August 2006

Fountain Of Sweet Potatoes
We had Andrew baptized at Rob's Mom's church near Pittsburgh. The drive to Pittsburgh was his longest so far and half way across the state, at about 3 hours into the trip, he decided that long car rides are not his gig. As a result, the sweet potatoes he had for dinner made a swift return as we witnessed the fountain of sweet potatoes. We pulled over to clean up the carseat, when the fountain had another eruption.....on me. So with both Andrew and I reeking of sweet potatoes on the rebound we decided to stop at the next rest area to clean up. Andrew did not disappoint and erupted again getting out of the car.....across the parking lot......in the vestibule....in the bushes.....and on the sidewalk. Once I was pretty sure he was empty I rushed him to the ladies room, hosed him down and strapped a fresh diaper on him. The rest of the trip he wore only a diaper and a disposable bib with a pocket to catch any remnants.

Here is Andrew at the outset of our cross-state adventure.....

......and here he is after the sweet potatoe incident.

The rest of the weekend was non-eventful, aside from renouncing the devil...so ok that one was a biggie. Rob's parents had a nice picnic after the baptism with his family and neighbors...which Andrew slept through because he had an ear ache and fever. The fever ended up being Roseola, which to the best of my knowledge is just a fever with a rash afterwards.

Fear Water No More
Since the weather was nice during the month we spent a lot of time outside. Like every other kid he likes being squirted with the hose. At first he played hard to get and would run from the sprinkler, they he started running towards it and standing in the line of fire. This made bathtime immensely easier and now hair washing is accompanied with only 3 minutes of whining, reduced from 10 minutes of blood curdling screams. So we are one step closer to being able to start swim lessons later this year.

Cleaning Man
I went to visit another family of Kazak Kids, and their son was nice enough to show Andrew how to use a broom, although his field of reach is quite limited from the seated position.

He also helps the neighbor sweep up his grass, as long as he gets hosed down afterwards.

He has since moved on to the cordless vacuum, and oddly enough walks around the house with a toilet plunger (fresh from the dishwasher) ready for a plumbing emergency. Andrew has also developed a fascination with lawnmowers, he likes to watch our neighbor mow and hose off his mower. Andrew stomps around in the resulting water of mushy grass.

Simple Play Things
Andrew is amused with the simplest of objects, so we can skip the toystores for a while. Here are his Top Ten Things To Play With
10. Grass

9. Water
8. Rocks
7. Post-It notes
6. Empty Diaper Genie refill rings
5. Empty DVD cases
4. Plastic hangers
3. Dish Towels
2. Puddles Of Water

1. Junk Mail