Catching Up

I was reading Lea's blog today and she was posting about how they missed a milestone - their 2 month anniversary home. Keith and I had the pleasure of traveling with Lea and John and guess what? We missed mentioning our 2 months home too! Time flies when you're having fun!

This week continues to start with tears but, as I hide outside of his class, I realize the tears only last for about 3 minutes - max. Outside of that, he has a GREAT time. The day care sends the families a "what happened today" email which talks about the lessons the kids learned that day along with pictures of each kid doing something (or a few things). They only send them Monday, Wednesday and Friday but since I miss a good 8 hours of my child's day it's SO great to have those pictures!

So how about a two month update? Here goes!

Potty - Going great! Andrew is still in pull-ups but I think it's time to take the plunge to big boy underwear (which we try to do while we are home). I would say that by the end of this month we should be well on our way to big boy land!

Language (Speech and Comprehension) - All I can say is WOW! I'm shocked each day at how much Andrew can say. He's putting 3 word sentences together and I would say he understands about 90% of what we say (when he chooses to listen, of course!). He is constantly repeating everything we say (which isn't so great for someone like me who forgets a child is around) and seems to remember a lot of what we do and say a few days later and brings it back up.

Attachment - Well, I like to think our attachment is going well. The tears in the morning are a good sign of some separation anxiety and the light in his eyes when I pick him up each day makes me think he likes us. :-) The other day I picked him up at about 5:15 instead of my usual 5:00. He was sitting with the teacher balling his eyes out. Apparently, a group of moms came to get their kids and when I wasn't one of them he didn't think I was coming back. When he saw me he ran over, hugged me in a death grip and said "Home, home, home!".

Sleep - AMEN! The boy is sleeping. Last night he woke up in the middle of the night, but I think the empty humidifier woke him up. We have been getting to sleep by about 8:00 each night and he's napping at daycare for about 2 hours. The good news is that last weekend he napped with us!

Foods - Andrew's favorites right now are macaroni and cheese, pasta, "baby oranges" (mandarin oranges), regular oranges, rice and hot dogs. We seem to be having to urge him to eat his meat lately and I think it's because he's filling up on carbs. I'm going to start giving him meat first, have him eat half and then give him whatever side dish we're having. Cheerios are still his favorite car snack. He is also loving apple juice (diluted with water).

Favorites - ROCKET! My friend Margaret told me about the Litt1e Einste1ns and Andrew fell in love with Rocket. Before he would just watch it for 5 minutes or so and then lose interest. Well, now that we are driving an hour to work/daycare I put it on in the car. The other day I heard this slapping noise and there is Andrew "pat, pat, patting" on his lap to help Rocket blast off! Then I see his arms in the air and he yells "BLAST OFF". It was so cute. The next day I hear a lot of "Yesssss..." or "Noooooo..." "Red door!". He's starting to really interact with the show and seems to be learning a lot of new words and things! I'm going to get Leap Frog Letter Factory based on a recommendation from a friend and do that in the mornings and then Rocket on the way home.

Another favorite is balloons. He loves, loves balloons - ever since his birthday. He loves going to Publix because the lady will give him a balloon. Favorite books: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, The Berenstein Bears Go to the Moon (he's obsessed with the moon), 5 Little Monkeys. Favorite songs: B-I-N-G-O, Twinkle Twinkle. Favorite Word: My

Speaking of "my"... every morning at daycare a few of the boys and girls come up to me and say "My daddy working" or "My mommy working". Well, ever since then, Andrew has been using "my" regularly. At dinner he is usually so excited to be with Keith that he'll repeat at least 6,459 times "MY daddy". He's very possessive of his daddy. If daddy gives mommy a hug, there is a little person pushing in between us to get a hug too.

A few firsts: first football game, first baseball game, first birthday party (pictures below), first time staying with Grandpa and Nana (not overnight... yet!)

Keith and I spent our first day away from Andrew and had a chance to spend some one on one time with Alex. University of VA was having an info session about 45 minutes away so we planned a nice dinner out with Alex and my dad and step-mom watched Andrew. He loved it, they loved it and I loved knowing that I felt okay being out and about without him. Quite honestly, I was a bit unsure what to do at dinner because I only had one thing to cut, one mouth to feed and didn't even go to the bathroom once vs. my 10 times when Andrew is with us!

We had a great time at the UVA info session. Right now it's high on Alex's list. He doesn't really know what he wants to do when he grows up so it's hard to narrow a school down by major. Instead he's looking for somewhere that has a men's swim team, good academics and a good reputation. I think UVA is a great size for him - not too big, not too small. We'll see! He's only a junior so we have time, but I'm all about starting early. We need to figure out his "safe" school, his "dream" school and then a few in betweens.

I have to tell you that it's wild raising a teenager and a 3 year old at the same time. Talk about both ends of the spectrum! On one hand you have homework, girls and sports and the other hand you have potty training, manners and attachment to work on! I wouldn't change it for anything in the world! I have a great life! Since I'm bragging about the 3 year old, I'd like to brag about Alex's swimming! He swam in a meet at Emory on Saturday and swam a 54.3 in the 100 free style (compared to a 1:01.3 last November!). He also swam a 1:03 something in the 100 fly (compared to a 107 in the past!). He's doing so well and is working so hard at it!

How was this for a modge podge post? :-) Here are some pics of the past few weeks!

Walking through the mist at Turner Field

Giving Papa a hug!

Learning the Tomahawk Chop

Opening his first Peanut

Playing the piano at the birthday party

Peek-a-boo!! First time in a jumpy thing!

Happy 2 months home to my baby boy! :-)
Hugs!
Becky