Dedication

We had the privilege of dedicating Harlan at our church on Sunday, Nov. 4. This was a very special time for me, Ryan and our families. I love the fact that our family started at First Christian Church with our wedding and now we will get to see our children grow up here. We love our church family and couldn't imagine being anywhere else. The ceremony was a symbol of our commitment to dedicate our son to the Lord and raise him in the church.

Harlan wore the Smith Family christening gown. He was the 20th child to wear the nearly 60-year-old gown for a christening/baptism/dedication. My mom was #2, I was #8 and Spencer #10 now Harlan at #20. The gown is beautiful but definitely very fragile. I am pretty sure we added a couple more holes to it. Oops! Ryan also assured Harlan that this was the last time he would ever have to wear a dress.

We were so lucky to have our families there to witness and celebrate with us. We love that Harlan is so LOVED by so many.

Ryan and I are truly blessed to be able to call Harlan our son and thank God everyday for our precious gift.

Harlan's First Halloween

I've never been a big Halloween person but man, it's a whole new world when you have a little one. It is sooooo much more fun to dress them up rather than having to dress up yourself. And it's especially nice when they don't complain about it just yet. 

Four months is a hard age to buy a costume for. Baby costumes come in two sizes: 0-6 months and 6-12 months. And there are a lot more 6-12 month size than the other. Plus he can't walk yet so you kind of need something that doesn't have to be identified only if he is standing up. I started looking online for a costume and all I was seeing was lions and monkeys and dogs. They were all super cute but I wanted something different. Don't know why, call me crazy.

And then I saw it! Harlan's first ever Halloween costume was going to be a Shrimp! And I put him in a pot because I thought that would be cute (and assured he was sitting up for pictures).

Ryan was out of town all last week so I knew Harlan and I weren't going to do a "real" Halloween. Mom and Dad always host a Halloween chili dinner for our extended family during the week so we headed over there for Harlan's costume reveal. Our cousins were there including this adorable "bat" family - Batman, Batgirl and Baby Bat! 

Harlan's uncles are slightly obsessed with their little shrimp

And here is the full costume, tail and all. 

We had lots of fun this year and I look forward to future Halloweens full of more costumes and lots of Trick-o-Treating. I can't even begin to imagine what Harlan is going to want to dress up as. 

4 Months Old

HL is now 4 months old! It is so hard to believe how fast it is going. I am pretty sure I love him a little more each day.

This month he has really started to react to Ryan and I. He will smile at you when you smile at him and he loves to kick his legs. My new favorite thing is he can now recognize my voice (or at least react to it). Ryan picks him up from daycare in the afternoon and when I come home and say hi to him, he will turn his head and smile at me. Melts my heart every time and makes this momma fell really good.

He started rolling over this month which means sleeping has taken a few steps backwards. Since he can roll, we can't swaddle him at night anymore. Because of that he flails his arms while he sleeps and wakes himself up. He does that 1-3 times a night and it is killing us! But we are hoping it is just a phase and he will start to get over that.

He has lost a lot of hair and it is getting lighter we think. It's kind of funny because he looks like an old man who is balding. But, even with all of the loss, he still has a ton of hair. His eyes are still a beautiful bright blue which we find so funny. Ryan and I both have greenish-brown eyes but Ryan's mom, my mom and Spencer all have blue eyes. Ryan and I secretly hope he keeps those baby blues! Speaking of Spencer - that is the one person everybody says Harlan looks like. I mean everyone. Spencer doesn't mind that one bit.

Baby boy is still eating like a champ, breastmilk only. He takes 4-5 ounces every 2 hours, pretty much on the dot. He is on the bottle at daycare and I nurse at night and on the weekends. Our pediatrician wants us to try and do breastmilk only until 6 months. I think we can make it so wish us luck!

We think he is starting to teeth as well. All of sudden he has starting drooling a TON and wanting to eat his hand every chance he gets. He loves chewing on things. No teeth poking through yet but we are on the lookout.

I took him to the doctor a couple of weeks ago (for something that was completely normal and the doctor had a good giggle on our behalf - hey I am a first time mother! don't judge!) and he weighed 14 lbs 3 ounces which put him in the 60th percentile. We got back for our 4-month check up in 2 weeks.

Harlan is currently wearing size 2 diapers and a variety of sizes in clothes. He can wear 3-6 months for onesies or anything that does not have legs or feet. For pants and PJs he is in at least 6 month size. I will be anxious to see how tall he is next appt. I have a feeling, he might have long legs.

It has been so fun watching him grow, play and discover new things. I can't wait to see what the next 1/3 of a year brings!

3 Months

The little monkey is now three months old!! To say Ryan and I are obsessed with him is an understatement. He is really starting to change these days and develop new skills. This month he started daycare, got his first cold and went to his first football game! The ladies at daycare absolutely LOVE him and they tell us he smiles all day long and loves watching the other babies.

 

Likes:

• Daycare (yay!)
• football games
• smiling at mommy and daddy
• his Wubanub
• morning time - he is so happy right when he wakes up (definitely gets that from his daddy)

Dislikes:

• being hungry
• night time diaper changes
• tummy time

The Daycare Sickness Curse!

Well Harlan has been in daycare not even a full month yet and I have successfully managed to contract BOTH bugs that went around at his "school." That is not something anybody prepares you for when sending your kids to daycare. Nobody says "load up on your Vitamin C because you will be sicker than a dog for the next year."

The first one was a common cold. After the first week Harlan came home with a runny nose. Ryan and I also got that cold but it hit us harder than him. We both had fevers and chills and whatnot but luckily, he did not.

The second one I got this week. One day Ryan was picking Harlan up and he walked into the room and he said it was chaos because 3 of the babies were throwing up simultaneously. Oh yay. Well Harlan still has not gotten that one but I sure did! I was on my back with a stomach bug for 24 hours. Luckily that was short lived. I am praying H man doesn't get that one.

For somebody so small, he sure does carry a lot of germs. Everybody is telling us that it is good for him to be exposed to all this stuff now because he will be less susceptible to it later on. It hurts this mommy's heart to see her baby not feeling well though.

Hopefully our immune systems will strengthen too. I have been sicker in the past 3 weeks than I have in the past year.

On a more positive note, everybody LOVES Harlan at the daycare. We have teachers in other rooms come up to us and tell us how adorable and happy he is all the time. It is a relief to me knowing he is enjoying it there and that he is getting so much attention. We are really happy with the choice we made. It is also close enough to our families that he gets a least one visitor a week. I love that they allow family members to come in and have some special one-on-one time with him.

All in all, we will take all the sickness and crudiness to know that our baby boy is in a safe and loving environment. If he has to go to daycare, we are glad it is this one.

2 Month Check Up

Harlan had his 2-month check up last week. He was actually almost 11 weeks old at the time. We got to see Dr. David Jackson and that was special for me because I have known him and his family almost my whole life. He was my pediatrician growing up, I am the same age as one of his sons, we went to the same church for a while and his wife was my bible study leader in high school.

Harlan is, of course, doing great. He was 23.5 inches long and 12 lbs 10 oz. That puts him in the 50th percentile of each category. Dr. Jackson was very impressed with how well he was holding his head up.

We also got our first round of shots. Two nurses came in, held both his legs down and stuck him at the same time. It was a scary thing for this mom to see but I understand the rationale behind it. He wailed at the initial prick but as soon as I picked him up he calmed down. That's my tough guy!

At the end of the appointment Dr. Jackson said a prayer over Harlan which I thought was extra special. It is so nice have a personal connection with the doctor that looks over your child.

Here are a few recent photos of our little man.

Harlan's First Week of Football Season

Football season is the Pettigrews' favorite time of year, but this year it's even more special because we have a future football player of our own (or band member, or cheerleader, or whatever he wants to be).

We started off with a Razorback game. The first Hogs game was in the high 90s so we knew Harlan would make an appearance at the tailgate and then hit the road. He won't be going into any games this year. That will be next year's first.

Like I said, it was in the 90s and little man was very uncomfortable so we didn't get a great family picture. He was there for about an hour and then Coach came and got him. They spent the rest of the afternoon watching football in the air conditioning. He had much more fun there. 

The following week was the Famrington Cardinal opener. The game was at night so the weather was much more favorable. Harlan LOVES football games. He did so good. He was awake most of the game and was looking around and watching the whole time. He loves loud noises and bright lights so Friday nights at the field are perfect for him!

Coach's favorite - of course! His little pans had laces (like a football) on the butt. They were adorable! 

 Harlan with Aunt LuLu and Jewel

 He was so alert all night. He loved it!

Helping Coach with the post-game interview 

Cardinals got a W so it was a great night all around. We are so excited for the upcoming weekend. A home Razorback game and another Cardinal game. WPS and Go Cards!