He loves balloons which he calls a 'bomb'
He still loves umbrellas. I really need to get one his own size and just for him. It'd be cute to get some rain boots with a matching umbrella or something and take him down to the creek and get some pictures.
I dont know if I've mentioned it before or not, but he can get in and out of the cars by himself now. He can get up into his seat himself but he usually gets distracted before then. He also gets up and down from his chair at the dining table. I need to get a real booster seat. I haven't found any second hand ones yet. Right now we're still using that little camping chair and it makes him slump a bit rather than sit up straight at the table. If he would sit up straight, he'd be able to use his fork or spoon better. We looked at a few online and found one at Amazon. Its just seems silly to pay $30 for a seat. I suppose he'll use it for another year, but I doubt he'll want to stay in it beyond that. Hard to say.
His reading has paid off. The other day he brought me the book "A Mud Pie for Mother" and kept pointing to the picture of the bread that the farmer's wife gives the pig. It turns out he was hungry and wanted something to eat - and he knew what bread was. Another time he got his Colors book out and turned to the white page and kept pointing to the word Milk. He wanted milk! I dont know why he didn't just sign to me, but reading works too.
Oh! So I had bought a little potty chair from a consignment sale a while back because Ted thought Andrew would be more inclined to use that if given the option. Yeah, he wasnt interested. He kept taking the cushion ring out and took a few bites out of it. Not to mention that the hole was so stinkin' small I dont know how he'd use it without making a big mess anyway. Then the potty chair that matches the potty seat I bought from One Step Ahead went on clearance! So I thought maybe it would feel the same as what he is already used to - we'll take a gamble and buy it. It worked!! Monday afternoon he pooped and peed into the potty chair!! This morning when he got up, I asked him if he'd like to sit on the potty and read a book. He said, 'yeah' ... and did! And he's sat on the potty voluntarily a few times already today even though nothing came out; he tried. So I guess we just had to get the right potty! I had also bought him the Once Upon a Potty book a few weeks ago. He likes the book and knows who "Joshua" is and that he can sit on the potty like Joshua. I think that book has helped too, now that we have the right potty.
He had a runny nose for over a week. At first it was just clear and he didn't have any other symptoms. He was chomping on his fingers so we assumed it was teething. He had a day where he seemed like he had lower energy than normal, but the rest of the time he was a live wire. Once or twice a night and sometimes during nap, I'd hear him cough. He didn't wake up from his nap or anything - so I assumed it was just drainage. I did make him some herbal tea with echinacea, Goldenseal, and Vitamin C and other stuff in it to help boost his immune system just in case. Then one night he coughed and it sounded like barking. He must have developed croup. We put the humidifier in his room with Oil of Oregano in the vapor bowl. I sprayed the entire house down with Vinegar and Oil of Oregano. Then the next few days I made him some herbal tea and added Marshmallow root and Licorice (the herb, not candy) to it. That one night was the only time he barked - so we must have done something right! His runny nose dried up too. *whew*
Grandma, these are pretty much for you to see stuff he does:
Andrew walking up the stairs without holding onto anything:
Nothing exciting about the next video.. he was talking to himself in the mirror, jumping around, giving himself kisses in the mirror.
Nothing exciting about this video either, but thought it'd be nice to record Andrew trying to feed himself with the spoon. Some days he does really well and other days he needs extra help. Here is a sample:
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Funny Picture
I found this picture on my little camera.. its from April 12th. That hat is a vintage hat that belonged to my Great-Aunt Alice. The feather needs a little repair, but from what I could find on google, the value of it would be minimum $70. I really dont think I could use it in my photography, and I'm not going to wear it.. so I'm not sure what to do with it. It has been getting moved around for months, but this day, Andrew decided to wear it.
Monday, April 25, 2011
"Yeah... Uh huh"
Andrew LOVES to RUN. When he has a toy he can push around outside, he just runs and runs and runs. He watches his feet and laughs while he is barreling across the driveway and around the corner of the house. In the yard he squats down next to a dandelion and feels it and studies it then asks me to pick it for him. He plunks himself down in front of the dandelion that has gone to seed and laughs before pulling all the seeds off and blowing them or scattering them around. (great little helper in planting dandelions I might say! We should have an entire lot of them by next summer.)
He also loves showers. You can actually coax him to come inside by offering him a bath or shower. He's not so interested in just sitting in the bathtub to play with toys. He wants to play with the running water from the faucet or shower, put his toy cheetah through the shower, put the submarine down the drain, and eat the crayon. Sometimes he'll sit and splash still. Overall, though, he is not interested in the toys. He'll turn the shower on and off - I think he likes that it runs across his face when it first turns on. He also likes sticking his tongue in the shower. However, he'll stick his face in the water and blow bubbles, and then when the water gets low enough he still gives raspberries to the tub. Sometimes he even wants to lie down on the tub floor and let the water tickle his ears. He enjoys showers with us too - though he has no toys at all in our shower. He crawls back and forth and splashes and rearranges the shampoo bottles.
We love hearing his "yeah" and "uh huh" when he wants something.
Andrew really enjoys looking at family pictures. I made a book out of the ones we took of all the Werme side of the family when he turned one. He would sit and look at that all day if I let him. I'm still trying to teach him the names of his cousins, aunts, and uncles. Saturday was the first time I recall him saying 'Papa' although I dont think I'd ever asked him before if he could say it. He started saying it over and over again and getting softer and softer as he said it and soon it was just a whisper. I asked him if he could say Dianna and said it perfectly clearly the first time, and then it came out Dinah after that. I can't get him to say anyone else's names.
He got to play with a toad/frog for the first time on Saturday. He seemed excited to meet the little critter.. but he just wanted to poke it.
He gets great delight in trying to run over Flash with his big toys. Poor Flash kitty. Although I think Flash enjoys it too to be honest. There's only been a couple of times that Flash seemed to come to me to be rescued - the rest of the time he engages Andrew and gets him to chase him and then taunts Andrew a little bit.
He pushes toys or things down his slide and says "weeee". Sunday evening, Ted held him upside down to reach a sippy cup on the floor and Andrew said, "weee!"
Sunday morning he was pressing buttons on a toy someone gave him. He looked up at daddy and said, "wOw!"
Papa Bruce gave the talk in our congregation today. We managed to get Andrew down for a second nap early enough for him to get a good recharge. However, I couldn't wake him up to take him to the meeting! So I sent Ted ahead and listened by phone. Once he woke up I changed him and darted out the door. We pulled into the parking lot just as the talk ended. It took him about another 10 minutes to realize that Papa was sitting on the other side of Nana when we sat down. It was so cute when he noticed though. You hear a surprise gasp and then he points to Papa and keeps whispering "Pa-pa, Pa-pa."
We had several friends over for dinner Sunday evening. He had a blast playing with all the Perry kids and having kids play with his toys. He even shared a plate of fruit with Jade (more like seeing how much of it he could eat before she did.) And he tried to run over Joy with a tonka truck, and tried to run over Jade with the vacuum... but other than that he did really well. As soon as the last ones were leaving, Andrew brought the vacuum cleaner over and tried to plug it in! I plugged it in for him and he tried to press the power button. I turned that on for him, and he started vacuuming! Then after we turned it off, he unplugged it himself. Boy he is so perceptive and knows so much!
This evening we took the pool cover off. Andrew of course found a puddle of water to splash in on top of the cover that was on the ground. He had a blast! Even sticking his face in the puddle to blow bubbles.
After dinner he asked for his video. Once that was over I went to his bathroom and asked "Andrew, do you want a bath?" He didn't say 'uh huh.' Instead, he pointed down the hallway and made a pathetic sounding grunt to ask if he could have a shower instead. So I asked, "You want a shower instead?" Then came that high pitched, "uh huh!" I said, "Okay" and no sooner was that word off my lips he was racing down the hallway. On his way through my bedroom he ripped off his cloth diaper and left it on the floor, and he was climbing over the side of the tub by the time I caught up with him. He had fun playing with all the shampoo bottles, lining them up, knocking them over, and putting them back. Then he played with the shower brush. Happy as a lark!
He also loves showers. You can actually coax him to come inside by offering him a bath or shower. He's not so interested in just sitting in the bathtub to play with toys. He wants to play with the running water from the faucet or shower, put his toy cheetah through the shower, put the submarine down the drain, and eat the crayon. Sometimes he'll sit and splash still. Overall, though, he is not interested in the toys. He'll turn the shower on and off - I think he likes that it runs across his face when it first turns on. He also likes sticking his tongue in the shower. However, he'll stick his face in the water and blow bubbles, and then when the water gets low enough he still gives raspberries to the tub. Sometimes he even wants to lie down on the tub floor and let the water tickle his ears. He enjoys showers with us too - though he has no toys at all in our shower. He crawls back and forth and splashes and rearranges the shampoo bottles.
We love hearing his "yeah" and "uh huh" when he wants something.
Andrew really enjoys looking at family pictures. I made a book out of the ones we took of all the Werme side of the family when he turned one. He would sit and look at that all day if I let him. I'm still trying to teach him the names of his cousins, aunts, and uncles. Saturday was the first time I recall him saying 'Papa' although I dont think I'd ever asked him before if he could say it. He started saying it over and over again and getting softer and softer as he said it and soon it was just a whisper. I asked him if he could say Dianna and said it perfectly clearly the first time, and then it came out Dinah after that. I can't get him to say anyone else's names.
He got to play with a toad/frog for the first time on Saturday. He seemed excited to meet the little critter.. but he just wanted to poke it.
He gets great delight in trying to run over Flash with his big toys. Poor Flash kitty. Although I think Flash enjoys it too to be honest. There's only been a couple of times that Flash seemed to come to me to be rescued - the rest of the time he engages Andrew and gets him to chase him and then taunts Andrew a little bit.
He pushes toys or things down his slide and says "weeee". Sunday evening, Ted held him upside down to reach a sippy cup on the floor and Andrew said, "weee!"
Sunday morning he was pressing buttons on a toy someone gave him. He looked up at daddy and said, "wOw!"
Papa Bruce gave the talk in our congregation today. We managed to get Andrew down for a second nap early enough for him to get a good recharge. However, I couldn't wake him up to take him to the meeting! So I sent Ted ahead and listened by phone. Once he woke up I changed him and darted out the door. We pulled into the parking lot just as the talk ended. It took him about another 10 minutes to realize that Papa was sitting on the other side of Nana when we sat down. It was so cute when he noticed though. You hear a surprise gasp and then he points to Papa and keeps whispering "Pa-pa, Pa-pa."
We had several friends over for dinner Sunday evening. He had a blast playing with all the Perry kids and having kids play with his toys. He even shared a plate of fruit with Jade (more like seeing how much of it he could eat before she did.) And he tried to run over Joy with a tonka truck, and tried to run over Jade with the vacuum... but other than that he did really well. As soon as the last ones were leaving, Andrew brought the vacuum cleaner over and tried to plug it in! I plugged it in for him and he tried to press the power button. I turned that on for him, and he started vacuuming! Then after we turned it off, he unplugged it himself. Boy he is so perceptive and knows so much!
This evening we took the pool cover off. Andrew of course found a puddle of water to splash in on top of the cover that was on the ground. He had a blast! Even sticking his face in the puddle to blow bubbles.
After dinner he asked for his video. Once that was over I went to his bathroom and asked "Andrew, do you want a bath?" He didn't say 'uh huh.' Instead, he pointed down the hallway and made a pathetic sounding grunt to ask if he could have a shower instead. So I asked, "You want a shower instead?" Then came that high pitched, "uh huh!" I said, "Okay" and no sooner was that word off my lips he was racing down the hallway. On his way through my bedroom he ripped off his cloth diaper and left it on the floor, and he was climbing over the side of the tub by the time I caught up with him. He had fun playing with all the shampoo bottles, lining them up, knocking them over, and putting them back. Then he played with the shower brush. Happy as a lark!
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Daddy walked into our bedroom and Andrew followed. Andrew turned off the light and then hunched over a little bit, looked at daddy, stuck his finger in front of his mouth and said, "shhhh" like he was hiding. I just love his personality!
Tuesday morning Nana was feeding Andrew some yogurt in the dining room. My phone started ringing and I hear Nana saying "go give it to mommy! hurry!" Andrew comes around the corner, with a big yogurt covered grin, excited to give me my phone. After I answer I sit back down in my chair and Andrew stands next to me. Then he picks up my calculator and holds it up to his ear as though he is on the phone too. So cute. I am impressed that he picked another gadget with lots of numbers on it to be a phone. If I had a blackberry I suppose they'd look similar!
It is really great being able to communicate well with Andrew. If he starts whining we can say, 'use your words or signs' and he will make a greater effort to. He will also say "yeah" or "yes" to something he wants that we ask about, or shake his head no if he doesn't want it. He used to refuse to say yes. He'd even look at you and grin while shaking his head no before! Daddy is happy to hear the yes!
He can jump now getting both feet off the ground at the same time.
Andrew is starting to climb stairs without holding onto anything or touching the steps with his hands. I'm fearful that he'll lose his balance and fall backwards but so far so good!
We went back to Shipwrecked last Friday. He played so well with all of the other kids. There was even a little girl his size who kept taking everything away from Andrew (even bringing them to show Nana sometimes!) and he'd give a look of 'well, why'd you do that? Now what am I going to play with?' Its kind of sad to watch but he just rolls with it, shrugs it off, and moves along.
We had to go to Madison again (during rush hour in the evening) with Ted's truck. I had two other stops along the way so Andrew had an extra long ride in the car by the time we got there to pick up daddy. We all needed dinner too but it needed to be a place Andrew could get down and run around freely. So.. we had to go to Chuck E. Cheese. He really enjoyed that. There is a separate section (the party section) that has a stage with the Chuck E Cheese characters playing as a band. When I showed them to Andrew he smiled, but wouldn't go in. He was nervous about the giant Mouse, Bird, Dog, and who knows what the other one was. Later they started singing and playing but again, he wouldn't go down the three steps to be in the room with them. So I went in and stood by the stage. Then he got excited! He came down those stairs and got all excited.. he even asked to get on the stage with them! He enjoyed riding in all the little mechanical cars, the merry go round, and riding a mechanical horse. But what he really wanted to do the entire time was climb up to the tunnels that lead to a swirly slide. Daddy squeezed through it all twice, and then another young girl offered to take him through - but after that we tried to just get him interested in the other games.
I knew he'd fuss all the way home. Thankfully I packed the portable dvd player we bought ages ago into the car before we left. Daddy was able to set it up before we headed back home. It took one Reading video and one Signing video to get us home with no crying. Somehow he did manage to loosen the lid on his sippy cup though and soak himself halfway home. He got the top loose the other day too - not sure how he is doing it!
Andrew is so happy to be outside. He gets upset on the days he doesn't get to spend at least some time outside. Nana and Andrew were outside when I opened the garage door up. Nana said that Andrew got so joyful to see the toys he can push around outside and ride on. And then he climbed into his stroller asking for a ride. She said he was so funny, turning around and peeking at her through the little crack he could see through on the ride.
Nana also gets a kick out of Andrew on the deck stairs. "Up?" he announces before he launches up the stairs, grinning back at her. Then "Down?" before he makes his way down the other stairs. She said he is reaching out further and further on the railing as he holds on to come down on his feet. She gets worried at times that he doesn't have a good hold on the rails, but says he is careful. She loves the inflection in his voice when he says Up or Down.
Tuesday morning Nana was feeding Andrew some yogurt in the dining room. My phone started ringing and I hear Nana saying "go give it to mommy! hurry!" Andrew comes around the corner, with a big yogurt covered grin, excited to give me my phone. After I answer I sit back down in my chair and Andrew stands next to me. Then he picks up my calculator and holds it up to his ear as though he is on the phone too. So cute. I am impressed that he picked another gadget with lots of numbers on it to be a phone. If I had a blackberry I suppose they'd look similar!
It is really great being able to communicate well with Andrew. If he starts whining we can say, 'use your words or signs' and he will make a greater effort to. He will also say "yeah" or "yes" to something he wants that we ask about, or shake his head no if he doesn't want it. He used to refuse to say yes. He'd even look at you and grin while shaking his head no before! Daddy is happy to hear the yes!
He can jump now getting both feet off the ground at the same time.
Andrew is starting to climb stairs without holding onto anything or touching the steps with his hands. I'm fearful that he'll lose his balance and fall backwards but so far so good!
We went back to Shipwrecked last Friday. He played so well with all of the other kids. There was even a little girl his size who kept taking everything away from Andrew (even bringing them to show Nana sometimes!) and he'd give a look of 'well, why'd you do that? Now what am I going to play with?' Its kind of sad to watch but he just rolls with it, shrugs it off, and moves along.
We had to go to Madison again (during rush hour in the evening) with Ted's truck. I had two other stops along the way so Andrew had an extra long ride in the car by the time we got there to pick up daddy. We all needed dinner too but it needed to be a place Andrew could get down and run around freely. So.. we had to go to Chuck E. Cheese. He really enjoyed that. There is a separate section (the party section) that has a stage with the Chuck E Cheese characters playing as a band. When I showed them to Andrew he smiled, but wouldn't go in. He was nervous about the giant Mouse, Bird, Dog, and who knows what the other one was. Later they started singing and playing but again, he wouldn't go down the three steps to be in the room with them. So I went in and stood by the stage. Then he got excited! He came down those stairs and got all excited.. he even asked to get on the stage with them! He enjoyed riding in all the little mechanical cars, the merry go round, and riding a mechanical horse. But what he really wanted to do the entire time was climb up to the tunnels that lead to a swirly slide. Daddy squeezed through it all twice, and then another young girl offered to take him through - but after that we tried to just get him interested in the other games.
I knew he'd fuss all the way home. Thankfully I packed the portable dvd player we bought ages ago into the car before we left. Daddy was able to set it up before we headed back home. It took one Reading video and one Signing video to get us home with no crying. Somehow he did manage to loosen the lid on his sippy cup though and soak himself halfway home. He got the top loose the other day too - not sure how he is doing it!
Andrew is so happy to be outside. He gets upset on the days he doesn't get to spend at least some time outside. Nana and Andrew were outside when I opened the garage door up. Nana said that Andrew got so joyful to see the toys he can push around outside and ride on. And then he climbed into his stroller asking for a ride. She said he was so funny, turning around and peeking at her through the little crack he could see through on the ride.
Nana also gets a kick out of Andrew on the deck stairs. "Up?" he announces before he launches up the stairs, grinning back at her. Then "Down?" before he makes his way down the other stairs. She said he is reaching out further and further on the railing as he holds on to come down on his feet. She gets worried at times that he doesn't have a good hold on the rails, but says he is careful. She loves the inflection in his voice when he says Up or Down.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Band-aids and Berries
Wednesday night Ted had to leave and get some eye drops for his eyes. So I put Andrew on the outside isle seat. He promptly steals my lesson book, and then starts swaying from side to side and singing! I think I neglected to mention that at the assembly, he wanted his own songbook and would stand on his own swaying from side to side singing with us. He's so adorable.
After the meeting, Ted got Andrew into his jammies and I got a bottle ready. I was still putting my own clothes away when Ted moved the bottle onto the table in Andrews room. I saw Andrew go into his room, but he was awfully quiet. I said, "Is Andrew in there drinking his milk?" and I raced around the corner to find him.. sure enough... sitting in the rocker and chugging his milk. SO CUTE! He had a look on his face like he wasn't sure if he was caught doing something he wasn't supposed to and couldn't read my face to find out if he was in trouble or not. He started to get down and I just scooped him up and sat down in the chair and cuddled him close and kissed his head like I usually do. It was just so cute to see him sitting in this huge chair drinking his milk like he was going to put himself to bed.
Andrew is officially roughed up. He fell in the driveway recently and skinned his right knee pretty badly. He never cried, but whined. We went in and washed it and I put manuka honey on it a few times. Well Saturday, while I was gone on a photoshoot, he skinned his other knee (not too bad), took a chunk out of his pinky knuckle, and had scrapes all over his legs. All from "just playing in the yard and driveway." Later in the day we were running errands, and he tripped in the Kroger parking lot and took a chunk out of his badly skinned knee. *sigh* It looked so awful my stomach ached every time I looked at it. We got cleaned up and put honey and a bandaid on it when we got home.
He can do something I dont think I've ever been able to do. While wiggling his toes, he can put down all of his toes except for his big toe! I can't figure that one out.
I let him eat his oatmeal with a spoon all by himself the other day. I held the bowl and he scooped up his oatmeal and ate it. He spilled it I think three times but thats not bad at all. He is also slowly getting the hang of the sippy cup with a straw. He has always tried to tip it up and would get mad when I tried to tip the bottom back down. I took it apart and explained it to him and how it works - and he started to try without getting mad at me for helping.
Saturday it was really hot outside.. 86 degrees and sunny. After we got home from errands I suggest we put out his little splash pad and let him play in the water. I stripped him naked and he came out on the deck. I look up at him and see him peeing on the deck - then he leans over and splashes the puddle he made. When I invited him down to play in the water, his face lit up and he couldnt come down The steps fast enough. He LOVED it. He kept trying to drink out of the sprinklers, and running through the whole thing, splashing from the side... he was so happy.
We were in my office and I had brought in sand on my shoes from a photoshoot at the park. Both of us were getting sand stuck to the bottoms of our feet. I stood up and walked toward the doorway and said, "we need to find the vacuum." Andrew, without a second of hesitation, threw the toy he had in his hand off to the side and ran after me. Naturally, he took over the vacuuming too!
Sunday afternoon, he let himself outside since the back door wasnt latched. He was still in his meeting clothes. So I followed and stripped him down but let him stay and play. He went over to the fence line... and peed. About twenty minutes later, he came in, got his guitar and took it outside. A bit later Ted comes in and asks for a small towel. I see him holding a wet guitar. I asked him if Andrew put his guitar on his splash pad. He said, "No. He peed on it. And then he blew bubbles in the pee with his mouth." LOL
Here are some pictures of Andrew sneaking into my desk chair last Thursday. His little fingers were furiously chicken pecking my keyboard when I first saw him. Once I pulled the camera out, he was definitely being more careful. I'm sure he couldn't believe that I was letting him touch my mouse and keyboard without him getting in trouble! But it was so cute seeing him in my chair. Notice his feet in the last picture.
This is Andrew feeding himself frozen blueberries on Saturday morning:
Video of Andrew blowing raspberries on the bathtub:
After the meeting, Ted got Andrew into his jammies and I got a bottle ready. I was still putting my own clothes away when Ted moved the bottle onto the table in Andrews room. I saw Andrew go into his room, but he was awfully quiet. I said, "Is Andrew in there drinking his milk?" and I raced around the corner to find him.. sure enough... sitting in the rocker and chugging his milk. SO CUTE! He had a look on his face like he wasn't sure if he was caught doing something he wasn't supposed to and couldn't read my face to find out if he was in trouble or not. He started to get down and I just scooped him up and sat down in the chair and cuddled him close and kissed his head like I usually do. It was just so cute to see him sitting in this huge chair drinking his milk like he was going to put himself to bed.
Andrew is officially roughed up. He fell in the driveway recently and skinned his right knee pretty badly. He never cried, but whined. We went in and washed it and I put manuka honey on it a few times. Well Saturday, while I was gone on a photoshoot, he skinned his other knee (not too bad), took a chunk out of his pinky knuckle, and had scrapes all over his legs. All from "just playing in the yard and driveway." Later in the day we were running errands, and he tripped in the Kroger parking lot and took a chunk out of his badly skinned knee. *sigh* It looked so awful my stomach ached every time I looked at it. We got cleaned up and put honey and a bandaid on it when we got home.
He can do something I dont think I've ever been able to do. While wiggling his toes, he can put down all of his toes except for his big toe! I can't figure that one out.
I let him eat his oatmeal with a spoon all by himself the other day. I held the bowl and he scooped up his oatmeal and ate it. He spilled it I think three times but thats not bad at all. He is also slowly getting the hang of the sippy cup with a straw. He has always tried to tip it up and would get mad when I tried to tip the bottom back down. I took it apart and explained it to him and how it works - and he started to try without getting mad at me for helping.
Saturday it was really hot outside.. 86 degrees and sunny. After we got home from errands I suggest we put out his little splash pad and let him play in the water. I stripped him naked and he came out on the deck. I look up at him and see him peeing on the deck - then he leans over and splashes the puddle he made. When I invited him down to play in the water, his face lit up and he couldnt come down The steps fast enough. He LOVED it. He kept trying to drink out of the sprinklers, and running through the whole thing, splashing from the side... he was so happy.
We were in my office and I had brought in sand on my shoes from a photoshoot at the park. Both of us were getting sand stuck to the bottoms of our feet. I stood up and walked toward the doorway and said, "we need to find the vacuum." Andrew, without a second of hesitation, threw the toy he had in his hand off to the side and ran after me. Naturally, he took over the vacuuming too!
Sunday afternoon, he let himself outside since the back door wasnt latched. He was still in his meeting clothes. So I followed and stripped him down but let him stay and play. He went over to the fence line... and peed. About twenty minutes later, he came in, got his guitar and took it outside. A bit later Ted comes in and asks for a small towel. I see him holding a wet guitar. I asked him if Andrew put his guitar on his splash pad. He said, "No. He peed on it. And then he blew bubbles in the pee with his mouth." LOL
Here are some pictures of Andrew sneaking into my desk chair last Thursday. His little fingers were furiously chicken pecking my keyboard when I first saw him. Once I pulled the camera out, he was definitely being more careful. I'm sure he couldn't believe that I was letting him touch my mouse and keyboard without him getting in trouble! But it was so cute seeing him in my chair. Notice his feet in the last picture.
This is Andrew feeding himself frozen blueberries on Saturday morning:
Video of Andrew blowing raspberries on the bathtub:
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Days of Independence
Tuesday, March 29th, Andrew was crazy whiny. I could hardly stand it. I took him to get a chiropractic adjustment, then to the pet store to buy cat food since we were out. As I am pushing the cart through the isle, I realize Andrew is pointing up and saying "cat." I look up and sure enough there is a huge banner that says Cat on it. Then he saw the Banner across the store that said Dog and started saying Dog and barking. So I took him over to the bird section and let him look at the birds. He had nothing to say but did smile while he watched them flutter around. We ran a couple of more errands and he was super good the entire time we were out. Of course, at home, it was nothing but a battle. Ted had a class in the evening so I didn't expect him home before 8pm and wasnt sure how we were going to survive if we didn't get out of the house again. On top of being whiny, he was very disagreeable. He'd ask for something and then refuse it - whether it was food or his video - NOTHING I did was right or made him happy. He fought me on everything, even changing his clothes which is unusual for him. 5pm rolls around and I decide to take him to kids eat free at Applebees to kill some time. The food wasn't very good, but Andrew did pretty well and hanging out. I had invited people to join us but no one could.. but Paula invited us to come to her instead. I knew it'd put us past his bedtime, but I needed people. Andrew had a blast! Harrisen was great and got down and played with him, chased him, gave him a tractor and cars to play with, protected him from the dog. After Miranda's friends left, she pulled out her guitar and played a song and Andrew danced for her. It was just what both of us needed.
Wednesday morning I disappeared to the bathroom for only a minute and a half. When I return to the kitchen I find that Andrew has emptied the rest of a box of cereal onto the floor, and then stepped all over it, and spread it across the floor. Literally from the oven to the dining table there were crushed Flax Flakes (i thought it was raisin bran at first) everywhere. The pictures don't even show how much because some of it blends in with the color of the floor. Wow what a mess. I went ahead and let him play in it before getting the vacuum out to clean up.
Later he was helping me do laundry. Instead of putting him up on the side of the washer/dryer like usual, I just moved the catfood box close to the washer so he could stand on it. Silly me didn't move it once we were done loading the washer. We had been running up and down the hallway and when I stopped I jumped on my bed and said "can mommy take a nap?" and pretended to sleep. He giggled and asked for help to get up on the bed too. Well - he climbs over me, takes my flaxseed eye mask, climbs back over me and off the bed and runs down the hallway. I wasn't thinking, and therefore didn't follow. I hear the washing machine stop. I leap off the bed and run down, but it was too late. He was standing on the catfood box and peering into the washer. He'd thrown my eye mask into the wash! I snatched it out and tried to towel dry it but it was soaked.
Ted likes to take the balls out of the ball pit and stuff Andrews clothes with them. Wednesday night before bed, Andrew stuffed daddy's shirt! Here's the video.
Lately Andrew has been asking for things and then telling me no that I dont have it right - like his videos. I never pick the right one even when I ask him first. Well, I finally solved that problem. I let him watch a signing dvd he hasn't seen yet. I didn't want him watching more of them until Ted and I caught up and were familiar with all the words and signs.. but I guess Andrew was ready to move on to more. I dont expose him to enough I guess. He's bored with what he already knows and wants to soak up more education.
We play in the studio a lot, chasing each other around and dancing to music. We also stand on the couch and stare out the window and talk about what we see outside. It's always a fun surprise when Nana arrives while we're looking out the window. Nana said there was one day she came down into the studio and Andrew was standing in the window all by himself. She actually managed to get a picture of him another time he was standing there.. so precious:
We went to our two-day assembly this past weekend (April 2,3) and Andrew did great! I brought a harness for him so we could easily hang on to him and protect him from falling over the edge of the rails upstairs. It's a sports arena and is not kid-friendly! It also kept him safely with us but allowed him freedom from holding a hand constantly. He didn't seem to mind wearing it, and boy did he run us around! He is so fast!! You'd be standing there and all of a sudden he'd do the sign for "Go!" and just take off running. He's so cute.
It was at the assembly too that he started going up stairs without holding onto anything! Not even a hand! There were steps outside that were a perfect height for him I guess to do that. The ones inside were a little more steep - but he could barrel up those faster than some adults could walk.
Oh the harness was great too because HE could walk to and from the car that was parked so far away! There are so many stairs at MTSU and then we hiked down the hill to our car which was parked in the far corner on a hill in the grass. He walked the entire way on Saturday afternoon. And again on Sunday morning all the way up. By the time we got up to the last two steps inside - he was getting to be a slow climber. Nana said he was probably the only 18 month old ever to make that trek!
Saturday afternoon we came home and turned him loose in the yard. He went straight for pushing the garbage can around. I just rolled up his pant leg and let him play. Looks like a little Huck Finn.
Sunday, Ted and I were both zombies, and it was super warm outside. We got home and I stripped him down to his shirt and diaper. It was a pretty soggy diaper, and when we got to the back yard, I thought he might enjoy being naked. So.. I let him be naked. He loved it and thought it was hilarious to watch himself pee on the stepping stone. (remember that for the next paragraph.) Once we got changed into casual clothes, we got him dressed again and went to kids eat free night at Fulins Asian Cuisine. He really impressed us there. They gave him a divided plate with noodles, veggies, sweet n sour sauce, and chicken. He chowed down on the chicken once I showed him he had sauce to dip it in. He didn't make too big of a mess until the end. He left looking like he'd butchered a small animal - red splatter on his shirt, hands, arms, and some in his hair. Oh! When we sat down at the table, they gave him one page out of a coloring book and some crayons to color with. He takes one look at it and starts signing 'please'. I look at the words at the bottom of the page and it said, "Please, not in daddy's ear!" (it was a picture of Shrek and I guess his baby screaming in his ear or something.) But Andrew was reading it and signing it without us reading it to him!
Monday we were expecting pretty wicked weather. Nana came early so she could leave before the tornado warnings. We were outside in the backyard when she arrived. It was very windy and that breeze was cool. Nana asked him if he was chilled and instead he pulled at his clothes and asked, "off?" He wanted to get naked again! (Guess we need to start thinking more seriously about a privacy fence? I can just see it now - he's 4 years old, goes storming out the door leaving a trail of shirt, shorts, and undies behind.)
It is really interesting to watch him learning. For so many words he can read it, sign it, and say it! Of course, most people probably dont know what he's saying at all - but I do. And when you listen closely - he says things almost accurately. I'm still impressed at how much he reads. I'll randomly ask him where the word _____ is, and he points right to it! It doesn't matter if its in the newspaper, a magazine, a favorite book, or a book we've never read. He has learned a lot of the individual letters too, and colors. I imagine he knows some shapes but I haven't tested him on those to find out. I *think* he said 'heart' today when he pointed to one in a book I was looking at. He did it so fast and unexpectedly I wasn't certain.
We're back to another Tuesday. Over the weekend he actually slept until 8am! Of all days! We were waiting for him to wake up so we could leave for the assembly, but of course wanted him to get as much sleep as possible.. and those two days are the days he sleeps! Well this Tuesday morning, he started talking at 5:40am. He'd chatter for 10 minutes, fall back asleep for 5-10 minutes, chatter and whine for a few minutes, sleep for a few more, cry and then chatter... and usually he'd sleep for another ten minute spell and then wake up crying which turns into screaming. This morning though he fell back asleep until 8!! Every time I got up he calmed back down so I'd crawl back in bed and he'd cry again - so I finally decided to get up and start working ... and he slept. Go figure. I evidently am not allowed to sleep. Anyway - I sold all my maternity clothes on craigslist and had to meet the other mommy in Cool Springs at 10am. So we ate breakfast and got out the door. Bought some more summer clothes at the consignment store there and then I took him to Monkey Joes to play. THAT place was great! It's just a bunch of inflatable playhouses in one room. There were three that were only for 3 and under. He liked those okay - but really was attracted to the big boy ones. Of course, that meant mommy had to help him climb up them and then go down the slides with him too. We had fun. Then I had to pay $4 for a peanut butter jelly uncrustable sandwhich and a dinky piece of cheese pizza so we'd have something for lunch. He ate all but two bites of the sandwich AND all but maybe four bites of the pizza (which was for me)! I was happy to see him eat so much so I let him have it. We played some more and then packed up to go home. He was so good.
Our friend Miranda wanted to come over so I picked her up on our way home. In her driveway I asked Andrew if he could get in the car for me. He goes around to the passenger side, waits for the door to be opened, and then climbed in without help, then climbed up into his seat all by himself! I'd seen him climb into the car once or twice before.. but this was the first time he got up into his seat himself!
When I was fixing dinner, Andrew was begging for a video. I decided to put Muzzy on, but instead of in Spanish like usual, I put it on in French. He thought it was hilarious! What was odd though was after I pull out the video camera, his laugh changed to a more forced fake laugh instead of the genuine laugh it was before.
Wednesday morning I disappeared to the bathroom for only a minute and a half. When I return to the kitchen I find that Andrew has emptied the rest of a box of cereal onto the floor, and then stepped all over it, and spread it across the floor. Literally from the oven to the dining table there were crushed Flax Flakes (i thought it was raisin bran at first) everywhere. The pictures don't even show how much because some of it blends in with the color of the floor. Wow what a mess. I went ahead and let him play in it before getting the vacuum out to clean up.
Later he was helping me do laundry. Instead of putting him up on the side of the washer/dryer like usual, I just moved the catfood box close to the washer so he could stand on it. Silly me didn't move it once we were done loading the washer. We had been running up and down the hallway and when I stopped I jumped on my bed and said "can mommy take a nap?" and pretended to sleep. He giggled and asked for help to get up on the bed too. Well - he climbs over me, takes my flaxseed eye mask, climbs back over me and off the bed and runs down the hallway. I wasn't thinking, and therefore didn't follow. I hear the washing machine stop. I leap off the bed and run down, but it was too late. He was standing on the catfood box and peering into the washer. He'd thrown my eye mask into the wash! I snatched it out and tried to towel dry it but it was soaked.
Ted likes to take the balls out of the ball pit and stuff Andrews clothes with them. Wednesday night before bed, Andrew stuffed daddy's shirt! Here's the video.
Lately Andrew has been asking for things and then telling me no that I dont have it right - like his videos. I never pick the right one even when I ask him first. Well, I finally solved that problem. I let him watch a signing dvd he hasn't seen yet. I didn't want him watching more of them until Ted and I caught up and were familiar with all the words and signs.. but I guess Andrew was ready to move on to more. I dont expose him to enough I guess. He's bored with what he already knows and wants to soak up more education.
We play in the studio a lot, chasing each other around and dancing to music. We also stand on the couch and stare out the window and talk about what we see outside. It's always a fun surprise when Nana arrives while we're looking out the window. Nana said there was one day she came down into the studio and Andrew was standing in the window all by himself. She actually managed to get a picture of him another time he was standing there.. so precious:
We went to our two-day assembly this past weekend (April 2,3) and Andrew did great! I brought a harness for him so we could easily hang on to him and protect him from falling over the edge of the rails upstairs. It's a sports arena and is not kid-friendly! It also kept him safely with us but allowed him freedom from holding a hand constantly. He didn't seem to mind wearing it, and boy did he run us around! He is so fast!! You'd be standing there and all of a sudden he'd do the sign for "Go!" and just take off running. He's so cute.
It was at the assembly too that he started going up stairs without holding onto anything! Not even a hand! There were steps outside that were a perfect height for him I guess to do that. The ones inside were a little more steep - but he could barrel up those faster than some adults could walk.
Oh the harness was great too because HE could walk to and from the car that was parked so far away! There are so many stairs at MTSU and then we hiked down the hill to our car which was parked in the far corner on a hill in the grass. He walked the entire way on Saturday afternoon. And again on Sunday morning all the way up. By the time we got up to the last two steps inside - he was getting to be a slow climber. Nana said he was probably the only 18 month old ever to make that trek!
Saturday afternoon we came home and turned him loose in the yard. He went straight for pushing the garbage can around. I just rolled up his pant leg and let him play. Looks like a little Huck Finn.
Monday we were expecting pretty wicked weather. Nana came early so she could leave before the tornado warnings. We were outside in the backyard when she arrived. It was very windy and that breeze was cool. Nana asked him if he was chilled and instead he pulled at his clothes and asked, "off?" He wanted to get naked again! (Guess we need to start thinking more seriously about a privacy fence? I can just see it now - he's 4 years old, goes storming out the door leaving a trail of shirt, shorts, and undies behind.)
It is really interesting to watch him learning. For so many words he can read it, sign it, and say it! Of course, most people probably dont know what he's saying at all - but I do. And when you listen closely - he says things almost accurately. I'm still impressed at how much he reads. I'll randomly ask him where the word _____ is, and he points right to it! It doesn't matter if its in the newspaper, a magazine, a favorite book, or a book we've never read. He has learned a lot of the individual letters too, and colors. I imagine he knows some shapes but I haven't tested him on those to find out. I *think* he said 'heart' today when he pointed to one in a book I was looking at. He did it so fast and unexpectedly I wasn't certain.
We're back to another Tuesday. Over the weekend he actually slept until 8am! Of all days! We were waiting for him to wake up so we could leave for the assembly, but of course wanted him to get as much sleep as possible.. and those two days are the days he sleeps! Well this Tuesday morning, he started talking at 5:40am. He'd chatter for 10 minutes, fall back asleep for 5-10 minutes, chatter and whine for a few minutes, sleep for a few more, cry and then chatter... and usually he'd sleep for another ten minute spell and then wake up crying which turns into screaming. This morning though he fell back asleep until 8!! Every time I got up he calmed back down so I'd crawl back in bed and he'd cry again - so I finally decided to get up and start working ... and he slept. Go figure. I evidently am not allowed to sleep. Anyway - I sold all my maternity clothes on craigslist and had to meet the other mommy in Cool Springs at 10am. So we ate breakfast and got out the door. Bought some more summer clothes at the consignment store there and then I took him to Monkey Joes to play. THAT place was great! It's just a bunch of inflatable playhouses in one room. There were three that were only for 3 and under. He liked those okay - but really was attracted to the big boy ones. Of course, that meant mommy had to help him climb up them and then go down the slides with him too. We had fun. Then I had to pay $4 for a peanut butter jelly uncrustable sandwhich and a dinky piece of cheese pizza so we'd have something for lunch. He ate all but two bites of the sandwich AND all but maybe four bites of the pizza (which was for me)! I was happy to see him eat so much so I let him have it. We played some more and then packed up to go home. He was so good.
Our friend Miranda wanted to come over so I picked her up on our way home. In her driveway I asked Andrew if he could get in the car for me. He goes around to the passenger side, waits for the door to be opened, and then climbed in without help, then climbed up into his seat all by himself! I'd seen him climb into the car once or twice before.. but this was the first time he got up into his seat himself!
When I was fixing dinner, Andrew was begging for a video. I decided to put Muzzy on, but instead of in Spanish like usual, I put it on in French. He thought it was hilarious! What was odd though was after I pull out the video camera, his laugh changed to a more forced fake laugh instead of the genuine laugh it was before.
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