graduation

We've had a lot going on over the past few days, and I've finally found some time to sit down and update Drew's blog to address everything. I'll start with some pictures of Drew and the container for his Duplo blocks. He loves this container. Drew dumps all the blocks on the floor (making quite a mess) and then proceeds to play with the container. Here he is in the kitchen dragging it around. He also loves to put the container over his head and bang on it! It echoes in there and Drew is fascinated by it. He's actually walked into things with this on his head. It cracks us up!!

Sometimes he just sits on his container and smiles innocently at us.

Drew likes to pick up toy people and even his cup and say "Hello? Hello? Hello?" It never fails to amuse!

I have way too much fun putting my hats on Drew!

Last week Jana had a meeting really early in the morning, so we couldn't get Drew to daycare that morning and I got to stay home with him. It was tough to have to spend the morning playing with Drew, but I somehow managed it!

Here's another way to enjoy the Duplo container . . . Getting in it!You might think that I put Drew in there, but you'd be wrong. Check out this video of Drew getting in and out of his container:

We love it when Drew gets in the container, and then tries to put the lid on!

Last week we took Drew to the park. It was so much fun to watch him crawl all over the toys and go on the swing. In the picture below he's making his way up the climbing wall. The climbing wall made us feel old because we remembered when playground equipment was wood, metal, and dangerous. Now its all educational and safe with lots of plastic.

Drew climbed right up to the top of the climbing wall under Jana's watchful eye.

He also walked across a bridge.

Drew also went on the slide. He went down it several times with us holding his hand, and then he stopped to check it out from the ground.

Last Friday afternoon Jana graduated! Hooray! She was officially hooded, her degree is complete, and she is Jana L. Aupperlee, Ph.D.

Drew and I are both very proud of Jana!

Jana's family came to celebrate with us.

My family also came to support Jana. I think both families also came to spend a little time with Drew too!!
I graduated as well on Friday, but I'm not officially done yet. I still have to finish and defend my dissertation. For now, we are Dr. and Mr. Aupperlee (as Jana LOVES to remind me :) I'll be finishing up in another month or two.

Drew continues to climb on anything he can. This week he managed to wriggle himself on top of a laundry basket (probably over two feet tall!), and was just about to stand on it when Jana caught him. He likes to push his Duplo container over to his toy chest so that he can reach in and get toys. We're just waiting for him to use his Duplo container to start getting on to furniture. We keep a very close eye on him!

We've been inconsistently working on brushing Drew's teeth. He loves doing it, but sometimes we forget to let him brush. Last night I started brushing my teeth, and Drew wanted to join me!