A is for Andrew: The Happiest Baby

Andrew is the happiest baby I've ever known. Yesterday he was shrieking with sheer joy and laughing every moment he was awake. He loves taking off down the hallway (still on his knees, but he might as well be running on them he's so fast) and having Nana come after him to catch him. He knows that any time he comes down the hallway to the office, Nana will be right behind him to take him away again and he just giggles so hard in anticipation. At one point, I got on my hands and knees and came toward him in the hallway when I heard him coming (he's about as loud as an elephant so you can't miss him!) he laughed so hard he fell over. Then he climbed all over me and we laughed and giggled until my knees couldn't stand being on the hard floor any longer. Such a fun boy. And I love listening to him laugh and play while I'm working.. it is good for my heart.

He loves sitting on daddy's shoulders. Although, he has eaten daddy's hair a couple of times. I put him on my shoulders once and he got scared. Not sure what that was about.

He is even better at getting down off of things.. like your lap, or the couch. He turns to face you and slides his feet off the side until they touch the ground.

He has been daring to stand on his own without holding on. I think yesterday was the third time that I remember for sure. Yesterday he let go of the couch and held the spinwheel in one hand and spun the wheel with his other hand. Nana said he had no idea he was standing on his own.
We take a walk every morning and I put him inside while I collapse the stroller to bring in. The other day he stood up against the storm door watching and when I came to the door he took a step back and let go with both hands. He only stood there unanchored for a few seconds before slowly lowering himself to the floor, but it was a deliberate action as opposed to the times I've let go of him and he didn't realize he was not holding on to anything.

He will also take a few steps now only holding onto one hand instead of both. He doesn't like it, but he's done it!

He went in the toilet again yesterday and still doesn't mind it. Allows me to keep the same diaper on him longer!

I have two videos of the monitor - listening to him sing himself to sleep, but one wont upload. Sorry.

I have other videos but they aren't uploading either, so maybe they are just too big. There is a cute one of Ted feeding Andrew and Ted tilts his head forward and uses his hair to tickle Andrew's face.. Andrew loves it. You can see the joy and anticipation in his face. Maybe it will upload another day. I also have a video of Andrew playing with his push-mailbox. On the video he stumbles and flips it over... plays with the wheels for a minute, and then picks it back up! That was the first (and so far only) time I've seen him put the toy back upright! Then right after he gets it up, he just crawls over to his wagon of toys and deliberately tips it over rather than stand to shop in it. He'd not done that before either.

He has already outgrown one pair of the 18 month size footed jammies. He has two others that fit and one that is still too long in the torso. These sizes are not consistent. Grandma also sent an 18 month size romper and a 24 month size romper.. they both fit perfectly in length. The 24mo is baggie in the middle but its the right length. I was buying some winter clothes for him at a consignment sale last week, and I was told the difference between 24mo and 2T is that 2T tends to be longer in the torso. Hmm.. seriously? Am I going to be buying 2T clothes for my 1 year old?! I primarily stuck to long sleeved shirts, I think he has a few pairs of pants so I'm just going to wait until its closer to time and see what he's wearing when the weather gets cold before buying more. He'll need new socks soon.. the 18-24 month size he has seems to be getting tight. Ted asked me yesterday, "do your brothers have big feet?" lol. Definitely didnt get big feet from his daddy's side of the family. I think they are perfectly proportionate to his body though so they're not technically big feet .. he's just a big baby is all.. well, not even that - he's just tall!

So here are pictures:

These two were taken after Andrew's little hair trimming - no more hair flapping over his ears.