Harrison's week

This sweet boy lives in the shadow of his older brother. So far in his 6 short years most things have been about his brother. But this year he is in Kinder and is THRIVING. It makes me so happy. He is doing so well in school and LOVES it. In one week he was the shooting star for his class b/c of his kindness and helping others and was one of the few selected for his school for the district art show. I'm so happy for him.

 It's amazing that w/ 4 kids I can see still how truly unique and special each one is. Harrison has always held a special place in my heart.

Harrison's pumpkin is by his head.  And the bottom pic is w/ his art teacher Mr. Preston.

We didn't tell Harrison he was the shooting star for the month.  We just showed up to the rally.  When they called his name the kid next to him patted his shoulder and said, "that's you."  His teacher still had to tell him to go up.  He never did give a big smile.  I don't know if it was just to overwhelming, all the attention in front of the school or what.

Talmage is 13 months

The day of Talmage turning 13 months he decided to walk 6 or 7 steps.  He has done more.  I thought he would be really walking by today but he's had a cold so I'll cut him some slack.  :-)  This video was that day.

Harrison is 6

Harrison turned 6 September 3rd.  We had donuts, eggs, and hot pink breakfast smoothie for breakfast and then Travis and I had lunch with him at school.  

6  things about Harrison

-He loves Kindergarten.

-He is still sensitive

-He loves to be silly

-He is still fairly cuddly.

-He loves to hang w/ Douglas.

-He is generally very agreeable.

Love this little dude!

Beaumont TX

My parents take the older two boys on a trip every summer.  The last 2 years have been to Corpus Christi.  This year they changed it up and went to Beaumont TX.  It's "alligator country".  My mom found a place where you can "swim" w/ the alligators.  It's shallow and the small alligators have their mouths taped.  They went to the beach too.  I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Back to school

Better late than never!

Douglas is in 2nd grade this year.  He doesn't say much but he's enjoying it.  This kid loves to read nonfiction books about anything he's interested in.  (hunting, fishing, alligators, etc)

Harrison is in kindergarten and LOVES it.  All reservations he had about school are LONG gone.  His teacher called last week and said how much she is enjoying getting to know him.  She said he has missed some social centers because he is too busy visiting with friends.  She said he needs to work on his self-confidence on answer questions, thinking he can read and write, etc.  I think part of that comes from seeing Douglas read independently and write a lot and Harrison knows he can't do that yet and that is all he associates with reading and writing.  He doesn't associate the learning phases yet as real reading and writing so he doesn't think he can do it.

Harrison teared up a bit when we dropped him off the first day.

And finally this little bugger started preschool.  It has taken him a couple weeks to warm up, which surprises me.  I asked the teacher about it and she said he is quiet and observant most of the time.  At recess he'll stop playing occasionally and come stand by her like he's making sure she's still there.  Surprises the heck out of me b/c he is so full of energy and laughter.

 Our elementary does a parade a few days before school starts where they drive in the neighborhood w/ decorated cars according to this years theme (Learning is my superpower).  Here is the boys w/ the signs they made for their teachers.

Talmage at 12 months

Happy first birthday little buddy! Some things about Talmage:
-I nursed him completely until 12 months.  Hooray!  I'm very proud of myself.
-He loves solid food.  He is NOT a picky eater.  He even likes tomatoes.
-  Within a week of turning 1 I weaned him and he is doing great w/ whole milk.
-He likes to play peekaboo
-He is kind of cranky at home.  He doesn't like being downstairs.  If downstairs I have to hold him.  He likes to be upstairs w/ all the toys and usually breaks out in a grin while walking upstairs.
-His brothers still adore him.
-Somewhere in his 11th month he decided not to slither on his belly to get around but started crawling on hands an knees.

19 lbs 10.5oz (7%)

29.75 in (44%)

I decided that we would attempt taking his 1 year pictures b/c I didn't think he'd smile for anyone else.  We are very happy w/ how they turned out.  (These tracks are broken and are not in use)

He did alright w/ his cake.  I wanted to make him a healthy cake. It was gross but he still ate it.  :-)

Talmage at 11 months

Talmage had his first stomach bug and vomitted on our last 6 ours of our drive home from Utah.  He also mananged his first cut by walking alond the furniture.  He hit his head on his eyebrow.

Talmage at 10 months

Holy teething!  His 7th and 8th tooth came in.  The are on the bottom, on the outside of the two middle.  He had his first long drive to Utah to meet all the family and he did pretty well.  He likes holding on to our hands and walking.  He has finally starting grinning big for other people.  He does however, start fussing when strangers hold him.

Talmage at 9 months

Oh sweet little Talmage.  Percentiles continue to drop. I'll have to look and come back to that. Talmage started to scooch/army crawl.   It's very slow but by 10 months old he can get around when he wants.  The problem is getting him to want to.  He's also become way more interested in solid foods.  He wants to eat anytime we are.

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Harrison's Preschool Graduation

Harrison had his preschool graduation today.  I was a little emotional.  I can't believe he'll be in Kindergarten next year.  We have really loved this preschool.  It was so good for him this year.

Random pics

All boys (in order) at about 8 months old.  They all look so different to me.

I tried to get a good picture on Easter Sunday.

Talmage at 8 months

At 8 months Talmage has 6 teeth. Holy cow. The other boys didn't get their first tooth until 7 months so to have 6 teeth at 8 months amazes me. Thankfully he doesn't use them on me very often. That is another thing. I feel so blessed to have been able to nurse him exclusively this long. The longest I did was Luke until 6 months and then one time daily until 9 months.

Talmage is giving the boys more smiles which they love. He is much like Douglas was as a baby. It was near impossible to get Douglas to smile and laugh. I can get Talmage to smile and laugh easier but other people have a much harder time. It's almost impossible for someone outside the family to be able to. He is an even tempered baby.

 When I first introduced some solid food at 6 months he wasn't interested and made lots of faces. These last few weeks he is way interested. He only eats solid food once or twice a day though. He likes avocados, pears, green beans, sweet potatoes, prunes, peas, carrots, and apple. At dinner he has to be eating w/ us or he is not very happy. He'll watch our food intently. For a few weeks he's been waking up at 3-4am and I ignore it. The last couple days he's slept through that and wakes around 5:30am to eat. He is no where near crawling. He doesn't like to be on his belly. We LOVE our Talmage.