Happy Easter!

Our Easter festivities began on Saturday when we went to the farm for an Easter Egg hunt and to visit the Easter Bunny. The hunt was pretty much over when we got there, but the bunny was still around. Drew was a little apprehensive and slowly walked over to him and waved and pointed. I brought him over to sit on his lap and he screamed! He was not having it. We walked around and eventually his curiosity peaked and he went back over to check him out. After getting some gelato at the farm market, we went to check out the animals in the petting zoo.

"In my egg hunting outfit, ready to go!"





"Time for some egg wranglin'" "Hi bunny...I'll politely wave, but keep your distance"

"A little traumatized by that bunny, but I will pose for the camera"

Easter Sunday started early with 7:30AM Mass. Sadly, we haven't been to Church very much since Drew has gotten older and more mobile and vocal. We weren't sure how he would behave, but aside from a lot of wiggling he was rather well behaved. I made Easter dinner and had Auntie Laura, Uncle JR, Grampy and Cindy over. After a big meal and dessert, we went outside for an egg hunt - we used the eggs that Drew and I decorated earlier in the week. After stopping Drew numerous times from going to the street to see the "cah-cah's, he finally became interested in the eggs and began the hunt....

Fun Stop

Drew and his friend Stella went to the Kids Fun Stop on Friday. It is basically an indoor playground where you pay for 2 hours of play. They had a blast! We stayed in the under 2 area for a while because it was a little busy in the other areas, this was nice for the mommies because we could relax a bit and let them bounce around in a safe area. Eventually we made our way out to the other side and they played on slides, in cozy coupes and the train (shown above). Drew didn't want to leave and kept running back into this train - he knows that when the coats go on, the fun ends. We had fun catching up with friends and hopefully next time his buddy Zack will be able to join us too!

Happy St. Patricks Day!

We had a very festive St. Patricks Day in our house. I made a boiled Corned Beef and Cabbage dinner served with a tall Guiness and some Irish Soda Bread. The boiled dinner was only for the adults - but Drew had a very big dinner...now, this kid has been a very picky eater lately. We have been trying hard to get him to eat meat..he refuses. The only way he will eat it is when it is pureed or in jarred baby food. I am trying to get completely off of the mashed food. We have tried many things, but the one thing (if you can call it meat) that he likes is hot dogs. He had 1/2 of one a few weeks ago and ate most of it. I made another one tonight and he at the ENTIRE thing - then, he ate a huge bowl of tofu and bananas then, a big slice of soda bread with sweet Irish butter....all of this after a huge lunch where he ate an entire PB&J sandwich, slice of cheese and a whole can of mandarin oranges....all this after a pancake and banana for breakfast. Holy Cow, I think my baby is going to explode.

The theme of the day - Drew is signing for "more"

"mmm...Soda Bread"

This meal is fantastic...once a year!

....or is it Thanksgiving? These turkeys showed up on our front lawn Saturday morning. Too bad Drew was napping and didn't get to see the "gucks"

Playing, Lunch and a Lost Shoe

We have been busy since the weather has been nice. Today we went back to the "playspace". I hate this place because it has so much crap...but I love this place because they have so much crap. It looks a bit like a yard sale with weathered plastic toys strewn about. There are also plenty of slides, swingsets and jungle gyms, but Drew loves to play on the plastic stuff. Today he rode in a "Cozy Coupe"...I just learned what this is; it is that plastic car (usually yellow and red). He also enjoyed playing in a plastic kitchen.

"Hey pretty lady"...so cool hanging out the side

After, we went to lunch at the Noon Hill Grill (hoping to catch a glimpse of Martin Scorsese or Leonardo DiCaprio who are filming a movie nearby....apparently Martin Scorsese ate here when they were in town checking out the place....very exciting for us small town folk) Anyway, we had a very nice lunch - our first choice was Friendly's, but apparently it was a half-day in school and it was packed! After eating (or in Drew's case throwing his food on the floor) we drove to the Cemetary to pay some visits and look at the ducks in the pond. We drove over to the pond and I got a little creeped out by someone who looked out of place - he was "exercising" in work boots, khaki pants and a hooded sweatshirt pulled over his head. When we got out to look at the ducks he started walking around the pond over towards us. I had a bad feeling so I plucked Drew up and threw him back in the car. Of course he decided to fight me getting in and that is when we lost a shoe. I jumped in the car, locked the doors and drove away. It was probably nothing but it scared the hell out of me. I guess it is better to go with your gut...bad things can happen even in a small town. I had to drive back later to retrieve the shoe, thank God it was still there..those Stride-Rites are expensive!

On another note, a good friend of mine wrote a book and it was just released this week. It would make a great baby shower gift...so go pick up a copy (or 5) for you and your friends. I am so excited for her...Congratulations Alyssa! http://www.amazon.com/Margarita-Mama-Mocktails-Moms-Be/dp/1594742154/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205451595&sr=8-1

Post #100

Wow - I hit the 100 post mark! I really feel that it is an accomplishment.

Andy and I had a really good time at the CF Fundraiser on Saturday night. We did some gambling - we were up and down, but always donate the chips in the end anyway. We also won 2 items in the silent auction - a Kiehls basket that we gave to Laura and a Jason Varitek autographed photo for Drews room. We saw friends we haven't seen in a while and had some much needed 'couple time'. I really didn't take many photos, just one of the Irishman who swindled me out of all of my chips:

"The Wheel" - this thing is a money pit but so much fun, I actually did pretty good on it, but it sucked most of Andy's money

Drew and I had a very busy day today. We had our second sign and sing class where we learned the signs for "car" and "duck" (Drews 2 favorite words). After a trip to the mall, lunch at Bertuccis, a short nap on the ride home - we decided to go to the playground. Drew had fun in the sandbox and on the swings but I learned that we should keep playground trips to before school gets out -there was a lot of older kids playing a little rough. Drew also learned that sand is not a snack...(note to self - don't stick fingers in teething childs mouth to remove sand or risk deep bite marks in finger)

Posing in the sandbox with the slew of minivans in the parking lot - out of the 9 cars in the parking lot 7 were minivans...I felt sorta out of place.

Once we got home the fun continued - we played outside in the yard...Drew rode in his car that he is really "filling out" this year. He pushed the car around the yard and then the fun quickly came to and end when Drew realized that he has had quite enough. He had a severe overreaction to mom helping him push the car up a hill - apparently he wanted to do it all by himself!

"Back off Mommy, I want to do it myself! If you really want to help you can get me the Kettler trike I have been asking for"

Sleepies and Huggies

Drew is so good at following directions (when he wants to). He loves to pull the pillows off of the couch, so I tell him to go "sleepies" on the pillow and he does. He also gives "huggies" to his stuffed animals when I tell him to...adorable!

Going "sleepies" on the pillow next to daddy

Giving "huggies" to his "goggie"

Drews vocabulary is growing! He has said some new words - some of which amaze me. He now says his name "Dwew" or "Dew" and Turtle; he has pronounced this almost perfectly, I couldn't believe my ears, but most of the time it comes out as "twurt-tle". I ask him to say it about 100 times a day, and he doesn't really own a lot of turtles, he just picked up on it. He also shocked me at sign and sing when the teacher was blowing bubbles and we were all using the sign for "bubbles" and saying it over and over he proclaimed "bubbles". I thought I mis-heard so I didn't really react to it, but someone else said "oh, he can say bubbles?"....why do we need signing anyway?

We are off to the benefit tonight - wish luck to Laura and JR...with a little help from our new friend Benadryl I think they will be just fine (don't worry, I don't usually drug my child..it was doctors orders).

Playing Outside

Bundled up for an early morning run Drew was not happy with me for taking out his binky, here he is pointing for it

The weather has been wonderful the past few days. It has gotten up around 50 degrees. Although there is still snow on the ground and it is very muddy, Drew and I have had some fun outside enjoying the sun. On Wednesday we went to the playground and Drew had tons of fun playing on the firetruck jungle gym and climbing up the slide (which unfortunately was wet, so he would up soaked). We had some fun using the wagon in the driveway and yesterday morning I took Drew for a run. Our outside adventures had to be toned down a bit because Drew has started to get a little cold. At least I think it is a cold the only thing wrong is a nose that is running like a faucet and his eye is watering. I thought that maybe it is allergies...but to what?

Last night was no fun - Drew would not go to sleep. He finally went down at 8:00 and was up an hour later. He was miserable. Finally around 9:30 we decided to bring him into our bed with us. We had Lost on tv and just let him lounge for a while. He would curl into me, then hop off and curl into the mattress, then move again...he would just not get comfortable. One highlight of the night was when he was on his belly curled up into the mattress and a Cottonell toilet paper commercial came on (the one with the adorable golden puppy) - Drew picked his head up watched the tv and exclaimed "GOG" "GOGGIE" "GOG", turned to me with a huge smile across his face, then plopped back down on the bed and closed his eyes. It was so cute! We let him stay with us for a while, but he wasn't going to sleep so we finally got him in his bed.

We are a little nervous about his cold because we have plans to go to a fundraiser on Saturday night. We are going to the Cystic Fibrosis "Casino Royale". We have been going for several years to help support a cause that one of our friends is very close to - and also have a great time. Usually, we spend the night in the hotel, but this year we booked a Town Car to take us so we can have a good time and not worry about driving home. We are going to cancel the car so we are not stranded if Drew wakes up sick. We may have to cancel all together, but we are going to make that call after we see how tonight goes. We are really bummed because our friend, John just got back from Iraq and is flying here from Hawaii today and will be at the event. We don't want to leave Auntie Laura and Uncle JR with a sick baby, so we are going to see how it goes...wish us luck!

Sign and Sing

Drew and I just got back from "Sign and Sing" - it is a class we are taking. I have started to teach him sign, but the only thing I have gotten out of him is the sign for "more". I decided that I need some help in the signing department, so we have 10 weeks of this class.

The class was rather small, just 4 others, but 3 were 8 month old girls and I could tell that the moms were a little taken aback by how active Drew was. I guess I was the same way when Drew was little and fragile. I have got to work on sharing with him - he just doesn't get it. He thinks he can grab toys away from other children. I have seen hints of this before when his friend Logan came over and he thought that his binky belonged to him and kept pulling it out of his mouth. I still think he is a little young to grasp, especially when we do not have enough playdates to let it sink in - so any suggestions in this department would be helpful...then maybe I won't be cast out of class. Today it finally set in that he truly is a toddler!

You may have noticed that I added a "hit tracker" to the blog. I am shocked by how many hits I have had in just one day. I love it! I am so glad that we have a following. I would love to hear from you! I don't get many comments, but I love it when I do. I would also love to know who is reading..I know it is mostly family and friends since I don't alow the blog to be searched through the internet (like on google), and I am not linked through anyone elses blog so I don't think that we are reaching many people I don't know - but if I am, I would love to hear from you too!

Stacking and Other New Skills

Drew is doing something new. He loves to stack his toys and books and then move them into another stack. He does this like it's his job. He is so focused and deliberate. He will place something, then look at it, take a few steps away, peer back and make sure everything is up to par. It is very funny to watch and it keeps him busy for quite some time. "See Dad, first you put the books in, then the trucks and the train goes on top"

"Now, phase II of the operation: you take the books and place them on the chair..it is very technical."

Drew had his first dentist appointment yesterday. He had some grey spots on his teeth and the pediatrician said to go. When I called, I was surprised to hear that they like to see children for their first dental visit at age 1 anyhow. He did very good and played quietly while the dentist and I spoke. When it was time for him to look in his mouth, Drew was not thrilled, but I was surprised to see that the grey was on every tooth. He said it was from iron (probably formula) and it wasn't hurting him, but that he could clean it if I wanted. So here I am with a moral dilema - do it subject Drew to having his teeth cleaned (which he said would be quick and painless), or do I let him walk around with grey teeth? - Well, call me vain, but I chose the cleaning. It took him about 30 seconds to buff off the teeth and apply some flouride. Drew was fine afterwards and went right back to playing.

I thought I should document all of Drews words before I forget - his vocabulary is growing daily. There is *Dada and *Mama, *No, *Dat (that), *dis (this), *duck, ducka and guck (all 3 mean duck), *dog, goggie, gog (dog), *tuck, tucka, guck (truck), *cah, cah-cah (car), *hi, hiee (hi), *uh oh

He has attempted some words - cat, apple (aaeww) -at least he is working on his "a" sound, Auntie Laura (La), boat ("goat"), bread ("dead" - we stoped trying to teach him this one after we heard how it came out). Most of the new words we try and teach him come out starting with a "g" or "ga-ga".

Drew is also waving pretty consistently now (hello and bye-bye) and using his "more" sign while eating. He loves the reaction that he gets from using it and after I praise him, he usually continues to sign even after he has already been given more. We are starting a signing class next week, so hopefully we will get much better at this. Hugs and kisses are given out pretty liberally (which makes us sooo happy!) and he has started doing a "shy face" where he smiles and presses his cheek to his shoulder (so cute!).When Drew brings me a book to read, I ask him to sit down and I pat the floor - he usually responds by sitting down and listening intently (for a minute) to the book - sometimes he will sit and then pat the floor too (also adorable!) I think that is all of the new things, but everyday brings some more so I will try and get better about posting them when they happen.

Yeah..photos!

Andy was able to insert the memory card into our video camera and download the photos from our trip. Here they are:

After waving goodbye to all of the "cah cah's" (cars) on the ground, Drew quietly watched as we took off.

Happily running down the beach. I have to admit, this outfit is just wrong - his hat doesn't go with the trunks and they are so long they almost hit his ankle. Most of the clothes on this trip were a little too big b/c evertything he owns for spring is meant to fit him in the spring.

Chasing his shadow down the beach.
priceless

eating pb&j by the pool...what could be better?Drew got the hang of shoveling sand into the bucket pretty quickly"Don't let go or I may decide to go for a dip"

I was able to take a few more photos that night before the camera died. I think that was the problem, I should have let it dry out more before trying to use it again.

Sophie and Tessa making Drew laugh.

No Pictures to Post

A photo of the pool and beach at the Ocean Reef Club

We got back from Key Largo last night. We had such a good time. The weather was beautiful and both Andy and I came back with sunburns...Drew on the other hand is still white as a ghost. The flight there was great, we had to sit on the plane for 40 minutes for de-icing, but luckily we got off early enough that the snow didn't really affect us. We did a lot of entertaining Drew and feeding him and he only got a little restless when he wanted to take a nap. He slept for about an hour on the flight.
Once there, we went to the beach and the pool and had so much fun chasing him around in the sand. But, the reason I have no pictures to post is because the "other camera" had a little catastrophie. Poppy and Daddy were walking with Drew and I was taking pictures. We were at the edge of the water and cousin Sam was in the water kayacking with a new friend. Sam and his friend flipped their kayack and we were all watching to make sure they were ok when Drew decided to RUN and dive into the water. I screamed and ran in after him camera and all. He was fine, but the camera didn't fare so well. I think I can save the photos already taken, but we only got a few.
We stayed in a hotel and Drew did pretty good sleeping in the pack-n-play. We had to bring him into our bed a few times, but for most of the trip he napped and slept in the crib. Poor Andy was pushed out of bed twice by Drew rolling over in his sleep. Drew had so much fun watching his cousins, they really did a great job entertaining him. We went out for ice cream one night after dinner and it was way past his bedtime, but the combination of raspberry sorbet and his cousins running around and making him laugh caused Drew to laugh harder than I have ever seen.
I have to admit, I never thought that I could have so much fun on vacation chasing a baby around. I always thought that I would miss lounging on the beach, reading magazines, going to the spa or out for drinks. Don't get me wrong, I still find those things enjoyable but watching Drew have so much fun was better than any of that.
The flight home was a little different. Drew was exhausted and couldn't settle in for a nap. Luckily we were in the last row and didn't disturb too many people. He finally slept for the last 1/2 hour of the flight, but he wasn't happy when he had to get back into his carseat and into the car. We left for the airport at 10AM for a 2PM flight (2 hour drive to the airport) and then 3 hours on the plane and then 1 hour home - I really don't blame him for being upset. When we got home and saw Lucy and all of his toys he was sooo happy. He hugged Lucy tons and pulled out all of his toys to play with. Finally at 8:00 we got him to bed. I think we are going to have to make up lots of sleep over the next few days.
We are so glad that we went even if it was only a few days we really had a blast. Hopefully, I will get the pictures downloaded and will be able to post some soon.

More Drew

Ok, I know that I said the next post would be from Florida, but Andy is away and television is just awful lately. I could probably stand to do some packing, but I was poking through some recent pictures (mostly all last week) and I thought I would share.

In other news, Drew went for his 1 year checkup today and he is doing fantastic. He weighed it at 23lbs 8oz and 31". He is in 75-90 percentile for both. His weight jumped back up from his last visit where he had dropped down to the 50th percentile. He put on quite a show for his doctor and showed him all of the new things he can do. Every time we go, his doctor always says "I'm sorry" when he sees how active he is...it is pretty funny...at least someone pities me for all of the running around that I do - I swear I am going to wind up with a hunch back after chasing this kid around all day. Drew got 1 shot and a finger prick and he was not happy about it. He didn't really like being weighed either, but he looks so cute naked and sitting up on the scale with a big frown. After the finger prick, they put a shiny silver band-aid on him and said to take it off before getting in the car (obviously, it is a choking hazard) but I just laughed to myself because I knew that it would only be a few more seconds until it was ripped off..and I was right. As Drew always does when he finds something new, he handed it to me. He is usually pretty good, he picks up dust bunnies, dog hair, and random tiny object and hands them over to me throughout the day.

Anyway, here are the pictures I promised...I chose some silly ones:Saturday - just up from a serious nap and the hairdo tells the whole story

Time to burn off some of that post-nap energy. I must admit he looks a little menacing here, but I think it is funny.

Sunday - Drew loves toast with jam for breakfast. I think I overindulged him in the Welches grape this morning. After the meal, a bath ensued.

I wish I could post the pictures we took after the bath...I let him run around in his birthday suit. His little tush was so cute running down the hallway. But I don't think I should post those on the internet for fear of either being arrested or that he will hate me when he is older. I guess those will have to stay in the "when I want to embarrass you in front of your girlfriend" pile.

I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Certified...Finally

Today Drew, Grandma and I took a trip into Boston City Hall to obtain a copy of Drew's birth certificate. A copy was never sent to our town hall, so we had to battle the rough city streets and go get it. The last time I was in City Hall was when I was paying for several outstanding parking tickets I racked up in college...they caught up with me 3 years later. Oops

I made a huge faux pas when going through security. The security guard took Drew in his stroller around the metal detector while I put my bag through X-Ray. When I got over to them he goes..."how much?" I assumed he was joking and asking me how much for the adorable baby....to which I responded "oh, you couldn't afford it". Well, apparently he was asking me how much for the stroller and was incredibly offended. I managed to sort of explain myself, but I just booked it in the other direction. Well, who really asks those kinds of questions anyway?

We went to the Birth Certificate window (#218) where I filled out a form and waited behind about 10 people. She took the form and said go to the next window (#219)....ok, "Andrew"..."yes that is me"....she hands me a slip..."gopayatthenextwindowandcomeback"...ok, go to window #220...ring the bell for service...."$24 cash only"...."mom, do you have $12?"......"ANDREW"....obtain copy of certificate. (But, I had a question)...."how do I get it on file in my town"....."um, let me talk to my supervisor".......wait, wait wait...."DO YOU HAVE A PROBLEM?"(directed at me to which I just looked back at this women with no response)....."DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION OR SOMETHING?".......well, um, yeah someone was going to go check something for me.....

I finally got it straightened out and a copy will be sent to my town, but man oh man I hate that place. I guess if I were stuck in a dark concrete dungeon all day I would be just as miserable.

Drew and his birth certificate....he looks about as happy as I was at this point

What prompted me to get my butt in there and finally do this was that we decided to go to Florida and visit Granny and Poppy in Key Largo, FL this weekend. I know it is not international, but the airline suggested that we have a copy so I figured that I would get it. If not, I probably wouldn't sleep at night thinking they wouldn't let us on the plane.

So we are off to the beach...I can't wait for some sun! As soon as I booked the flight I had the same feeling that I had after mailing out over 50 invitations to Drew's birthday party....gulp! "What did I just do to myself?" But just like the party, I am sure that everything will turn out great....even the 3 hours on a plane with a child who won't sit still for 30 seconds.

Wish us luck and the next time you see us, it will be pictures from FLA!

Birthday Adventures

We began Drew's birthday with our usual morning routine, except this morning we brought his gifts in with us when we got him out of bed. We have never seen his eyes bug out so much looking at those gifts. I swear he was 3 inches taller when I got him out of bed.We put on a pot of coffee, got Drew some milk and headed back to bed to open up the presents. This morning in leiu of Channel 5 News, we put on PBS and let Drew watch Big World.

When we brought him downstairs for blueberry pancake breakfast, there was a big Valentines gift waiting for him on his high chair. He ate the entire pancake plus half of another one. He started doing something new at breakfast (perhaps it was the maple syrup), after taking a bite he would lick off his fingers and make a mmmbup sound when pulling them out of his mouth...too adorable. Our laughing encouraged much more of this.

After breakfast and a nap, we headed into Boston to go to the Children's Museum. We all had so much fun. There are definetly more things we can go back for once Drew is older, but he found plenty of things to play with.

This was the FIRST thing that Drew found to play with...a Duck of course!

"Hey kid, wait your turn...this is my car"

Running...Drew's new favorite thing to do.

After the Museum (and a little nap on the ride home) we went and bought Drew a little cake to have after dinner...but not until we stopped at McDonalds for his first taste of fast food - he ate a few french fries and a couple bites of a burger bun. We then went home and had tofu and spinach and potatoes for dinner #2 (healthy dinner). Then the cake....

I also had 2 dozen long stem roses waiting for me from Drew when we got home! They are so beautiful!

What a perfect day. Drew was an angel all day long and we were so happy to see him have so much fun.