Well, the summer is officially over this weekend. We survived the shorter daycare hours with lots of help from Grandpa Peter and Grandma Teresa. Andrew had a blast spending some time at the Pizza and Ice Cream Shops. Back to the fall grind. It’s a fun time though, and I like the routine of the days. We love Bison football and volleyball. Ryan and I were down to Ames, Iowa for the football opener. It was fun to just be fans. The plan was to bring Andrew, but we decided to leave him overnight in Minneapolis at Auntie Allison’s house. Grandma, Auntie Angela and Henry were there visiting as well, so he had plenty of fun with the cousins. It was my first night away from him, but all went well and he slept through the night. It would have been really difficult to have him at the game – it wasn’t very kid friendly as we had to walk about a mile from where we stayed. People where parking right there and walking, so we figured we would walk, too. We are back at Allison’s house today to celebrate Cousin Reese’s 3rd birthday this weekend.
I must share a muddy story from last week. Andrew and I went to his daycare picnic on Tuesday. It was a beautiful clear day, so I’m not sure where a mud puddle came from, but just as the teacher was warning me about it; Andrew was stepping in it and falling in! It was the muckiest, stickiest mud ever! Both feet, one whole leg the bottom half of his one piece outfit were caked in mud! Of course, we are at a city park, so the bathrooms did not have paper towels. I used up all of the wipes I had with, but still my little guy was a muddy, messy boy. Not too happy about all of this either might I add. He just wanted to be held and snuggled, but I tried to carry him away from me. Finally, I realized that I was covered in mud, too, so I might as well scoop him up. Off to the car we went – I stripped him down to his diaper and we headed home to get straight in the tub. Ryan was going to meet us there – so I texted him saying we were on the way home. A few more tears were shed as Ryan and I gave him a quick bath. Of course he was probably starving since we skipped out on the picnic, so after a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, he was good to go again. Thank goodness they don’t remember these things too long and all it takes is a good dose of pb & j to feel better.
Andrew understands what we are saying now, and is listening to our requests to put something in the garbage, get your shoes or hat for outside, let’s go to the car, etc. He knows a lot of his body parts and points them out on us or himself or pictures in books. He will find eyes, ears, mouth, teeth, nose, hair, fingers, hands, toes, feet and tummy. We are still working on the trickier ones like elbows and knees. He is working on more words and we are able to know what he is trying to communicate as he points and gestures to help us figure it out. He will say an “ick” sound for anything dirty or a mess. Even a drop of water that falls out of his cup will be a mess and he wants it cleaned up. He likes to wipe down the tray of his high chair after he eats to get all of the crumbs pushed out of the way.
Andrew loves to be outside playing. We are not looking forward the cold weather coming where he has to be bundled up to go anywhere. His favorite thing to do outside is to watch Dad throw a ball up on the roof and wait for it to come down so he can chase it. He also likes to play tee ball, although he is a one handed batter. He is always sure to wear his baseball hat. He loves his hat and loves to try on daddy’s hats, too – of course they are a little easier to get on since they are bigger.
We were able to find a second hand swing set, after looking at ads all summer. The people we bought it from are farmers, so they brought it right over all set up and put it in the backyard. How nice!! It is a Step2 plastic one, so it wasn’t too heavy. The kids of the family were with, too straight off the football field, so they were eager to help. We are still trying to decide where its permanent spot will be. Andrew likes to swing, play underneath in the little fort, go up the ladder with a little boost, and go down the slide. We also got a play house that my sister had found in the cities at a garage sale. Andrew loves going in and out the door and opening and shutting the windows. It’s always a big surprise to see us when he opens the windows. We love the cheap entertainment of peek-a-boo. He also enjoys playing hide-and-seek. For instance, if he has his hands under a blanket, and we say, “Where’s Andy’s fingers,” he pulls them out with a huge smile on his face. If daddy or mommy went upstairs, it’s fun for him to find where they went.
Grandpa and Grandma Lindsay loaned us their bike trailer for the rest of the summer, so we have been on a few rides. We even took a trip to the Moorhead DQ for a treat. There are some neat bike trails along the river. Andrew doesn’t make a peep. We are going to have to invest in one of those for next summer.
He still loves reading books, mowing the lawn with his pretend mower, shooting hoops, playing with cars, drawing with crayons or markers, stacking things up and knocking them down. He is getting to be more of the climber – getting up onto the lower couch in the sunroom or the foot rest. He loves to drink out of a straw like mom and dad when we are out at a restaurant. He is branching out on the foods he likes including more vegetables and meats, but his favorites are still yogurt, bananas, crackers, oranges, spaghetti, chicken nuggets, and KETCHUP!
He has just gotten his I-teeth this last week. That brings him to a total of 14 teeth. He hasn’t been too crabby when cutting the new teeth either. He was gnawing on his gums a little bit, but that’s about it. He is okay at getting his teeth brushed if he can have a turn after mom or dad brush them first. We have a pretty good bedtime routine, but it isn’t so strictly at the same time every night – we want it be flexible because once volleyball and football games start up, we want him to be able to be there for the whole game. Thanks for checking in with the Perreaults. :)
