Shawn, at Andrew's age

Paternity confirmed.

The many faces of Andrew

Pics courtesy of Racheli, taken at playschool. Even as a baby Andrew had all sorts of great expressions. Still does!

A Little Jig

A Little Tune

woa woa woa your boat (not sure about you, but i had to turn my volume all the way up to hear this.)

Thanks, Nana!

Here's Andrew modeling his new bathrobe that was handmade by Nana.

Long Car Ride

Andrew was a champ on the 12 hr car ride to and from Ohio. He napped, ate, sang, played and used the ipad. Not a single unpleasant moment! Seriously. Awesome.

Curl Humor

Today at the co-op someone said to me "Your kid has great hair, he's a little Art Garfunkel!"

Mr. Snuggles

Andrew is such a cuddler. When he's not playing with trains, he's inviting me over for hugs or snuggles. Top pic is Andrew and I spooning on the couch, watching a movie. Bottom is an impromptu armpit nap.

Holiday Lounging

We spent 2.5 weeks with Shawn's parents in Ohio. Andrew enjoyed himself as usual:  played with lots of toys saved from Shawn's childhood, ran around their 18 acre farm, opened gifts. We didn't take many photos this year (Pop Pop has a bunch on his camera I need to get a hold of) but these two pretty much sum up Andrew's days: art projects (pipe cleaner glasses) and snuggled under a blanket, watching a Thomas movie.

More Trains!

This kid LOVES his trains. I think this is his fourth set - his first Chuggingtons. We've taken a few of the Chugger books out of the library as well. Thanks for the great Hanukkah gift, Great Grandparents Sandy and Sol! Tomorrow I'm taking him over to the local kids science museum where they are having a train expo, he'll be so excited about the surprise visit.

The Dentist

Who knew visiting the dentist could be so much fun? Its worth noting that he did not get a cleaning, but was merely watching Shawn and I get ours cleaned. Then the tech, who adores Andrew - he's been invited to our appointments since he was an infant - let him play around with the equipment, much to his delight.

Then and Now

9 months (top)

 3 years (bottom)

As they say, household items are just as fun as store bought toys.

Zzzzzz

Someone didn't make it through the movie.

Happy Birthday, Aunt Jaclyn!

1/3 of the Gordon Sibling Tribe is a year older today! Happy 32nd to Aunt Jaclyn.

Dylan

 

Dylan and Andrew live a few hours away from each other, so only get together a few times a year.  Our most recent visit was mid December at a kids indoor playplace halfway between our homes. His mom, Amy, is a good friend of mine so its such a treat to have some time in person to chat. Below is a photo of our first meetup in June 2010. Its worth noting that both Moms have caught up on their sleep since then - I forget how run down I felt that first year until I see an old picture of me. Yikes!

Hanukkah

Wow, I'm way behind on blog posting. Sorry about that hiatus, it just wasn't convenient to upload photos from Ohio. We had a great few weeks - I'll post pictures of our holiday fun soon.

And welcome, if this is your first time checking in - I posted a link on Facebook so I expect some extra traffic. On the left side of the page you can navigate to any year/month/day that interests you. Bookmark me, add me to your RSS feed, etc. I promise cuteness daily if you need a smile!

So back to life....

Before we left for Ohio, we were invited to a Hanukkah party at my friend's house. Andrew helped light the menorah and make the latkes. He loved watching the dreidel spin and opening gifts. These friends who invited us are new to Troy (and RPI) from Israel and we really like them, and their 9 month son Eitan. Hopefully you'll see more of them on the blog in 2013...and hopefully they are reading this :)

In Ohio

Just letting you know that we arrived safely and will post some pics once things quiet down. Merry Christmas!

Holiday Cookie Party

 Thanks to Nana for the great homemade apron! (Dada's got a matching one)

We attended a community holiday cookie party this past weekend. We showed up late so instead of doing the rolling/cutting/baking, we got to do the decorating! Andrew love smearing the frosting on, then dunking it in a pile of rainbow sprinkles. I was impressed that he only ate two of the twenty he must have decorated, the kid's got willpower.

Christmas Tree

Its no secret that I'm not a practicing Jew. Nor am I a Christian, but as a family we have decided to partake in the secular celebration of Christmas since we go all out with Nana and Pop Pop in Ohio. I've always had tree-envy. So now that I have a kid, its the perfect excuse to fill this little void in my heart. Andrew loves the tree. He turns the lights on and off, rearranges the ornaments (which are one that Nana-sewed, circa 1980s). Plus we have a super special star on top - one that Andrew made at his friend Alexander's house over a year ago when he was just figuring out how to play with stickers and markers.

Great Gift

Andrew has been playing with his new Trackmaster set since the day we got the gift. Aunt Jaclyn generously bought more track and an additional train. Great birthday and holiday gift everyone, thanks!

Stats

Andrew remains firmly in the 25-50th percentile range for height (36.5") and weight (31.5lbs). He's a healthy kid, has only been to the Dr for one sick visit every year since birth. He's on target physically and ahead intellectually. Our biggest challenge has been his diet, so I had a nice chat with the pediatrician about ways to get him to try new things, and how to best round out his current menu which basically consists of all breakfast foods!

Party Pics

Here are some pics from Andrew's 3rd birthday party here at home with our RPI gang. Lots of playing around, catching up with our friends and laughing at how silly our children are.

Last Toddler Day

Goodbye to the 2s! Tomorrow marks 3 years since Andrew found his way into my life. I had alot of fun making this little timelapse collage (click to enlarge). I'm always intrigued by the aging process. How faces stretch and grow, colors change, and character develops through expression. Andrew's my muse in that regard :) We have 2 parties at our house this weekend - one is for the girls, and one is for the boys. Should be fun!

First Snow!

Andrew woke up, saw the snow, and immediately said he wanted to play outside. So we bundled him up and spent the wee hours of the morning sloshing around in an inch of the white stuff. He couldn't have been happier. I, on the other hand......well, at least he was happy :) I do admit relief that he wanted to be in the snow. I've had nightmares about having to keep him indoors all winter.

Family Portrait

Here we are. This one is the best of the bunch. The outtakes are pretty hilarious.

Buddies

While in  MD for T-giving, we also had the opportunity to visit with our friend Julie at her new house. They have a great homemade train table that the boys really enjoyed.  The adults had time to catch up and eat lunch together. We miss them!

Birthday Party #1

While we were all together in MD, I thought it might be nice to have a family party for Andrew's 3rd, since we're rarely in the same location at once. I also invited our friend Julie and her sons to join us as they were Andrew's BFFs when they lived in Troy. They conveniently relocated nearby my sister! Left to right is Cousin Levi, Friend Westley (those two are born the same week), Friend Alexander (9 months older but an entire head taller than Andrew), and the birthday boy.

The party was at a local Carvel Ice Cream Shop where we got behind-the scenes tours and tasting. Nobody seemed to complain. He were are sampling ice cream, toppings and fresh waffle cones.

 More fun was had with birthday party Bingo, and decorating-your-own cake. A messy endeavor.

We sang to Andrew, who of course sang along, and pointed to anyone but himself while singing happy birthday to  "YOU".

Parties 2 and 3 are up here in Troy on the 7th and 8th. Ones a girls party, one is a boys party. Totally different behavioral expectations :) Andrew is super sensitive with the girls, and super rowdy with the boys.

All in all I have to say I'm perfectly happy faring well the terrible twos. Onto new adventures!

Horsing Around

Thanksgiving, Part 2: The cousins had a fun time when Andrew wasn't tearing trains out of Levi's hand. Here they are horsing around on Uncle Adam's bed. One kid would scream and the other would mimic. It was pretty funny.

Back Home

We spent Thanksgiving weekend with my family in Maryland - lots of photos taken so I'll spend the week sharing them. Here's a Thanksgiving dinner picture of the cousins, Levi (20 months) and Andrew (just shy of 3 yrs).

Goodbye, Bosley

This year I'm thankful for all the time we had with our Bosley, who went to a new home this past weekend. As much as Shawn and I loved him, Andrew never felt the same way towards Bosley, and sadly the feeling was mutual resulting in both an injured dog and and an injured child. His new home has no children, pug siblings, and adults who stay home most of the time - all of which should make Bosley alot happier than he was here. We love you, Mr. B; I'm so sorry we couldn't keep you.

TV Time

Hot topic: How much times does your kid get in front of the TV? At our house we use it as down time. If Andrew clearly needs a rest from physical or tactile play, we let him watch a show. Usually once in the morning, and once in the afternoon. Current favorites are Thomas the Train, Bob the Builder, Curious George, Pingu, Word World and Super Why. On occasion, if he's having a really hard day and needs some snuggle time I'll let him watch a little more. So I'd say 1 hr daily for sure here. But look at that photo - see how much he loves watching his shows! I hear him laughing at the tube when I'm in the other room. So it can't be all that bad.

First Pony Ride

Not a big hit.

Thanks, Nana!

Nana sent over a care package a little while ago that included some handsewn shirts (so cute!),  a halloween book (curious george, andrew's fave) and a collection of papers/stickers that comprise a DIY pumpkin-card-making-kit. Here's his first creation! Thanks, Nana - you know Andrew so well.

35 months old

I'm pretty sure that after a kid turns 3, nobody really cares about counting months (except his Mama of course). Still, each month that passes brings new milestones just as it did in the beginning. This past month Andrew has started asking lots of questions. Not the "why" variety yet. Most of his questions start with "do you" or "can i". He even changes the inflection of his voice for the last word of the question - he raises it almost an octave. Pretty funny. Looking at this pic, I just can't believe what a big kid he's turned into. And I know that I will look back at this picture one day saying I can't believe what a small kid he used to be! Such is the nature of time. Here he is one year ago today:

Halloween

I can't believe I forgot to post about Halloween. This year, when Nana asked Andrew what he wanted to be for Halloween, he said a ghost. I think he got the idea from the Clifford's Halloween book. So here he is, in Troy's Washington Park, enjoying a Halloween party in his handmade costume! It swished so beautifully as he moved, just like you'd imagine a ghost would. His favorite line to say was "Boo! I'm a scary boy."

 We met up with baby Iris at the park who is already 11 months old! She was dressed up as Andrew for Halloween, in his sweater and shoes :) They had tons of fun rolling around in the leaves.

And of course we went trick or treating around the neighborhood with Juni the witch! All in all it was a fun holiday. Shawn and I gladly partook in "National Parents Eat Their Kids Candy Day" on November 1.

Cousins

This past Sunday we met up with Elise and her boys. The little ones got along beautifully - we spent the day at the Mid Hudson Childrens Museum. I'm always surprised at how much she and I look alike even though we're second cousins (our mothers were first cousins). Guess that makes the boys third cousins, wow!