A whole year! Baby Harrison is one year old! From the chaos of the early newborn days to the chaos of the mobile baby we have now and everything in between, this has been an eventful year. Harrison has had another big month that moved him from infant to toddler and we have grown together as a family overall. As I look back on the year, I’m most thankful for a healthy, happy baby who continues to grow big and strong with a fun, easy-going disposition – and the support of my family especially my hubby. <3

We had another busy month with visits from my mom and grandma, and Sean taking Harrison to Florida to see Steve, his mom and stepdad. I also took a solo trip to LA that was very much needed.

LOTS of progress this last month on many fronts that remind just how close to the next phase of life we are with him.

Mobility – crawling on hands and knees now (upgrade from army crawling) and pulling up on EVERYTHING. We’re baby proofing as we go but also trying to teach him now what things to stay away from – otherwise he’ll never learn. He’s a baby but he’s not stupid – he’s quite capable of learning. We’re focused on being consistent and so far he’s gone from having to be physically moved away from the dog’s food and water bowls to being able to stop when we say “no” and move on to something else. Win!

Expressions galore! Harrison definitely works to communicate with facial expressions and he has some pretty hilarious ones. From raising his eyebrows as high as Mount Everest to scrunching up his little nose and grinning, we’re learning to interpret (often while laughing) what he’s trying to tell us. 

Chatterbox. More and more “talking” all the time. No real words just yet – he will say “dadada” or “mamamaman” etc. He’s also finding his limits with his voice – random, ear-piecing screams and shrieks are starting to occur more frequently. And I’m sure this will continue.

Activities galore! Harrison LOVES to be out and about. Going for walks and to the park to swing, playing with his neighbor Valerie and going for spins in her mini Mercedes, running errands with mom and dad, and having dinner at new places all seem to make him SO happy. I’m realizing that the days of hanging around the house with him all day are probably close to over for awhile. He needs action and gets bored at home sometimes. This means planning more things to do with him.

Sleep changes. After weeks and weeks of slight schedule shifts, we’ve started getting him to sleep until right around 7am. He had been waking up between 6am and 6.30am which was just not quite working for our family. We do keep him up a little later with us, and feed him dinner a little later in order to achieve this. He tends to go to sleep now between 7.30 and 8pm most nights. 

Nap(s). Harrison is getting ready to drop a nap. We’re trying to prepare for this but it’s hard because there is a lot of shifting involved that didn’t come with dropping previous naps. He’s starting to refuse the first nap unless he happens to wake up extra early but he can’t quite make it to 12 or 1pm when the only nap of the day should start. We’ve been pushing the start of nap 1 back to 10am but then we need to wake him after an hour in order for him to be tired enough for a nap later in the afternoon. We’re going to start our 1 nap a day by moving the start of the nap to 11am, and try to get him to sleep for 2-3 hours. We may need to temporarily move bedtime up to 7pm as a result but by 15 months old, he should be able to have his nap start between 12 and 1pm most days.

Teeth – Harrison has four teeth on the bottom and four on the top! We love seeing those cute baby teeth every time he smiles and laughs. SO cute. 

Noms. Palate training continues to pay off for us. While Harrison definitely has preferences when it comes to food, we see him try and accept most things. We only take a little bit of baby food with us to restaurants now – and often times it’s just regular fruit or steamed veggies – and the rest of the time he eats what we’re eating. He’s had Indian, Thai, Italian, barbecue, Japanese, Korean…so adventurous! Right now, his favorite foods are: tofu, Spanish rice, bananas, broccoli, salmon and cod, any kind of beans, blueberries and acorn squash. 

Affection. Harrison was a snuggly baby for maybe the first month of his life. Maybe. Even then, it was really only when he was sleeping. He never snuggled with me and Sean in bed, even as a newborn. Now, though, it’s obvious he has different relationships with each of us and so he gives us affection in different ways. I will get nuzzles and kisses, especially at nap times and bedtimes (and kisses at this age are open-mouth, it’s so cute), Sean gets Harrison’s full attention – he will crawl furiously to Sean when he comes into the room or home from work ready to be played with and tossed in the air. Daniela is his constant companion and I know he gets a lot of comfort from that and lets her carry him far more than he lets any of us. I’m eagerly awaiting more affection as he grows into toddlerhood – hugs, big kisses, hand-holding and maybe even sitting together to read a book. <3

I’ve covered a lot here about Harrison. These posts each month have been focused on him and his development – I’m so glad I put the time in because it’s already helping me remember the small and big changes that occurred at the beginning. 

As far as us – we are having more and more fun as the days go by. Yes, there are extremely challenging moments but as I’m learning, they tend to pass rather quickly. Learning more about impermanence and patience this year has helped me to grow as a person and a parent. I won’t speak for Sean but will share what I see and that is an amazing and active father who adores his son so completely that it often makes me tear up.

I haven’t talked that much about Daniela, our au pair from Colombia, since these posts have really been about Harrison. She’s so fantastic with Harrison and a great addition to our family make-up. She’s calm, helpful, loving and fun – Harrison adores her. And we think she’s pretty great, too. 😉

I can’t go through this post without mentioning Harrison’s sisters. Stella is adorable with her love of her baby brudder and they now play with each other! Stella brings him toys and he takes it, then shares it back with her, and she gives it back to him…and on and on. So sweet. Peggy is already over it – too bad this is just the beginning. I know she loves him but…from afar. We are encouraging her to simply move away when he comes for her. Here’s hoping she survives toddlerhood!!! 🙂

More pics of this last month for you to enjoy.