New Traditions

Last night we went to the arrival of Santa Claus and lighting of the Christmas tree at Bridgeport Village. We went to this last year and I'm hoping that we can make this a family tradition. We arrived just in time for Santa to arrive and Andrew was so excited. He just watched him and tried to get closer. Then the tree lights came on and he kept saying "look, Christmas!" He ran right over to the tree and just wanted to look at it. I think he thought the whole evening was pretty exciting! A band played after the tree lighting and he was front and center to make sure he could hear all the music. We really only listened to them warm up and then we went home because it was getting late. He was not to happy to be leaving though! Such a fun night and the beginning of the Christmas season. We are hoping to do a lot of fun family Christmas activities this year!

11.27.09 - Andrew 27 months

Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving was spent at my parents house this year. It was just the 7 of us, Mom & Dad, Kayla & Cory, and the 3 of us (plus baby). We had a fun and relaxing day spent eating, watching football, playing video games (mainly Grandpa, Daddy & Andrew), and playing with Andrew. However the day did end short because I forgot to bring diapers. I find that I'm so forgetful these days and even had several diapers sitting downstairs, but forgot to put them in his diaper bag. Luckily I had 2 in his bag and my mom had 1 at her house. Andrew had a record number of dirty diapers that day so we ended up leaving around 7, only about 30 minutes shorter than normal, but still a quick ending to the night. I am so thankful for a wonderful family, a loving husband, a funny little boy, and a healthy baby (we find out the sex Jan. 6th). I'm so grateful that all of my family is healthy!

Andrew with Grandpa & Grandma

Andrew playing the piano

Cuddling with Sophie. He really wanted Sophie to sit on his lap, so I had to find Sophie and position her on his lap. She stayed for a few minutes :)

Our only family picture of the day, even though you can't really see Andrew's face.

Having hot chocolate at Starbucks Thanksgiving morning.

11.26.09 - Andrew 27 months old

Family Day

Andrew- 27 months

11.24.09

Since this week is Thanksgiving and many of Nate's clients took the week off, Nate decided to take a little time off and spend Tuesday morning with us. So we took off for the Children's Museum! It was so much fun. We hadn't been there in several months and Nate had only been with us 1 other time. As soon as we got there, Andrew was anxious to get out of the car. He kept saying "wow!" and "let's go!" We walked in and they had a new exhibit, Clifford the dog. He thought this area was pretty cool and really liked all of the big trees. He kept saying "Daddy, look, big tree." He enjoyed "driving" the boat and the car, as well. We spent about 2 hours there and everywhere he went he kept saying "look, Daddy (or Mommy), look!" I think he was thrilled that both of us were there. On our way home, he was exhausted. We asked him what he wanted for lunch and he said "Papa's house." So we went over to Grandpa & Grandma's for a quick bite to eat and then home for a much needed nap. It was such a fun family day and we were so happy to spend the morning with Daddy!

Andrew's little book of haha's!

(the title of this post is for my mom, dad & sister)

I think Andrew starts saying at least 1 new word a day and sometimes a new phrase. Lately Nathan & I are amazed at how much he talks (and sings). He starts talking as soon as he wakes up and doesn't really stop until he goes to bed. Even when he's playing with his cars, he's making noise....car noises, of course :) Here are a couple of the new funny things that he's been saying:

*Oh my gosh...or oh gosh (yes, I know this is not good and I know that it's my fault!)
*Oh boy! - I think he learned this from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
*Soey, big bed & Woohoo! There's a story with this one: today after his bath he wanted Sophie to get in bed with him and cuddle. So we called for Sophie, but she was nowhere to be found. So I whistled and told Sophie to come. Andrew then said, "woohoo, come Soey!" His woohoo must have been him trying to whistle.
*Love you Mommy, love you or thank you daddy, thank you- always says love you or thank you followed by the person he is saying it to and then repeats the love you or thank you....happens every time!
*You ready Mommy, let's go!
*I tired
*I ready (as he's walking to the door to leave)
*Thank you Anoo or I Anoo (always using his name)
*Mommy sing
*Sit down (when he wants you to play with him he points and tells you where he wants you to sit)
*I like it!
*Let's go, Mommy!
*I did it!
*I running
*The other day I called upstairs for him, he was in his play room playing with his trains. I said "Andrew, " and he yelled back, "what?" For a second I thought I was talking to a 5 year old....I'm not sure where he got that!
*I thirsty or I hungry
*What you doing?
*Watch this (then usually he jumps)
*What'd they say (he usually asks this when I get off the phone)
*It's mine! (we are working on this one...)
*What you doing?
*Look (he now says this all the time, whenever he's playing or looking at books, or really whenever!)
*Plane, I hear it, you hear it? (He does this with trains too)
I'm sure there are many more funny little things he says, but this is all I could think of at the moment. As they come to me, I will make sure and post them or if you (family) can think of any please leave a comment :)

I do have to point out that Andrew is singing all the time now. By far his favorite song is "Twinkle Twinkle." He wakes up singing it in the morning before we even get him out of bed and today when we were at the grocery store he was singing it very loudly!

Swimming

This last Thursday Andrew had his first swimming lesson! We joined the YMCA by our house this month and I wanted to get Andrew into swimming lessons right away. On our way there, I told Andrew that we were going swimming. He was so excited. He kept saying "boat, boat" but I told him that we were going swimming in a pool. He was so used to going on the boat in the summer and always correlated boating with swimming. We got to the YMCA and started getting ready. He saw the pool and wanted to get in right away. His cousin Elizabeth is also in his swimming class and he was so excited when he saw her. I was so proud of him. He wasn't afraid of the water and enjoyed blowing bubbles, kicking his feet, laying on his back, climbing in and out of the pool and singing songs. He didn't even throw a fit when we had to leave, which was a huge surprise. I just told him that we'd come back next week and he was okay with that. Hopefully I will get some pictures in the next couple of weeks and I will make sure and post them :)

Sunshine when skies are gray

Every since Andrew was a baby I've been singing to him. At night or right before nap time I would always sing "You Are My Sunshine" to him and it always calmed him down. As soon as I would start to sing it, he would just relax, watch me and smile. Now before nap time or bedtime he asks me to sing to him. He says, "Mommy sing." I then ask him what he wants me to sing and he says, "Sunshine when skies are gray." It just melts my heart! Today I asked him if he would sing it with me and he did. It was the cutest thing and he was so excited to be singing with Mommy. Within the last few days he's been asking me a lot to sing to him. At lunch time today he asks me to sing "Happy Birthday" and sometimes he'll ask me to sing one of his other favorite songs "Twinkle Twinkle." I just think it's the cutest thing and especially love when he sings with me :)

"Anoo"

Andrew can now say his name and says it ALL the time. He pronounces it "Anoo." Isn't that just the cutest?!? He walks around and says, "My name is Anoo" or any other little thing he can say about himself. I think he's pretty proud of himself :)

Just like Daddy

Today while Nathan was in the shower and I was downstairs I heard "Kristi, come here!" Andrew was up in the bathroom with Daddy, so I quickly ran upstairs thinking something was wrong. Come to find out, he had found Daddy's hair product and was putting it in his hair. He had globs of hair stuff all over his head....it was pretty funny and he was so proud of himself! Nathan and I couldn't stop laughing. So I gave him a hair brush, put some water on his hair and we tried to comb it out. He, of course, loved brushing his hair too. Then he saw Daddy brushing his teeth so he decided that he needed to brush his teeth too. He really loves his Daddy and wants to do everything he does!

Disney on Ice

The Sunday before last we took Andrew to Disney on Ice. Grandpa Bud & Grandma Twyla also came with us. It was such a fun night and Andrew really enjoyed it. His favorite part was definitely Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy narrating and seeing all of the cars! He kept telling us all of the names of all the cars and had his eyebrows raised (like the picture below) almost the whole time. He sat through the whole thing and was so good! Such a fun night!


Watching the performers with Daddy, Grandpa & Grandma

So excited!
10.25.09- Andrew 2 yrs old

Halloween 2009

Trick or Treating



Eating his Halloween cookie from Pama & Papa

Having fun with Papa

Halloween was a fun and busy day. We started out the day by going to a Halloween party at Andrew's friend Carter's house. There were several little kids dressed in costumes and Andrew had tons of fun running around and playing. That evening Grandpa & Grandma Ming came over and brought us dinner. We had chili....a family tradition. Every year growing up we always had chili on Halloween night before we went trick or treating. When we got back, my mom always had hot apple cider for us. So that is now our tradition....chili (chili dogs for Nate since he doesn't like plain chili) and apple cider. I was surprised that Andrew actually like the chili! Grandpa Bud & Grandma Twyla also stopped by to see Andrew in his cute lion costume. Nathan and I then took Andrew out trick or treating. We went to a few houses in our neighborhood and then came home. Andrew was so cute. He loved going door to door and saying "trick or treat how I." We think he was getting confused with his favorite song Twinkle Twinkle which he always sings "twinkle twinkle how I wonder what you are!" He was so polite and thanked each person after they put candy in his bag. We came home so Daddy could watch the game and ventured out a little bit later with Grandma. He loved seeing all the other kids dressed up. When we got home he helped Mommy and Pama (what he calls Grandma) hand out candy to the trick or treaters. I think he loved that just as much as he loved trick or treating. Too bad he doesn't like candy.....guess Mommy & Daddy will have to eat all of it!


Loving on Mommy

Helping Mommy hand out candy to trick or treaters

Having fun with the Halloween candy
10.31.09- 2 yrs old