February 2007

Cat Napping
We moved Andrew to a little bed last month. It's winter time, and it gets chilly at night. So one night he thought we'd put Tigger at the foot of Andrew's bed. Andrew was exhausted and so much wanted to play with kitty, but instead they decided to have a stare down. Andrew ultimately won when he quickly shuffled his feet and inadvertantly launched kitty: like Daddy like Son. I am sure Tigger will get cold at night again, forgive Andrew and sleep on his feet again once Andrew is good and deep in a winter slumber. Until then, Andrew has the Blue Elephant to keep him company.

Super Bowl
Andrew saw his first Super Bowl, well he watched the people at the party more than the game. He 'assisted' the people playing Foosball by always keeping at least 5 balls on the table-- not everyone shares our excitement that he knows how to put a foosball in the foos hole to put a ball in action. He spent the majority of the party, with friends and neighbors, running around the house. When it came time for feeding he plopped down at the table and had some new foods. Our neighbor showed him a 'cool' new game to do with his sippy cup, wing it across the table and giggle. Yes, we all thought this was fun and great entertainment.....but then the habit continued for a couple weeks. Did you know that upon impact a sippy cup often loosens its lid and magically transforms from a SIPPY cup to a LEAKY cup? To honor our neighbor and reward him for showing Andrew this 'cool' new trick, we have named the bus driver of one of Andrew's favorite toys after the neighbor. Here is Chip the bus driver, along with wife/passenger Tammy (who was not a proponent of the new 'cup tossing trick').

First American Emergency Room Visit

This month we found out just how much energy little boys have....and how fast they can run around a corner, take air and hit a dining room chair. How fast is it? About 3 hours in the Emergency Room and about 10 stiches worth. Andrew cried a little bit when it happened, but we were visiting an experienced house of 3 boys, and the consensus of 3 of the 4 parents concluded it was best to slap some antiboitic cream and a Band-Aid on it and he was fine for more play and dinner. Then after dinner and some running around he started leaking so off we went to the ER, right around his bedtime. Rob was the wise 1 of 4 parents who thought an ER visit was initally warranted. What followed was 2 hours of screaming, broken up by an hour of playing with the phones in the Emergency Room waiting room. I was glad to have an hour of 'Ha-bow...Bah Bah' repeated several hundred if not thousands of times instead of crying. After my ears were ringing from the screams I mosied over to the reception desk to see if we should come back tomorrow to get him sewn up (passive aggressive threat), given the number of snow boarder accidents that were rolling in to the ER on a Saturday of a holiday weekend known for ski trips. The nice lady said we'd be going back "any minute". I knew she hadn't a clue when we'd go back, so Andrew and I parked our screaming butts in the the chairs next to the in-take desk, away from the main waiting area so we would not annoy any one....except the intake lady. (Daddy's note: this was Daddy's idea... ) Within 10 or 15 minutes we were called back and the nice lady doctors and nurses sewed him up nicely....all tothe relaxing sounds of "Screaming Baby". I will save you from gorey pictures of boo-boo, and show him in action on the phone. Now we need to come up with a much cooler story for the history of the left eyebrow scar instead of "I ran into a chair". Feel free to leave a comment with your story suggestion. DEWD YOU CRUSH BEER CANS ON YOUR EYEBROWS!!! WHOA!!!!




What Number comes after #2?
We have been experimenting with some more discipline techniques. The latest in our parenting attempts is counting to 3. After Andrew's bath we turn on the shower to hose him and the tub down (with warm water of course), then turn off the water and wait for him to mosey down to the end of the tub where we can wrap him in a towel to dry him off. Sometimes he gets so into playing in the 'rain', that when the rain stops he keeps on playing. So now we say "Ooooooone, Twoooooooo" and he usually heads to our end of the tub and starts screaming because he does not want to get to "Three!". On occassion, when he is standing on a kitchen chair at the dinner table and we give him a "Ooooone" he'll immediately plop down in the seat and resume his munching. Rob still needs to work on his 'threatening counting' delivery-- he tends to say "onetwothree" quickly without striking any fear, totally undoing my training.




Top 5 Toys Of The Month
5. Mommy's Shoes (he fetches and puts away...Good Boy)
4. Pad of paper and pen (with lid sealed on for safety)
3. 2 inch string
2. Stray dust speck caught in a sunbeam
1. 4 oz container of cottage cheese (ok, this was an accident)



ManMade Fountain
Sometimes I am surprised by the things little boys do, well maybe not surprised, just caught off-guard. The other night as bathtime was finishing up and the shower was on, Andrew got 'inspired' by the sprinkling water of the shower head, and decided to make his own 'fountain' in the shower. But not just any fountain, he chose to rotate in a circle and hose down everything in sight. Let's just say I was caught like a deer in the headlights at what was going on, and after Andrew went to bed, both the tub and I got a thorough cleaning and disinfecting. Sure you laugh now, but it probably happened to you. I should have learned by now, that he uses his God Given weapon for target practice after the 'lean back on the potty seat and shoot a stream through the door jamb' incident a few months ago. We can forego a photo of him in action, but here he is with his proud face afterwards. Some please tell me this is just a phase he is going through, and not foreshadowing of future skills.