Raising myself

Drew is an amazing kid. He is so sweet and caring, he's friendly and fun, and he's incredibly smart (yes, I'm his mom, so of course I think that). But he has certain quirks that occasionally drive me crazy. The funny thing is that those quirks are the ones he directly inherited from me. I have a new appreciation for my parents and sometimes I wonder how they, or my husband, live with me. There are times I get frustrated with him then it hits me that the reason I'm irritated is because I'm dealing with myself.

Example 1:
He's OCD. He loves lining things up "just so" and flips out if you take anything out of his order. This is a problem for him when hanging around babies (like his brother!) because, of course, they don't understand the concept of keeping anything in order. All babies understand is "Mouth! NOM NOM NOM." ;) He also walks around the house obsessively shutting doors. If he walks past a door that's open even a crack, he'll backtrack just to push it all the way shut. He'll flip out if the pantry door is open and he can't fix it because he's stuck in his booster seat at the table. I find these little things irritating and I don't know why, except that OCD habits tend to be time-consuming, and the fact that we don't share the same quirks in this respect means we're often grating on each other's nerves.

I found these cars lined up like this at the lake house
I have to admit my OCD is irritated by the "missing" car on the upper left

I will refrain from teaching him "rainbow order"

Example 2:
He should be a lawyer. My parents used to say it to me all the time and it drove me crazy. But boy does that boy pay attention to every last detail and argue semantics down to the letter!
Me: "Drew, I said don't sit in there!" Him: "I'm not sitting, I'm kneeling!".
Me: "Drew, eat your scrambled eggs" Him: "I only have ONE eggUH".
Me: "Sorry, Drew, the banana is all gone." Him: "But there are more bananas beside the fridge!"
Oh boy. It never ends. You can't hide anything from him, either. I'm always amazed at the tiny details of conversation (that don't even involve him!) he picks up and he sees everything. Every time he gets me with a comeback I grit my teeth as flashbacks hit of very similar conversations between me and my parents many years ago.

Example 3:
He eats so slowly that, given the opportunity, he'd probably be finishing breakfast just in time to start on lunch and would never even have to leave the table. I don't eat as slowly as I used to (20 minute lunch breaks as a student then a teacher will do that to you), but I just can't inhale a meal the way some people (namely my husband) can. So I understand and sympathize, but meals in our house can last an hour or more and when you have a baby who only puts up with being in the high chair for a maximum of 20 minutes it makes life difficult. Drew has spent many hours happily nibbling alone at the table. Ever wonder why I post so many pictures and videos at the kitchen table? It's because we spend a lot of time there.

Example 4:
The bug phobia. I'm so sorry, Drew. I know it's my fault. But a housefly is NOT going to kill you! Even I'm not afraid of flies!! If there's a fly anywhere near him, you might as well go ahead and order your hearing aids because you'll only hear ringing in your ears for the next week. Even his full-fledged temper tantrums don't reach the same decibels as a fly-in-the-car incident. The most frustrating part is knowing I can't reason with him. Again, I was (and am) the same way. You can give me a list of scientifically-proven facts about how a bug won't harm me, but it won't change my reaction. And it won't change his. Even if he could be reasoned with at this age.

Example 5:
He touches EVERYTHING! This one goes to my dad. I always drove him bonkers by running my hands across everything we passed in a store. I may have broken more than a few fragile items in my early years. I was just so interested in the textures that I had to feel everything. Drew does the same thing and now that I'm a little more germ-conscious it drives me crazy imagining all the gross things he's picking up. Especially as a thumb-sucker (sorry, Drew, that one's from me too), I just know as soon as we get in the car that dirty thumb will pop into his mouth. Ugh.

And as if the above isn't proof enough that I gave birth to myself...

Me on the left

I think we even have the same haircut! ;)

I'm really not sure how I did it...

So this is an official apology to my parents, my husband, and even my kids. I can be irritating at times, apparently. I'm sorry you've had to live with me. But if it makes you feel any better, I'm getting a taste of my own medicine. ;) And maybe it's a little therapeutic to realize that, even with (or maybe because of) those little irritating quirks, I still love him to the moon and back!

Daddy. Zzzz.

I'm not sure if it's just his age, or the fact that I've been able to spend so much time with him this week, but I swear Drew is going through a growth spurt. Not a physical one, but a mental one. Earlier this week we were sitting on the couch "talking" and I couldn't get over how grown up he seems all of a sudden. I can't even explain exactly what it was that made me feel that way, but it was like it hit me that he's not a baby, and he really is on the verge of being a talking little boy.

Some observations:

He's starting to put words together. He has discovered Elmo on YouTube (yes, thanks to Mommy and Daddy :-/) and now he climbs in our laps and says "Elmo. Watch. Watch Elmo." He's also a fan of "eat _____" (fill in the blank with is current food obsession). He makes observations like "Lucy eatin." I also swear he has been saying "I want it!" which I really don't know where he learned (I mean, I don't imagine Jason or I saying that very often).

Along the same lines he seems to be discovering how to make a pronoun possessive. If he sees a picture of Jason he says "Daddy", but if he sees Jason's watch he says "Daddy. Zzzz". It's kind of funny because he pauses, then adds the s sound. When it comes to "Mommy's" stuff, he seems to be a little swifter with the s.

His vocabulary in general is skyrocketing and his favorite thing to do is label things. "Twee. Cwoud. Tah. Bow." (That would be tree, cloud, car, and ball). I'm shocked at his memory and how quickly he seems to pick up on new words. Just last night I taught him what a monkey says (oo oo ah ah). We've been doing a lot of animal sounds, but that was a new one. This morning he woke up, pointed to the monkey on his shirt and said "montey. Oo ah," with a huge grin.

While he was eating the other day he randomly started counting. "One, two, fwee, foh...". That's as far as he got, but seeing as we haven't actively tried to teach him to count I was rather impressed.

Drew found a picture of Jason on a Costco card. First he said "Daddy", then "head" (because all you can see is the head). Then he started naming other features- nose, eyes, lips. I said, "good, now where are YOUR lips?" I was actually testing to see if he'd get it because our game usually goes something like "good, those are Daddy's lips, where are Drew's lips?". Well, without missing a beat, Drew touched his own lips. Then I tried again and said "where are MY lips?" (instead of "Mommy's lips"). Again, he pointed right to my lips. We continued to play this game and he continued to get it right, even as I varied the order. I was surprised that, even though Jason and I too often refer to ourselves as "Mommy" and "Daddy" (as in I often say something like "Mommy's going to cook you an egg"), Drew's still picking up on I, you, etc.

My biggest surprise came yesterday. He was eating celery and hummus in the living room (which means he was licking hummus off of celery). Every ten seconds or so (seriously) he would shout "nummus! Pweeze!" (the "please" impressed me quite a bit, but that's not all). I would reload his celery and bring it back to him. Finally, tired of going back and forth, I said "that's it. Hummus is all done." It didn't even occur to me until a good 5 minutes later that he never asked for more! He listened, he understood, and he accepted it! Wow!

But that's still not all! After he had sufficiently finished licking the last of the hummus and nibbling the celery he came wandering into the kitchen where I was cleaning. I said "where's your celery [knowing it was on the couch]? Can you go get it and put it in the trashcan?" He walked right into the living room, got the celery, then
walked right back to the kitchen and put it in the trash. He's following directions! Obviously, this is behavior I should expect, but seeing as he hasn't even been able to comprehend instructions yet, this was a pretty exciting step (because it means I CAN start expecting him to listen and DO what I ask him to do).

In general he seems to get "conversation". He sits in my lap and "talks" to me, then looks right up in my face and smiles as he listens to my response. He's starting to understand humor and playing pretend. As I've said a million times before, it is such a privilege to watch him grow and change and I will never get over how fascinating, marvelous, and miraculous it all is. I thank God every day for the opportunity to raise and nurture this child.

Chip off the ol' block?

Jason's mom was in town this last week and we got to enjoy a few evenings with her over dinner and drinks. She lives out-of-state (always has since I've been with Jason) so I don't often get much time to chit chat with her. Seems that perhaps was a good thing because maybe I never would have married Jason if I had. NOT because I don't like Cathy (I love her!), but because of the stories she's been telling me about him! I'm pretty sure the thought of having children with this man would have had me running.... seems he was quite a handful! From chewing apart his crib (oh wait...), to smashing eggs from the refrigerator when her back was momentarily turned, to running his baby walker down the stairs... and laughing. She has repeated to us numerous times that he was "horrible!". Thankfully, she says, he mellowed out quite a bit. (I agree!)

With all that, I started thinking that my little mischievous pumpkin may have a bit of his dad in him (I think he knows his name as "DwoooOOOoo", with the "did you really just do that!?" tone). But really, he is quite a sweetheart. Here are just a few examples:

When we put up a tiny Christmas tree at our lake house to celebrate an early Christmas with my  parents and sister, Drew, of course, wanted to touch badly. After saying a firm, but quiet, "no" (apparently with a finger wag, according to Jason, which must have done the trick) Drew pouted then burst into tears. But, from then on, he simply looked and pointed at the tree without touching. When we pulled out the big tree at our house he never once tried to touch it. He will point to it and say "wow!" but he stays just out of reach.

A good boy gets to hold his special ornament

One of Drew's favorite phrases is "bessoo!" which means "bless you!". Jason has horrible allergies. Year round. So the phrase is pretty much a constant in our house. A week or so ago I was changing Drew's diaper upstairs when Jason sneezed downstairs. Drew shouted "bessoo!" (and of course Jason shouted back "thank you!")

Drew has also learned to say "san soo" ("thank you", though it can be confused with "bless you"). At first he loved handing me things and saying "san soo" knowing that I was about to say it. The other day, though, Jason handed him his sippy cup and Drew said "san soo!". Awwww!!

He loves bedtime and asks to go "night night". Last night we were late coming home from church and it was past his bedtime. He angrily screamed "nye nye!" the whole way home then laughed when we brought him upstairs to get ready for bed.

Just being a sweetie (and making sure B.A. Laura buys him
anything he wants!)

We stick to a bedtime routine every night- brush teeth, change diaper and put on PJs, get "deedee" (blankie), read a book, then say a prayer. When we get finished with our book I say, "now it's time to say our prayers" and he clasps his hands together. Makes. My. Heart. Melt! (And always makes me say an extra word of thanks to the Big Man).

Because of a cough, the doctor put Drew on an inhaler for a few weeks. The first little bit was rough trying to get him to sit still so we could give him the medicine. He kicked, screamed, thrashed, and cried (and made me feel like an evil monster). Suddenly, the other day, he sat perfectly still the whole time. I have no clue why but I smiled and excitedly said "good boy!". Ever since he sits still and takes it, then when he's finished, before I even get a chance to, he says "boo boy!" (good boy) and, once again, makes my heart melt. "Yes, VERY good boy!"

How to get around

Drew is still working on perfecting his rolls, but he is getting better and better by the day. He is also discovering that rolling helps him get to places...

Are you looking at me?

Aha! I got the pink bag!

Time to head back to my other toys

Hope he doesn't make himself dizzy.

Happy Fourth of July!

 

For the fourth we made our first outing with Drew.  We took him up to my parent's lakehouse for the night.  It was a fun trip; I was glad to get out of the house, but it was a good taste of what traveling with a baby is like!  I was all set and ready to go with the pack n' play in the van, the diaper bag (with countless diapers and clothing changes), the boppy, the bathtub (my mom promised to help bathe him), etc., then I realized "oh! I need to pack for myself!!".  Ugh.

Drew enjoyed sitting in the shade by the dock making faces at Mommy.

 

 

 

 

 

He also sported an all-American outfit for the occasion, check out his bum!

 

If it looks like I was crying it's because I was... he was just too darn cute!  How can this be mine!?

The trip was fun, but exhausting!

Not enough pics? Check out more here.

Sorry so quiet

Hello all!  I'm sure you have all been anxious to hear news and see pics, so sorry to keep you hanging.  I'm sure you all understand how things are with a new baby!  Little Drew has been great, sleeping pretty well, not very fussy, but it still takes time to adjust to the new schedule!

For today I thought I'd simply share some pics and announce the winners in our little time-passing guessing game.

1. How much will Floodling weigh?  

8 lb. 6 0z.

Grandma Simpson and Great Aunt Sue technically win, both guessing 8 lb. 5 oz. My sister Laura was a close second (only second because Jason says it should go by the Price is Right rule- closest without going over).  She guessed 8 lb. 7 oz.

2. How long will he be?

20 inches

 

No one got it!  Everyone guessed too high. Guess this little guy was a bit shorter than everyone suspected.  Grandma Simpson, Jennifer, and Great Aunt Wynn Anne all guessed 21 inches though. 

3. What time of day will he arrive?

1:25 am

Great Aunt Wynn Anne got closest with this one guessing 2:30 am.   

4. Will he have hair?

Yup, he has a full head of fine hair

Everyone said he would have hair, so you all got it!