Monday press conference, as long as he wins games."

'Nuff said.

Special Comment

I try not to let myself get too into politics these days. This administration has been such a disaster from the beginning that if I DO get into it, it’s really hard to get away from it. It’s so enraging that it just starts to take over. But, hey, at least I didn’t vote for him and thus can sleep at night.

One show Kevin and I do watch is Countdown with Keith Olbermann. Maybe it’s his SportsCenter history that drew us in but he’s great to watch and much more intelligent (and funny) than doing NFL highlights required him to be.

Last night, he had an extra special “Special Comment” and it’s something everyone should see:



If you would rather read the transcript, click here.

On a lighter note, I offer a compilation of Letterman’s Great Moments in Presidential Speeches. And, my all-time favorite! I think I say “internets” at least five times a day!

Going with the flow

Harmon graduated this morning upon his return to daycare. Our big boy went from a Grasshopper to a Butterfly, as did all of the older toddler group. It was not a seismic shift, just a new room, and he stays with all of his old friends from the Grasshopper Room. We weren't sure what to feel, or how he was going to react, but he was his normal happy self. He was a little apprehensive when he went into his old room (all of the kids get dropped off in one room and spread out from there) and there were new, younger kids there, but then he saw his new teacher, Deborah (she actually is moving with the toddler group to the Butterfly Room) and she gave him a big hug. So, as with most things, Mom and Dad worry for no reason. Harmon loves everyone (except maybe, Mr. G), and while he still has an occasional rough morning, just goes with the flow. Of course, butterflies do have wings, which is appropriate because every day he is learning to fly (like Tom Petty).

That Dog Won’t Hunt

These exact words were used by Jim Rome to describe Lloyd Carr after yet another crushing Michigan football defeat last season. Basically, the gist of Rome’s segment was to point out that he’s never going to change, no matter what. And, if that isn’t obvious to the world after Saturday’s debacle, I don’t know what it’s going to take to make everyone in the Michigan family see it.

It’s interesting, leading up to Saturday’s game, there was all kinds of talk in the media about what Carr’s legacy would be. Well, he defined his legacy by coaching (I use that word loosely) his team to the biggest defeat in college football history. No matter what the team does the rest of the season, this will never go away! We’ll always be the #1 seed that finally lost to the #16 seed.

There are NO excuses for what happened Saturday. Being in the stands, I saw a team that was unmotivated and unprepared. I saw a team that was completely predictable and this was confirmed by the entire Appalachian State team in the post-game interviews. But, a complete lack of imagination and an inability to adjust, not to mention the failure to ever go for the throat or play to an opponent’s weakness is what most of us fans have seen for years now. I can’t say what happened on Saturday is a complete shock because it’s seems we’ve been building up to this (or should I say deteriorating to this) since our national championship season in 1997.

The ’97 season was magical, due mostly to Charles Woodson. As is typical, we did just enough to get by offensively, always waiting for Woodson to make a difference. I sometimes think if 1997 hadn’t happened, maybe Carr would have been gone a long time ago. But, half a national championship buys you lifetime job security in Ann Arbor and allows you to do whatever you want. For example, he hired back his friend and crony (Mike DeBord) to handle the offense after he did such a bang-up job (12-34 over four years) at his previous school (Central Michigan of the high-powered MAC). Sounds like a great hire and, better yet, a great candidate for the future head coaching job at Michigan (especially if Carr has anything to do with it)! He absolutely refuses to put any thought into special teams, which is evident in how many issues we’ve had over the years. There is no individual coach who handles special teams, like at most schools. It’s coaching by committee at Michigan, which always makes for great execution like getting two field goals blocked on Saturday. He also loves his seniors, always choosing seniority over talent, unless his seniors are maimed on the field and underclassmen have to play by default. If it wasn’t for injuries to starters, who knows when Chad Henne or Mike Hart might have made their Wolverine debut! On Saturday, a walk-on, senior kicker was on the field kicking field goals with his eyes closed (I saw this photo on Saturday and now I can’t find it) while a SCHOLARSHIP kicker sat the bench. I could go on and on but it will just piss me off more and more.

For the first time since 1979, we have a three-game losing streak. Of course, our obligatory losses to Ohio State and our bowl opponent du jour along with the Appalachian State disaster. At this point, Michigan football is known for the following things: losing that big game early; losing another crap game during the season that we shouldn’t; losing to Ohio State; losing in the bowl game; and now losing to Appalachian State in the biggest upset in the history of college football.

No matter what we do the rest of the way, it won’t matter. The season is over and we’re the laughingstock of college football – and will be for years to come! Of course, the rallying cry in the locker room after the game was as follows: we still have a lot to play for; we still have a Big Ten championship to win. To that I say, who the eff cares! It’s not just about Big Ten titles and Rose Bowls anymore. The game has changed and the stakes are higher and, unfortunately for Michigan football, its leader has been passed by.

I’ve met Carr on several occasions and I know he’s a nice guy. He’s a great speaker and he does many, many nice things for the community. And, the Carr apologists out there love to say that “he runs a clean program and he has good kids” but that’s not so much the case anymore with our academic standards in question and players in trouble left and right.

If this awful, embarrassing, devastating loss is a catalyst for change, I could concede that MAYBE, just maybe, it’s a blessing in disguise. But, I think I know better. Carr will leave when he wants and most likely will have a big say in the selection of his successor. In spite of Carr, Michigan football has been able to sustain itself but how much longer can we survive the slow deterioration that most people can see so clearly? I hope Bill Martin has an answer to this question!

Appalachian State 34, Michigan 32

Yeah, pretty much speechless about this.

I'm sure we'll have more to say once we're off suicide watch.

Can't get it out of my head!

I think my favorite part is the crying vegetables!

This is from the new Nick Jr. show called Yo Gabba Gabba!

Good Lord! What has happened to me?

On this day …

… 37 years ago, Kevin was born. He was due in October but apparently was anxious to get into this world so he made his appearance a little early. He was just a little guy when he was born but you wouldn’t know it by looking at him now! He has grown into a fine man – the best husband I could ask for and the best father Harmon (and Isabel) could ask for. He does it all, each and every day, and even though we tell him all the time, we’ll tell him again. We love you so much and truly appreciate all that you do for us – big and small!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Potty Wednesdays

As I documented at the beginning of the month, Harmon has started to use the potty a little bit. Although he has gone once for Kevin (he hasn’t gone for me at all yet), he seems to do it every Wednesday when my Mom is here. I don’t know what it is about her but, when she’s here, he asks to use the potty. I don’t really care who he goes for as long as he has an interest in going. I know it will be a long process but at least there is some potty progress!

Spot Takes the Plunge

Harmon has loved his baths lately. While we’re out walking, he’ll start asking for bubbles and then care barely wait until we get home. Kevin will start his bath water and Harmon will run back and forth between the living room and the bathroom getting various toys to throw in the tub. Usually, it’s just balls but, last week, he threw his “Spot Goes to School” book in there! It took us a while to notice so Spot took a hit. We thought about just putting Spot down but then I felt guilty and spent the next half hour blow drying it. Of course, he wanted to read it before bed that very night and we had to tell him Spot was on the 15-day DL. We tried to explain that books don’t go in the tub but realized there was a serious flaw in our logic since he’s had Bobalong Whale with him in the tub for about a year now. Guess we’ll just have to make sure no more books take the plunge!

As a side note, we wouldn’t have minded if all three of his Spot books went into the tub and immediately disintegrated. Harmon’s Grandma (or “eema,” as he says) got him "Where’s Spot?" earlier this year and he LOVED it! He loved it SO MUCH that we ended up reading it about 15,000 TIMES EACH DAY. The next time she visited, she brought him “Spot Goes to the Farm” and we were happy that we could read a DIFFERENT Spot book. We then bought him “Spot Goes to School,” mostly because he saw it at Borders, begged for it and didn’t want to let it go, even when we were checking out. We like little Spot just fine – he’s cute and goes on many adventures. But, because of the sheer repetition, we’re hoping one day to discover “Spot Meets a Goodyear” on the shelves at Borders!

Back it up!

There’s one Harmon quirk that I love but I don’t think I’ve ever written about on the blog. He did it a ton yesterday so that reminded me to document it before it slipped my mind AGAIN.

When he wants you to read to him (which is, pretty much, all the time), he’ll go get his books of choice and, if you’re sitting on the floor, he’ll back up into you until he falls in your lap. It’s funny to see this little butt keep backing up and backing up and then he practically trips over your legs and falls into your lap. It shows incredible trust on his part, knowing that we’re going to be there to catch him. It’s like those team building exercises (I think they’re called trust falls) that co-workers do at their company retreats but MUCH, MUCH cuter!

How Saturdays used to be

With the college football season fast approaching, Kevin and I have been thinking about how Saturdays used to be before Harmon’s arrival. Our best memories were Saturdays when Michigan would play on the road. We would wake up just in time to watch Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit make their predictions on ESPN’s College GameDay and then catch the Michigan kick-off at noon. At halftime, Kevin would venture out to get pizza (usually from Papa Romano’s – yum) and then we would eat and watch college football ALL DAY LONG – well past midnight when the West Coast games finally wrapped up.

Although Harmon lets us watch a ton of football (definitely more than we thought), we can’t quite do Saturdays the same way we used to. Maybe as Harmon gets older and grows to love college football, we can return to those old Saturdays!

Rock, G!

Every other Thursday, Harmon's day care has Mr. G, a local musician, come in to entertain the kids. They all get together to sing and dance and Mr. G takes requests (which apparently Harmon makes quite often). Per the teachers, the first couple of times the new kids experience music time with Mr. G can be a little scary. He comes blasting in with his guitar all loud and crazy and the kids freak out. At Harmon's first music time with Mr. G, he got scared and started to cry. He then walked up to him and told him to go "bye bye!" Hilarious!

But now, Harmon is down with Mr. G and I always can tell when it's a Mr. G. Thursday because he sings all the way home. Since Harmon likes to say "rock" whenever he hears a good song come on the radio, we've been trying to get him to tell Mr. G to "rock!" It always comes out "Rock, G!"

Speaking of rocking, check this out! Awesome! There can never be enough Bruce!

Car knowledge

When we're out and about, Kevin often quizzes me about the other cars on the road and, more often than not, I fare very well in these quizzes. He seems surprised with my car knowledge until I remind him that I SHOULD know a thing or two about a thing or two since I was born and raised in the automotive capital of the world! I honestly just think it happens through osmosis around here.

Anyway, I think I passed on my car knowledge to Harmon. Not only does he love cars (and feels the need to point to and tell us about every car on the road), he already can ID at least two of them. A couple of weeks ago, he and my Mom were at one of the parks near our house. Usually, we don't drive home past this park but, on this day, we did. Unbeknownst to us, Harmon started yelling "Mama" and "Dada" as we drove by. We turned into our neighborhood and saw my Mom's car in the parking lot so we stopped to meet up with them. My Mom didn't see us drive by or pull into the parking lot and was wondering why Harmon was making such a fuss. She then realized that HE must have seen us. We thought, yeah, sure but then he did something similar Sunday night when we were out for our nightly walk.

We were walking through a ton of cars in the condo community near us and passed by a black and grey Honda Element. The second he saw it, he started yelling "Nana" and "Papa!" So, maybe he DID see our Jeep Liberty and know it was us back in the park that day!

21 months

Harmon is 21 months old today. I had a hard time coming up with new things to write about so Kevin and I had to brainstorm. We thought, jeez, he hasn’t done a ton of new blog-worthy things lately but, after thinking about it, he really has. So, following (in no particular order at all) is what Harmon’s been up to since his 20-month update:

He loves the clocks in our house and whenever they chime, he runs around saying “ding, dong, ding, dong, ding, dong, ding, dong” in tune.

He’s still talking a ton and repeating everything (we have to be SO careful). He says truck but puts an “f” in place of the “tr,” so that’s always fun. He also says clock (especially when it chimes, see above) but conveniently forgets the “l.” He is speaking in simple sentences and still is saying new words every day. Lately, he loves to say “hey, baby!”

When he falls down, which seems to be all the time, he comes running to us doing this fake-cry thing to get a sympathy hug. Once he gets that hug, he’s back at it. Also, if he wants you to go somewhere with him, he’ll walk up to you, say “hand, hand,” grab your hand and lead you where he wants you to go!

We’ve really worked hard lately on colors. His Legos (or noo-noos, as he calls them) come in red, yellow, blue, green, orange and purple so he knows those colors pretty well. It’s the cutest thing to hear him say orange. He’s also been interested in his numbers over the past couple of weeks and he can count to 13. I don’t know why 13, but he loves 13!

Before bed (or before one of us leaves), Harmon gives a hug, a regular kiss and an Eskimo kiss. He has to give all three and he has to give all three to both of us. And, speaking of bed, he is at the point where he can get one leg over the top of his crib. So, I think we’re going to have to lower it to the lowest and final notch. In addition to the crib thing, he’s also climbing on all items of furniture. He climbs up on his chair and then uses the chair to climb on the couch. Sometimes, he’ll actually sit there with us for two whole seconds!

A few months ago, the music and sounds on his stroller stopped working (evidently, the wires came lose and needed to be soldered back together). Kevin fixed it about a week ago and Harmon has been addicted to it ever since. He hasn’t even wanted to go for walks in his beloved wagon lately because he would rather play the music (on a freakin’ continuous loop) in his stroller.

His favorite things lately have been TWO BALLS (I hope his love for balls never goes away), hanging out in his pool, reading, and stalking his monitor (he is obsessed with that thing and we have no idea why)!

Whom?

When it’s time to go (or at totally random times during the day), Harmon will start yelling “Let’s go, Mama,” “Let’s go, Dada,” and then continue with let’s go Nana, Papa, Stacey, Erin, Grandma, Grandpa and Isabel. Sometimes, he also will include his teachers and friends from day care in this “roll call.” One name we don’t recognize at all is DeeDee. We thought maybe one of his teachers (Debra) had the kids call her DeeDee since Debra is hard to say but we asked and that is not the case. Basically, we have NO IDEA who DeeDee is so, if any of you know, can you clue us in?

Maybe he simply said “hey, baby” to a girl one too many times and now has a secret girlfriend. Who knows!

GPS

We’ve discovered have our own GPS device and I don’t mean a Global Positioning System. Harmon has what we call a Global Park Sensor, which means he can detect any park within a one-mile radius. Each and every time he gets in a car (it doesn't matter whose car), it takes him mere seconds to start craning his neck in search of the nearest park. We can’t drive by a park without hearing pleas of “swing” or “slide” from the back seat! And, during our nightly walks, he knows EXACTLY where the two parks in our neighborhood are located, no matter which path we take. It amazes us how he can remember where all these parks are but, when we take him in the morning, he fails to remember these trips later that evening! Selective toddler memory, I guess, combined with that GPS!

It's time to get to know your potty chair!

We bought Harmon a potty chair about a month ago with the intentions is simply getting him used to it. One thing that triggered this purchase was the fact that he tells us "poo poo" when he's doing just that in his diaper. To build on this, when we're in the bathroom, we try to explain that Mommy and Daddy are going potty too so he has some kind of clue. Over the past couple of weeks, after he's said "poo poo," we've been sitting him on the potty chair just so he can get used to the feel of it. And, quite frankly, we've been pretty happy with the fact that he doesn't hate it. But, yesterday, he had a breakthrough when my Mom was with him. He told her he had to go so she got the potty chair and sat him on it. My Mom distracted him from the difficult task at hand with a book and the TV and, after a short while, he actually went #1 and #2 in the potty! She was stunned and called me and then I was stunned and called Kevin who also was stunned!

I know it doesn't mean he's going to do it all the time from now on but it's a big step – one we need to build on. We've decided to try at least once a day if/when he tells us and then just see how it goes. Maybe it was a fluke but it can't hurt to go with it. I must admit, though, that although we were SO proud of him for his potty chair efforts yesterday, we all were a little sad too. This is just another reminder that he's growing up so fast!

Eskimo kissing

When I was getting Harmon’s pajamas on him after his Thursday night bath, I decided to show him how to give Eskimo kisses. Although he doesn’t quite get that he ALSO is supposed to rub his nose (instead of just sitting still), he has great fun with it! Right after I gave him Eskimo kisses before bed, he called his Daddy to give him Eskimo kisses too. He says a version of "Eskimo kiss" but, if you don’t understand him right away, he’ll just demand “nose.” When we went out to dinner with my family for my birthday yesterday, he gave everyone there Eskimo kisses. I guess it’s his new trick! But, the problem with adding new tricks is that we then demand to see them all the time. So now, before he goes to bed, he has to give a hug, a regular kiss (which is a open-mouth kiss on your cheek, complete with a big “mwa” sound) and an Eskimo kiss.

In addition to the Eskimo kissing going on, I HAVE to note how well he is saying “love you,” as well as “please,” “thank you,” and “bless you” – after sneezes of course. So far we’ve got a polite one!

His own little world

When Kevin and I dropped Harmon off at day care last Thursday, his teacher said he calls her by name (her name is Abby) all the time and also goes around the room naming all his fellow classmates. We thought, yeah, sure, whatever. But, on Friday, I decided to put it to the test. I dragged out the booklet we received when we started at Annie's, which included photos of all the toddlers in the class, and showed it to Harmon. As we flipped through the pages, he proceeded to name each of the toddlers (Aiden, Ariel, Bram, Charlie, Christopher, Cole, Henry, Leo, Starr, Tess and Thomas). He struggled a bit pronouncing Bram and Thomas but the whole thing was stunning to me – mostly because I don't think much about his world at day care. He has his own little world there and, even though we wish he didn't have to go, we know it's good for him!

Hop on the bandwagon

After the season the Detroit Tigers had last year and the one they are off to this year (best record in baseball, as of today), it’s really not surprising to see how many “fans” have hopped on the bandwagon. Every time I’m at the mall or the grocery store, I never fail to see a multitude of people sporting Tigers’ t-shirts and hats. When I see all these people, I honestly want to ask them when said t-shirt or hat was purchased and, if the answer is anytime after Opening Day 2006, I think they should trade in their “true fan” card for a “bandwagon jumper” card. Don’t even get me started on all the people suddenly GOING to the games!

This kind of things always has bothered me but it really hits home with the Tigers. Maybe it’s because I’ve been going to games my whole life – win or lose – and have the ticket stubs to prove it. Maybe it’s because I interned with the Tigers in 1998, an awful year when they finished 65-97, dead last in the AL Central (and 24 games out of first place). Whatever it is, at least I can walk around truly proud of this team’s success, knowing that I’ve been there through thick and thin and didn’t just jump on the bandwagon when things started to go well. Last year, when I saw this t-shirt (above), I thought all true Tigers’ fans should be issued one so you could tell the differences between us and these types of people.

Green, gold, blue .. whatever ... Crickets

Eight weeks from tomorrow, Michigan will play Notre Dame in football again. This is notable, not only because it features the winningest college football programs in history, but also because the clock is ticking. It is ticking for two friends of ours, both Notre Dame alumni, whom we have not heard from since last fall when mighty Michigan waxed the overrated Irish, 47-21. If they do not call, e-mail, write, etc., in the next two months, both will have gone silent for a full year. They would probably claim that their jobs, families, etc., are keeping them too busy to stay in touch. That is fair, as we know what it is like to have baby responsibilities, except they are more than happy to check in after the Irish have pulled off a leprechaun-aided victory over the Wolverines. Let's just say that it is no coincidence that we have not heard from them since last September, when things were said like, "After they get past Michigan, Notre Dame's schedule sets up nicely for a national championship run" and this doozy (to be fair it was said by a ND fan in my office, not our friends): "Michigan is not really a big game for us anymore." Um, OK. So, needless to say, we will not be waiting by the phone or checking e-mail on the hour to hear from them. It is too bad, really. We would never do that to anyone. After all, it is just a game. But, I guess it is tough sledding when you are a fan trying to return your program to glory since 1988. There is magic in the sound of their name, however. Their record in big games is a different story.

Searching for "buckas"

Ever since Harmon found his belly button, his love for all-things-belly-button has grown stronger by the day. He looks for our belly buttons all the time and, as I've mentioned in previous posts, wants to know where everyone else's is too. He also looks for belly buttons on all his stuffed animals as well as his talking, dancing Elmos and is confused when he doesn't find any.

But, yesterday, when he was with my Mom, he managed to find ONE of his toys that DOES have a "bucka," as he calls it. He brought his big blue ball (which he's pictured with above) to my Mom, pointed to the air hole and yelled "bucka!" When we got home from work, he was excited to tell us all about it too. He then spent much of the night finding the "buckas" on all his other toy balls. So glad he could satisfy his addiction to the belly button!

A different breed

One of the many reasons I married Kevin is that he's quite simply a different breed. He's not like most men and I witness his wonderful differences almost every day.

Harmon is battling a bit of a cold right now and was up coughing most of the night. When the alarm went off this morning, Kevin didn't hesitate to volunteer to be the one to stay home with him. He didn't give me some line about his job being more important (even though he IS the breadwinner and his job IS more important) or about missing some big-deal meeting. More often than not, Kevin is the one to stay home and take care of everything AND is usually more than happy to do it.

After his decision to stay home this morning, I started thinking about all the other things he does. Ever since we met back in 1994, he never has assumed anything is a woman's job or a man's job. He cooks, cleans, bakes, does laundry – all those things. We split all the Harmon tasks and all the household tasks right down the middle. Even when I'm home with Harmon on Fridays (when I really tend to feel guilty because the laundry isn't done or the dishwasher isn't unloaded), he ALWAYS tells me that Fridays are my days with Harmon and I should enjoy them rather than putting him aside to do household chores.

He's never once demanded I have a certain dinner ready at a certain hour or told me that something was "my job." He drops off and picks up Harmon at day care on Tuesdays (we then split that duty on Thursdays). He even gets pissed when there aren't baby changing tables in men's restrooms! He hates that it's ALWAYS assumed that the father does nothing! He just always is willing to help with whatever needs to be done – no questions asked.

Of course, there are tasks we handle that MIGHT fall along Neanderthal, I mean traditional, gender lines. He always takes the trash out and deals with the cars and I always deal with Harmon's wardrobe and handle the bills (mostly because Kevin's writing is damn near illegible) but, for the most part, we are in this together – 50-50 – and I am SO lucky to have it that way!

For Those About to Rock

About two months ago, Harmon learned to turn on Kevin’s alarm clock (see photo at left), which always is set to 101.1 FM (WRIF) – the only rock station in Detroit. Every time he turned it on, there was some kick-ass song on so we taught him to say “ROCK!” Now, every time we turn on ANY radio – in the house or in the car – he says “ROCK!” He loves all kinds of music, from nursery rhymes to Springsteen to Eminem to AC/DC, and it’s so fun to see him come alive and sing and dance when a song comes on. This morning, he turned to me and said “Rock, Mama” when we were listening to his music CDs. I hope this love of music continues, well as long as it doesn’t include country music!

Harmon at 20 months

Since he changes by the second, this month I thought I would just make note of some of his latest behaviors. One thing I MUST note, however, is what a complete angel he was on vacation. It was our first family vacation together and, after a rough couple of days – one which was a Tigers' game where Kevin and I MAYBE saw an inning of action – we were a little nervous. But, he was perfect and he had so much fun!

OK, on to some of Harmon's latest quirks:

1. Having two balls at all times is Harmon's favorite thing lately, especially at bedtime. He has to go to sleep (and wake up) with TWO BALLS!

2. When we're preparing to leave the house, Harmon rounds us up by yelling "Let's Go!" He also grabs two toys to take with him every time we leave – usually the said two balls or a bat and a ball!

3. He LOVES helicopters! He'll hear them off in the distance and go crazy or he'll see one on TV and go bananas. We've driven by the U-M Survival Flight helipad a few times to see if we can catch a glimpse of one in action. On Tuesday, we got lucky as both were up and running and a third non-UM helicopter was incoming. To satisfy him while we're at home, my parents bought him two toy helicopters.

5. Although he’s always liked music, he is into it now more than ever. In addition to singing “Hail to the Victors” and “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” he loves all the songs on his nursery rhyme CDs that his Aunt Angela bought for him. He likes to listen to them in the morning and usually will sing himself to sleep at night.

6. He still loves to read and his favorite book lately is Little Pea (he calls it “Pea Book”). He also loves I am a Bunny and, of course, Goodnight Moon. He’ll read (and we’ll buy him) just about any book!

7. As for food, his latest favorites are blueberries and pancakes (which he requests so clearly). The last few months have been frustrating trying to get him to eat but Kevin and I both can tell it’s starting to get better. We don’t have to sing and dance as much these days to get him to eat his vegetables!

8. And, the language – wow! New words by the minute! Evidently, he talks and sings non-stop at day care. He goes around the classroom naming everyone and everything in addition to singing a ton. He’s also putting words together quite well – almost like sentences. He says “Hi, Mama/Dada,” “Bye bye, Mama/Dada,” “Love you, Mama/Dada,” and “Let’s go, Mama/Dada.” He repeats like a parrot and, knock on wood, there haven’t been any incidents yet!

I keep telling myself to make little notes each day about what he’s doing so these updates will go smoother. He just changes so fast and does so much – it’s hard to keep up!

Beverage frustration

Kevin tells me all the time that I am a woman with simple needs. He knows what they are and usually can keep me pretty happy. Our recent vacation, however, was a tad bit frustrating for him. Two of the staples of my everyday life are Diet Coke and Light Mocha Frappuccinos from Starbucks and both were hard to find in Traverse City.

Every restaurant we went to served Pepsi (I just threw up a bit typing that) and the only place I could find a Diet Coke fountain drink to go with my fudge or my chocolate covered dried cherries OR my slice of chocolate chip cheesecake from the Underground Cheesecake Company (God, that's A LOT of choco) was the McDonald's drive-through window.

As for the frappuccinos, I love them in the morning (or for an after-dinner snack) once or twice a week but that didn't happen up north and it just wasn't right. On our way into town after a really bad hotel continental breakfast one morning, I said "oh, I can just run by Starbucks and get … no, I can't, because there IS NO STARBUCKS UP HERE." Kevin and I then made the game show loser sound and Harmon repeated it, taunting me further.

Since we've been back, I've made up for my lack of light frappuccinos and Diet Cokes. I've also run many a mile on the treadmill!

Water-log

This week, we took our first vacation as a family, a short jaunt up to Traverse City for a few days. Although Aimee has lived here her entire life, I had not seen much of the state of Michigan outside of the Detroit/Ann Arbor area. We left on July 3 and stayed at a Day's Inn in Traverse City. We wanted to stay in a bigger room to give both Harmon and Isabel breathing and playing room. We had a two-room suite and, when he wasn't chasing Isabel all over, Harmon was running from room to room laughing and screaming. We could have left Isabel and Harmon alone all week and they would have had a blast, but we had things to do and water to see/play in.

On our first day, the Fourth of July, we traveled west to the famous Michigan sand dunes. We knew the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore provided some of the most breathtaking views of Lake Michigan, and I guess they do, but we did not see them. Unfortunately, the day we went it was hazy and overcast and, while we did manage to get a nice family photo, the water was a rumor, even though it was just 400 feet below us (It should have looked like this). We drove to the nearby Dune Climb, and Harmon spent most of his time rolling around in and getting covered in sand. Both Aimee and I climbed to the top, and we both thought the payoff would be a gorgeous view of the Lake. But, when you reach the top of the Dune Climb, the lake it still more than a mile away. Still, it was good exercise, and we are still finding sand in our luggage, clothes and Harmon's diaper.

Intent on seeing some water, we drove to Lighthouse Point, part of the Leelanau State Park. We got there just in time to climb the lighthouse steps and see where Lake Michigan meets Grand Traverse Bay. It was still a little cloudy, but the views were still awesome. We had a nice dinner near the bay and Harmon was pooped by the time we got back to the hotel. We would have loved to see fireworks, but they didn't start until almost 10 p.m., well past Harmon's bedtime.

With most of our sightseeing done on the first day, we decided to do some souvenir shopping around town July 5. But, first, we introduced Harmon to water. Well, more water than his usual bath time. The hotel had a huge pool, and Aimee and I slowly lowered him into the water. He was apprehensive at first, but seemed to take a liking to it. After shopping in Traverse City for a while, we walked along the water a bit. I took Harmon down on the beach, thinking we would want to just play in the sand and watch me dip my feet in the water. Oh, no! Michael Phelps Jr. practically jumped in the water. He dipped a toe at first, but within 10 minutes, he wanted to jump in by himself. The highlight came when we wandered out just a foot or so and was toppled by an incoming wave. His clothes were soaked, but he had a blast.

The day almost over, we grabbed a pizza and headed back to the hotel. Armed with his new appreciation for water and a body swimsuit, courtesy of his Nana, Harmon actually seemed eager to get back into the pool. We played for about a half-hour, and each time I put him back on the pool deck, he seemingly wanted to jump back in. He kicked and paddled while I held him, and generally showed us again that he is simply fearless.
We checked out of the hotel on Friday morning, but had one more sight to see. We drove up the peninsula that divides the West and East bays to Old Mission Point. It was so peaceful there, and a perfect way to end our vacation. There are many other details and funny stories we will write more about later, but this is a brief overview of the Bergquists by the Bay!