Harrison

Harrison has not been well. I took him to the doctor as he had been really grumpy and she checked him out and said he was just grumpy (he bit me in the waiting room because I wouldn’t let him crawl down the hallway.) Then a few days later he actually got sick. So perhaps he was grumpy because he didn’t feel well. Anyway we went back to the doctors and he has a cold/virus thingy. So he’s all blocked up and “mucusy”. And he has coughing fits and then cries
Poor little man.
We think he is getting better and when he does its back to the doctor for vaccinations.

He has also been walking a wee bit more, and may have said bird while pointing to one.

Harrison took his first steps today. He stood up (which he’s getting better at), took 2 very small steps and then fell on his bum. Then he did the whole thing again. It will be interesting to see how much more he does today!

Harrison has started occasionally standing by himself. He is doing it more and more so I assume he is practising. Then …… walking? He hasn’t attempted to move while standing by himself, I guess he needs to build up to it. We give him lots of encouragement although perhaps we shouldn’t. Maybe he’s easier to handle when he’s not walking.

…is my slightly delayed command.

There is a selection of new Harrison photos now online.

Harrison’s baths have changed somewhat - a couple of months ago it became clear that my earlier tactic, of more-or-less holding Harrison in one place and giving him a good washing, was simply no longer going to work.

So, now he has free run of the bath. He gets in and I chuck some water on his head to wet his hair. He then crawls around plays with whatever toy he has and splashes around a bit. Then I lure him back to my end of the bath, and give him a good rub-down with the wet flannel and lather up his hair with shampoo. He then crawls off again, all foamy headed, and that’s where it all gets crazy - I turn on the shower! He then crawls around under the shower (in about 12cm of water) for a while and manages to rinse his hair. They shower goes off, and he’s done.

In the last week or two he’s found a new favourite bathtime toy - the plug - which has added a new dimension to the event. I now have to use all my strength to push the plug in as hard as I can, so then it takes him at least a few minutes to pry it out, giving me enough time to complete the main washing. Then the shower goes on and the water proceeds to drain slowly - and then eventually the shower goes off and the water is all gone. Although Harrison has proven himself able to put the plug back, he seems to prefer to let it drain out.

We just got home from a weekend up in Whangarei with Nana and Poppa and Auntie Em (and the dogs and cat.)
Harrison managed to not get scratched by the cat although it may have been close a couple of times, and he got very “clean” with Nikki’s help.
I’m sure he had fun but he didn’t do very good sleeps. Not enough nap time and waking up a lot in the night.
But we’re home now and he’s alseep in his bed!

and not just in the dancing sense - although if you say dance he does.
Last week Harrison learnt to get down from funiture legs first. I think he just needed to be encouraged.
So now he does it all the time. No more landing on his head

He walks around the furniture and behind his little trolley but not by himself. He can now climb up on the couch - yay - but has trouble getting down as head first seems to be the method of choice.
“Look” is now accompanied by a little pointing finger - it appears that when you try to teach a baby to look where you are pointing they also learn how to do it themselves.
This means that Blues Clues now gets pointed at - and I’m fairly sure that Harrison said “notebook” this morning.

Today Harrison decided to swing the x-box remote around and bash me in the nose with it. As a result I have a swollen nose and bruising around my eyes.
He may have been trying to tell me that he wanted to watch Shrek.

So we are currently in the process of teaching Harrison to self-settle. We are going by a book (because we are first time parents and we don’t know what else to do!) and we calm him down, change his nappy and give him a bottle. Then we (and by that I mean Dylan) put him to bed and leave him for 5 minutes, then, if he’s crying, Dylan will (without talking) go in and give him a cuddle and then put him back in bed. Then we wait 6 minutes and go in and settle him, and then 7 minutes and so on.
This actually seems to be working as last night he didn’t need any cuddling and was asleep within the first 5 minutes. YAY!!!
So, its hard work and we feel mean but it will be better in the long run if he learns now rather then when he is 2 or 3.

Harrison and I went up North last Wednesday as Nana (my mum) is going to Wellington for 2 months and won’t see the little man for that long. We enjoyed ourselves with Harrison using his first clear and in the right context word “dog”. He says Mummummummum and Daddad - but only when hes upset or trying to tell us something so we aren’t sure whether these count.
Anyway he enjoyed playing with Niki and attempted to get her to chase him. She sat around, looked bemused and attempted to lick him whenever he came near.
He also tried to play with the “tat” but I discourage that as Billy scratched him last time.
Oh yes and Poppa said “no” to Harrison which resulted in tears and pouting and “mummummummum”.

Harrison is now a ‘one year old’ - a pretty massive milestone when you think about it. One year old. Wow.

He celebrated this achievement in true style, surrounded by TV celebrities and the like - specifically the stars of TV2’s “The Zoo” at, uh, the zoo. Also friends and family. There was sausage rolls, toys, chips, cake, animal poo and lots lots more. All in all it was a delightful afternoon out for all.

So, what can he look forward to as a one year old? Well he still can’t drink, smoke, have sex, get married or drive unfortunately, however he also still can’t be legally held accountable for killing a man, so that’s good I guess. It seems that not much changes between birth and one, but it is well on the way to all of life’s good-but-age-restricted things. In the mean time I guess he will have to concentrate on his vocal skills and irritating his parents.

Photos from Harrison’s big day are now online for the enjoyment of all.