Harrison's Ohio Adventure

This was Harrison's first trip to Akron. We attended Stephanie's wedding and got to show Harrison off to all of Brian's friends from back home. A trip that normally takes us 5 hours became a 7 hour journey with a newborn. Harrison wasn't too happy towards the end. But, to those that truly mattered, he put on a great show. He was sweet and adorable. Only dad and mom got to see him mad and up all night!
Overall, we had a good time and we will just get better and better at making the trip to grandma and grandpa's house!

Six Weeks

Harrison turned six weeks old yesterday, and here's a clip to show how he spent the morning. He's talking to himself and to us much more often, he occasionally flashes his handsome smile, and he even slept through the night for the first time ever last night. Hooray!

Check out Harrison's Family Photo Album; we'll be adding more pictures soon.

Pictures!

We've been working on putting together some online photo albums of our little boy. New albums will be posted under the "Links to Online Photo Albums" heading in the right column. Recent updates include: Harrison's Family Photo Album; Our Favorite Photos; Harrison and Friends; and my personal favorite, Sleeping Baby (since that's when he's cutest, and it represents how he spends the majority of his time.) Once the album opens, click "Slide Show" for the best view. Some albums are pretty scarce, but we'll be adding more pictures from time to time.

A Quick Update: At 19 days old, Harrison is doing just fine. He had his first doctor's appointment a few days ago and got a perfect report. He's sleeping better through the nights now (4-5 hours at a time) and he's getting bigger and cuter by the day. We've been taking him for short trips out lately, and it's great to see him awake and responsive. He's a great little baby!

It's official.

Not that I've doubted it for a moment, but nothing has made this parenting experience seem more real than seeing my son's name in print. Not the crying, the diapers, the late night feedings; it was his Social Security card that made me realize, "This is really happening."

-B

Ten Days

It's funny to think that someday we'll measure our son's age in years. Eventually he'll be six weeks old, eighteen months old, two years old. For now, we're still measuring his lifespan by the day, and Harrison has just hit double digits.

I wish I could reveal some new skill or ability he's acquired, but--at ten days--he doesn't do much. He still spends most of his days sleeping, eating, or filling his diapers.

Rebecca and I are very excited that he's sleeping well: about four hours at a time during the night. In order to get him to do this, we've taken to keeping him awake for several hours before he goes to bed so he can wear himself out. It's become one of our favorite parts of the day.

The first time we tried, he cried for almost three hours straight. During each subsequent night, though, he's spent more and more time awake, aware, and quietly content. The posted video shows him during this time: laying around, looking at me and Rebecca, hiccuping. It's great to see our son quiet and happy, opening his big eyes and taking in the big world around him.

-B

Harrison Dean Gapinski Coon

Our son was born on Saturday, June 14, 2008, at 6:41 pm. He weighed 8 pounds 14 ounces and measured 22 inches. He has huge hands and feet and fuzzy light brown hair.

He's named after George Harrison, the name Dean originated with Dean Moriarty from Jack Keroak's On the Road. Formally, he'll have both Oma and Opa's, as well as Grandma and Grandpa's last name. It's a big name, but he's big enough to handle it.

We brought the little guy home on Monday night, and he thanked us for preparing a welcoming home for him by screaming all night. For the most part, though, he's been a pretty well-behaved, calm baby. We're pretty sure we're going to keep him.

We've been trying to make him feel welcome, and to let him know just how many people already love him very much.

-B