Summer is over, back to school and what...The White House??

Summer is over:(
It has been a wonderfully busy last couple of weeks. At Brett’s 15 month appt, we discovered he is still in the 25-50th percentile for height and weight…and still standing strong with 75% for head size. The doctor commented “well, he’s always had a big head”.
Brett is showing us more and more that he is understanding what we are saying. When we say ‘bathtime’, he gets up and walks to the bathroom. When we say ‘eat’, he walks to his highchair. When we say ‘bedtime or nap’, he cries. It really became apparent when Rob and I were discussing what we were doing one day and Rob volunteered to take Brett with him on some errands so I could rest (such a sweet husband). Rob mentioned that he would have to put pants on the baby (by the way, whenever Rob changes Brett’s diaper, he NEVER puts pants back on him). Brett was running around and when we went to go look for him, he came out holding his shorts for Rob to put on. Brett had walked into his room, opened the correct dresser drawer and pulled out a pair of shorts to wear. It didn’t even occur to us that he was paying attention.
Brett’s starting to say a few more words; he says ‘dadeee’ ALL the time, ‘mama’, ‘hi’, ‘eat’, ‘nana’ for banana, and ‘woof’ when he sees a dog. Brett and I went for a walk this morning and when we were in front of the Colellas’ house, Brett walked right up, climbed the stairs and looked in the window saying ‘woof’ for their dog Penny. He also knows that his friend Josie lives there and sometimes she gives him kisses…:)
We are still finishing up work at the new house. Most of the construction work is done; we built a new garage, changed some walls and fixed the hundreds of holes that the previous owners left. We are still looking to paint and redo carpet before we move in. Ironically the new baby is getting the bigger closet, which is nice since we are having a girl. Rob is still getting used to the idea of a little girl, apparently it came as quite a shock. I think he is scared how much she will have him wrapped around her tiny, delicate finger. Brett, on the other hand, could care less at this point but does very much enjoy my growing belly and thinks it’s funny to line his toys up on it.
Other amazingly astonishing Harman news….Rob and I were invited to the White House and were able to meet the President and First Lady. To clarify, Rob was invited and I tagged along:) With Rob’s teaching and wrestling success last year, he was chosen to be highlighted in the final Chicago Olympic bid presentation. Film crews from LA got footage of our house, Rob’s school, Maine South, and even rented out UIC to tape his wrestlers. It has been a whirlwind of uncharted territory for the Harman family. In the chaos of filming, World Sports also invited Rob, along with other youth coaches and former Olympians, to the White House to attend an event where President Obama was promoting the Chicago bid and advocating for youth sports. I would say in the brief minute that we had in introductions; we’d say that the Obamas are lovely people, tall, and quite approachable. And really just quite impressive to meet in person. As Rob loves to share, I was hugged by the First Lady…TWICE!

End of Summer and White House Trip!

Such a smart baby!!