Finally figured out how to blog from my phone!

I feel guilty that I haven't posted and Harry updates for all of my avid readers. Things in the Brown household have been so busy as of late. Tonight I just got around to processing and posting the photos from our 2 trips to the beach this summer and of Harry's first birthday!

Harry had a great time - we went to Ocean City for a weekend to be with the Paulinas and Har loved playing with his cousins and eating sand. Made for interesting diaper changes.



We also spent a week in Wildwood with the Paulina and Brown Grandparents. He didn't like the sand there as much as he did in OC. Must have been the approaching storms that affected the taste.

At any rate - he had a great time being spoiled by both of his grandmoms, loved exploring the condo and took in all the sights on our many walks. He got to see both sets of cousins that week as we celebrated Maria's 40th bday together.


He also really liked the ceiling fan in the master bedroom. Everyone morning he would wake up and point at it. The other major thing he learned about was BIRDS. He loved to point at the seagulls, and ever since then, pointing is his THING. He is always pointing at the ceiling or sky no matter what.  If he points out the window, he utters "buh" for birds. Very cute.

More general Harry updates:

• Now he has 4 teeth and one more coming in
• Still not "officially" walking, although he has taken a few steps (last thursday to be exact) but hasn't taken one since
• He very clearly says "eat" now. Figures.
• At his first year check up he was 75th percentile for weight and height
• He can locate his ears, nose, teeth and belly on command
• He went to his first Phillies game on Labor day! (VERY hot day, we had to hide in the shade)

Overall he is a little crazy monster that loves to crawl around the house and get into trouble. He enjoys going behind furniture, going under my desk and pulling on wires, opening and climbing into the panty and of course petting and pointing at the dog.

I now have an iPhone so expect some mobile updates! Woot.

I know, I know. Mommy has been slacking in getting a blog post, videos and photos up to the internets. Here is a compilation of Harry stuff from the past few months!

We are crawling very well now, and have 4 teeth, and can climb steps too!

My inlaws came out for a visit in late May - I took some photos before they left. This one is my favorite!

It has been busy around the Brown household over the past month. Mommy has been working late and too much, Daddy traveled for work, and in the meantime Harry has been doing some growing up!

He finally figured out how to crawl - he took his first tentative tries on Sunday June 20. Him and Daddy were playing, and I was outside when Eric yelled to me to come in to see! He does a traditional crawl and another that Grandpop Mart calls PegLeg - one leg bent at the knee and the other stuck straight out. He loves to crawl at the dog and pet/annoy him.

On the day he turned 10 months old, he finally cut a tooth! We knew it was coming, because for days he was cranky. Then Grammy Dianne called me at work to tell me that she saw it while giving him lunch.

Harry has spent a lot of quality time with Grammy and Pop Paulina. Last Thursday, we were hit with a quick but severe storm that blew out the power for three days! We stayed with the grandparents because it was in the high 90s and they had AC. We all had a mini-vacation at the Paulina B and B. Harry loved crawling up and down their long hallway. He also pee'd on Grammy's rug after a failed attempt at a diaper change.

We posted up some pics to Flickr for your enjoyment. There will be video to come. We are off to Ohio this weekend and I will check back in soon. We are off to Virginia for vacation in a week and a half and I will post pics when we get back!

Enjoy the holiday!

Tomorrow our little man is turning nine months old. He is very quickly becoming a little boy. He is very squirmy these days, on the verge of crawling. He loves to pull himself up on his crib bars, and on mom's legs. He rolls all around his crib, and ends up in various positions at the end of the night. The other day, he tore off his cloth diaper and we found him nude from the waist down in there.

Today he clapped all by himself! I started to show him, then while he playing on the floor alone, he did it. Then I asked him to do it again and he did. Wah! he also enjoys nodding his head yes and no, and also doing tongue wags. He does parties for a small fee.

We are still quite the eater. Our new yummy things are veggie and real beef burgers and Veggie Booty, goldfish crackers and any thing else I put in front of him.

Yesterday we had a cook out, and some of my friends brought their doggies. Harry loved being licked and nipped by Kelly's new boxer puppy.  He had his fingers and toes in Eddie's mouth. He was hysterical with laughter. (He often lets Franklin clean his fingers.)

He always giggles when he sees a dog. The other night, after feeding himself a bottle, we sat on the sofa and he watched Hotel for Dogs for an hour. He loved it! He also likes to watch the tv show Glee with me, and he likes Bert from Sesame Street.

In other Harry news, we moved up to the convertible car seat and out of the infant version. He likes being up high and looking out the window. It is a whole new world!

Harry likes to catch up on his reading while having his thrice-daily constitutional.

Things have been a little nuts lately for both sides of my family. So I just want to take this moment, and let everyone know I am thinking about them, and I hope that everyone stays positive.

I also want to remind them that looking at cute pictures of babies will also help. See this example:

Now, don't you feel better?

Easter (see pics) this year was a lot of fun and the weather was fabulous. We celebrated at my Aunt and Uncle's home, and my cousin Jean prepped a great party for my Uncle Steve's 50th. Harry was a bit crabby, but I think it was because he did not get a Cadbury egg. Grandmom Diane got him a super spiffy outfit!


In other Spring-related news, Eric and I are psyched for the baseball season, and can't wait until Father's day when we can take Harry to his phirst Phillies game. I am also looking forward to working on my vegetable garden that I am sharing with my neighbor. We are sharing a plot at Rose Tree park - she is retired and can work on it during the week, and me on the weekends. This way, I can grow all of Harry's veggies without going broke - that boy eats alot.

We have been enjoying all this wonderful weather. We take Harry outside and sit him on his blanket while we do yard work. He loves it! The rolling over has gotten a bit better - he will occasionally roll from his belly onto his back. His sitting ability has gotten even better, and he barely falls over. He loves to lunge forward to grab things (especially that remote control) and often ends up on his belly. Still no signs of teeth, but he was a bit crabby today so maybe its teething - who knows!

Here is some more!

We can't believe it is almost spring time in the Brown house hold. We're looking forward to hikes, walks in the park, and showing off Harry's gams to the world when he can wear shorts for the first time.

He has been so much fun lately. He is sitting up on his own much better, although he has made no attempts to roll over. Eric likes to take him in front of the large bathroom mirror - Harry thinks the baby on the other side is a riot! He is still sleeping through the night too. We put him down awake, after a few yawns and some eye rubs. Then we do a story or two, usually ending the night with "Pajama Time". Then it's a kiss goodnight and we are done!

He is still very talkative, and is almost saying "da-da" on command. Like a dog. Maybe we need to use applesauce as a motivator?

Speaking of sauce, Harry's mealtimes have been fairly successful. He said peas are not his favorite but if we throw in some applesauce he is game for anything. His Aunt Maria introduced him to pickles and my mom let him nibble on a whole wheat pretzel last week. So, his future as a foodie is imminent! He also has a severe drinking problem - we are trying to teach him to drink from a cup, but it gets a bit slobbery.

This past weekend I took Har to "Mommy and Me" yoga. He loved it! He laughed at the other babies, and thought that my feet floating above his head were hysterical.

Besides working on his downward facing dog, Harry has fallen in love. With the remote control. We have to watch out when he is on the sofa - it can get dangerous! I am hoping to get him a new love - the new baby girl born last week to our neighbors Jess and Adam! Here he comes, Amelia!

Harry is officially a latch-key baby. I started to work again at the beginning of the month and Harry is going to a sitter Mondays through Wednesdays. On Thursdays he is at home and Grammy Diane comes over to play.

As you can see here, he isn't being well cared for:


The Cinaglia family get the pleasure of caring for Harry the rest of the week. Cia and her husband Dave watch their two youngest kids and a handful of other kids from their house. Harry loves all the mayhem that goes on there, and they get to change his poopy diapers (Cia called me the first time they had to change him, and she was worried he was sick due to the foul odor emanating from his pants. She just wasn't used to his stank yet.)

Harry is also now eating solids on a daily basis! Daddy feeds him at night before I get home. So far he has had butternut squash, apple sauce and sweet potato and has loved it all. Banana is still up for debate.

We visited Great Grandmom Marie yesterday to wish her Happy Birthday! Everyone at the home LOVED Harry! We got stopped in the hallway by everyone wanting to say hello.



Harry's buddy Riley Poole (who you have seen before on this blog) and his parents are moving at the end of the month. Although Harry is sad about it, he is glad that he will be able to chat over Skype with them so he can do his best imitation of the baby from the eTrade commercials.

Here you can see Riley saying goodbye-


I will close with a word from Franklin -


Sorry. He is sleeping. Will get back to you later.

Psssbbttt! Bring it!

What's up with grandmoms and baths these days? During our 2 day stay over at Chez Paulina, Harry was treated to a wash by Grandmom Diane.

This is towards the end of the meal - he started to squeal for some reason! He obviously takes after his mother with his love for food.
He now squeals all the time!

I want to start up the cereal again soon! Maybe next weekend :)

Upon suggestion from our pediatrician, we decided to introduce Harry to some rice cereal this weekend. She said that perhaps his caregiver can give him some to tide him over until I nurse him after work.

We put him in the bumbo for this first meal but I did a bad job trying to get it into his mouth. Eric did a much better job getting him to actually open up and eat! He seems to really love it. Video will be posted up soon.

There are some more pics on flickr...



That night, he did not sleep too well. I think he was a bit gassy from it. I think we might wait at least another few weeks until we try it again! We have an eater, people!

I forgot to mention this before...

The day I gave birth, the nurses and midwives were extremely busy. They talked about how it had been the busiest weekend that they remembered. So, a month or so again I got the quarterly newsletter from The Birth Center and it lists all the babies born in the last quarter. There were 6 babies total born on Harry's birthday, the most out of any other day in the quarter!

Here is that video of Harry getting his bath at Grammy Brown's!



Also, here is a video of Harry and Riley hanging out. It features mouth bubbles! And Riley laughing at Harry.

Sorry we are a bit late wishing everyone a happy new year. I liked them because some of the profits from the cards went to Livestrong Cancer foundation. Speaking of Livestrong, Eric is doing well!

We had a quiet holiday for the most part. It was so nice having Eric home, even though it was because he was recuperating from his surgery. We spent xmas eve at my mom's house. Harry was tired and cranky and had a hard time going to sleep due to all the noises! This side of the family can get pretty loud at times :)

We spent xmas morning relaxing at home, then visited my great-grandparents for a while in the afternoon. Great Grandmom Marie loves to show him off to all of her friends.



Aunt Maria and Uncle Dave made us an amazing dinner at their house. We had fun hanging out and playing games with the kids.

The next day we drove to Ohio - Again, Harry was great in the car! We had a great time with all the cousins. Harry was held by everyone and got passed around alot. His cousins taught him how to make raspberry sounds with his mouth. (He now amuses himself all the time by doing it. the drool gets everywhere...sigh...) He even got a bath in Grammy Brown's sink!


Another highlight was hanging out with Eric's friends and all of their kids (most of whom we had never met! This is a pic of all of the kids at Eric's friend, Bryan, mom's house:

After we got home, Harry had his first real cold! He was very fevery, snotty, sneezy and miserable. To top that off, he got his shots at his four month well visit on the 31st. By the way he is 50th percentile for height and weight :)

Beyond that, I have experimented with going back to work. I went in 2 times this past month and Harry stayed with my mom. I am in the process of interviewing babysitters since the daycare I was going to put him in isn't sitting well with me.

Harry is still obsessed with his feet and is not making any attempts to roll over. Changing him is getting to be a challenge. He is also a babbling fool! He is very talkative and yappy.

I will post up some video soon! Just trying to get my act together over here!