Ethan Ruth Harper Jack

Happy 2 years!

Harper had a great party, with lots of family and buddies. She received many cool gifts: it's immediately apparent that 1) we are friends with very thoughtful people, and 2) these wonderful friends of ours took extra time to find extra special, creative gifts for our extra special, creative girl! One of Harper's gifts was an aquarium with three fish from the Ertls. She named the sucker fish "Juju", and the two neons are "Zip Zap" and "Dooda". She loves giving them a pinch of food in the morning and at night, and has even adopted the fish tank as her favorite spot to find privacy for doing her poos. Hilarious. If someone tries to come in, she kicks us out while she does her business. Speaking of poos, Dr. Nagatani advised us to hold off on potty training because of the new baby. He said to wait until she gives us the nod that she's ready-- i.e. wants to do it. I think I may revisit the issue 6 months from now. Harper's vocabulary continues to surprise all of us. She expresses herself clearly and is beginning to lose the third person.



The Ladies at Baby Boy's Shower

She is getting more and more excited about baby brother's upcoming arrival, and I look forward to seeing her with him. All indications point to a big sister who wants to help out, wants to hug and kiss and love all over this boy. She already tries to share toys with my belly, wraps her arms around the belly and says to him, "I'll hold you, baby brother" and "There's a little smile!" She attended a sibling class at Kaweah Delta last week and she left saying the hospital was a happy place and asking to read the coloring book about our new baby over and over. The class was important to us because it gave the kids a tour of the place, so the environment (at least) wouldn't be foreign or quite as sterile as it might have been if it were Harper's first time there on Baby Boy's birthday. It feels wierd to think of spending a whole day and night at a hospital away from my girl, but I also look forward to that initial day with our son. The anxiety is eased by the fact that our entire family is willing to help out with Harper in any way they can, they've all received a detailed account of what a day is like in Harper's normal life, and they all love her sooooo very much. We know she will not lack for entertainment or love and that is likely to make the time apart easy on her.

There's so much the girl says and does these days that I take for granted and forget to record on this blog. It truly lives up to its tagline "sporadic updates on the life of Harper Sequoia". At least there's a snapshot here and there; I suppose that's better than nothing!