Happy Thanksgiving

Five Months

Five months, your mother and I were talking on our first date since you were born tonight, and she told me that she looked at you today in the rear view mirror and saw a little boy, not a baby, and that made her sad. I must admit I am sad too, but also very excited to see you grow into a little man.

You are becoming more aware of touch now. You like your Fuzzy Fuzzy Fuzzy book and others that allow you to touch and feel things. You love petting Riley and grabbing his fur, which being the good dog that he is, he just sits there and lets you tug at him. You and he seem to be getting along much better now. You are completely aware of where he is, and trying to feed you as he walks around your room is just one of our new challenges as you are starting to become more active. Riley still thinks you are a big lollipop that he can lick at will and still seems to think you are a big toy, especially when you are on the floor kicking. Along with your new found love of petting your dog, you like to grab our faces. It is one of the best things when you stand up after eating and look at us and just pet or grab our cheeks like they exist only for your amusement.

Another interesting thing about month five is that you are starting to figure out to scream. You just sit in your crib and talk and then let out piercing screams, when we walk in you just look at us and giggle like you were testing us.

One of the strangest things is that you love to stand up, but you still don't like to be on your stomach. You seem to have forgotten how to roll over on your own and you are more interested in sucking on your hands than you are pushing yourself over.

Finally, we have started you on Rice cereal, and it is good to see that you inherited your mother's and my stubbornness. For the first few times you loved the stuff, now you purse your lips and won't open them until you finally scream and we are able to sneak a spoonful into your mouth, between breaths and screams. We keep trying and you keep resisting, it's pretty much how I imagine you being a teenager will be like.

We are excited more and more as we see your skills coming along, I still think I can get you on skates by 18 months, but your mom thinks I may be a little crazy! Either way we are having a wonderful time watching you develop and even though you are slowly becoming a little boy with each day, you will always be our little baby.

Who are You

One of my favorite TV shows is Scrubs, and the episode tonight was talking about knowing who you are and knowing your heritage. One of the characters is a Latina women who has had a child and is worried about passing along her heritage to her daughter.

This is something that has been an issue for me personally for a while. If anyone who is reading this isn't family (there might be a few right :) I was adopted from South America when I was a young child. Unfortunately, mostly due to my own neglect, I haven't done a good job of keeping a firm understanding of my heritage and background. For many reasons I was fine with that when I was growing up, but now that I have a child I feel like I have failed. Not that I am failing, or will fail, Harrison, though I feel that I am, but mostly that I have failed my birth parents. I don't remember anything about them, and that hurts, but the fact that I don't know anything them, about where I come from, and can't share that with my son so he can pass it on, hurts the most.

The answer is probably easy, study, learn, speak Spanish, but for some reason reading Este No Es Mi Dinosaurio, doesn't seem to cut it. So how do we pass along our heritage to our kids. How do we learn to appreciate who we are, while letting our kids learn and appreciate it on their own so they take pride and at least know where they come from?

Team Work

It is kind of funny that I am writing this post tonight, because when Liz gets home tonight, I am going to hear about how I might have done Harrison irreparable harm because I failed to follow the schedule that she has painstakingly got him on over the last week. But anyhow, one of the coolest things that I have seen as we have become parents is that we are becoming a better team. We still have our "moments" but being a parent has brought us closer.

It is fun coming home from work and playing on the floor and getting set up for bed and bath time. It is fun heading to lunch, one carrying the baby, the other the diaper bag, or going for a walk, one with a stroller and one with a leash. Liz still does the lion's share of the work, but when we click, we click, and that is what has made this whole experience fun. Our ability to enjoy each other more as we enjoy watching Harrison grow up.

Now, talk to me tomorrow after our "discussion" tonight! :)