Can't keep up!

Oh my gosh, I just can't keep up! I've been meaning to blog for WEEKS and it just keeps getting pushed to the side. I keep saying, "I'll do it tomorrow... I'll blog this weekend..." No more excuses! It's time for some major updates on the little big guy in my life!!!

Where do I even start?!? Drew has turned into such a big kid since his first birthday at the end of January. The last (almost) 3 months have brought so many firsts. First haircut, first steps, first pair of "real" shoes, first meaningful words, and the first stages of true independence, signalling that we really do have a toddler on our hands. I just can't say it enough... he's getting SO big SO fast!

Playing at the park (3-17-12)

Drew is now in the "walker" room at daycare. For awhile, I would pick him up and ask the teachers if he was trying to walk. They kept replying, "Nope. He just likes to sit and watch the other babies walk. He's soaking it all in." Now, I'm not one to compare Drew to other babies, but I started noticing that when I picked him up, ALL the other babies were walking. Every last one of them. I knew there wasn't anything wrong with Drew, but I kept wondering, "When is this kid going to walk?!?" Drew had taken a couple steps on his own with hubs and I, but that's all it had amounted to. The child did not have an interest in walking on his own, without the aid of a push toy. Finally, one night my parents were over to visit. All of a sudden, Drew pulled himself up to stand and proudly took about 6 steps across the room to get to where I was sitting on the floor. We all cheered and there was the beginning of his walking days. It only took him about 14 months, but better late than never! Now, all he wants to do is walk, walk, walk and it's all we can do to keep up with him.

Starting to walk! (3-27-12)

Wearing big-boy shoes to show off his mad walking skills (4-18-12)

We took Drew for his first haircut a few weeks ago and he did so well! We went to this fun place called Snip-its in Northville. It was bright and cheerful and really inviting for kids. They have a special package for baby's first haircut where they take a picture and give a certificate for bravery with a lock of his hair attached. Drew did so well. He didn't cry at all. He kept trying to swat the hairdresser's hands away, so mommy distracted him with what he loves the best.... snack puffs!

Pre-haircut (4-7-12)

He's not so sure about all this

Commemorative photo 

Drew loves food. I mean, this kid can chow down! Some foods he loves right now: bananas (he has one every morning), peaches, pears, strawberries, kiwi (he LOVES fruit!!!), pasta (especially mac and cheese), cheese and crackers, chicken nuggets dipped in ketchup, Chex cereal, toddler cereal bars, and of course milk. He used to love carrots and sweet potatoes, but recently started refusing veggies altogether. I'm going to have to get sneaky and get him his veggies somehow. Anyone who has tips, please let me know!

He's still drinking from a bottle, and it has been really difficult to transition Drew to a cup for drinking. I tried switching cold turkey in February, but he wasn't having it. It's made it really hard for him to accept the sippy and he just recently started drinking juice out of it. I've tried practically every sippy they have on the market and finally found a few that he'll drink out of. If I put milk in a cup he'll bat it away and won't touch it. I'm thinking I'll just wait until summer to get him transitioned. The bottle has become a security object for him and he's not ready to give it up yet.

Would you like some nuggets with that ketchup?

Drew's first official word was "ball". One day he just pointed to his Winnie the Pooh ball and said, "ba". Just to make sure that's what he was saying, I told him to go get the ball and he did! It's so amazing to see their little brains working and to know that he is comprehending what I am saying to him. Now, everything is "da". He'll point to the dogs and say "da". He points to his daddy and says "da". He points to the tv and says "da". It'll be interesting to see what words come next.

"da"= dog

Drew is all about his mommy these days. Separation anxiety has kicked in and he has realized he does not like for mommy to be out of his sight. When I drop him off at daycare, it breaks my heart. His little lip starts quivering, he begins to pout, and then as he senses mommy is about to leave him, he just starts wailing. Talk about starting your day off on a bad note. I have to hear my little guy sobbing for me all the way out the door of the daycare building. It's so sad.

On a brighter note, the sweetest thing happened the other night that melted my heart. It was just Drew and I, and we were playing on the floor. He was all ready for bed and we were watching his favorite tv show, "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" (I know all the songs by heart and even sing them in my head at work during the day... I am SO a mom, now). All of a sudden, Drew got up, turned around to face me, and snuggled into my neck. He then looked up, right into my face and said "mama"...for the first time with meaning. I was so taken by surprise that I looked at him and said, "Did you just say mama?!?", to which he snuggled into me again and with his sweet little baby voice, said "mama" again.

He has me wrapped around his finger forever.

He loves to choose books to "read" before bed

Tigers pitcher in training... watch out Verlander! 

Cute Easter boy

Building a tall tower for the first time (4-15-12)

He melts my heart <3

Drew's Winter ONE-derland

I had so much fun planning Drew's Winter ONE-derland party! I found the idea when I was looking at winter birthday party themes online one day. We had this party at our house, the day after Drew's birthday, on January 28th,with my side of the family. Everything turned out great and Drew loved seeing his house transformed into a red and aqua snowflake scene.

Happy Birthday, big boy! 

My homemade banner turned out better than I imagined!

The invitation (thank goodness for Etsy!)

All ready for our guests!

Ready to party! 

Photo banner that I made myself :)

My Aunt Jan made the sheet cake and Drew's smash cake

Entertaining Sito & Gramps

Giving Auntie Desi some loving

Showing off his mad crawling skills

Party peeps!

Opening his first gift

Family pic

Smash that cake!

Done smashing. Over it! 

Cake with Gramps makes it all better!

Drew's "Go Mongo" Party

We had Drew's first birthday party (part one) with hubs' family at BD's Mongolian Grill on January 21st. Since we knew we would have to hold two parties for all our family, it made sense to have one party where we didn't have to clean up!

It was so nice to see everyone and Drew had a great time.

Posing with his cake and cousin Emily

Daddy and Uncle T look a lot alike!

Taking it all in with Grandma

Being silly with Grandpa

Drew and his 3rd cousin, Domynic (6 months)

Party people!

Mommy's favorite 

Not a fan of cake

Uncle T makes it all better! 

The art of saying "NO"

Drew is one smart little cookie. He is also very curious. Hubs and I are beginning to notice that when you combine smart + curious, as parents you start saying "NO" a lot. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it backfires. 

Exhibit A, for instance, when Drew crosses the line from the carpeted living room to the tiled kitchen, we say "Andrew, NO!" in our sternest voices. Many times he will stop, look at us to acknowledge that he heard our command, and 7 times out of 10, he will turn back around and crawl back onto the carpet. Carpet to tile would be an instance where we feel successful that "NO" is working. 

And then comes Exhibit B. We have a laundry basket of Drew's clean, folded clothes that we keep in the living room. It's nice to have some clothes there in case we need a quick change or a burp cloth. Lately, our little man of the house has taken a great interest in the contents of the laundry basket. In days past, he would crawl right by it, barely paying it any notice. Now, he is drawn to it like a magnet. He crawls over, sits next to the laundry basket, and makes eye contact with the adult. Usually, he will keep eye contact as his hand reaches into the basket, pulling out whatever clothes he can find. Hubs and I, in the sternest voices we can muster, say "NO, Andrew. We don't play with clean clothes." We take the clothes out of his hand and put them back in the basket, at which point Drew laughs and reaches in again for whatever he can grab. Unless we are physically laying our arms or legs across the basket, Drew will continue to try to get those clothes out of the basket, as if we are playing the most fun game with him. 

Tonight was one of those nights. Hubs was on the couch and I was on the floor playing with the little rascal. He crawled right over to that basket, looked me square in the eye, reached in and grabbed to his hearts content. In my "mom voice", I looked at him and said, "NO Andrew. NO touching!". Drew laughed and tried it again. I then looked up at my loving, supportive husband...sitting there trying his hardest not to burst out laughing at the entire situation. Of course, I couldn't hold it in either. I started laughing, too. 

I obviously haven't mastered the art of saying "NO" yet. Drew is just too cute and does the funniest things sometimes. 

Caught red handed!

You might think he looks remorseful, but he thinks this is a game!

The holidays and why I love being a mom right now...

What a fun time of year this has been for us as a family. Drew got to celebrate his first Christmas and turned 11 months old right around the same time. I can't believe that later this month he'll be ONE! Time has gone by in a blink.

11 months old (12-27-11)

We spent Christmas Eve with my mom's side of the family. Drew had fun getting re-acquainted with all my aunts, uncles, and cousins. He was a little bashful and shy at first, tucking his head into mommy's shoulder. By the end of the night, he was personality plus... babbling away to anyone who would listen, crawling everywhere, and chasing his second cousin, Miriam because he liked her sparkly dress.

Chasing cousin Miriam

Quality time with Auntie Dez and Gramps

Christmas Day was spent at home, relaxing and recuperating as a family, since hubs was sick with the stomach flu and I had just gotten over it on Christmas Eve. Oh what fun! We couldn't wait to see how Drew would react when opening gifts. I wasn't sure if he would want to help open presents, eat the paper, or be completely disengaged from the whole process. He loved it! He helped open gifts and loved ripping the paper off the packages. We had so much fun taking pictures of him opening every present. :)

Christmas morning in front of the tree

Opening presents with Mommy

So happy!

Wooden blocks from Great Grandma Clason

The day after Christmas was spent with my in-laws. Drew tried Grandma's spaghetti for the first time and loved it. He had fun playing with Uncle T. Later in the evening, we were sitting in the living room while Drew was playing by himself with his toys. My mother-in-law and I commented that we were so amazed at his ability to entertain himself and not need our constant attention...another sign of our little guy growing up!

Opening gifts with Daddy

Bottle time with Uncle T

Hubs and I have loved our week off with Drew and with each other. We were able to send him to daycare two days, which was nice. Sometimes you just need a little break! It was nice to go out and have a date day, where we could focus on just "us"...much needed for our relationship.

I am just loving being a mom right now. It's incredible to see Drew picking up new things every day, transitioning from a little baby to a toddler. It's interesting because I'm finding myself second guessing things I'm doing, because what was "routine" before is now becoming uncharted territory. For example, for 6 1/2 months, Drew ate pureed baby foods and loved them. In the past week, he decided he doesn't like it anymore and bats away the spoon before I can even get one bite in his mouth! My saving grace was that he still liked his oatmeal cereal mixed with fruit, but even that has become something he shakes his head "no" at before I can even give him a bite. Now, I'm racking my brain trying to think of what to feed the kid. He has decided that he wants to eat what mommy and daddy eat and has taken great interest in everything we put in our mouths. It's so weird to me that I'm at the stage of preparing and cooking for food for all of us as a family and that he's finally included in our mealtimes.

So far, Drew has tried waffles, scrambled eggs, toast, and pancakes for breakfast. I made him grilled cheese and mac & cheese for lunches this past week. He's had chunks of sweet potato, diced cooked carrots, steamed green beans, shredded cheese, peaches, and sliced banana. One thing I'm thankful for, this kid is not  really that picky and is a good eater. It's kind of fun trying to figure out what to feed him and what he might like. If he doesn't like something or has decided that he's full, he'll shake his head "no" and we know to stop feeding him. The only downside to switching to "real food": I have a huge box of pureed baby foods that I either need to be creative with or donate!

Loving his first taste of mac & cheese (1-1-12)

I love Drew's personality. He is so happy and there is just a light in his eyes that I can't describe. He has a zest for life and loves trying new things. He's not afraid and is very curious about how things work. His smile and laughter can brighten a whole room and improve a bad mood immediately.  I wish I could bottle his energy... he just goes and goes and goes. Hubs and I are having a blast being parents and love learning more about Drew every day. He has brought such joy to our lives over the last year. :)

A little reflection of his Daddy :)

Fun with Mr. Gorilla

Visiting mommy's best friend and Drew's buddies Justin & Jonah

Having fun playing with his new toys!