Slip Sliding Fun

Andrew, Andrew...what am I going to do with him? We went to Meijer last week and as I wandered away from the grocery section, I found a display of pool/water things on sale. That is where I found a $6.50 slip 'n slide that called my, um....I mean Andrew's name. Andrew, who was sitting in the bench of the shopping cart (you know, the huge shopping cart with the extended cab) was very excited about his new slip 'n slide and demanded to hold the box. He clutched it tightly while we finished our shopping. All the way home he asked if he could play with his "new toy," but I told him we had to wait until after lunch and after nap. Fortunately, he managed to set aside his excitement and actually took a nap, and when he woke up it was the first thing he asked for. So, we headed outside and set up the slip 'n slide. Austin was being a peach in the bouncer while Andrew and I had some fun. Andrew took his position at the end where a pool of water collects and stayed there. Every once in awhile he would inch towards the sprinkling water and squeal...yes it was a squeal...and then run away.

"Aahh! I got wet!"

I'm pretty sure Andrew thought he was slipping and sliding...

and then the dancing...

a little thirsty...

After I noticed Andrew's hesitation I asked him if he would try the slip 'n slide after I did it. He said "yes!" and like a sucker I ran up and got my bathing suit on and proceeded to throw myself down a slippery yellow sheet of plastic in hopes that Andrew would follow suit. Did he? No. But, I had so much fun that I did it over and over again while Andrew cheered me on. I have to say, it was the most carefree fun I have had in a long time!

more of Andrew's dancing

It's a little long. Enjoy!

3 Months

Wow, the past 3 months sure have flown by! Austin didn't go to the Dr. this month, but I was able to check his weight. The hospital he was born at has a scale in a woman's gift shop, and it's very easy to run in and weigh him really quick. I need all the reassurance I can get that he's getting enough to eat. He weighs (or did 2 days ago) 12 pounds, 4 ounces which is a gain of 1-1/2 pounds in 4 1/2 weeks. Not too shabby! I think the Dr. only looks for him to gain 1 pound a month, so he's still doing well. Andrew was 11 pounds, 8 ounces and 24.5 inches long at about 3 months.

other news and accomplishments...

- Loves being upright, so I have introduced him to his jumperoo. He doesn't stay in there very long, but it's a good place to put him for a few minutes.

- Isn't a big fan of tummy time, but as you can see he's getting pretty good at holding his head up, especially with the help of the boppy.

- The last few days I have really noticed Austin concentrating on getting his hands to grab things toys that dangle in front of his face. It's fascinating to watch him. It takes so much effort!

- so NOT a good napper. I could write a whole post on naps, but I'm not going to. (Happy thoughts...happy thoughts.)

- he does sleep well at night! 99.9% of the time he goes down very easily and goes back to sleep very easily after feedings. He gets up 1-3 times at night, but since I can put him back down without any effort, I don't mind. He always gets at least 5-6 hours during his first stretch. He has gone as much as 10 hours straight, but that only happened once. Apparently it was a flook.

- his eyes are looking more and more brown

- I can't think of anything else.

Andrew's flyers

We went on a walk to the park on Monday and after playing for awhile, we decided to take the long way home. This meant Andrew decided to run/walk instead of ride in the double stroller. It was a long walk home. He ran for awhile and then took a break by plopping down in some shade. He did a lot of running at the park and it was getting hot and humid, so I didn't blame him for needing a break. We spent the rest of the walk picking "flyers". The only thing we found were dandelions and another kind of flower/weed/whatever they are. I remember picking them as a kid and tying the stems together to make necklaces and bracelets. What are they called? Anyway, Andrew was excited about his flyers and had a handful of them along with 2 sticks. He clenched them in his fist all the way home and when we got home he wanted to water his flyers with his "watering canning". I thought placing them in a cup of water was a better idea. But, NO! Andrew marched his flyers out into the backyard and walked to a flower bed and asked me for help. I decided this was one of those precious moments that was well worth going along for the ride and planted Andrew's flyers in some mulch. Andrew then very proudly watered them with with his watering canning.

Video games?

...and it begins.

Andrew. Sitting inside. Playing video games. All. Day. Long.


Not even close!

But somehow (ahem...Loren) Andrew has learned how to play a game (something about penguins) on Loren's iPhone. If it wasn't for the fact that we made a family trip to Kohl's over the weekend and I had to run to the car, for lack of a better spot, to feed Austin in the middle of our shopping excursion, I may not have found Andrew and Loren sitting in their respective butterfly chairs near the picture frame section in Kohl's - Loren teaching Andrew how to play a game on his phone. My first thought was, what is he doing?, but when I saw Andrew holding his Daddy's iPhone with a big grin on his face while sitting in a hot pink butterfly chair it was impossible not to laugh. I was even impressed that he could actually play a game! He played one more time that night and now it's somewhat of a distant memory. Well, probably not, but I'd like to think so.

To be a little brother

These pictures don't really need much explanation do they?







Just to add to the pictures...
Andrew gets a big kick out of getting Austin to smile at him. However, when Austin stopped smiling, Andrew shouted at him, "Smile!!! Smile!!!" It didn't quite have the effect Andrew wanted.

Andrew also told Austin to rollover, as if he was a puppy. And when he didn't Andrew tried rolling Austin over himself.

(He means well.)

At least I know Andrew has it in him to act like this towards Austin...

a little tentative

I obviously haven't been great about posting lately. I'm going to try and get better.

I have to admit, the idea of taking Andrew to the neighborhood pool made me a little nervous this year. I had visions of him running around the edge of the pool and me not being able to stop him before he jumped or fell in. I wasn't taking into account the fact that the water wings he would be wearing would actually keep him afloat. I guess that's what they're supposed to do. Imagine that. (Sidenote: last year he was too small for water wings and we toted him around the pool with a floatable device that he sat in.)

(July, 2008)

On our first trip to the pool I quickly learned that I really didn't have much to worry about with Andrew. While he did get into the pool only by clinging to me and climbing up my legs if I dared to dip him further into the water, he spent most of his time hanging out around the edge watching the other kids play. He had fun, though, and that's what matters.

(a couple of weeks ago)