Harrison's First Blog (by HJC)

Here a story that Harrison told to Mommy today. Enjoy!

A snake came and bit my brother. Then the there were superhero snakes fighting the bad snake. Next there was a super super super big big snake. Then there was a bad snake. Two. No lots of bad snakes. There were bad guys and superhero guys and they fight each other. Just four ones.

The tower with bad guys and good guys

The bad guys fight, then the good guys fight. Then the bad guys and the good guys are thirsty. Then they were tired. After they were tired, they were hungry. After they were hungry they had juice to drink and after the juice they had water.

There was a bad snake and a good snake fighting each other. A little tiny snake and a big snake. Two snakes. Then they wanted juice and they run out of juice. Then they went to the grocery store. Then they were happy to be home and drink juice. Then the bad guys were good and the superheroes were bad. No, then the bad guys were good and the superheroes were good.

The End.

The Storytellers

Storytelling has been a long tradition in my family. Harrison is an amazing storyteller. He has an incredible imagination and loves to learn new words when we create stories together. We have a game that we play in the car. It's eye spy, but with a twist. Some times I will spy a car or a school bus, and when Harrison guesses what I'm thinking about, we talk about where the car or bus is going, who's inside, and what their day will be like. Some times the plot twists and turns until we're discussing pirates and princesses, other times we make up stories about normal characters with interesting lives.

A couple of days ago Libby was sitting in my lap. She was melting my heart with her coos and grins. Then I asked if she would like to tell me a story. She wiggled around, her eyes grew wider and beamed, and she grinned from ear to ear before letting out a long stream of coos and ahhs. I know it was the inflection of voice and not my request for a story that prompted this adorable behavior, but I hope that in a few years I will have another little storyteller creating tales with me and her brother about princesses and the superheros who save them.

R.I.P. Puppy

Yesterday was a day of milestones for the Comber family. Harrison pooped in the toilet without having an accident for the first time, a potty-training victory! Libby turned 8 weeks old and has been smiling and cooing like a champ. And, our Harrison learned his first lesson about loss.

I noticed Puppy was very still while I was preparing Harrison's lunch (ironically, lunch was leftover shrimp.) As the smell of the sea drifted from our oven, Puppy's unnaturally curved body caught my eye. I moved his bowl, Puppy's body moved with the current, fins still, his face turned toward the water's surface. I called Matt. When he answered, I could only say one word.

"Puppy."

"Oh no."

"Yeah."

Silence.

"How do I tell Harrison?"

After discussing the possible ways to break the news, I decided to tell Harrison after lunch. The idea of shrimp made me nauseous. I made two plates, and after taking a bite, I threw out my portion and sat back in my chair wondering how Harrison would take the news and thinking about what may have caused this untimely end. The bowl was clean. We fed him regularly. The temperature...oh. The temperature. The temperature in our house had dropped dramatically the night before. We hadn't turned on the heat until that morning.

After Harrison had finished his lunch, he sat in his chair licking ketchup off his finger. He put a dot of ketchup on his nose, looked over at me, and laughed.

"Harrison?"

"What?"

"Puppy died."

"Oh." he laughed again and put more ketchup on his nose. Then, he stopped. His bottom lip jutted out, and he began to process the news. Then he began to cry. "But, I will miss him."

Harrison ran to me, tears streaming down his face, and hugged me tight. "I love you, Mommy."

After holding him a bit, I talked to Harrison about burying Puppy in the front yard. We bundled Libby, put her in the car seat, and went outside. The garden frog sits near the front door and his name is Jeremy Fisher. Harrison decided to bury Puppy next to Jeremy and we went to work digging the hole together.

"Goodbye Puppy." I said.

"I will miss you." Said Harrison.

****

We all miss Puppy. Harrison still goes into the kitchen and looks over where Puppy's bowl used to be. Puppy was a great first pet, despite the brief time he was with us.

Puppy Nemo Comber
Rest In Peace
Beloved Fish and Inspiration
March 2008-October 7, 2008