The Many (Cute) Faces of Andrew Part III

Dearest Andrew,

Here is an update of all of your cute little faces, and they are cute!  I love you buggy!

Love,
Mommy

First Words, Cousins, and Straws, Oh My!

Dearest Andrew,

Well, I thought I would write a quick letter to let you know a few things that you have done recently that I think are BIG!   First of all, you now officially say four words.  Your first two of course, were “Dada” and “Mama”.  Your third pretty solid word was “kitty” as I said in the previous post, but today you said a word that you have never said before and you have said it many times since.  You like to take Daddy’s badge from work and put it up to your ear like it’s a phone.  It really is the cutest thing!  We got you your first cell phone the other day (a toy of course, we’re not that wacko! Hehe) and Daddy and I always say “hello” when you have it.  Well today you surprised us and said it back clear as a bell!  We were both so excited!  When you are old enough to read this, you will probably think, “Big deal!”, but to Mommy and Daddy, it really was.  

You are also able to recognize people in pictures.  You have actually been able to do that for a while now (you LOVE pictures and video of yourself, and who wouldn’t?), but when Aunt Amy asked you the other day where she was in her wallet, you actually turned to her driver’s license and pointed to her picture!  What a smart little fella you are!  You can point out yourself and Mommy and Daddy, but I was so thrilled to see you recognize your aunt too.  I don’t know why I’m surprised though, you seem quite taken with her and she loves you to pieces too!

Speaking of Aunt Amy, we found out today that she will be having a boy when she has her baby in December.  Woo-hoo!  You will have a little boy cousin to play with and show the ropes to.  I can only imagine the fun you two will have, you will only be a year and a half apart.  I am so glad you will always be surrounded by family.  I hope you learn early just how very important they are. 

Well, the last thing that you have done recently is learn to drink from a straw (see picture above).  Once again, I am sure you will think in the future how silly your mom was, but let me tell you, every single thing you learn just makes me the happiest mommy ever!  There is nothing I love more than watching you learn new things.  Plus now you are able to drink all by yourself.  What a big boy you are!

Okay, well I guess that is all…not such a quick letter after all.  Next week we are having Chrissy take some pictures of you, so they will be up on here in a few weeks.  I can’t wait to see how wonderful they are!  How do I know they will be wonderful?  Because they will have YOU in them!  I love you my sweet boy!

Love,
Mommy

Happy Birthday Mom!

Dearest Andrew,

Well today was a special day for someone…oh yeah, me!  Today I turned 34!  Woo-hoo!  We sure had a great day too.  I got to spend the day with you and Mimi (two of my very favorite people) and the evening with you, Mimi, Daddy, and Pop.  Pop made an AMAZING dinner (I can’t wait until you are old enough to eat all of his wonderful cooking) and Mommy’s favorite dessert, cherry cobbler.  Not just any cherry cobbler, his mother’s recipe.  Yum-o!  

Mimi helped you make the centerpiece.  She guided your hand and helped you write “Happy Birthday” on one sign, “Mama” on one, and “I Love You” on the last.  She framed them and put them together.  Hands down the BEST decorations Mommy has ever seen.  Your birthday decorations can’t even top that!  I loved it!  Your Mimi sure is clever.

I didn’t get a picture of us together (I forgot, gasp!),  I didn’t even take any of you that day (double gasp!), but I did find this cute little Snoopy picture.  Since we are such big Peanuts fans around here, I thought it would be appropriate. 

Well, that is all.  I just wanted to share with you the sign you and your Mimi worked so hard on and tell you what a wonderful birthday I had.  You were a huge part of that!  I love you more than you could ever, ever know!

Love,
Mommy

Andrew the Walking 13 Month Old

Dearest Andrew,

Well, today you are 13 months old.  This month has gone by so fast, I can’t even remember all that happened.  When I told Daddy you were 13 months old today, he couldn’t believe it!  He looked at you and said, “Didn’t we just celebrate your birthday last week?”  It feels that way! 

The biggest news again, involves walking.  Last month when I talked about you taking your first steps, it was just that.  You took a few steps, waited a couple of weeks, and then took a couple more.  You really didn’t seem to care about walking.  Boy that sure changed!  All you seem to want to do these days is walk.  We moved the coffee table out of the center of the living room so you have a big place to walk and play.  You spend a good part of the day just walking back and forth.  You love to play with your toys and you LOVE to play peek-a-boo!  You will take anything, your bib, a napkin, blanket, whatever, and when Mommy says, “Where did Andrew go?”, you cover up your face and then bring it back down waiting for me to say, “There he is!”.  That makes you laugh and laugh! 

You also discovered Mimi’s kitty Dickens and have officially said another word.  You have said words like “please”, “light”, and a few others, but it’s a one-time thing.   It’s more like you are mimicking a sound more than saying a word.  However when you see Dickens, you always say “kitty” but in your own special way.  It’s so very cute!   You seem to love animals and get excited when you see your dog, Abby, too. 

Music is another thing you seem to enjoy, and you love to bounce along and clap to upbeat tunes.  Mommy will put on some music and we will spend forever clapping, dancing, and laughing together.  I found some clips from a show online called Jack’s Music Show and we have really enjoyed it.  There is one song where there are different movements.  The song says, “You get up, you get down” and when it says up, you raise your hands up and when it says down, you touch the ground.  You haven’t mastered touching the ground yet, but you and Mommy are experts at raising our hands up high! 

We have also transitioned into more regular food and are doing less baby food and bottles.  We still give you a bottle twice a day, but you seem to be losing interest in it a tad.  There are plenty of things you love to eat and here are a few:

Ritz Bits Peanut Butter Crackers, Gerber Little Crunchies, Annie’s Cheddar Bunnies, baked beans, cheesy scrambled eggs, chocolate milk, apple juice, chopped up spaghetti with meat sauce, yogurt, bananas, applesauce, wheat bread with jelly, Nutri-Grain bars, and several other things.

 You don’t mind trying new things, and you also don’t mind telling Mommy when you don’t like something.  Hehe!  You also love to share and are always trying to give Mommy a bite of your food. 

Well little buddy, I guess that is all for this month.  Like I said, it all went by so fast, I am having trouble remembering it all.  There is probably some more that happened, but I think that pretty much covered it all.  Once again the picture shows you the day you turned 13 months old.  In the picture you are doing what you always do lately...walking of course.  I sure love you little man!

Love,

Mommy

Oh What a Difference a Year Makes!

Dearest Andrew,

I was looking at pictures and videos of you the other day from when you were first born and my heart melted.  Then I looked at some more recent photos of you and my heart melted all over again.  I cannot believe how fast you have grown!  I was watching a video where you were on your tummy and I was SO excited that you were able to lift up your head just a little bit.  Nowadays I watch you walk back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, while you babble and carry around toys.  It's precious as can be, but I have to ask...how did we get from there to here so stinkin' fast???  Regardless, I love our time now, just as much as I did back then, maybe even more.  I think I love you more every day, and at the end of each day, I think there is no way I could possibly love you more.  Then I go and pick you up out of your crib the next morning (best part of my day!) and there it is, a little more love for you!  You are going to make Mommy's heart burst!  Hehe!  We sure have been busy lately (thus the lack of blogging), but we are having a wonderful summer.  Playing with you is just so much fun!  I love you my summer buddy! 

Love,
Mommy