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Wow! 2 years seemed to have gone by in the blink of an eye. I'm still trying to wrap my head around how our tiny little early arrival is now a husky, strong, smart, energetic, bull dog of a two year old - a legit toddler - what!? It's really been quite a year and it's amazing to see how much he has accomplished in these last 12 months and how he's truly caught up and no longer thought of in "adjusted" ages - rather he's just a 2 year old - plain and simple. Though there honestly is nothing plain and simple about this amazing boy of ours.
We'd already celebrated Harper quite a bit in the days leading up to his big day but we saved some of the best stuff for his official birthday - like pancakes for breakfast and a walk to the bus stop to see Adam off to school.
After his morning nap we gathered up the preemie clothes donations that family had brought over during the weekend along with some cupcakes and headed off to the NICU for a special birthday visit to the place he called home before coming home. It was pretty emotional to see him walking into the hospital - a whopping 25+ pounds - considering he weighed a mere 6 pounds when he left. We were so happy to learn that two of our favorite nurses were working as well as our favorite therapist (she is totally responsible for his perfectly shaped head) and Dr. Spurr was there as well who had taken such good care of him. They all came out to visit and while Harper was a bit shy, once they offered him one of the cupcakes we had brought, he was all smiles! It meant a lot to me that we visit and bring along some treats and donations - they were really happy that it was boy clothes as they said they hardly ever have boy clothes donated. The staff was so happy to see him and they couldn't believe he was turning 2 - they genuinely remember caring for our sweet Harper boy. I'm certain this will be a new birthday tradition for us.
From there Harper and I went and had a fun lunch date at Zoe's Kitchen - might be a new favorite spot for me. He loved the hummus plate and was just in such a good mood the whole time we were there. After that I took him over to Frying Pan Park to see the animals and "ride" the tractors.
That night we gave him our gifts - some dinosaur books and his own personal Dyson vacuum cleaner (I'm jealous - I want a Dyson!) which he was thrilled about!
Harper, you have been nothing short of incredible in your two years of life - you came into this world a fighter and boy are you still a feisty, confident, hilarious, happy, active, busy, wonderful super hero today. We love you so much and are looking forward to what these next 12 months will bring.
Happy birthday Harper Gribbs!!
We let the birthday celebrations continue with a fun dinner with Ommy and Poppy. The spoiling of the birthday club continued as well, beginning with a fun hands on gift for Adam - pickle making with Poppy! Poppy was so cute to bring over tons of cucumbers from his garden along with his famous recipe and all the other ingredients that go into these delicious treats. Adam loved it and it was so fun to watch Poppy teach him how to use a chef's knife and how to peel garlic. In the end we had two batches of pickles just ready to be devoured. What a clever idea!
Harper also got some hands on fun with his first ever shot at "Ommy's Birthday Money Scavenger Hunt!" Adam helped hide the dollar bills and Harper had so much fun searching for them and putting them in his basket - a fun tradition that Adam has enjoyed through the years as well.
Harper also got his very own "Harper" jersey - should come in handy as the Nationals' get ready to start their run to the World Series!
We had a great dinner and of course - cake!
Thanks Ommy and Poppy for yet another fun birthday party! :)
We spent our Labor Day riding bikes around DC. We started at Gravely Point where a very enthusiastic Harper got to watch the airplanes land right over our heads - "aihpwan!" "aihpwan!" was shouted over and over. It was pretty cool.
We then hit the trail with no real destination in mind but before we knew it we were riding over the Memorial Bridge and heading straight for the Lincoln Memorial. I hadn't been there since probably middle school so it was pretty awesome to see. The boys were so cute walking hand in hand and Harper crushed it by walking up and down all those stairs! Adam was really memorized by it too.
From there we rode our bikes down up the mall to the World War II memorial. That really is so well done. We saw lots of veterans who were there on Angel Flights - we made sure to say "thank you" to all the ones we saw - they were so sweet and almost all of them replied with "no...thank you!" The greatest generation for sure.
After that we kept riding and all of a sudden we found ourselves at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial - wow! We hadn't seen that before and it was really something - I loved all the quotes they had etched on the surround walls. Worth a visit for those who haven't seen it.
We kept on riding around and then found ourselves at the Jefferson Memorial. Another fun opportunity for Harper to stretch his legs. It was also cool to catch a glimpse of the Washington Monument from another perspective - I'm not sure I ever visited the Jefferson before.
Then it was back to Gravely Point for some more plane watching before heading back home. What a fun way to visit our nation's capitol!
