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!