Merry Christmas!

From the only baby in the world who smiles in his photo with Santa. Does this mean that we've got some award-winning temper tantrums at the front of the Santa line coming our way in a few years?

Photo Album -- Harrison's 7th Month

https://www.photoshop.com/user/higginsfamily --> Drop down "Higgins Family Albums" --> Select album "Harrison -- Month 7" --> Click on a blue box icon to the right of the page to start the slideshow.

Harrison Pulls Up!

No walking, but he'll stand every chance he gets.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Harrison Crawls!

Yay, Harrison!

Ms. Freida predicted crawling by Thanksgiving, and she was right! Harrison was up on his hands and knees rocking back and forth a few days before Thanksgiving, so I laid down on the floor a few feet away to encourage him. He picked one little baby hand up and put it down a little closer to me and then did the same with his other little baby hand. Then his knees followed, too!

He's got it!

And watch out for the baby monster who attacks the photographer at the end of the video!

Photo Album -- Harrison's 6th Month

We went camping, celebrated Halloween, and visited with some great-grannies -- a good month! He sits like a champ (now, not at the beginning of the month, though...) and Army-crawls all over the place (no hands and knees yet, just belly-down scooting so far).

https://www.photoshop.com/user/higginsfamily --> Drop down "Higgins Family Albums" --> Select album "Harrison -- Month 6" --> Click on a blue box icon to the right of the page to start the slideshow.

Harrison Bites!

No wonder our little darling has been such a monster this week -- a tiny tooth was attacking his gums! I was sitting in the rocker with him when he took my finger, put it in his mouth, and bit it. And it hurt! Because now there is a little tooth poking through on the bottom -- I think he bit me to make sure I knew that tooth was there ("Mama, what do you think about this thing here?").

I'm excited for him, but I'm going to miss his perfect gums.

See it?

Happy Halloween!

A few photos and a video.

Scare-ison

Kip Dynamite, a pumpkin, and the pumpkin's mama (lame, I know)

Harrison's tricks = Your treats!

Harrison Eats!

Oh, yes -- it is time! We started with baby cereal mixed with b-milk. He didn't get it at first but then realized what was happening and dove in. :)

Photo Album -- Harrison's 5th Month

He's so grown up now -- he grabs his toes and bounces in his exersaucer and cheers for the University of Kansas.

https://www.photoshop.com/user/higginsfamily --> Drop down "Higgins Family Albums" --> Select album "Harrison -- Month 5" --> Click on a blue box icon to the right of the page to start the slideshow.

Harrison, the Army Ranger

Harrison is officially an Army-crawler now. Not a hands-and-knees crawler yet -- that will be next (hopefully soon, for the sake of his clothes). Right now he lays flat on his stomach, props himself up on his elbows, and then pulls himself along / rolls over one of his arms to move forward. His legs contribute nothing to this exercise -- they just get dragged behind.

He can also get up on his hands and knees and rock back and forth, but he hasn't tried reaching forward with a hand yet, so nothing doing on that crawling style!

Harrison Sits!

He's not a professional sitter yet, but we're getting more and more confident in his ability to keep himself upright! We hardly even surround him with a pillow-y landing pad anymore.

Photo Album -- Harrison's 4th Month

https://www.photoshop.com/user/higginsfamily --> Drop down "Higgins Family Albums" --> Select album "Harrison -- Month 4" --> Click on a blue box icon to the right of the page to start the slideshow.

Harrison's First Day With the Nanny

After close to 4 months at home with the honeybaby, I started back to work today. We've been lucky enough to get a nanny-share arranged, and we love the lady who will be watching Harrison while his mama earns the big bucks ("big" as in "greater than zero"). Ms. Freida will keep Harrison and a little girl about 3 months older than Harrison on the days that I work (three days per week). The other baby's mom is working part-time, as well, so Ms. Freida will be with both kids for three days each week and will have the other two days to herself.

I was really worried about today all last week but am feeling okay about it now! I'm very glad I'm not going back full-time, for sure, but I think that this arrangement will be good for us -- I've noticed that I think like a 4 month old now ("Ooh -- look at the bright lights!"), so if nothing else, talking to adults during the day will give my brain a chance to get back in shape and out of its current state of atrophy.

Proud Dada with Harrison on his first day with Ms. Freida

Proud Mama with Harrison on his first day with Ms. Freida

Photo Album -- Harrison's 3rd Month

https://www.photoshop.com/user/higginsfamily --> Drop down "Higgins Family Albums" --> Select album "Harrison -- Month 3" --> Click on a blue box icon to the right of the page to start the slideshow.

Bzzzzzz!

Harrison's current favorite thing to do is be an attack bumblebee -- especially when he's wearing a yellow bib and/or when he's getting pissy and needs an attitude adjustment. We put one of our hands on his chest with our thumb under one arm and our pinky under his other arm, and we put our other hand under his bum (so that he's sitting in our hand the way a waitress would carry a tray). Then we run around the room and jiggle his butt like a bumblebee! His little legs just flop around, which is the cutest part. We choose a target, run to it, and sting it with Harrison's hiney. Buzzing the whole time! He thinks it's more fun than a baby can handle.

Bee stings!

Photo Album -- Harrison's 2nd Month

https://www.photoshop.com/user/higginsfamily --> Drop down "Higgins Family Albums" --> Select album "Harrison -- Month 2" --> Click on a blue box icon to the right of the page to start the slideshow.

Harrison Rolls!

Not sure how intentional this rolling is, but he can get from tummy to back on his own. Of course, he doesn't like to be on his back, so it makes him mad when suddenly he's looking up instead of looking down. Guess that'll be incentive to learn how to flip over the other direction!

Harrison Smiles!

About 6 weeks old

Mama is so funny!

Update : He's turned into quite the smiler -- he really works it for the camera!

About 3 1/2 months old

Photo Album -- Harrison's 3rd and 4th Weeks

https://www.photoshop.com/user/higginsfamily --> Drop down "Higgins Family Albums" --> Select album "Harrison -- Weeks 3 and 4" --> Click on a blue box icon to the right of the page to start the slideshow.

Photo Album -- Harrison's 2nd Week

https://www.photoshop.com/user/higginsfamily --> Drop down "Higgins Family Albums" --> Select album "Harrison -- Week 2" --> Click on a blue box icon to the right of the page to start the slideshow.

Harrison's Second Week

Week 2 was a good one! Started it off with visits from the new grandparents over the weekend, then enjoyed Harrison's first national holiday on Monday, so we all stayed home to celebrate Memorial Day. Tuesday was the beginning of Harrison's first time at home with only his mom at his beck-and-call. Went back to the pediatrician for another visit and tipped the scales at 6 pounds, 5 ounces. Had a nice lunch out with the Harper grandparents on Wednesday and had dinner with Chris and Rachel's small group from church that night. Shy Harrison slept the entire time our friends were over, so they think he's a little darling. Just hung around the house the other days and took several evening walks around the neighborhood to get some fresh air.

The week 2 album will be online soon! Look for the link in an e-mail.

Photo Album -- Harrison's 1st Week

https://www.photoshop.com/user/higginsfamily --> Drop down "Higgins Family Albums" --> Select album "Harrison -- Week 1" --> Click on a blue box icon to the right of the page to start the slideshow.

Harrison's First Week

The little guy had a busy first week -- started it with being born and ended it as the third wheel on a lunch date with his parents. We spent the weekend in the hospital with family and friends visiting us there, then carted our bundle home on Monday. Chris stayed home for all of our first week together, and the three of us didn't even leave the house on Tuesday. Wednesday we ventured to the pediatrician (Harrison is up to 5 pounds, 13 ounces -- a 4 ounce gain since he was born!) and took our first walk in the stroller that night. Thursday was more hanging around the house (figuring stuff out and getting better at being parents all the time) and successfully bathing the baby, and Friday we went on a "Harrison is one week old" lunch outing to a restaurant nearby. The little guy loved it -- evidenced by how soundly he slept. :)

Our first impressions of Harrison are that he's the cutest baby we've ever seen (naturally...) and also the noisiest baby we've ever heard (with a constant soundtrack of snorting, grunting, squawking, and groaning when he's awake plus plenty of snoring when he's asleep). He loves knowing that someone is nearby, so we spend alot of time with him laid out across us somehow so he knows he's not alone. He makes lots of funny faces and his little arms shoot straight up in the air sometimes -- we don't think that any of that is intentional, but it makes us laugh anyway!

Not that anyone is interested in us, but both parents are doing well. Sleeping fine (although not in long stretches since he's eating every 3 hours), feeling good, and crazy about our little boy!

Thanks for all the good wishes! We'll probably put up weekly updates for his first month and then drop down to monthly entries after that. We're also working on a photo album online so you can track him that way, if you're interested.

Harrison's First Bath

Well, we couldn't resist trying to give little Harrison a bath when we got home from the hospital. We knew it was a stressful day for all parties but decided to give it a shot anyway -- wash all that hospital-ness off of him.

So we got the water and washcloth and towel and fresh clothes and a million other things ready and stripped him down, which froze his baby butt and made him cry (which we all expected).. Then his crying made Rachel cry (which none of us expected).. Pretty soon the only pictures Chris could take had a crying person in them (no, not him), so he called the bath about 30 seconds into it. We'll try again another day. Oh! One bright spot of the bath was that Harrison peed on Rachel for the first time!

Don't worry -- as soon as the baby was dressed and warm, no one was crying anymore! And the rest of our first night at home was perfect. :)

Harrison Kai Higgins is Born!

Chris and I are happy to announce that our little baby was born on Friday May 16 at 5:02pm. He was long and lean -- weighing 5 pounds, 9 ounces and measuring 19 inches. Took us 9 months and a few days to decide, but we've named him Harrison Kai Higgins -- both Chris and his dad's middle names are Harris.

We love him!

It's Time!

On our way to the hospital!

Rachel's belly at 40 weeks

And she's off!

Wee is Due!

But alas, he is not making his appearance. Okay with me -- just means I get a little more time with him all to myself. :) I did try to convince him to be born, though!

So what's he doing in there?


Come on, you, Mama says so!


Need some help?

What's Wee Up To This Month? Installment Ten

FINAL INSTALLMENT!

Month Ten -- Weeks 37-40

Unless you're already a parent or have lots of friends who are, you're probably wondering why there have been 10 monthly installments to this big adventure. Let me explain...

Short answer : Women are pregnant for 10 months, not 9.

Long answer : Baby doctors are not interested in tracking pregnancies in any unit larger than weeks (and can even calculate in days when they're measuring the baby on a sonogram photo). Human moms are pregnant for 40 weeks (well, a baby is due after being carried around for 40 weeks). Since the number of days in a month is typically closer to 28 than 35, we'll call every 4 weeks equal to 1 month. Divide 40 by 4, get 10, and there you have it. Ten months is longer than nine months, for sure, but it's nothing like 22 months, which is how long elephant moms carry their "little" babies around. I think the 9 month concept probably is a count of how long a woman is pregnant once she knows she's pregnant, if you follow me without my using any explicit language. So now you know, and knowing is half the battle!

Size -- Wee is probably going to spend all month at around 20 inches (head-to-toe), which is where he finished last month, and will grow from about 6 pounds to 7 or 8 pounds (and hopefully no more!).

Development --His senses are all ready to go! He can taste, feel hot / cold / pressure when Chris spanks his little bottom for messing with his mom, hear, and see. His vision won't be too good for the first few months after he's born, but he should be able to see within about 6 inches of his face right away.

Appearance -- Like a real baby!

Rachel's belly at 36 weeks

What's Wee Up To This Month? Installment Nine

Month Nine -- Weeks 33-36

Size -- So Wee finished last month at 3 pounds, 5 ounces / 18 inches (head-to-toe), and his goal four weeks from now is to hit 5 pounds, 8 ounces / 20 inches (head-to-toe). Some fairly significant weight gain -- even in the eyes of someone whose own body mass has increased by about 30% lately...

Development -- Baby Wee can dream now! He even makes faces in response to his dreams.

Appearance -- No changes (except for the fattening up)!

**Wee's first baby shower is this weekend (March 29), so check back next week for some photos!**

Rachel's belly at 32 weeks

What's Wee Up To This Month? Installment Eight

Month Eight -- Weeks 29-32

Size -- Wee starts off the month at 2 pounds / 10 inches (crown-to-rump) and should check in at around 3 pounds, 5 ounces / 18 inches (head-to-toe) in 4 weeks. Don't know why the baby book keeps changing the scale on me (switching between c-t-r and h-t-t), but I'd guess it has something to do with keeping me confused and delaying the terror that will come with the realization of exactly how big the kid really is.

Development -- Wee's lungs are much better developed after all of last month's work, so he'll practice some faux-breathing this month and also continue to grow his lungs some more. Since there's no air in my belly with him, he'll have to breathe fluid, and we all know what happens when we breathe fluid... Hiccups!

Appearance -- Well, he'll weigh about as much as a large canteloupe at the end of this month, but he should look nothing like one. I think he pretty much looks like a baby now, albeit it a super-tiny one?

Bonk... Bonk... Bonk...

No, that's not Wee knocking into my belly from the inside -- that's Chris knocking into my belly from the outside. It had never happened until this week, and so far our "Oops, sorry, Wee" count is up to 3 in the last few days. Guess there have been some circumference changes recently! Poor Chris just turns around and there my belly is -- in his way! I haven't knocked my stomach into anything yet, but maybe that's next?

We Have a Visual

And I don't mean sonogram video or photos -- we're talking realtime action here in the form of lumps on my belly. Little Wee has gotten big enough / strong enough in the last week or two to power through all his cushioning and make little bumps in my skin.

I've been able to see movement (sometimes single pokes, sometimes drum rolls) for about a week -- especially when I'm laying on my back with my head propped up "on watch" -- but Chris just saw him for the first time this weekend. Our son is a bit of a tease and seems to have made a game of giving me enough surface pokes that I call Chris over to see but then doing a deep dive so Chris just thinks I'm making stuff up. Now Chris knows, though, that it's for real.

I kept trying to demonstrate to Chris by pulling my skin up where Wee just was, but I don't have enough extra skin to get a hold of, so that never worked! Can't really describe what it looks like any better than the word "lump" -- a little like a cartoon when a charater gets a lump on their head after getting smacked with a hammer. So now being pregnant has officially gotten weird...

My Bellybutton -- HA!

Chris and I noticed recently that my bellybutton is shrinking. I think I knew to expect this based on other people's experiences and simple logic (the space my innie used to take is being usurped), but I still laugh out loud any time I look at it. I never thought much about my bellybutton until I started losing it, so I don't think it was notably deep or unusual. Right now the opening is shrinking -- almost puckering -- and my little button is getting shallower. I guess it'll get all the way flat and then poke out the other direction soon enough. Hopefully I'll still be laughing at it (at anything?) then!

What's Wee Up To This Month? Installment Seven

Month Seven -- Weeks 25-28

Size -- The little guy starts the month at 1 pound, 3 ounces / 8.5 inches (crown-to-rump) and finishes off at 2 pounds / 10 inches (crown-to-rump), so we're still bulking up rather than lengthening out (both of us are bulking up). Interesting tidbit here -- if you stretch him out at the end of the month, Wee will be 14-15 inches long (head-to-toe), so he will outsize a Ken doll by about an inch. Weighs a heck of a lot more than Barbie's boyfriend, though...

Development -- At the beginning of this month, Wee will already have a sense of equilibrium, which answers the "Can he feel it when I roll from side to side?" question : Yes, effective right now. He knows when he's right side up and when he's upside down, but I don't think he really has a preference. His biggest achievement this month will be to add blood vessels to his little lungs to get them ready to do some breathing. Also, bones are still hardening, and brain is still growing.

Appearance -- His retinas are done developing now, so he will start to open his eyes and blink -- which means that now it's time to tease him with a flashlight! Apparently he'll squirm away from it, which might not be fun for me, so we might only play one time. He probably has a distinct hair color at this point, and I bet it's brown and a little shaggy like Chris'. :)

Rachel's belly at 24 weeks

The Babymoon and Chris Meets Wee

The Babymoon

Wee has now gone international. We took our last-blast-before-the-baby-triples-our-luggage trip over New Year's (aka "The Babymoon") -- took the week to see Madrid, Lisbon, Sintra (outside of Lisbon), and New York. I was cleared for travel before we went with the warnings to drink more water than usual and not to sit still on the planes for more than 2 hours (increased risk for blood clots when you're pregnant). Didn't make the flight too restful since I was up and moving every 1-2 hours (due to the increased water intake and fear of clotting blood -- "What does a blood clot feel like? How will I know if I get one? Does it hurt? Will I die right away or will it be long and agonizing?"). All the worrying was for naught -- we landed in Madrid fine and flew right over to Lisbon. Spent a few days there -- one as a day trip to a city called Sintra, which was beautiful -- then flew back to Madrid for New Year's Eve and some touring the next day. Did some really raucous partying in the streets of Madrid for the big night -- not so raucous that I broke any pregnancy rules or that kept us from getting back to our hotel by 12:30 when the subway closed, though. Toured around Madrid on New Year's Day and ate ourselves silly on churros and chocolate sauce. Flew home through New York so we could get some pizza that night and spend a day walking around -- froze little Wee's nuts off (sorry, Chris, but I couldn't resist) in the 15 degree weather. Bought the best baby thing ever! at the FAO Schwarz near Central Park -- you'll have to wait for nursery pictures to be posted to fully appreciate this purchase, but it's similar to yet also better than something we dreamed up. A huge felt wall map of the world with little country names and people and animals and modes of transportation that you can velcro on. It's possible that the gift was more for us than the baby, but we think we'll be spending enough time in the baby's room that we deserve some cool stuff in there, too!

Chris Meets Wee

Some exciting news... One night in Madrid, Wee was really bumping around in there, so I took Chris' hand and put it where the last poke had been. A few seconds later, the little boy poked again and poked hard enough for Chris to feel it! (I've been putting my hands on him when he's really bopping but usually his jabs are still too weak to feel on the outside.) Chris gasped and looked at me all wide-eyed -- I said, "You felt it!" and he said, "I felt it!" :) That was the first time we've been able to line up Chris' hand with Wee's poke. It has worked one other time since then and felt more like a roll than a focused jab, so we think he might have been breakdancing that second time. Our baby can do the Worm -- we are so, so proud!