Author: Kristi

Tearing up old magazines is super fun…. Until you try to eat them.  

The Harrell’s came to New Jersey for the weekend to see our house and introduce Finley! We went for a walk at the park, hung by the pool, made camp fires and just enjoyed catching up with these good friends. 

Finley and Andrew?!? Let the match making begin!  

    
 Lady killer at dinner…until he fell asleep: 

Andrew played under the desk, popped bubble wrap and did just about anything to keep occupied during Friday afternoon phone calls: 

Andrew was captivated by watching Andy power wash the deck….baby occupied AND husband doing house chores?!?! That’s a win-win if I ever saw one!  

Andrew’s ear surgery went off without a hitch this morning! Minus the MASSIVE diaper explosion as we entered the hospital at 5:45 am. Once mommy recovered from that trauma we headed into pre-op.  

Pre-surgery pics as Andrew won the hearts of all his nurses:

   
    
   In recovery: 
    
 At home with his toys and basically back to normal: 

Uncle Peter and Aunt Judy brought Andrew back a tam from their recent trip to Scotland. He looked quite adorable playing in his new hat. Now he’s ready for when when we make a family trip there next summer. Thanks for thinking of us! 

2 teeth and counting!  

We’re a few days late (Sorry, Mommy was out of town), but Andrew is 8 months! This has been a big month for the little man and it’s been amazing to see him hit these milestones. Over the 4th of July, he cut his first tooth! And when we returned home, he started crawling! Very exciting!

So what’s crawling been like?! It’s a funny double edge sword so far. I was so excited for him to finally make that leap and now that he has, I miss the days when he just sat in one place and played. It was WAY easier to get stuff done….or just go to the bathroom for that matter. And since he’s on the move, our house is slowly being baby proofed. Covers on the sockets, heavy objects pushed back from their ledges and the all too frequent sound of ‘No’ when he tries to get into trouble. His favorite bit of mischief at the moment is the floor vent. He’s strangely attracted to it and even figured out how to climb under his bouncey to get there. If it weren’t 105 degrees outside we’d turn off the AC and cover the the darn thing. Until then, we’ll keep telling him no, have him laugh in our face and then redirect him to some other toy that will keep his attention for 15 seconds. And then repeat…..

And his tooth! He has one tooth on the bottom that’s coming in slow and steady. Just one for now but we think he may be cutting another one soon. He didn’t really fuss when the first tooth arrived so we can’t quite tell. One morning we woke up and it was just there. Pretty cool discovery over coffee one day!

And the stats…Andrew is definitely over 20 lbs (though nothing official to confirm, just my tired arms). He wears 12 months size clothing and squeezes into a few 9 month outfits Mom can’t stand to part with. His favorite food is yogurt and he loves puffs (Cheerios for babies). He’s getting much better at picking them up on his own. Before he’d just swat at his tray and hope one made it into his mouth. Now he’s about 75:25. 75% make into into is mouth and only 25% end up on the floor, in his bib or stuck under the rolls in his chin when he’s done. Also, Andrew sleeps from 7:30pm until 6-6:30 am pretty consistently. He still loves his bouncey and has begun using his scooter to glide all around our first floor. Sophie is still his favorite friend.

And the last first to share, Andrew said his first word! It was Dada. I tried to fight it but there was no denying it when Andy walked into the room, Andrew looked at him and said ‘Dada.’ There have been a few ‘Mama’ here and again (despite many efforts) but nothing deliberate. Sometimes he says ‘mmm’ or ‘mama’ but I don’t think he means Mommy. I think he means ‘I want food.’ At least he went to the right parent. Smart boy.

So much change for a little boy in such a short time! I can see walking, talking and more fun on the horizon. For now we’re just trying to soak in every moment with this little bundle of love, joy and endless energy!

Andrew William, 8 months. July 2015.