The time BH – before Harmon

Recently, we had a frustrating mall trip. We went because Harmon had to get yet another haircut, which is always an ordeal. Once we arrived, we realized we forgot Harmon's stoller (and had to use the mall version – yuck). So, with an unhappy toddler in an uncomfortable stroller the trip didn't go so well. These few frustrating hours got me thinking about all the things we used to do before Harmon entered our lives. Now, let’s be clear, I love Harmon more than anything else in this world. I would die a million times for that child! But, sometimes, I miss some of the things we USED to do. So, here is a list, in no particular order, of the top five things I miss doing BH:

1. Mall trips
Before Harmon was born, Kevin and I used to go to the mall all the time. We would go for a few minutes or a few hours, depending on the task at hand. I could look at clothes or perfume or purses or whatever for as long as I wanted. Once Harmon was born, this all ended. Now, every time we’re at the mall and I try to look at ANYTHING for ME, Harmon decides that it just can’t happen. All attention must be focused on him – we must be at BABY GAP, not GAP!

2. Dinner
Dinner used to be a fun time for me and Kevin. In fact, the entire time we lived in our apartment at Pendleton Park, we used our dining room table ONCE. Our typical routine was to gather our yummy food and plant ourselves in front of the TV for a long, long time! These days, after battling with Harmon to ingest JUST A FEW PEAS, we end up eating a truncated, cold dinner. And, to add to the inconvenience, we also have to perform lots of musical numbers to get through whatever meat item we’re attempting to feed to Harmon that night!

3. Baggage
God, I SO miss leaving the house without a 40-pound diaper bag, various toys, a sippy cup, a stroller and God only knows what else. What happened to the days of wallet, keys, sunglasses, gone???

4. Night baseball games
Kevin took me to the Indians-Tigers game on May 27. It was the first night baseball game we’ve been to since the 2005 All-Star Game. Even though the Tigers stunk up the place that night (and on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball, no less), it was so awesome to be at the ballpark at night. Actually, to me, there are few things in life as awesome as a gorgeous summer night under the lights at the old ballpark! I know this will change as Harmon gets older but, until then, I miss this so much!

5. Opening night of movies
We really wanted to see Knocked Up when it opened a couple of weeks ago and, in the past, we would have just up and went. But, that’s not how it works anymore. We’ll probably still see it, but at a matinee when it’s convenient for my parents to watch Harmon. Matinees are fine and actually Kevin and I have been able to see quite a few movies thanks to my Mom and Dad. But, I do miss heading to the theater on that opening Friday night!

Ah, parenthood!

Fearless on Father's Day

It still sounds a little strange when people say "Happy Father's Day" to me. It's hard to believe this is my second Father's Day with our son, Harmon. But, as I watch my little buddy grow from an infant to a little boy, I know that I am the luckiest Dad on the face of the Earth. He is such a handsome little man, and grows both in size and personality every day. He is very well-behaved and, as I found out today, very fearless.

Because it was hot today -- almost 90 degrees -- we took him to Jungle Java, an indoor play facility on the west side of Ann Arbor. We barely had time to take his shoes off before he was thundering up and down the ramps and slide. When we first got there, he was the only toddler and pretty much had run of the place. Harmon must have gone down the slide 50 times in the two hours we were there. He absolutely loved it, and save for the occasional glance or smile at us, really didn't need for us to be there. As more toddlers arrived, Harmon still journeyed up and down the ramps and down the slide. There was a little more traffic to deal with, but he was very patient, and allowed most of the new kids that had arrived to have their turns, too. Besides being very handsome and strong, he is also very polite and considerate of others.

While he was playing in the toddler area, I could not help but watch all of the kids playing in the much-larger jungle gym at the heart of the center. This contraption of mazes, nets, slides, pads, ramps and various other rooms must have been 100 feet long and more than 20 feet off the ground in some places. I just figured that Harmon was too small for it, but I went and asked the people in charge. They said, as long as he could crawl and keep up with the pace, he could go up in it. We really wanted to try, and less than a minute into the experience, I understood just how fearless our little 19-month-old has become.

Harmon was everywhere -- running, sliding, crawling, jumping and wearing his Daddy out! And, as much as I tried to play along and follow, he was always three steps ahead of me. There was even a small room in the gym that had a small basketball hoop and several balls. After helping Harmon throw down the first slam dunks of his young life, he wanted to take the balls with him on his journey. We finally made it to the top and all that was left was the huge, enclosed, twisting slide. I grabbed Harmon and down we went. He laughed all the way down, but I didn't want to get going full speed, in case there was a little boy or girl in the slide or at the bottom about to get an unwanted boot in the eye! We made it to the bottom -- albeit 20 feet short -- and Harmon crawled out and back to his Mama. I was sweating profusely, and as I write this, in dire need of an Advil or six. But, Harmon had a blast and even took a few more turns on the toddler slide before we left.

All is all, it was a perfect Father's Day. I had received some of my gifts earlier, including a new Nike sports watch, much-needed pair of new "chocolate shoes," socks and Nike shorts. Harmon got me some magnets for my office area at work, and Isabel gave me one of our favorite DVDs, "Tin Cup." I am very blessed to have such a wonderful family. For a little while today, I was a little kid again and able to see what Harmon sees. Both us us will sleep well tonight.

Hail to the Victors!

Ever since Harmon was born, I’ve been careful not to suffocate him with Michigan stuff. Maybe I figured there would be time later or maybe I decided to pace myself so as not to make him revolt against it one day (and go to some awful place like Notre Dame). He’s only had a couple of t-shirts and sweatshirts and a hat or two and the only sporting event we’ve taken him to so far is a Michigan baseball game.

So, with all this restraint, imagine my surprise when he started to sing along to the tune of “The Victors!" As many of you know, my cell phone ring tone is “The Victors” and my phone rings quite frequently (usually my parents or my sisters calling to check on Harmon’ latest shenanigans). Evidently, this has worn off on Harmon and he gets so excited with each call. We’re trying to get video of this so I can show it to him when he gets older. But, until then, I’ll just enjoy the fact that he has learned my alma mater’s fight song accidentally on purpose!

Historical no-no

In case you missed it, last night Justin Verlander pitched a no-hitter, the first no-hitter by a Tigers' pitcher since Jack Morris did in back on April 7, 1984 and the first no-hitter IN DETROIT (Morris' gem was at Comiskey Park against the White Sox) since Virgil Trucks did it against the Washington Senators on May 15, 1952.

A no-hitter in baseball is such a special thing, something you may never see. And, thanks to Kevin, I didn't miss it. Although I wasn't at the ballpark (I am SO jealous of all those people who were plus it's hard with a toddler to just get up and go, you know), I did get to catch it on TV. After our nightly walk, I turned the game on while I was getting Harmon ready for bed. We were up 4-0 and I knew Verlander was having a hell of a game (he struck out his 10th batter just as I started reading Harmon's his bedtime stories). Once Harmon was asleep, I came into the den and Kevin asked me if I was going to turn the game on in there. I told him no because a) it was on in the other room and b) I knew we needed to clean (Tuesday nights are cleaning nights at the Bergquist house). He then said, so matter-of-factly, "you know he's got a no-hitter going, right?" I must have not looked at the hits column when the game went to commercial and, after reading today's papers, I know the Tigers' radio and TV announcers were doing their best NOT to point it out and thus jinx it. At any rate, I tuned in for the last two innings and was lucky enough to witness history. When Magglio caught that final out, I got tingles up and down my spine (only baseball can do that)!

There was so much information and so many stories and photos to sift through this morning, it was so exciting. And, congrats to Verlander who, at 24, has done one of the things pitchers dream of their entire lives.

OK, some fun links about the no-no:

CBS SportsLine story

ESPN story

Detroit Free Press info

Detroit News info

Detroit Tigers web site

19 months old

I wish all my friends who had kids before me would have told me how much fun it is to have a toddler! Harmon is 19 months old today and he is a blast. Kevin says we need to take more video of him, not only because he doesn't slow down long enough for pictures anymore but, more importantly, because he is hilarious.

Lately, he's really noticed his belly button. He walks around pointing to it and insists on seeing everyone else's belly button. It's great fun for all involved when I send him on a search for Kevin's belly button and then Kevin does the same to me.

When not searching for belly buttons, he continues to have a language explosion. He knows so many words, it's just amazing! His favorites lately have been "toe," "shoe," "up," "more" and "outside." He says "outside" with a slight lisp so it comes out sounding like "outshide." It's very sweet! Also, we've noticed he says his "r" sounds like he's from Boston!

In addition to all the talking, he LOVES to sing. It's not out of the ordinary to hear him singing his ABCs while he's in his crib or playing with his toys. While he's singing this, he does the "LMNOP" really well and it's very cute how he says "W." While he may not get EVERY letter or word just right, he does get the syllables and the tunes perfectly. When I was rocking him to sleep last week, it was so amazing to hear him singing along with me to "Take Me Out to the Ballgame!"

It's not all letters at the Bergquist house, though! We've been working a ton with him on his numbers, 1-10. He gets through them pretty well, with the exception of "4." He likes to skip it and go straight to 5!

Since the weather has been so nice, we've been walking together every night. Unless we have errands to run at the nearby stores, we usually load Harmon up in his wagon (which, by the way, hauling him around is quite a workout). There are two parks in our neighborhood that we go to and he knows exactly where they are. Last week, we took a different route and were a few blocks from one of the parks and, as we started to turn back for home, he started to cry and call for the "swings." We were stunned he knew where he was so we ended up rewarding his memory with a ride on the swings!

OK, a few more things. I think he just might be working on some two-year molars because he is once again drooling like a St. Bernard and gnawing on everything in sight, including his arms. It's so weird to see him attached to his own forearm like an eel!

He's been very good lately with picking up his toys. If he wants to play with his Legos (or, as he calls them, his noo-noos), he has to put away his blocks. And, even when he does have a lot of his toys out, he's quite the organizer. He'll line up his blocks or make sure all his balls are together. Good to know I passed on the anal trait!

One of the funniest things he's started to do over the last few weeks is call out his roster of names. When he wakes up, he calls for "Dada." If Kevin doesn't respond, he calls for "Mama." If I don't get there soon enough, he starts with all the other members of the family – Nana, Erin, Papa, Stacey, Grandpa, Grandpa, Isabel. Also, at random times throughout the day, he'll do this little line-up. It's very funny!

We just love every minute with him! He is so fun and so smart and so sweet – we just can't get enough!

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.