Harmon and Mommy

As usual, Kevin is so thoughtful. He put together this cool little ditty of photos of Harmon and me – from our very first picture together up through a picture taken just a few weeks ago. He did all the work. I just chose the music – Bruce Springsteen’s Growin’ Up!

And, thanks to my friend, Molly, for letting me know about this!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Ain’t Got You

Last night, I had the coolest dream. I was back in college and my entire class decided to ditch and head to a cool, underground club-type place (very much like The Shelter in Eight Mile) where famous musicians would play small sets all the time. We all took turns making requests and the music was awesome! When it was my turn to choose which musician I wanted to hear, I went up to the front to choose some Bruce Springsteen and he happened to be standing right there, all ready to go, like he was waiting just for me. He looked almost exactly like he did on the cover of his Darkness on the Edge of Town album (less puffy hair, though) and he was so hot. He asked me my name and started asking all kinds of other things about me. And, the way he was looking at me was awesome – he was totally into me! So, he took the stage and sang Thunder Road, substituting my name for Mary in the first part of the song (the screen door slams, Aimee’s dress waves …). I thought I was going to die! After his set, he came and talked to me more and still just couldn’t get enough of me. I SO did not want to wake up.

Of course, Kevin rolled his eyes but he knows of my love for Bruce Springsteen. In fact, he feeds into it. He’s the one who bought me my iPod shuffle and loaded ONLY Bruce on it for me. I’ve been listening to him non-stop since Mother’s Day so it’s no wonder I was dreaming about him!

I know it’s SO cheesy but I had to share. Writing it down will help the dream live on forever!

Ding dong! The binky’s dead!

When Harmon was only an hour or so old, the nurse in the recovery room asked if it was OK for him to have a pacifier. Kevin and I were fine with it thus his love affair with his “binky” began. Although I don’t ever think he was an excessive binky user, I was more than a little nervous about weaning him off of it. Right after his first birthday, he really cut down on the binky usage (using it only at night and during naps) and I thought it might go “bye bye” early. But, in the middle of January, he got a bad case of bronchiolitis and really needed it. He still mainly used it to help him sleep but there also were a few times, here and there, when he specifically asked for it.

In my mind, I always had hoped to have him weaned by the time he was 18 months old. I figured if I let him go much longer with it, he would be five years old before he broke the habit! He must have read my mind because, in the last month, he has all but forgotten about his friend the binky. Although we gave it to him Saturday during the misery that was his haircut, he’s used it only one other time during the past month. So, as of Sunday, June 3, we’re calling it – the binky is dead!

Eerie (ha, ha) night in Cleveland

This weekend was a Cleveland-Detroit sports weekend (the Cavs defeated the Pistons to advance to the NBA Finals and the Indians and Tigers spilt a four-game series) and all the news got me thinking about a trip I took to Cleveland back in 1999.

I was working for Visteon Racing and traveled with a group of my co-workers to Cleveland for the Grand Prix of Cleveland. It was a fun weekend – we stayed at the Ritz-Carlton, Cleveland and spent way too much time at The Flats. My fun weekend ended once I went to bed on Saturday night. As I was falling asleep (during that weird time when you’re not quite asleep but you’re not quite awake either), someone entered my hotel room and began feeling around by the foot of my bed. At first, I thought maybe I was dreaming but, when I realized I wasn’t, I just laid there and remained as still as I could be. After what seemed like HOURS (and I’m sure it was only seconds), this person left the room. I then bolted up, CHAINED the door (if nothing else, I learned that night to ALWAYS chain the door) and sat there trying to figure out what the hell had just happened. My initial thought was that it was housekeeping maybe looking for something, like a maid looking for a lost earring. But then I thought, why would he/she have to enter my room in the middle of the night??? I also thought maybe there was some mix up at the front desk, my room was listed as vacant and someone else had a key to enter. But then, why would that person be monkeying around with my bed (not to mention, this type of thing is not supposed to happen at the RITZ)??? To this day, I have NO IDEA what happened that night but, every single time I think about it, I get the willies!

Stealing content = lazy

OK, maybe it's not really stealing since I'm the one who said it. Anyway, from my sister Stacey's blog today (it was funny so I had to steal):


My sister says Harmon

would put this baby turtle

in his shape sorter

Surrender

Over the past few days, I’ve had to surrender my Mommy card! Kevin’s parents were here for an extended Memorial Day weekend and times like these are always a little tough on me. Instead of being Harmon’s Mom 24/7, I have to step back and let go. In lieu of being an overbearing, over involved Mom, I kind of try to be invisible. Of course, this approach then can look like I’m an uninvolved, uninterested Mom but, either way, I can’t win. The best way I can explain this is that I have to stop being Harmon’s Mom COLD TURKEY and it's HARD.

On Friday, I was out running my usual errands – errands I typically run WITH Harmon. And, because I was alone, it seemed that everyone I saw had their adorable sons with them. If you’ve ever seen Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, I felt like Pee Wee Herman right after his bike was stolen. Everyone he saw had a bike – everything from a tricycle to a motorcycle!

As a Mom, I don’t take a lot of “me” time. In fact, my idea of “me” time is the 45 minutes or so I spend eating breakfast and reading the internets on weekend mornings. But, just to clarify, I don’t WANT a lot of “me” time. I love being with Harmon and we’re really never apart. So, when I am forced to step back and let go, it truly feels like a part of me is missing.

Advances

At Harmon's last well-child exam, the doctor asked us how many words he was saying. We were caught completely off guard as we gave up trying to keep track a long time ago! He says a TON of words, new ones each and every day (glad to know ALL the reading and talking are paying off). His newest thing has been to say, "Hi, Mama (or Dada)" and "Bye, bye, Mama (or Dada)." The other morning, when I got him out of his crib, he said "Bye, bye, bubbles" as we were leaving his room (of course in reference to the oversized plastic jelly beans I put on the tree outside his window at Easter – he refuses to accept the fact that they no longer are on the tree). I think he is so close to a sentence, it's so exciting!

In addition to the incessant talking, he loves to sing (and dance). His favorite nursery rhymes to sing along to include Old MacDonald; Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star; Where is Thumbkin?; Baa Baa Black Sheep; and B-I-N-G-O. And, last night, when my cell phone rang, he started to sing the tune of "Hail to the Victors!" He also loves Take Me Out to the Ballgame and the music in the Hanson Windows and Empire Carpet commercials (weirdo). Any music, in fact, will get him going (well, except for country music – thank the good Lord)!

When he wants to rock out, he even knows how to turn on his Daddy's clock radio. He kept turning it on yesterday and doing this little headbanger motion to WRIF!

Harmon will get to share all his new tricks with his Grandpa and Grandma Bergquist who will be here for the holiday weekend. They haven’t seen him since Easter so he'll be especially entertaining!

Sleeping like a lamb

Ever since Harmon was just a little baby, he's been a fantastic sleeper. The hardest time, which really wasn't that hard at all when we think about some of our friends, was the first couple of weeks. He would wake up like clockwork at 2 a.m. and 5 a.m.! Once we got through that, he began waking up only once during the night and then, right as we welcomed 2006, he started sleeping through the night.

After Harmon started day care, and I went back to work, I can think of only a few times when we all were dog tired. In fact, the only time Harmon ever strayed from his normal good sleeping habits was when he wasn't feeling too well.

Today, he continues his good sleeping habits and we appreciate it more then he'll ever know! On Tuesdays and Thursdays, when he goes to day care, we have to wake HIM up at 7:30 a.m. And, on the weekends, it's not out of the ordinary for him to sleep until 9 or 10 in the morning. I think, on average, his normal waking time would be somewhere between 8-9 a.m. if we all had the same schedule every day.

I'm sure some of it has to do with his bedtime, which is between 8:30-9 p.m. As an aside, you should see some of the looks we get when we tell people his bedtime, you would think we were abusing our child! But, we simply can't put him to bed any earlier because then we would never see him. We get home between 5-6 p.m. most days and then have dinner and go for a walk or play. And, if it's bath night, we have to build in that time too. So, if he went to bed at say, 7 p.m., we would get no time with him at all. Call us selfish!

In addition to his overnight sleep, he takes at least one huge nap every day. Sometimes he may take a second one but you can count on one for sure. This schedule seems to work for him and it works for us too. So, all that talk about not getting any sleep with a baby hasn’t really applied to us and, sweet little Harmon, we thank you so much for that!

Weekend variety

Since Kevin worked late last Monday and was out of town Wednesday and Thursday, he decided to take Friday off and spend the day with us. Harmon slept in until 10 a.m. (I am not even kidding) so we got a late start but ended up having a great day anyway. We drove up to Kensington Metropark, which was a place Kevin and I used to go when we lived in New Hudson, and visited the Farm Learning Center and the Playfield. It was a great time to stop by the Farm Learning Center as it was feeding time and ALL the animals were talking. There was a cow that was mooing like crazy and two sheep that were yelling back and forth at each other. And, there were a ton of baby animals that were just born including the cutest baby goats and baby pigs that I’ve ever seen. Although Harmon knows the noises most common animals make, it was great for him to hear them live! After our time at the farm, we went to the Playfield for a while. Harmon played on the swings and the slide and spent a lot of time running on the infield and outfield of the baseball field. I think he probably walked a half mile or so and ended up getting really tired on the way back to the car so we gave him a ride! He was worn out on the way home – he was asleep in the car in no time.

On Saturday, Harmon AGAIN slept until 10 a.m. (this kid is the best sleeper ever) but we didn’t have big plans that day so it was OK. We actually had planned on going out to a nice dinner to celebrate Kevin finishing his master’s degree and he decided he wanted to do it yesterday. So, we got ready and trekked up to Brighton to go to Stillwater Grill (Kevin’s dinner locale of choice). We hadn’t been there in a while so it was REALLY good. They give you SO MUCH food, it’s ridiculous. The only strike against this place is that it has Pepsi instead of Coke. After dinner, we walked around the new lifestyle center in Brighton, Green Oak Village Place. We looked a bit for some new shoes for Kevin but he decided to spare me the torture and do this on his own, possibly on Monday afternoon when he's home with Harmon. Once we got home, we took Harmon for a long wagon ride and then put him to bed.

On Sunday, we went to Comerica Park to see my Tigers take on Kevin’s Cardinals. Just like last year, the Tigers swept the Cardinals but Kevin’s still got scoreboard on me since his team decided to field and throw the ball without incident and win the 2006 World Series. We had surprisingly good seats and it was a fun game. And, Harmon was a good boy sitting through all that baseball. I think he’s starting to realize that if he is good, he just might get a present (like a new Tigers’ bat and ball). After another long wagon ride, we gave him his bath and put him to bed thus ending another fantastic weekend with him. What a great kid we have!

Raining in Baltimore

As Kevin reported earlier this evening, it’s raining in Baltimore (like the Counting Crows). He’s there on business with his boss for a couple of days (today and Thursday) and I’m alone with Harmon overnight for the first time. I guess we’re really lucky that he doesn’t have to do this sort of thing too often. Actually, this is the first business trip either one of us has had to take since Harmon was born. He gets Mommy and Daddy all the time!

Kevin just called to say good night and asked me to put the phone near Harmon so he could hear him snoring – so cute. He misses him so much.

Above is a picture Kevin and I took at Oriole Park at Camden Yards when we visited back in 2004. What a great trip that was! I’m a little jealous that’s he there right now, for more reasons than just Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory!

Boys morning out

There were many things to be excited about when we moved into our first home in Ann Arbor in 2005. Being closer to work; finally living in the town in which we met and were married; having a front and back yard and a garage, and basically just owning a house and being able to do what we want with it (just wait until the basement is done!). But, there was more cause for excitement. Yes, there is a Denny's less than a half-mile away. And ever since the day Harmon was born, I dreamed about taking him in his stroller and having a boy's breakfast at Denny's.

Well, Saturday morning he woke up early and it was a nice, sunny day. So, we packed up the stroller and a blanket (it was still a little cool) and headed out at 8 a.m. for the oasis of pancakes. Harmon really likes pancakes and ate a whole one, in addition to a link sausage. He washed it down with milk, and was a very good boy the whole time. We were pretty much alone at the beginning of our breakfast, but there were others around us just before we left. Of course, Harmon has to talk with everyone and show them his Elmo. He is such a social baby.

Our tummies full, we still had some work to do. We stopped by Whole Foods and Harmon picked out some Mother's Day flowers for Nana. Then we continued on to Panera to pick up Mommy some bagels for breakfast. We completed that breakfast run with a final stop, at Starbucks, for Mommy's favorite drink. We ran into a little rain, which caused us to duck into Barnes & Nobles (yes, I know it is Noble). There, Harmon scored a new Elmo book.

It was a fun morning, Harmon was well-behaved, as always, and Daddy fulfilled his dream.

Mother’s Day 2007

Even though this is my second Mother’s Day, the whole thing still seems so surreal to me. I’M A MOM! Weird but so amazing!

Anyway, we had a nice quiet Mother’s Day. Kevin made me my favorite chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast to start the day and then offered up the gifts. Since he bought me my beautiful mother’s necklace back in January, he only was supposed to do small things but Kevin doesn’t do small very well. In addition to a dozen gorgeous yellow roses, I got the new Burberry Summer perfume, a hug-in-a-box (stuffed animal with book) and an awesome orange iPod shuffle.

After opening up all those great gifts, we went to campus and walked around a while. We stopped by for a few innings of the Penn State at Michigan baseball game (which we lost, cut it out baseball) and then took Harmon to the track to let him run around on the grassy infield. On the way home, we picked up our favorite pizza and spent some fun time together at dinner. Harmon ended my Mother’s Day by actually letting me rock him to sleep – a very special treat these days.

Thanks and all my love to Kevin, Harmon and Isabel for making my Mother's Day so special. I hope all the mothers out there had a great day too!

Oh, before I go, some pictures of my flowers and cards and Harmon’s Mother’s Day presents from day care.

18 months old

Harmon is 1½ now and he’s so fun! Kevin and I keep saying we want to freeze him and keep him this age forever! He had his 18-month check-up yesterday and all is well. He weighs 30 pounds and 1.6 ounces (92nd percentile) and measures 35 inches long (98th percentile). He’s damn near three feet tall! The doctor saw him on the way to the exam room and said, “he’s huge!” He was very good during his exam, even during his blood draw. The doctor wants to check his blood after being on the iron drops since November. If there’s enough of an improvement, he won’t have to take them anymore and the thalassemia that I passed on to him will be in check (for now).

After the boys spent some quality time together this morning (which Kevin will write about later), we met my parents and my sisters at Carrabba’s Italian Grill in Novi to celebrate Mother’s Day for my Mom. The food was surprisingly good and we had a fun time. After a big breakfast and lunch, Harmon was not too hungry for dinner and didn’t want me to eat either. Every time I tried to take a bite, he would grab my right arm and pull it close to him to snuggle. He was being very sweet. And, when we got home, the sweetness continued. Even though Kevin got him out of the car and was walking inside with him, he came back to the car to grab my hand so he could walk inside with me. Before bed, when I was putting his pajamas on, he also was very snuggly. He kept leaning into me and letting me hug him. I’m sure all this was because he was tired but, with it being Mother’s Day weekend and all, I want to believe that’s why he was being extra sweet! Whatever the reason, I was loving it!

Hang 10

After taking his bath, Harmon helps Mommy count to 10.

Night, night!

Over the last few weeks, Harmon has settled into a new bedtime routine. Since he gave up his bottle back in December, we've spent every night reading to him and then rocking him until he falls asleep. This is awesome time with him, mostly because the whole falling-asleep-on-us thing reminds us of the days when he was REALLY little and would nap on us for HOURS.

Anyway, these days, we will read a book or two, sing a few verses of Old MacDonald and then he wants to go to bed with Elmo and kitty (shown above). We lay him down and cover him up and then tuck Elmo in on one side and kitty on the other. He then tells us "night, night" as we close his bedroom door. It's all very sweet and hassle-free but yet another reminder of what a big boy he is becoming.

Harmon finishes strong

Old MacDonald had a farm ... EIEIO.

I know our next child will be a girl

WHEN Kevin and I are ready for child #2 (it won't be until Harmon is AT LEAST 3 so don't even get any ideas), I already know it will be a girl. You may ask how I know this – well, here's a little tale!

We were at the mall on Saturday to get Harmon's hair cut (again). It was a gorgeous day outside so I couldn't understand why the mall was overrun with teenage girls. But, whatever. Anyway, as we passed by a group of particularly skanky and very scantily clad girls, I blurted out the following:

"When I see girls like that, I want to go straight to the doctor to have my tubes tied so there's no chance we'll ever have a daughter."

Yep, this pretty much sealed the deal!

But, maybe, just maybe, there is SOME hope. My Mom managed to raise three girls who turned out to be the anti-mall skanks so maybe some of that parenting will surface in me when baby girl Bergquist is born!

"Kitty," "kitty"

These are Harmon's favorite words when he goes to bed at night and often when he wakes up in the morning. He loves to hold his baby "kitty" (actually a small stuffed tiger) when he goes to sleep and then gives it back to us to put in its place in the a.m. In fact, Harmon loves his kitty so much, he thinks other people should have one, or two, or three, or four. When we went to the Twins-Tigers game on Sunday, we visited the gift shop. Harmon instantly became enamored with a bin full of fluffy orange stuffed tigers. This no doubt reminded him of his kitty at home, so he decided to walk up and grab one. Well, Harmon has proven a generous baby in his first 18 months of life, so he decided he would share his new kitty with one of the staff working in the shop. He took his new kitty and gave it to the woman, then went back and got another one. When I told him he already had one picked out, he put the second kitty down and returned to the woman to claim his first kitty. He put that kitty back in the bin, then took another one back to the woman. In the span of about 10 minutes, he must have exchanged 10 different "kittys" with this woman. She loved it and Harmon was able to come home with his new friend. The kitty, I mean, not the woman. The way he flirts, however, he probably could have had her come with him, too. For now, he has a new "kitty" and spends most of his time at home walking around with it holding it by one front paw.

Weekend Happenings

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

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

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

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

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

Wednesdays

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

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

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

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

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