Bookworm

Andrew is REALLY into books lately. Yesterday he handed me book, after book, after book to read to him. I think we spent 1.5 hours straight doing it! I'm amazed at his attention span. As you can see, we're still in our pjs long after breakfast has ended - I simply couldn't get him to stop with the books! I know, a very good problem to have.

Summer Fun

It seems that summer has come to a close already. Its now only a high of 75 during the day and down to around 50 at night. We had lots of fun, including a few visits to our local water park! Andrew's on the far left, trying to get the heck out of the sprinklers.

Weaning

Its the beginning of the end, folks. I opted to let Andrew wean himself from nursing when he was ready, and he's just about there. I'm so glad I didn't rush him off, we've had such a lovely 20 months and it is ending as peacefully as it began. He nursed every 3 hrs round the clock exclusively until 6 months, then spaced it out to every 4-5 until 12 months. By 15 months he slept through the night entirely and was only daytime nursing before nap and sleep. And now at 20 he is giving up his sole nursing session that remains. Coincidentally yesterday I told Shawn that I hope he'd be done soon, I was ready to have my body back - what do you know, yesterday he never even asked to nurse. I guess Andrew and I are very in tune with each other :)

Little Monkey

Climbing up Mt. Mama.

Lazy Day

Worker Bee

We already have Andrew watering the lawn for us. No idea where he picked up this trick, must have been watching Pop Pop do it on the farm?

33!

Best birthday gift: a happy and healthy family.

The Artist

Somebody takes his coloring very seriously.

The Farm

A few of Andrew's favorite spots at the Farm.

Back from Ohio

We had a great time visiting Nana, Pop-Pop and Aunt Erin. My friend Meg was kind enough to take a gazillion professional pix of Andrew (a running tradition when we visit), and here are a few of my favorite posed shots. I'll share some candid pix tomorrow that show you around their farm.

Wheeeee!

Big Truck Day

When we heard that Saratoga Springs had an annual Big Truck Day, we knew we had to take Andrew who points out EVERY SINGLE TRUCK we ever pass while driving. He calls them all buses :) Its a day when kids can climb up in the cabs of the truck, honk the horns etc. There were probably 20 there. Sadly Andrew was scared of them! Way too big in person for him to feel comfortable around, I guess. Luckily they had a great little toddler area where the smaller kids could ride trucks, and draw trucks, and play with matchbox trucks. It ended up being a fun day after all.

Still Trying

No luck with Andrew using the potty thus far, but at least he's getting practice sitting on it? PS - the Spud made it to 100 words this week! In the past 3 days alone he's said for the first time: owl, baby, cup, ahyou (where are you?), bert, Ahdoo (Andrew), back, wait, black, and blue. Obviously some serious brain activity going on this week. Might explain the lack of napping. He can't seem to shut down his brain very easily. Poor guy inherited that trait from his Mama.

EJ

Erling Jai Mork (11 months, left) shows Andrew his mad drawing skillz.

View from the Top

Little Boy Invasion

Trevor, Westley, Alexander and Andrew enjoy a summer afternoon in our sandbox.

Language Acquisition

Since writing my post a few days ago, Andrew has added 10-15 words to his vocabulary. I guess this is what is known as the tipping point. Where one word a month becomes one a week, then one a day, and finally an explosion. Here we've got a video of him saying Moose for the first time.

Dizzy

Somebody loves his train set.

A Haiku: 2 Years Gone By

Andrew has your eyes
I wish you could have known him
It breaks my heart Mom

Catch Me If You Can

Jump!

Andrew finally figured it out.

Oh, Yeah!

Andrew's full of exclamations these days. "Oh, Yeah!" now joins "Oh, No!" "Uh, Oh!""Oh, Wow!" "Ow!" and "Yuck!" He is saying roughly one new word each day at this point. The most recent being book, rake, bus and cup. His vocabulary is quite large now - we're going to make a list to figure out how many*. Most his age have 5-20 words, or so. For reference, he had 20 by time he turned one. A little braniac we have on our hands here! Should make for a fun childhood, all sorts of interesting enrichment activities trips for us to do together.

* I actually made this list this afternoon. 76 words! I'd estimate that he understands about double the amount that he speaks.

Alex

Here's Andrew at 2 months and 19 months with our friend Alex. He (and his wife Alix) are regulars around here, getting their baby/toddler practice before their first child arrives later this year. They were among the first to meet Andrew when he was only a day old.

Buddies

With his buddies, the Kilbride boys.

Happy Birthday, Dada!

Mama and I love you!