We officially have an 18-Month-Old

Barker's half birthday was yesterday which now makes him 18 Months.

He has 16 teeth, is 32" tall and weighed in at 23lbs 13oz yesterday.

My mom has always said one of her favorite ages is 18 months and I totally see why. Barker is like a sponge right now learning new "tricks" and it is a lot of fun to watch. He finally started pointing to body parts when asked a couple weeks ago and quickly learns new ones to point to.

"Belly" is his favorite

 He also is experimenting even more with language. Last week we were coloring and I said, "color" and Barker would repeat, trying to say it better each time. In the end I could tell what he was saying for sure, but he managed to make "color" one syllable. haha Most of his two syllable words have become one syllable. It's quite impressive.

One of the sweetest things Barker does is bring us our shoes. Whenever he wants to go outside Barker first will find a matching pair of his shoes and place them to us. Then he will bring our own shoes. (And he almost always brings the correct shoes to the correct person, and they match!) Then, if that still doesn't work, (or we've waited to long to go outside after putting our shoes on) he will bring a hat and insist on wearing it. Then, it's time to go outside and play "ball!!" He tries to golf every day.

He simply enjoys being outside in general.

We really need to get more outside activities for him, but right now it's mostly golf and chalk.

He plays "ball" inside too, but he gets creative with his clubs. He's used a ladle, shovel, snorkel and ball popper so far.

You gotta love him!

Barker's Snacking Spot

I often give Barker snacks in little bowls and over time I started setting him up with his snacks on an end table shelf by his toddler chair. 

Now whenever I get him a snack he knows that is where it will be set up and he follows or leads me there while I set it up. 

Today I tried letting Barker carry his own bowl. I placed it in his hands and let him go. It was super cute and impressive to watch him slowly and very carefully carry his bowl of Cheerios (apple cinnamon) into the living room and to his special end table spot. Then he sat down to enjoy his snack and watch the morning news with a big, proud smile.

Hehe love him. And of course Sahara is always nearby.

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Niece #3

On Saturday morning I had just gotten Barker and I settled for breakfast when I checked my phone and saw that I had missed a very important text two hours before. My sister-in-law was possibly in labor!

An hour later it was confirmed that she indeed was in labor and this little girl had decided to make an appearance about 2.5 weeks before her due date. (She couldn't stand to miss this beautiful Florida weather anymore!)

After what felt like a long day of waiting and texting (it's hard being on the other side! hehe) we finally got word that our third niece (and first in Florida!) has been born at 6:40PM!

Sweetie Pie Emerson! She's pretty chill. 😍

A photo posted by sharalynnh (@sharalynnh) on Apr 19, 2015 at 10:36am PDT

Emerson Elizabeth Harrison weighed in at 6lbs 9oz and is 19.5" long. She also has quite a bit of hair.

I got to hold her just a few hours after her birth and Barker got to meet his newest little cousin.
 

Here is Aunt Hannah holding my oldest while I hold her oldest! =) Barker was in his PJs and slippers, it was a bit past his bed time. ;)

It's so exciting to finally have a niece growing up near by! The whole exciting experience has always made me even more excited about our next little one that will be coming in 5 months. =)  (Oh did I mention I'm pregnant and due September 19?)


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Sharing the Sickies

Well we are serving our first all family illness. The stomach flu.

It started with Barker on Monday, got to me Wednesday and finally got to Brett last night.

Barker was quite the trooper even when he couldn't understand why he couldn't be with Mommy Wednesday night. He fell asleep at the bottom of the stairs missing me. The poor baby.

But the next day I was feeling up to sickie cuddles and cartoons on the couch.

Brett is certain he deserves a World's Greatest Dad mug after taking care of us only to then get it himself. Of course he now understands why I didn't feel like watching the food network yesterday.

At least Brett is recovering quicker than the rest of us.

And now my big boy toddler is learning to brush away the sick germs all by himself! 

I'm so proud of this little guy. 

He's super nurturing too. While Daddy was sick on the couch today he kept bringing him things like plastic Easter eggs and saltines. Hehe Always trying to help. :) You can't help but love him.

So that has been our week. It's Friday now right? Time for a restful weekend!

Baby's First Swim Lesson!

Barker had his first swim lesson today!

On the way there I was a little nervous. I knew I'd be in the water with my 17month old because it is a parents and tots class, but I didn't know what to expect. Barker of course had no idea what was going on and had a nice 15 minute nap on the way there.

Upon arriving Barker was pretty excited to see so many other little people! He paced back and forth on the sidewalk just smiling and checking everyone out. 

Then he saw it. The pool. He just knew he had to get in there! After being held back while he took off his flops and got in place with Mommy he was finally able to sit on the side and splash his feet while we learned about how the class would go and how we would get started today.

Then we got in! They like to start and end each class with a song that even has special pool motions where you get to kick and splash and spin around. Barker rather enjoyed the songs. There were giggles and claps. :)

Then we lined up and practiced "reach and pull" where he learned how to reach out his arms then pull them back to swim. All the while bouncing and moving with mommy to reach the floating toy we tossed in front of us. Barker really enjoyed this. :)

Then he got to be the teacher's example to learn kicks! He got very serious as he was leaned on her shoulder and she helped him kick his legs. Kicking is serious stuff! He also did very well when it was Mommy's turn to help him kick across the pool.

Finally it was time to get a taste of going under the water. (The part I was most nervous about.) The instructor made it super simple and easy though! She held Barker, counted to three, made sure he took a breath then dipped him under and guided him to me. Everyone clapped as each kid took his/her turn and there was no crying in our class of 6! Barker was a little confused by the going under the water business though. He gave the instructor a Judgy, "what are you doing?" look. Haha

Then we ended with another fun song and he was all smiles. I could tell he wanted to jump back in when it was time to leave, but we'll be back Thursday! I think this will be fun. :)

Snacks

Sorry about slacking on the posts lately! I promise I have a good reason but I'll save that for another post. ;)

Meanwhile I'll try to keep up a little better via my iPhone and little snippets about our life that I find amusing. (Hopefully you will too.)

I keep Barker's big container snacks on top of the fridge. (Goldfish and animal cracks) Naturally Barker knows this and often brings us into the kitchen and points up when he wants chocolate animal crackers (his current snack of choice.) This probably happens 5xs a day  lol. Don't worry, I don't always give in to the cuteness. 0:-)

All this to say: 

Barker is 16mo old now and working on his vocabulary and today he used his latest word! After calling me into the kitchen he pointed to the top of the fridge and said, "snack!" (Although it sounded more like "snaa!") I was so proud I had to go ahead and get him some goldfish. Hehe But I knew he was probably still hungry after sharing half of his breakfast with our dog Sahara this morning. 

So here he is enjoying his "snaa" and of course the dog is patiently waiting for her share.

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March

It's the first day of March!
It was a cold February for us in Florida. Sure we didn't have any snow, but it was cold enough that I didn't take Barker to a park outside of our neighborhood once. haha So I'm looking forward to getting out a little more as it warms up here.

However there are two things I'm not looking forward to so much this month:
1. Brett's travel season starts. =/
2. Spring Breakers!! (I don't think I'll be heading to the beach for the next two months...and traffic is going to get a little tighter.)

My plan is to keep busy and have more outings for the little guy. Our biggest venture will hopefully be swim lessons! I've started looking into it. I just need to pick a place and sign him up! (I also probably need to get him new swimming gear, he's grown quite a bit lately.)

I'll try to keep y'all updated on our outing and adventures.

Cheers to a bright and exciting March!