So, lots of new things again this month...Drew just learns more & more every day it seems.
We certainly have to keep a close eye on him these days as he is everywhere and into everything! He has started to learn to jump - wants to be like Daddy! He's close - he bends down and lifts back up, just not able to get both feet off the ground at the same time just yet. He has learned how to get into the locked cabinets in the kitchen that just have the 'push-down' lock - unfortunately, this also means he can now get into the trash! He has started stomping in place and sideways, apparently just loving that he can make his feet move & make noise - pretty cute! He has also learned how to climb up into his little rocking chair & onto his zebra jumper - now Mommy & Daddy don't even have to be near to have fun! Instead, we have to be near to avoid the tumbles & falls! In general, Drew just loves to climb on anything he can! Oh, and he's on his way to learning how to run - he's definitely getting faster on his feet & can really get going when he gets some extra support!
He is certainly becoming more and more vocal these days, not a ton of words, but lots of babbling, sounds & noise coming from his direction most of the time. His screams of sheer excitement are hard to describe, but light up our faces & hearts when we get to hear them - the sound of pure joy! His third word now is "Bu-bye" - oh so cute (the other two are Da & Uh-Oh), especially when he adds in his little curling hand wave! He is starting to learn to imitate animal sounds: monkey - "ah ah", sheep - "a-a-a", and elephant - "uuuu". He LOVES to point to animals and get us to say their name & sound. He is fascinated with dogs & points them out everywhere, however, when a few have come close, he gets quite frightened. One even licked his foot & Drew went hysterical! It took quite a while to calm down, but as we were walking away, he started reaching toward the dog again...who knows! He still loves books & every now & then when he gets a sheet of paper or mail, he'll just go to town "reading" it out loud - if only we knew the story he was telling, it sure seems like it must be interesting! He has started to make a "shh" sound when we are putting on shoes. But probably the best is the "sh-sh-sh" sound he makes as he flies his dragons around the room! Daddy certainly has influenced this sweet little boy, don't you think! He did start to sa "Ma-Ma" this month, though it's not a frequent word & still likes to call us both Da, but I keep practicing with him as much as I can! :)
Drew has started to be able to point to body parts when we ask him, though not always correctly. Our favorite is belly - at least half the time he will point to it, and then pull at the neck of his shirt & look down, as if to say "if you really want to see it, it's in here". He loves playing with his cars - this has provided hours of entertainment, often times even without Mommy & Daddy playing along with - a nice break sometimes! :) He is doing better with the 'shape sorter', following cues for the right spot. He has learned to blow kisses when asked - mostly it's just putting his hand to his wide open mouth, but we get the gist. He is also getting a little bit more adventurous in different ways - he's starting to play around with water a bit more - carefully putting his face just to the surface of the water in the bath - Mommy was pretty impressed!
Three molars made their appearance this month - we didn't really notice, but every now & then Mommy gives a good finger sweep check just to see, and was surprised both times. This is good news, because it means it's not interrupting sleep and looking back, we can kind of blame some abnormal fussiness on it, though that's a hard one, because honestly speaking, as happy of a child Drew is, he can be a bit clingy/fussy when Mommy is around it seems, just something we deal with most days. Maybe I'm raising a Mommy's boy, hmmm, not sure how to change that! We have also started to deal with tantrums - quite hilarious at times, other times, absolutely frustrating, but, nonetheless, we have made it to that stage - fun times!
Adventures this month included a few trips to the zoo, one with cousin Luke & Aunt Katrina - such fun! We went to 2 pumpkin patches & met Aunt Sue & Uncle Dave (see below). We also went to two of cousin Julia's high school football games to see her be crowned Homecoming Queen & to watch her mascot - she's such a good dancer! Drew really liked watching all the people at the game & even got into the clapping & cheering - such fun! We took two road trips this month - one to San Antonio to go to a wedding of one of Mommy's high school friends, with a little stop in Austin to see Uncle Kevin, Grandpa & Nana. Thankfully it was an outside wedding, so Drew was free to roam around most of the night. The next weekend we drove to Houston to celebrate Grandpa's birthday & visit Great Grandpa & Grandma Glienke, who had come in town for a visit. We went to a park in downtown Houston & despite our lame efforts, it was pointless to keep Drew out of the fountain - he loved it so much! We also got to go to cousin Luke's Blastball game - absolutely adorable & fun. Drew liked running around in all the open field & playing on the bases that squeaked! Luke did great & Drew is looking forward to his turn!
And to wrap up the month, we went to our church on Halloween/Reformation! for their Trunk or Treat Festival. It was quite a bit of fun, seeing lots of Mommy & Daddy's friends, and playing with cousin Luke. Oh, then of course there was the candy! It took about 2 trunks before Drew realized that he was getting to pick stuff out of buckets and put it in his own, and then he was all about it. Unfortunately, he liked just going back to the same car over & over again, so the 'moving forward' took a bit to grasp, but we made it. We had a good time, got lots of good candy for Mommy & Daddy, and then went to visit Grandma & Papa & Aunt Lynne & cousins before heading home! It was a fun night! We did let Drew try some candy the following day & he didn't really care for too much of it, but he did like the lollipop!
