So Much to Tell!

I know it has been a long time since I have written a blog. Hope the videos have kept you entertained! But we're getting to a point where Andrew is doing so many new things that I cannot possibly catch them all with the camera so I have to write them out! It has also been hard to type a blog entry until recently when Andy fixed a program issue on my computer. It is so awesome to be married to such a brilliant computer genius btw! ;)

To begin, Andrew is almost one year old. I cannot believe it is here already. He has changed so much over the last year, I try daily to hold on to the memories of each change.

Most recently he is working on being verbal. He's always been quite the chatter box as you know but he is now saying a very distinct word, Uh Oh! He doesn't always know when it is appropriate and will just say it but he also says it when he or I or Andy drops something or he will say it right before he throws something, which is super cute. I'm trying to work on Hi with him now too. The funny thing is once he picks up a new sound or word he leaves the others behind it seems. He said Mama first but hasn't said it since he started saying Dada. With Dada came all kinds of variations including Dad – du and Dad Dad. All of which meant Daddy but soon came to mean most anything. Now with Uh oh I haven't heard Dada in a few days and Uh oh is taking on many meanings as well. It is fascinating watching him work these things out!

As good of a walker as he is, he still falls a lot. His poor little shins have bruises and his knees are scraped from the outside. Not badly, no scabs just little boy bumps I guess. It used to upset me a bit but now I think it is cute that he is becoming such a little kid!

Still such a baby too though! He still stands and looks like a baby body. It will be fun to watch his body change over the next year. It will turn from baby body into kid body! His arched back will decrease, his bowlegs will straighten, he will thin out in his arms and legs, and his proportions will even out. And then I will have some serious baby fever! We do want another one pretty soon but not while Andrew is still such a baby.

Andrew loves 'tools!' I don't mean like hammers and screwdrivers (though I'm sure he'd love them if we gave him some!) but he likes to have a stick like object in his hand at all times. And he can carry two at once and often does, just yesterday he started with three too. A favorite of his is a plastic spoon but he also likes his plastic rake and shovels or straws. I hadn't thought of them as tools until we recently went to a dinner given by the local Order of the Eastern Star group for our local high school's homecoming, and as Andrew wandered around the room with his two spoons I told a few old ladies how he likes to carry spoons like that. One said of course he does, he has his tools! I thought that was so cute and such a perfect way to describe what he is doing! He even tests new things with his tools. He pokes at stuff, like other toys, the ground, the cats, things outside.

Speaking of outside, we have to take him out every day! He loves it! He will bring me my sandals to let me know he wants to go. He likes to explore. I have to carry around a trash bag with us because our neighbors are not as respectful of our environment as we are and Andrew likes to pick up every piece of trash he finds. If I forget a trash bag it is so hard to keep him away from stuff.

He is also very into his books right now. I don't let him have all of them because he still eats them and tears pagers so the nicer ones are kept up and brought down only for mommy to read to him. But he will sit and read his books on his own a lot too. He reads too! He babbles through the pages and will point at them. I like to point at pictures on the page for him when I read to him so I am sure he is mimicking this. When I tell him in the evening, let's go read some books, he gets excited! He loves to turn the pages for me. I have to be very careful with the library books, he has already torn a couple. But we still go to the library once a week or every other week to play and look for new books. They also have a local story time we will attend if we are free on Wednesdays.

Andrew is very much in a mimicking stage. He will take a plastic cup over to our water jug and hold it up when he is thirsty. He has seen us do this! I would love to get him to sit on his potty chair when we go to the bathroom but he is more interested in looking at it and pulling it apart than sitting on it.

One of my absolute favorite things he just started about 3 days ago is copying us talking on the phone. He will hold a phone (or remote control) to the side of his head, more behind his ear than actually to it, and say “ah” like he is trying to talk. He walks around like this any time he sees us on the phone and just goes “ah ah ah” the whole time. We stopped at the new Circuit City in Denton last Friday just to hang and check it out and the cell phone booth people were so nice. They gave him a dummy phone. It flips and has buttons he can push but no real parts but it looks exactly like the model they have. He is having a good time playing with it! Though the gentleman warned us he wouldn't like it for long once he realizes there's no noise coming out of it like ours! Lol

Andrew also shakes his remotes at the TV. I am so scared he's going to throw one one of these days. He does like to throw things. But so far he hasn't. I think he knows we point the remotes and push buttons to change channels and such but hasn't quite gotten it down. He does know how to turn the TV off and on by pushing the actual button on the TV.

He is such a quick learner right now. I try to work with him every day on little things around. Mostly we just play and let him play and explore. I trust he will learn what he needs to as he goes. Everyday is such a joy with him. He is so happy even though I think he is pushing his one year molars right now and a little extra cuddly, I don't mind. I like it really! Normally he is so independent that it is nice to get some extra hugs!

We are truly blessed to have him in our lives. We learn from him as he does from us. We are taking this parenting gig just one day at a time and following his cues and loving every second of it!!