Author: althea

Sept. 29: Andrew is taking many steps in a row these days.  He lunges a little like a baby Frankenstein, and he crawls about half the time, but he’s taking 10-15 steps in a row.  It’s incredible to see him walk from room to room!

I have some photos in the gallery of a trip to the apple orchard.
Andrew picked his own apple and then proceeded to eat nearly the whole thing.  And I pulled out his strawberry and pumpkin hats from last year.  When he sees them, he pats the top of his head to tell me he wants me to put it on him.

Sept. 29: Granny Lu and Grandpa were in town last weekend, and we all had a really nice time together.  The weather didn’t really cooperate for trips to the park. But Andrew doesn’t need an outing to have a great time with his Granny Lu and Grandad.  He showed off his ever-growing walking skills, and he tried on his Halloween duck costume for fun.

Photos of our weekend (from LuAnn…I didn’t pick up my  camera the whole time) are in the gallery.

Sept. 13: Being away from Andrew for five days while I was in Ann Arbor with Heather and Michael was pretty hard.
In sharing their grief over losing their baby, I really had to put thoughts of Andrew out of my mind, and as time went on, I found that separating Andrew from my thoughts really took a toll on my mind and heart. It made me realize how close to the surface thoughts of him are in everything I do.

When I got back home last night, I pulled Andrew out of his crib and held him.  It seemed that he has grown so much in only a few days.  He can push his little push toy adroitly all over the house, he can start to make many more words (like a whispered Sss-oooky for our cat).  And Bryan said he learned the sign for “floor.”  Makes me get a sense for how very hard it must be for Andrew’s grandparents and aunts and uncles who don’t get to see him as regularly.  I want to capture each moment with Andrew in my heart.

During my layover between train and bus in Chicago, I did some therapy shopping for Andrew.  I found some cute clothes, but I was a bit chagrined to find that all the 18-24 month clothes are little boy clothes, not baby clothes.  And when he wears little boy clothes, he almost doesn’t look like my baby any more.  But he still sure is cute:)  And his curly hair is out-of-control!  I love it.

In our gallery, I have pictures of Andrew playing with Clara, my co-worker Pam’s daughter, playing with a ball, and eating chocolate chip cookie dough.  I also have an album with a photo from my Aunt Julie’s wedding and Andrew coloring and playing with Dad.

Aug. 26: I just uploaded a few new pictures into the gallery including some of Bryan and Andrew playing at the playground, Andrew eating and doing a few signs (“more” and “hot!”), and most cutely, Andrew in his new duck costume.  He’s such an adorable baby:) Check the gallery for pics.

Aug. 24: Maybe I should change the title of this post to “first steps.”  Andrew’s been doing incredible baby things this month.  He’s gotten really engaged and interested in baby sign language, and he just started taking faltering first steps.  A little step, a swing of the hip, and “plop” he goes down.  Or maybe not.  Perhaps he catches himself and then goes down to his knees as if to say, “Phew, what was that!”  He can stand up from a squat, and sometimes I look over and he’s just standing up in the middle of the room.  Such a darling cutie!

Andrew is also really getting into signs.  He’s not saying much verbally (started saying “down” and “alldone”), but he’s really picking up on signs.  For those of you not completely immersed in the world of babies, there’s a lot of info out these days about teaching babies some basic types of sign language to help them communicate before their verbal skills kick in.  Here’s a website for more info.  Some of Andrew’s favorite new signs are “elephant” – arm swinging “hat” – patting his head “airplane”  – pointing up at the sky and “frog” – sticking his tongue in and out.  I’m working on getting photos, so check back soon.