"Andrew's Working"

I don't think I remembered to blog this earlier. Several days ago, Andrew started to gag a lot. I dont know how much of it is real and how much of it is for something to do.  One time I know it was real.. ha ha.. he had pooped in his diaper and when I took it off he got a whiff of it and immediately started to gag.

Several weeks ago, we mailed a box to Grandma and I had let Andrew color on the outside to decorate it. Now, anytime I put a box together, he asks if it's for Grandma and if he can color it. He even got a priority box out of my office closet and brought it to me saying, "grandma!" ... he wanted to mail more so he could color the box and take it to the post office.
We also hung out with Aunt Eese one day and did a run through the grocery store. There was a wall of Hot Wheels for 99 cents each. I know I've seen them cheaper elsewhere at times but I figured it didn't hurt and I let him pick one out.  Annelise ended up buying it for him so I told him in the car it was a present from Aunt Eese. He didn't let go of that concept! Not long after I got a box in the mail that had a toy for Andrew in it and I told him it was a present from mommy and daddy. Now, every time we get a box delivered to the door, Andrew picks it up... "present? present??"  And since we gave away nearly all of his toys not too long ago, we've been splurging a little bit to give him some new things to play with. (everything we buy is a super good deal, on sale, and sometimes with coupons on top of the sale.) But I think he's getting a bit spoiled this month!!

His second night in the toddler bed, he fell out at midnight. We heard the thud and Ted darted in there like a rocket and found Andrew sitting on the floor a little dazed as to what had happened. He comforted him a little bit and set him back in bed and he went back to sleep.

He's done really well staying in his bed. There has only been one day that I recall where he wouldnt. I think it was this past Sunday. I put him down for his nap, Ted went to bed, and I sat on the couch to study.  He's in there chattering away, and soon I hear toys clinking. So I go in there and he has the lights on and toys out. I gently remind him that its time to be in bed with no toys, and to go to sleep.  A few minutes go by and I can tell he's out playing. So I go in, lights are off this time. I tell him to get back in bed and go to sleep, that he can play with toys after nap.  A few minutes go by - he's not out playing on the floor - he's delightfully jumping in the bed.  So I go back in there with the realization that he's obviously not going to sleep so I just made him go potty and told him to go play in the living room.

Wednesday morning, we had to run some errands. One of them was going to Kroger and getting some groceries.  I discovered they have child-sized shopping carts! Perfect!! So Andrew pushed his little cart around as I filled it with milk and meat. He was SO GOOD! I'd tell him to turn left or turn right and he would. After getting milk, I pointed to the meat counter and told him we had to go over there to get daddy some lunch meat. He took off in that direction. I stopped for a second to read a label on a cereal box and he kept on going. I catch up to him as he stops in front of the meat counter. He ditched the cart for a moment to play with a pole that was standing there, but when we got our meat, he was back on duty! If I told him to stop and wait at any point, he just stood there with the cart waiting for me.  He was just so cute.. next time I'll have to be sure to take my camera with me.

It was actually really warm this Wednesday afternoon so once we got home, we played in the yard a bit. At one point he found a long stick in the yard. I heard him poke the ground a few times with it and saying, "Andrew is working."  He loves to work and be helpful. Even if its pushing the chair up to the sink to put your glass gently in the sink. Or to help you spread the peanut butter on his bread.
He pushes the chair back under the table every time he gets down from the chair after dinner. He usually turns the light off when he leaves his room. He loves to put laundry in the washer or carry it out from the dryer. He'll shut off toys when he's done with them. And of course, it's his job to let the kitty in and out.

He says, "excuse me" after sneezing.. he picked that up all on his own!

He wanted me to take some pictures of him. So I let him choose a chair for a couple, and then he got some pictures with his favorite invention: the vacuum cleaner.

No more crib!

Andrew carries (and drags and swings) his light muslin blankets around all over the house.

This week he has been talking about his aunts, uncles, and cousins a lot.  One night when I was putting him in his crib he asked about "uncle david" and then started talking about Dylan and Dawson. The next morning he woke up talking about Katara. During the day he talked about every single one of them, "uncle Adam and aunt "dinana", "Kabeb", and Katara, Aunt Eese, Nana, Papa, Daisy Dog, aunt Carrie, uncle David, Dylan and Dawson.  Then that night after we finished our prayers, he said, "pray Dylan and Dawson too?"  So we said a prayer for everyone.  It's starting to become a ritual I think.

Sunday morning we converted Andrew's crib into a toddler bed. We'd been told not to do that until age three, but part of me was thinking that he'd stay in it because he really is so well behaved.  He was so excited and has enjoyed being able to get in and out of the bed easily all by himself. For some reason, though, when he wakes up - he still doesn't climb out until one of us goes in there. I'm sure that will change, but I find it interesting. He's such a good boy!

Monday morning I was having a very off kind of day. My mood was fragile and my patience was lacking. Andrew was being his usual happy and good self, but I was struggling. At one point we were in the bathroom and he asked to go to the Kingdom Hall and out in service.  I had forgotten that I had planned to volunteer some time in the ministry that morning. So I told him, yes, we could go. Then we had to hussle a bit to get showered, fed, dressed, and out the door to be there at 9am.  With the exception of him telling me he needed to potty (more than once) and NOT going potty - just standing there touching everything or singing or goofing off .... he was SO GOOD! The very first door he got out with Mimi and Diane. He kept asking, "mommy coming?" as they got him out of the car, but he didn't get upset. Then at the door they heard a dog inside. Mimi told me that Andrew announced he heard "a black dog" inside. lol They found that amusing since no one could see the dog.  He also couldn't seem to remember Diane's name... he called them both Mimi. Once he pointed to each of them and said, "Mimi 1, 2" referring to them as Mimi 1 and Mimi 2. They got a kick out of that too.  Anyway - he got out at nearly every door, and was very well behaved at every single one. I was so proud of him!  So I treated him to his favorite place to eat... Olive Garden.
   I ordered a bowl of the chicken gnocci soup for him, and some mushroom stuffed ravioli and salad for me (we shared all three). He was a very messy eater since the soup kept dripping off the sides of the spoon. Then I showed him he could dip his breadstick in the soup.. which of course acts like a sponge - so when he bit into the bread, the soup oozed out all over his mouth and cheeks. I think we went through six napkins while he was eating soup.

Every day Andrew climbs up into a chair near my computer and asks, "Watch Andrew on Compoo?"  He'll say "Computer" correctly only when I repeat what he's asking.

The Ibpsy Spider

It took a full two and a half weeks, but Andrew is recovered and back to normal! Wahoo! I can't praise Jehovah enough or thank Him enough for that. It's so nice to have my happy, cooperative, pleasant and kind little boy back!! I'm on a high some days because it's such a relief.

I guess I should also report that Andrew stands to pee every time now since that Wednesday evening. In lieu of a step stool, though, I taped two unopened packages of printer paper together and made my own step. It works nicely and is easy to clean.

Wednesday the 23rd... 
At the meeting, Andrew wanted to sit on my lap most of the time. During the bookstudy I asked him if he'd like to answer. He got all excited and every time the microphone came near he sat up tall "microphone? Faith?"  (he apparently wanted to answer Faith again! but his answer was supposed to be "no".) It came time for him to answer and I all of a sudden second guessed myself that the answer was indeed "no." I felt really bad that he missed the opportunity and he kept asking for the microphone to answer into. I finally told him that he'd get to talk into it later.
Later:  Ted had to give the demonstration for offering the Greatest Man book in the ministry. Andrew and I were going to be the householders.  We practiced before the meeting and he did pretty well considering there were other children playing nearby. Then right before we go up I tell him that when we go on stage, he has to stand still next to mommy and be quiet.  We go up on stage, and he did SO WELL!!  At first he is still and quiet, but a few seconds into it he sees me holding the microphone for daddy and starts reaching for it and whispering, "have it? have it?"  I snap my fingers and he stopped.  Then another minute later he starts inching over to stand in between me and Ted and starts playing with the buttons on Ted's sportscoat. Ted just pats him on the head and keeps going. Then he starts inching toward the chair that sits next to us and then stands there with his back to the chair. (Another minute and he'd have been in the chair most likely.) Ted finishes the presentation and I tell him thank you, and then I hold the microphone down to Andrew and ask him if he can say thank you.  He is facing the audience and gets a huge smile on his face and says perfectly clearly: Thank you.  Then the whole congregation thunders with applause.  Andrew stopped at the bottom of the stage to clap as well.

I love hearing Andrew sing.  He sings the entire ABC's, The Itsy Bitsy Spider (The Ibpsy Spider), Twinkle Little Star, Row Your Boat, Baa Baa Black Sheep,  and portions of London Bridge is Falling Down, The Farmer in the Dell, She'll Be Comin' Around the Mountain, and probably others.  And when he watches his videos, Muzzy, "Can Read", the Leap Frog ones, the "Andrew Veoo" and even Bob the Builder "Legend of the Golden Hammer" - he seems to know every word and will narrate along with watching!

He is apparently in a size 9 shoe now. It should be an 8.5 but I can't find any in that size.  He's almost out of his size 8, well-worn hand-me-down tennis shoes. A friend who works at Sports Seasons bought him a new pair of shoes in size 8. They looked slightly bigger than his current shoes and I thought they'd fit. I put them on and he said "heavy. Too Small. Off."  He didn't like them. So I had them exchanged for a size 9. Well, the size 9 looks SO much bigger than the 8 - and these seem too wide.  I found a pair of shoes in his closet in size 9 that I thought were way too big too - but they are at least more narrow and he seems to like them. Soo.. he'll be in a size 9 until he grows into and out of them I guess.  Ted said Andrew must have narrow feet like his mama.

I guess I have no current pictures of him... need to remedy that!

Standing Up To ...

Wednesday November 16: Andrew, daddy told me to write in your blog that you just peed in the potty while standing up. You both are so proud! Even though you go potty sitting down several times a day which makes me proud every single time - this was a big milestone for you and daddy to share. I'll work on finding you a step stool to make it easier so you don't have to stand on daddy's knees next time ;-)

Well, I had to take Andrew out of Mothers Day Out until he recovers fully from his concussion. He was doing "fine" but he'd come home, take a nap, and wake up a monster. Crying uncontrollably, shaking, wanting a hug but then pushing away and falling apart. I'd beg for any answer for something I could do to help and he'd just cry "Nooooo". He even said no to chocolate!  Anyway - that's barely even describing what it's really like - but he's not himself in the afternoons of days where he's had very active mornings, and the day following a highly active day is difficult too.  I was falling apart last Wednesday (reaaaally bad day!)  and finally sat down to do more research on concussions hoping to find something I could do to relieve this for him.  This time I learned that when a child has a concussion, they should not go back to school, not play on playground equipment, should be kept as quiet and calm as possible, stick to a sleep schedule and routine, and get plenty of rest - until fully recovered. Well no wonder every other day seemed awful and difficult - I was letting him do too much! So I took him out of MDO and have pretty much been under house arrest for a week. It's definitely better! We've been trying to keep play and activity really low key, and I still notice that if he gets too much activity - we all pay for it later. He's doing well though - still improving. I had no idea what I was talking about a couple of weeks ago when I thought he was 90% back to normal in a couple of days. HA!  Maybe a few hours here and there he was.. but other times it's like we lost an entire year with him. There were days he resorted  to grunting and pointing and would not use words at all. I'd ask him to use his words and he'd just fall apart sobbing (as I was told later, he probably wanted to use words and couldnt find them in his memory bank. poor baby!)  It just seems to flip back and forth - and any little thing can set him off.  I'm trying to give in a lot, while still testing out my own parental boundaries with him. I don't want him to get spoiled and catch on that all he has to do is fall apart to get what he wants. He fakes the cry and whine sometimes - but a lot of the time it's pretty genuine and he's upset. I can call him out when he's faking it and get a smile and a laugh from him, but if I do the same thing when it's genuine - you might as well have put on a scary monster suit and jumped out to scare him.

What A Week!

We've given an old cell phone to Andrew. It doesn't work (but he used to think a calculator was a phone so this is an upgrade)  Lately he picks it up and pretends to answer it saying, "Hello? Amanda. ....  Thank you."   I guess he's heard me answer my phone too much "This is Amanda" and saying "Thank you" at the end of my calls.

Last Sunday at the farm, before we left Adam took his yellow backhoe into the field to feed the cows hay. I remember pointing at the tractor as it was coming back and telling Andrew to look. I must have told him what Adam was doing because ever since he's been showing me his yellow toy backhoe and asking "Feed the cows? feed the cows hay?" and has also started to add "Feed the cickins? Feed the chickens?"  (he gets the word right the second time)

Day #2 at Mothers Day Out: He wouldn't eat more than maybe two bites of his turkey and cheese quesadilla. Didn't drink a lot. When she put him on the potty he cried so she took him off and just changed his diaper instead. He made a paper teddy bear, and painted some fall leaves that got strung together and did some coloring.  When I showed up to take him home, he got super excited and started jumping up and down - and then all of a sudden fell to the floor and burst into tears. He didn't want to show me his artwork or anything.. I guess he realized I was there to take him home and he didn't want to leave.  I told him he could go play for just a few minutes and he cheered up and went to play with their Thomas train set.  I gave him a few minutes and he was fine leaving after that.  The teacher told me that Andrew LOVES music. He enjoyed playing the toy clarinets and the drums. She said when he was on the drums she'd say "okay, lets play softly and quietly" and he'd play softly for a second and then yell "Go!!" and start beating the drums really loudly, hard, and fast.  Silly boy.
  Once home, I realized he had a fever and he wasn't really feeling well. He didn't sleep well either.
He's been so emotional all week, from the fall no doubt. He's been defiant but needy, aggressive but then sorry sometimes, would just burst into tears all of a sudden over the smallest thing. I'm sure he has been just as confused as I have. My heart has been aching all week as I've prayed for wisdom and patience in handling him.

Sunday November 6th... this is the first day he seems like his normal self again. There were just a couple of brief periods where he was emotional, but overall - it was a pleasant day and he did really well. So, we decided we could take him to Kingdom Hall.  We also prepared an answer for him from the Watchtower. On paragraph 12, the answer was "Faith."  A word he already knows and can read!
Ted pulled out the rockband microphone to practice with. Andrew said it perfectly once, and then the rest of the time it was him shouting "FAAAAAAIIIIIIITh" really loudly.  We weren't sure what to expect.  We were the first ones at the hall, so decided to practice again. We sat him in a chair, I sat next to him, and daddy held the microphone out. He yelled it excitedly a couple of times, and then said it perfectly and calmly.  So again, we weren't sure what to expect. 
Andrew was SOOOO good through the public talk and the beginning of the Watchtower study. We were on paragraph 11 when he started to lose it. He was getting antsy, wanted down, didn't want his books, etc. (Just one more paragraph til his answer!) So I told him, just wait a little bit longer, and said if you give your answer in the microphone, I'll give you some raisins. That got him excited.  
The paragraph was read, the conductor asked the question, Andrew waved his arm - and was overlooked. So we waited and then raised his arm again, and he waved his hand.  They say his name and the microphone comes, "Raisins!" ... "No, say Faith!" ... "Faif"  .. and Ted and I just laugh.

Oh, and when Ted was brushing Andrew's teeth to get ready for the meeting - he discovered Andrew has new teeth! Sure enough - two new teeth have come through and one about to surface. Well no wonder he wasn't feeling well and not eating the other day! What a traumatic week this has been for him - concussion, teething, and first days of being in a mothers day out program! A lot for my little boy. Although it'd have been a breeze without the concussion - he's a rock star when he's his normal self.  But it hit me Sunday night that Andrew has been trying to TELL me that his teeth were hurting him all week!  He was coming to me with a finger in his mouth and saying "ouch." I thought he had bitten his tongue or the inside of his cheek each time since he'd been eating.  It just didn't occur to me that he was teething! Poor munchkin.

Monday - well, yesterday was nice but Andrew is being aggressive and touchy again this morning. I know it can take two weeks or longer to recover from a concussion. Sunday was a nice break and gave me a glimmer of hope that my boy will recover sooner than later. *sigh* 

Rough and Tumble

Andrew has an affection for his muslin swaddle blankets. I have to admit - they're pretty great blankets. He is starting to carry them around with him throughout the house. He also likes putting one over his head and trying to walk around.

 Sunday we were all gathered at my parents house to visit with family that I hadn't seen since our wedding. Andrew was keeping up with all the bigger kids, running and playing. One of them was being a little rascal. While we adults were still eating at the picnic tables, I saw the three youngest boys run off around the corner. I got up to make sure they weren't going to chase chickens or go past the electric fence. What I see instead is one of the boys laying on top of Andrew keeping him pinned to the ground. Andrew wasn't crying but making a distressed whine. I just yelled to him to get off, he complied, and I walked away.   Later, though, things didn't go as well.  Andrew was standing on a chair leaning against the railing of the porch. Kaleb, who is four, came over to him and pushed him over the railing. That is quite a drop to the ground for a little two year old! It even knocked Andrew's shoe off! Andrew was crying hysterically as I yelled to my brother to tell him what just happened. I let him deal with Kaleb (who completely disappeared) while I tried to calm Andrew down.  I should have taken him straight to the ER according to a couple of other mommies and nurse friends I have - but that never crossed my mind. He was walking and crying and I assumed those were good signs.  I was just grateful he didn't break his neck (or anything else!) and be killed or paralyzed. The potential was there.
  Once he calmed down, he did go back to playing, although to me he was a little more subdued. He seemed to know who was responsible. When Kaleb was told to apologize and give a hug, Andrew backed up, sat down on my lap and didn't want a hug. Poor kiddos. A lot of drama.
Sunday night, though, he was definitely a different child, very melodramatic and needy. He repeatedly told me about his hitting the ground when I was trying to get him ready for bed.  That whole night I was scared and praying that there wasn't anything internal going on (like brain swelling or bleeding, or fractures) that I couldn't possibly be aware of by observing him.
   Monday was difficult for me. I was already emotionally strained and he was behaving oddly and out of character. Although he was happy during parts of the day, he seemed out of it at the same time which concerned me. Everything else was an issue and a struggle or a battle. He was defiant at times but needy, sensitive and emotional. Completely out of the ordinary. This was not my obedient, very happy, loving little boy.  I did take him to the doctor Monday morning. It turns out he had a concussion. I didn't really know you could have a concussion without losing consciousness, so it hadn't crossed my mind. But one eye was dilating slowly, and he had pink in his ear she said was from the fall. We got him a chiropractic adjustment which he cried hard through (to the point he nearly vomited on me), but I'm glad I took him. His side and back were tense and his neck was out. He did appear to feel better once it was all said and done. He still seemed off most of the day - clumsy too which is unusual.  The whole experience felt traumatic to me too listening to him cry so hard two days in a row.
Here he is hanging out with his cousins:

Tuesday morning he was about 90% back to normal. Still a little emotional, but seeming more like his usual happy self. I was so relieved because this day was his first day for a Mothers Day Out program. He was going to spend from 9-1 doing activities with other 2-3 year olds under the direction of one adult, in a fun classroom setting.  They told me that he had a grand old time, and was very well behaved. She told me more than once that I have a really great little boy - he's sweet and well behaved. I was so pleased! Of course, I expect nothing less given how well behaved and polite he is at home, it's still nice to hear from someone who is around hundreds of kids each week. I don't know what they did all morning, but he did have two drawing activities and they made turkeys out of construction paper. It's cute. The teacher put the glue on and then he pressed the paper and eyes in place. He seems proud of it which makes me happy.  His hands are stained red from a marker. He got red marker all over his hands and on his shirt too. She said it's supposed to be washable, but a baby wipe didn't take it off, and neither did soap and water. And when he woke up from nap this afternoon, he had a red handprint on his thigh - he must have slept on his hand. lol He also hardly touched his lunch. He asked for peanut butter and jelly, so that's what I gave him. Along with a bunch of snack foods. It looked like he only had one bite of his sandwich, two small bites of a granola bar, a few yogurt covered raisins, and his package of fruit snacks.  After his nap, he didn't want anything to eat but peanut butter. Straight peanut butter. So I mixed some almond butter and coconut oil into a dish of peanut butter and let him have it. I used to love eating spoonfuls of peanut butter straight.

Here he is ready to go! Holding the only lunchbox I had:

And the turkey he  made:

Andrew help

A couple of Saturdays ago, Andrew and I were in the ministry with another couple. We passed by a field with wild turkeys in it. For some reason I made a comment about Turkeys and that "we like to eat Turkey, don't we?" which was probably followed by me gobbling like a turkey and pretending to tickle Andrew. Days later, we are looking at a book of animals. Andrew gets to the turkey picture... "Turkey.... eat it?" 

He has already lost interest in the stickers for his potty chart. So.. I told him that whenever HE tells us that he needs to go potty and goes on the toilet - he'll get chocolate and a sticker.  I'm pretty sure that will never happen. Although, he will tell us whenever we're at a restaurant or store.. just not at home.

This past Saturday I had to work all day. Ted took Andrew to Storybook Village for a about an hour. Andrew liked climbing up the rock wall, going down the slide, and then chasing after Ted to "zap daddy!" Apparently other parents there got a kick out of it.

I think his favorite restaurant is Olive Garden. He talks about it a lot. I think he also has the breakfast, lunch, and dinner sorted out correctly in his head now.  Before, lunch and dinner were both called "munch" or "wunch" to him. Sunday night he pointed to his plate of food and said, "dinner" and then looked at me for confirmation.

He has interesting little conversations with himself that describe what he sees around him. He'll start off with some jibberish and then start making sense - but the rest of it all follows a pattern. " and uh .. a cup, yeah, a cup. And uhhh, and a plate, yeah, a plate. And uhhh, and a fork, yeah, a fork."  That was obviously at the dinner table. In the car he'll be doing that with trees, cows, red tractor, a fire engine.

We get catalogs in the mail all the time advertising kid stuff. Andrew loves to sit down and read them over and over again until the pages fall out. He talks about the different toys and pictures he sees in them. 

If you want to see Andrew have a nearly complete meltdown... let Flash in or out the door yourself, rather than let Andrew do it. Oh my goodness! I made the mistake of letting Flash out while Andrew was eating breakfast. He went crazy crying "Andrew help!!"  I told him he could open the door and see if Flash would like back in and he calmed down. I have had to explain more than once, that it helped Flash to let mommy open the door (rather than let him stand outside in the cold pouring rain waiting for Andrew to come open the door) but that Andrew could help the next time. He seems to accept that.

"Mmmmm... Tastes a good!"

He calls Ketchup "chaput"

When he tries to say "Hasta Manana" it comes out more like Ostah Nanannan 

If you ask him to count something.. he just casually says, "One Two Three Six" for everything. Its rare that he'll actually sit and count for us anymore. But - all on his own, you'll hear him count to 20 just fine.

I love hearing him sing the alphabet. He knows most of a bunch of songs too... Itsy Bitsy Spider, Row Your Boat, Head Shoulders Knees Toes, .. I know there are more but I can't think.

He LOVES Thomas the Train. I had looked at all the train stuff in the Target toys department and got too overwhelmed because I didn't know what anything was, and there were so many different sets. Nana was able to make sense of it all and found the sets that have tracks that can fold up nicely, and stay put together, called Take-n-Play. You just unfold the track and play. Genius! That we could do! I compared the prices online and they were cheaper at the store (on sale!!) so we got two of the smallest tracks. One has a tunnel and came with Thomas, and the other has an "engine wash" and came with Percy. He thinks they're both great and loves having the two trains. We figured we'd wait until he started getting bored with those two tracks before splurging on another one.

Firetrucks and Trains seem to hold equal fascination. He has a little matchbox car fire engine - and it rides nicely on his Thomas the Train tracks! 

We've started a sticker reward chart for going potty. He gets excited to pick a sticker and put it on the
"Fire Truck" chart or his Train Potty chart. He still won't tell us when he needs to go - but I can just annouce that it's time to go potty and he complies with no problems. Not sure what it's gonna take to get him to tell us!

He brought me the family album book with last year's pictures in it. After naming everyone, and each dog throughout the book, he came back to a picture of Papa, pointed to him and said, "stash." He was talking about his mustache!

He likes to talk about the waterfall painting when we're in the bathroom. For some reason, though, he thinks it is at Nana's house. Wouldn't that be awesome!

Whenever he is hungry and I am not making breakfast or dinner fast enough, he gets the box of dry oatmeal out, gets a spoon out of the drawer, and sits down in the middle of the kitchen floor to eat the dry oatmeal.

Several months ago I bought Gummy Vites that look like gummy bears and Gummy Omega 3's that are in the shape of stars and fish. The very first bite he got was a star. So now he refers to them  all as Yummy Stars.  Every day he asks for them; I think it's cute that he's so excited to "pick" them out of the jar himself.

Thursday, October 20th, Andrew got his first pomegranate experience. Ted told him that the pips were like little red bugs. I ask him later "what are you eating?" He says, "bugs! mmmmm, tastes a good!"  I hope this doesn't begin a taste test of actual bugs outside!

Busy busy boy!

I forgot to mention that Andrew measures 35 and 5/16th inches now. He's good at standing in the doorway and letting us measure his height. I'm not sure what he weighs. 

Sunday the 25th, we surprised Aunt Eese by showing up at her meeting in the morning. I was having a rough day physically and emotionally and was pretty much tapped. Andrew definitely tested my patience with him. He wouldn't stop talking, asked to go potty and wouldn't go pee once we got in there. I took him outside and calmly reasoned with him and headed back to the seat. We did it all over again too. While I'm squatting in a tiny stall keeping him from falling in the toilet - he's touching the grout on the wall and anything else he can reach, messing with the toilet paper rolls, beating me on the head, trying to take my glasses - and finally started head butting me. I nearly lost it at that point.  One of the times back to the seat too he started applying the brakes and pulling on my arm and trying to sit and drag himself on the floor. I spanked him right then and there - apparently hard enough to make him cry which he's never done before when I had spanked him in the past. I just couldn't take it anymore. I took him back to the seat and then I went outside and did some praying and crying and breathing. I didn't come back until the meeting was over. Evidently, Andrew didn't like my leaving and when I returned he had soaked Ted's shoulder with tears and was very solemn and clingy to me.

After the meeting we went to a Thai restaurant with Annelise and Eileen. We couldn't find anything on the menu Andrew would particularly be interested in so I was going to share my curry with him. I've never been to a Thai restaurant where the curry has been hot so I thought a 3 out of 5 heat index would have been okay. It was way too hot to give to Andrew. So he ended up eating white rice and some miso soup. Then when Eileen was done with her Pad Thai - she offered Andrew some of her leftover noodles. He ate them happily and started saying, "Thank you Eileev. Thank you Eileev." It was SO cute. Annelise got it on camera.

Wednesday the 28th, we were at Storybook Village again. Today though - Andrew seemed so grown up. He tackled the rock climbing wall three times and successfully made it to the top every time without any help at all. He's never done that!  AND he has never been willing to go down the big twisted slide by himself either, and after I put him down it once - he went over and over again all on his own.

 Wednesday night we had two answers prepared for him. One during the bookstudy and one during the Bible Highlights. We rehearsed several times before going, and even printed out his answers on paper so he could read them. At home, he read them nearly perfectly. At the hall - he got bashful when the microphone came to him and seemed embarrassed. The second time - I dont even know what he said, but it wasn't the answer we prepared!

One night while we were eating dinner, Andrew got his fork full, made a stiff face, and then tensed up his whole body and started shaking hard (like being beyond cold) and kept shaking until he'd put the fork full of food in his mouth. It freaked me out at first - I thought he was having a seizure and still managing to feed himself but then I realized he was doing it on purpose. We all busted out laughing. Where does he come up with these silly things to do?

He also has learned what "zap" means. The static electricity zap. He thinks its hilarious!

Wednesday October 5th we went out to the farm and dug up more privet to plant along the perimeter of our yard. Thursday night we planted 40 of them. Andrew was so cute out there helping daddy dig holes, and shovel dirt to fill the holes after we put the plants in. He got his first wheelbarrow ride too - but he didn't really like it.

Here are some more pictures I found on my camera:

the only time he's ever been so tired to fall asleep eating!

helping mommy make gluten free cookies - he's stirring the eggs and sugar

his favorite time of day on Tuesdays!

saying goodbye to the first carseat he had.

riding a train!!

"Hi Sweetie!"

Andrew has started calling me "honey" and "sweetie"  ... "walk honey?" "bye honey!" "Hi sweetie"  so funny! Oh, and when he hands me something he tells me thank you! (I guess because when he hands me papers I've printed, I say thank you to him?)

I have not been getting enough deep sleep lately. I wake up exhausted. Wednesday morning I got him out of his bed, got him some milk, and crawled back in my own bed. Of course he stood there talking to me, going through drawers, serenaded me with his harmonica, kept asking for more milk and water. Then he asked me something. I dont remember what he asked but my response was "Andrew, mommy didn't get to sleep as much as you did. I'm still tired. Can you please just play with some toys for a while and let mommy sleep a little longer?"  ....   "Okay. Sorry mommy." He turned and started playing with some things by himself quietly.  I was shocked. Of course a full minute and a half later he comes barreling down the hallway back into my face and is saying, "potty!"  Of course I got up for that only to find he'd already gone. Thats okay, he still got on the potty and sat for a while which allowed me the time to get things ready for us to shower.  Then he played in the tub for a nice long time while I got dried and dressed.

Wednesday night at the meeting, the bookstudy lesson mentioned ancient Jews. Andrew turned to me and started signing and saying, "Juice?"  Ted and I both started laughing. It shows he is listening though!

Wednesday night he woke up crying.. I think it was 2am. I go in and dimly turn on the light to hear him say in the sweetest gentle voice, "sorry mommy." ...  (pause) ...   "Milk?"  So I filled his sippy cup with milk, let him have it in his crib and left.

Friday I ditched work and Nana and I took Andrew to a new park about 20 minutes away. This weekend they have some mini-sized trains set up to ride! One of my clients told me about them so we went to check it out. It was damp, cloudy, and 58 degrees which felt cold. I was impressed with the trains. It was a long ride too! We got done and he said, "do again?" so I sent him with Nana! On that ride - Nana and Andrew were the only passengers because the longer train had just left, and everyone that had ridden with me didn't opt to go again!  The park was nice too - it has a HUGE playground and castle, so we will definitely come back and play sometime when it's not so wet and chilly.
 After lunch the sun came out. We went home and took a nap and then played outside for a while. The neighbor girl and her cousin (both in the 4-5 year old range) wanted to play with Andrew so they all ran around in the yard laughing and falling over and spinning. Andrew was thrilled to have playmates.

TWO!

Andrew officially turned TWO this past Saturday. Ted and I both have to remind ourselves that he's "only two" when he surprises us and acts like a two year old. Most of the time we treat him like he's four I think. Not surprising when even strangers thought he was at least three to four before he even turned two!  He's so good most of the time.

Friday afternoon we drove out to Percy Warner Park and had our family pictures taken by professional photographers, Chris & Adrienne Scott. I'd not met them but I liked their work and their price, and thought I'd have a better chance of being treated like a client by someone who doesn't know me. Andrew was fantastic!! I was so proud of him. He was happy and full of smiles, jumping and climbing, and agreeable to everything we said. We never even had to bribe him or get on to him about anything. I wanted fun goofy emotional pictures and I'm pretty sure we got that. I'm not sure when we get to see the pictures though. 

He is using several word sentences now. Sometimes he'll speak an entire paragraph and I'll catch words from it but overall, I have no idea what he said.
When he sings songs you'll hear "row row row your boat down stream life dream" with a shy little grin on his face as he sings.
It's only been this past week that I've had some trouble understanding what he's trying to tell me or explain to me. He is using words I haven't figured out yet. Sometimes it takes me five to ten times hearing the words before my brain suggests something that works. He doesn't get frustrated with me though when I don't understand, so perhaps he appreciates that I make the effort to listen and figure it out? 

He is starting to be a little more cuddly and huggy. I love his random hugs. He likes seeing Ted and me hug too and will come to share in a group hug. Andrew will sometimes hit something on purpose (not very hard usually) and then come to one of us saying, "ouch. kiss?"  We all tell him the same thing - he doesn't have to try and hurt himself to get a kiss! We're happy to give hugs and kisses anytime!

Watch Donkey?

I was given a yard-sale leftover book about Shrek. Andrew brought it to me and kept pointing to Donkey. So I told him it was a donkey. He has been obsessed with the donkey ever since. Then I made the mistake of asking him if he wanted to see the donkey and put on the Shrek movie. Now he wants to "watch donkey? watch donkey?" He's a broken record until I give in and let him watch Shrek. However, I do have to fast forward each time until Donkey appears! Then he just starts laughing, but it almost seems like a fake laugh to me. Not sure what to think. 

Andrew's latest thing is to hop over an object. All the objects I've seen him jump over are on the large size. The smallest one was Flash!  He gets his feet lined up and jumps over. He does a good job so far!

He has such a good memory. He's been putting his crocs on by himself but they were often on the wrong feet. Ted sat down and showed him the design of the shoe and the curves and how to tell which one is for the right foot and which is for the left foot. Ever since - he has the shoes on the correct feet. ?!  You can also ask him which is his right foot or left foot and he points it it correctly and says, "Yeah!" lol  And it's cute when he can only find one croc.. he'll just wear the one.

Thursday evening I was still eating my salad and Ted was trying to install a gadget on the back door. Andrew was sitting on the floor. I glance at him and he had just finished sticking a crayon in each ear! He let go and they stayed in. We both started laughing at him which of course got him going. We couldn't get a camera fast enough. We tried to get him to do it again and he wouldn't.  Not that I particularly want to encourage him to stick things in his ears!

Friday we headed out to "Nana's house". As we're driving along we start to approach the small park. "Park? Park?"  ... 'no honey. We're going to Nana's today.'
After the next intersection we approach the bigger park. "Big Park?" ... 'no honey. We're going to Nana's house today, remember?"...
Another mile up the road he starts saying, "Vidge? Vidge?"  I pause and think what he might be saying. 'Village??' ...  "Yes." ... "Storybook Village? No baby, we're going to Nanas." 
After another mile... "Keendom Hall?" ... "No baby. We're not going to Kingdom Hall today."
Right after we pass that road is where I would usually turn the opposite direction to go into Publix which is where I bank - and I already knew what was coming next:
"Bank? Bank?"  lol ... "That is the bank, but we're not going there today."  This kid knows where everything is in this town!"
We stop at a friend's yardsale on the way to Nana's. I buy him four hot-wheels cars and we turn to go. I tell him to say goodbye to our friends. He turns toward them and says, "Goodbye friends!"  Love this little boy! He is so precious.

All the way to Nana's house I heard him talking about "Nana's house. Daisy dog. Nana house. Papa."  With the occasional interruption to tell me we were going "under bridge. Here comes. under bridge."

Nana drove us to a store where I wanted to look and see if they had any cute tops that would fit me for our family portraits in two weeks. The entire time we were there, Andrew found an empty garment rack to push around the store. Then I came out of the dressing room at one point and the door slammed behind me - locked. Nana sent Andrew under the door and asked him to open the door for us - and he did! Yeay! Of course, after that, he wanted to keep doing it so we had to kick him out of the dressing room area. 

At Nana's house, Andrew had a BLAST. Kaleb was out jumping on the trampoline so Andrew headed over there on his own in bare feet. He seemed to not appreciate the gravel underfoot so I picked him up and walked him over there. He wanted on the trampoline and thought it was great until Kaleb jumped. He wanted off anytime Kaleb started jumping. Eventually he warmed up to it and they both were able to play on it together - jumping, and running in circles.  Then he played with balls, on the slides, the swing.. and resorted to pushing a stroller around. Kaleb was terribly jealous that Andrew wanted to play with *things* instead of *him* but was really good at trying to play with Andrew anyway.  We went back up to Nana's for some water and shoes, and went back to play with Kaleb again. Then back up to Nana's.  This time Papa was home. We all moved to the side yard and Andrew helped water the garden for a while. He started walking toward the fence to look at the cows. I yelled "STOP!!", which he did.. but then stepped forward and grabbed the electric fence. There was no reaction for a second so I thought, well, maybe the fence was off afterall. A split second later you see his whole body jump and then he turns toward me crying and looking at his hands. Sure enough, he got shocked by the electric fence!  Poor baby. I tried to explain it to him and he stopped crying quicker than I expected.  But when he saw Papa on the other side of the fence, he nearly ran right into the fence again! It is hard to see.  Kaleb and Andrew played with the hose and the water for a bit, and then got to split a popcicle, and play with some more toys for a while.  I think it was around 5:30 or 6 that we finally headed home. He got about a 34 minute nap on the way home and had a complete meltdown when he woke up at home. I let him ring the doorbell and when Daddy opened the door, Andrew just burst into tears and you'd have thought his world came crashing down. Nothing consoled him!  I think I finally set him down on the couch with some food in front of him and a video to get him to calm down. I knew he was just tired and hungry.  He was so filthy dirty from that trampoline though, he still had to have a bath after dinner. He perked up after getting some food and had fun staying up later than usual.

Saturday morning, Ted and Andrew went to meet for service.  Two elderly women come in after him, one in a wheel chair. She said, "I wish I could have some of that energy!" He turns toward her and thrusts his hands from his chest out her direction (like he would if he was splashing water at her) to throw his energy toward her. She excitedly said thank you. Then the other elderly woman said she needed some too, so he turns toward her and thrusts his hands out to pass along his energy to her too! I think it is so clever of him to understand what they're talking about, and to react that way!

Saturday evening the boys got in the pool. Andrew would jump off the ladder into Ted's arms and then Ted would hold his stomach and say kick. Andrew was kicking his legs and sometimes rowing his arms to swim. He would sing "row row row your boat" as he swam back to the ladder. Soon, Andrew was jumping off the deck into Ted's arms. He's such a good jumper.
  After dinner I was apparently reacting to something I ate. My stomach hurt all the way through my back. It felt good to lie on the floor so I did. Andrew climbed up his slide which was just a few feet from me and stood on top instead of sit down. He asked, "jump?"  Earlier in the day he wanted to but wouldn't jump without my holding both of his hands. So, thinking he wouldn't jump I calmly said, "sure, go ahead and jump."  To my sudden fright - he did!  Ted and I are shocked and laughing at the same time as I desperately ask for help off the floor before I get jumped on!  He jumped off the top of the slide over and over and over again. The first time he landed on his feet, but the longer he jumped, the more he was falling over on his landing. Eventually he flung himself into my lap (I was on the floor but leaning against the couch) and put his head on my chest. But then he jumped and busted my lip as his head hit my mouth. ugh. That was the end of rough play and jumping!

I heard him sing his ABC's today. He skipped only a couple of letters, but then at the end started singing the "now I know my ABC's" words and just mumbled through the words he didn't know. He had some of them right though! We hardly ever sing that so I think it's interesting that he's trying.

Choo Choo!

Monday Andrew asked for an apple. I peeled half of it, took the core out, and handed to him. Usually it takes him most of the day to eat the whole thing. At one point I didn't see it on his plate, or on the floor, or on his slide. So I asked him, "Andrew, where did you put your apple?"  He went running down the hallway and stood by the closed office door (he closes all the doors lately). He says, "Uh oh. Turn?" So I turn the knob and open the office door. He runs to my desk and opens the little door that he likes to play in and then stands there proudly pointing at a half eaten apple in the back corner of the otherwise empty storage area.  And I was pleased that he remembered where he put the apple so we could retrieve it before a colony of ants found it!

He is so adorable when he says "Choo choo!" reinacting a train sound. I love it! And I can't believe we don't have one single toy train in this house! He'd played with a couple of them at Storybook Village on the train track set they have, and of course he liked to ride on the Thomas Train they have - but he never seemed seriously interested in them as trains. Just as regular toys with wheels.  But now that he has been to Dollywood and seen a real train - he seems very interested in them. I need to find a real looking train. Wish I'd bought one in Dollywood now.  On Monday morning we heard the local train blow it's horn several times and he talks about trains a lot.

Monday afternoon we were playing outside and Flash was trying to play near Andrew too. By Ted's workshop, where the driveway meets the yard, there is some tall grass and another small iron gate. Flash was on one side of the grass, and Andrew was on the other. Andrew squats down low and moves his hand in the grass and says in a deep gruff voice, "kitty kitty! I'm gonna get you!"  LOL I have no idea where he learned that one!

At dinner, we sat at Andrew's little table to eat. Andrew accidently knocked his cup of milk off the table and under daddy's feet. He looked up, "oops. I'm sorry."   And he said "thank you" to me several times today. 

Oh! And he's consistently telling us he needs to go potty, when he has to poop. Not for peeing.  And he prefers to go in "mommy's potty" or "big potty; mommy's" rather than any other. Although Monday he was much more agreeable than usual about going pee in the potty when I requested or bribed him. I find it interesting that telling him he can vacuum his room if he goes potty gets more action than bribing with chocolate!

Sunday we made a jaunt to Costco and I bought him some natural gummy vitamins and also some gummy Omega-3's.  I let him have one of the omega 3's in the car on the way home. It was shaped like a star. He kept talking about stars and signing the word and saying please to ask for more. I only let him have two. Monday morning, he asked for stars. I didn't let him have any yet. In the afternoon, though, I gave him one that was not in the shape of a star - but as soon as he tasted it he got a happy face and said, "stars!"  He remembered what it was by the taste and texture.

Okay... here are some pictures. Some before we left for Gatlinburg, and some highlights from Gatlinburg, and then a few after. (it was easier to put them here than go back and put them on the coordinating days of our trip.)