Feels Like Summer

Talk about nice weather! We have been enjoying 60-78 degree days all week. These pictures are from Friday, which was the warmest day of the week. We went out in the morning to get Drew some new shoes. I bought him some sandals and he got to test them out. We have been doing lots of playing in the yard and getting really dirty. He usually gets a bath every other day because his skin gets so sensitive and dry, but the past few days he needed one every night..especially tonight; he played outside most of the day and at one point took a digger in the dirt (he was fine) but got dirt all over his face and in his mouth. For dinner he had a Boca "chicken" patty with lots of sweet and sour sauce (our solution to get him to eat meat), then half of an ice cream sandwich...so he was pretty gooey by the time we got him in the tub. I hope this weather lasts!

In my last update I forgot to mention how snuggly Drew has been lately. He has been doing it for a while, but it is just getting better and better. He gives the most perfect hugs where he wraps his arms around my neck or shoulders and squeezes and pats my back while laying his head down. He gives out tons of kisses and sometimes when he is not even asked. He has been doing lots of leg-hugging lately. Sometimes this is just being snuggly, and sometimes this is because he wants something (like me to pick him up). He has also started saying I love you; it comes out as "I you", but I know what he means! I just love this stage and hope he never, ever grows out of it! But just in case, I am going to take all I can get now.

The Battle Continues...

I just had Verizon Fios installed (like he is literally pulling out of the driveway) and I couldn't wait to test out Blogger. Well, it wasn't as easy as I hoped. I still had trouble uploading pictures. I am not sure if the files are just too big? The internet is working much, much quicker, but it still failed 3 times on me while trying to post. Does anyone who uses Blogger have the same issue?

On the bright side, my phone lines are now crystal clear and my bills are going to be much less!

Attention Drew Fans..

We are getting Verizon Fios installed tomorrow and hopefully that will speed up the internet connection so I can post pictures easily. Sorry for the long time in between posts, if all goes well I promise lots and lots of pictures to come!
In other news, Drew still has a cold but it seems to be on the mend. Eating is getting harder and harder - this week I made him extra sweet roasted sweet potatoes and he wouldn't even taste it; instead he threw it AT me while yelling "ALL DONE". His diet is mainly cheese, yogurt, fruit, bread, pb&J, cheerios, cheerios, cheerios. He is talking quite a bit and coming up with some really smart remarks. When I ask him to sing he responds "EIEI" (as in old macdonald). When I ask him what a cow says, he says "MMMEU". He has pointed out our noses, eyes and mouth for a while when asked, but he has started to point at his own. I have been trying to correct him when he calls everything with wheels a "CAH", so we were talking about choo choo trains the other day and he was sitting and listening to me explain "choo choo" when he got up and walked to my feet and pointed to my shoes with a puzzeled look on his face as if to say "ok, choo/shoe what is the difference?" (Or maybe he is just really smart and knows what Jimmy Choo's are!)

As Promised

What is More Fun Than This?

While I was cooking dinner tonight, Drew was getting into the pantry. He LOVES water bottles. He loves to shake them, chew on them, drink from them and now he loves to pull all 20 of them out of the cupboard and line them up. Like the good boy that he is, he did help me put them away.
Drew is down early tonight because he wouldn't take an afternoon nap...and why would you when you can instead go to Starbucks and have a vanilla milk and then go to the playground? (For the record, I didn't realize it was Vanilla milk...and boy is that stuff sweet. Luckily, Drew forgot about it and I was able to throw out what he left because I think that the sugar high from that would have kept him up all night!)

I apologize for my lack of blogging lately. It hasn't completely been due to slacking. I think we are having some technical difficulties in the house lately. Everytime I try and upload pictures, the internet crashes. It is so frustrating. Also, and I am pretty sure this is unrelated, but my phone lines suck! I thought that my phones were bad so I bought new ones and they are still crackling. I think it is time for Fios and a trip from the phone company. I also have some pictures from last week that I have attempted to post during the week: Ok, scratch that...I must have jinxed myself because now I can't upload anymore pictures. Argh! Oh well, at least I got some uploaded. Stay tuned for some shots of watermelon eating and also for a post on my good friend, Susan and her bridal shower from Sunday.

All Done!

Dinner time has become dreadful lately. Drew is still not eating well and it is very frustrating. He has compounded the issue with learning the phrase "all done". While teaching him sign, he picked up on the words and now uses it before taking one bite of food. I usually make a meal, attempt to give it to him and then wind up using a backup of mac and cheese, cheese sandwich, pureed babyfood or anything he will eat. Tonight we had stir fry chicken and he wouldn't even look at it. We made him sit while we ate, but then gave him tofu and bananas and jarred green beans. I am starting to run out of ideas, but I am going to keep trying - hopefully he will choose something nutritious one of these days.

Dancing has become quite popular in our house these days. Drew hears music on tv and starts to groove. It is so funny - he mostly just jumps around (kind of reminds me of KrissKross music video for "Jump Around" a la 1992 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=husG4afM-X0 )He found some reindeer antlers from Christmas and now puts them on and dances (with or without musical accompaniment). Such a goof.

Meeting a Movie Star

Well, if you ask him, he would say that he is the "subject of a documentary". Last night our good friend, Jay came over for a visit. We haven't seen him in over a year and we missed him dearly. Drew was a little tired but warmed up to him eventually. Jay is a pilot in the Navy and we don't get to see him very often, so we were happy he could make it over for a visit. We are very excited for him because a few years ago he was filmed in a documentary and it is having its big release soon: http://www.speedandangels.com/

Hopefully, our next visit won't be a year away!

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!