A "Funny" for the Week

I decided to blog about one of my favorite Andrew moments this week, because it's representative of the stage we are in with him right now. And to be honest, I'm also afraid that if I don't write it down, it will die a slow death in the part of my brain where I'm also supposed to remember how to change a flat tire and what it used to be like to blow dry my hair every day.

But I digress...

This past Monday afternoon, Andrew and I had our weekly visit with our dear Granny, the woman who kept Andrew in her home for the first 14 months of his life. Andrew adores his Granny, and she is smitten with him. We had a fabulous visit and I lost track of the time. We left about the time Andrew and I are usually sitting down to dinner.

As I buckled Andrew into his seat for the 5-minute drive home, he started saying, "I eat! I eat!" which I know is code for: "I'm hungry, Momma, you better feed me NOW!" I told him that we were having hot dogs for dinner, and that he would be eating a yummy plate of food in just a few more minutes.

We had our usual chat on the way home, saying "Wheee!" as we drove down one particular hill on the way to our house, and he kept his eye out for the "Boooooons!" (aka balloons) that an apartment complex keeps tied to their front gate. [Side note: my genius child knows exactly where each of these places are along the drive, and starts yelling each phrase just seconds before each are upon us. Yes I know it's not unique, but in my case, I get to call my kid a genius for it. So there.]

All of a sudden he yelled out, "I eat DOG! I eat DOG!" and I nearly had to pull over I was laughing so hard. I kept saying, "Um, no honey, we're going to eat a HOT dog," but he was unconvinced. He knew he was saying it just right, and I think he said it another 50 times before we made it home.

The grin on my kid's face was priceless as he dug into his turkey hot dog (and strawberries and yogurt and peas), as he kept repeating the phrase over and over again. I even called Lance mid-meal so Andrew could tell Daddy, "I eat DOG!" while I snickered just a little bit more.

This may be a silly thing to want to record for posterity, but it is one I hope to remember for a long time. Our sweet, loving, funny boy is back (our harrowing weeks-long parade of timeouts and "No!" and hitting and biting have seemingly come to an end, knock on wood). Andrew has made Lance and me laugh out loud on several occasions recently, and because this was unintentional on his part didn't make it any less precious to me.

Andrew, Momma loves you so very much. I pray I always take the time to remember these little moments with you. After all, it's the small things that make the big picture so amazingly beautiful.

PS: because it's always more fun to end with a photo, enjoy this one of Andrew finally "figuring out" how to wear Momma's sunglasses after school one day :) He was oh-so proud of himself and of course, had no idea why they kept slipping off of his nose!
 

Can you tell he's started saying "cheese!" when I take his picture now? :)

Kisses kisses, my sweet boy!

My Boy These Days

I know it's been a while since I've blogged. I'm such a bad blogger Momma. Maybe you should put me in timeout :)

We've had such a fun few months with our sweet Andrew. He is growing like a weed, and really starting to talk up a storm. He is so full of life and laughter. He keeps us on our toes and we are beginning to see him figure out where his boundaries are. He's toed over the line a few times (and even high-jumped over it once or twice!) but all in all, he's a super sweet and loving little boy. I feel so blessed to be his Momma and every time I look into his eyes, I'm still amazed that he's OURS! God's biggest blessing to me so far in this life, that's for sure.

Here are a few memories from these last months:

- Andrew loves to "count" even though his number system is a little different than the rest of the world's. Every number is NINE! NINE! The way he stretches the word out each and every time and holds his pointer finger up to point at things while he counts is absolutely adorable! It melts my heart. I know I should be correcting him and telling him "Honey, it's One, Two, Three..." but it's just too stinkin' cute when he says "Niiiiine! Niiiiiine! Niiiiiine!" We figured out the reason he's obsessed with this number: he (shockingly) has a Mets book, and that was the book that Daddy read to him more than any other as a baby. One of the pages shows numbers 1-9, talking about the innings in a game, and of course getting to the last number made Lance's voice go up high and stretch the number out. Andrew picked up on this, and has adopted this number as his own. [PS: I have friends whose kiddos could count to 20 by this age, but I am perfectly in love with Andrew's own version of numbers. I'm not worried at all that he'll be in kindergarden someday and not know how to count correctly :)]

- Andrew and I just spent three days in Texas with my Mom (his YaYa), my Grandma (his GG), my nephew Quentin (5) and my cousins Maya (7) and Aaron (4). It was such a fun few days! Andrew thought he was one of the big kids, and tried his hardest to keep up with them. Overall they were very understanding of his "baby ways" (trying to steal their crayons, snatching Aaron's glasses off of his head, etc.). It was so much fun to see Andrew really blossom around the kids in our family. He doesn't get to see them nearly as often as we'd all like, so it was a blessing to me to see them all together.

- Andrew loves to sing and dance! Mostly he just blabbers (he knows what he's saying, even if we can't!) but he always wants me to sing some of his favorite songs. He knows all of the motions to "If You're Happy And You Know It," "Itsy Bitsy Spider," "Baby Beluga," "Ring Around the Rosie," and "Patty Cake." His eyes light up whenever I begin to sing, and he'll let me know if somehow I interpret his requests with the wrong song. Oh man, oh man -- he cracks me up when I sing the wrong song! He furrows his brow and tells me again what he wants. Sometimes it's a comedy of errors trying to interpret his request to me :)

- He LOVES Elmo! He watches videos on my phone almost every day, and in the mornings Daddy has started letting him watch one or two Elmo videos on the computer after Andrew brushes his teeth. It is hilarious to watch him bounce along to the songs! It never fails to entertain him. And bless his heart, he is always such a good sport when we tell him that Elmo video time is over. He doesn't put up a fight at all, he just seems to be so thankful for his "Elmo time" that he'll take whatever he can get!

- As those of you on FB know, I recently purchased a "time out mat" for our dear Andrew. We've had some trouble with some behavior (biting, pinching, hitting, etc.) and after talking with his teachers to see what method they use at school, I thought it was a good idea to get a mat to designate the time out spot at home. I've only had to use the mat once so far -- knock on wood! -- but my sweet boy sat still the entire time and didn't move a muscle. He knows "time out" means he did a "No No" and that he is in trouble, so even though tears may be flowing down his face, he sits and takes his punishment like a big boy. Here's praying we can get some of these No No behaviors under control soon :)

- Andrew is such a loving and friendly boy! He loves to give hugs and kisses to his Daddy and me. He says "Hi!" to almost every stranger we come in contact with, from the grocery store to the airport to restaurants. He loves to hug his friends at school when we leave every afternoon. He loves church (especially his girlfriend Addie!) and looks forward to going to the nursery every week so he can play with Miss Kelly and his friends.

Okay, now for the fun part: pictures!!! Enjoy a sampling of photos from the last month or so...

 Showing off a fun new way to sit in his chair :)

 

One of my fave all-time pics -- love that sweet face!

 

Cuddle time with cousin Quentin.

Playing in YaYa's backyard with all the cousins.

 Lunch with my sweet boy after our big airplane ride.

Andrew, you are such a joy to your Daddy and me! We love you more than we could ever put into words! Even on the days when we have our struggles, you are such a gentle and loving spirit -- I am very thankful for your presence in our lives! I cannot even remember what life was like without you, and I thank God every day for the gift of being your Momma :)

Kisses, my sweet sweet boy! :)