Andrew & Leah

It’s been waaaay too long since the last Perreault update. This spring is just flying by even though the weather has not been ideal, I think it is finally feeling nice and sunny and I hope the snow is gone for good.

Andrew had a great 3rd birthday. He is really into it now and gets the concept that birthdays mean cake and presents. He woke up to a decorated dining room with a happy birthday sign and balloons all over the place. He had a special blueberry muffin – his favorite -- with three candles for breakfast. He got to wear his all time favorite jersey that just so happens to have a number 3 on the front. The kid loves wearing sports “uniforms.” He just told me the other day that we really need to buy some more uniforms – as if he doesn’t have enough. He loved opening all of the presents and getting mail. He asks nearly every day now if any mail came for him. Both Ryan and I visited for lunch and brought cupcakes for dessert. They were basketball inspired cupcakes (see March pictures). I thought for sure he would want the number 3 jersey cupcake, but he wanted both of the nets…he got one at school and one was saved for home. We had Pizza at Sammy’s for supper. We got to sit up front at the round table in the corner – a special place reserved for birthdays as the back table aka “Papa Pete’s table” is where we typically sit. He got a trike and we are happy to finally get to use it. They have trikes at daycare and I can tell that he has practicing as he is finally figuring out how to make the pedals go around. He also got a bigger basketball hoop. We thought maybe the old one could go outside or downstairs – oh, no – we had to keep both hoops in the playroom, so he can have a full court. Many, many “games” and “practices” have been held there. He will mostly win the games, but some of the time he won’t win – “the other team made more points.” He really likes it when Dad pretends to be the radio announcer and do the play-by-play. I find it funny, too!

Around Andrew’s birthday we also found out that NDSU planned to close the Center for Child Development where Andy goes to daycare. The community of NDSU rallied together in support of keeping the Center. The President of NDSU ended up reversing his decision for now and will keep it open/funded through June of 2012. The future is still yet to be determined. In the meantime, Andrew was offered a spot at Sanford, where Leah goes and I work. It took a lot of thought on what we wanted to do, but in the end we chose to switch Andrew to Sanford. He will make the transition in June. We loved NDSU’s Center, but we know Sanford will be a good place also – we already know some of the teachers since Leah goes there and they are top notch. We took Andrew for a tour there today and he was very interested in all of the different areas and he especially liked the outside play area. I’ll update again after the switch in June.

The big news is that Andrew is totally potty trained. It was quite easy for him actually. One day he just pretty much decided that he wasn’t going to wear diapers anymore. Then he decided that he wouldn’t wear diapers or pull ups when he was sleeping either. He has had a few minor accidents – usually when he having too much fun and forgets he has to go or his aim isn’t as refined as he’d like it to be. But he has stayed day through every nap and overnight. Yeah!! We are still working on being totally independent getting up on the potty -- he still needs a little bit of help with that especially when he has a button on his pants. Thank goodness he likes to wear those elastic waist “uniform” shorts now.

Andrew is a chatterbox and has such a funny personality. We can’t believe some of the things he says. He went to Sunday School Too (pre Sunday School where the parents attend with the children) at church and he was so shy! He didn’t say one word or sing any of the songs…and he loves to sing. Until another little boy sat on the letter “A” on the rug with the alphabet going around. He thought that was HIS letter and went into crisis/meltdown mode when it wasn’t a choice. He did finally join the other kids if I sat right next to him. The nice teacher asked that it be saved for him after the snack, too, so he was much happier when he got the letter “A.” Next time, we were sure to sit on the alphabet rug before any of the other kids went over to it. (What smart parents we are – you know sometimes WE have a lot to learn, too and our children are our teachers!)

Andrew also really enjoyed Easter this year. The kids and I went to Nana and Papa Lindsay’s house. Ryan had to work at home baseball games. (That is one thing that really irritates me about Division I – holidays are never spared like they were in Division II athletics.) We were looking out in our backyard the other day and there were 3 bunnies. We are the only neighbors that don’t have a dog to chase them out of the yard. Andrew said maybe they are taking a break from Eastertime.

Andrew and Ryan also did swimming lessons this spring and plan to do one more parent/child session this summer before he goes on his own. He is getting much braver and had a really fun time going down the water slide on the last day. I think swimming is such a valuable skill, so I’m glad he is more comfortable in the water. I cannot believe the hand-eye coordination Andrew has. He can hit a whiffle ball off the pitch and is even learning how to soft toss, too. He can sometimes even catch in a baseball mitt. He is getting to be a good chipper too since Papa Pete brings out the golf clubs every time we are over there. At school he likes to play soccer and keeps telling me that we need to get a soccer net and ball for at home.

Leah, Leah, Leah. She is such a monkey. She likes to get into everything. She loves to crawl and she is getting really fast. She makes a total beeline for the bathroom if the door is left open. She just loves to get into the drawers, garbage can and tries to check out the toilet. If we are down in the kitchen, she makes her way to the steps. She can go all the way up but has no idea how to get down yet. She likes to climb and will use her little chair as a step and try and get up on top of the coffee table or whatever it might be next to. She likes to wave hi and bye now, too. I just love when the little ones learn how to wave – so cute. She will wave bye-bye to all of her friends at school when their moms and dads come and pick them up. She is getting verbal now, too. Mama ma ma ma and dada da da da are frequently heard. She also says tic-a-tic-a-tic-a. We think this means tickle tickle tickle, especially since Andrew always tickles her on her tummy. She just LOVES Andrew. He can instantly get her to smile. All he has to say is “Leee-ah.” Andrew loves her, too. He knows that he’s her favorite.

Leah is an excellent self-feeder. In fact, she likes it so much, she will not eat baby food or anything else from the spoon – she would much rather do things herself. She will eat pretty much anything, but her favorite right now is American cheese. She went grocery shopping with me yesterday and I she saw that I was buying some American cheese slices and we almost didn’t make it after that because she wanted some right now. She also likes to drink from a sippy cup with a spout, but at school they get to use straws. For a while she would have a new shirt on every day when I pick her up because she spit out her water – she’s been good now since I brought her a waterproof bib although her pants seem to be the ones getting wet/food on them now instead. Oh, Leah!

She had a tough week a couple weeks back and had to miss some daycare days. She had a double ear infection and a high temperature. It was scary high – up to 104 degrees at one point. For 3 days, the fever would go high once the Tylenol and/or Motrin wore off, so we kept those going around the clock. Poor baby just wasn’t feeling well either – she would sleep all day long – so we knew that she wasn’t feeling herself. Then the fever just broke suddenly, and she was back to cheerful Leah. Thank goodness!!

Leah is getting close to walking now, too. She can really scoot around by lightly holding on to the furniture or holding mom and dad’s fingers. I cannot believe that she will be 1 year old next month! I suppose I better start planning her birthday party.

As for the summer, we don’t have anything too big planned. We are going to squeeze in a couple short trips between Ryan’s work conference and umpiring schedule. We are planning to get away to the cities in July with the Lindsay cousins to enjoy some kid friendly activities and have fun at the hotel which has a really neat pool. After we get back, Grandma Connie and Grandpa Dave are planning to visit for a few days.

Thanks for checking in. I’ll try not wait so long between this update and the next one.