18 months

A year and half!  Do I have to say that my baby is already halfway to being 2?

We had a whirlwind November and December has been crazy as well.  In November we were lucky enough to have my family come and celebrate Thanksgiving here in Birmingham.  Mimi, Doc, and Aunt Clare all made the trip, and I know Andrew was especially happy to get to spend time with the Dempsey side of the family.  Lots of hugs, laughs, and cuddles were had by all.

Doc might be his favorite person!

Hanging out with Aunt Clare

We also enjoyed our first tripe to the McWane Center.  Andrew had a good time, but we had a problem with not wanting to leave certain areas with fun toys/games to move on to others.  He especially had a great time playing in the Clifford the Big Red Dog exhibit.

One of the other fun things we did was meet Santa for the first time.  This Santa was at a small store which is why I think Andrew did so well.  The next time we met Santa, however, was a much different story.

Andrew is finally starting to talk much more.  He can say Mimi, Doc, Papa, but still can't say Gram.  I am sure it will come soon.  He also learned to say his own name which comes out something like "Andew."  He continues to be a pretty good eater, and now that his molars have finally come in, he is enjoying chips and black bean dip when we go eat Mexican food!

More to come in the 19 month post!

17 months

I am behind..... nothing new here, right?

Is it possible to freeze time, because I would really like to do that right now.  I can't believe my baby is so close to being halfway to being 2 years old!!  He is growing like a weed, and developing quite the personality.
We had a fun filled October with lots of Halloween fun at school and with friends.  I picked out his Halloween costume on a whim as I was feeling the pressure to get something quickly.  Who knew it would be such a hit!

Surprisingly, he loved his costume and wore all the components including his hat and the bag of golf clubs.  It seems at school he was quite the "ham" during their party allowing quite a few people to take photographs and posing for nearly all of them!

We also had a great time at the Dumontier house with lots of our friends, enjoying a great dinner, and seeing so many other adorable Halloween costumes.

Halloween night Andrew went trick or treating for the first time with his cousin Owen.  He was so sweet to Andrew and "showed him the ropes" of how to get lots of candy!

Finally, Aunt Clare sent us a super fun package in the mail that contained Bat-shaped crayons and a big pad full of white paper ready to be turned into masterpieces!  Thank you Aunt Clare!

Stuff for Mom to remember:
Words:
Momma
Daddy
More
Please (sounds like "me" though)
Thank you
Ball
Ollie
Dog
Bird
Ruff Ruff
Nose
Shoe
I swore he said Aubie once!

Loving:
Manderin oranges
All other fruit
Ketchup
Tater Tots
Chicken fingers
Crackers
Nilla Wafers
Broccoli (at times)
Lima beans (at times)
Pancakes
Waffles
Syrup on the above 2 or anything else for that matter
Hot dogs

Hating:
Getting his nose wiped
Changing his diaper
All other vegtables
Riding in the stroller for any length of time
Being contained in any way!

Also, we have had a tough bout with teeth this month.  I am willing ALL of his teeth to come in at one time because he is such a PILL when a tooth is cutting through the gum.  He has become quite the biter at home and at school.  I hate seeing him in so much pain, but luckily Motrin works well with controlling the pain.  This to shall pass, right? :)

See you next month!

16 months

I am overdue, as usual, on Andrew's 16 month post.  We have had lots of fun in the past month with a visit to Krispy Kreme and taking a ride on the carousel for the first time.

We did not make it to the "real" pumpkin patch this year due to a little fever virus that hung around for a while, but we did go down the street to a church that had a "mini" pumpkin patch.  Andrew was able to walk around and pick out his own pumpkin.  Despite what the pictures may portray, he did have a pretty good time!

He is really starting to show his personality, and I fear he may have inherited my slight type A/OCD tendencies!  Oh well, I guess the apple does not fall far from the tree!  He makes it known what he wants when he wants it, and that is that!  He still gives great hugs so I suppose that makes up for it, right?

Other things of note:

• can give you "five"
• can give you "knuckles"
• says "Ollie" but won't say "dog" ?? 
• loves music 
• likes to stack and organize toys
• LOVES tater tots and could eat them morning, noon, and night!
• likes waffles with syrup
• loves cheese and calls it "deeees"

Until next month!!!

15 months

Andrew went for his 15 month check-up last week and was the lucky recipient of 4 shots!  He actually handled it quite well, considering the quantity of pricks he had to endure.
His stats:
Length: 31 1/2 (I think)- about the 50th percentile
Weight: 25 lbs (75th percentile)

I informed Dr. H that we were having a hard time keeping up with Andrew and his need to eat any and everything ALL of the time.  He laughed and just said that he would stop eating so much by 18 months and become a picky eater.  I suppose he knows something, as he has been in this game for a while, but this kid loves food.  We shall see.

 
We also hit a big milestone with Andrew's first haircut.  I received quite a bit of flack for cutting off his "curls," but the boy was working on a riotous mullet and it needed to be dealt with!  He actually did very well, and sat in Jeremy's lap and enjoyed his sucker.  

He started his new class at Harris this month and has made the transition quite well.  We love his new teachers, and we love the fact that they e-mail us a picture of Andrew nearly everyday.  It is a quite rowdy crowd with 7 boys and 3 girls, but I think they (the girls) are holding their own quite well.  He is now sleeping on a cot at school, which makes me somewhat sad that my baby is not in a crib.  Here is a cute picture of him thinking that he going to school; it was Saturday henceforth the diaper and no pants!

He now says a few more words.  He says Mama, Dada (although when he is calling for Jeremy he just shouts "DA"), more, bye-bye, and ball.  His receptive language is impressive, however.  He follows very detailed instructions and understands most all of what we say; he just chooses not to speak a lot in return!  All in due time I am sure.

He and Ollie are tolerating each other although I think Ollie is growing weary of this little human that keeps taking his bones.

Until next month!!!

14 months

A quick 14 month post.  Andrew will be moving up to his new toddler class next week.  There are 10 kids in the class; 3 girls and 7 boys!  His two sweet teachers are in for one long year!

Favorite Foods:

- He is still happy to eat any and everything, but he especially loves any kind of cracker and grilled cheese sandwiches.  He also loves fruit of any kind.  We are getting ready to switch him from whole milk to 2%, because our little budda is coming along just fine in the weight department.  

Other things of note:

* He now loves to lay in Ollie's dog bed. He lounges around like it is his throne!

* He loves having Mom or Dad push him around the neighborhood in his car.  

* He loves playing with toys in his water table.

* He loves to swing outside.

* He loves bath time and drinking the water from the tub!

* He gives the best hugs!

* He gives open mouth kisses 

* He does NOT like to watch anything on T.V.  I have tried to entice him with lots of educational DVD's,    but he is not interested.

* Jeremy has to take Andrew with him every time he takes Ollie outside to go potty.  He waves bye bye to me when he "leaves" to go outside.

Words:

- Still not saying many words.  He knows ball, which he pronounces "BAAWL", with a heavy southern accent.  He will say Dada, and apparently only says Mama when I am not here.  Who knows!  He follows directions very well and points to things in recognition.  Jeremy and I also swear we have heard him say "brown bear" in relation to the Brown Bear Brown Bear book.  I know the words will come soon, and I will be wishing for those quiet days back!

- He can point to his nose, ears, and sometimes eye.  

Every month he learns so much, and we are having so much fun watching him grow.  

13 months!

So much to catch up on, and so little time to do it!  Andrew continues to grow like a weed...... or a brick.  He has not been weighed for a while, but I am pretty sure he is about 26 or 27 lbs.  He is definitely NOT a held baby as your arm starts to burn after just a few seconds of holding him.  He continues to eat like a champ and has yet to full on deny any food that we have offered him.

Showing off my beer gut!

We have had a busy month with going to lots of birthday parties, lake fun, first Happy Meals from McDonalds, eating yogurt, and just generally having fun.  He continues to be such a sweet baby who is always happy to give a hug or blow a kiss.  He has made quite the number of "girlfriends" at daycare because he gives out the "best hugs" according to all the ladies who work there.  

We have been hitting up our fair share of birthday parties this summer.  What we know..... this child LOVES cake, cupcakes, crackers, and juice boxes!  It is a good day for Andrew when he gets to go to a birthday party!


He is walking like crazy and is becoming increasingly difficult to keep up with.  He is still sleeping like a champ which Mom and Dad continue to appreciate.  He is starting to say a few "words" like "ba" for ball and sometimes will say Mama, but ALWAYS says Dada.  He knows baby sign language for "more" and we are working on a few other signs for please, thank you, milk, and water.  When you ask him what a cow says he is so cute and says "oooh."  We are missing the "m", but at least he tries.  


Favorite toys right now would be a toss up between any ball and his toy car.  He LOVES to take rides in his car around the neighborhood.  I am sure he would let us push him forever if it was up to him.  


He has also found great fun lounging in Ollies' bed.  I can't get him to get out, so I just don't fight it!

Andrew, you continue to make your Dad and I laugh more and more each day.  You are keeping us on our toes and we LOVE it.  

1 Year Old

I have a one year old!  Goodness, how has one year already come and gone.  Andrew continues to be such a blessing and joy to our family, and I can't imagine life without him.  So much to catch up on and write about...

We have a walker!  Andrew finally started taking serious steps right before his first birthday.  Baby gates are up in the den so we can keep him somewhat contained, although I am sure in no time at all he will figure out how to climb over the gates!

We are also 100% bottle and formula free!  Little man drinks whole milk now, and instead of a bottle to bed he gets a bottle after bath time.  It actually all went down much more smoothly than I was thinking, which is wonderful for Mom and Dad.

In terms of teeth we still only have two bottom teeth, but he has about 5 top teeth.  He is also on 100% table food.  We make a point to have him at least try the food Jeremy and I are eating for dinner each night, although some food still ends up on the floor where Ollie is ready and waiting to eat up.  He LOVES Ritz crackers, vanilla wafers, ALL Fruit, spaghetti, green beans, squash, tomatoes, mac and cheese, chicken, french toast, beef tips, and of course grilled cheese.  So far, we have a pretty good eater.  I can only hope it continues.  Last weigh in on his birthday of 24 lbs lets us know our little man is very well nourished!  

He will move up to his next classroom at school in August, but not before we have our first parent/teacher conference with his teachers from his current classroom.  I find this somewhat humorous as I am anxious to find out what we can actually chat about at this age.  We shall see!


Andrew had a great 1st birthday party.  I decided to go with a Curious George theme, and I feel like everything turned out pretty well!  Our resident photographer, Auntie Clare, was here as well so of course I have several great pictures to share from his special day.  All photos below courtesy of Aunt Clare at www.77prints.com

What an amazing and wonderful year it has been.  I don't think Jeremy and I could have imagined how much we would love this little guy, and every night I thank God for our little Miracle.  


I will end with the song I was listening to in the car right before my water broke.  I was thinking as I was listening to the lyrics that this is what I want for Andrew's life.  I want him to live each day to the fullest and  to let his little light shine!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ii2THk_yR3Q