Andrew & Leah

Leah turned 3 today.  We have had some celebrations over the weekend.  She picked out a Sleeping Beauty Cake and we celebrated at Sammy's Pizza. 

Some of Leah's Favoirtes:  All of the Princesses, but will say Sleeping Beauty is her favorite.  Minnie Mouse.

Color: Pink and Purple

Foods: Pizza, Hamburger Hotdish, M&M's

Activiites: Immagination Play -- Dolls, cooking in her kitchen, playing with princesses; riding her bike, swinging.

We started out the month with a trip to Southern California.  It was a great time.  It was a little rainy and the kids were tired from being up early when we arrived on the first day, so we took our rental car to Pasadena, California to see where the Rose Bowl was located.  It was amazing to see how to the streets are so narrow in the area around the stadium.  I can’t image that place on New Year’s Day, but we do want to visit one day and go to the Rose Parade and game.  This time we just settled for looking at the outside of the stadium.  In the near future they will begin giving tours of the inside, but we were a little early in the year for that.

It was beginning to clear up, so we took the opportunity to check out the Pacific Ocean.  We stopped and Huntington Beach.  The beach was empty due to the cooler and even colder water.  Andrew and Leah searched for seashells and found some neat ones.  We did dip our toes into the water and had fun with that until Leah got knocked down by a wave.  She pretty much got soaked head to toe.  It will be her memory of the ocean for a long time.

We checked into our hotel near Disneyland and California Adventure and walked to a nearby restaurant for dinner.

We spent the next 3 days at Disneyland and California adventure.  After being at Disney World a couple of times, it was neat to see the difference.  It was awesome to walk right over from our hotel and not even need to travel by bus.  The park entrances are right across from each other making park hopping easy.  One huge advantage of Disneyland was the ease of meeting characters.  They would just suddenly appear or you would turn the corner and they would be right there.  We enjoyed meeting, Peter Pan, several of the Princesses, a couple of Fairies as well as Mickey, Minnie and the gang.  Disneyland is basically super Fantasyland at Magic Kingdom.  Highlights for the kids included the teacups, the old fashioned cars, Peter Pan, It’s a Small World, Dumbo, Astro Orbiter.  Andrew also went on the Matterhorn, Big Thunder Railroad and Splash Mountain with mom or dad.

Carsland was amazing.  It looked just like Radiator Springs and they even lit up the neon at dusk just like the Cars Movie and the same song played as the movie as well.  The only downside was that Leah could not ride on Radiator Springs Racers because she was not tall enough.  Andrew rode it three times -- once in the morning with mom and once with dad followed by a nighttime ride with mom.  We waited for an hour in the evening, but it was worth it and Andrew was very patient in line.  The lines for the rides in Cars Land were very long as it was still fairly new.  We had a plan there right away when the gates opened and that seemed to help a lot.  We also enjoyed the Adventures of the Little Mermaid, Toy Story Mania and the Big Ferris Wheel.  We saw Fantasmic the final night.  It was awesome.  That was followed by the fireworks.

Andrew graduated from PreK.  They had a fun event at his Pre School, Sanford Child Development Center.  They sang a few songs, then Miss Becky presented them with their diplomas.  It was a very cute celebration. Can’t believe we will have a Kindergartener this fall.

Andrew is 5 year old!! Hard to believe 5 years have passed since Andrew made us a mom and dad, but on the flip side, it’s hard to remember life without him. It’s funny that right around his birthday, March Madness kicks off because the kid is so into basketball right now. He’s taking his first basketball lessons right now at the Fargo Basketball Academy. He’s excited to play a real game this week. He’s off to Kindergarten this fall. We went through the registration already, so he’s all set to be a school-ager. He is very focused on numbers…always counting everything, keeping track of the score at games and counting down the time, etc. We’re amazed by his addition and subtraction skills over and over. He will figure out the point spread of a game, even into double digits sometimes. He gets that from his dad.

We had a triple celebration again this year. The Axness kids came for a visit this weekend prior to Andrew’s birthday. Andrew and Leah always have fun with them and at bedtime on the day they left Andrew was so sad because he was lonely without his cousin Isaac.

Since Ryan was gone on Andrew’s actual birthday to the Summit League tourney, we celebrated with a trip to Space Aliens, which was Andrew’s pick since they have the arcade games.

We went to Sammy’s on the actual big day. Leah and mom were there. Nana and Papa drove down from Crookston, and of course Papa Pete and Grandma Teresa were there. Andrew also got to invite one friend, so we had his buddy from Pre-K Benson come with. They had a great time and even played a few games of memory while the adults visited. We like the fun little tradition of sitting up at the front round table -- a place we normally don’t sit. Andrew switched it up this year on his pizza choice and did Kosher instead of his usual favorite pepperoni.

Some of Andrew’s favorites:
Color: Yellow
Teams: NDSU Bison, MN Timberwolves, Vikings, Steelers (likes their Logo)
Foods: Homemade BBQ’s, Pizza, Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches, Hot Dogs, Cereal and ice cream sandwiches
Songs: Bison Fight Songs and School Song, Anything on the Kidz Bop CDs (Favorite is Close to You aka the “Force Field” song) – he sings along
Activities: Playing basketball, Cutes and Ladders, with his Football Guys figurines, games on the Kindle, restaurants with arcades, bowling
TV Show/Movie: Rookie of the Year – basically sums him up funny and sports-related, Scooby Doo, Wipe Out, Toy Story, but would prefer a live game over anything else.

Leah is 2!! Our little snugglebug is two years old. She is such a sweet little girl. We celebrated with our cousins in the cities with Henrick and Marcus who have summer birthdays. Leah was spoiled with gifts and we had a pizza party and ice cream cakes from Culvers.

On her actual birthday, we went to church and had brunch at Perkins. We returned to Fargo to have a birthday party at Grandma Teresa and Papa Pete’s house with a Minnie and Mickey Cake. Lots of aunts and uncles and cousins celebrated with us. Auntie Alisa and cousin Charlie were there and Auntie Steph, Uncle Matt, cousins Bryce and Elle were here before they left to live in Japan for a few years while Uncle Matt is stationed with the Navy there.

Leah brought treats to her daycare class. She brought her favorite snack – string cheese. They made her a crown with a big number 2 to celebrate.

Some of Leah’s favorites:
Color: Pink
Foods: Spaghetti, M&M’s, Pancakes
Songs: I Like to Move It, ABC’s, Happy Birthday, The Hot Dog Song
Activities: Playing with her dolls, reading books, Ring Around the Rosie, Playing chase with Andrew
TV Show: Mickey Mouse Club House (She loves Minnie)

Andrew participated in the Fargo Marathon Youth Run. It was a half mile run on the road next to the Fargodome. Ryan ran with him and Andrew ran the whole thing with no breaks. Leah and I cheered them on. He got a medal for his efforts.

Auntie Allison ran the half marathon on the weekend. We cheered her on and had our usual potluck lunch afterwards at the house.

We went to Brooklyn Park to celebrate Easter with the Axness Family. Allison and I made the big noon dinner…a first for us. We did a good job with Ham, Chicken Things, Mr. Dells Potatoes and corn. The kids had a fun Easter Eggs hunt in the yard. Each kid had their eggs a different color – Andrew had green and Leah had pink. Reese’s eggs were hidden in the trickiest spots and Leah’s were so easy – that Easter bunny must have known who would be able to find them. The weather was so nice. In fact it was the mildest winter that I ever remember.

(Written by Ryan)

Thursday, March 22, 2012

I stayed home from work all day to clean up the house and pack my bags. Mom came home early from work and by 6:00 pm we picked up the kids at daycare and at 6:30 we were on the road to drive to Minneapolis to stay at Brian and Allison Axness’ house to catch our plane to Orlando early the next morning.

Friday, March 23, 2012

We woke up at 4:30 am to get in the car and drive about a half hour from Allison and Brian’s house to the Minneapolis airport. It was a 3 hour flight and at about 11:30 in Orlando we took the Disney Magical Express bus to our hotel, the All-Star Sports resort. We got to our room, our bags arrived and we went to the Magic Kingdom. We had lunch, at the hotel before we left, and dinner was at MK. Everybody went on the Winnie the Pooh ride, but Andrew like the speedway race cars with me the best.
Mom and Leah went to find a spot to watch the Electric Magic Parade and there was a big fireworks display after. Both kids slept in their strollers all the way to the bus, and on the ride to the hotel because it was almost 11:00pm. Leah really got tired and fell asleep earlier in the day, too. It was a long day for everybody.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

We woke up at 7:15 and ate breakfast in our room using cereal from home and milk from the café. Good thing, because the hotel eating area was busy! We took the first bus to Animal Kingdom and took the African Safari. There were lots of animals – tons of giraffes, some elephants, rhinos, and birds everywhere. Andrew like the end the best when we found out some “poachers” got caught with our help chasing them out, and a “baby elephant” was saved.
We saw a Lion King tribute performance with characters and live actors and gymnasts. Leah slept for most of it despite the good, loud music. After photos with Meeko, Goofy, Minnie and Mickey we had lunch and some baby ducklings walked by our table. Then we brought some Mickey Mitts on the way to the bus and everybody took a nap back at the hotel.
We got on the bus again around 4:00 to EPCOT and went on Under the Sea with Nemo and Friends. The seats were clams – Mom and Andy in one, Leah and me in another. Then our dinner was at the Coral Reef where the table is right by a window so you can see fish, sharks and scuba divers go by. We went on the clams ride one more time, then to the Mouse Gear store for Andrew and Leah’s ears. The night ended with Spaceship Earth, the ride in the big giant golf ball thing at the main entrance of EPCOT. Andy liked seeing our photos on the screens in the car at the end. Both kids had baths and went to sleep back at the hotel.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

We woke up early to take the 8:15 bus to Hollywood Studios. Mom had a plan and it worked. Tons of people were there half an hour before the park opened, and we wanted to go on the most popular ride, Toy Story Mania. I went in line as fast as Andy and I could get there, and mom and Leah got Fast Pass ticket before joining us in the line so we could come back later for another turn. It was a great ride where you could shoot targets, and I got over 100,000 my second time. Andy got 18,600 or so. We had to wear 3D glasses to see the targets.
After that, we went to see Buzz Lightyear and Woody across the street, but the kids were very scared. Lunch was at Pizza Planet where we got to play a Lil Hoop Shoot basketball game and some skee-ball before going to see a Beauty and the Beast Live Performance. We liked that better than the Lion King show. There was also a 3D Muppets show before lunch in Hollywood Studios, which was a little bit scary at times for the kids, but very cool effects.
It was nap time at the hotel and since we had been to all the parks, we decided to go back to Magic Kingdom at night time. We did lots of rides for everybody starting with a Monsters Inc comedy “Laugh Floor” show where Leah got shown on the video with a caption “Daddy’s Little Monster” and they read “Andrew from Fargo” ‘s joke that mom had texted to the show before it started. (What did the clock do when it got hungry? It went back four seconds!)
After the show we went on another Buzz Lightyear game ride, the Mad Tea Party, the People Mover ride exploring all of the Tomorrowland, and also did Dumbo the flying elephants. Dinner was at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café. It was almost time for fireworks but we left to get back for bed a little early.

Monday, March 26, 2012

We got up early to go to Magic Kingdom for breakfast at the Crystal Palace buffet with Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and Eeyore. They danced around the restaurant to music and then visited each table to take photos and sign autographs. After breakfast, we walked to nearby Adventureland for a photo with Tinkerbell and then went on the Aladdin Magic Carpet ride which was a lot like Dumbo the Flying Elephants. From there we went to Frontierland where Disney’s Splash Mountain is. I had Fast Pass tickets for Andrew and me to go, and it was about 20 minutes ride in a “log” car that has a 50 foot drop at the end. Luckily we were in the backrow of our car, so we didn’t get as wet as the others. The morning ended with a Jungle Cruise back in Adventureland. We had taken the Frontierland railroad around the theme park to Future World and Fantasy Land to see “It’s a Small World” but the line was way too long. We needed rest.
Lunch at the hotel cafeteria was very slow service so after mom was in line for about 45 minutes, we took the food back to our room. The kids both had good naps on the bus back from Magic Kingdom and in their strollers, so we had about a half hour of swim time in the hotel pool (the smaller of the two) and also spent our complimentary 100 points in the hotel arcade. Andrew was very sad when his points ran out and he couldn’t play “Lil Hoops.”
Evening was at Downtown Disney where we made custom Rice Krispy treats dipped in chocolate and candy. They were very sweet and messy, and we couldn’t finish them. We picked out some things at the World of Disney Store and then ate at Earl of Sandwich for dinner. After a quick stop in the Team Mickey sports store, we took a really crowded bus back to the hotel and went to bed for the night.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

After a few breakfast snacks at the hotel, we went to Magic Kingdom again to go on rides and started on Splash Mountain. Andy loves it even though he is barely the minimum 40 inches tall. He went with me once and mom once, and I took Leah on Aladdin’s Magic Carpet Ride again during the wait. Since it was slower in the morning, we were able to see, “It’s a Small World” before taking the monorail to the Contemporary resort for a brunch buffet at Chef Mickey’s. We got to meet and take photos with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto and Donald Duck. They all autographed Andy and Leah’s books. We took the monorail back around to Magic Kingdom and bussed to the hotel for nap time. Later in the afternoon we return to the MK after naps and some packing to get ready for Wednesday’s early departure. I had gotten Fast Pass tickets in the morning for Peter Pan’s flight, so we started with that ride before dinner at Tony’s.
We spent the last evening doing all of our favorite rides including the Mad Tea Party cups, which was Leah’s most fun. I went with Andrew on Tomorrowland Speedway and Goofy’s Barnstormer roller coaster, and we went over to Splash Mountain for our final run in the dark! Mom spent some of our unused snack allotments to buy treats to bring home, like graham crackers and Mickey shaped Rice Krispy bars. We all met by Winnie the Pooh’s Adventure for another ride on that and later at around 10:00 we watched the Wishes fireworks display behind Cinderella’s castle which kept us turning our heads back and forth to see the whole show. Mom held Leah because she was scared. I held Andrew so he could see both sides of the fireworks show easier. He was really scanning the sky with his eyes in amazement. Both kids fell asleep before the bus arrived, because hundreds of people were lined up waiting. We even declined a spot on one of the busses because we wanted seats instead of standing room which would have been hard with two bags, two strollers and two sleeping kids. It was after 11:00 pm before everyone got to sleep and we had an early wake up call in the morning.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Stephanie and I woke up around 5am to get ready and get the final items packed for our long trip back to Fargo. I checked our bags and got our airline boarding passes at the Disney curbside desk before we boarded on the Disney Magical Express to the Orlando Int’l Airport. We were there by 7:30 for our 9:30 flight and went through security before getting some breakfast food in the terminal.
We boarded on time and Leah sat with me in the window seat so she could enjoy seeing the clouds. She and Andrew watched Toy Story 3 Movie on mom’s laptop. Leah took about an hour-long nap, too. Our bags were waiting for us on the carousal in the Minneapolis when we arrived. We drove our car to Davanni’s for pizza at lunchtime in Eden Prairie. They had a neat Coke fountain that I had never seen before – there was a touch screen to pick your soda and flavors. I tried an Orange Coke, Cherry Coke and Regular Coke. We filled up with gas and stopped at the Axness house to see cousins Reese, Isaac and Marcus for about an hour of play time and looking at photos. Andrew was very sad when it was time to leave. We stopped for dinner at Perkin’s in Fergus Falls and made it home by around 8:00 pm. Both kids had baths and it was time for some rest in our own beds.

What a trip!

Happy birthday to Andrew! We had fun celebrating. Dad was out of town on Andrew’s actual birthday, so we celebrated with our family by going out to eat at a restaurant of Andrew’s choice. He picked Space Aliens of course for the games – he loves to play basketball anytime and when you get tickets even better! After dinner, we opened presents at home. He had a school celebration with his friends. He chose to bring yogurt over cupcakes! Can you believe that kid? What a healthy choice. He got a crown in Bison colors and a big number 4 on it.
On his actual birthday, Nana came to visit and we had to keep the tradition of celebrating at Sammy’s Pizza with Grandma Teresa and Papa Pete. Andrew got his very own pizza. He picked pepperoni. He had chocolate milk to go along with it, also a tradition. Grandma Teresa had a mini birthday cake for him. He thought it was so neat and shared a piece with all of us. Having the sweet tooth that he does, the cake was followed by an ice cream cone from Charlie’s, too.

Some of Andrew’s Favorites
Colors: Green (and gold) – Bison colors
Foods: Pepperoni pizza, pancakes, waffles, spaghetti, chocolate milk
Songs: I Gotta Feeling by Black Eyed Peas, anything from Jock Jams
Activities: Playing basketball and baseball, reading books, Playing chase with Leah
Movies: Monsters Inc, Toy Story, Despicable Me

January 2012
Ryan and I went to the NCAA National Football Championship in Frisco, TX to cheer on the Bison. The kids stayed with Nana and Papa in Crookston. It was the first time Leah had stayed the night away from mom, but she did just fine of course. The Bison won! It was a great, quick trip and Ryan was very busy with his work while we were there, but I was glad that I could go.
The rest of the month was filled with Bison Basketball games.

February 2012
We had a celebration with cousin Isaac for his birthday in Fargo. The older kids had a blast the Fight the Frost event at the Fargodome… it was basically all the big inflatable games set up for the kids to enjoy. Andrew must have went down the giant slide 20 times. Andrew had his first trip to the dentist. He did awesome for his first time in the big chair. The kids and made a trip to Minneapolis to celebrate the 30th Birthdays of Auntie Allison and Auntie Angela. It was fun to get together with the cousins again.

Andrew had his first Sunday School program today. He did so well singing all of the words and doing all the actions. He was very well behaved too.

Our NDSU football team is going to the FCS Championship Game. They won three home playoff games the last three weeks -- Exciting times in Fargo. It's fun to have the buzz about the Bison! The championship will be January 7 on ESPN2.

Leah says everything! All of her teachers names, Bison, doggie, kitty, bear, cracker, church and on and on. She's a little chatterbox.

The Elf on the Shelf has come to our house. Andrew believes in his magic. His name is Chick, but I think Andrew wants to rename him, so we'll see what his name ends up being next year.

I'm really looking forward to Chirstmas this year -- Andrew is really into it and really excited. He like to wrap presents with me. He's in charge of the tape.

More updates after Christmas!

The family is doing well. We are busy every weekend attending NDSU sporting events and it seems like the evenings go so quickly now, especially with it getting darker soon after work now.

Andrew is doing well. He is a big kid now in the 4 year old room at his preschool. They do an amazing job with the kids. He’s getting to be buddies with quite a few of the kids, and it’s so fun to see his friendships develop. The majority of the class is boys, so it’s fun for him to be around.

Andrew has loved this fall full of football games, tailgating and volleyball games. He is still so attentive at the games. Now basketball starts, too so we will add those into the mix. Those are a little bit later nights, so it’s a bit harder to have little sister out so late, but we will manage.

Andrew was a blue monster for Halloween and really got into trick-or-treating this year. Last year he was shy and wouldn’t say much after ringing the doorbell. This year he was yelling trick or treat right out and he was on to the next house in a hurry. Leah was a cupcake. She DID NOT like her costume at first. Once we got outside and started with the trick-or-treating and she got to ride in the wagon, she liked that. Then she got to go up to a few houses and choose something out of the treat bowl…boy, did she like that. Then the wagon didn’t seem so fun anymore… she walked the rest of the way. The weather was perfect and the kids didn’t have to wear coats. There were so many kids out and about. It was just so much fun. Andrew’s favorite part was coming up to the house where his teacher Shawn lives. We didn’t know she lived there, so it was a nice surprise to see someone we knew behind the door.

Another thing that is fun with Andrew is that he is really starting to get what is funny now and I like his sense of humor. For instance, Andrew and I watched the Sound of Music…on comes the part where Captain VonTrapp whistles all the children to march down…he just loves that part. It’s so funny to watch his giggles. He also is into movies that aren’t cartoons now, too and really follows the story.

One of the challenges with Andrew is that he gets a little too rowdy sometimes and it’s hard to get him to tone it down especially around Leah. It’s typical boy type behavior where he just won’t leave his little sister alone. Leah is a spitfire, too so she won’t back down either. She pushes him away when he invades her space and eggs him on, too.

Leah is doing well. She moved into the older infant room at daycare. She is doing well and learning how to eat using a spoon, which makes much less mess at the dinner table. Her favorite food is yogurt, but other favorites include blueberry muffins, waffles, and pasta of any kind. She also likes cheese and crackers. He favorite treats include fruit snacks, plain m&m’s and chocolate chip cookies.

Leah continues to be very vocal and adds new words to her vocabulary every day. Although she can say “daddy” she prefers to call Ryan, Andrew and I all “mommy.” She also likes to call pretty much all animals “puppy.” She does know what everything is though if we ask her. She can point to everything. She loves Mickey Mouse. It’s good to have a few episodes on the DVR for those really crabby times, it seems that can put her into a better mood.

She LOVES her little doll. Along with her blanket, it’s her comfort toy. She loves to wrap her up in a blanket and rock her. She has also been asking to go to bed lately. She loves to rock a bit before bedtime and really snuggle in. We’re still working on getting her to sleep through the night. It seems like she will have a good night, but then Andrew will wake up instead of her. Now if we can just get them to both sleep well on the same nights.

No snow here yet in Fargo. It’s snowed a few times, but not enough to stick around. We might start December without snow. I’m sure it will come.

Leah has a few words in her vocabulary... Her first word was "hi" and she says it to people she knows and doesn't know.
Some of her other words:
Daddy
Andy (but hard to tell the difference between Daddy)
Mommy
Bear
Doggie
Ball
Baby

She is starting to communicate in other ways as well. Leah will nod yes and no for things she wants or doesn’t want. She will also use some not verbal communication, too such as asking for more with the sign language as well as pointing and gesturing to things she needs or desires.

Leah is a pretty happy girl, but she has her moments when the diva attitude comes out. Usually when she gets in trouble or doesn’t get her way. She just can’t seem to forget and pouts about it. Uff, hope this doesn’t continue until the teen years.

Leah is also in the process of leaning steps... Up is no problem, but down can be tricky. She really likes to walk down holding on to the railing although I would rather she sit down. Of course, she has her own ideas about how she should do it.

She is a little snuggle bug and likes to cuddle in when she’s tired. She will lay her head down on your shoulder or her blanket. I love that I have a snuggly little girl, but the downside is she seems to like the snuggles in the middle of the night best. This leads to her waking up during the middle of the night and not wanting to go back into her crib. Even if she falls asleep right away, she wakes right up when I try putting her back down. She prefers mom over dad as well which is very tiring, but it’s so hard to break her of the habit of being held while she’s sleeping. I hope this phase will pass quickly.

Andrew is getting ready to move to the 4 year old preschool room already this fall. He will also be starting gymnastics in September. He will go with other kids from his pre-school as part of the morning. Awesome! He is getting along well at Sanford Daycare and talking about some of his friends as well. He has a lot of boys in his group, so he really enjoys all of the boy playtime, although one of the little girls is his favorite friend -- probably because she's a tomboy and as cute as a button.

Andrew is very active guy still with baseball, basketball, football and soccer being his favorite activities. He really likes movies, too and really follows along not especially with the humor and laughs at the funny parts now. He is very interested in maps, especially the United States. He has a puzzle of the U.S. and he will put that together with some help. The western states are easier for him.

Being three, he has a mind of his own now. He will get frustrated if he is told “no” and is always trying to negotiate. One day he didn’t like the response from mom and dad and out of frustration said, “Stop staying that to me, you make me use my mean words.” He has so many funny expressions. He often brings up Santa now. He really wants a baseball catcher’s mask and a catcher’s mitt. He asked me if I would tell Santa for him, and I was explained how he could sit on Santa’s lap and let him know about what he wanted for Christmas. His bottom lip started quivering... “Mom, I don’t like his beard!”

We decaled a yellow helmet to look like a Bison football helmet. Andrew brought it into his preschool to show the teachers since he had been talking about it nonstop. One of Leah’s teachers asked if he was going to be a football player one day, and he said, “No I can’t. I’m going to be a daddy.” Awww. He thinks he will be just like his daddy, so he will be in the pressbox, therefore he can’t be a player. It’s hard to explain how he can do both in his life. :)

Figuring out the concepts of work, money, age and time are difficult. It’s always, “I will do that when I’m bigger… when I’m 4 years old.” Although it is often something that is will take a lot more waiting such as driving the car or going to college.

Thanks for checking in... busy times coming up, but some of the best times of the year. We love Bison football and volleyball seasons as well as the nice fall weather Septemeber brings.

Leah is walking officially. She is having fun with her new found skill. Prior to walking she already did not like to sit still, so now it's a real trick. Just had to note the milestone!

We have a ONE year old on our hands. How time flies, Leah! You add such joy to our lives. We had a fun time celebrating in Crookston. Leah was like most one year olds and didn’t care about the presents. She did, however, like the frosting on the cake. We were able to catch a visit with Great Grandma and Grandpa Perreault the next day, too. They happened to be in town for a party, so we met for lunch at RBJ’s.

Leah is a full blown table food eater. We’re still just letting her eat finger foods and she does really well. She isn’t too picky, but sometimes she won’t be hungry. She loves American cheese slices. I think she will turn into a little mouse if we let her have as much as she wants. Some of her other favorites are hamburger hot dish, spaghetti, grilled cheese, hot dogs, cereal, bread, noodles, bananas, pears, and pineapples. She also likes to drink out of a sippy cup. She used to spit it all out and make a mess (for fun), but she is pretty good at drinking it now after she found out I would take away her cup if she spit it out. She will also say “uh” after dropping something (meaning uh oh.) She waves her hands if she wants more and will also point at things she wants now. She will still bring out her diva squealing – so if she isn’t happy about something, you know it.

Leah is oh so close to walking. She will use anything as a crutch now to stay on her feet and move around. She is very occupied by her new ride on/push toy as it get her where she wants to go. Just these last couple of days she has gotten to be more of an explorer in the playroom. She’s all over the place checking everything out. She likes to get in Andrew’s way now, too. He’s not too sure about that, but he does like a playmate. He quickly forgets that she is still little and gets a tad too wild and rough around her. It’s hard to tame an energetic preschooler.

Speaking of preschool, Andrew is doing well at his new school. He’s got one week in the books. After the first day, the teachers were amazed how quickly he adapted. They said it was like he wasn’t even the “new kid” on his first day. He joined right in. The toughest part was going potty as the toilets are a little bit bigger than he’s used to. Aim is important when you’re a boy, especially when you’re trying to balance. His class has all three year olds or soon to be three year olds and there are lots of boys in the class, so he loves that. They will often have outside time with the 4 year olds, too and he keeps right up with them playing all of the different sports and games. He has started “teasing” more at home and I think that’s related to being a preschooler. He is getting better at some of his self-help skills, too. He is independent on getting dressed (except for harder things like buttons, tying his shoes and starting the zipper, etc.), going potty, and washing his hands.

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.

We cannot believe that we have a 3 year old on our hands. We have a fun day planned for Andy. Will definately post some pictures and a recap after the big day! Please leave Andrew a message in the guestbook...we'll read him all of the messages and save them in his baby book. :)

Happy February!! We have been busy… not with anything in particular, but having two kiddos makes busy parents.

Andrew is doing well. He is a sports junky! It seems like a broken record, but it’s what he loves. It’s basketball season, so he’s busy shooting hoops all of the time. He plays out a full game on his “court.” There’s the Star Spangled Banner (which he sings), the basketball game (which he is the public address announcer), half time (where he sings the band songs), more game, time outs (where he sits on his bench and wipes off his sweat with his blanket/towel). Most of the time he will win the game, but one time he did tell me that he didn’t win because he missed a lot of shots. So funny! He loves going to the games, too. He is so well behaved, watching the games for a lot of time, but also playing with his little matchbox cars. He lines them up in many different configurations. He also likes the make artwork with stickers. He is getting to be pretty good at peeling them off himself, too and doesn’t need much help. He can make a letter “A” but sometimes it’s upside down or sideways. He recognizes so many of the letters, but A, L, S, and R have special meaning for him. :) Speaking of the letter S and R, he knows that mommy and daddy’s real names are Stephanie and Ryan. Andrew was particularly frustrated with me one time (I don’t remember what for, but most likely telling him he couldn’t do something) and he says, “No, Stephanie, I don’t want that!” It was so hilarious and caught Ryan and I both off guard. He is maturing with bedtime, too. He is now laying down by himself and falling asleep on his own.

Leah is learning so much. She is on the move. Not crawling, but seems to be a scooter. It’s not very apparent that she’s moving unless you step away for a few minutes and she’s in a totally different location from where she was when you come back in a few minutes. She can stand on her own if you stand her up next to something she can hold on to. She is doing okay with solids, but she just isn’t a big fan of baby food. She might be one of those kids that doesn’t do much baby food and moves on to table foods. Our pediatrician said not to worry and it will come with time. She has tried puffs and Cheerios. She likes to feed herself, but that pincher grasp isn’t totally developed yet. Leah is she is a horrible sleeper, which is a bummer. She is still up several times per night to check in with mom. Lucky mom, right? I was so hopeful that she would be one of these babies that I hear the stories about sleeping 10-12 hours in a row. Oh well, this too shall pass. Leah reaches for things she loves, including mom and dad for them to pick her up. She gets so happy when she is picked up. Leah loves, loves being held. I guess that’s one way she knows that she will be in the same room as you. She does not like being left alone. Even if she is playing upstairs, and we go down into the kitchen within sight, it’s not good enough. It’s not so bad – I’m glad she likes us. ;)

Thanks for checking in.

We had a very nice Christmas. We had lots of different get togethers. Of course the kids were spoiled (mom and dad, too.)

Papa dressed up as Santa as he does every year to bring presents to all the little kids at our gathering Sunday. I had warned Andrew in advance, but he was still scared when he saw him. He warmed up a little more after he heard his voice, but still wouldn't get too close.

Leah has two bottom teeth now. She had her 6 month check up. She is doing well. She started more foods now. She was doing well with baby cereals, so we added some baby foods. So far, she is liking the new flavors. She's sitting up on her own for long periods now. She still loves being held the best though...that way she can be in the middle of everything -- such a social bug.

Andrew has been showing his independence. He is very strong willed and has his own ideas about bedtime. Often he says I am not tired and will say things like “I don’t want to go to bed ever in my life!” We know he is tired, but it is challenging to get him to go to sleep. Unfortunately, he is very tired the next day and that’s when we see the behavior we don’t particularly like or a meltdown might happen. What he wears is also very important to him. He only wants to wear his “uniform” which is a basketball jersey with matching pants. Another popular choice is his Vikings jersey or Bison jersey. He prefers to wear his Bison shorts, but if he must wear pants, he will have to have them rolled up when he gets inside to make them more like shorts. This is all very frustrating for Ryan and I that he won’t go along with what we tell him to do, but we know it’s part of growing up and he is just trying to take control of what he can. This too shall pass! (We hope!)

Other than that, Andrew is a chatterbox and loves to sing songs. He will often make up different words for the songs, too. For example, Ba Ba Black Sheep have you any “lawnmowers?” He loves going to Bison games and especially enjoys the marching band. Andrew loves flags. He has an American flag and a Bison flag will march around with them. Of course, mom and dad usually have to provide the music by singing the songs the band plays at the games, but he is getting pretty good at singing the melodies and knows almost all of the words of “The Star Spangled Banner.” We are working on potty training. He will only go #2 on the potty chair – nice not to have those poopy diapers anymore. It’s a totally a different story on pee though. He won’t go at school and will never tell us when he has to go pee only. Someday!

We are amazed with his memory. Just the other day, Ryan and Andrew picked up some pizzas at Sammy’s and he turned and saw the round table up front. We usually don’t sit up front, but we did for his birthday party last year. He goes, “Remember singing Happy Birthday right there?” This was about nine months ago and we really haven’t talked about it since! Wow! He went on to say that Nana brought cupcakes with a basketball on top and that Nana, Papa, Grandma Teresa and Papa Pete sang Happy Birthday. It is amazing the amount of details he can remember.

Leah popped out a tooth! It made its appearance November 20th. The second one is coming soon as we can see it under the gums. She is also enjoying the upright world now – she’s sitting up on her own since Thanksgiving weekend. We like to put the Boppy around her just in case, but she really doesn’t need it much. She will also like to sit in her exersauser and play, but only if someone is in the room with her. Luckily Andrew is usually in the playroom shooting hoops or singing a song while waving a flag. She is eating rice and oatmeal baby cereal now and doing well with that. She really likes the oatmeal. We have her 6 month check up on the 14th, so I’m sure we will get the go ahead to add in some fruits and veggies, too. Leah doesn’t like to stay up late though like Andrew did as a baby. This is a little more difficult to go to basketball games. Don’t even think about leaving early though – that’s out of the question for Andrew. :)

We had a nice Thanksgiving in Champlin at Auntie Allison’s house. Andrew, Leah and I went to the NDSU-Gopher basketball game the Wednesday before (and Ryan, too but he was working so didn’t sit with us.) They were very good at the game and we were lucky to sit by our friend Owen and his family. Andrew thought Goldie the Gopher was pretty funny especially when he used a cheerleader’s megaphone for a tee and hit a homer. Ha! We came home in time for the 1st ever Bison Football playoff game at the Fargodome. We got our Christmas tree and decorated that weekend also. Andrew is much more into it this year and the little tree that was in his playroom had to go in his bedroom this year. He doesn’t really care for Santa though and the whole “you better be good so Santa comes to our house” doesn’t work. His excuse is Santa is “too big.”

Have a great Christmas season!

Whoa, time flies with two little ones at home!! Leah has changed a lot since our last update. She is in daycare now. She is doing well there. She did have about a 3 week long cold – that actually turned out to be more than a cold since it didn’t clear up without antibiotics. Now she is doing much better. Finally she started getting back into her sleeping pattern with long stretches at night. She had her 4 month check up. She is right on track with things and got an A+ from the doctor. She gets her feet into the air when she’s on her back and rolls to one side, but not completely over. She doesn’t mind being on her tummy, so not in a big hurry to roll on to her back either from the tummy position. She is very vocal and social. She loves being talked to and it almost always brings a smile.

Andrew is doing well. He is starting to go on the potty chair now. We will see how it goes…it seems like it will be a slow process. He is becoming more independent and seems to have his own opinion on what he should or shouldn’t do… especially when it comes to going to bed or getting dressed in the morning. He is getting really good at coming up with reasons to stall… “Just one more picture, I need a Kleenex, I need a drink of water, etc.” He loves going to Bison games… volleyball being his favorite of the moment.

The kids are so well behaved at the games. I often get comments from strangers on how well behaved they are – thankfully as we will be attending many, many games in their lifetimes. Busy basketball season is just around the corner… This should be interesting as I am used to and comfortable with the one-on-one bedtime and morning routines. I’m going to have to find a new routine when Ryan is out of town or working late after the games, but it can be done as many other moms have done it in the past.

We had Leah in for her 2 month checkup. She is doing well. She was 12 pounds 2 ounces (88% percentile) and 23 inches long (81% percentile). She is doing well otherwise. She had the dreaded first shots. Poor baby girl -- she took a while to calm down from those and has been a little bit fussy this afternoon, but hopefully will be back to her even keeled self soon.

What else is new with Leah? She can smile now and sometime does it when she sees a face she knows. She is very active with her arms and legs always going. She can move around on the floor...I laid her in the middle of a blanket while I was doing something in the kitchen, and when I checked in on her a few minutes later she had her head off the blanket and was perpendicular to way I laid her. Another example is when she is in the pack and play -- she will end up closer to one end when she was put in the middle. She is very strong, especially with her head and neck. She doesn't mind tummy time because she can hold it up for quite a while. She also loves to look at a toy hanging above her or the fish and lights on her bouncy chair. She will even bat at a dangling toy to see what happens. Grandma Teresa calls her a studier as she seems like she is memorizing the faces she looks at. She will even furrow her eyebrows a bit as to say, I am really concentrating now. She has been sleeping very well lately and mom appreciates not getting up every night many times. Her sleep patterns are still a little unpredictable, but the longer stretches at night are awesome.

Andrew loves the summer and his chances to be outside. He likes going on bike rides, playing t-ball or golf, playing in the sandbox and shooting hoops. He loves the Toy Story movies and has his own stuffed Buzz and Woody. He will sing songs. The current favorites are "Baa Baa Black Sheep" and "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." We are talking about potty training and going on the big potty, but he doesn't have much patience for it yet.

We are doing well at the Perreault Household. Andrew is loving “Baby Leah.” He loves to watch her get changed, take a bath and is always telling mom “Leah eat” when she cries. He likes to try and put her pacifier in her mouth, too, but she won’t ever take it from him, so he just always decides, “no want that.” The challenging part with Andrew has been bedtime when Ryan isn’t home at bedtime. He still needs someone to lay by him or sit in the room at bedtime and Leah has not allowed it. It’s like she knows it’s Andrew’s bedtime or something – she will be quite all evening, but as soon as I have to attend to Andrew, she is fussy or wants to eat or something else that requires my undivided attention. So I will tell Andrew to stay in bed while I check on Leah, and sure enough, Andrew will come out of his room a million times. It is actually quite funny to see him “sneak” out. He thinks he is so tricky, but yet he is so noisy as he does it, I know he is coming right away. After a few times, the funniness wears off and the whole situation becomes very frustrating. I hope and pray that he will get better or Leah will be a good sleeper by the time basketball season and the long roadtrips roll around this winter. I should mention that if both parents are home, bedtime is much smoother. I guess our little toddler just knows how to push mom’s buttons.

We had Leah into to have a rash checked out on her face and chest. The doctor said it was just baby acne and it will run its course, but could take several weeks. It’s getting so dried out now and there isn’t any medication to help with it. They did weigh her at the visit and she was 11 lbs. She is getting chubby cheeks and rolls on her legs now. She’s on a pretty manageable schedule now, too. She sleeps 3-4 hours at night and then wakes to eat. Generally, she will go right back to sleep, but there were a couple nights in a row where she was wide awake in the middle of the night for almost 2 hours. Silly girl. Mom and Leah are pretty lazy in the mornings, but we try to get out and do something in the afternoons. We’re going to have her try to transition to her crib in her room. She is getting a little bit cramped in the bassinet, so maybe she will enjoy having a little more wiggle room.

Andrew, Leah and I went to Union Lake in mid-July to meet up with some of my high school classmates. They came from all over with their kids to meet… Washington DC, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota and two in Minnesota. How awesome that we could arrange our schedules to meet. Loved seeing all of you!

We also took a trip to the Chicago area to visit Ryan’s mom. We toured Wrigley Field while we were there. It was fun hearing the history of the field and some of the stories that go along with it. Discovery Toys was having the annual convention there, too, so I went to some of the events. Leah joined me. Luckily, being a toy company, they are very family friendly and happy to let you bring your newborn. I must say that I got tons of comments from everyone and people were so helpful. She was great, too – no fussing. Andrew, Ryan and Grandma Connie went to Lincoln Park Zoo during one of the sessions. It was really hot and humid, so that was too bad because I think it would have been more fun if they weren’t melting. There are so many cool museums, the Shedd Aquarium, Navy Pier, Lake Michigan and the Zoo, I really think that we will enjoy visiting as the kids get older and able to have fun in the Windy City… not to mention the SHOPPING. It will be fun when Leah is old enough to take to the American Girl store and when the whole family can see the Twins beat up on the White Sox and take in a Cubs game and get there via the “L.”

On the way home, we took a tour of Target Field in Minneapolis, too. All I can say is AMAZING!! We got to see the visitors’ clubhouse, dugout, the field, rooftop deck, the club and champion level areas. We are already planning Leah’s first birthday party up in one of the suites. (In our dreams!) We can’t wait to go to a game there sometime.

Overall, the traveling went pretty well. We thought we would be stopping for Leah and Andrew would be entertained by movies, music and books, but it was the opposite and Andrew wanted to get out, sit on Dad’s lap and told Ryan to stop driving a couple of times. He did really well though – we changed his schedule up so much with naps being later or shorter and nights being late, so a few meltdowns should be expected.

We had Leah baptized on Sunday. Jason and Angela are her Godparents. Pastor Kris Gorden baptized her – he was the same pastor that married Ryan and I and baptized Andrew, so that was pretty neat. We have outdoor church in the summer, so it was cool to have the baptism outside. The weather was picture perfect. We had a nice group at our house afterwards to help us celebrate.

We hope the summer slows down now! It’s going way to fast. I think Ryan only has two more baseball tournaments to umpire, so that means the end of summer is coming and he will be revving up with the fall sports starting at NDSU.

A couple quotes from Andrew -- he slips and falls and says "Oopsie daisy." Then he found something amusing and goes "Oh, dear." He is quite the chatterbox and will get mad if you don't listen to him with your undivided attention. "Mommy, listen me!"

Thanks for checking in.

Leah is 1 month old! Time flies. She is doing great. Generally, she is a happy baby. She will only cry when she is hungry or has a burp that needs to come up. She is very active and strong. She can lift up her head when she’s on her tummy or lying on my shoulder. I weighed her here at home and she is already almost 10 pounds. She is getting better at sleeping longer stretches during the night…but not on a consistent basis yet.

Andrew’s imagination is evolving. He will say things like, “Dinosaurs are coming, watch out! Ahhhhh!” He loves to pack things away – you will see a good example in the pictures – he puts all sorts of thing in the storage seat of his fire truck. He will also take all of the magnets from the fridge and put them in a Ziploc bag. We also found the tape measure in the kitchen cupboard with all of the Tupperware. He also loves to go to the grocery store. The main reason is because they give away free balloons. He loves balloons and flags. He has a couple of American flags. He always wants to know where they are. We are big fans of Toy Story at our house. We have the first two DVDs and they are watched often. Andrew and Ryan went to Toy Story 3 in the movie theater. Then they went again – this time Leah and I went, too. By the way, Leah was a champ during the movie – she didn’t make a peep! I recommend the movies if you haven’t seen them. Andrew loves Leah. He is really interested in what she is doing all the time. He will include her when he talking about things we are going to do.

Andrew is quite the talker. Here are some of his phrases:
Peee-you! (Leah’s diapers or his socks)
Watch me, look at me!
Love you, too (Mommy, Daddy, Leah, Nana, etc)
That’s silly!
Watch a movie please.
Leah eat (whenever Leah cries.)
Chase me.
Stop! No like that!
I’m chasing you.
No Mommy! No!
Daddy, where are you?
What’s that sound? (And puts his hand up to his ear)
Eat waffles?
It’s light outside… time to wake up. Eat waffles.
Where Leah?
“Go to grocery store?” Mom or dad say, “No, not right now” Andrew says, “Go to grocery store NOW!”
Little bit?
Why do that?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Daddy at baseball game?
There’s mom’s work. (as we drive by MeritCare)
Lay by me. (at naptime or bedtime)
Daddy pick me up from school?
Mmmm…I love watermelon (…or fill in the blank with any food.)
Ride in mom’s car?
Carry me.
Swingset?
Hey people, fireworks all done… go home now! Bye!(in traffic after the fireworks)

Leah had her 2 week appointment today. She got a good report. She is back up to her birth weight and more, so she is doing well with nursing.

She also had her first smile today. Both Ryan and I saw it while we were waiting for the doctor.

Happy Birthday Ryan tomorrow (June 24th). I won't say how old, but it's a big one!

Well, our baby girl is 1 week old today! Last week, I had a repeat c-section scheduled on Thursday. I was to call in Wednesday night for the time. Well, the family birth center was super busy, so the canceled me for Thursday and I was moved to Friday. We still weren’t given a time for sure – we were to call Thursday night for a time. Well, Leah apparently didn’t like getting bumped off the schedule for Thursday. I started having contractions on Thursday morning at 1 a.m. It kept me up all night staying about 8 minutes apart. I finally called into the hospital at 5:30 a.m. and they told me to stay home until they were 5 minutes apart and too strong to talk through. So I finally was able to get some rest. I decided to go to work in the morning. I only made it about an hour before I decided to head up to the family birth center. The triage nurse put me on the monitor and my contractions were 4-5 minutes apart. They called my doctor and he said we would do the c-section that day – in fact it would be in 45 minutes. I called Ryan and he came down to the hospital. I had been packing my bag and bringing it each day, so he grabbed everything out of my car and was there in plenty of time. I think I had four or five nurses working on me to get me prepped for the c-section. Everything with the repeat c-section went very well -- a much better experience than with an emergent c-section. We hadn’t told anyone our plans as we didn’t really know the definite plan either. It was great to call everyone with the news – everyone was surprised, so that made it fun. It actually worked out very well as we didn’t have to worry about Andrew since he was at daycare.

My mom has been here to help with Leah and Andrew as well as chauffeur me around. Leah has been a good baby. She likes to eat and pretty much on the every two hour schedule, even during the night, so that is tiring, but she is pretty efficient, so we are back to sleep pretty quickly. We were in to see the lactation nurse on Tuesday. She had lost 10% of her weight upon discharge from the hospital, so it was nice to see a gain of 3 ounces since we had been home. While we were out, we met Ryan for lunch and made a trip to Target. It felt really nice to be out!

Andrew went to spend a few days in Crookston with Nana and Papa. Allison and her kids stopped by on their way to Crookston, too. Andrew has had fun celebrating cousin Marcus’ 1st birthday and enjoying playing with his cousins. They also had a garage sale today. I heard he found some things to bring home. It was nice to have some quiet time with Leah, but we are anxious to have Andrew back home again, too. Andrew is getting used to the idea of Leah. He thinks it is okay when I hold her, not as sure when Ryan holds her, and definitely not okay with Nana holding her yet. I guess her lap is still his territory. He wanted me to lift him out of his highchair the other day and I can’t lift him yet… I told him that, so he told me I was too little to lift him and I would have to wait until I was bigger. I guess he’s heard that one a lot. My mom and I did get a chance to watch him at swimming lessons. It was a hoot to see him doing all of the things that he has explained. He could see us in the observation booth and he was pretty proud to have us watching him.

Holy smokes, where does the time go? I’m already 36 weeks and still cooking Baby #2. It is really tiring me out and I’ve been trying to get rest as much as I can. The worst part has been that I don’t sleep well and my feet and ankles are swollen up pretty early in the day. Luckily, Ryan’s schedule has slowed a bit, so he’s been a huge help with Andrew and the house work.

Last Saturday was the Fargo Marathon in town. My sisters ran the ½ marathon for the 3rd time and did great. My dad got in on the action this year and ran the 1st leg of the 4 person full marathon relay. He did very well, too. We have a great place to watch the marathon, so we had lots of people over to cheer on the runners and had a fun potluck in the afternoon.

Andrew is doing great and learning so much. It's amazing what he retains. His favorite thing to do it go to the grocery store. The best part is our grocery store gives away balloons to the kids and he likes to pick one out to bring home. He is having a little bit of tummy trouble and constipation lately, but we put him on some medication and that seems to be helping. I hope that resolves itself soon as potty training is right around the corner. He doesn’t have any interest in that for now, which I’m okay with since he will have some big adjustments coming up with the new baby coming soon. In June he will be moving into the bigger nap room at daycare where he will be sleeping on a cot instead of crib there. He’s been in his bed at home for a while, so I hope that is an easy transition for him. He will have another session of swimming lessons in June. He started really liking them by the end last time where he got to jump in.

We’ll keep you posted on Baby #2!

Things have been going fast over the last few weeks. I had my 28 week appointment with the OB doctor. Everything is fine and dandy there. I have my next appointment coming up next week. It’s pretty much the waiting phase now although the waiting phase is not taking nearly as long this time. We are pretty much set with the baby stuff from last time. I have to dig out the gender-neutral newborn clothes from storage and buy some newborn diapers.

Our friends Emily and Will had their little boy Easter weekend. We went and visited Liam and we think he looks just like his older brother, Owen. It was fun to hold him and think that will be us soon. We went over to their house the other night, too. Andrew really liked baby Liam and wanted to check him out. Not so sure what he will think once he has to share HIS Mom and Daddy.

He really likes to point out “my mom” and “my Daddy.” He likes to follow up that with hugs – so sweet. He has been telling us that he loves us, too, especially to Daddy unprompted and to Mom sometimes and even occasionally to his stuffed animals.

Andrew did catch a case of croup. He had the barking cough and scary sounding breathing during the middle of the night. He stayed home from daycare two days recovering and had a few nights of bad sleeping. Not to mention that he gave it to mom. I was totally knocked out for pretty much the whole weekend, but we are all on the mend now and getting back to better appetites and more regular schedules.

Andrew has been a mama’s boy lately. Whether it be carrying him somewhere, comforting him during the middle of the night or helping with anything else. Always saying “mom do it.” It gets a little frustrating because some of those things are not as easy any more with my growing tummy. There are those things that require “Andy do it” or “mine do it.” That can be anything from trying to put on his shoes or turn on the nighttime music… but some of his favorite things to do himself now are to climb up into his car seat and stroller all by himself and do the buckles, too. Then he always proclaims that he is a “big boy.” It is hard to not smile at him being so proud. We have found that it is best to let him try things on his own or he is probably going to have a tantrum for not getting to try. If he can’t do it on his own, he’s pretty good at asking for help. He’s very inquisitive, too always asking “doing?” and “going?”

Ryan has been busy umpiring all over the place. The weather has been unseasonable BEAUTIFUL helping out the cause at getting most of the games in and finally getting to use some of his comp time that he built up over the busy seasons at work with all of the traveling he did.

Andrew has been enjoying his time outside – they go outside usually twice a day at daycare. By the time we get home and have supper, there usually isn’t much more time to play outside, but he does like to be in the yard if daddy is working out there. He will play t-ball and he really likes to go on the swing. We have a lot of rabbits in our yard and they are easy to see now that the grass has turned green, so he likes to point those out along with birds.

We were down to the cities to visit Andrew’s cousins over Easter. We stayed at a hotel. The highlight was the glass elevators and being able to “push the button.” Ryan also took him swimming, which is something he hasn’t had a lot of exposure to. He liked it ok when his cousins were around swimming, too and he could throw the ball to mom up on the deck. It was sort of a test run for swimming lessons that started this week. The lessons are parent-child, so he went with dad. It was a bit challenging as Andrew was scared during the lessons and really doesn’t like to have his head underwater. The funny thing was is that after the fact, if anyone asked him about swimming lessons, he always said they were fun. He was able to give me the whole play by play of the lesson including the songs they sung and that they had to swim after some plastic pumpkins.

Andrew is TWO!! We had a low key birthday for Andrew. He was able to bring a treat for school. He requested to bring fruit snacks for all of his friends at school. The teachers made a crown for him for the day, too. We went to Sammy’s for supper and had cupcakes for dessert. He just loved when we lit the candle and sang Happy Birthday. He would say “More Happy” and we had to sing it a few times and he got to blow out the candle a few different times.

Things are going pretty well in his big boy bed. He is good at sleeping through the night for the most part, but lying down and going to sleep on his own is hard. Bedtime can get pretty late sometimes. Despite that, he hasn’t seemed to be overtired the following day. He has taken ownership of his new room and doesn’t even really think of the old room with the crib unless we want to use the rocking chair once and a while for a bad dream or a really challenging night going to sleep. We moved over all of his clothes Andrew’s room, too. Empty drawers await pink or blue in the baby’s room now.

Andrew has tried the potty a few times at school, but nothing has happened. I’m not quite sure that he gets the concept yet, but good that he is interested in the process. We did get a potty for at home, but I haven’t set it up yet.

We had Andrew’s 2 year check up. All is well and the doctor gave him a good report. Just one shot and we sang the ABC’s during it. He had a little pause when nurse poked him, but continued afterward to finish up the song. No tears…only an “Ouch.” That was forgotten seconds later when he got to choose from the wall of stickers. He picked out some with Lightning McQueen.

Andrew loves to sing songs and dance to them. He is always asking to turn the music on in his room. He likes to press the play button. He also likes to "scoop snow." That is probably going to be over soon though because all of the snow is pretty much melted. He has been very concerned about where the snow is going. We are happy to see our grass again, and would like it to be a little less muddy in the backyard so we can play outside.

Speaking of melting snow, the river was up again this year, but a much more low key flood than last year's record breaker. Some sandbagging was done is some of the neighborhoods and dikes were put up, but the crest was pretty uneventful this year. Thank goodness.

Baby #2 is doing fine. I’m at 27 weeks now. They started a baby pool at work for the 3 expectant mothers. Points will be given for correct guesses of the gender of each baby and for closeness to actual arrival date. Should be fun to see how it all turns out. I haven’t had a doctor’s appointment since my last update, but have one coming up next week.

We moved Andrew into his new room. He moved next door to the former office. We put up a double bed and decorated it in a sports theme. We kept him in his crib for a while and just read books on his new bed. On Monday night, he made the decision to sleep in there and has been sleeping in there every night and nap since. He’s been sleeping really well for the most part. He moves around a lot and we have found him with his head where his feet should be, sideways and at the foot of the bed. One night he did roll off the foot of the bed, but went right back to sleep. We have that problem remedied with a few extra pillows at the foot of the bed. Thank you so much to both Nana and Papa Lindsay as well as Grandpa “Pizza” for helping us move the office to its new location downstairs and getting Andrew’s new room set up. Andrew turns 2 on Wednesday! We don’t have a big party planned this year, but he did request to bring fruit snacks to school for all of his friends.

MeritCare got new OB ultrasound machines, so they were looking for pregnant volunteers to have an ultrasound in order to train the staff. We were lucky enough to get and see baby #2 again. The new machines are awesome and it was neat to see the detail. I also had my 24 week appointment this week with the doctor. Everything looked good with the baby. I also had my glucose tolerance test and passed with a glucose level of 122.

It’s basketball playoff time. Gotta love this time of year!

We had the ultrasound for baby #2 on February 1st. Everything looks good and last week marked the halfway point of the pregnancy. The baby is measuring pretty close to the due date, so the doctor didn’t change it. We didn’t find out the gender. The plan is to keep the current gender neutral nursery for the new baby with the bugs, and Andrew will move into the room next door that is currently the office. We have a sports theme picked out for that, so we hope that will help to ease the transition a bit. He will be out of the crib and into a bed, so we hope to make the transition happen before the new brother/sister comes along.

Andrew is doing great. His favorite thing to do is go to NDSU basketball games. He is so good during the games. He doesn’t even really go to into his bag of toys for the game because he is so into the game. He loves to listen and dance to the band and cheer for all made baskets, even the other team. When he isn’t at the games, he likes to shoot baskets in his little hoop in his play room. He likes to draw pictures, read books and play with his train as well.

His favorite thing to drink is chocolate milk. He thinks of it often and asks for it. We were even looking a book the other day with a picture of a brown dump truck. That was chocolate. He likes oranges, too. He likes to eat them for bedtime snack with Daddy in particular. He is learning his colors. Blue, red, yellow, orange are all in the mix. Green isn’t green. It’s Bison. The teachers at school must really wonder. He gets notes from the teacher at school every day and last week one of the notes said, Andrew noticed the yellow and green jello for lunch and said “Bison.” I think we have brainwashed him well. :) We are working on putting two and three word phrases together. “Bison Basketball, shoot the ball, and chocolate milk” are a few. He is also finding things that are the same. For example, we had a pink balloon and grandma was wearing a pink vest. He noticed they were the “same.”

The company that hosts this website is going to be going out of business this summer. I’m so bummed, because I haven’t found an alternative that I like even though I have tried out a few different companies. Maybe I’ll figure out how to build one from scratch with all my free time I’ll be sure to have once baby #2 arrives. Ha!

We had a very nice Christmas weekend in the Crookston area. We left early to avoid the snowstorm. Everyone made it in time for Christmas Eve church service. Christmas Day we had planned to go to Andrew’s great aunt Marilyn’s house, but it was too stormy for everyone to make it, so we postponed the celebration until Sunday. We had a nice Christmas Day stormed in with the Lindsay cousins and aunts and uncles. Saturday was still pretty stormy, but it was nice enough by Sunday to travel. We had a nice time with the extended family and Santa even visited. Andrew’s daycare was closed the week after Christmas, so we decided to leave Andrew at Grandma and Grandpa’s house in Crookston. The cousins were still there, so it was lots of fun for him. We want to say thank so much to Ryan’s dad for snow blowing our driveway while we were away! How nice to just drive right into the garage Sunday night!

We went to church on the Sunday after Christmas, and Andy starting getting all snuggly like he was going to fall asleep about the middle of the service. This was very out of character for him, so we thought something might be wrong – well we found out by the end of the service when he started throwing up. Unfortunately for me, most of ended up on the front of my shirt. Luckily for Andrew, it made him feel a lot better and was good to go for the rest of day. We think that the illness trickled down to us though because Monday night, Ryan and I were both sick! Both of us were awake throwing up several times throughout the night. We both hadn’t been sick like that for many years. We were very thankful that Andrew was not home.

I made my OB appointment on Tuesday afternoon. Baby #2 is doing well and we got to hear the heart beat. I lost some weight from the last appointment. I attributed it to the previous night causing some dehydration. Next up is the ultrasound in February. Right now we are leaning towards not finding out the gender of the baby this time either. It was fun to hear “It’s a boy” with Andrew’s birth, so we are looking forward to that surprise again.

We got Andrew back on Thursday! We missed him while he was gone. The house was so quiet, so it’s great to have him back. I think he has been playing basketball with his little hoop whenever he gets the chance. He has had a bit of an attitude since he’s been home. Mainly not wanting to ever take his shoes off or change his clothes or diaper. Putting on his jacket, hat and mittens to go somewhere is also a chore. He wants to come with, but he would rather go without the warm clothes. That’s not going to work so well around here. It’s been so cold! It was -35°F on Saturday night. That’s without the wind chill factor. The highs are supposed to be much above zero if at all the rest of week. Brrrrrr.

We are back to the grind tomorrow. Thanks for checking in.

Merry Christmas!! We left on Wednesday for Crookston. The highway was snow covered and we could not see the lines. Luckily, there was not too much traffic, so we could pretty much drive in the middle of the road and made it safely. Christmas Day has been blizzard conditions all day and the interstates in North Dakota are closed. We had planned to go to travel outside a few miles out of town for Christmas dinner at Great Aunt Marilyn's, but postponed until Sunday when everyone can make it.

By now, you might have heard our news… baby #2 is on the way. We are very excited! We aren’t sure that Andrew gets the concept, but he does make the sign for baby when we talk about it. We don’t know whether or not we are going to find out the gender of this one. We didn’t find out with Andrew, and it was great to hear “It’s a boy” when he arrived. We have a few more weeks to decide. I have been feeling really well and will be starting the 2nd trimester next week.

We had a very nice Thanksgiving. We hosted the Lindsay side this year. It was the first big test for our remodeled kitchen. What a difference. Everyone stayed overnight through the weekend, so it was really fun. Cousin Isaac woke up nice and early on Friday morning. So Grandma went to do some early morning Black Friday shopping since she was up. We all got some shopping in throughout the day and got some good deals.

It sounds like a broken record, but Andrew’s language development is growing and growing. He will now count things up to about four. He will usually count things that are the same. For instance, he will see a dog on his shirt and a toy dog and will count 1 – 2. He is definitely recognizing things that are the same. He has a little set of vehicles of different colors and he will sort them by boats, cars, fire trucks, airplanes and school buses. He also likes to point out things that are the mom’s or dad’s or his. He saw a barrette on the bathroom counter top and knew that it was mom’s for her hair.

We read a lot of books. The newest favorite book is “If You Take Mouse to the Movies…” It came with a toy mouse, too and he likes to hold him when we read the book. There’s a part were the mouse sings Christmas songs and Andrew always sings his own song when we get to that page. I can’t make out any of the words, but it’s pretty much the same tune every time. Other than books, Andy likes to use markers, pens, and crayons to draw pictures. He will really like it if I give him an old toy catalog or magazine that he can scribble in. So far, he is pretty good at keeping his drawings on the paper (and occasionally his fingers and clothes, but no major disasters on the furniture or walls.) His favorite activity at home is shooting hoops. He loves to dribble the ball and then shoot baskets. He likes us to higher the rim. Dunking is just way too easy. I think he gets his shooting technique from the NDSU basketball players. He likes to go to the games. Is anyone really surprised? I think he would go everyday. He loves to wear his NDSU clothes, too. He knows that yellow and green are for the Bison. He is getting braver around Thundar, the mascot, too. He always likes Thundar from far away, and will wave at him when he gets closer, but he’s never wanted to give him high five until the last game he finally did. He loves the pep band, too -- always dancing to their music.

Andrew and Mom took a trip to Great Grandma Lillian’s house to make some lefse. She is a master lefse maker. She was giving us her tips today. I helped a bit with the flipping of the lefse, but didn’t take a turn at rolling it out – Andrew was keeping me busy some of the time. We brought home some of pieces that didn’t make Great Grandma’s cut for Christmas. Yum!

Well, well, well. I guess it’s time for an update. Finally! We haven’t even taken pictures of Andrew since Halloween. It’s so dark out when we get home, it’s pretty much eat and then get into the bedtime routine or off to a game of some sort, get pajamas on before we leave because Andrew falls asleep within the 2 minutes it takes to get home from the gym.

Andrew just loves going to the Bison games! In fact, when we drove into the driveway the other day, he got upset. We had driven by NDSU on the way home from daycare to watch the football practice under the lights for a few minutes, so I think he had in his mind that we were going to a game that night. He is so well behaved at the games. He likes to watch the game some of the time and then read some books, have some snacks, and look at the game program. He is always looking for daddy’s picture in the program as well as pictures of Bison or action shots of the players. We have a really fun time at basketball games because we get to sit with our “kid” friends.

You can add peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to the top of Andrew’s favorite foods list. The only funny thing is that after I cut it into smaller pieces, he likes to eat it with a spoon. I think it keeps his hands cleaner that way. He doesn’t like when his fingers get sticky. He will also sense when there is food on his face and tries to blot it off with a napkin. It is too funny. Keep a few more favorite foods on the list including pizza, grilled cheese, bread, cereal, tacos, barbecues, yogurt, fruit snacks, pop tarts, pancakes, waffles, and crackers.

Andrew is really starting to communicate better with us now. He is definitely finding ways to tell us what he wants. He still gets frustrated at times, but it’s getting much easier. Andrew is really getting a mind of his own and knows what he does and does not want. He has learned the word “no.” It can be a good thing to tell us when he doesn’t want something, but also a hard thing as he will resist what mom and dad need him to do. He is mostly laid back and agreeable to what we want him to do, but gets a little edgy when he’s hungry or tired and that’s when the attitude comes out. He will even throw a tantrum if he doesn’t get his way. I guess it’s just a glimpse of the terrible twos on their way!

NDSU Basketball season is in full swing now for Ryan. We survived the first road trip. It was a short 3 day trip. There are many more to come and a couple of really long ones – so we are praying for nice weather -- no blizzards to block us in the driveway and no flight delays.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

We have been busy. Andrew is going to a lot of games. He has been to a few volleyball matches and football games. He sits with grandpa and grandpa while Ryan works and I continue to be on the stat crew. He behaves during the games and sits nice for them! We weren’t too sure how he would be this year since he is mobile now. He really likes the fireworks at the football games. When they went off the first time he said “hot” so he and grandma blew on them to cool them off. So every time the fireworks went, he would cool them off.
We have some visitors this weekend. Reese, Isaac, Marcus, Allison, Brian and Grandma came. How fun to have some playmates here!! Very action packed with 4 kids around. We all went to the NDSU volleyball match. (or as Andrew says va ball) They had a great time dancing to the band, too. Andrew was flipping through the game program and he came to the page with Daddy’s picture. He pointed him out. Then he also found a picture of a Bison. Speaking of Bison pictures, we received a magazine about eating healthy from the daycare. The magazine’s spokesperson is Thundar, NDSU’s mascot. Andrew just LOVES going through it to find all of the pictures of Thundar eating all of the healthy foods and playing all of his sports.
Andrew got a good report at his 18-month check up. He is grown to 33 inches now – not sure if that is counting his fluffy hair, too. :) We certainly do notice his increase in height. He is able to reach things that used to be out of his reach up on the countertop or table. He has been climbing up on the couch in his playroom with no problem.
Andrew is very good at steps now and goes up and down without problems. The only purpose of the gate is to keep him confined to upstairs now. His vocabulary is getting bigger now. He adds a new word every day or two. He loves to point out anyone wearing a hat. He says “hat” and points to his head. Andrew can identify most of his body parts now. He gets stuck on a few tricky ones like shoulder or elbow. He knows a lot of animals, too and the sounds that they make.

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. :)

The days just keep coming and going. Sometimes I just wish I could slow things down a bit.
We took a long weekend and went to visit Auntie Angela and her family, including Andrew’s newest cousin Henrick. Andrew and I went to Minnesota on Thursday and stayed with Auntie Allison. We left about naptime and Andrew slept the whole way! Wow, that was a nice leg of the trip. The next morning, we had a full van when Auntie Allison and cousins Reese, Isaac and Marcus rode with us the rest of the way. The trip went very well. The kids were really good and all of them actually overlapped their naps all at the same time for a bit. It was awesome to have Allison with – I think it would have been pretty difficult for just Andrew and mom to travel all of that distance. We had a really nice time visiting Auntie Angela and Henrick also was baptized while we were there. We were so glad to be part of his special day. On the way home, Grandma rode with Andrew, Reese and I and Auntie Allison took her boys with Grandpa. Again, the kids were really good during the long trip.
Next up, we are heading to the cities for Marcus’ baptism. It’s so fun to have the cousins so close in age.

Andrew has never taken a liking to cooked vegetables. He would still eat the pureed versions, but very rarely would go for any kind of cooked vegetables. Well, all of that changed when we were out to eat at Ruby Tuesday’s the other night. I had broccoli and he wanted some. He didn’t want to eat it as is though – he wanted to dip it in ketchup. He just kept eating it and even ate some plain as well. We were amazed and happy. He has since tried more veggies with ketchup with success and found that dipping everything in ketchup is that way to go. Mac and cheese, strawberries and eating it straight off the fingers are the latest. If it gets him to eat, I think it’s great. I think dipping things is his favorite part. His favorite food of late has to be brown beans, which I think is a little unusual for a toddler. He will even go for those before the fruits. Andrew is pretty good at eating with a fork and spoon. He will still revert to picking things up with his fingers when he wants to eat fast.

I have been looking for a second hand basketball hoops for toddlers all summer second hand, and I finally got one today. He doesn’t just go and put the ball in the hoop either – he actually throws it in there. I’m impressed with his aim. He has a pretty high shooting percentage. Maybe Dad should start tracking it for recruiting purposes.

It seems like the days and weeks are here and gone faster than before Andrew. Ryan has been busy umpiring in the evenings and weekends. I started selling Discovery Toys, so I have been busy learning about the toys and hosted my first party at our house last week.

We had a nice hot Sunday afternoon a couple of weeks ago, so Andrew finally enjoyed the baby pool in the backyard. It took him quite a while to warm up to the idea of being in the pool. I had to put the slide into the water. He would go down the slide, but really didn’t like to sit in the water. He settled for keeping his feet in the water and sitting on the bottom of the slide. He has enjoyed playing in the sprinkler the last couple of days while dad had it out watering the grass. He loves to follow daddy anywhere. They are pals.

His vocabulary is expanding now, too. He knows what many things are now and can say more words in his own way now. He has his own version of hot, hat, balloon, bubble, and spoon. Ryan and I are able to understand him and he usually points to what he is talking about. He will follow simple directions now, too. For instance, we ask him to throw something in the garbage, pick out a book to read, or sit down, he will do those things. If we ask if he is thirsty and wants a drink, he will go to the refrigerator knowing that is where we would get him a drink or asking if he is hungry, he goes to his high chair.

He has started to climb more. He can get up on the low couch in the sunroom and he is getting better at steps. I would still prefer if he would crawl up and slide down, but he is bound and determined to step up and down like the big people do. He also likes to run now and can trip or lose his balance. He has a few bruises and bumps to prove his new faster pace.

He does have a couple of negative behaviors that have started to pop up. He will hit when he is over tired or frustrated by not being able to do something. His favorite target seems to be mommy’s face. (Ouch). If we get mad or raise our voices, it eggs him on and he thinks it is funny and continues. The other challenge is throwing things. He is very good at throwing balls, but also throws everything else from other toys to food. It is very hard for him to decipher the difference. Hopefully, he grows out these quickly.

We have 3 new teeth to report. Two on the bottom left and one on the bottom left. It seems like we have been waiting for these for a while, so I’m glad they are finally here. It looks like they hurt. I think there are a few more to follow.

Andrew and I are heading down to visit his newest cousin Henrick this weekend. This will be our second time there, but first since he has been walking, so we hope that he doesn’t get too stir crazy. Allison and the kids are joining us on the Twin Cities to Quad Cities leg, so that should be an interesting time with 4 kids under 3 years old. Wish us luck!

The week of July 4th we had Grandma Connie and Grandpa Dave visit for the whole week. Andrew’s daycare was closed for the week, so they got to spend lots of time with him all day, too. They had fun going to the zoo, shopping and playing outside a lot. They brought their dog Bailey, too. He’s a big yellow lab, so Andrew was a little nervous at first, but was comfortable around him by the end of the week. He’s a really nice dog and didn’t bother Andrew too much. He still points out the back window looking for Bailey and says “Woof.”

We ended the week by heading to visit Ryan’s grandparents and aunts and uncles in the Grand Rapids area. We had fun at Great Grandpa and Great Grandma’s farm. There were so many things to check out. We headed to Sue & Dave’s for July 4th on the lake. Andrew wasn’t very excited about the water, but did have fun digging in the sand. We got to see a lot of Ryan's cousins and aunts and uncles, so that was fun.

This week was back to normal with the daycare open and both mom & dad home. Andrew mastered a couple of different slides at NDSU. One is stepping up different platforms to get to the top and the other is freestanding and a little more tricky. I guess once he figured it out, he would go up and down over and over.

We are anxiously awaiting news of a new cousin any day now. (Hang in there Auntie Ang)

Yeah, Daddy is home! Andrew and I were home alone for a whole week while Ryan was in San Antonio for a work conference. Andy was a very good boy, so that made it easier.

We went to visit our new cousin Marcus last weekend. He is so little and cute. What a difference between a newborn and a one year old.

Andrew spent an hour or so each day at Grandma and Grandpa's after daycare while I finished up at work. He had fun times and especially likes to sit on the bench outside of the pizza shop and sample the ice cream next door at Charlie's. Cousin Charlie was also there a couple of the days to play with.

Next week, Andrew's daycare is closed all week. We are looking forward to having Grandma Connie and Grandpa Dave coming to visit as well spend the days with Andrew.

Andrew is really into shoes now and will try to put his own shoes on or put mom and dad's shoes on. He will also bring us our shoes if we ask for them. He mastered climbing up the ladder of his little slide and sitting down to go down the slide.