And there goes February....

Where the heck did the month go? If I had a nickel for every time this month I've had a magical little moment with Harrison and I made up my mind to blog about it and then DIDN'T, well, let's just say I'd be able to take you out for dinner...to McDonalds...dollar menu only, please. But that's still impressive if you figure I'm getting paid in nickels. Anyway, H-man melts my heart on a daily basis. I don't want to get used to it and I don't want it to stop being a big deal, so I better brag him up a little bit.

Harrison's "personality" seems to really be coming through, which is fun...most of the time. The kid knows what he wants. The good thing is, he is naturally such a loving, sensitive boy that showers affection on us. I've never met a better kisser, and believe me, I've been around the block. I can gauge how much he's enjoying his dinner by how many times he stops what he's doing, closes his eyes, smiles, and puckers, just waiting until I swoop in with a kiss. He LOVES cuddling with blankets and stuffed animals. Just today he found his stuffed monkey in the diaper bag at the doctor's office. He felt the need to immediately lay down on the cold tile floor and cuddle with monkey. I didn't know whether to take a picture or freak out from him wallowing on the germy floor.

Okay, so if that put a smile on your face and you won't actually be encountering Harrison in person anytime soon, then I encourage you to walk away right now. Everything I said was completely true....

It's just I feel I should warn you in case you will be spending any time with my monster soon. He has mastered the fit along with the kiss. The fit can be seen when you try to make him do something he doesn't deem as cool. This could be guiding him away from the street, suggesting he take a drink when he doesn't feel like it, or having the audacity to make eye contact with him if you're a stranger. Okay, the last one doesn't result in a fit, but it does produce this aggressive stance accompanied with a forceful throw of the binkie onto the ground.

I'm experimenting with how to handle this. Basically I've been trying to walk away or at least completely ignore the crying. I haven't tried timeouts yet, but I can see them on the horizon. The worst is that he tries to scratch and hit some too.

In his defense, he's had an ear infection for over a month at this point. He's frustrated and so am I. We're working on it.

Oh, and PS--has everyone been watching American Idol? I've seen quite a bit of it so far and am digging Blake. He'll be the next Justin Timberlake. Shell and I decided we're leaving the kids to become BLaker Girls.

We're still here

We don't have time for stinking blog updates, people. We're dealing with EAR INFECTIONS here. Our sixth one in ten months, to be exact. Unless you consider that the fifth one from two weeks ago never cleared up, but my logic is placing me at six. Adding to the excitement was when we quickly discovered Harrison's penicillin allergy during the treatment of #5. H-man wanted me to thank you for the weak genes, Dad.

We also accompanied Dan on his little work-related trip to Orlando for the National Home Builder's Convention. Despite an infection and hives, Harrison seemed to have a blast. He met Shamu at SeaWorld and was riveted by all the shows we saw. It was a first for all of us at SeaWorld and we had a really great time. We went with our friends Michael and Jessica and their too, too cute little Clayton. Clayton told me he's going to be a marine biologist when he grows up; Harrison wants to be a dolphin trainer.

Anyway, like any successful vacation, we were just too absorbed in having a good time to actually document any of the fun-having. I swear we did. I've got a couple random shots, but I know all will be disappointed to find not-a-one pic of Harrison sporting his camo swim shorts.

You write the songs, Barry.

My mom was talking to me about a book she's reading involving the "five languages of love." I don't know much about it, but it got me to pondering how I express love to Dan. He seems to be so much better than me at showing me his feelings, but I did hit on something. The more I've grown to love Dan, the more I have taken to loving things that he loves. Case in point:

Early in our relationship, (I don't remember if we were dating, engaged, or just married) we took a road trip and had the rule that whoever was driving got to pick the music. This led to one of our first real fights because I found myself trying to actually assign meaning to Lionel Richie lyrics, which can only lead one to feeling irritable and grouchy. I simply could not fathom why someone would choose to listen to intellectually insulting lines like, "Say you...say me...say it together...naturally.... Hello? Is it me you're looking for?"

Anyway, I've evolved. Not that Lionel is at the total top of my list now, but Dan and I do have a song on one of his cd's where we've assigned parts and do a pretty sweet duet together. Everybody does that, right? Where I really see the change is in my appreciation for Barry Manilow. I was never a Barry Hater. I simply only saw the genius in two of his songs, "Mandy" and "Copa Cabana." But after Dan told me how much he loved another of the ballads, (and hearing it about 30 times) I realized last night that I actually LOVED that song. Weird, huh? Same phenomenon with the Pistons and Dan's guilty pleasure Boston Legal.

Here's the funny part. This love of Delilah-esque music seems to be genetic. Harrison absolutely loves "Copa Cabana." Truly. Today he was throwing a fit because I had him out too far past his nap time. I threw him in the car and cranked it up and he got his groove on immediately. Luckily for me, it's a super long song. It got us most of the way home.