Sous Chef

We eat alot of granola around here. ALOT. So it occurred to me one day that a)we could save loads of money if we made our own and b) Andrew would be so excited to help. And I was right! We found a fantastic recipe in the Cook's Illustrated magazine and make a batch once a week. Easy Peasy. No raw eggs, so Andrew can dip his grubby (I mean, freshly washed) hands in and do some mixing. He helps pour in ingredients and stir: oats, maple syrup, sugar, cinnamon, salt, vanilla, nuts, coconut. Then we press it into a pan, bake it for a little while and voila, we've got ourselves a batch. The fun continues when we break it up into pieces (what kid doesn't like destruction,) toss in some dried fruit, and store in a big glass jar to admire. Maybe I can turn this into a small home-based business?

Sleepover!

Andrew had his first sleepover last night. Alexander and Westley were visiting from MD and stayed here while their parents attended a wedding. It was a little crazy with a 1, 2, and 3 year old but mostly just fun. They played, ate dinner, watched a movie...and of course there was lots of screaming and laughing too.

Imaginative Play

I'm really enjoying Andrew's active imagination. He's begun to tell me all sorts of made-up stories.

Play School

Today was our first day at PlaySchool! Which is different than preschool. It's a parents-in-partnership program, held in a local church community room (no religious affiliation though). The school runs as a cooperative, twice a week in the mornings. Parents sign up to set up the various stations which are themed by art, gross motor skills, pretend play, quiet time etc. We started the day sitting in a circle, singing hello to everyone, counting and saying letters. While parents set up the stations, the kids pushed around tricycles. There were probably 15 kids/parent pairs. Then after the free-for-all station fun there was a snack (again, a parent volunteers to bring one), followed by playtime with mat, balls, slides etc. All the parents stay and help. Andrew was a rockstar. He tried everything, got along with everyone and loved each part. A few times he came looking for me to show me something fun he found, but never due to missing me (he's hardly an introverted, insecure type - quite the opposite which has its up and down sides.) It didn't seem to matter that we started mid-school year, we'll just keep going til June. Each day has different station activities and themes, so it will be fun to see what Andrew enjoys most. Today he was totally into the sand play and stickers. Not so into dress up or blocks. It will be nice to meet some more parents in the area - the class was heavy on 2 year olds, but accepts through school aged kids. The best part? Its $5/month! You read that right. This is why I love cooperatives, bartering etc. There's no reason that parenting has to break the bank.

Bosley

Bosley still gets in on the fun, despite being blind.

2 1/2

Shawn at the left, Andrew at the right. Guess we know who he looks like. Age 2 1/2 ish. I'm so happy that Andrew still has his chubby cheeks :) Love em!

Bookworms

Today was one of those days where all Andrew wanted to do was read. I think we spent at least 2 hours with Curious George, Thomas, Pookie, Elmo and our other book friends.

Silly Boys

Beautiful Day

It's days like this when I'm so glad to be a (mostly-) stay at home parent. Parks, playgrounds and picnics with my little buddy. Love it!

Thanks, Uncle Adam

Andrew loves his grill - just like Uncle Adam used to when he was little. Great gift, thank you!

Baby Iris

We had a fun outing to the playground with sweet Baby Iris who is already 4 months old! She's cute as a button, sleeps like a log, and has a happy disposition. Just like Andrew was at that age. NOT. Little A was curious about her, but spent most of his time pretending he was a big kid, trying to keep up with them on the jungle gym. See below...

Trains, Still

Andrew is STILL is into trains big-time, a year+ into his love affair. As you can see, we've had to come up with more creative track designs as he's gotten older. Click the picture to enlarge.

Ladies Man

Sorry, Baby Iris, there's another lady in Andrew's life. Meet Isabella. She's the almost-2 year old daughter of our friends Ben and Silvia. We met up with them at the egg hunt, then had them over for dinner last night. These 2 kids are night and day, but play together beautifully. At one point in the evening, Andrew went right up to Isabella and planted a big kiss on her lips! Of course he fumbled the attempt in grabbing her by the neck before the lean-in, which prompted her to scream bloody murder just as he kissed her. It was the cutest, funniest thing I've seen in a long time. That said, he did ask about Baby Iris this morning, so maybe he's just playing the field :) I'll update on that soon, we're off to the park with Alix and Iris tomorrow!

Easter Egg Hunt

A fun yearly event for the Troy tots!

28 months

At 28 months, Andrew seems to be hamming it up, nonstop. He'll laugh at the top of his lungs, tell everybody "Andrew funny! Mama silly!" He's acting more like a 2.5 year old than a 2 year old now - running around with the bigger kids, using big words like refrigerator and appetite (can you tell his world revolves around eating?). Despite what it looks like in photos, his hair is now redd"ish" - its becoming more of a honey color. He is complemented on his colorful curls wherever we go. Even though he still doesn't have much hair at all! Probably the equivalent of a 1 year old. He still seems to be a smart kid - the other day he went through the written alphabet upside down and identified the ones that match rightsideup and upsidedown like little d and little p. There was no prompting - he figured it out by himself. He gives his friends hugs goodbye, shares with everyone, loves surprises and presents, finally eats meat (thank god for chicken nuggets), still is addicted to trains and still is a mamas boy. Some things don't change, I guess. I'll take all the hugs, kisses and cuddles he wants to give me while they last!

Lunch Date

One of the hardest parts about being in FL (I know, life wasn't particularly hard there..) was being away from friends. We finally had a chance to reconnect with Jenn and Laura up at RPI for a lunch date. Lots of fun as usual! Looking forward to seeing them for picnics once it warms up.

The Name Game