Every time he in on the changing table he has to hold onto them. The other morning he managed to get his big toe in his mouth for the first time and he made very amusing monster/animal sounds when he did. I think he was very happy with himself.
Speaking of monsters:
For him it must be heaven - he loves to have things in his mouth, and his feet are the perfect objects to do the job.
In other baby news, no rolling over or anything yet. He does hold his head up very well, is now playing in a Jumpster that hangs from the doorway, and is always full of giggles. He loves to play rough - the more bouncing the better.
Last week we went to the King of Prussia mall with my friend Michelle and her son Riley to get thier picture with Santa - it was a Christmas miracle that it went off without a hitch. Of course, Harry is not looking at the camera of course but the photo is cute nonetheless:
We also went to Longwood gardens with the Downey women, Aunt Denise and Grandmom Diane! Harry was so good - Here is with Grandmom admiring some flowers in the Children's garden:
He even breastfed for the first time in public without a hitch! Woohoo! I hope we didn't offend anyone in the cafeteria.
We also visited with my friends Nicole and Jennifer. I went to grade school with both of them, and Nicole had her daughter 2 days after I had Harry. Jennifer and Vincent have appeared on my blog before. He is a bit older!
Here is a pic of Harry, Lexa and Vincent:
This week we have Eric home with us recuperating from his surgery. Harry is the best medicine!
Today we are watching the snow fall and staying warm.
We had turkey day at Aunt Denise and Uncle Steve's house with the family. Mommy overate (of course) and Harry took a nap on Denise's nice new sofa. He got passed around alot, and had fun watching all the kids play. He even got changed into his jammies by all the ladies. Grandmom couldn't resist putting on his new hat while he wasn't decent.
We spent Friday visiting with Great Grandmom Marie, and friday night Uncle John Malhinha stopped by and hung out with us and the grandparents!
We said a sad goodbye to the Browns saturday morning, but not without a great playtime with Grandpop with lots of giggles.
Then Grandmom Diane babysat Saturday night so mom and dad could have a date! Thanks Grammy! :)
Now we move onto Christmas! Hopefully this time next week we will have our Christmas tree up!
There are more photos up on our Flickr page - Thank you to our whole family for a great thanksgiving! We love you and are so thankful to have you all in our lives.
Another month with Harry! We celebrated by opening a bank account with Wachovia.
Today we are awaiting the arrival of Gmom and Pop Brown to help up celebrate his first Thanksgiving and family holiday!
In the meantime - Harry will be chewing on his hands which he is really into.
Other favorites - kicking his feet, mommy and dad making fart sounds, holding up his head unassisted, getting tickled.
This past weekend we had a great time with family and friends at our house. We had a party for people to come and meet Harry, some for the first time!
Thank you to Grandpop for taking photos - Mommy was just too busy to take any!
In other news, we were happy that Daddy had successful surgery on a growth on his thyroid! We were glad to have him home with us for a few days, even if under stinky circumstances. Grandmom was here to help out which Harry just loved. He was so tired from all that playing and hugging and kissing and snuggling and giggling...
Speaking of giggles..
Mommy and Daddy are also mourning the end of another Phillies season. Today Harry is wearing his Cleveland Indians outfit, hopeful that next year is their year!
I slept through the night two nights in a row! And in the mornings, I have giant explosive poops! Woohoo! :)
There are a few more pics on my Flickr page...
My chair for my nursery is finally here! Thank you so much Pop and Grammy and Denise and Jean! I love it. It's fun to hang out and eat there. Mom and Dad like it too. They get sleepy sitting in it...zzz.
I can't believe it has been six weeks. I finally made it to the point that everyone told me would be "when it all comes together".
Well, I guess it has in a way. I feel that we are in a rhythm - even though Harry has been a bit unpredictable this week. He was very fussy and very hungry the other night, and didn't sleep as well as he normally does. Then the next day he slept through the night!
I think that was due to the fact that we had a busy day and I had him out at Kohl's in the morning, then to the dog groomer to get Franklin, and then at Target at night!
On the other hand, breastfeeding is still a challenge and a bit painful for mom. We are still deciding whether or not to keep it up :(
Mom finally got out alone with dad this week! Grandmom Diane watched Harry so we could go to see the Phillies play twice this week!
Next week we are off to Ohio to visit the Browns. Wish us luck in the car - I am bringing the breast pump along for the ride.
I took Harry in today to meet my coworkers! This is a pic that Jill took of us before we left for the day. He was so good - he was up the whole time and had fun hanging out. I have some more pics that I will post to Flickr soon.
He is sporting his pumpkin hat that one of Eric's coworkers gave him. He loves to be festive.
Here some new pics.
We have fallen into a rhythm and things are "getting easier" as they say. Harry eats, is up for a while, falls asleep for a few hours, and then we do it all over again!
This week we visited Eric at work. All the ladies in the office were in love :) Today we went to St Francis to visit Great Grandmom and Pop. They loved the surprise. Next Friday I have plans to visit my coworkers in town, and I also booked us some time with my friends that are home with their children.
I also started using my cloth diapers this week too! Milestones all around. Gotta do laundry now, again...
My good friend Michelle had her baby Riley the day after we had Harry. We have all been too busy to meet up, but today they came to visit! Check them out...
We wore pants for the first time today! And mom survived being home alone with the baby. All is well. This weekend grandmom and grandpa Brown are coming! Woohoo!
Harry has had alot of visitors and help from his Grandmom Diane and Grandpop Mart. Daddy has also of course been alot of help and it was really great to have him home this whole holiday weekend. I have to get used to being alone with him soon! Scary!
There are more pics posted the the flickr site - alot from my dad.
Overall he is a good baby! He only really cries when he is hungry or doesn't like a full diaper! He loves to snuggle up in our necks, and loves to be swaddled and lays on my chest to fall asleep.
Harry Gavin Brown was born August 24th at 630 am at the Birth Center in Bryn Mawr Pa. He weighed 7 pounds, 6 ounces and was 21 inches long!
Everything has been going well since coming home on Monday night. We are all enjoying our time together.
Here are the latest photos! Please come visit!
I met the Phanatic today at my mom's office building. We had a contest to see whose belly was bigger. You be the judge.
More photos!
Last week was my official last week at work. Next week I am only going to go in for 2 days! Woohoo.
I celebrated my 32nd birthday on monday of last week! I got a very nice lunch at work with my coworkers. I also ended up having a very hectic day, and I ended up staying late at work which stunk. But - I came home to a great gift from Eric - a new camera! I took some practice photos this week. I just posted some photos of the nursery today to my Flickr page.
Do you all remember this guy?
That is Puppy, my bestest buddy from when I was little. He is taking a place of honor in the baby's room. I have a little shelf that we put up above the changing table of all the new stuffed animals the baby has received as gifts. Hopefully he will not carry on his mother's tradition of hoarding and never parting with stuffed friends.
Eric and I are finally done with all of our classes, and I think I have read every book out there. I am officially done with learning! Now, I am just playing the waiting game. All the things I needed to wash are ready to go, bag is packed, car seat is in - we have everything we will need. Now, we just need the baby!
Just had to share this photo we took at our breastfeeding class we took at the Birth Center this past week. These are the instructional dolls we used to learn about correct positioning. The dolls were somewhat creepy, but the way they were piled atop this mat made them seem even more...odd. :)
But hey they served their purpose well! Breast is best, kids.
Eric's coworkers surprised him on Tuesday with some gifts! They gave him a cute signed card, a gift certificate to Babies R Us, and they decorated his desk with tongue in cheek "baby Do's and Dont's". They also took him out to lunch, another surprise, and got him a silly decorated cake - with a photo of a baby with Eric's head attached to it.
On Wednesday night, at Lucky Bones restaurant, there was a musician playing guitar and singing. The first song in his set was "Bad Leroy Brown"! We thought that was a great coincidence!
I got many well wishes from the other guests at the inn, and got a great gift and words of wisdom from a man at the art fair that was being held on the promenade this weekend.
He was am older asian man (chinese?), a paper-cut artist. He saw my belly and guessed that I was having a boy and I had about a month left. He said that his brother is a baby doctor and that's how he knows alot about babies.
He started to cut away at this folded piece of paper, making a small version of me.
I had a hard time understanding exactly what he was saying, but he was talking about how some babies come out too slow or too fast. He said, "If you go like this (and he tensed up) baby won't come out. If you open up, and open up your legs, baby will shoot out!" Then he showed me what he was cutting out.
It was a version of me, like I said, in profile - me to a T, down to the sunglasses I was wearing. It looked like I was lying down with my legs bent, like I was giving birth. The legs opened up only if you held them open (like he suggested for birthing!) and when you did, a little baby head popped out! Of course, Eric walked away to get a drink and I was looking around at some other people around me wondering, am I seeing this correctly??
Check out the pics!
Tables were set outside under a tree, and we all sat in the shade to eat and open gifts. My cousin made a photo poster of pics of Eric and I from our younger and more good looking years. My mom and sister got an adorable cake with blue icing and a cute teddy bear. Games were played and most of all I got to see the whole family and my friends in one setting. I was happy that my grandmother and great aunt could be with us as well.
My mother and father in law drove out from Ohio to spend the weekend! We were so glad to see them one last time before it gets a little crowded in the Brown house!
The baby's room is now fully stocked and bit more organized than before. I started to actually put things away, and am actively doing some laundry to get things ready. Eric risked life and limb to install the valances, and we are anxiously awaiting for the glider to arrive so we can go pick it up! All of this for a baby that will not be in that room very often.
Speaking of baby - he is moving all the time now, and making it hard to be comfy to sleep at night. Lately I have been waking up at about 3-4 am for a potty break and I have not been sleeping much past 5 am which I guess is a good thing.
Yesterday was July 4th and I spent the day with my mom and nieces downtown. We took in the parade, and then I met Eric for my "potential" last Phillies game for a while. At the end of the day I was pooped, and promptly passed out at about 10pm. I awoke at 4 and didn't/couldn't fall back asleep until 530 am on the sofa. I think this will be the state of affairs for the next month or so.
Good news is that this week Eric and I will be down in Cape May for our last vacation alone! We are spending it at the B and B we went to last year for our anniversary, the Rhythm of the Sea Inn. This week also marks the start of our last round of baby-related classes. Tomorrow night we have a breastfeeding class, then Tuesday night is the first of four birth prep classes at the Birth Center!
I also start my once a week midwife visits/checkups this week! One more month to go, people!
All the gifts were great and I can't say thank you enough to everyone for their thoughtfulness. I know that everyone who planned it had a super busy week last week, especially my mother law who was finishing up her last week of school, and fitting in the shower was a challenge.
What also made it special was that Marty and Diane came out as well! They of course bought the baby a gift (even though he already got something from them) and surprised me with a gift of a new car seat!
Eric took all the men to the Indians game on saturday night, while the rest of the ladies hung back at home. We had fun playing with the kids, and my favorite quote was from my niece Rachel who told me that when the baby is born, it comes out of my leg! All my nieces wanted to know where the baby was, and then offered their help at the shower opening my gifts since he was MIA!
Back at home tonight, Eric and I just got home from a "Happiest Baby on the Block Class" that I have posted about before. I already read the book, so I didn't learn too much, but it was good to see swaddling in action. We also got the DVD that shows Dr. Karp helping out different parents so Eric and I will have to watch that soon and I'm sure will be referring to it many times. We had to bring our own baby doll, and I had it with me at work today which everyone enjoyed. It had much abuse (still don't know if it was a boy or girl) and at one point it sat on my desk with a cigarette hanging out of its mouth. We have sick senses of humor at my office, what can i say....
Ok, now I need to go put away all the gifts from the shower and get that nursery together! It's a bit of a mess... we got the ceiling fan in for that room and our room in the mail, and hopefully they can go up this weekend!
So after realizing I had no idea what week I am in, I went online and used a pregnancy calculator - I am at 26 weeks! The belly is definitely getting much larger, more uncomfortable, and the baby is kicking all the time. I am not completely freaked out, but tomorrow marks the "three months to go" mark for us! Lately, I have had days where I have been very tired, and have had a few nights where I can not get back to sleep once I am up. Also been having lower back pain, especially if I do any house work or yard work, or even if I go for a long walk. The other day I had a fun leg cramp for two days too!
The nursery has not gotten anywhere. Right now it is filled with stuff - we need to put alot of the hand me down baby things in the attic, and hopefully we will get the blinds I ordered up this weekend (Eric loves to use his new drill). The valances will come in a few weeks, and I still need to find a rug, and order the glider that we want. After that, I also need some sort of bookshelf or table to hold a table lamp and other changing items. We also ordered a small ceiling fan for the room as well! We just now need a baby.
I'm very excited for our upcoming trip to Ohio for my shower out there - Marty and Diane are coming as well. Then I have my other shower (I'm so lucky) here in PA at my Aunt Denise's house. In between all that, I have baby classes out the wazoo. We also booked a few days in Cape May at the BnB that we stayed in last year. It will be our last hurrah. I'm just upset that I can't ride a bike around the town like we did last year :(. Maybe Eric can get a little wagon to tote me around with and we charge money for people to rub my belly for good luck...
Also on the list is deciding what to do with the little one when I go back to work next year. I have a long list of daycares and potential babysitters. I need to start making phone calls this week :(
Eric and I (and of course Baby Brown) went to the Phillies game this week, and enjoyed our new seats in section 109! Baby Brown and enjoyed our first (and last) Crab Fries from Chickie's and Pete's. They didn't really impress us, but the Phil's ball playing did!
So the baby is sure getting around. Next month he and I will be going to London for my job. In July, we have a few days planned in Cape May at our favorite inn, and we also have a trip planned to Ohio to visit the family at the end of May for my baby shower! Last night he accompanied me to a Big Brothers/Big Sisters charity bowling game, and then out for a friendly game of darts with my coworkers. He helped me win the game by aiding my arm to get the winning points by getting a bulls eye!
Only 4 more fun filled months to go!
Currently, trying to work on getting things in to my registry. I have gotten so many things from people that it does not leave me much. But I will think of something. Currently I am considering different types of slings, receiving blankets, clothes, bottles and other things. Maybe a slow cooker for mom or a composter! :)
I found cute valances for the baby's room - AKA Leroy (that's what we call him at work). Just waiting for Target's website to be able to take gift cards. Of course they are fixing this option in checkout this week and I can not get it to work yet. Although the customer service rep said it would work today.
The other item I am trying to find a used upholstered Dutailier glider on Craigslist. Also looking for a cool modern floor lamp or table lamp that might match the green in the curtains.
Also researching all my cloth diapering options which has become very overwhelming. Most moms on forums tell you to get a sampler pack and try some different ones out to get a feel for them all. They also don't exclusively use just one type too.
My mom booked Eric and I for a baby class this June with the famous Dr. Karp of The Happiest Baby book fame. I just got the book from my sister's college friend Betsy to read and have been loving it! Eric and I need to brush up on our shushing and baby shakin.
Also in June we are taking Hypnobirth classes on three saturdays, AND childbirth prep classes at the Birth Center on 4 different Wednesday nights! Hopefully Eric will not divorce me over all this education. I just promised him that I would buy him a burrito after each class.
On another note, last week marked unborn baby Leroy's first Phillies game. Sadly today we lost the voice of the Phillies, Harry Kalas. Leroy has been quiet today because of it. I will definitely need to get him a jersey with the Kalas name on the back.
But of course the morning gets better from here! It was ultrasound day! We had a very nice tech that showed us all the parts, and everything looked great. She then showed us the baby bits.
I knew it would be a boy because since day one I could only think of girl names, and did not like any boy names that I came across and I said to myself, "Self, I bet you it is a boy!". And he is!
So it looks like I can now hang our Phillies pennant and bobbleheads in the nursery now. But even if it was a girl I still think I would have done that!
So back to the Birth Center - when you show up for your appointment, they give you your chart, and you perform your own urine test and check your own weight which I thought was fun! I then sat and talked to Nancy about my health history for a while, and we listened to the baby's heartbeat. Then, came all the paperwork that I needed to fill out! All in all it was such a different experience than any other I have had at an appointment before. I am go glad that I switched.
We decided to change my due date after I told her that my period/cycle the month we conceived was a bit off. We deduced my cycle was 30 days, not the normal 28 which makes me due the 13th not the 11th. Lucky 13!
I have homework to do, too, before my next appointment. I have to pick 2 days and write down everything I eat and how much. I also have to read and sign some paperwork that Eric needs to read too. We need to book our childbirth classes that the birth center hosts, and I want to sign us up for Hypnobirth classes too! Those classes are out in Wayne on Saturdays at a maternal wellness center. Currently I am reading a book on that, and have some relaxation MP3s to practice with but I have not tried that yet! We are going to have a very busy spring - I am tired already.
On another note...
This week while Eric was gone, I started to research car seats and strollers which has been very overwhelming and confusing. Why are there so many!?? I also need to decide on a breast pump, which cloth diapers are best among a million other things. I really just want to wrap the baby up in material and just carry it on my head until its 16 and can drive itself around. Might just be easier!
The halfway mark in my pregnancy (start of my 20th week) seems like a good time to start up my blog again! Here is me wearing all borrowed maternity clothes thanks to a coworker, Jill, and my sister's close friend Meg!
For fun, here is me at 18 weeks.
This week we visited the Birth Center and I really loved it, and excited to give birth there, if everything falls into place. I learned that my first prenatal visit on Tuesday will be one hour (!) and all the rest are a half hour. They really want to make sure the mothers are educated about birth, have a library that we can refer to, and offers so many classes for before and after birth. The three birthing suites are gorgeous and new and have jacuzzi tubs in the bathrooms. The common living area is going to be great for the family who are going to be there with me! There is a kitchen, dining room and living room adjacent to a small garden.
I still have another appointment with another potential OBGYN, but I might cancel it because I really do love the birth center. But I feel like I should at least meet him on Monday.
My belly is getting much larger, but has been covered up with my winter coat lately! I have some neighbors that I want to tell but have not seen in the past few weeks. They are in for a surprise when the warm weather comes around and they see me without a coat.
Been feeling pretty good - just been tired alot but I blame it on the time change. I had a few days where I just could not wake up all day. Last week I had a bad day due to overeating at lunch. There just isn't enough room for chocolate milk, a chicken Caesar wrap and a baby in my abdomen.
Sleeping has been getting better. The bed is full of many different pillows that I can hug at night. I have been using an Ikea throw pillow to hug at night, and also a cylindrical neck pillow too. Franklin loves to steal it while I am at work and nibble on it.
I started to clear out the room that will be the baby's room.
It has been a catch all for the past 3 years and I need to get all the rest of the stuff out of there. Let's just call this photo the "before" pic, and once the room is together I'll have to do a side by side!
I am going to be using my sister's crib and changing table (thank you Maria!) that we need to get from her friend, Betsy who has been using it. Then, Id like to get a cute rug, some closet organizers, venetian blinds, and perhaps valances for the windows.
My cousin and his wife gladly gave me all their large unused baby items that they no longer want since they are done having children. I have a bassinet, a Boppi, play mat, a swing and tons of other things to come. Phew!
Brown Paper Blog
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Monica and Eric are married and are the proud parents of Harry Gavin who was born on August 24, 2009. They also have their hands full with their other furry baby with four legs, Franklin.
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