IN NY

I am now in NY. We flew out this morning. Normally a flight from Minnesota would take 2 hours but today it took a whopping 4 hours. We got on the plane on time and things were looking good. But boy was I mistaken. When they closed the doors the pilot got on the "microphone", as Harrison called it, and told us there was an hour and 40 minute delay in NY so we were going to stay in MN on the runway until we were cleared. Well 20 minutes later they got on the microphone again and told us the gate agent had a message for us and we had to go back to the gate. The gate agent then got on the plane and had a nice chat with the pilot who finally told us we were going to stay at the gate for 40 more minutes and we could get off the plane and walk around if we wanted. Well almost 2 hours after our original departure time we finally took off. The kicker is they pushed back from the gate on schedule so that will make this flight an "on time" flight. Crazy!

Growth Spurt

On Monday Harrison had his 2 year well baby dr. appointment. Well he gained 6 lbs and grew 4 inches in 6 months. I couldn't believe it. He is now in the 50th percentile for weight and the 30th percentile for height. To put it in perspective, at his 18th month appointment he was in the 15th percentile for weight and the 10th percentile for height. I feel so proud like I did something to make this growth spurt happen. But I know I had nothing to do with it, but it still feels good.

Funny thing Harrison said today

"WHOA, What Happened?"

This was when he looked out the window this morning and saw the snow on the ground.

Today is Harrison's Birthday

My baby tuned 2 today!!! I can't believe how fast time has flown by. This has been the most incredible 2 years of my life. He has brought so much joy, happiness and fun to our lives. Harrison is so intelligent, curious, active, pensive, analytical and cute. He has developed into an amazing little boy.

So for his birthday I made him funfetti cup cakes to bring with him to daycare. He loves cupcakes. Well, he loves the frosting on the cupcakes. He woke up in a great mood, so I hope it stays that way.

I think he is also getting his 2 yr. molars. He has been drooling alot and waking up at night wimpering, not really waking up but wimpering in his sleep and when I go to him there are all these drool spots on his bed.

Happy Birthday my little boy!

The day after

The day after Harrison's party he still thought he was going to another party. He kept saying "go to birthday party". We told him that his party was yesterday and that it was over. We did take him to the mall to play on the indoor play area and he like that. But I think he was still tired from the day before because he was very slow to go run and play.

Harrison's Birthday Party

On Saturday we had Harrison's 2nd birthday party. We held it at the Eagles Nest indoor playground. The day started like all of our other Saturdays. I think Harrison understands weekends and how long they are because when he got up he told me he was going to Gymboree. I told him not this week, because he was the birthday boy today and we were having a party. He got pretty excited. After playing for a while and having breakfast, We gave Harrison a bath and got him dressed for his big day. Stone colored cargo pants and a Navy long sleeved polo shirt. he looked adorable. The food arrived right on time. I had it catered by the Lunds and Byerly's catering service, Simple to Grand (www.simpletogrand.com). As usual they did an amazing job.

I ordered the kids hot dog meals for the kids which came with, hot dogs (of course), buns, chips, string cheese, fruit cubes, jello cups and pickles. For the adults I ordered a meat and cheese platter and bread to make sandwiches. All of the food was yummy.

We had to stop at Byerlys on our way to the party to pick up the birthday cake. The theme for his party was the Wiggles. So the cake was a Wiggles cake. It came out great! We had Wiggles plates, napkins, table cloth, balloons and the goody bags were filled with a Wiggles Coloring Book, Crayons, a Wiggles CD, Wiggles fruit snacks, Wiggles tambourine and Wiggles stickers. It was Wiggles everywhere.

The party started at 11:30. We got to the Eagles Nest at 11:10 hoping we could set up the room. But they told us we couldn't get into the room until 11:30 unless we paid extra. So that is what I did. I just wanted to get set up before everyone got there. I waited with Harrison while Cliff brought in all of our supplies. That took much longer than I expected. But at 11:25 our guests started to arrive. Abby was first. After they put their stuff down, Shannon took Abby and Harrison to play while I waited to greet more guests, give them their wrist bands and tell them where the room was.

By 12:00 everyone arrived and was playing and having a good time. There was 13 kids total: Abby, Greta, Wilson, Lillian, Willie, Henry, Morgan, Tommy, Sydney, Ericka, Darby, Jason Christopher & Harrison. At 12:30 we all went back to the room for lunch. An amazing thing happened, all of the kids sat and waited for their parents to bring them their lunch and then ate quietly. Harrison was the only one who got up occasionally. But everyone ate and was pretty happy. We then had the Wiggles Cake and sang Happy Birthday to Harrison. At first he just sat there. I was surprised because he knows all of the words to the song and was singing it earlier but this time he was quiet. Then in the middle he got up and ran to me. I, at the time, was video taping the hole thing so you can hear everything, but when I picked him up (or "Pick you up" as Harrison would say) the video was of nothing. But it was all very fun and he blew out his candle.

After everyone ate cake, we opened the presents. Harrison got some great ones. He got a train puzzle that makes noise, an Elmo book, a christmas book that lights up, a big fire engine (which was the hit among all of the boys), a tractor, a car racing set, a car spiral speed racer, clothes, a Mr. Potato Head and a Bob the Builder vehicle, Lofty.

After we cleaned up, because we had to be out of the room by 1:30, everyone headed back to play. That is when I got to sit down and watch because everything was done.

We had a great time and so did all of our guests.

Picture Results

We got to pick up the pictures from Harrison's photo sesson on Friday. WOW...they came out amazing! I couldn't believe it. Each one of them. He is so photogenic. There is one that I absolutely love. It is just him, walking toward the camera with the sweetest smile on his face. There are also ones with bubbles that I love and pictures with his fire truck. The family pictures didn't come out very well. THere may be one that I like. But there are a bunch of Harrison and Cliff that came out amazing. Really touching moments that were captured on film. Not to sound like a commercial, but if you want to check out this photographer....her website it www.photomoss.com. Shelly is the photographer and we just loved her!!

Picture Day

On Sunday we had Harrison's 2nd year pictures taken. We had them taken by a photographer called Shelly Mosman. Harrison liked her immediately. When we got to her studio loft, there was a kids table with toy animals and crayons and paper to color on. He was a bit obsessed with the table but we were able to lure him over to take some pictures in the light with bubbles. We tried to get some family pictures taken but Harrison was not having any of that. I think we did get one good one, and that is all we need. We then decided to go to the park and take some pictures outside. We brought his fire engine so we got some pictures of Harrison on that. I got him to stay there by singing "Big Red Car" by the Wiggles. If you aren't familiar with this song, just stop by my house at around 7 pm and you can hear a concert by Harrison of all of his favorite songs, including "Big Red Car". We should get the pictures back by the weekend. I cannot wait to see them.

Cliff and Harrison's day

While I was shopping Cliff and Harrison had a day together. Cliff started out by taking Harrison to gymboree. He said they had a good time and that Harrison was in a good mood throughout the class. They then went over to the new Kowalski's grocery store that opened up next to Gymboree. They had alot of samples so Harrison had alot of snacks. But their day wasn't over, Cliff then took him over to the Como Zoo. Harrison got to see all of the animals. Cliff even got him some new ones for his collection, an elephant, a hippo and a wolf. When I got home Harrison wanted to show me his "new animals". I think they had a great day together.

Winter Market

On Saturday I met my friends for a day of shopping at the Winter Market. I look forward to this event every year. It is a boutique sale put on by the Junior League of Minneapolis. They have vendors from all over come and sell their stuff. I get a really good jump start on my holiday shopping. Usually every year they have 1 or 2 types of items that I go crazy for and this year was jewelry and cashmere scarves. The prices were so good I got alot of people taken care of off of my list.

There were 7 of us who went and it was really funny how we all split up into pairs for most of it. I guess 7 is too many to stay together. But I had a great time and can't wait for next year.

3rd Hair Cut

On Friday, I took Harrison to get his 3rd hair cut. This is always such a traumatic experience for both him and me. He seemed like he was going to be ok, but I couldn't be that lucky. He was hysterically crying. But the good thing was that he didn't stuggle like he had done in the other 2 times. So at least it is getting a small bit better.

Play date with Greta

On Tuesday I stayed home with Harrison because Carol had the day off. My friend Cari is a stay at home mom so we made plans to get the kids together. We started the day by going to my insurance guy to sign some papers. We were switching our car insurance to the company that carries our homeowners insurance. We got a very good rate, less that what we currently pay for way more coverage. Harrison, surprisingly, had a very good time there. They had paper and crayons for him to color and a flamingo for him to look at. Once the papers were signed we were off to see Cari and Greta and Wilson. I kept telling him we wer having a play date with Greta. He has never met her but by the time we got there he was so excited. He was a bit shy at first, but then he felt right at home. Greta showed him her toys and Harrison immediately took to a small Dora doll and a small Grover doll. He carried that around with him the whole time we were there. They chased each other around the house. Then when we were getting ready to go to the mall, he spontaneously gave Greta about 20 hugs. She was laughing, he was laughing and Cari and I were laughing. I think Harrison has a crush on her. She is a blond little girl, so that fits within his girl crush profile. (When he was a baby there was this beautiful blond girl on his Baby Bach video that he got so excited to see).

We all then headed to Eden Prairie Center to play in their indoor playground. WOW...they have an AMAZING playground in that mall. Harrison loved it. He was running around and sliding and playing and having a great time. Greta was a bit slow to get started. We played there for about 40 minutes. Then we went to have lunch at the food court. Total Chaos. Try to get 3 kids and 2 mommies lunch and fed....that was crazy. I got Harrison his usual, Noodles with cheese from Sbarro. Then I found a table for all of us and then found 2 high chairs, while Cari got her kids lunch. I then went and got my lunch after which Cari got hers. We then all tried to eat. Although it was hectic, we had a very good time.

We said our goodbyes after lunch and when we got back to the car Harrison said to me, "Mom, good time. Good time with Greta." I said to him, yeah, mommy had a good time also.