Chet Harris William Robinson

So, my little tiny boy turned 4 yesterday. I was working in Tampa all week but came home early to share his special day with him. I stayed at the airport Marriott in Tampa so I could catch a 7AM flight out to LA and then catch a connection to SLC. Can I just say that LAX is the most poorly planned airport I have ever been to? I have flown out of LAX a number of times in my 280+ flights I have taken over the last 3 years but I have never caught a connection there. I flew Northwest from Tampa to LAX and had a tight connection, the plane ran late to avoid some turbulence over the Gulf of Mexico and I ended up having like 30 minutes to get to my next flight. Usually that would be close but no big deal. Well, to catch my connection at LAX and fly out to SLC on Delta, I had to exit the airport, catch a shuttle to a different terminal, go back through security and THEN run through the airport to get to my gate. It was an absolute joke. But I digress, this blog isn't a travel blog or tlog...it is about my dear son Harris or Chet Harris William Robinson.

I wanted to take some time to reminisce about some of my favorite memories I have so far. I remember when Liv was an only child, Jaime and I knew we were to eventually have another but were not in any hurry to do so. My siblings and I were all around 4 years apart and I thought that was healthy spacing. It came as quite a shock when one day Jaime brought up the issue and I was forced to realize that Liv was over 3 and that it was time to discuss having another child! After the shock wore off I realized that some things would have to change (namely, we would have change residences. a 2 bedroom apartment would no longer do), so we began to look for a house on top of expecting a baby. I had started a new position at Marketstar earlier that year (2004) and had received the maximum 15% raise that they give when you go to a higher level position but I still worried about my ability to support another mouth to feed. In June of 2005, in fact within a 3 day span I was offered a much better job at Marketstar (I was able to increase my value there, so to speak, and brokered a 25% raise!), closed on my house and we welcomed Harris to the world! THAT was the craziest 3 days so far in my life, but those were all good things so it was a good kind of crazy.


So, those were the events leading up to Harris' birth. It was a different experience to plan for a baby (Liv was not exactly planned but very appreciated nonetheless). Harris was always a good baby but a little fussy to begin with. Turns out he had eczema and it was making him grumpy. When we took him to the doctor, the MD told us he had the "worst case he had ever seen". Once we got him the right prescription lotion he became a much happier and contented child.



Remembering Harris' early years, I definitely remember him being a little on the chubby side (we would say that he looked "healthy" and it would make Jaime so mad!). He had a good amount of dark hair and, honestly, looked just like I did at that age. I remember my father, Chet Sr., telling me that it was a trip because he looked like me so much. It was almost like he got to "re-experience" my childhood, this time in a much happier place in his life. ( My dad was 17 when I was born, I'll let you surmise why he may not have been in the most happy place in his life). Other than that, life was good. I had a good job, we enjoyed the new home and our children were wonderful and beautiful. (I wrote that sentence in past tense, but little has changed, remarkably enough.) I remember Harris making the cutest little noises and always being so affectionate. He loved to snuggle and to be held. To this day, Jaime still carries him all the time. Whenever Jaime would say that she couldn't do something because she was holding Harris I would tell her to put him down and she would get a shocked look on her face and say, "sacrilege!"). She still does that by the way.



Harris was born in June, obviously, and I remember him taking his first flight that August. I had to do some work in New York City and wanted Jaime to have that experience as well. Even though Harris was young we decided to have Jaime bring him along. I had no issue with it since Jaime was going to meet me there and I wouldn't have to deal with a baby on a cross country flight! Anyway, Harris did really well both going to JFK and coming back home. I flew home with them and Harris did fantastic. Since then he has always been a fantastic flier. He has also done numerous trips to Florida and takes many flights to Anaheim every year.




I remember one such trip in April of 2007, Harris wouldn't have been 2 quite yet, and he was constantly saying, "baby....dada....nahnight..." over and over again and in the absolute funniest voice I have ever heard. To this day, the memory of that still makes me laugh. He would use this funny inflection...

Another memory; Jaime has always forced us to listen to Disney music in the car. I remember that when Harris would listed to the color song from Professor Ludwig Von Drake (look it up if you don't know it, it is a classic) and would slap his tiny hand to his mouth to imitate his silly family and try to make the sound that drives the rhythm in the color song. On that particular CD, following the color song was Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious from Mary Poppins. This was so funny! Every time he this song came on he would kick his legs excitedly, while in his car seat, to the beat of the song. It also makes me laugh to remember...

So, another memory; Harris has always had an amazing sense of rhythm. At a young age he was fascinated by his Uncle Chrys playing the drums. For Christmas 2006, when he was just 18 months old, my parents got him this cute little drum set. He loved it and played it so much that he drummed right through the heads on the thing. For his birthday in 2007 Jaime and I got him a little bit beefier drum set that he also drummed through and finally we got him another last year that he still uses but it is almost destroyed. He loves to drum, it is so cute to watch. We will see if he sticks with it.







So, another memory; in August of 2007 we took the family to San Diego to see Shamu at Sea World. Harris was immediately transfixed by that giant whale. He did not stop talking about Shamu for...well, ever actually. We bought him this little stuffed Shamu that he still sleeps with every night to this day! We have taken many family trips since then (we do love to vacation together) but have not made it back to San Diego. We are headed back next month, Harris' choice. Liv got to go to Disneyland and Harris gets to go to Sea World (of course, I also am expected to fit a day of Disneyland into that trip but...). We visited the San Diego Zoo on that trip as well and Harris was absolutely terrified of the walrus! It was so funny! The disgusting creature would swim up to the Plexiglas wall of the tank and repeatedly spit his food out of his mouth and suck it back in. Admittedly it was gross, but it would freak Harris out! Ha ha!




So more recently; what is Harris into now and how is he like? Harris is your typical boy, he loves cars (and Cars), he loves to wrestle and fight and he loves boy cartoons. (he is way into Batman the Brave and the Bold right now). He and I spend a lot of time in the basement playing "Michael Jordan tackle basketball", I am not sure if it is officially licensed from the Jordan brand but Harris and I have fun anyway. Harris used to call it "Boozer bubble bubble" and tell me that I was "Boozer" and he was "fire, fire, fire, fire, fire FIRE!" Ha ha, that also makes me laugh. Aside from being a typical boy and into boy things, he is also amazingly affectionate and sweet. He and Jaime still spend a good amount of time every day just snuggling. He still loves to be held and to sit on laps. He absolutely adores and idolizes his sister. It sometimes gets on her nerves but in general, Olivia, is an amazing big sister and finds the sweetest ways to express her love. We often find them playing nicely together with Liv teaching Harris "school" or reading to him or sometimes just making up games to play.




Recent memory; I guess...Jaime and I both love it when Harris decides to be serious. Sometimes he will try to explain something to us and he will get this serious look on his face and kind of angles his face downward as he makes his point. It is so cute!

What else...oh yes, Harris is absolutely obsessed with video games. He loves to play all sorts of games on the Wii. He and I passed Lego Batman a couple months ago and are currently working on Lego Indiana Jones. Harris is an expert at Wii Sports Bowling, he can pick up spares better than anyone I have ever seen! We do enjoy playing Wii as a family. When we travel, Harris loves to play video games on our phone. People always seem to find it funny when he walks around the grocery store playing on mine or Jaime's iPhone. Kids!

Other things Harris is into right now ( I really don't want to forget some day...); Harris has always liked the shows Maggie and the Ferocious Beast as well as Little Bear. Those are really the only kids shows he has ever been into. Harris loves to watch the strangest shows on TV, on Saturday mornings he makes me watch either bowling, billiards or fishing! He will sit down and just watch them for as long as I let him!

Harris is also obsessed with eating fruit. Obsessed! The kid can (and sometimes does) live on cantaloupe, watermelon, strawberries and grapes!

Also, Harris loves his extended family. He loves to play with Papa, make brownies with Grandma Wendy, wrestle and play with Uncle Chrys and James, swing with Uncle Nate. He misses his friends from Arkansas and talks about them all the time (he still makes me read the book from Auntie Chelsie and Uncle Chuck!). He adores Cousin Cami and idolizes Cousin Trevor. He always enjoys playing with Cousin Ryan. He gets so excited to go play at Auntie Jann's and Uncle Don's house! Harris has always had a special relationship with Auntie Lindsay, he loves her more than anyone except his mother. He thinks that Uncle Jake is "cool" (he is in a band, after all) and loves to go to movies with Grandpa Burke and Grandma Tony. He loves and misses Grandpa Paul.


Harris is so lucky to have such great relationships with his people that love and care for him. I want to thank you all for what you do to help raise my son, I couldn't ask for a better village...

One of the things I wanted to mention was how excited he gets, especially when playing a game or just really enjoys something. He is so expressive! When he bowls a strike in Wii bowling for example he will jump and twist his whole body around and say, "yes!" while kind of swinging his arms back and forth, it is hilarious! I know that Jaime will kill me for using this example but he kind of reminds me of Smeagol (not Gollum) when he gets excited about catching some food for Frodo, does this example show my true geeky nature? Probably). Anyway, he sweet childish exuberance always brightens my day.

This has been long winded, as my posts usually are, but I wanted to share some random memories of my boy. I really do love him and am so glad he was born. I feel so privileged that he has be given to my care during his earthly sojourn.