the age of reason

Although we certainly are in the midst of the terrible two's, some days more than others, I would assert that we are moving even further into the age of reason.

Not only does Harry now keep up his end of the conversation, when it goes sour and turns to tears and screaming, he's much easier to talk back down lately. You can get him to slow down, stop the wailing (sometimes easier than others, especially when it's just fake), or at least slow to an acceptable whimper while we talk through things, the magnitude of which seems to lessen much faster than it ever did before.

As well, the concept of compromise is even more prevalent lately. Pausing a TV show in the middle, and coming back after dinner is actually an acceptable option to him now.

Lessons are not only learned, but we can successfully return to them later for confirmation. For example, Harry decided that he wasn't going to eat any of the dinner he requested, nor was he going to eat anything else that was offered as suitable replacement. After some serious bull-headed-ness between Mr. Taurus and yours truly, Harry was allowed to leave the table to hit the tub, and then to bed with no dinner. That night, he was up more than usual (meaning more than once), tossing, turning, moaning, etc. The next morning, we talked about why he slept so poorly, and that it was likely he was hungry all night. Thus, you need to finish your dinner, so you have a full belly to sleep on.

He's finished everything on his plate each night since then, sometimes with a brief reminder, but it's in his head now, and he seems to get it.

an all new you

Surprisingly (or not, depending on who you are and how you look at this whole project), this diatribe continues to grow on a daily ahem basis. So much so, that we seem to have outgrown our complimentary web space and I had to delete a few pictures to get the last few posts to show up back on version 1.

Apparently the kind folks who host Blogger/Blogspot/Google/et al, have made this a virtually unlimited spot for posting. hindsight being what it is, I'm kinda bummed that I didn't just go this route to begin ith, and then wouldn't have to worry about such things, but when I was initially searching for inexpensive (free) ways to do this, there had been a recent outcry when one blogging system had gone down unannounced never to return... taking everyone's posts with them.

Regardless, please bear with me whilst I try to migrate over to Harry's World v2, without losing everything we've already done.

I can hear Kim frantically dialing my cell phone right now with no other intention of reaming me altogether for not having a backup of the blog

Don't worry... it's still there

Reflections... Looking back on another holiday weekend, as things really set in for the mayhem that becomes and continues to be, Christmastime.

This year was particularly quieter than it seems to have been in years' past. We did the annual trek to South Jersey and back on Turkey Day. This year, we brought with us happy news of the healthy arrival of the Wagner Twins (see photo below), instead of Kim's special recipe Cranberry Sauce (please note, that contrary to popular belief and request, her version most certainly does NOT include the ring impressions from the inside of the can).

We made it up in record time for the third Thursday, and without event. Harry was elated to see everyone at each of his stops, regardless of the fact he had seen most if not all of them just 2 weeks prior for Dom'nic's birthday bowling bash. Only 3 stops in total (4 if you count going back to pick up Bailey), and we were home again that evening with time to spare for ourselves.

I still think the quote of the trip was:

"... Harry please don't hit Bailey with your potato."

Quality time spent together for he remainder of the weekend; a jaunt to Ikea for some new shelving to get the new playroom together, a sunny afternoon hike on a new trail that'd been under our noses this entire time, and even story time at the bookstore with Lance.

Reflections of a different sort this evening. We're in the process of migrating the home computer from an old Dell PC o a new shiny iMac. One of the greater tasks and intended uses will be compiling the multimedia efforts that are doing so well documenting Harry's existence... and by default our own.

Imported the photos from the year so far, and it's amazing. When they get pulled in, they each flash up on the screen for abut a half a second each, in something vaguely representing chronological order. It's increadible to see this pass in front of you so quickly. In the course of about 15 minutes, I vividly was able to re-live his year so far.

I had this happen once before, when I pulled my own pictures from the recesses of the Dell, which at that point had been comprised of the 2 laptops worth of photos accumulated while still with the Capitals, and anything else I had come up with at home over the last 4 years. That was one thing. Those weren't really that important... lots of hockey & BMW pictures culled from the web... but interesting nonetheless.

These were important. These were the memories, however fresh, that even for a fleeting second, were right at the front of the brain. I could immediately recall waht was going on in the background when I took that picture, where I was standing when Kim did, or what I was likely doing while she was out with the camera.

Things that seem so long ago, like swimming lessons at the Rec Center. Things that seem like they lasted forever, like Harry's cast, that went flashing by in a matter of a minute or so. These are the things from my own childhood that I can't for the life of me recall.

Kim's always been on me for not being able to remember anything about being a kid in my family. I don't really know why I don't recall as much as she does, because we do have pictures to prove that I indeed was once a kid... it's just that the peripheral memory has never been there, so to have it thrust upon you, even if it's only images of the last 11+ months, it's an incredible feeling.

It'll be even more interesting when I get some time to load the previous years' pics...