Drew's first Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! We had a great time celebrating Drew's first Christmas. Before we get to the Christmas pictures, there are a couple from the week before Christmas that amused Jana and me.

Drew thought it was hilarious when Jana put his rubber duck on his head!

He grabbed the duck off his head and then got ready to chew on it.

Jana left a coffee cup on the floor (empty) and the next thing she knew Drew had picked it up and was trying to "drink" from it. Will Drew be a coffee drinker someday like his mom?

Here is another picture of Drew hoisting the coffee mug.We started our Christmas celebrations here in Lansing with a full house of Aupperlees and Gezons. We managed to cram everyone in our tiny house and we didn't get any pictures of it! Drew basked in the attention from both sides of the family!

We spent Christmas Eve with Jana's family. Here Drew is playing with the keys to his Gazoobo, which was a gift from Aunt Christina.

Drew likes the simple things, and the bows from presents were one of his favorite toys. You'll notice that the rings from Grandpa John and Grandma Lynn are ignored on the floor next to him! Drew never tires of showing off how big he is . . . . so big!

Drew is my favorite Christmas present, so I put some bows on him for my amusement!

Drew made the switch to his pajamas and was a big help to Grandpa John in putting away his toys.

Drew found that it was a lot of fun to imitate Jana and put a bow on his forehead!

On Christmas morning (still in our pajamas) we traveled over to the Aupperlees to open stockings. Here Drew is opening his first stocking!

After stockings were opened, Drew followed Grandma Sue to the kitchen. Unlike at home, the cabinets here open without child locks and they have so much fun stuff in them!

Kelli played with Drew on the floor and showed him how to use his new turtle in the bathtub.

Grandpa Bill was happy to have some snuggle time with Drew while he ate. It is the only time that Drew slows down and lets you hold him!

Drew got so excited about opening Christmas presents that he worked his way right out of his pants! Drew is sorting some shapes with this toy from Todd and Kelli. He can push it around as he learns to walk.

Drew caught on quickly to opening and closing this pop up toy from Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Vryhof.

Great-Grandpa Vryhof taught Drew that the square shape goes in the square hole!

Drew woke up from an afternoon nap to play with his sports toy from Grandma Sue and Grandpa Bill. He hasn't learned how to hit the ball yet with his yellow bat, but we're working on it!

Drew also took some time to play basketball. He couldn't grip the basketballs, but he found that some of his blocks worked quite well with this toy. I put a yellow arrow to show his block going through the basket for two points!The scoreboard lights up and the crowd cheers when you score a basket. Drew was fascinated and baffled by this and went in for a closer look. It was so cute to see him puzzle over how the scoreboard and sound worked!

Drew is looking quite studly in his argyle bib waiting for his afternoon feeding. My mom found a baby seat for him that hooked up to the table, so he could join us there for meals.

Drew tried beef for the first time, and it was a huge hit. He enjoyed a beef, potatoes, and carrots meal courtesy of Gerber.

We all needed a turn getting our picture taken with Drew at Christmas, so here is the Drew picture series:

We start with Todd and Kelli, . . .
and then Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Vryhof, . . .

and then me and Jana, . . . and finally, Grandma Sue and Grandpa Bill!

Drew didn't really get into ripping up his presents until this last one that he got at home with Jana and me. He ripped up the paper one piece at a time.

And then he handed each piece to Jana before moving on to the next one. It was so cute!

Our present for Drew was a Noah's Ark toy. Drew wanted to help take it out of the box!

As you can see, Drew had a great first Christmas and we had a great time with family. I hope your Christmas was good as well!

Drew in shades

Sorry I haven't posted in a while (over a week!). I'm slipping here! This past week I put a pair of large retro sunglasses on Drew, which he wears pretty well. I don't know if Drew's face will ever grow into sunglasses this big! It was a little dark with the sunglasses, so Drew lowered them to get a look at Jana and me.

This past weekend we celebrated Christmas in Grand Rapids with my mom's side of the family. Drew got to open his first Christmas presents! Below he has his hand on his new book. He's already read this book several times with us since getting it.

We had a hard time getting Drew to open his presents. Jana has done a great job training Drew to not tear paper, so it was hard to let him know that in this situation it is okay to rip the paper! :)

Here Drew is playing with his new shape sorter from Great-Grandma and Grandpa Vryhof.

Drew hasn't started sorting the shapes yet, but he really likes to play with them (and chew on them). Drew's other favorite toy of the evening . . . the box in this picture!

I'll post more pictures of Drew's first Christmas next week. Merry Christmas everyone!

healthy is good!

We have had an eventful past week, so I have a lot to tell about. First though, I have to start with a picture of Drew playing with Jana, which I promised in one of my last posts. We love getting Drew dressed up in his MSU apparel! Last week we went and cut down a Christmas tree. We were worried about Drew being warm enough, so we put on a onesie, footed pajamas, socks, another set of socks, a sweatshirt, overalls, a jacket, mittens, and a hat. Drew was so puffy from all the clothes that he could hardly move! He was also heavier! We took a quick picture of Drew in our house before he overheated from all the layers.

Jana and I have been going to Tannenbaum Farms for a couple years now to get our Christmas tree. We have our routine down . . . we left the parking lot within twenty minutes of arriving (we're also very decisive about choosing a tree)! Drew went along for the experience in the Baby Bjorn.

Here are Jana and Drew among the Frasier Firs that we were considering cutting down. See how layered Drew is?

Unfortunately, after the excitement of getting a Christmas tree, the rest of our week was yucky! Drew came down with the stomach flu and in one two-hour stretch vomited 15 times. Poor guy! We sat on the couch with him and had a towel draped in front of him. He looked terrible and Jana and I would have done ANYTHING to make him feel better.

This picture captures how Jana and I felt about Drew being sick . . . SAD! We felt even more sad after Drew gave the stomach flu to Jana later that night and then when I got it too a few days later. Drew is cute, but he's also contagious!

We kept an eye on Drew for the next 24 hours and Drew went back to wearing a bib so he wouldn't dirty so many outfits. He started to eat and drink within a couple hours of getting sick and by the next day was mainly back to being himself. He's still not quite back to normal, but he is doing so much better. Yay! I think every parent can relate to how hard it is to have a sick child. We are so happy to have Drew healthy again!

Look at Drew's teeth! The two teeth that Drew has continue to come in more and more. We don't have any other new teeth to report.

I'm going to need a better picture or some video of it, but Drew's latest thing is brushing his hair! Jana often takes Drew with her while she dries, curls, and styles her hair. After watching her, Drew has starting picking up a hair brush and brushing the back of his hair. He'll even "brush" his hair with a toy occasionally. It is so cute!

Drew giggles when we put this mixing bowl on his head like a hat, but he's so quick at getting it off that I haven't been able to get a picture of him with it on. The bowl is also a lot of fun to hit with a tool!

We are happy that Drew is doing so well in his pack and play. With a Christmas tree in our living room, we were worried that he would constantly be trying to get to it. Drew has done really well in his pack and play though, so it is wonderful to have him so contained. He seems to be having a pretty good time in this video!

Drew loves to play with my watch. He mixes putting each end of it in his mouth with trying to put it together. The watch is usually guranteed to generate a long time of Drew playing quietly on his own.

Here is some video of Drew playing with my watch. When we are home with the three of us, this is how he plays. He is not quiet for very long and he likes to softly make noises as he plays.

Our family is getting more healthy! Jana and Drew are looking a lot better now when they are on the couch together. We are thrilled that we are all feeling better and we are very grateful now for most of the time when we feel "normal" and healthy. I like Drew's expression in this picture. Is he smirking?

Drew wandered off last night with one of our spoons and I found him in the kitchen playing. The spoon makes loud noises, so be prepared if you have sound for this video!

Here is one last picture of Drew smiling!

five words, not bad for 10 months old!

This past week we have had a lot going on, but unfortunately I am not able to post pictures yet (keep posted, maybe I'll get some up this weekend). We went out to a tree farm and got Drew's first Christmas tree, which he has noticed, but not paid a lot of attention. Also, Drew got a major sickness for the first time: the stomach flu. He immediately spread it to Jana, but luckily waited a few days to give it to me. The stomach has not been fun for our family!

On a more exciting note, Jana and I were noting the other night that Drew has recently experienced an amazing increase in language. It is so exciting! I have mentioned before on the blog that he has said "dad" and "mom" with meaning, and now we can add to that list. He has begun saying "ball" when we point to a ball. He is able to say "hi" when we greet him. Finally, he is able to say and do the sign language for "more" while he is eating. He almost has down the sign language for "all done" as well. We are thrilled that Drew now has a five word vocabulary! Just like with many things, once our boy is properly motivated he makes amazing progress. Go Drew!

corralled

Drew has been crawling all over the place. He follows us from room to room and can even push open doors (I have to remember to shut the door tightly when I use the bathroom :) and does not sit still for very long. Drew is starting to get calluses on his knees from all the crawling! Every night Drew and I run around the house with Drew on my shoulders. We both love it!

With Drew's mobility, it is nice to corral him every once in a while and know that he won't get into anything. We've set up his pack and play in our living room, so that Drew can play in it while Jana and I can get things done without worrying about what he's doing. Drew likes to stand up in it and watch us as we scurry by doing housework (and he likes to chew on the edge).

Occasionally, Drew plays so hard that he plays right out of his pants! Luckily for us, he has not learned to purposefully take them off, but every once in a while he manages to wiggle his way out of them.

I noticed that with Drew always on the move we haven't had many pictures of other people with Drew. Drew doesn't usually sit still long enough to snap a picture with someone! He seems a little better about being held by me than he is for most people, so this past week Jana managed to snap a couple pictures of the two of us while we were playing in the living room. Can you tell that we were having fun?

Jana has been having fun playing with Drew too. He has a great laugh that we love to elicit! Keep posted for some pictures of Jana with Drew in the near future! I don't have video of it yet, but in addition to Drew's skills with "dada," he is also saying "mama." While it is still a mixed bag, we think he can say both with some meaning. This past weekend Drew and I were in the living room with the kitchen door closed. Jana returned from running some errands and upon hearing her voice in the kitchen, Drew perked up, started crawling toward the closed door, and said "mama." Our small taste of him talking has us excited about more!

On Saturday Jana and I got to babysit Laynie, the daughter of our friends Rob and Alexis. Laynie is about five weeks old and she is tiny! Actually, she's almost exactly the same size Drew was at that age, but that already seems so little to us. Jana looks pretty thrilled to be holding a little baby again, doesn't she? I had to remind her that Drew does not need a sibling yet!!

Drew was fascinated by Laynie and we let him get some looks at her. He is around younger babies at day care, but none are as young as Laynie. He also scooted over to check out her baby carrier.

I couldn't let Jana have all the fun with Laynie! She slept most of the time she was over, and here I am working on getting her to wake up to be fed. We had a great time taking care of Laynie and reminiscing about when Drew was that small (which wasn't all THAT long ago).

Drew is continually fascinated by small items from around the house, especially from the kitchen. He loves measuring cups, spoons, and . . . spatulas! What fun!

Drew is really good at standing up and transitioning from crawling to standing, but every once in a while it is entertaining to watch him pull himself up on something and mash his face into it.

Anything that we leave sitting around is fair game for Drew to grab and play with. We really need to keep an eye on things we don't want him to have! In this picture he found one of my slippers and the cup I was drinking from and claimed them as toys.

Last night Jana snapped this picture of Drew "camouflaged" by our blue shirts. Of course, we couldn't get Drew to smile, only to stick out his tongue :)