Our little Harold and how he grew!

I never took all the stories about how "children grow up before you know it" too seriously until now. He sure does grow fast! Of course, if I increased my height and weight by 20%+, I think everyone else would notice too :). We're pleased to report that he's now 23 inches and somewhere around 11 pounds. And hungry, very hungry. And also slightly squirmy. But rather happy overall.

It's certainly been an adventure so far, but we're staring to get some things figured out. We're rather tired and sleep deprived, but hanging in there pretty well so far. We're so happy to have him as part of our lives and we're enjoying getting to know him better. We're very grateful for all the help that we've received from kind neighbors and friends. It's really helped out. You don't know how much help you need until someone shows up and gives you a hand. Thanks to all of you!

So, how is he? Well... as mentioned previously he sure grows fast! We'll try to get some updated pictures up soon. He's very long, with a long body, long feet and long fingers, but he's starting to get some more baby fat and his cheeks are filling out a bit. He's also a pretty strong little boy for his age. He can hold his head up when he wants to and can push up a bit on his hands a look around when on his tummy. He can rock himself back and forth pretty well and turn mostly onto his side when he feels like it. He likes his stuffed doggy and octopus, but mostly he likes to be walked around and look at things on the wall or ceiling.

As it turns out, his name is rather conveniently alliterative. He can be a Hungry Harold or a Happy Harold, but sometimes he's just a Harold squirm-a-saurus (inspired by his dinosaur onesie). He's pretty even-tempered so far. He fusses sometimes, but mostly when he has a reason for it and calms down when you take care of it. He's also getting quite a bit more sociable. He likes to smile back at us and has recently started cooing a bit. For some reason he thinks whistling is hilarious, so I've taken to whistling songs to him sometimes.

I've had the chance to stay home and watch him in the mornings while Rebecca finishes out the school year as a kindergarten aide. It's been nice to get to know him a little better and have some more time with him. We sure love him a lot!

-Brian