My Little Helper

Andrew is helping daddy tighten the screws on his big boy bed. (We finally took down his crib last weekend and he helped daddy with the screws on that too)



He loves to help and do things himself, tonight he was pouring bubble bath into his tub (with daddy's help of course)




Sorry the pictures got out of order.



Like I said, Andrew likes to try to do a lot of things himself. Here he is helping me squeeze the toothpaste onto his toothbrush.

(FYI: I am NOT pregnant in this picture, it's just a really bad angle of my big stomach :(




Brushing his teeth...he moves his head from side to side instead of the toothbrush


Rockstar Andrew with spiky hair. (He likes to scrub himself with the washcloth and put the shampoo in his hair)


I asked him to stick out his tongue :)

Snuggles and storytime with mommy

One of my favorite times of the day is naptime and bedtime when I would get to snuggle with Andrew, rock him, and sing to him. He doesn't let me do this anymore because he has big boy bed which he loves and jumps in for storytime and then kisses me goodnight and tells me to leave.

So, I thoroughly enjoy any snuggling I get, he is very affectionate with kisses and hugs though. It surprised me when one morning he curled up with me on the couch just before naptime. He did get to share my crackers too. :)


My sweet little boy


Smile!

One of Andrew's favorite times of the day is storytime.



My little helper helps me 'read' the book and turn the pages, how sweet.

Bedtime was not so fun last night and hasn't been for a few nights. He usually goes to bed really well. We read stories, then we go brush teeth and he gets back in bed, say our prayers and give kisses good night. Frequently within ten minutes of going to bed he comes to the door (which has a baby gate across it) and says 'stinky.' If I change his diaper then he goes back to bed without a problem.....not anymore! He keeps getting out of bed, he thinks it's hysterical. He didn't actually go to sleep until about 9:45 last night! And...he got up at 6:40!!!

On another note, I think he might be ready for potty-training soon, we'll see. I don't want to push him so much that he doesn't want to do it. He used to tell us 'stinky' for poopy diapers, but now he tells us 'stinky' every time he has a wet diaper too and sometimes he lays down on the floor to be changed. A lot of times he tells me 'noooooo' when I ask if he needs to sit on the potty but he let me put him on the potty a few times in the last couple of days, he just hasn't done anything on it yet. He asks for 'paper please' and wipes himself and flushes. :)

Cute pictures of Andrew :)

I was sick most of the week after we went to the Children's Museum. He and daddy took trips to the park and the store and stuff like that. He also went to Gram's and Grumpa's house for the night when mommy and daddy celebrated their anniversary. We went to a spa for the day and we went to the Melting Pot for dinner. Andrew would be jealous--playing in the mud and dipping all your food at dinner. :)

He kept wanting us to take pictures of him.

Oops!


My cutie!


Smile Andrew! (He sometimes scrunches his face like that, I think it's cute)


Aaaah!


May I take your order please? (we let Andrew play on the deck in his sandbox with a gate across the stairs, we can see him through our big picture window. It was open today because it was hot)


Andrew decided he wanted to wear daddy's 'buff.' He's actually pretending to call me on daddy's cell phone and saying 'Night, night mommy,' even though I had just gotten home. (I'm the one taking the picture.) He likes to talk to me when I call when I'm leaving work. He also called me again without daddy knowing. He pushed the send button twice (redial) and had a full conversation with me. Then he said bye-bye and hung up the phone.




The boys--notice his Star Wars Lego shirt :)

Not so many postings

I'm sorry I haven't posted for the last couple of weeks. I didn't feel good most of the first week, then we celebrated our anniversary and I've been working too.

I'll try to post my pictures tonight or tomorrow. :)

The Children's Museum

Sorry about not posting this all week, I haven't felt very good most of the week. We took Andrew to the Tacoma Children's Museum last Friday (it's free the first Friday of the month, score!). He had a lot of fun. A lot of their exhibits focus on nutrition and exercise right now.

They had a produce stand where you could weigh fruits and vegetables and a cash register. They also had a "garden" and a lunch counter where kids could pretend to run a restaurant.


Andrew playing with the fruits and vegetables. He wanted mommy to come with at first but then he got used to it.


He was over here in the corner playing ball. There was a heat sensitive board that turned from black to blue when you put your hands on it, so I'm helping him make handprints.








They made fruit-scented play dough. He really liked that.











And he got to wear a smock and paint a picture.

There was also an area to play house. Andrew liked sweeping and vacuuming the most. What a good little helper. :) (except that he's afraid of the real vacuum)





Scooters, weeee!


Daddy wanted to help him climb the climbing wall, he's still a little small yet. He much prefers the scooters...and vacuuming.


I think he vacuumed the whole museum. :)

It was a good afternoon activity but I don't know if I would spend $6 each for all three of us to go. The free days are nice.

The Scottish Highland Games 2008

We went to the 'Scottish Highland Games and Clan Gathering' in Enumclaw last Sunday (7/27/08) with my dad. It was surprisingly a little overcast, usually it's the hottest weekend of the year. My (Jana's) family is Scottish and belongs to the clan Gordon. This is a gathering of people of Scottish ancestry and they do bagpiping & drumming, highland dancing, music performances, dog shows, and athletic competitions. (Not the usual sports though)

Andrew is sporting a Gordon clan hat and a Douglas (or Stewart, I'm not sure) tartan kilt. That was the closest he could get last year.

Sorry about so many pictures, he was just so gosh darn cute and I had a hard time choosing. :)

He's not sure what he's in for.


The massed pipes and drums--about 500 people.


Andrew was dancing around during this.


He's actually sitting on daddy's lap for a minute. (Instead of walking around or sitting on the foot rest of the bleachers.


He insisted on pushing his stroller everywhere...even though he couldn't see.
Isn't he so cute with the tails down his back and his little kilt. :) I could just eat him up. :)




He got to pet some of the dogs which he really liked.


We were looking at the highland cattle (highland is code for really furry), the clydesdale horses were MIA though. I asked him what it was (and he knows), but he wouldn't talk in front of strangers so when we walked away he said 'moo.'



At the end of the day he was still in a pretty good mood, even without a nap.


My little Scotsman :)


Andrew is making his own music...'strumming' his finger on his lips. I don't know how else to describe it, everyone's done it. It makes buh, buh, buh sounds. :)


I asked him to smile!


What a cutie! He's starting to get tired. (This is just after he dumped an entire packet of bbq sauce on his lap, now mommy gets to find out how to get his wool kilt clean.)

Saturday, 7/26/08--A fun day at home

We stayed around home today while daddy and grandpa worked on the shed. But we still had a very fun day. Andrew loves to play out on the deck in his sandbox or at his table or riding cars....or chasing the dogs. :) We put up a gate across the stairs as you can see (we only have 3 steps or so) and the door open and he can go in and out. We can see him through the window and the door. He would stand for a long time and watch grandpa and daddy work. Day 3 on the shed project and still one to go!

This afternoon we were painting pictures for great-grampy.

The little Picasso....or should I say Bouma


He is very serious about his work :)





I asked him to look at me and smile!

When he was done painting I started bringing in his pictures and the paint, but I had to go back out for the water cup. (It was for dipping his paintbrush in to rinse off in between colors) I wish I had gotten a picture, he was starting to drink it! Yuck! But my fist reaction was to say 'No Andrew!' and run over to get it, so...no picture. :( Thank goodness for non-toxic paint, plus he didn't really get any. He did have good drinking form with the big cup though)

Later in the afternoon he had great fun with the dogs. He was petting them a lot...

and getting lots of doggie kisses!




Climbing 'Mount Daddy' is another fun activity.


Stop! No more pictures mommy! :)

Andrew got 2 stickers today! (as you can see on his shirt) One for sitting on his potty twice like a big boy (he hasn't actually peed in it yet) and one for staying in his bed at naptime.

He was running around for a little while sans diaper and shorts after he sat on the potty, but I wasn't sure I should put that picture on here of his cute little tushy.