We had our 20-week sonogram today and we are very surprised and happy to announce that
It’s a BOY!
We were both positive that we were having another girl, so we really are quite surprised. We are also stumped on a name, so if you have any suggestions, by all means please send them to us! Below are some of the pictures from the sonogram, including very clear evidence of his boyhood 
Yesterday we had our first weekend picnic in Old Town in 2008. We quickly realized that it is still a little too cold to picnic, but we bundled up and still had a great time. We parked our caravan by the Potomac and watched the planes land at National Airport. Harper was fascinated by the planes (they fly really close!), but was even more excited by the birds which were taking off in flocks nearby our spot. She started to say her version “bird”, but resorted to growling at them and now whenever you ask her about birds, she points at the sky and growls! We were also shocked at how quickly she learned a new word, “pup.” She picked it up in about 3 minutes as we were watching all of the dogs play in the park.
I came across some photos from our trip to Sarasota on a different camera and just had to post them. The first are pictures of Harper on the plane to Florida. Our flight left at 6:30 AM, which meant getting her out of bed at 5:15. Despite the early wake-up call, she was awake and happy as a clam the entire time. We were lucky enough to have a row to ourselves, so Harper sat in her own seat by the window and played with her toys and read the airline literature. At least one of us will know what to do in case of an emergency landing!
We decided to rent a car seat so that we wouldn’t have to check one. This worked out great except that the rental car place only had HUGE seats – there was enough room for her to kick back and relax in it, which is exactly what she did. Notice how tired she looks – I took this around 10:30 AM after she had been up for over 5 hours!
We went out to a Mexican restaurant in downtown Sarasota and Harper displayed her excellent table manners:
On our way back to the airport to fly home, we stopped at the outlets. The Carters outlet had a Lego table set up, which is exactly what Harper needed at the end of a long day:
Harper has really been in to climbing lately and likes to find the most difficult thing to climb into or onto. She has a toy drum (on the right in the first photo below) that she perches on despite the fact that it is only about 10 inches in diameter and looks extremely uncomfortable! Yesterday she pulled a basket off the shelf in the basement and spent about half an hour climbing in and out of it even though it was completely full of puzzles and books!
We spent the first half of last week in Sarasota visiting Harper’s new cousin. We were very happy to get out of the DC mid-winter freeze and enjoy the sun for a few days. Oh, and it was fun to see the family too! While Harper showed little or no interest in Charlie, she did find time to terrorize Uncle Luke and Aunt Alicia… just think guys, this is what you have to look forward to in a year! In the short span of three days, Harper managed to:
The highlight of the trip for our family was visiting St. Armands Circle and the beach on Longboat Key. The beach was gorgeous but the best part was watching Harper try to walk in the sand. She hasn’t been to a beach since last August (when she wasn’t walking) and she was very timid about walking on sand. She insisted on holding one of our hands for the most part, but eventually let go and looked like a baby taking her first steps! We took over 300 photos at the beach, so you’ll have to see Smugmug to view the bulk of them.
I am also thrilled to report that Harper, much like her mommy, does not like dogs! She spent much of the long weekend running away from June, but did not shy away from torturing the cats.
Harper and I were in Charlottesville the past few days visiting La La and Big Daddy and we got back early this afternoon. After lunch I gave Harper her Valentine’s gift and I have never seen her get so excited about something! We got her a little tote bag and filled it with all sorts of balls – wiffle balls, foam soccer balls, super-soaker balls. Right now her absolute favorite thing in the world is “ball!” – she points out every one that she sees and triumphantly yells “ball! ball!” She even started yelling it in the grocery store when she saw tomatoes! So when I gave her the tote bag, she was too excited to even finish getting dressed. She carried it around the house for the next hour loading and unloading it before I made her take a nap. I’m happy that we have something to entertain her for a while! There are lots more pictures on SmugMug.
This morning Harper cast her vote in the Virginia Primary… in her PJ's. Daddy even let her press the big "vote" button! We're very excited to see the results tonight!
Today it is officially freezing in the DC area. It was 14 degrees when we woke up and has warmed up to a balmy 23. With the windchill it is getting down to 7 or 8. Needless to say, we had to find an indoor activity! I took Harper to Tyson’s Corner for a little cruise through LL Bean (she likes the tents), then while waiting for monogramming, we enjoyed lunch at the kabob restaurant in the food court. We love the kabob place because the food is relatively healthy and we can identify every ingredient on the plate, but usually we order one meal for Portman, Harper and I to share. I took a picture of it AFTER we had finished lunch just to show how ridiculous the portions are!
After lunch we still had some time to kill, so I caved in and let Harper play in the indoor playground. Thus far we have avoided it because you can just imagine what grows in a huge mall’s indoor playground, but it was actually a really pleasant experience. The playground has a soft, bouncy floor so you don’t have to worry about falls, and all of the equipment is safe and far enough apart that it’s easy to keep track of your kids. Harper was quickly befriended by a 5 year-old named Megan who was taking her hand and leading her around to the different toys. It was really fun!
Harper got her first pair of “big girl shoes” today! She has been playing outside a lot lately and, although I love them, Robeez just don’t do well in mud puddles. I’m sure we will continue to wear her Robeez, but not outside in the yard. We settled on a pair of pink Merrells (just like mom and dad’s) and she is so proud of them! She has been marching around the house testing them out all afternoon. It was really funny to watch at first because she isn’t used to having so much between her and the floor – she was lifting her feet so high! She won’t sit still for me to take a picture, so this is all I have:
At some point during our gorgeous and busy weekend, Portman managed to put Harper’s sandbox together, finally! It was a Christmas gift from her Grandpa and Grammie Anderson and we have literally been waiting since December 25th for a weekend that was pleasant enough to warrant its assembly. The sandbox is even nicer than we expected and once we get sand in it I’m sure it will be a ton of fun. Today Harper and Rachael played in it despite the lack of sand, and had fun just putting the sand toys in the “little house”.
Speaking of Rachael, “we” babysat her this afternoon while her mom had a doctor’s appointment, and I’ve decided that it’s probably easier to have twins than to have kids of different ages. I’m sure twins are a ton of work too, but honestly having two toddlers is almost easier than having one because they keep each other so well entertained! I did learn a lot about Harper today – as soon as we went outside to play, Harper made a beeline for the mud (as usual), while Rachael picked up a toy and started to play with it. I spent the entire time trying to keep Harper from needing a wardrobe change (and ultimately failed), while Rachael played very nicely in the sandbox and kept herself clean. I mentioned to her mom later that I was excited to see if Harper grew out of the “mess” phase in a few months, and she informed me that it’s more likely that Harper is just “a handful” and will be like this throughout her childhood! She is expecting her 4th, so I trust her judgement. At least in a few months I can just get Harper naked when she’s outside and won’t have to worry about the mud.