Halfway There

Drew is 6 months old today! It is such and exciting milestone. I can't believe he is already half a year old, but on the other hand I can't remember life without him. Well, for about 14 months now all that has been on the brain is baby so I can see why we don't remember those care free days. I don't miss those days for a second.

Today we met up with Drew's friends Lorin and Stella for lunch with their mommies Claudean and Caryn. Drew was a lucky boy to hang out with two beautiful little girls! We met them when they were all only a few weeks old, so it is fun to see how much they have all grown together. When we used to go out to lunch the babies would sit in their seats and not really do much, but today they were climing all over, grabbing at things and even chewing on the rolls!

Tomorrow we go for his 6 month check up and get to weigh him in. I am sure he has packed on a few pounds and grew a few inches.

We are so proud of our beautiful baby boy and are so excited to watch him grow the next 6 months..and the next 17.5 years! We love you Drew!

Lorin, Drew and Stella

A "Great" Day

Today my mother (Grammie), Drew and I went to visit with Great Grandma & Grandpa and Great Uncle Joe. It was a great visit. Drew worked very hard trying to show off his new crawling skill, but just couldn't quite make it. We had a very nice lunch and were happy to be able to spend some time with them! Four GenerationsDrew & Great Uncle JoeDrew laughing with Great Grandma

Lucy's Surgery

Lucy tore her achilles tendon back in January (when I was about 9mos pregnant) and had to have surgery to repair it. The rehab is no fun because we have to take her out on the leash and keep her calm so she doesn't jump or run. Since then she has been doing much better. She lost almost 20 pounds and seemed to be all better. Not so. I was playing ball with her last week and she re-injured her leg. She had the surgery again yesterday and came home today. Poor Doggie. Drew was very interested in her cast. I can't blame him, it is bright pink and it clacks on the floor when she walks. So I thought I would dedicate a post to my doggie baby and post only a picture of her. (Don't worry, plenty more of Drew to come!)

One for the Baby Book!

Oh my God! I knew Drew looked like he was about to crawl, but I didn't think he'd actually do it this fast. On Monday, he started moving from his plank position to getting up on his knees. Then he started rocking his little bum back and forth. Next he started to slide the legs forward. The only thing he was missing was moving the arms forward. This afternoon, he did it all together and crawled! I couldn't believe my eyes. I yelled and cheered and picked him up and I think I frightened him...poor guy...I thought I'd scared him out of ever doing it again. But he did it a little more for the cameras. I will post some photos and videos once Andy gets a chance to see it for himself (and I download them). I AM SO PROUD OF MY BABY!

Something New Daily

Today Drew and I met Daddy for lunch and when we came home Drew decided to do some new tricks. He was getting up on his hands and toes (doing pushups I guess). He is really scooting around now, only he is going backwards and in circles but he is really trying to move forward.

Drew also worked on his sippy cup skills and he seems to be getting the hang of it. I think the cool water feels good on his poor gums.

Balancing on hands and toes...pretty impressive! (He must be learning from all of the push ups I am doing..ha)

How Many Cousins Do I Have?!?

Andy, Drew and I went back to the Cape this weekend to visit with his brother Scott, sister in law Glenda and niece Hannah who were visiting from California. This was the first time they met Drew. The rest of his brothers and sisters and all of the nieces and nephews visitied too. All ELEVEN cousins were there and Drew had a blast spending time with them. Did Grannie and Poppy have their hands full or what? Drew didn't go fishing with the boys and he looks a little unhappy about it! Daddy was happy he was able to go out...even if all they caught was fog! Maybe next year sweetie...

Kitchen tools kept Drew occupied for a while

Hannah and Drew. He is playing with his tool bench. It is amazing how he knows how to push the buttons and pull the levers. Genius!

Daddy and Drew showering off after a swim in the pool

Check Back Later

We have some cute photos of our weekend on the Cape to post, however we are in the midst of "Ferberizing" Drew and therefore I am way too tired to download the photos and post them on the blog. Wish us luck on the process and I will post some photos once the worst is over. If you have any words of wisdom for us, please add your comments!

One Proud Mommy

Drew is doing some fun new things. He is getting pretty good at sitting up and he is talking up a storm..I am just waiting for mama or dada (well, I am pulling for mama) to come out of his mouth. But he is making new letter sounds..like B's. I swear he says hi AND knows what it means. When I ask him "where's Lucy" he scans the room until he finds her. He is also getting very strong, today he was in the exersaucer and I was in the kitchen when I heard a loud crash. I quickly went in to inspect and found that he had torn off the "computer" toy and threw it on the floor..he looked so proud of himself.

It is so fun to play with him while he is sitting up. He is mostly just doing the "tripod", but he will keep himself up for a few minutes without holding on. Tonight we took a "tubby" and I had him in without the plastic tub just sitting up and playing with all of his tub toys. It was fun for him and a good opportunity for me to actually wash his back.

Here are some photos of his latest antics:Tripod"What?...I didn't do it"Looking a little shocked

Happy Birthday Great Grandma

Today we celebrated my grandmothers (Drew's Great Grandma's) 76th birthday. The pictures don't really show it, but Drew was very happy to celebrate with the family. Happy Birthday Grandma!

Drew with Great Grandma and Great Grandpa

Drew and Gwampy

2 Teeth and a Bunch of Bananas...Argh!

Drew's weekend has been pretty lousy. His first experience with bananas was not very pleasant. Let's just say that he got a little backed up. Poor guy. So this made him miserable for most of the day yesterday. And this morning things were looking up when his poor little mouth was hurting him. When nothing worked to soothe him, we did what any good parents do...sat him in front of the television. We put him in our bed with Bob the Builder on the tube. He perked right up...especially when we let him play with the remote. I think my tv is now stuck in espanol...oh well. Glad to report that after a nice long nap he seems to be feeling much better.

Laying in our bed captivated by cartoons

Feeling better now...maybe this was his plan all along.

Slow Down

Drew is getting way too big way too fast. He has 2 teeth that are ready to break through. Although exciting, it reminds me of how fast he is growing up. I don't want him to turn 6 months old, I just feel like that is too old. I still want to call him a newborn, but I guess we are way past that. He seems like he is getting ready to crawl anyday now..I know we have a while, but he is really trying. Here are some photos of Drew looking exceptionally old (to me).

Everytime Lucy comes close to him the squeezes his eyes closed and opens his mouth wide. He is preparing for Lucy kisses. Open mouth kisses probably aren't the most sanitary!

A Day at the Zoo

Andy, Drew and I went to the Franklin Park Zoo yesterday. Neither of us had ever been there. I wasn't crazy about how we got there....the GPS took us down Blue Hill Ave. But once we got there we had fun. We especially liked the lion and the gorillas. The lion put on a show for us as we walked by; he stood up and started to roar very loud and then fell over onto his back and started rolling around in the dirt..it was quite a site. The Gorillas were getting fed as we went by so it was exciting to see them running after the fruit. Drew did NOT like the flamingos, they smelled really bad and he grimmaced and whined when we got to them. I wasn't crazy about it either so we went through the bird exhibit rather quickly.

It was nice to be outside and doing something different with our baby, but Andy and I did think the zoo was a little depressing. The conditions were not that great and seeing animals in cages never really excited me. Regardless, it was nice to have family time together!

We didn't go in the petting zoo, but took pictures anyway - how cute is my brown cow!

Those stinky flamingosMommy gorilla

Spoiled again...but he does love his new Gorilla!

"Thanks for taking me to the zoo Daddy!"

Burkie

We went back to the Cape Saturday to visit our friend John who is home on leave from the Marines. He is stationed in Hawaii (must be rough) and hadn't seen Drew until this weekend. We went to a cookout and visited with the entire Burke clan. Hopefully, we will be able to visit with him again before he goes back...if not, maybe we will just have to go and visit him - I am sure he wouldn't mind putting us up!?!

While on the Cape, Drew took his new highchair for a spin - thanks Granny and Poppy!

Weee!

Drew got an infant swing for his swingset last week. He loves watching Lucy while swinging away.

Baby in the City

Andy, Drew and I had an improptu mini-family vacation this weekend. We went to the Aquarium and spent the night in the city then had a nice brunch this morning and did some more walking around the city. Thanks to the people at the hotel for messing up our reservation and an angry mommy with a sleeping baby sitting in the lobby we got a FREE room! Drew had so much fun watching the penguins and the big fish tank at the Aquarium. He also loved watching all of the ducks in the Public Gardens that were chasing the bread people were feeding them. Drew watching the penguins

"Ok, I know, I'm spoiled...with my new penguin stuffed animal"

Happily waiting for dad to pay for parking -I guess overalls aren't a good choice for a baby who chews everything!

Of course Drew had to ride the ducklings!

Watching all of the ducks swimming in the Public Garden