Wordless Weds - Peek-A-Boo

Daddy & Son

There is nothing like it, the time spent between Jeff and Drew.

They have a blast together! The run through the house chasing each other laughing and giggling the whole time. They like to wrestle and horse around. Jeff pretends to be a little rougher with Drew, but Drew knows he can be a little rougher with Daddy and he definitely takes advantage of that.

Its a beautiful thing to see father and son playing like they do. I wish Zack was around so he can participate in the festivities, but we make do when we see him. I can't want to have him for a week in August. It will be lovely to see the three of them together, having fun.

Mural Update

The mural is coming along, slowly! I'm at the point where its all the little details that need to be done rather then the large area's to be painted (except Winnie himself).

I finished the log Pooh is sitting on. In the bark area, there are zodiac signs for his family tree, a heart and Drew's name. Its blended in so much, I have to point them out to Jeff.

The next step is the wood detail in the doorway of Winnie's house. Jeff said, just paint it all one color. I said, then it will look like a brown blob and that's not what I'm looking for. After the doorway is finished, its onto the blades of grass.

Its hard to work on the mural after being on your feet all day and then standing to paint. I hope to finish up by vacation time (or be really close). I want to be able to focus on other things while on vacation rather then painting, being cooped up inside.

Promotional Shot

Yup, we bought those new Huggie diapers that look like jean shorts. Yup, guilty! When Jeff saw them in the shopping cart, he gave me a look and said, those are so tacky. I didn't care, I wanted them for Drew and I thought he would look so cute strutting around in those!!

A few days later, we were in Babies R Us, looking around and checking things out stuff and I noticed a table promoting the Huggies Jean Diapers. There were free t-shirts, coupons and a chance to win a $5 gift card (um, on a side note...I won a gift card, wohoo). So I grabbed a t-shirt since we had the diapers at home.

The other day, Drew was running around in his diaper and the Huggies T-shirt. I thought hey, I should snap a few photo's and send them to Huggies. What do you think? A good promotion right!

31 Years Young

It was my 31st birthday yesterday!

I had a wonderful day, I had some time to myself, which doesn't come too often. I took the day off from work to achieve that goal. I didn't get to sleep in, but I did wake up on our normal schedule, got Drew ready for day care and dropped him off.

I treated myself to a Starbucks Chai and yummy treat and while I drank my chai, I walked around Walmart at my own pace all by myself. It was lovely! I was taking my time, was able to poke around at what I wanted to check out, but I did end up buying Drew summer outfits.

After I walked around, I took a little time to paint Drew's mural and then I went to my birthday treat I was looking forward too for sometime now. I told Jeff I wanted a spa pedicure for my present, and that's what he got me!! It was wonderful! The package included all kinds of treatments and a message for my feet and lower legs, a tea and my toes painted the color of my choice. It was so worth it and I already told Jeff I want the same thing for next years birthday.

My parents stopped by for a visit in the late afternoon. We were treated to little itty-bitty cupcakes. Drew loved them so much, he wanted MY cupcake.

I also received a surprise supper. My FIL called me on his way home from work and asked if I wanted a surprise for dinner. I said sure!! He walked in the house with a lobster dinner for me! Just me!! I felt bad that no one else got one, but I was in heaven! I let Drew try a couple of bites, he did eat them, but he didn't want too much.

What a perfect day!

Wordless Weds - Refreshing Fun

Cars, Trucks & Bikes...Oh My

My son likes any machine with wheels and makes a head turning sound. It doesn't matter if its a truck, car, motorcycle, tractor or airplane, he likes to point and says vroom vroom.

At times, we could be playing in the backyard, running, climbing or laughing really hard and if he hears a motorcycle somewhere off in the distance, he stops, make his sound and points in the direction of the sound.

When we are shopping, Jeff takes him down the "boy" isle (even though its not limited to boys) to see what there are for vehicles. Of course we all have to push the buttons on all the kid trucks or what every there is around, but then Drew finds that one thing he wants (or really what Jeff wants to get him). Drew has his own set of motorcycles, a Ford Pick-Up truck, lots of match box cars, and equipment trucks. Drew is in his glory and carrys around a certain vehicle from day-to-day. There are vehicles spread all over the house.

Drew also just doesn't have the physical vehicles, he has two truck books, a tractor book and a train book he reads often. These are in the mix of his favorite books and we read them often.

I can't wait until he can get outside to help out his Daddy, Grandpa Charlie and Grandpy with working on the cars. Drew already wants to help with everything that is done, I can imagine when he's old enough to have his own tool box to fix the cars.

Road Trip

The family hoped in the car on Saturday and headed north for a family gathering for a graduation party. We packed the car, met up with the in-laws and my niece, went to breakfast and then hit the road.

It was a beautiful day for a trip. There was lots of sun, very few clouds and once we got to Vermont, a nice summer breeze graced us while visiting outside.

It was so much fun watching Drew explore the yard, visit with the neighbors horse, play with the toys from his older cousins and run around like he was a big kid. I loved watching him and Ally play together (that was until Sienna arrived and Ally had a blast running around with her, her younger cousin by one year). Ally is so protective of Drew, she won't let him do too much, but that's ok! That's what big cousins are for!!

Traveling was great, Drew napped on the way up and on the way back, he was wide awake playing with his toys until the last 5 minutes of the trip. It was an hour past his bed time and we were within minutes of getting home and Drew's eyes instantly got heavy and tried to close. All three of us, Jeff, my FIL and myself were doing all kinds of stuff to keep him awake. We didn't want him to get a 5 minute cat-nap in and be wide awake for hours after we got home. He was a good sport, flashed us a sleepy smile with eyes dropping until we got home.

It was so wonderful to see the family in Vermont. We haven't seen them since last summer and with the winters, its so hard to travel North. But, I hope to get to see them again this summer or at least in the fall.

New Chair At The Table

Drew is tall. He is already out growing his high chair. His feet are starting to hang below the foot shelve on the high chair.

He likes the high chair in many ways, he colors while sitting in it, he eats his food while in it and its high enough were he can watch us cook. But, he's starting to be a little too big for it.

While we were out shopping the other day, I thought about looking at a booster seat for the "little" guy. I found one that changes between a high chair (a tray hooks on), booster seat for toddlers and older kids (the back comes off for the older kids).

I took it out of the box and placed it on the living room floor after we got back home and loved it right away. He kept climbing in the new chair, placing the tray on his lap, putting it on the floor, hopping up and then repeating the same motions for some time. I was finally able to get it away from him and secure it to a chair in the kitchen and right away he wanted to sit in it at the table. He did pretty good for the first time sitting at the table, with no tray, but his little fingers could reach out to all the colorful objects on the table (like the ketchup) that he couldn't reach for before.

Now-a-days, we have the high chair and the booster seat at the table. When its time to eat, we let Drew decided were he wants to eat. He actually does go between the two, but until he's fully comfortable with the booster seat, we'll keep the high chair around.

Sock Puppets

The other day, Grandpy wanted to show Drew a new trick. Grandpy put Drew's socks on his hands to try and make sock puppets.

At first, Drew just starred at Grandpy and tried to pull the socks off his hands. He figured out how to get the socks off before he realized what Grandpy was showing him. He pulled them off with his teeth, then handed the sock back to Grandpy to put back on his hand.

After a few tries of letting the socks stay on his hands, he caught on a little bit. But, I think for now he loves the challenge of getting the sock off his hand and watching them put back on. These aren't big socks either, they are the ankle no-show socks, so they are a little tricky to get on feet, never mind hands.

Or is it, Drew likes to watch Grandpy make funny faces and talk to the sock on Drew's hand. I don't know, but what ever it is, those two were having a blast playing with the socks.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!!

Today is my Grandpa's 84th Birthday! This is the first year in 14 years I can't be with him on or around his birthday because of our financial issues. I know he knows we want to be there, but I still want to be there in every way! I know we will see him at Thanksgiving, but his birthday is special. My Aunt gave him a little party, with homemade chicken soup and a raspberry cake (not sugar free, he splurged) so I was happy to hear that he was celebrated even though we weren't around!

Happy Birthday Grandpa, and here's to many more!!

Wordless Weds - Practice Makes Perfect

Who's In There?

The boys like to play their version of hide-and-seek. Jeff chases
Drew through the house until Drew finds a corner of some sort to hide in (while laughing the whole time, hysterically). Then Jeff turns around so Drew could chase him through the house and find him.

Jeff has an advantage since he's quicker and knows how to hide. Jeff usually hides under a blanket in the living room, on the side of the couch or the entertainment system. When Drew enters the room, he makes the rounds to the hiding places to find his daddy. Once Jeff is found, screams are heard and Drew takes off. Its adorable to watch.

The other day, Jeff found a new hiding spot. Its been there, staring at Jeff, calling out...hide here, hide here! Jeff finally heard the calling on Sunday. Drew has a little ball pit that was given to him for his birthday and now has became the new hiding spot.

The first time Jeff hid in it, Drew had no idea. I was trying to help the little guy look without giving too much away, but Drew kept walking by the ball pit. Jeff was even tossing the colorful balls towards Drew to get him to look in his direction, but instead Drew just looked around at the balls on the ground as they rolled by.

Shortly after, right before Jeff was going to pop out of the hiding space, Drew noticed his daddy! He ran over towards him with a great big smile and hopped right in making his daddy push over. They kicked there feet and had a great time inside the ball pit. Shortly after, Drew hopped out to hide from his daddy, laughing the whole way.

New Friend

Drew has a new friend around the house. The new friend sings fun songs, bedtime music, talks to Drew and has a grand ol' time. This new friend is a dog from leap frog.

Drew received this little puppy from his mommy and daddy for Christmas and I think its pretty neat. After the box was opened, it was my job to download all the fun things the doggy would say (fill in the blank stuff like Drew's name, his favorite food, color and animal).

Once you hit a certain paw, either a song or sayings are spoken with Drew's likes and even his name. Its pretty cool how this puppy works!

At first, Drew didn't want anything to do with this little green doggy. But, mommy kept pressing the buttons, singing along and dancing. After a little time passed, this caught on and now Drew is dancing and smiling when his new friend talks. Its too cute!

Little Shopper

Grandpa Charlie noticed something in the pile of "free" stuff.

Grandpa Charlie thought of a little someone when he saw this special something.

Grandpa Charlie was really excited when he called Drew's mommy to tell her about his find.

Grandpa Charlie found a kid size shopping cart in the left over items the students left behind on campus after the rooms were cleaned out and thought of a little someone. Well, Grandpa Charlie thought of the right person, since Drew loves pushing it around the living room, with his toys inside. What a great find, at the right price!!

Wordless Weds - Reading with Daddy

Strawberry Fields

We had a blast this past weekend that involved strawberries. Its strawberry picking season in New England and that is exactly what we did.

Drew, Grammie and myself went to a local farm and picked our first batches of strawberries. It was a hot one, but we didn't let that stop us. It was the farms second day of picking, so we had lots and lots to chose from. We went to a section that wasn't picked yet for the day and settled in.

We chose our row of berry plants and started picking. When I put Drew down he was looking around, trying to figure out what we were doing. I moved some of the leaves to reveal the red, ripe strawberries and he dove right in by pointing and picking leaves (yeah, leaves).

It was so much fun trying to show Drew how to pick a strawberry, he just kept going after the leaves since they were on top. He did however pick one strawberry before he realized it was much easier to take a strawberry from Grammies container and put it in Mommy's container. That just made us chuckle. There was some taste testing going on too, but Drew's still not too sure if he likes strawberry's. Also, there was a lot of squishing berries too, but hey, its all part of the learning process! We did take them with us to show Daddy
what we did (besides picking the berries).

Since we did so well at the strawberry patch, we went for ice cream after words. What a perfect Saturday we had!!

Water Works

We have a little sprinkler/pool in our back yard for those hot days. Yeah, the water is freezing cold out of the hose, but that doesn't stop the fun.

Drew will run in and out of the water shooting up from the edges, while he splashes in the pool area in the middle (with help from mommy or daddy to, splashing all together) or he'll move his outside toys into the water.

I am so happy I stumbled on this find last year at the store. We never took in out of the box last year, but this year its used as much as possible. I was thinking about a little pool for Drew too, but this works just fine with amount of in and out he does and we don't have to worry about his foot hitting the side of the pool and falls (he falls enough without the help of the pool).

So, if you stop by on a hot day and we don't answer the door, we are out back playing in the water. Come join us!! Drew loves to be outside no matter what the weather is like, but it sure helps to have some relief for him when its boiling out there (and us with a little splash here and there).

Next Accomplishment

Last week I had asked what was the next thing Drew would accomplish and we received our answer shortly after. He can climb up now!

He can't climb on the couch yet, but if there was something under him to give him an extra umph up, he could do it. If a pillow or something was there, he'd be up on the couch in seconds. The first thing he climbed on with no assistance was our coffee table, then his rocking chair and finally our end table. The end table had assistance, the back of his toddler couch, but he climbed up there all by himself several times in a row starring at Jeff.

Now for me, this is the scariest phase so far. People told me that when he became mobile, watch out! I don't mind the walking, trying to run or being able to push himself on his outside toys, its the climbing that scares me. I'm worried to leave him in a room by himself (especially the living room with all the climbable stuff) for a few seconds and who knows what he can climb up on and get hurt by falling off of in that split moment. But, I do leave the room and see what he does. So far, so good....but how long will that last before he gets brave enough to do his stunts without anyone around?!?!?! Oh, bother!!

A Day of Firsts

We had a great time last weekend. We never made it to Vermont to see family, but that was post-poned due to a graduation party we will attend in a couple of weeks with the same family. So, we decided to combine the visits together!!

On Sunday we went to the antique tractor show and after we traveled a little north to visit my in-laws parents camp. The camp is located in a quite little hill town where its just far enough away and a nice place to relax. There is also a lake within walking distance to the camp too, so we were told to bring Drew's swim gear and we did.

Sunday, Drew had a lot of "first" experience's and it was a blast to watch him go through each one. Let' s walk through each one together.

First time on a ride!

At the tractor show, there were horse back rides, a hay ride, and the ride that we went on. It was a tractor, pulling a long line of barrels cut out to look like cows. There was a tiny seat and just enough room for the both of us to fit inside. They even had a cow bell inside for us to ring. The tractor brought us by the big tractors and around the field area. It was great! Drew kept pointing at things while we rode by and had a smile plastered on his face when ever he saw something that interested him. As we approached the end of the ride, he even pointed out his Daddy and Grandpy to me. It was so much fun seeing him enjoy himself on the ride.

First time on a real tractor!

After the tractor/cow ride, we brought Drew over to the tractors where all the kids were climbing on. As we walked towards the machines, he was kicking his feet (Jeff was caring him) and pointed while making the vroom, vroom sound. He was in heaven sitting up on the big seat, pulling on the gears, moving the steering wheel and making his sound effects.

First Tattoo!

As we were leaving the fair, we were walking by the face paining/glitter tattoo booth. I knew a face painting experience would not go well, but agreed on a glitter tattoo (since my FIL so wanted Drew to get one). We picked out the paw print since Drew loves "Blue's Clues" and asked for blue glitter. Once the women started the tattoo, Drew flipped out. You would have thought we were back at the doctors office for an ear check-up. He was squirming and crying all while this wonderful lady was patiently holding his arm (with Jeff's assistance), placing the stencil, the sticky stuff and the glitter on his arm. The end result was great and Drew realized after all that he had a "clue" on his arm. He was excited.

First time in a lake!

We made it up to Goshen for our visit. We changed Drew into his swim gear and headed to the water. At first he watched Ally walk along the little dock and jump off and so he wanted to do the same thing immediately after her. We didn't allow him to do that of course, but we did let him walk into the water and splash. At one point he wanted to just walk out to where Ally was, fearlessly going into the water with no regards of the danger, but that never happened. Jeff at one point help glide him along the top of the water to have him "swim" and Drew never took his eyes off of Ally. The water was freezing, but he didn't care. He was loving it!

Wordless Weds - What's this do?

Book Love

While Drew plays in his room, I walk in to see what he's up too. He's usually playing with his stuffed animals, toys or foam blocks. Books are all over the place since he pulls them off the shelve once he's up for the day, but that's ok.

I sit in the middle of his floor, indian style. Ask him if he wants me to read him a book while I tap my thigh for him to come on over. He looks all over for this one particular book, he grabs it from where ever it landed and climbs on my lap while handing me the book. The first book in this routine is always, Goodnight Moon.

Drew will sit there while I get through the book, while he helps turn the pages and points things out to me. After we are done with that one, he gets up and searches for the next one. The second one, now-a-days is a toss up between his truck book or the one about the tractor.

It makes my heart all warm and fuzzy how he climbs on my lap, fits just right with my legs crossed, sits with full attention on the words in the book while I read to him.