The Overdue Update...

The 2nd Baby Boy Harper as of 01.17.11

Well, it has been quite a while since I last posted an update. Jackman has finished college and has a nice little family of his own now. Of course I am kidding, but time is flying around here. As soon as he was walking, he was running, and into everything. That was just about the time the blog slowed down.

The boy is doing good. He's learning how to drink through a straw and also out of a cup. He actually likes milk... sort of. He's still not eating yet, but he is progressing. Lisa and I have seen pretty amazing progress over the past few months, especially when you consider the fact that when we began trying to teach him to eat, all he would put in his mouth was a generic, green, hospital brand pacifier (good thing I picked up all those that fell on the floor while we where there - I know the nurses will love that).

Jackman still has reflux, which causes him to throw up a lot. Sometimes he will have a good few days in a row, and sometimes it won't be so good. But every time we go to the doc, they are thrilled about his growth, and the surgeon is also very happy with the way his esophagus looks. We aren't anticipating any kind of surgeries at all as of right now.

The boy recently said his first word: baby. Now he says it approximately 800 times a day. Today I taught him "Bob". I know, not a big stretch from baby, but I expanded his vocabulary by 100% today, so that is worth something. I have been trying to teach him "mama" while Lisa is away so she would be surprised. When he is in the high chair, I get a picture of her, point to it, and say "mama"... you know the drill. Well, a couple nights ago I told him to go to mama. Of course he took off running, ran straight past Lisa without so much as a look, and straight to the bookcase where the picture sets. He was quite proud of himself.

He's a big help too. He likes to help out with laundry. He laughs his tails off. He likes to help load the washer. The other day he handed me every stitch off clothing out of the basket, piece by piece, and when he was finished, gave me my crocs to throw in too. Folding clothes is more of a challenge because he like to swoop in like an attack jet on a bombing run and make a mess of things. Or sometimes he does does his "fox in the henhouse" technique, and flies in and steals some folded clothes and runs off with them, all the while laughing like a madman. Never a dull moment.

Probably the biggest development for the boy is that he is going to have to get used to sharing the limelight. Turns out, the new addition will be a little boy (name yet to be determined). He and Jackman will be the same age difference as me and my brother, and while some people may have a different opinion (which, of course, would be wrong), I think we turned out pretty good. I like the idea of them being close to the same age, and I think it will be good for the both of them.

Stay tuned. I'll be picking up the pace on the blog again as we get closer to D-day (that means delivery-day). There's always the possibility we'll spill the beans on the name, but right now there is 0% chance for two reasons. First, we don't have one yet, and second, where's the fun in that?