Another month, another year, another post!
So, Drew continues to be a hoot & a handful...a close friend has a 3 month old that we visited this month & she mentioned that she thought her 3 month old daughter was easier than any toddler - to console myself I think, I told her, "It's just different!" And it certainly is! We continue to remark on the amazing changes that take place in such a short amount of time.
Well, Drew is doing an excellent job physically - at the beginning of the month, he started being able to JUMP with both feet leaving the ground at the same time! He's going to be an amazing athlete! :) That has to be what it means, right?! :) We are pretty proud of him, Daddy especially. He's also learned to walk on his knees, climb on his new climber/slide - making Mommy a little nervous sometimes, throwing balls & all sorts of toys with quite a bit more strength, running more & more, sometimes just for the act of running he'll run 'laps' in his room. He's also learned how to go down the stairs on his bottom & crawls up the stairs or walks up with help - a nice break from carrying him! And the boy LOVES to dance! He just shakes his bottom back & forth to music when he hears it most of the time. At church, he'll perk up, smile & clap. He just loves music! I finally caught a good video of him dancing the other day over at Grandma & Papa's - needless to say, he's loved all the singing/dancing Christmas decorations! One time he danced so hard to them, that he fell down - Mommy & Daddy thought it was pretty funny, Drew not so much!
Drew had a small surgery this month - he needed tubes placed in both ears. While we realized there are some concerns to consider anytime there's anesthesia, but we really didn't hesitate to sign up - we did NOT want a repeat of last winter, with ear infection after another. So, on the 11th, very early in the morning, Drew had surgery. It was over before we even got comfortable in the waiting room. The pre-op took so much longer, it was kind of bizarre, but very good that it was so quick. He did a decent job of coming out of anesthesia. He was certainly a little agitated, but not so much that he couldn't be consoled some. We got home, got some Cheerios in his tummy & he took a great nap. We had to wake him up to eat lunch & after getting some real food in him, he was back to normal, it was great! We've seen great results so far - no ear infections despite a persistent cold & the hearing is MUCH better! He's jabbering 'sentences' all the time, does a great job repeating sounds, following instructions (when he WANTS to of course), making animal noises (a favorite game of Mommy & Daddy and I hope to get a video of it soon & will share it!), pointing to named objects in his favorite books (he'll also point to Jesus in a nativity scene when asked!), and we've had quite a few new words this month. His list now includes DaDa, MaMa, Uh-Oh, Papa, Nana, Ma-Ma (Grandma), Dru (Drew), Ba (Ball & Bath), Shu (Shoes), Da (Dog), Noma (Snowman), Appu (Apple), and Bu-ble (Bible)! A funny one that will surely come back to bite us is he now will shake his pointer finger back & forth and say "Nu-Nu"! Pretty funny, but will someday be frustrating I'm sure. So, we are happy with the decision and with Drew's speech & cognitive development this month!
Now, most people who have been around Drew for a meal say "He's such a good eater!" and that he is. He at times will seemingly eat as much as us at a meal...thankfully he's not a rolly-polly kid, I guess all those running laps! But he really has done a great job this month truly making the conversion to full on table foods. Yes, we've been here for several months, but he's not been real open to 'combined' foods like lasagna, soups, etc. But this month, if we are eating it, he wants it, or at least he thinks he does. There are still some foods that he'll refuse, or love one meal, and the next want nothing to do with it, just to keep Mommy on her toes I suppose. But it's been a real treat being able to expose him to more & more foods, and worry less & less about what am I going to feed him?! He's been picky about his sweets, but he's making progress in this area too. Which is kind of a funny thing to teach your kid to like, but you want them to enjoy the simple pleasures too, right?!
Some things about Drew that make him who he is & part of the stage he is going through that I honestly wish we could skip and/or forget, but none the less, all part of his story! So, we decided to take almost all of the ornaments off his 'kid-friendly' tree about 2 weeks after putting them up. He just insisted on hitting them against the wall, breaking ornaments that we didn't even think were breakable really. If they didn't break, they left marks on the wall, which Drew just thought was great. He knew he wasn't supposed to do it because he would grab one & run to the wall as fast as he could, knowing we were right behind him to take it away! GRRR! He continues to hate hair cuts, even just trimming around the edges, and with all the bumps & bruises that he gets all the time, we found out he HATES band aids! It's kind of ridiculous to hate something so much that we all know doesn't actually hurt!
Now, our least favorite thing is he apparently is a hitter. When I asked his pediatrician about what to do, before offering some good advice, he simply stated, "There's one in every class." UGH! I didn't want it to be my kid though! As mentioned earlier in the Christmas Spirit post, he will go up to a new child & just smack them, hopefully in the belly, but sometimes in the face! And to much older kids! I sometimes console myself with maybe he's just trying to give them a high five (because he does like to do that), but sometimes it seems like I'm stretching it a little bit with that one. Mommy & Drew took a day trip to Austin to visit some high school friends and had a gathering of 4 moms with 4 little ones, Drew being the oldest, all the way down to 3 months. At some point during the gathering, Drew hit each of the other 3 kids. At one point the 1 year old was crying so Mommy went to help & picked him up, well Drew ran over, seeing another kid in his Mommy's lap, and just attacked the kid, hitting several times before Mommy could even react! Then the 7 month old was minding her own business, crawling around, and Drew went to step on her, seemingly purposefully from the repetitive motion of it all! I was appalled! And the 3 month old only got a little taste of it, with Drew starting out with 'soft hands', and then escalating to hitting, thankfully, Mommy was on guard & prevented any real damage! Oh, we hope he grows out of this/we teach him 'soft hands' quickly! Prayers would be helpful, we need all we can get!
So, a few things I don't want to forget, and are just part of being around Drew that we LOVE...he loves to pick up any bag or toy with a handle, throw it on his arm or shoulder, and start walking toward the nearest door, and says "Bu-Bye!" I guess he's picked up carrying a purse & diaper bag means we are going somewhere! He's started to figure out & loves playing with zippers and also has learned to turn on & off lots of his toys. A favorite one though is there are times we swear he's in a Kung-Fu movie, moving his mouth as if to talk, but not making any sounds until a few seconds later - what a hoot!
Well, we can only expect more fun in the coming year...hope you'll keep following along!
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