Very Hungry Caterpillar

So Harmon loves books, and currently is into The Very Hungry Caterpillar. I think he loves it both because he loves to eat and putting your finger in the holes of the food while making a smacking sound is pretty fun.

This morning he was playing with Aaron's notebook and was making smacking sounds while pretending to draw on it with a pen. I thought it was funny, but then realized he was putting his fingers in the holes of the notebook, just like the caterpillar. Aaron and I had a good giggle.

Harmon: 1, Baby Proofing: 0

So Friday Aaron put some latches on the important dangerous cupboards, like the kitchen trash and bathroom with the cleaning products. The rubber band child proofing just wasn't cutting it anymore.

It took Harmon one day to figure out how to open them.

Danger on the loose

Sunday Harmon decided to stand up by himself not holding on to anything. Then later he took his first real steps. Now he loves to practice walking several steps at a time. I have a feeling lots more babyproofing is about to be in order.

What H is up to this month.

At a year old here is what he is up to:

-Not walking (which is fine by me!)
-Destroying everything with a smile on his face
-Eating everything
-Fighting mom about naps
-Playing with his M&M tin, snapping it together and asking to have it taken apart repeatedly
-Pushing cars around
-Climbing on things
-Growing more painful teeth at the same time
-Playing with the parachute
-Kissing the baby in my belly
-Beating the drum (his tummy)
-Saying "cah" with a grunt for car, "cah" high pitched for birds (like all the crows around here)
-Loving "Don't let the pigeon drive the bus" still, and saying "back" the page before the driver comes back
-Loving reading all books
-Loving the bath, especially squirting toys
-Trying to escape to the outside, or persuading Dad to take him
-Checking the mail
-Ripping paper into very tiny pieces, then making sure Mom is watching then shoving it in his mouth

And some other things. That I may or may not add when I remember them.

A Morning to Remember

Sunday morning Harmon was still sleeping at 9am. This is unheard of. Of course he did wake up around 6:30 and come to our bed, but he showed no signs of waking thereafter. Lois, Robert, and Kenya were about to leave, so Aaron and I got up to say goodbye, leaving Harmon in our bed to continue his luxurious sleep. We were all sitting or standing around chatting quietly when all of a sudden we hear a high "uhhh?" which really means "hello, I am awake, please come retrieve me!". The unusual part was that it was much louder and less muffled than it should have been, and when Robert looked down the hall he saw Harmon who had managed to get down off the bed without a thud or crying (oh, my safety instructions are working!) open the mostly closed door, and was crawling into the hall. We all had a good laugh, and I wanted to write it down just so I don't forget how funny it was to us.

It's Hard To Remember

Sometimes it's hard to remember to enjoy the moments that are quickly passing.

Like when your child is fighting you about going to bed, and demands that you break your back bending over his crib to rub his back until he falls asleep 45 minutes after he should already be in dreamland.

Or when your child just wants to be held in the store, because the shopping cart isn't so comfy, never mind that you happen to be almost 8 months pregnant.

One day he won't want me to rub his back. One day he won't want or need to be held.

It's hard to remember, but it's important.

New Word, Painful Teeth, and Toys

Yesterday Harmon started saying "catch" pretty clearly during our day long game of throwing and catching his yellow spikey football. Obviously his love of the game runs deep, because every time I would want to stop playing, he would use his cute new word to lure me back in. Smart kid.

He's got his molars all coming in, I expect the bottom ones to break any day now. At least I hope so.

Besides football, he is into pushing his train around and around the room. And playing with the big plastic coins from his garage sale piggy bank.

Right now he is trying to type and growling "gooooo goooo gahhhhhhhh".

And also, yesterday he finally stood by himself for a good 10 seconds. Someday he may actually think about walking.