Harrison the fish!

   So like I've mentioned before, I signed Harrison up for swim lessons. Hysterical it was! Our city offers swim lessons for 6mos - 3yr olds. We met for two weeks, four days a week, 30 minutes for each session. I know exactly what you're thinking. What exactly does one do in these swim lessons? Well, we worked on front float (while singing ABC's), back float (to Twinkle Twinkle), kicking, blowing bubbles, climbing in/out of the pool using the ladder, walking into the pool in the zero depth area, jumping in (sliding off the edge for us), and going under!

Hi everyone! I'm actually waving to Grandma!

   Why did we do it? Well Adam and I decided that our own memories of swim lessons were a bit traumatic so we were hoping if we started early with Harrison he'd be a better swimmer than either of us. Plus since we do take annual trips to the beach, we thought the sooner he can swim, the better. Don't get me wrong though - he's no Michael Phelps... yet...

So this is the pool...

   The first day was a bit rough. I think half of the kids were crying - the water was cold. The second day was way better and so it went for 2 weeks. I think Harrison had a great time floating around. He would splash the water, drink the water, kick, and screech (yep that high pitch noise was from my kid...).

Yeah back float's not really my deal.

   We were super excited that our friend Tammy and her son Cade were able to take lessons with us! Grandma M. came out to a few lessons to watch Harrison's progress (and laugh). Adam was able to come up too and took some great pictures and an action video. I was very impressed with the patience and flexibility with our instructors and would definitely do it again!

I can walk in pretty far!

Well we're off - gotta work on that darn back float!

Momma Fish 

~Emily

Harrison in Harrison...Ohio

   Last weekend we packed everything up and headed East to Harrison, Ohio! When I say we packed it all, I mean it. Clothes, sippy cups, snacks, car seat, DVD player, DVDs, booster seat with tray, pack n' play, stroller, the car toy... It was a bit ridiculous. Adam's sister Kelly was graduating from the University of Cincinnati and we just couldn't miss an excuse to see our Harrison, Ohio family!! Unfortunately that's a 10 hour drive, but we stopped halfway in St. Louis there and back. Here's a recap of our driving adventure:

Thursday: We left for St. Louis. Of course 2 hrs into it, I thought we weren't going to make it. Neither Adam or I knew how Harrison would be in the car. At the 2 hr mark, he was getting super antsy. Harrison was also getting a little rash on his cheek. Great...

See my road trip rash?

   When we finally did make it to our hotel in St. Louis, we visited with one of my friends from college then called it a night. Harrison was not feeling the hotel crib and started in bed with me (yes Adam and I took full advantage of having two queen beds in there...). After 15 minutes of squirming we laid him back in the crib and he fell asleep. However, he still wound up with me in the morning.

That's it! I'm ready for a big boy bed!

Friday: We continued the drive to Ohio! Harrison watched DVDs on the DVD player we borrowed. Friday was a lot better traveling. We got to Ohio in the afternoon and had Skyline Chili for dinner!! YUM! There were huge thunderstorms that night and Harrison once again was not feeling his pack n' play so he once again slept with mommy. This time he was with me all night... He slept, I did not.

Everyone needs a DVD player!! My favorite song on here is BINGO!

Saturday: We all got up early (before 9am...) and got ready for Aunt Kelly's graduation ceremony at UC. We got there at 8am, it started at 9am and after Aunt Kelly walked the stage we headed out. Harrison was getting squirmy again.

Aunt Kara kept me entertained while we waited for graduation.

   Saturday evening Aunt Kelly had her graduation party with lots of delicious food! Harrison got to show off for Aunt Karen, Uncle Steve, Gigi and all of Aunt Kelly's friends. 

I got lots of Gigi love and tickles!!

   This was the first time our Ohio family got to see him walking around in person! They were so impressed with his balance. Jackson the dog just loved Harrison's toys (until Harrison kinda hit him on the head with one... Oops). Harrison slept Saturday night in his OWN bed too!! 

Grandma was so proud of me!!!

Sunday: We packed our stuff all back up. Unfortunately this was a sweet but super short trip for us! Harrison was excellent in the car - we were like professionals by this point. I can tell you how long he'd nap in the car, when he needed to eat, everything.

Don't mind me - I'm just snacking!

   We once again stopped in St. Louis to meet up with my friend Katie. We had a hotel room there just in case we needed to stay the night - we weren't sure how early we'd leave Ohio. It was great for a pit stop to refresh before dinner with Auntie K8!

Baths are the BEST! Washing off road trip cooties:0)

   After we relaxed for a bit, we headed out for St. Louis thin crust pizza with Katie. I'm getting hungry again! It was awesome! Of course Katie got some one-on-one time with her newest man too. But she sure didn't act like she wanted to change those stinky diapers:0)

Auntie K8 is always a lot of fun!!

   After dinner, Adam and I pow-wowed and decided to just keep on going back home. We were only 4 hrs away. Yes we wasted a hotel room but we honestly didn't think we'd get to St. Louis so early. We left around 7pm and got home close to 11:30pm. It was nice to be back in our own beds!

Well that's our Ohio adventure and first successful road trip as a family of THREE!

~Emily

 

Another milestone

   It's funny how as babies grow we get excited when they reach that next milestone but at the same time it's really bittersweet. Case in point, I was ready for Harrison to stop nursing because it was getting really hard for me to pump at school. But as soon as we were done, I was sad and wished I could go back to it. (Next baby I'm aiming for more than 9 months... Just so you know..) 

Bye bye bottles!

  Our next big boy step was packing up the bottles. I was SO looking forward to this because I detest washing them. I've tried putting them in the dishwasher but I swear they get a film over them and they take forever to dry afterwards. When I hand wash them, I feel like the entire kitchen is wet when I'm done. So yes, at the end of May we packed all eight of them up. Now I'm sad again. Not that I want to go back to bottles, but this means Harrison really is a big boy. He's FOURTEEN months! (On a happier note, the sippy cups have replaced the bottles and can be just as annoying sometimes!)

My sippy cups are the coolest!!

   Other things packed up? The crib bumper, mobile and valance - we needed a heavy duty curtain to block out the summer rays! The baby clothes newborn - 12 months are packed and sorted by size. (I'm OCD on that.) Our basement shelves are turning into a baby wonderland. If anyone needs to borrow anything, I bet I have it!

   The next thing I'm excited to pack up? The changing table pad, diaper genie and diapers!! Think of all that new room we'll have. I'm undecided on the rocking chair and ottoman. If we took it out that'd really free up some real estate. Maybe by then another baby monkey will need it... Who knows. One day at a time. 

Momma of a bottle free big boy!

~Emily

Pool time!!

   As my mom says (over and over and over....), "This summer you are going to have so much fun with Harrison. He's just that age... You're going to be busy." Well, she's right. We are having a blast!

Baby Pool
   Number one on my list was to get him a baby pool. I had a vision in my mind (as well as in my wallet). There are a million pools out there though. Finally we found the ONE. Of course I inflated it myself. I almost passed out too but you know, you make sacrifices for your kids. It's awesome! We gave it a try on Friday, June 3rd. Jenny was lucky enough to witness it too!

Exhibit A: The pool mommy made. 

   At first Harrison wasn't sure what to do. We barely put any water in (less than what we use for a bath). Then he got mad. I guess the water was a little chilly. And yes, my mom actually asked if we put warm water in there. Really? How would one do that? I probably should have filled the pool and let it sit in the sun but I was impatient. 

Exhibit B: Screaming baby. Grandma is right! I need warm water people!!

   So we moved the pool into a sunnier spot, took off his hat and splashed the water. Finally Harrison was a happy man. He was all over playing with everything (and trying to climb out). My friend Jenny was in from Chicago so she came over to hang out and watch this first unfold too. 

Exhibit C: Happy baby.
Hmm.. This isn't too bad now. There's a million things to look at and touch!

Big Pool

   Now that we had the baby pool figured out, I was super pumped about taking him to one of the city pools. Side note: Our city pools are really nice. The biggest one has a baby pool, a lazy river, 2 water slides, a big pool, a pool for the diving boards/high dives AND a water play area for kids with a slide and water fountains. I know! Where was this when I was a kid?! Anyway, we took him after Adam got home from work on Saturday, June 4th. All three of us lathered on the sunscreen and off we went. Okay it was after 5pm but still, I don't want to be that bad momma whose baby already has a sun burn. 

   First we took Harrison to the baby pool. He had no idea what to think of it. It's zero depth so he could walk in. Once he got used to the water, he started waving and smiling to the other babies. About 15 minutes later there was the adult/tot swim. While everyone else had to get out of the pool, over 18 and under 2 could get in. So we did. Harrison "floated" around. Splashed. And mostly just kept looking around at all the other people. (It was great people watching...)

   After about an hour or less we called it a day. Our chair was next to the kid's activity pool with all the fountains. Harrison sat all bundled up with his cup of water and watched all of the big kids. 

There's just so much to look at!

   I forget how thirsty the pool makes you. Harrison wouldn't let go of his sippy cup. Once we had enough of the people watching and were dry, we headed home. Next on our summer list: get season swim passes! Like we're really going to pay $6 every time we head to the pool... We're not that crazy!

Just. Can't. Get. Enough. Water.

From our little fish to you, see you next time!

~Emily