The Harper Headlines: June 2014

Eli is officially 3 years old and Owen is officially 2 months. To say things are hectic in this household is an understatement, but we are starting to get comfortable with our family of four. I go back to work this coming Wednesday but I am not going full force until after the 4th of July. I won't work a complete full week until after our vacay to Missouri. We will be packing up the kids in our minivan (yes we own a minivan and are not ashamed at all....BEST decision we ever made and will buy another one in a heartbeat- never thought I would ever say that) and taking the 12 hour drive to the condo my grandparents own on the Lake of the Ozarks. It has been two years since Eli has been on the lake so we are really excited to see all the fun activities he will actually enjoy this time.

This past Friday was Friday the 13th and there was a full moon, and I decided to schedule both boys for their doctor checkups at the same time by myself. I will never be doing that again. The doctors appointments went well they were just completely and totally draining. Eli now weighs 36 lbs and is 39 inches tall putting him just slightly over the 85th percentile in both. Oddly enough he has only gained about a pound and a half since his last appointment which was 6 months ago, so he is starting to thin out. Developmentally he is right on track. The doctor asked him a series of questions and his answers were quite amusing:

Doctor: How old are you?
Eli: 4!!!
Me: No you are not!
Eli: Haha, I'm 3!
Doctor: Are you a boy or a girl?
Eli: I a BIG BOY!!!
Doctor: What is your name?
Eli: ELI!
Doctor: What is your favorite color?
Eli: ummmmmmmmmmmmm...orange.
Doctor: What do you want to be when you grow up?
Eli: I be BIG like Daddy!

The rest of the questions regarded physical activity such as jumping and running which he proudly showed the doctor the quarter of an inch up skills he has. LOL

Then we were on to Owen's appointment. Owen now weighs 10 lbs 7 oz and is 23.5 inches long. He has gained just over 4 lbs since birth putting him at the 10% for weight and 67% for height. His weight gain has been great and he started well below the 10% for weight so he is making great progress. Owen also got all of his vaccinations and was not a very happy camper about them. He is smiling up a storm and actually giggled for the first and only time this past Wednesday when his Nana came to visit and obviously was extremely funny. The doctor said that is more of a 4 month action but Mark, Nana and I all heard it plain as day. I have tried relentlessly to get him to repeat it but clearly I am not near as funny as Nana.

Mark had surgery on Wednesday to fix his deviated septum. The chronic sinus headaches finally reached a point where surgery was something he was willing to endure. Other than having to wait at the hospital for 4 hours (emergency surgery put the surgeon way behind) without eating...everything went smoothly. He has been home recouping since and each day he feels better. We are keeping our fingers crossed that this does the trick.

Here are some recent pictures of the boys (the last 5 weeks). Eli had a Marvel themed birthday party in which he received every type of superhero gift imaginable including dress up clothes for iron man, batman, flash, and spider man. He could not be happier...and I am doing a lot less laundry these days. :-)