Well, no surprise, but it's been another fun & exciting month for us all. We continue to be amazed at how much Drew is learning in such a short period of time!
Drew is ALL OVER the place now - on his feet all the time & getting into everything - as they should, so they say. I think "they" are all the parents before us that now no longer have toddlers, some sort of hazing of sorts to get into the next level of parenthood club. None the less, it's a hoot watching (very carefully) him go all over the place. He is loving to dance, bounce, turn in circles, step backward & sideways, and even walking at a much faster pace - you name it, he's tried it! He will do "squats" even when we say "down, up, down, up" - I love it! He has learned how to get up small steps/thresholds by himself, sometimes on hands & knees if it's a bigger one, and sometimes stepping like a pro if it's just the right size! This has translated to being able to get in & out of his kiddie pool & he even climbed over the edge of the tub completely on his own once - quite a surprise for us all, but Drew most of all since the water was running! Needless to say, we have to keep an incredible close eyes, and we've had to upgrade to hard soled shoes to keep up with him getting into everything. Thankfully Uncle Kevin has helped in that department - the J's look good on him, what can we say!
He loves being outside, and is starting to be ok with the feel of the grass. If there's ever a time of ridiculous fussiness (never, you may say, we say oh yes!), then outside we go & things are so much better. I don't know what it is, but he's so content to just run around on the porch & check everything out. Of course, this lends itself to all sorts of nasty, disgusting things entering his mouth - grass, rocks, dirt, (not so bad), bugs & yes bird poop (GROSS!). He's just so stinkin' fast at it...we hope this phase ends soon!
The 7th & 8th teeth came in this month, finishing out the front 8 - what a difference that makes in his smile! Still such an adorable little guy. So, he's eating just about anything he can get his hands on & definitely wants what Mommy & Daddy are eating - or at least he thinks so. We had the inaugural spaghetti dinner this month, and more noodles were thrown up & into his hair than the number that he ate! He LOVES pizza, but wants to eat it like a big boy lots of times, taking bites from the entire slice, versus Mommy cutting it up for him...and yes, he is stubborn enough to refuse the small pieces until he gets what he wants! (The stubbornness come from Mommy AND Daddy, just so everyone is clear on that!)
WOW does this kid LOVE piggy back rides. This may be one of the biggest things I regret teaching him...at first it was way fun, then it got tiring as that's all he wanted to do. Then it became borderline when he would climb on our backs & whine until we gave in. Then it crossed the line when he pulled Mommy's hair to get her off the floor so that she would give him a piggy back ride! Yup, I don't know WHERE he learned that, but NOT FUNNY! Thankfully, we've put that to an end quickly, but came as quite a surprise!
We have started to work on coloring/scribbling with crayons, but it usually doesn't last long before Drew starts to bang the tips of the crayons as hard as possible into the table - that's the end of the game as far as I'm concerned. We also are starting to explore bubbles - both in the tub & for play - a fun treat for us all!
Drew has become more & more expressive this month, and thankfully not just in whining or in the ah-ah-ah that we seem to hear non-stop when he wants something. He is waving Bye now, though often with a delay so that whoever he waved at is now officially gone, but it's getting better. He nods his head yes, quite emphatically, though not as much as he used to. We learned he picked that up from one of his friends at daycare. This same friend has also apparently taught Drew to play peek-a-boo by covering his ears! He's been doing it for a few weeks now; we'd see him covering & uncovering his ears repeatedly, and we had no idea why. Finally, we mentioned it to his teachers, and low & behold, the other little boy in his class does it too! Well, we'll have to fix that...hope it doesn't take too long! He does shake his head No now just here at the end of the month. So we'll see how fun that is this next month! He will respond to "what does a monkey sound like?" with a clear "ah-ah"! Adorable! And he now say Uh-Oh, though it sounds more like Uh-Ah. He enjoys this one a little too much sometimes, saying before AND after he throws his milk down...hmm, not sure if I should be proud of his verbalization or upset that he's throwing his milk?!
Drew continues to be the sweetest little snuggle-bug ever! I wouldn't trade it for anything! He loves to curl up with us, snuggle with his blanket, find a pillow to lie on, pull down stuffed animals to hug - whatever he can curl up with! He has learned to give kisses when asked & it continues to be one of the sweetest moments of our day! The love that God has given us through Drew is absolutely incredible - mind boggling that it is only a fraction of the love that God has for us, but we love the physical representation of this unconditional love - thank you Lord for DREW!
