The other night as Andrew and I were coming out of the grocery store he kept saying “ball”. At first I just went along with it and said it back to him. Then I noticed he was pointing so I followed the direction where he was pointing. There it was in a beautiful clear night sky. He was pointing at the bright Moon and calling it a ball. I couldn’t hold my chuckles in as I said, “Yes, that is a ball!” I can only assume at this age, everything round is a ball.

On several occasions Andrew will be playing by himself and all of a sudden it will get quiet. Whenever I look for him to make sure he is okay, I usually find him slouched in his little chair resting. It is really cute and quite humorous to see this little guy just chillin’ as if he were a grown up who is just exhausted from a long day.

Yesterday as we were eating lunch as a family, David asked Andrew if his mac-n-cheese was good. His reply was “yep”. We don’t know if it was coincidence or if he was actually responding with a yes but we both laughed at his cuteness.

I am blessed to be a part of a great community of moms who live on Capitol Hill. We have a listserve where we post questions, concerns, items we want to sell or give away, things that are going on in the community, etc. I have acquired a lot of great things from this group such as a bath seat, double stroller, clothes, a kitchen cart, a toddler race-car bed and most recently a little chair. I really want the Anywhere chair from Pottery Barn Kids but it is over $100 and I can’t really justify that right now.

Here is Drew and Dawgy hanging out:

On Tuesday, Andrew and I came down with a yucky stomach virus. I started feeling nauseated around 9 or 10 am. It came in waves so I was able to manage it pretty well while watching all 3 boys. By 2, I found myself in the bathroom and I will spare you all the details. At around 4, Andrew started throwing up. I called David and requested that he come home as soon as he could. After calling him, Drew and I took a nap until he got home. David was such an awesome husband and went to CVS for medicine and sprite. Whenever he returned, I went back to bed and left Drew with him. He came in after putting Andrew to bed at 8 and said that Drew had thrown up 2 more times while he was taking care of him. After only being asleep for about 30 minutes, we hear gagging in his room and we both run in to find him getting sick yet again. This broke my heart. I held him as closely to me as I possibly could. I had a true Mommy-moment. I didn’t care that I had throw up all over me, because all I wanted was to comfort him. I called the doctor and she told me to give him lots of pedia-lite and after 12-24 hours I could reintroduce cheerios and crackers. That advice was very helpful so David headed to CVS again but this time for our Drew-boy. Wow…all the while, David had to pack and get ready for a conference in San Diego. He left early Wednesday morning after taking care of us and only getting about 4 hours of sleep. What a husband and Dad! We spent all day yesterday in our jammies and took lots of naps. We are doing a lot better today and have even started eating again.

Andrew has developed a love for Dogs (dawdy). He has two that sleep in his crib with him almost every night. He loves these little guys and I am so happy that they can provide some comfort to him. One of them was in the crib whenever he got sick the other night and I am just getting around to cleaning him. Andrew has wanted him all day today but I am trying to let him dry. Here is a pic of his wet dawdy:

All better, Mommy!

Growing up we never celebrated Halloween. Having my own children has kind of changed my views a little. I still understand how it originated and that some people do use the day for bad things, but we wanted Andrew to be able to dress up and participate in festivities around our community. We started the evening at Ebenezers Coffeehouse with our church friends. Every child looked incredibly cute and seemed pretty excited about being dressed up. After spending about an hour with our friends from church, we went over to Eastern Market to Hill-O-Ween with our friends, the Gonzales family. It was packed. I have never seen so many people crowded the street like that. Needless to say, it was a little overwhelming. Not only for the kids but for the adults. We decided to grab a sandwich at Quiznos and then head our separate ways. I wanted Drew to be able to trick or treat at least to a few houses so we made our way down East Capitol Street. If you are not from around here, East Capitol is THE place to trick or treat on Halloween. We are talking THOUSANDS of people going from house to house. It is overwhelming and exciting at the same time. Our little puppy went from house to house almost all by himself. He was such a big boy to only be 13 months old. It was so exciting as a parent to see my child having so much fun.

Here are some pictures:

Andrew and his friend Hazel

He didn’t want her to touch him

Andrew and his Dada

Mr. Serious

I do apologize for the lack of blog updates lately. I have no excuse except that I just haven’t been motivated or have I had the actual time. Thanks to my aunt, Kim, for reminding me that people want to know how Drew is doing.

Andrew turned 13 months old yesterday! Over the weekend he learned to say his name. He went around saying was sounded like “Dew” but it was so cute. He can also say no no, ball, mama, dada, cat, dog, hey, bye-bye and night-night. He also tries to say “David” but it actually comes out “Dadi”. He loves music and bobs his head just like his daddy. Anytime David is watching John Mayer, Andrew will stand in front of the television and watch every move that is made. I have a strong feeling that he is going to be a musician just like his Daddy. On Sunday, I took Andrew and little David into the main service for the last song and they immediately started dancing. It was so cute and I really enjoyed seeing them “worship” in their own way.

More to come later!

Sorry for the delayed report on weaning. We have been completely weaned for about 2 weeks now. With a great idea from my cousin, Beth, Andrew acted as if he had never known any other form of liquid. He loves to drink his milk in his sippy cup and walks around the house while drinking. I have to admit that it was harder on me than I thought it would be. It really makes me feel like he isn’t my little baby anymore. He is turning into a little boy more and more everyday.

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions during this process. It is so great to have wonderful friends and family.

Here are some great pictures courtesy of Andrew’s Daddy!!

I can’t believe my baby boy turned 1 yesterday. On Friday night before David and I went to bed we took five minutes and looked through all of the pictures that we have taken of/with Andrew over the past year. It has been the best year of my life and I have loved every moment with my little boy. I remembered every feeling and emotion that I felt one year ago when I held him for the first time. I still can’t believe he is all mine (and David’s). I love you Andrew!!!!

We gave Andrew a great little Curious George-themed party in the park yesterday. God blessed us with a gorgeous DC day and a bunch of our friends came to celebrate with us. The only thing that would have made it better would have been that our families be here with us. The good thing is that we get to take a little trip to Alabama this week to celebrate with them all.

One Year Ago, yesterday!

So Little at 2 weeks!

Pumpkin Patch at One Month

Handsome Man at 2 almost 3 months

4 Months- First trip to the US Capitol

5 Months- Sitting up on his own already!!

6 Months- First time seeing the Cherry Blossoms

6 1/2 Months- Too cute not to post!

7 Months- Hanging with the Cousins!

8 Months- The Family

9 Months- First time swimming

10 Months- At Auburn University

Unfortunately we didn’t take any pictures in August. I know, it’s a shame!!

12 Months- Big Boy

Some more cuteness at 12 months!!

Over the past couple of weeks my little guy has become very brave and has started climbing EVERYTHING. I have to put the chairs to his table away because if I don’t, this is what happens:

Another cute thing that happened the same day as the chair incident was when Drew woke up from his nap, his hair was sticking straight up. The picture doesn’t do it justice but it was absolutely hilarious.

Andrew has always loved blankets. He has a super soft blanket that his Aunt Megan bought him that he sleeps with every night. Last week, I found him playing with the living room blanket. I can only assume his was playing peek-a-boo with Wesley but he looks like a little ghost!!!

Nathan, one of the boys that I babysit, celebrates his first birthday today. He and Andrew are only 4 days apart and have become great friends. They love each other very much and play so well together. Drew definitely misses his playmate on the weekends and gets very excited on Monday mornings whenever Nathan arrives.

To make today special for Nathan, I baked blueberry muffins this morning. He loved them and it was really challenging to get him to look at the camera because he was focused on his muffin. Here are a couple of cute snapshots: