Hmmmmm...

Andrew has learned to ponder. According to Loren the story goes something like this: Loren and Andrew were shopping at Menards. Andrew was in the shopping cart and they were in the shelving section. They had been there awhile while Loren looked at various things and walked around alot trying to figure out what he wanted. At some point when Loren was looking around he paused and put his finger over his mouth, tapped his finger a few times and said, "Hmmm," while still looking at the various shelving options. After a moment he glanced at Andrew and noticed that Andrew was doing the exact same thing! Andrew smiled, Loren smiled...Loren did the pondering thing again and Andrew bent over in the shopping cart with a big ol' belly laugh. Loren and Andrew had a moment in Menards. So sweet. :)

Now, at various times of the day when I'm looking for something around the kitchen or shopping (and looking a little lost) or there is a lull in dinner conversation, Andrew puts his finger to his face and says, "Hmmm..." It's so cute and he looks so serious when he does it as if he's doing his best to think for us.

Keep trying, Andrew! Send us all of your thinking power. We sure need it sometimes!

Yeah, Dirt!

Andrew has found a new love...dirt. We don't have a sandbox, so he plays in the dirt. This new infatuation started yesterday (Sunday) before dinner. Andrew sat in the "garden" for probably close to an hour, throwing dirt all over himself. He grabbed handful after handful and poured it on his legs. Then he started throwing it, oblivious to the fact that every time he threw a handful of dirt most of it ended up in his hair. When dinner was finally ready, Loren cleaned him up as well as he could and Andrew ate dinner in his diaper. And the bath? It took both of us to get Andrew clean (as clean as we could get him before he was ready to get out), and I could still see dirt in his hair this morning. It was quite an ordeal, but it didn't keep me from letting him do it all over again today, twice! Why would I want to keep a kid from playing in the dirt?

The Radio

We have this radio. I should say Loren has this radio. I don't know how long he's owned it. He has had it as long as I've known him. It has become one of Andrew's favorite toys. It was being stored upstairs in the office recently. By "stored" I mean it was sitting on a chair. It didn't really have a home. Every once in awhile Andrew would find his way into the office and ooooooohhhhhhhh the radio just screamed "play with me!" After watching him repeatedly press buttons with no sound coming from the radio, I finally felt bad for him and plugged it in. He was so excited when he pressed a button and music started playing! Of course his excitement was shortlived because random buttons were pressed, the music disappeared, and Andrew's frustration quickly built. I usually put an end to the activity to continue getting Andrew dressed. This is an activity in itself. For me. Andrew tends to wander around in an attempt to do anything other than let me dress him...and I follow behind trying to put clothes on him, little by little, which is why he winds up in the office in the first place. This continued off and on for a few weeks. Andrew would bolt into the office as soon as his diaper was on and I'd follow slowly behind to find him in there with a big grin on his face where he'd be listening to some happy kid songs blaring from a cd. Meanwhile I'm laughing behind him because not only did he manage to find the Play button, but he also pressed the Pause and Rewind buttons to the tape player (at the same time) which would be making their own music. He didn't care. I eventually decided to bring the radio downstairs so he could listen to his happy kid cds, hoping that the radio wouldn't become a constant source of frustration for him (and me) as he struggled to figure out how to not only make his songs play, but to make them come back after he changed to a fuzzy AM station or who knows what. Andrew has actually gotten pretty good at pressing Play, and even more importanly, he has gotten good at listening to the music once it's playing instead of continuing to press buttons and making the music disappear.

What can I say? The kid likes his music. I guess it isn't Loren's radio anymore.

April 10, 6:02 pm

April 12, 12:41 pm

April 14, 7:09 pm

April 15, 9:21 am

the benefit of a daily routine

Before Andrew was born I knew that routines were important in children's lives. I had been around a childcare where they had specific snack/meal times and designated nap times and play times. The daily schedule helped the teachers guide the children through their days and the children knew what to expect. It gave the children structure and a sense of security knowing what their days were going to be like. So, I was aware of routines and their importance.

However, when Andrew was born the idea of establishing a routine for him all of a sudden seemed so foreign to me, and impossible. I knew that it was important, but I had no clue how to create the routine. Sure, I could say nap time was at 9:00, but that didn't mean he was going to fall asleep at 9:00! Well, I eventually started paying attention to his sleep cues and watching him for signs as to when he was tired and we eventually worked out a schedule that we could follow, more or less. First of all, his bedtime went from about midnight or so (it was rough in beginning) to 7:00. Naptimes were set for 9:00, 12:00 and then another one at 3:00, if needed. 3 naps quickly moved to 2 and now Andrew has only one nap a day starting at 1:00. Breakfast is whenever Andrew wakes up, lunch is at 11:45/12:00 and dinner is at 5:15/5:30. Basically, Andrew's daily routine revolves around sleeping and eating...the rest we play by ear. Anything else we do depends on his mood, my mood, the weather, what errands need to be run, etc. We just make sure we're back in the house for nap, meals and bedtime.

I am trying to get to my point. This is why Loren gets annoyed when I try to tell a story. It takes forever. Yesterday (Saturday) was the first day that Andrew signaled to me (other than looking tired) that he was ready for his nap. It was a little after 12:30. I was in the kitchen and he was in the playroom or nearby playing well by himself. All of a sudden I heard him say "nap." When he says the word, it sounds nothing like nap, but I knew what he was saying. When I went to see what he meant and what he was doing, I found him standing in front of the stairs with a blanket and Eore (usually, it's his puppy that he takes up to his nap, but he apparently couldn't find his puppy and he grabbed the next best thing)...

He was so precious.

Today at 1:00 I went to get Andrew from one of the front rooms to tell him it was time for his nap. Generally, I tell him it's time for his nap and we go on a hunt for his puppy before heading upstairs. I expected to find him in his playroom playing with his toys, which is where he was, but I saw this in front of the stairs first.


Routine, routine, routine! I now know that all of the hardwork of establishing the routine, enforcing the routine and keeping the routine is paying off. Now Andrew is telling me when it's naptime!! He obviously finds security in knowing what comes next in his day. All this time I thought the routine was more for my sanity. Kidding!

Andrew used a spoon!

About a week ago I started giving Andrew cereal in the morning like we eat cereal in the morning, in a bowl with milk and a spoon. For some reason I never thought to give it to him that way before. I guess I always pictured a bowl of milk all over the floor. It was always dry Cheerios several at a time and milk in a sippy cup. The first day (with zero expectations) I took my time and tried to teach Andrew how to use a spoon. I wrapped his hand around the spoon handle and then my hand around his and I would show him how to eat with a spoon. He did pretty well and was somewhat patient at first, as his left hand was practically shaking because all he wanted to do was grab a fist-full of Cheerios and shove them in his mouth, but he eventually got frustrated enough (and I didn't want to push it) so I sat beside him and ate my cereal with a spoon while he ate his with his hands. Fine. Like I said, I had zero expectations.


Ever since the first day when Andrew humored me by cooperating with my attempt to teach him how to use a spoon, he has refused to even try and when I ask him, "Andrew would you like to use your spoon?" and point it out to him, I get the glare. Fine, whatever. I still had zero expectations. This evening, however, for dessert (if you can call it that) I gave Andrew some yogurt. He was still hungry and I knew a bowl of yogurt would satisfy and entertain him while Loren and I finished our dinner. I put a spoon in his bowl even though I was certain he would shove his hand in it completely ignoring the spoon. However, to my astonishment, Andrew picked up the soon dipped it in the yogurt and put the spoon in his mouth! Granted, half of it ended up on his shirt, but I didn't care. He was eating with a spoon! We were so proud of him. Andrew ended up eating about half with his hands and half with the spoon, alternating back and forth.


Andrew was proud of himself as well.


And then, when he got down to the bottom...yes, he really did it. Our son, Andrew, put the whole bowl to his face and tried to lick what was left of the yogurt out of the bowl. Forget the spoon!!!

Shower Dilemma

Way back when Andrew was a little baby (oh, so long ago), taking a shower was always stressful. If I was lucky enough to get him into his crib asleep, I would cross my fingers and try and jump in the shower quickly. 9 times out of 10 as soon as I would get in the shower and wet my hair, I'd hear screaming coming from the monitor. So, I'd hurry up and finish showering as quickly as I could and then tend to Andrew hoping I'd get him back to sleep (because he needed it) and be thankful that if/when I got him back to sleep I was at least clean. That lasted for about 6 months.

When Andrew finally started falling asleep on his own, napping for longer periods of time, and started a nap schedule (a morning nap and afternoon nap), I would take advantage of the time during his morning nap and take a shower then. I know...why not just take a shower before he wakes up in the morning? When Andrew would wake up was always a little unpredictable, so waiting until I knew I could take a relaxing shower was preferable to the possibility of getting in the shower first thing in the morning only to hear him screaming as soon as I did. {I guess I haven't mentioned that Andrew's crib shares the same wall as our shower.} This routine served me well until Andrew was about 14 months when he decided to give up his morning nap. Oh my, then I had to start getting up earlier to make sure I was showered before he woke up...if not, then I would put him in the exersaucer in the bathroom with me and hope he would be at the very least content while I took a hurrried shower. Because he gave up his morning nap, he actually started to sleep in more in the mornings which gave me ample time to take a relaxing shower and drink coffee, maybe start some laundry, dishes, etc. It has been nice.

Today, however, I sort of accidentally slept in (staying up too late lately), so I didn't get my shower early. It has probably been well over a month since Andrew has been in the exersaucer and I'm a little worried he'd tip the thing over. I'm pretty sure he has outgrown the height/weight limits. Then it dawned on me. We have a pack 'n play that Andrew sleeps in when we stay away from home. I have always associated it with a place to sleep, not play. Hmmm...Andrew can actually play in the pack 'n play! After breakfast I dug the pack 'n play out of the basement, hauled it upstairs, put Andrew inside and loaded it with what I thought were "sure things"...books, a bucket w/shapes and a bin full of socks. I crossed my fingers while I took a shower, and it worked like a charm!

The Many Faces of Andrew

Andrew has gotten pretty expressive these days. Here is a glimpse of the many faces we get to see everyday. I was lucky enough to get all of these at breakfast.

Happy!


A bit of a glare


This could be so many things, but I'm pretty sure he was MAD.


Cute pouty face.