Summer's Here!

Hmmmm, just WHO is having the better time on this ride?

2 1/2

Happy 2 1/2 birthday to Andrew!

THEN

NOW

When he was a baby, I was so excited for all the milestones that lay ahead, and here we are, enjoying them. He's more my companion now, than my babysitting assignment. Wherever we go, we have little conversations which are adorably silly and so entertaining. Random folks who overhear these chats are often seen giggling to themselves.  He's so big, relatively speaking. I don't know when that happened, but I noticed it the other day and was taken aback by how much of him there is. Its his little baby body, but a cartoony enlarged version.

He's in a super affectionate stage right now. Especially at bedtime, he can't get enough. "Kiss Attack! Again! Hug! Hug Again!"  I'm not complaining, I love every last bit of it and will soak it in for as long as he wants to be cuddly. We normally don't watch alot of TV but tomorrow afternoon while its raining I'm considering watching a full length Disney flick just to get to snuggle up with him under a blanket. Shawn rolls his eyes at all this of course :) And one day when I tell Andrew about this (or when he reads this blog) he'll roll his eyes too.

Andrew finally has shown some interest in Duplos, but not alot unless egged on by his parents. My prediction is that he will not be an architect. However, he seems to have a decent design sensibility. You can see his urban skyscrapers (top photo) and modernist parking garage for his trains (bottom photo.)

Cousins

Cousins Andrew (2 1/2) and Levi (15 months) spent the weekend together and had a blast! So did their Moms and Dads. Despite not knowing each other much, they got along beautifully, as you can see in the photos. We hope to see them again soon!

Race Day

Andrew came out to support us as we "ran for the cure" in memory of his Grandma Audrey. Despite the rain, despite having a fever, I ran a 32:39 race, which is 2 minutes off last year's time!

Oh, a Bird!

This is the conversation that ensued as I tried to coax him out of the car, and into the ice cream shop. a typical afternoon with a 2.5 year old in tow.

Kugel

Andrew devoured a big plate of Grandma Sandy's noodle kugel yestrday. That's 4 generations who love her tasty recipe. Grandpa, I know you read this blog - be sure to show this to her!

Soccer Tots

Each Tuesday morning, Shawn takes Andrew to Soccer Tots. He's in the Teddies class, which is 2 year olds. There's very little soccer that happens at this age; it's more about following directions, learning how to kick a ball, cooperation between teammates. Since Shawn was a varsity soccer player in high school, perhaps Andrew might follow suit?

Wading Pool

Andrew isn't a fan of big pools, so we got him this little one (thanks, Julie!) and he loves it. He spends most of his time scooping water out of it and pouring it onto a dirt pile, then proceeding to play in the mud. He's also doing some more imaginative play and giving his each of his rocks a sip of water from the cup. We spend an hour a day in the pool (ok, he does, I sit on a chair next to the pool and read a book) in the late afternoon.  I asked him to say "cheese" in this picture and indeed he gave me a cheesy smile.

As an aside, he's been very well behaved since our trip to Vegas. Hopefully the terrible twos phase has passed. Or at least will lay dormant for a while. 

Ice Cream!

Before Shawn left for his weeklong golfing vacation (rough life) we had a big ole ice cream party.

The Gordon Sibs

I'll interrupt my regularly scheduled picture of Andrew to post a picture of me with his Aunt Jaclyn and Uncle Adam. This past week we attended the funeral of Andrew's great grandpa, Bernie.  He was my mother's father. He passed without any pain, thank goodness. The day after we returned from Las Vegas was the ceremony. As an aside, if you can believe it, on Monday I was with Adam and Dad in Vegas. Less than 24 hrs later, via 3 separate flights, the 3 of us were reunited at Grandpa's funeral in New Jersey. Plane travel really has made it an unbelievable age to live in.

Its rare that the 3 of us are ever together in one spot, so we marked the occasion with a photo. For posterity, our ages are 33(me), 31(Jaclyn) and 28 (Adam). For the first time, I realize that I no longer am obviously the oldest - we're all pretty much caught up now.

It was a bittersweet day - Grandpa was 92 and lead a good life. He was a loving, funny, gentle man who brought sunshine to anyone who was fortunate to interact with him. Andrew met Grandpa twice, and Grandpa's apartment was littered with his photos (I mailed them regularly as a special treat that he came to enjoy).

Andrew attended the ceremony along with his cousin Levi  - it was the first time that the 2 of them got to spend any time together. Levi is 15 months so its a great age for them to start interacting. I didn't take photos of them b/c it just didn't seem appropriate when there were so many mourners around. Jaclyn and her family are coming to town the weekend of June 2 for our race and we're looking forward to it! Of course pics from that visit here :)

Las Vegas, Part 3

It was fun to see Las Vegas through Andrew's eyes. Everything begged to be touched - colors, textures, lights, water, glass. It was easy to keep him happy - walking through the hotels/casinos combined most of this interests - new discoveries combined with lots of walking.

Las Vegas, Part 2 - Mothers Day

I had a lovely Mothers Day in Las Vegas. My Dad treated all of us to brunch at Simon at the Palms. It was by far one of the nicest meals I've ever had (as it should be, at $50/plate). It was part buffet-style stations, and part menu. Unlimited tastings from each! Andrew really enjoyed their revolving doors, as well as watching everyone splash in the pool.

Las Vegas, Part 1

We had a fun visit to Las Vegas. The day we left, we got Andrew down for a nap early on, so that he'd be well rested for our long 5.5 hr plane flight. Somehow the plan worked,  and the flight was relatively easy. I came armed with toys, snacks, games and movies. I tried to move him to west coast time immediately by keeping him up late, and that somewhat worked, though he still woke up pretty early - 5:15 PST or so.

The first 2 pictures are from a playground we went to early in the morning (the only time to play outside in LV). It was amazing - it was like a small little western town with climbing rocks, bridges behind facades, a sprinkler park, picnic tables.

The 2nd picture is from a train ride we went on - a restored 1914 train, managed by the Nevada Southern Railroad Museum. Andrew LOVES trains. In fact during our visit we went on 3: the restored passenger car, the monorail down at the strip, and a tiny childsized train which went through an area of downtown. Certainly if you ask him, those were the high points of his trip.

"Reading"

Here's Andrew "reading" me one of his stories. Basically he memorizes his books after a few reads, then recites them back. Sorry its a little hard to understand, but if you can make out the text in the book, you should be able to match up his words now and again. Regardless, I just love his cute little voice, don't you?

Parenting Wisdom

A thought shared from my friend Julie: "So one thing that helped to keep me sane through the terrible twos - they always say that the kids act up and test limits with parents at home more than out of the house because they feel secure with you.  They know that they can act up as much as they want and you won't leave or stop loving them.  So the fact that he's willing to act up with you is actually a good sign - it means he feels secure and loved.  :) "

And the fact that my last 2 pictures of Andrew are taken in the tub means that I've been a bit lazy about taking new ones. Today is his 29 month birthday - only 1 more month until he's officially 2 and a half!

Terrible Twos, Continued

As a courtesy to future-Andrew who might be reading this at some point, I probably was a little harsh in my last blog entry. It was just one of those days where you constantly tested limits and ended up in Time Out quite a bit. I didn't mean to imply that you are  being awful all the time. Its just what the books say, you're' going through a phase, testing limits. Many of the blog readers who are fellow parents warned me. I didn't believe them, of course, as you never showed any tendencies to willingly misbehave. But alas, childhood development has caught up with you. 


So parents of wee ones reading this, consider this your warning! Your angelic child will not always be so. I'm SO glad we potty trained him before now, as he'd never be receptive if we did it today. Please consider that a suggestion. Do it either before or after the terrible twos. Our TTs happened to start at around 27 months and expect it to last a few months. This summer, we hope to finish potty training (he still does #2 in his overnight diaper, or underoos....)


I did figure out that he's much better behaved outside our home than in it, so we're spending time literally outside in the yard, or at the playground, or at playdates. We've even got him registered in playschool (parent coop) and this week starting soccertots. He's actually very good at running while kicking the ball, doesn't lose track of it, has good aim. Shawn was a varsity soccer player, maybe there's actual talent there. I think he needs more experiences, and less toys, at this point, and that's part of what makes him grumpy at home. We're starting to do some cooking with him, art projects, and he's helping us with house improvements which he seems to enjoy.


So we'll just embrace this like we do anything else - its part of the parenting experience and I'm sure we'll all come out of is just fine.


On another note, we're off to Vegas on Thursday! As much as I am not looking forward to a 5.5 hr flight with Andrew alone (Shawn's staying home - thank god for the iPad with its apps/movies,) I think it will be alot of fun while we're there. There's an Italian Festival in town, a Childrens' Museum, A Railroad Museum with train ride, all the casinos with their animal exhibits, playgrounds (for the wee hrs in the morning when we're awake with jet lag and its still temperate outside) that will all be new to him.


That's something else we've noticed. He loves exploring new places and making new friends (he automatically approaches kids his age and play with them, shares, has good manners). During those interactions he's VERY well behaved. Parents always compliment us on this. So his more difficult behavior is specifically limited to testing us. Shawn's more strict than I am, which surprises most people. I guess growing up in a gaggle of 3 makes me a little less sensitive to "bad" behavior - to some degree I think its just a kid being a kid.


Kudos to you if you got to the end of this blogpost! Time to go make some scones for breakfast :)

Terrible Twos

We're here, in the Terrible Twos. Where did my lovely boy go? He's been replaced with a kicking, screaming, refuse-to-listen-to-his-parents version of himself. At least 3 isn't too far away.....good thing he's cute, or we may try to return him to the hospital. But I suspect his warranty has run out.

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