Category: Updates about Andrew

May 8: This past weekend we took our first family trip to Door County.  Gathering Waters organized a land trust staff retreat in this lovely location, so we used it as a starting place for a short family vacation.  Andrew and I drove up on Thursday, and Bryan joined us after work.  The boys did some hiking and biking and playing on swings on Friday, we all went on a hike of The Clearing with our group, and then the three of us took off on Saturday afternoon to explore the peninsula.  We drove around and saw orchards and beautiful views of the water while Andrew napped in his carseat.  Whenever he woke up, we walked around or biked in the beautiful state parks that dot the area.  Our favorite part was a bike ride through Peninsula State Park.  I can’t wait to go back sometime.  It was such fun!  Bryan pulled Andrew in the trailer, and we biked through maple-beech forests, white cedar forests and marshes, and saw stunning beaches and views of Green Bay. Photos from our trip are in our gallery.  Pictures of Andrew creeping about (he’s on the verge of crawling) are also in the gallery.

April 24: Spring has come to Wisconsin.  The daffodils are blooming and are in their full glory.  Tulips are beginning to appear and fill yards with color. The maples are flowering, and the streets are lined with their other-worldly spring-greenness.

We’ve enjoyed taking Andrew out into the yard a lot the last few weeks.  He’s having fun exploring all the new things that he can put in his mouth.  Andrew has become pretty adept at rolling from front to back and from back to front.  A couple days ago, he even got up on all fours while in his crib and started rocking back and forth.  He’s thinking about crawling!  But he still only has the reverse gear in his transmission activated so far.  Backwards and turning.  And his favorite activity is still emptying out his box of books or his box of toys. Andrew is a champion clapper, and he has a great head -shaking trick, but he seems to have forgotten his third trick of making popping noises with his mouth.  When I ask him to do it, he claps instead:)

We had a nice Easter and got to meet Kyle’s family.  Andrew also got his picture taken with the Easter Bunny.  That weekend, we got Andrew a bike trailer so he can go on bike rides with us.    Photos of out outings to Olbrich with Andrew and Easter are in the gallery.

A couple days ago, Bryan biked Andrew over to a park to enjoy an afternoon outdoors together.  Photos of Andrew with our various furred family members and of Andrew’s trip to the park with Dad are also in the gallery.
Happy spring to everyone!

April 3: Andrew had his nine-month doctor’s check up today.  My mom watched him in the morning while I went in to work for a few hours (I normally have Mondays off).  Then we went to Andrew’s appointment.  Our little guy is growing well.  He’s holding steady between the 25th and 50th percentile in weight and height.  He weighs 19 lbs 8 oz and measured 28 inches long.  I cannot believe how much he has grown!  He’s eating all kinds of mushy fruits and vegetables and is enjoying tiny chunks of cheese, tofu, and of course, cheerios.
This morning, I found that Andrew has cut his third tooth.  It’s the upper left one, and I think the upper right isn’t far behind.  He’s been drooling lots, but aside from that, I haven’t noticed much crankiness (which is great!).  Pictures in this week’s album include Andrew playing with his friend William, decorating for Easter, and little photo shoot of Andrew playing with eggs.
We fly out to Wichita on Thursday, and we’re really looking forward to a visit with Granny Lu and Grandad, Aunt Melanie and Uncle Ben, and with all Andrew’s great-grandparents and Wichita friends!

March 26: Andrew is such a content baby…he hasn’t really seen the necessity in struggling to move about.  Looking at the toys he wants is almost as nice.  But in the last week or so, Andrew started to scooch around on the floor on his belly. His transmission system has only figured out the reverse gear, but it’s fun to watch him move up to a few feet backwards in his attempt to get a toy.
He lies on his tummy with his arms “airplaning” out to the side and then pushes up.  Since his feet are usually hovering above the ground, pushing up causes him to slip backwards a couple inches.  He is starting to figure out that he can move right or left by picking one of his hands up.  It’s a major focus of coordination to keep one hand holding himself up while the other moves to the side.
Pictures of Andrew from the last week are in the gallery.

Andrew’s favorite game these days is “empty out the box of books.”  He also enjoys its close companion, “empty out the box of toys.”  These games are followed in interest by the surefire “drop the toy off the high chair tray.”  He loves to be read to, and he knows how to turn pages (and as we discovered, rip the pages of non-board books).  Oh, and on Thursday, he started clapping his hands for the first time!  He likes the sound they make when they clap, and he watches them with rapt attention.
We’re going to Wichita in two weeks to see his great-grandparents and Granny Lu and Grandad and hopefully Ben and Melanie too.  We’re already excited!
It’s a time of major learning and growth in Andrew’s world.  He’s a wonder to watch.

March 17: Andrew is so cute this morning in his outfit of green.  We took some photos of our little leprechaun, and before I dash off to work this morning, I thought I’d put them on the website so you can see him too. 

This week’s gallery update also includes photos of a gathering we had with some of Andrew’s friends on Monday.  It is so fun to watch him interact with other babies.
Have a lovely St. Patrick’s Day!
~Althea

Wee Bit O’ Irish
You’re the flash and sparkle in dark Irish eyes.
You’re the whimsey and charm of leprechaun guise.
You’re the treasured gold at the rainbow’s end.
You’re the beauty and mystery of emerald glens.
You’re the top o’ the mornin’ – my cup of tea.
You’re springtime adornin’…blessings on thee.

Continue reading “Happy St. Patrick’s Day!”

March 12: Andrew is so much fun!!  He’s laughing and reaching and is engaging more and more with the people and objects around him.  Photos in this week’s gallery include playing with April and visiting with Alex and Clara…friends from my office.
We had an Oscar-watching party last weekend, which was great fun, and the past couple days have been warm and full of the promise of spring.  We saw and heard a large flock of sandhill cranes fly over our house yesterday. Spring is on the way!  Here’s a website with some nice quotes about spring.
Andrew is getting more and more adventurous with food.  He started eating Cheerios last weekend, and I think that was a major turning point in his experience with solid food.  He loves focusing intently to pick up each Cheerio and then to carefully try to maneuver the part of his hand holding the tasty morsel into his mouth.  His success rate is at about 1 in mouth out of 4 attempted.
Andrew’s solid foods don’t gag him when they’re not totally smooth this week, and he’s starting to enjoy mashed carrots, avocado, and little pieces of fruit and tofu.  The little guy is sitting next to me as I type, and I imagine he’s saying “Hi to all!”

Feb. 26: We’re just back from a lovely visit to Texas where we moved in with Bryan’s parents for the week.  Andrew’s day care provider went on vacation, so we decided to modify our planned weekend trip to Texas to a full week.  Ben and Melanie came down from Dallas for the weekend, and we really enjoyed our brief visit with them.

Photos from our trip are available in the gallery.  Andrew came down with a head-cold on Monday, and he spent most of the week coughing and sneezing.  But he was happy even so. Granny Lu earned her wings or super-hero status or some level of sainthood by getting up early every morning with Andrew so Bryan and I could sleep in.  I think it worked out well for everyone.

Bryan and his dad got to golf one day, and we ended our visit by getting to see several of Bryan’s parent’s friends.  I’m really glad that they had an opportunity to share their grandbaby with their friends!

I also posted a few photos of Andrew on Valentine’s Day.  He had a great time eating some of his Valentines:)  And now it’s almost March!  The days are getting longer…

Feb. 12: For the last week, Andrew has felt so much better, and it is just wonderful to have our smiley boy back.  He woke up this morning feeling good and was playing in his crib and shouting “baba ba ba Ba BA BA BA BA!”

On Monday last week, we had a few friends over, and it was cool to watch Andrew interact with other babies.  They all sat on his sheepskin rug and played with toys.  Andrew is an observing kid, and when someone took a toy from him, he didn’t react much.  He mostly watched … startled and surprised.  We put him in a johnny jump-up last night, and he was jumping and jumping.  This is the first time he’s gotten the hang of how that game is supposed to work.

He’s eating a variety of solids now, but he still only really likes yogurt, bananas, and sweet potatoes.  It’s cute to watch how excited he gets when he is eating food he likes.

Happy Valentine’s Day!  Hope yours is lots of fun.  New photos from the last week are in the gallery.

Jan. 31: It’s been an intense week with little Andrew.  He’s helping us grow as parents.

Last Tuesday, we had our first experience with Pink Eye.  The little fellow had lots of goobies in his eyes, and the doctor took one look at him and prescribed antibiotic eye ointment.  He wasn’t too upset by the whole thing, but since it is contagious, Bryan and I both took a day off work to stay home with him.  Then on Friday night, he started running a fever.  Over the course of the weekend, it skyrocketed, and Andrew was really miserable.  On Saturday, we were excited…stunned really…to feel a sliver of a tooth peeking out from Andrew’s bottom gums.  On Monday, I felt its partner peeking through.  We can’t see either yet, but they’re coming in.  A low fever is sometimes associated with teething, but since his fever was so high, it appears that he was hit with a double-whammy of teething and being sick in the same weekend.   He’s better today (Tuesday), but still needing a lot of extra loving.  So Bryan and I each took a half day off to be with him.
Andrew is growing up!  I’m feeling so proud of him.  That and general exhaustion from helping him cope with this exciting new development.  He’s not so keen on the teething experience.  Photos from the last couple weeks are in the gallery.

Jan 9: Andrew celebrated his first new year’s eve with the Babler clan at Terry’s condo downtown.  He got to meet his great-aunt Julie for the first time.  But he fell asleep well before midnight.

See the Gallery for photos of Andrew in the new year. This weekend, he is doing a great job of keeping us all smiling while we’re at Mayo.