three!

How is it possible that "my baby" is three?!  Of course, if Andrew could read, he would protest, "I'm not a baby!"  He doesn't buy my counter-argument that "you'll always be MY baby."  He says, "no, I'm an Andrew!"  He's also a lovebug, a snuggle-monster, a chatter-box, a smarty-pants (so says his sister), a monkey, a little crazy, and more than a little ornery.

His birthday day was pretty low-key, playing outside on his new jungle gym (his gift from Mommy and Daddy), but we had a party the day before with his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  Andrew picked out his own party goodies:  purple plates, green napkins, green balloons, a dinosaur cake, party hats, Spiderman blow-outs, and Spongebob streamers.  Which is a pretty good snapshot of this kid... going a dozen different directions at once!

"roll-pollies"

Andrew takes bug collecting very seriously.

hanging out, part 2

Andrew's fondness for hanging on our towel bars inspired me to find a chin-up bar for the kids, and it was an instant hit!  The kids get some indoor exercise, and our towel bars get to stay intact.

hats, and time for a haircut

The kids recently shared some crafting time and designed "magic hats." Evyn is (usually) a patient and nurturing big-sister, and helped Andrew cut and tape his own hat.  The finished product:

Andrew, of course, thinks his sister is super-cool, and is always wanting to borrow her things - and, her looks.  He often begs for piggy-tails:

The pigtails are no more, however!  I convinced Scott to take him to the barber for a proper summer buzz-cut.  Photos of his new 'do to come....

2 year checkup

Andrew had his 2-year checkup a couple weeks ago (a month late).  He thoroughly enjoyed himself, with one exception..... he was VERY unhappy about having to keep his shirt off!  At the end of the appointment he was quite happy to be allowed to put it back on.

He got one shot, which he handled like a champ.  I told him the nurse was going to give him a little owie in his arm, he nodded and said "Okay."  He winced a little, but no tears!  Afterward he was happy to take a sticker and beg for a couple animal crackers.  The doctor noted an innocent heart murmur, which is very common, not dangerous, and requires no treatment.  He has 20 teeth now - his 2-year molars are completely in.

So, here we go, his final baby stats posting:

height~~~~~~~~~35.25"  (63rd percentile)
weight~~~~~~~~~27#1oz  (33rd percentile)
head~~~~~~~~~~18.9"      (29th percentile)

 

 

latest tricks:  jumping with both feet, rolling down hills, eating beef (specifically, hamburgers and meatballs).

That last one is a biggie, because after 7 years Evyn has yet to take her first bite of beef! 

And, he has gigantic feet.  He's a size 8.5 - 9 shoe now, which Evyn wore when she was FOUR.

Looking back over his stats and growth charts, it's interesting to see how both kids started out with nearly identical measurements, but grew in very different ways.  And it's fascinating to see how differently they play, too.  Evyn was always very quiet, independent, and visual.  Rarely did we make it through an entire book before something else captured her interest and she toddled away.  (She is a voracious reader now - and still prefers to do it quietly, on her own!).  Andrew, on the other hand, will crawl into my lap and beg me to read the same book over and over.  He's also very big on role playing - he'll spend hours each day playing with Evyn's doll house and creating scenarios for the dolls to react to and interact.  Evyn has always been more interested in crafting, building, and creating - she's a very literal thinker, and Andrew is always silly.  Which might be one of the reasons why they get along so well, they compliment each other's personality perfectly!

a few things i haven't captured on my camera lately

• Andrew's obsession with boots (galoshes) and sunglasses.  He frequently wears them all day - including to bed
• the black smudge marks on the wall over Andrew's bed, where he kicked his booted feet
• Evyn's poor, swollen allergy eyes (although you get the idea from this post back in 2009)
• Andrew snuggling in bed with us after waking up with a croupy cough in the middle of the night
• The latest tooth that Evyn lost
• the kids running through the sprinkler with a bunch of kids from the neighborhood
• both kids caked, head to toe, in mud
• the same two kids with Easter chocolate all over their hands and faces
• Andrew's green-stained toes after he "helped" me mow the lawn
• painting the house with chalk (yes, painting, go figure) 
• Andrew putting himself down for nap each day last week
• Andrew refusing to nap this week
• Evyn trying to teach her little brother how to jump rope
• Andrew playing air guitar and growling, "Rock and roll!"
• the kids arguing over whose turn it is to vacuum
• Andrew counting one to ten, and backward from 5

it's that time of year again:

mudpie season!

St. Patrick's Day

 

Evyn made a leprechaun trap, which she left by the front door on Saint Patty's Eve.

The little guy outsmarted us, though, and escaped capture - but not before turning our bathroom tap water green.

She wanted something green to wear to school, and picked this dress from the back of her closet.

Hmm, that dress looks familiar!

After school she had to change into dance clothes for dance class, and Andrew took the opportunity to try it on:

2

On Saturday we celebrated Andrew's 2nd birthday.



2!  Can you believe it?   It hardly seems possible.

The day started out with a test run on his new balance bike  (Yes, that's the bike we were going to give him for Christmas.  We ended up saving it for his birthday gift...  shhhh!  He'll never know)

Then it was time to party!  The grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, and cousins came for the fun.

There was one gift he couldn't wait to dig into....  chewing gum!

Evyn and Emily spent the rest of the afternoon playing with Andrew's new Giga Ball

His 2 year checkup isn't scheduled until the middle of next month, so I'll post stats then.

having a little brother can be a lot of fun - #3

 

... because he still loves to let his sister dress him up!