Andrew's 1st Haircut

As you can see from the "before" picture, Andrew's hair has become a little bit unruly, including the unfortunate tail at the base of his skull. We are very fortunate to be good friends with Miss Lynnse, the best hairstylist EVER! She came to our house to cut Andy's hair last night. It started off fine, then Andrew became increasingly agitated as Lynnse would not let him have the comb or the scissors she was using. However, she worked her magic and the end result is a cute boy that now is even more handsome (if that was even possible). And yes, for those wondering, he is having a snack while he has his hair cut. Thank you Miss Lynnse!

A Boy and His Bottle

I was packing up to get ready to leave work, and glanced over into the pack-n-play and noticed Andy had gone to sleep, cuddling his bottle. Andrew loves his bottle- he will often drink the bottle, then proceed to talk to it and pick it up and ultimately hold it as he falls asleep. There have been several times I have gone into his room and his lovey and toys are to the side and he is sound asleep, holding his bottle. It is hard to tell from this picture, but lately he has been sucking the bottle so hard the nipple gets flattened. I wonder why we continue to buy him toys when he loves a $4 bottle so much.

9 Months

I have been trying to get a bunch of pictures ready to view, but am having quite a bit of trouble with the photo-editing program. So, here are a few for now, and this weekend I will get serious about editing all of the pictures from Grace's birthday, our vacation and 4th of July for you all to see.

In the meantime, I wanted to update you on little Andrew...although little probably isn't the best term for him- he is a solid boy! We love all of the rolls, or as I prefer to call them "muscles". As you can tell in his fisherman shot from 4th of July, his muscle shirt shows all of the muscles on his arms. Andy is getting around a lot now...he can do an "army crawl" to whatever he wants on the floor, and has discovered the fun that is Oreo. Oreo remains as patient as ever, as you can tell from the picture. Andrew is starting on table foods now, but most often abuses the privilege of fun table foods by cramming too much in his mouth at once and then gagging on the food. His sisters still love him and can make him smile and laugh- we still have to take turns sitting by him in the car. He was supposed to have stopped spitting up today (9 months is the magic month for Struck babies), but threw up on me as we were leaving the house this morning. Andy is still so good at work...he talks to a phone book and the pack and play, but still won't help with the bulletin or with Stats. He is so happy and so much fun to be with.

8 Months

Another month is already gone...Andy is 8 months today. He is babbling a lot more now and can now fully sit up and roll over both ways (why do baby milestones at this age sound a lot like dog tricks?). He loves, loves, loves his Jumperoo- which is noisy and sometimes annoys his sisters. He had a doctor visit this month and the doctor says Andrew has plenty of pounds...is over 20 lbs, putting him in the 75th percentile for weight and the 8oth for height- all of that to say he is a big boy. He still loves a bath and his toothbrush. He is very ticklish almost all over and loves attention from his sisters. He is still our most easygoing baby- sometimes we have to tell ourselves to pick him up and cuddle him because he is so happy to just watch everything go on around him. He is very handsome, as you can see- girls already can't keep themselves away- the picture below is his friend Sophie giving him a kiss. Andrew is so sweet and I stand amazed at the gift he is to our family.

Grace is 8

Hard to believe, but my brown-eyed girl is 8 today. It feels like I looked away for one second and she is half way to being able to drive.

Grace loves everything to do with art and is good at spelling. She is a terrific swimmer- she can do the breast stroke, side stroke, freestyle and butterfly. She likes most kinds of music, but is partial to the Jonas Brothers and Hannah Montana. In a clear demonstration of unconditional love, and love being deaf and blind, she loves to hear me sing- especially old 60's tunes. Grace is certainly not her mother's daughter when it comes to food- she likes plain vanilla ice cream, no butter on her waffles or toast, nothing spicy and can take or leave cheese. She is so good with her brother, and loves her sister, even if sometimes showing her love for Faith comes in the form of pestering and teasing.

Grace has always been a tremendous blessing for me- she is the gift God sent that I most certainly did not deserve. She gave both Ryan and I purpose and direction, and a reason to want to do well.

7 Months- A Little Late

Well, we are a little late with this month's posting because of a bad week. Allison fell last week and broke her foot in two places, then followed it up with a sinus infection. Ryan has been left with most of the household chores (except for combing hair) and everyone is tired.

Anyway, this does not change that Andrew did turn 7 months over the weekend. I know what most of you are thinking... he needs food!

In the last month, he has gotten better at sitting up (but still falls over) has developed quite a few new rolls in his legs that make him look like the Michelin man and found a new BFF (for those not in-the-know, BFF is Best Friend Forever. We have spent quite a bit of money on toys for him, but his new BFF is an old toothbrush, as you can see in the picture. He turns it over and over in his hands, talks to it and chews on it. He held on to it and talked to it for about 25 minutes on our bed a couple of weeks ago and then fell asleep holding it. Before you decide to question his intelligence, just stop and think about whether or not you are creative enough to come up with 25 minutes worth of conversation with a toothbrush. Also, in a pinch, his toothbrush can be replaced with a highlighter or a Sharpie.

Andrew still prefers veggies to fruits, can pick up his own Cheerios, loves to bang a measuring cup on his high chair tray and will (mostly) sleep through the night. He loves his Jumperoo and can't be bothered to roll himself over from his front to his back. He thinks his sisters are hilarious and has discovered that their hair is really soft and fun to pull. Faith sometimes calls him :"Cotton Andy" (a shout-out to JoJo's Circus loving readers). Does anyone know a cuter 7 month old boy named Andrew?

6 Months Old

Well, we are halfway through Andrew's first year, and I don't really know where the time is going. In the last month Andrew has started having food in addition to his really expensive formula that doesn't really help with the spitting up. He likes all of the vegetables he has had so far, which are squash, sweet potatoes and green beans. He is sort of ambivalent about applesauce but categorically hates bananas. I did learn (by accident) that he likes Teddy Grahams when I came up the stairs from folding laundry and found that Baby Faith had generously shared some of her snack with him. He had about 6 of them in his mouth and became very agitated when I took them out before he choked. He has also begun sleeping through the night (most nights) and has almost mastered sitting up. He likes to play "Trot, Trot to Boston" and thinks Peek-a-Boo is hilarious. For those with questions, he is not bowing in the first picture, he is working on not being a Weeble (like I am told his Auntie Heidi was). He is a sweet boy and we are falling a little bit more in love with him every day.