Coffee Break

Back in junior high I clearly remember my mom saying after McGrails (our best friends) moved away, "I wish I could have a cup of coffee with Kris today!" For some reason this never made sense to me until today. Since my mom drinks tea, I thought it was weird that she said coffee. I mean, why not just say, "I miss her!" or "I wish we could hang out". Today I realized why. When you are a parent, "having a cup of coffee" really means "peace and quiet with no kids". It is nearly impossible to enjoy a cup of coffee and have a conversation when you have kids around. I reheated my cup of coffee this morning 4 times before I finished it. And of course I'm always worried Drew will knock it over or I will spill it while I'm holding him and have to chug it down as fast as I can. Even when I went out for coffee with my friend, my coffee still got ignored with Drew in my lap. Don't get me wrong, I love my little guy to death, but I'm just saying that I understand my mom now. I understand the longing to just sit with a friend and forget you are moms and just concentrate on being friends while you sip your coffee. I look forward to seeing my mom and Kris together this weekend since they are coming for Drew's baby dedication. I am excited to share this day with some of Drew's favorite people including pretty much everyone in the tri state area :)

Surprise Performance

Since Drew and I were pretty much "snowed in" or chose to stay most of this week, I had some fun quizzing him on what he understands. I was very amazed to say the least. I didn't know that an 8 month old's brain was so understanding. I mean I knew that he was learning new things every day and I try to talk to him, sing, read books etc. to help him learn, but I had no idea that he would respond to my testing. I simply put a row of items that he loves in front of him and asked him "Where is___" and he actually responded by picking the item up! He was proud to lunge towards one of his books when I asked him and patted it enthusiastically.

I guess I am in denial that my little baby will soon be up and being an active member of society before I know it. I think I still view him as just an addition to my own being, like he is still part of me. He has been doing more and more physical tricks like clapping, pulling up, and scooting across the floor, but this seemed to really catch me by surprise. I guess the baby books don't include things like this cause they don't want to pressure parents to drill their children, even though they put pressure on you to have them crawling etc. by certain times.
Probably he is capable of a lot more, what if I am I holding him back? Or is he crazy smart like too much so that he has a problem (like autism or something)? Or maybe this is right in line with where he should be, how would I know? He is the only 8 month old I have spent a lot of time with so he is my current standard (oh the shadow of Drew that my future kids will walk in :) Seems like every day I learn something new too! Anyways, I'm not going to test him too much, but I did do it one more time for the video to show how big my little guy is getting. Including what this video shows, he can identify the following objects:
1. Ball
2. Book
3. Duckie
4. Lion
5. Tigger
6. Eyes
7. Water
8. Cheerio
9. Bear and Kitty Cat (only can do using process of elimination)
10. Probably more that I just haven't asked! Please tell me this isn't crazy! Does he know too much or too little? Are you reading this and saying, "Well my child knew those of course! He's doing good!" or saying, "Uh oh, he seems obsessive". I know I might seem obsessive, but really I'm mostly just really proud of him and will always be impressed with new things he can do. I think it is pretty normal to worry about how your child is comparing to others though, even though I will always love him just the way he is. He might be getting bigger, but he will always be my sweet baby. Love him!




On another note he also started biting me...hmm not so sure I like teeth marks in my leg. He pulls hair and bites. He better stop that before he gets to preschool or he will be every one's nightmare!
Oh and he can do "High Five" and "How big is Drew? So Big!" Seems like he has a new trick every day! Even before I finally get this post done!

Little Patty Cake Guy

Drew loves Patty Cake. No let me restate that: Drew LOVES Patty Cake. He only just started clapping on his own last Sunday and has been clapping ever since. He is so proud of himself that he can control what I say since he claps and it makes me sing! He will start clapping and pause and look at me like, "Well? I'm clapping, where's my 'Patty Cake' song?" He also loves the other version my mom taught him called, "Patty Foot" and will laugh cause he knows it is silly. I think I change the words to the song every time cause there are so many different versions: Mark it with a B or D?, throw it way up?, put it in the oven? Who knows but he doesn't seem to notice. Someday I might get sick of singing it, but for now I enjoy watching him light up being so proud of his new trick. Here is a video of my little clapping guy that I took the other day. His version of "roll it" is just holding his hands together :)

Christmas Memories

Playing Peek-A-Boo with wrapping paper



Sledding with Livy



Watching Hallie play fetch

Our last days of 2010

The week before Christmas, Nana and Pops visited and we had a great time

celebrating Christmas early with Drew. On Christmas Eve we drove to State College, PA to stay in Drew's first hotel! Than on Christmas morning we drove the rest of the way to join my family in Sparta. He got some cute stuff for Christmas and our living room now looks like a Fisher Price add. Everything an almost 8 month old could want (only really about 6 new toys including a car ramp, a baby basketball hoop, a sit to stand car, and bag full of teether groceries)!

Drew was busy working on new skills and tricks during our vacation. Here is a list of a few:
1. He started pulling up on everything!
2. He practiced getting up on his hands and knees.
3. He waves when you wave at him! (My favorite new trick :)
4. He is eating more finger foods including cooked veggies and canned fruit.
5. He can play Peek-a-boo when you say, "Where's Drew?" and will hide his eyes behind the object he is holding. This is what we play in the morning under the covers in our bed too, so fun!

During the week after Christmas we enjoyed playing with Drew's cousins including new baby Clara! Drew loves to watch the big kids run around and he can't wait to run after them! We went to a fun Kid's Museum and Drew liked looking in the funny mirrors and pretending to drive a motorcycle. On another day we went on Drew's first steam engine ride! It was the perfect little ride about an hour long with the cutest engine. The biggest hit with the kids was getting to see Grandpa at every crossing! (the other passengers were impressed too :) Drew wouldn't take his eyes off the engine when we were taking pictures, so you can only see the back of his head. He must be a true rail fan in training! He also played in the snow after the big snow fall, and even tolerated riding in a blow-up sled with Livy.

We ended our trip with an overnight stop in Cleveland to visit Becky, Mark and Grandma. Drew loves the dogs! He was laughing so much watching Hallie fetch for toys and listening to her bark. Becky and Mark got him the cutest rocking horse and bath toys. Overall we had a great visit with my family. I'm glad to be home, but definitely feeling a little lonely this morning. In Sparta, no matter when Drew wakes up there is always somebody downstairs to visit. I think Drew misses all the action too!