Can you guess what it is?
A daddy drill of course!
It has been a couple of busy weeks around here as we get ready for Christmas. It is an amazing experience to be able to enjoy Christmas through Andrew's eyes. Last night as I was getting things ready to put him to bed I looked down stairs to find him staring at the Christmas tree he had just turned on. He ran over to me at the top of the stairs, curled up in my lap,looked down the stairs at the tree and said oh so sweetly and softly, "Mommy, I love it". Such a priceless moment.
Here are a few pictures from our Christmas preparations around the house.
Who needs decorations? The snowmen were exciting enough.
Helping decorate the tree...
Wow...he's been one busy little boy.
Adding the crowning touch with daddy.
(Don't you love the boots?)
I very casually said, "Look Andrew--it's raining buckets outside." (It was really pouring down out there!)
Andrew jumped out of his chair and came running to the window, looked up at the sky, then looked at me quizzically. "Yeah, it's raining buckets." he said.
He continued to watch the rain and sky for a minute, looked at me and said, "Where'd the buckets go?""
This morning at breakfast I opened the blinds again, and in his all knowing voice he said, "Look mom, the rain's all turned off, the water fountain's ALLLLLL done! The rain buckets all done--yeah the big orange bucket's all done. " (His bucket is orange, so of course logic would say that the rain bucket is too right?)
The hand, foot & mouth bug!
The poor little guy is covered in speckles on his hand, feet and his cute little bum. The doctor says we need to keep him away from others until his fever goes away and the sores in his mouth go away, so it looks like we are staying in this weekend! There's not much to do for him other than give him lots of water and milk to drink, and eat things like pudding and ice cream. I suppose if you have to get a bug, at least he got one that gives you lots of yummy treats!
...and no good fireman can go to school without his trusty fireman back pack!
The second lap around he said,"All done mommy?" By the 3rd time we went around, he threw himself into my arms (thank goodness for that seatbelt!) and clung to my head and shoulders. The 4th and 5th laps were spent prying him from my body and getting him upright again.
Of course on the 6th & last time around he said "Do it again?!"
Anytime we are around a fire truck, or for that matter see one screaming past us on the highway he asks to climb the ladder, so when he saw this one you can imagine what he asked for. Little did he know his wish would come true!
He loved the idea of playing on the firetruck until he realized that we had to climb to the top. With some coercing and bribing though we got him started on climbing the ladder. (On the left side of the fire truck you can see the little path you go up. You have to use a rope to pull yourself up it). The first few steps involved me pushing and pulling him up the incline, but he quickly got the hang of it and finished going up by himself. Based on his earlier experiences with these types of climbers this is a HUGE accomplishment, just making it to the top! As we sat down to go down the slide he still wasn't too sure...
But when we got to the bottom he exclaimed, "This is fun, a do it again!"
He was so proud of himself, and still talks about climbin' the ladder.
Up until yesterday he always said "boo-coo" for peek-a-boo, and it was adorable. Yesterday he was standing amongst the sheets hanging on the line saying "Andrew play a game." Then I hear him saying, with such concentration in his voice, "peek a, peek a, peek aaaaaaa.....boo" It was said with such conviction that he immediately beamed from ear to ear and yelled "I got it!" Bye-bye boo-coo.
There are so many of these moments that I wish I could capture each day. As they happen I think to myself I can't wait to tell everyone about that one. But then 30 minutes later he does something else cute, or sweet, or down right hilarious and pretty soon I have forgotten the last story and am wrapped up in the next. (I tell ya, parenthood has shot my short term memory!) It's amazing to see how much he grows and changes each day. As much as I was fascinated by watching him grow and change physically the first year and a half, I am even more amazed at watching his brain develop. I swear at times it's as though you can see those connections being made. Daily I catch Marc or I saying "when did he learn...." It's always something new.
I now understand what people mean when they say enjoy every moment they grow up so fast. As I watch my baby put together full sentences these days... I realize how quickly he grows. It makes me sad and yet so proud all at the same time.
You didn't have to ask Andrew twice if he wanted to climb in. He took off in a run for the firetrucks and was climbing in before the fireman even asked if he wanted to. He checked out every nook and cranny in the firetruck.
They had clowns, men on stilts and McGruff the Crime dog out tonight!
We even got to look inside a helicopter.
Is it time to go home already?
Andrew could have stayed and played all night! Aside from the 100 degree heat it was a great night; one that he will talk about for many, many days to come.We will definitely go back next year!
The cause of this fit you ask: He wanted a glass of milk to drink with his banana pudding!
The best part of it all is that after 20 minutes I told him he could either go to his room and cry or go sit at the table and eat his snack. Just like that he popped up off the floor, turned off the tears and sat down to eat his snack. Oh, if only I had done this 15 minutes earlier. Lesson learned for next time!
Andrew got to sit in the big truck!
Andrew, Brooke, Katelyn, Preston, & Abby
Make a wish!
Mmmm...Tastes yummy!
Saturday night Andrew asked to sit on the potty right before his bath. So I said what the heck and ran to get his potty seat out of the garage. It's only been like a month since I bought it! (Nothing like procrastination, or maybe I was waiting for the perfect opportunity!) I got it all set up and he was so excited. He wasn't sure about it at first but after a couple trips in and out of the tub he eventually had success! Hooray! He was so proud! We danced, we sang, we ate chocolate and we had to go find daddy so that we could "show daddy". It was a huge night in Andrew's world. My favorite part of the whole evening--I was trying to help Andrew with his "aim", and when I went to show him how to aim at something other than the wall, he yelled "MINE" and pushed my hand away!
The good news--is we have been on the potty for the last 2 days and have had several successful moments... of course the big bowl of choco (M&M's) sitting on the counter could have something to do with that success.
Could this be the end of diapers coming? We can only hope! At $55 a month for diapers we could certainly use the savings. Maybe we can get a couple more gallons of gas.
If you know me at all you know I hate storms, and with Marc out of town it was even worse. Now I have not only myself and the dogs to worry about but Andrew too--how to keep him safe, how to stay calm...
The good news was I had a few hours to prepare (the storms weren't coming until after 11), so after a short freak out and panic attach prepare I did!! I put Andrew down to sleep for the night and went to town creating our own comfy tornado shelter in the basement. After our last close call there were some definite lessons learned. I pulled up a phone list of essential numbers (last time the power went out these were all on the computer). I cleared off all the counters, including Marc's workbench--happy hunting when you get home! I created a snack cabinet in the basement, and stocked piled it with flashlights and batteries.
I created a little fort for Andrew, and put up the Aerobed for myself. I even wrapped the dogs kennels in layers of blankets (in case of breaking glass). 
OK...so maybe I'm a little crazy and neurotic...but I was ready for this storm!
At 10:30 they gave us a warning that the storm was about 15 minutes away so I took Andrew out of his bed, laid him down in the basement, took up a post next to the weather radio, and waited....and waited...and waited. Apparently the safety shield that resides over our house and has protected us from the many close call we've Had in the past few years did it's thing again. Literally 10 minutes before the storm was to hit, it split in half, going right around us! Oh happy day!
My handy dandy weather radio. Notice that none of the lights are going off like they had been all night...Hooray!
The most amazing part of this to me was that Andrew slept through the whole thing including me carrying him up and down the stairs. What a kid...what a night!
