February 2008

Sleeping Like a King
When James came home last summer, Andrew started climbing INTO the crib so we had to move him 'temporarily' to the Guest Room which has a Queen Size bed. Andrew has yet to move back into his brother's room and downsize back to a meager Toddler Bed. So it looks like the little body will be sleeping in the big bed for the unforeseeable future.

James on the other hand is still in a crib and sleeps face down. i guess no one explained to the nation of Guatemala what "Back To Basics" meant. We can't get him to break the habit. But he does sleep nicely with this awesome humidifier: The GermGuardian.

Curiosity Is Not Just for Cats

I seem to keep catching Andrew doing the goofiest things, like climbing the outside of the stairs, or trying to leap from the back of the sofa onto the kitchen table (and falling about 2 inches short). I wonder what is going through his head, then I remember what I was like as a kid: one day I was standing in the powder room staring up at the light drying my hands after washing them. I started to wonder if I could throw the hand towel and get it stuck up on the light. So of course I tried and of course I did not throw hard enough, and of course the towel caught the drinking glass sitting on the mounted tooth brush holder causing it it crash into the sink. When my brother and Dad rushed in I said "I dunno what happened". So no matter what goofy stuff Andrew and James do, I can't give them too hard of a time.

Bye Bye Balloons
Yet another set of balloons have fallen victim to Mommy's Hands. First it was the balloon at the top of the cathedral ceiling that I tried to suck with with the vacuum extension hose....and in the blink of an eye it went from free floating balloon, to shreds in my Dyson. Then one weekend we took a drive up to Bear Creek Ski resort to let the boys see lots of snow and watch the snow tubers. When we got back in the car, the 2 balloons we just got from Perkins got caught in a gust of wind and floated somewhere over Berks County. The whole ride home Andrew innocently asked "Where pink (balloon) go? " . I felt like a bad Mommy. James was unphased as his Perkin's cookies were unharmed.

To make up for it I bought them some Mylar balloons at the supermarket and they went CRAZY smacking them, running around with them, running with them tied to their pants belt loop. And Andrew is honing his tomahawk skills my throwing his Handy Manny tools at the balloon from across the room.








Dr. House
Andrew often gets lost on the way from the kitchen to the car in the mornings, en route to daycare. He will head off to the living room to color, or if he does make it to the garage, we will climb the piles of bags of wood pellets (which are getting kind of low by this time in the winter). To 'motivate' him to get into the car I have been waving my iPod in front of him, which is like waving a red flag in front of a bull-- he charges for it. That worked for a while....until he wanted to hold it, which was not going to happen. So I have resorted to 'luring' him into the car with the promise to "Rock Out" to whatever it is I happen to be listening to on my commute. This month it was the soundtrack to the TV Show HOUSE, so the morning chant was "Rock out to Dr. House!". Of all the things I say, Andrew chooses to repeat/chant this everywhere. Now he just talks about 'Dr House" all the time....so we know what he will be for Halloween. One of the songs on the soundtrack starts with a lot of Piano. After about 2 weeks Andrew said he would like to play piano. So I ran through a couple other instruments to see if he wanted to play them too:

• Piano: Yes
• Guitar: Yes
• Accordion: No
• Drums: No (Thank You, God)
• Trumpet: No
• Saxophone: Sheesguhnoon (not sure how to interpret that)

Andrew now has his own 'iPod': a paper cut out from a magazine. He has been toting it around since November. The teachers at DayCare must think he is spoiled when he speaks of his "iPod".


Manners, continued
We continue to work with Andrew on good manners. One night he wandered downstairs about an hour after going to bed. He stood in front of us watching TV, and just stared at us. We didn't want to startle him, so we just said "We love you Andrew". He continued to stare at us, as if thinking, then said "Thank You" and went back to bed.

After being told "Shut Up Mommy" and various other phrases I refrain from typing here, I sat Andrew down on the steps to talk about what is appropriate to say/repeat. I guess I scared him with my stern tone because he started crying and ran into the other room. But fear not, a couple longs hugs, reassuring I Love Yous and kisses on the head and all was better......and no more Shut Up Mommy. If only all of our problems could be solved with a hug.

Who is Pop Pop?

One weekend my Dad and his wife came up for lunch. After they left Andrew and James stood with their noses pressed to the glass by the front door. Andrew started to whimper "Where Pop Pop Go?". I looked at him kind of funny because no one ever called him Pop Pop. Andrew had a guilty look on his face and finally said "Where Grand Pop Go?'. Strange little boy.

CrossFire (special submission by Daddy)
On Today's Crossfire………..

Andrew and James had a play date on president's day with Jacob and Aaron. All was going well, the boys were having fun.

Andrew decided that the snowman (he says nooooomannnn!) on the window was his.

"My snowman!" -- Andrew
"No it's not it's my snowman!" - Jacob
"No… it's mine.. I take it home with me!" - Andrew
"It's mine" - Jacob
"Nooooo! My nooooman!" - Andrew
"How can it be your snowman? It's taped to my window?!" -Jacob

This would have been a normal 3yr old arguing with a 2yr old BUT the way they were positioned across the table from each other it looked like they were debating the evils of Hillary Clinton vs the stupidity that is Bush Jr.

Art
Another month and another batch of whacked out art. This month we had animals and food. Apparently it is obvious the first one is a porcupine, our neighbor Chip identified it instantly. And what says Happy Valentines like a skinny legged money? Rounding out our Animal section is a toilet paper roll caterpillar. Andrew was so proud of that one.










The food is a bit more 'abstract'. The green thing is a doughnut....or perhaps many donut holes. The black and white drawing is a pizza. i have heard of White Pizza before, but this takes it to an all new level.





Cookies
We are raising 2 little cookie monsters. With one of the world's greatest inventions of the western world, we bring you Break and Bake cookies simplifying the effort of making cookies. Here are some before and after photos.


























Jammie Time
What is cuter than little kids in footie jammies....not much. We got Andrew these red jammies in the size of a 4 year old and he fits them just fine now. He may outgrow footie jammies too quick. James on the other hand will wear them well into his 20's.
























Ladders
Andrew's new fascination is with ladders. I am not sure how it started, but he can spot one from a mile away. Normal people see ladders in boring places like on firetrucks in or in their garage. Andrew sees them at intersections. After a week of stopping at this stop light on the way to daycare, and having him exclaim LADDER, I grew puzzled. Then I realized the big utility poles/towers look like ladders to him.

Latter in the month we had some home improvements done and the work men left 5 or 6 ladders i the garage over night. Andrew just about went into overload, everywhere he looked was a ladder of a different shape, color and size.

Where do Mommy & Daddy Go All Day?
Andrew often asks where we go all day....now he was stopped asking and tells us.
Daddy goes to Wawa to buy coffee. I guess that takes all day.
Mommy goes to work to make money for college, and to drink water.
Oddly enough, WaWa is one of the few words he can say crystal clear.

Speech Therapy
Every Thursday a speech therapist from the county comes in to work with James to make sure he can get a word in edgewise with his brother. They give up a report each week with exciting things like "while dotting crayons produced 'DaDa' and while marking lines produced 'aaaah'". Who knew such actions were noteworthy for a report.

Potty Training: right idea, wrong location
No improvements on the potty training front. But Andrew had one of his first traumatic experiences: laying cable in the tub. It was not pleasant for either of us, but Mr. Scrubbing Bubbles came to the rescue after Baby Ruth was fished out and flushed. The experience freaked him out so much that he got out of the tub and then went #1 on the floor. Of course this all happened just a few scant hours after I had scrubbed the tub and floor. I do not want to gross you out with the photo of Baby Ruth.

I eagerly await this magical 'When He is Ready" moment when Andrew decides he is ready to potty trained. For now he just does his business behind a chair.