Drew's Walking!

Four score and several months ago, we posted blogs....well, we have been so busy with our move and such that we have been slacking on our updates.  Hopefully that will all change now that we are getting back into a groove.....We moved into a 4bed/3bath condo this past week (thanks again to Ferd for helping us!).  It's taking some extra time to get things unpacked, but we are getting there.

For Easter weekend, we had Ryan Larkin, his girlfrind, Lily, and Maggie B in town.  Aside from Ag's trip to the ER on Friday night (long story, she is healthy and fine), it was a a great time seeing them.  Ag and Maggie went to The National and Arcade Fire concert on Sunday night and said it was an absolute blast!

So our big man is starting to walk...very exciting for us!  Here is a video of some of his first steps (narrated by Maggie Brennan):

And here is some video from just a few days later (Saturday, April 30th to be exact):

...such progress in only a few days! We aren't sure whether to be excited or nervous.

(PLEASE NOTE!  We were in process with the move when those videos were taken; please don't mind the mess in the background and please don't think we are slobs!!)

We have lots of pics to upload and some other things to post about our Bug Man, but for now, we are out.  Happy May to everyone....Let's hope April showers really do bring May flowers!

We know....

It has been WAY too long since we posted last.  We have been busy!!  I have lots of fun things to tell ya about (Drew's development, our new condo, etc) but for now, this is going to be a short post. 

Drew's into EVERYTHING.  He is a crawling machine and will be walking soon.  His new thing is to try and carry something in one hand as he holds onto your hand with the other.  The things he tries to carry are just not easy things to pick up....he loves to try and carry a metal bowl, a large basket, and now, the toilet paper holder.  How long do you think we have till he realizes he can unroll the tissue??

Drew's Fiesta

As we have said before, Drew really likes avocados. Well as you will see from the pictures, Drew LOVED eating his avocado the other day.  He was basically making guacamole by hand.

Seriously, all he needed was a sombrero to complete his fiesta!

The simple things in life

Today Drew occupied himself for about and hour with an empty water bottle.  Yes, forget the light-up, loud, rattle toys.  Apparently, all Drew needs is a water bottle to keep him happy! 

Play by play of Drew's day:

Pick up water bottle.  Water bottle slips from hand.  Water bottle rolls away.  Crawl to water bottle.  Sit and pick up water bottle.  Water bottle slips from hand.  Water bottle rolls away.  Crawl to water bottle....and repeat....


(To all mother's wondering out there, the lid of the bottle is very, very secure.)

Also, as you will note above, I said that Drew is crawling.....Sunday night when we posted our last blog, Drew was on the brink of crawling.  That all changed Monday morning.  He's definitely crawling now, and he is getting from point A to point B slowly but surely.  My how our lives have become SO much more interesting....

Eating time....

Happy 8 months to Drew!!  I can't believe how much our little guy is growing up:)

So, Drew is eating like a little machine these days.  First it was the Puffs....what is a Puff you ask?  More or less, a little piece of air (and I'm not kidding!).  Basically, it's a very easy "thing" for him to eat as it dissolves in his mouth and he can learn to eat finger foods. (Yes, there is a Puff stuck under his eye.)

Now he is on to Cheerios.  His new thing is he eats as many Cheerios as he wants off his tray.  Then if he is full and there are a few left on his tray, he slaps the tray as hard as he can to see the Cheerios flop all around and then finally onto the floor.  Good times for mom to clean up:)

He's eating more solids...cottage cheese, avacado, and bananas are some of his favorites.  For some reason he has started looking at things sideways too....

He is on the brink of crawling and has mastered pulling his knees up under him.  So, Drew's in the crawling position, but he doesn't move.  Then he plops on his belly and pushes himself up into a seated position.  My how our boy is developing his motor skills!

Balls, balls and more balls are a big hit with Drew at play time.  Also, holding mama and papa's hands as he walks throughout the house is probably his favorite thing to do.  God help us when he actually walks!

We were in Cincinnati recently visiting with our families and celebrating Daniel Henry's baptism.  Aggie is very excited and honored to be Daniel's Godmother!

Bad Duckie

"Rubber Duckie....You are NOT the one....."

Drew's maxing out his infant/toddler tub, so we opted to get him the Duckie tub that a few of our friends have recommended.  They said it's a great in-between option if you are not ready to put your baby in the tub as it still offers plenty of room for them to move and has soft cushion sides.

Perfect, right??  Well, Ag plopped Drew in the Duckie tonight, and he started screaming...and screaming....and screaming....this was a totally new thing for him as he has NEVER cried at bath time.  Even as a newborn, he loved his bath.

Needless to say, Duckie is deflating and will be returned to Target:( Drew's happy and sleeping well tonight.

Snowpocaplyse

So, as most of you all know, we got a little bit of snow yesterday.  Yes, the city of Chicago was put to a halt for a few hours due to Mother Nature.  When the snow finally stopped falling, we (Ag, Drew and I) went out and got a few pics.  Our back yard got dumped on...

The fun then begun with digging ourselves out!  Check out "our pics" to see the lovely tunnel I dug to get to the garage.  Once I got to the garage and put the garage door up, I had the pleasure of seeing the "wall" of snow that some, oh how should I put it, some "not so smart person" plowed.  Obviously, he wasn't hired by the city of Chicago and took matters into his own hands.....

As I looked around, our neighbors that live near us were out as well.  We were all wondering what in the world we were going to do with all the snow!  So, we came up with a plan.  We basically dumped the snow over our fence so that we could get to our cars and to our garage (I will say we are lucky as we are one of the few homes on the block with yard space).  We got all the cars dug out and the space in front of our garage cleared, but there was no way we could all tackle the "wall".  The "wall" of snow is about several feet high and a few feet wide.  We basically have a cul-de-sac in our back ally now. 

I don't think this wall will be gone till May!  AND, that truck is not going anywhere anytime soon....

At least Drew liked the snow!

6th Month Appointment and update

On Monday, January 10th, Ag took Drew to his 6th month appointment. (Due to the holidays, we are about 2 weeks behind schedule, but no big deal.) Drew is one very healthy boy! He is 19lbs and 27 3/4 inches long. He HATED his shots (as most babies do) and cried so hard afterwards:(


So, what is new with Drew?? Well around the 4.5 month mark, Drew rolled like crazy one day....or so Ag says! I have yet to see him roll. She tried to show me one day, but all that happened was that she pushed him and he rolled from the momentum...not really what I thought she meant by "He rolled! He rolled! He's rolling all over the place!". For some reason he has opted not to really attempt anything resembling a roll when papa is around. He likes to sit (and he sits really well), and he loves to stand up as you hold him. Also, Drew is becoming more and more vocal these days. He loves to just scream for no reason:) AAAAHHHHHHHH! and GGGGOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHH! are his staple noises.

He is really discovering the textures of things and tags are his favorite. Yes, Drew will be occupied for a good 5-10 minutes just playing with the tag of a pillow, blanket, etc. His favorite tags are on a big, soft soccer ball and the Boppy pillow. Good thing he got all these light up, musical, fancy toys for Christmas.... I honestly think he would have been fine with a tupperware lid or a spatula (assuming the tags were still on them)!

Peak-A-Boo is one of his favorite games to play. He also LOVES to hug his Pooh bear (thanks Joel!). "Hi Drew...my name is Pooh...I LOVE YOU!!!" and so on. ABC's is one song that always seems to make him smile and calms him down. His favorite books are "Baby at the Farm" and "Toes, Ears and Nose".


Drew is also quite the little eater these days. Squash is a big hit at dinner time! We had some prunes and apples the other day and after he took a bite, he decided he was tired and rubbed his eyes....seriously, what a mess!


We have lots of fun activities to keep us busy during the cold winter days. Drew has a music class (Wiggleworms) on Mondays, and Aggie is involved with a few mom groups that meet up each week.

Oh, and the other wonderful news...Drew sleeps through the night now (usually). He would sleep through the night here and there but nothing was consistent. Now he goes down to bed between 6:30-7pm and wakes between 6-7am. That my friends is a beautiful thing! (Although, as I write this, I think I am jinxing us!)

A few busy months....

The past few months have been super busy for us. The holidays do that to you I guess!?

Just to rehash the months of November and December....

We went home to Cincy the first weekend in November, and Ag, Ang and Theresa hosted Ann's baby shower. Ann had a great time and got tons of fun baby gifts. Kurt is in the process of learning and discovering what all the baby things are as they just had their bundle of joy! (See previous blog.)

For Thanksgiving, we were back in Cincinnati celebrating with both our families. As always, we ate a lot, watched some football, played a few games and relaxed. Drew enjoyed being held by all family members and hanging out!

Back in Chicago, we started our holiday celebrations with our friends, Alison, Justin, and Maggie. Drew and Maggie played as we adults enjoyed a tasty raclette meal. (If you remember, we used to have raclette dinners in Switzerland. I bought Aggie a raclette machine for X-Mas last year...and benefited from that purchase!)

Drew also met Santa in December! We went to the Bloomingdales downtown and honestly, the Santa and decorations were amazing! The setting really put you in the holiday spirit.

We celebrated with our good friends, the Reily's, their son's 2nd birthday.  Connor got some great toys, and all of us adults enjoyed catching up.


Drew's two bottom teeth came in...on December 14th to be exact. He was a drooling mess for quite a few weeks and gnawing at everything he could possibly put in his mouth.

Our Christmas celebrations in Cincinnati were wonderful. Drew was a trooper and all about opening his gifts.

Ann and Kurt had their baby, Daniel Henry Helmers. He is a cutie. Congrats again to them! (See pics and previous post.)

Drew's baptism was held over the holidays as well. He was baptised at St. Pete's in Hamilton on December 26th. Drew was a trooper and the best baby ever that day! He must have known he was in church:)