Hello HARRY to the MAX

A Day with the Babysitter

Our babysitter, Ana, took these photos. Watch as Max turns on the charm.

I love this picture because it shows Harry making friends at the park. Look at that face! How could you not want to be friends with him? (OK, maybe if you've played with him and he has stolen all the toys you have a different opinion, but we're working on that..)

Ahhh! I'm swinging!

My cheeks are now reacting to gravity. (Oh, I love having chubby cheeked babies.)

I want to cuddle this photo right now. Look at these chubby cheeks and the chubby fingers! That is why I am almost sad when he sleeps until 4 a.m. instead of keeping up with his middle-of-the-night wakeups that have been kicking my butt! While I feel happy that he's ALMOST sleeping through the night, I feel sad because this baby phase is so short in the grand scheme of things. (I may also be delusional after a year of sleep deprivation.) All worth it for this little guy though. Such a personality.

On the Road with Harry and Max

Some of you may know that I am writing the Explorer's Guide Illinois, coming to your local bookstore in Spring 2011. My deadline is Sept. 1 so we are deep into the research, travel and writing. With my talented navigator Rob, we recently explored Southern Illinois and Springfield and found many excellent places to visit. The boys were good sports overall, though both reached points where they refused to get buckled back into their carseats. We understood.
You'll see some of our trip in the book but here are some funny shots:

The city boy goes country.

Harry's pose cracks me up.

And this one too. Totally all him. In front of the state capitol. "Should we talk about Abraham Lincoln, Mommy?" he asked before going to bed one night.

Next up: Galena. We'll keep you posted.

Max likes cake!

Our baby Max turned 1!

I love the changing emotions in this set of photos:

"I'm not really sure. I don't think I like this birthday thing."

"What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Let's check it out."

"Mmmmmm......Let's lick all the frosting off."

"Oh, would you like a taste?"

Glee! (He likes cake! His brother cries when we give him birthday cake: "No like cake!")

Such a sweet smile, in multiple ways.

Present time. What am I supposed to do with this -- let's try eating it? (His hair is wet from the post-cake cleanup.)

This is a perfect picture to capture this stage of our lives. It's Max's present and he wants it. But Harry has to have whatever Max has immediately. Cue Mom the referee.

"It's Complicated"

This is Harry's favorite phrase as of late: "It's complicated."

Hi, you're 3 years old. What's complicated?

Oh, so much. Today he woke up crying. I went to comfort him, he asked me to leave and close the door "so I can go back to sleep." OK, I did as requested, and he cried as if I had abandoned him for good. I went back in and he said: "I'm crying, Mommy." Yeah, I got that. He did this with a couple other situations, like going to the store (He wanted to go to the store, then cried when I tried to put his coat on, then cried when I started to leave without him because he wouldn't put his coat on. Ugh.)

I give you that. It IS complicated.

I chalk up his new vocabulary to "Arthur." We rotate in the "programs" (his word) that he watches in the morning, and Arthur is a new favorite. It's all about relationships, acceptance and social interaction. (One recent cartoon was about a kid in the class who has Asperger's Syndrome, one was about not getting invited to a birthday party.) Anyway, he loves it and has a list of new phrases that he pulls out. In addition to "It's complicated" there's "Mommy, you're impossible!"

Harry's First At Bat

Seriously, this bat is inefficient. I can just hit it with my hand. And why run TO the base? -- I can run much farther than that!

Harry has started T-ball!

First Day of Pre-Preschool

Harry started a park district preschool program today. He'll go twice a week for 2.5 hours. We went to visit on Tuesday and he was very suspicious and didn't want to go inside -- until he saw the other kids. On Thursday, we packed up his Elmo backpack with his lunch and new water bottle and headed over. "Should we go to my preschool?" he said.
Still, when we got inside, he clung to my legs as the other kids came up to him. I was trying to encourage him to introduce himself -- ("Say 'My name is Harry'") -- when I had to stop speaking because I was suddenly choked up. Every other activity or place we've gone, one of us, or another family member or trusted adult, has been with him. But today he was going to be on his own and he'd have to navigate this all without us there.
Some other boys started playing cars on the rug, and he came out of his shell and joined them. I stuck around outside the door for about 15 minutes to make sure he didn't freak out, then....LEFT. Yikes. Weird feeling. Cried a little bit in the car, but my Mom was there, and she was teary eyed too, so I blame her :)
When I came back to pick him up, the class was finishing a bathroom break, and all the kids were lined up outside the restroom. He was obviously stressed out about this. We've had some successes with the potty, but a public bathroom? We're not there yet. He was grateful I appeared to save him from the public potty. After class, Miss Lisa said he did fine for his first time. He asked where Mommy was three times, but no tears.
He's talked about nothing but preschool since we got home, although he's been very, very huggy and affectionate with us. I think a little freaked out by going out on his own for the first time. But all in all, we're proud of our brave little guy.