Harrison is TWO (Part II)

Dear Harrison,

Oh you have been one celebrated two year old this week!  And yes your birthday is only one day but I think a week celebration is perfect for you my love.

We started with a free cupcake from Barnes and Noble on Tuesday.  You know how to eat a cupcake!!!!

Then the next night your Dad and I took just you to the Williamson County Fair.  It is by far the best fair I have been to.  It was clean, organized and overrun with properly dressed teenage girls.  We started out inside because it was 97 degrees outside.  They had a dump truck, bulldozer, tractors, firetruck and all sorts of equipment.  You were intimidated by them all and wanted to go back outside.  So we ventured to the livestock.  First you got to pet a cow, then we went through the Little 1s Farm.  It was so neat.  You got to "feed" chickens, "pick" apples from a tree, go "fishing", "milk" a cow and so much more.  You wanted to keep all the fish haha.  After this we walked where the live animals were you could pet but you were distracted by the tall swings in the carnival ride area so we left to check it out.  We found a ride you could ride with me because you were too short to ride alone.  It was the Bumblebee.  You were fearless.  You looked around the fair and were taking it all in.  Next we went down a SUPER TALL slide.  I am not sure you knew what to expect but the minute it was over you asked for more.  Sadly we left because with the time we needed to eat and get you home but next year you and I are buying the ride all you want passes and riding until we cannot ride anymore!!!!

On Thursday you stayed home from school for a special day.  The original plan was because I was supposed to return to work the next day but luckily that was incorrect and my start day was not until Monday.  We stuck to the plan anyhow.  Your Grand and I took you and Atticus for some adventuring.  First we went to Cumberland Park to the Splash Pad.  You were unsure at first as you are with most things but you are still little and new experiences are in fact that - NEW.  Once you and I played around for a few minutes you were running and splashing and squealing and yelling WATER at the top of your lungs.  It was the BEST.  I could not stop photographing you.  When you got your face wet you ran to me to wipe your face on my shorts.  I finally grabbed your towel because we did have more places to go.  I was never allowed to more than 2 feet from you without you yelling "Ma" and that is A-OK.  I loved playing with you.  I am happy I was not like the other moms there reading or talking or totally in another world.  You have the biggest zest for life and I wish everyone could take note and be more like you.  I know that I do my love.  

After that we took you to Arnold's for lunch and Aunt Cole joined us.  It is a popular meat and three downtown.  You waiting patiently but did wait patiently for pie.  You kept on and on.  The kicker is my pie was a hot chocolate pie seasoned with cayenne pepper.  So I finally let you have a bite.  It has the kick on the end and boy did it light you up!  You started whining and licking my arm.  The sweet old bus man warned me so he graciously gave you some cornbread and you were good.  After our lunch Atticus wanted to eat so we took a break at the Farmer's Market.  Once we were all good we took off across town to Seiver Park to swing and slide.  It was super hot so we cooled off with a treat - Las Palatas.  It was the perfect ending to our day!!

On Friday you went to school.  Grand and I spent the day together getting ready for your party.  We then joined you at school for cupcakes to celebrate with your friends.  I took you a balloon to the party and it was a major distraction.  You wanted it instead of sitting down for a cupcake or washing up after you finally gave into eating one ;)  We then took you to Target to grab a few more things for your party and get some popcorn.  You LOVE popcorn.  After that we checked out a playground near the house.  We had the entire place to ourselves.  A goldmine!!

On Saturday our little family of four went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast, to our local pig farm to buy some meat and visit the pigs.  You of course found a pond to throw rocks in.  We hit the playground up again before heading to Grand's for the afternoon.  You also attempted to go the the Titan's game with Grand so I could cook all the food without your help but it poured rain and you never made it inside.  But you did get a milkshake before coming home to bed. We had some excitement before bed. We had the light out beginning our wind down and you insisted on having "one car" with you. In was in minutes you started crying and by feeling in the dark it was stuck in your hair. I had to get you calm and still to turn on the light. By that time snot was pouring out of your nose and you were so upset. Quickly we went to find Dad to so I could cut it out. Luckily you did not lose much of your beautiful hair and we can laugh about it now.

Now kiddo it's your birthday!!!  We woke around 7am.  You had your banana while I fed your brother.  Then it was all about you.  Making pancakes and opening presents!!  We played until it was time to go to your party...

Your party this year was much more low key than your first birthday.  No theme - just food, cake, ice cream and balloons!  And swimming of course.  Our village celebrated the heck out of you.  I am so blessed we have the love and support of such fabulous friends and family.  You are so very loved.

I hated for it to end and even if you may not know what the day was about or remember how much fun you had, I will always remember the day we celebrated you turning TWO.

I love you so much,

Momma

Harrison is TWO (Part I)

Dear Harrison,

Happy birthday my love!!!!!  You have grown so much in a year - in size and development.  You are one amazing little boy...

 You love horses, or should I say "bousas" We let you watch TV in the mornings while you eat your banana and either cereal, waffle or egg.  You always want to watch Sheriff Callie which you call "bousa".  I cannot wait for you to ride one some day soon.

You are a great eater.  You love bananas, apples, mandarin oranges, and most recently peaches.  Strawberries are hit or miss as well as blueberries.  You love all beans except green beans.  You love chicken and turkey.  You would eat two sweet potatoes at a sitting if I would let you. You go through phases with yogurt.  You love cheese, peanut butter, applesauce, and raisins.  You are not into all veggies yet.  You won't eat peppers, cucumbers, carrots, avocado, or tomatoes.  We do not fight much over meals.  You do not need praise or encouragement.  If that happens you refuse even more.  Everything needs to be your idea.

You are working on becoming a protective big brother.  You like to go into Atticus's room in the mornings and say "baby out"  You look for him if he is not going with us for school drop off.  When we are at school you like to show how you rock him in his carseat but get upset if another friend wants to rock him.  You help me get a diaper for him, you will hold his bottle for him, you have thrown away dirty diapers for me and you ask for him to join you in the bath.  You are a big help as I knew you would be.

Bedtime used to be my favorite time, but our routine has changed with Atticus and your Dad and I have to split this time but as he gets older I foresee bedtime being my favorite again.  Currently it is a struggle to get you to sleep in your room all night, but I love hearing you call out for me or want to be comforted by me in the night.  The way you snuggle up next to me is something I know in years to come I will miss so I welcome it.  You will become more independent and will be in your own room all night on your own time.  My hope would be snuggled up with your baby brother.

You love being outside.  In the afternoons we always end up outside for your snack.  We play in the water, check the garden, go on walks, throw rocks, chase chickens, pet cats, smell flowers, listen to birds, point to the sky for airplanes.  You are so much fun.

You love books.  You love animals.  You love cars, trucks, tractors, lawn mowers, bulldozers, trains and planes.  You love balls, balloons, and bubbles.

You like adventuring.  If your shoes get put on you stand by the door ready to go.  I love taking you places and seeing the world through your eyes.

You like water.  You love to drink it and play in it.  You love bath time.  You have become more willing to get into the pool.  You like riding on our boat but not a fan of getting in the lake.  Now that you know you can catch fish I think we will be doing a lot of that in the future.

You like to make a mess but you are clean for a toddler.  If you see dirt you let me know.  If you drop food you let me know.  If you have a booger on your hand you let me know. If you have something in your mouth you let me know. And if you hurt your head, hand, foot, etc. it must be kissed. I adore that.

You like music.  You know what you want to hear.  Once a song starts on the record player you say in seconds "no" if you do not like it.  You break out in dance to some of the strangest songs.  I basically think you just like a good beat. 

You love to run and scream and get into everything.  You do not miss a thing.

You are a talker.  You always have something to say.  Your vocabulary has exploded!!!

You are a creature of habit.  You are particular.  You know how you want things.  You are strong willed.  You are loud.  You are sweet.  You are loving.  You are always on the go.  You have your moments but overall a wonderful child.

Thank you for making me a Momma.  My heart exploded with love on this day two years ago and it grows more and more every day.  I cannot imagine my life without you.  I am a better person because of you.  I want to be so much more because of you.  You carry my heart with you wherever you go.  You are my first true love.

 I could never tell you enough how much I love you and how much you mean to me.  Nor could I ever tell you every detail about you in just one letter.  I just hope you have the best birthday…now let's go celebrate you!!!!!

I love you always,

Your Momma

Atticus - 2 Months

Dear Atticus,

You are 2 months old today my sweet little bird!

You are the best baby.

You smile.  You laugh.  You are happy.

You are a good sleeper.

You prefer to sleep on your left side.

You hate to have a stinky diaper.

You like to look at your shadow on the wall when you lay on your changing pad.

You are not allowed any toys to just be yours.

You are strong.

You are so sweet.

You are handsome.

You are part of a set of bookends.  My favorites.

I love you so much,

Your Momma

Harrison - Almost Two

Dear Harrison,

Happy last month of being ONE!

Although babyhood is over, this is a fun age. You can speak and walk and feed yourself. You have a little personality. You own the hearts of the people you meet. Your best friend is your Dad. I do not like nicknames or shortened versions of your name and your Dad likes to call you "Boogers" and only he is allowed to call you that. You tolerate your brother. You mostly like to sit or lay in whatever he is. You also like to "honk" his nose. You like trucks, balls, and farm animals. You still love your books. When you learn a new word you say it over and over. Your favorite playmate is Averie. You would eat 5 bananas a day if I would let you.

Our summer has just really begun because I could not get in the water. You have been in Grand's pool a few times and we will take you to the lake sometime soon. You have water day every Wednesday at school and have the best farmers tan. It is adorable like you are.

I would like to do some fun things this entire month for your birthday. Hopefully I can make that happen because I want to give you the world.

I love you,

Your Momma

Hospitals, fireworks and a superhero

Dear Atticus,

Where to begin my little bird...

On Monday evening at 530pm, your Dad was finishing feeding you your bottle and thought you felt warm. I did not think so you always feel hot.  You went to sleep after that and we continued our night of bath time and bed time with Harrison.  At 830pm I heard you stir and wanted to put you in your pajamas for the night.  When I took off your clothes you protested and your torso area was so hot.  I took your temperature and it was 102.  I found my information from your pediatrician and it said any temp under the age of 3 months to call immedately.  So I did and the answering service would have a nurse call me.  We received a call back in 2 minutes.  They verified your name and mine and said to go to the emergency room ASAP.  We arrived at our local hospital at 9pm.  Since I did not know what to expect your Dad stayed home and put Harrison to bed like normal and your Grand met me at the hospital.  We were seen within 20 minutes and the doctor was in and giving the standard checks for a high fever in a newborn.  First they did a chest X-ray then they put in an IV to start antibiotics and drew blood.

After 5 attempts they got one in.  I am so thankful you will never remember that or any of this experience.  After the second attempt I could not even talk to you to comfort you.  There really was no comforting since you were being used as a pin cushion.  Once it was in the next was a lumbar puncture to retrieve spinal fluid.  The doctor performed this and at first your fluid was clear and he was happy and by the third vial he could see what he thought was white blood cells and was concerned.  He told us you would have to be admitted to the hospital and would be transferred to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital.  We waited on the doctor to check out all of your initial tests and we were able to provide a urine sample without a catheter.  There was no way I was going to make you go through that unless it was necessary.  Soon the EMTs were there with the stretcher to strap you onto it and the doctor confirmed his diagnosis of meningitis.  At that time he hoped viral but your CNF and blood must be left in a petri dish and watched for growth as this would confirm whether your meningitis was bacterial.  By 1am we were on our way…

All of your Aunts were all alerted to the happenings and Lauren was working the night we were transported.  She is a nurse in the NICU so you were not her patient but she kept an eye out for us.  During the transfer Grand went to our house to be with Harrison and your Dad met us at Vandy.  We arrived by 130am and immediately you were wheeled into a room with 5 nurses and 2 doctors.  Your temp was 101.7 and they gave you Tylenol.  The EMT gave his report and the doctors began asking me lots of questions.  Every person that came in asked me the same series of questions about your condition.  After they all left us, Lauren came in to see us.  It was a relief to see her and have a hug from someone that cares about us.  Your Dad was not far behind and we then were met with 2 doctors that would be on the floor of the hospital we would be sent to.  You ate and tried to rest during this time.  We were in our room by 330am.  We attempted to rest and your doctor team would be in during morning rounds for a treatment plan.  The plan at that time was to continue antibiotics and monitor you while we waited on the CNF culture results.  They were not committing to any diagnosis yet.

We spent the next two days giving updates and receiving a huge outpour of love and prayers from all over.  News travelled fast and we are so blessed with the village of friends in our lives that offered food, clothes, prayers, hugs, etc.  It was completely overwhelming.  The entire experience was and has changed my perspective on many things I find myself stressing over.  We would walk the halls at the hospital and hear words like cancer and see little ones crying in a room all alone day and night.  We are beyond lucky to have two healthy little boys and things like a bad nights sleep or a minor tantrum are the common woes of a parent.  I hope and pray we are never faced with what we saw over our stay at Vandy.  I will happily be awaken by your cries or your brother's kicks beside me in bed because that means you are alive and well.  

We received the good news on Thursday morning that you could go home and in fact you had viral meningitis.  Your poor little body had a rough couple of days but you were fever free and we just were going to continue to give you TLC at home.  We are so happy to be home again with Harrison and continue with life.  You have been resting and eating like crazy.  You received a clean bill of health at your follow up with your pediatrician and we will now just be more mindful of hand washing and keeping your brother away from your face and hands.  

Our 4th of July was spent with friends by the pool and it was the best time.  I cannot wait for next year when you can join us all in the water and watch the fireworks show your Dad and the guys put on.  They did a super job. I was in and out of the house during that time because Harrison was scared. Thankfully they did not disrupt your rest.

I am overjoyed you are home and well. You gave me such a scare. My life would be shattered if something happened to you. You are a little superhero.

I love you,

Momma