a big smile

Drew is so much better now compared with last week, and we LOVE it! Every night Jana and I race Drew home from daycare so that we can spend the evening with him. He is full of smiles, walking all over the place, and picking up new words all the time. He's starting to learn some names too, and today at daycare he picked up the name of our daycare provider's son, Brock. Drew looks up to Brock, who is in kindergarten, and I think the "B" sound in Brock is one that he's familiar with from his favorite word, "ball." We get on the floor and play with Drew, and he's starting to climb all over us. If I'm lying on the floor, he'll go right over me to get to the other side of the room. It's so much fun to watch him struggle to get over you rather than going around!

A few nights ago Drew discovered his wipes and we let him have a couple to play with. He went around the house "cleaning" the floor with it and dusting. I KNEW he was watching me clean the house and learning!!

This is a rare picture where Drew slowed down for a second while walking around. Usually, he is on the move and I can't capture him from the front because he's looking down at where he's walking. He's got a GREAT smile!

Drew loves to handle clothes, and he grabbed this shirt of his before Jana could get it put away. He really liked the tags on this new shirt.

While Drew is playing, I will call his name and make noises and do whatever I can to get him to look back at me for a picture. Usually, this is the extent of what a get. A look that says, "What dad? I'm busy trying to play here!"

Drew was walking around the house tonight when I captured this picture him in his Boston Red Sox shirt. I got it last year when I was in Boston for a conference, and now it fits him perfectly. Just like his dad, Drew loves to wear blue!

This is a more normal pose for Drew. He's on the move and paying no attention to me or the camera. I'm in the midst of trying to get his attention, and it is NOT working!

I mentioned earlier that Drew likes to handle clothes. Tonight Jana was folding some laundry and Drew was fascinated with my boxers.

Jana was cracking up when he grabbed the boxers and put them on his head to play peek-a-boo!

This is Drew's new way of walking. He puts his hands out in front of him and walks around the house. Why does he do this? Because he can!

Tonight Jana fed Drew in our living room, and she was cracking him up. I immediately grabbed the camera so that you could see some video of Drew's laugh. We LOVE Drew's laugh!!! I hope it makes you smile, like it always does for us.

sick for Easter, but better now

Last weekend we had a shortened Easter celebration on Sunday due to illness. Jana came down with the stomach flu and Drew spiked a fever due to a sinus and ear infection. Yuck!

Here are Jana and Drew before they started to feel ill. We dressed Drew for Easter in his khaki pants, white button-down shirt, and a navy sweater vest. Drew was really cuddly due to not feeling well (I don't think ANYONE complained about that), and Uncle Todd got a turn holding him in his slowed-down state.

This picture was taken at Grandma Sue and Grandpa Bill's house, where a friend of Grandma Sue and her son joined us for dinner. Drew had fun playing with Ben, who is 18 months old. They romped all over the house together and played nicely together. It was a lot of fun to watch the two of them!

Drew found a stuffed animal in another room and carried this dog back to us after he found it.

Despite being slowed by his fever, Drew still showed off his walking for my family. He is playing here with a station wagon that I used to play with when I was little!

By Sunday afternoon Jana was in the midst of a very upset stomach and Drew's fever was on the rise, so our family time was cut short and we limped our way back to Lansing. Luckily, I managed to stay healthy (quite a feat because I am usually the weak one in our family), so I was able to take care of Drew and Jana for a couple days while they got better.

Drew was so tired some nights from his fever that he fell asleep in my arms. I LOVED it!!

By the end of this past week we found the right antibiotics to fight Drew's ear infection and his fever broke and he started to feel better. We're SO GLAD to have him back to normal!!! He's got more energy now and his appetite is back and he's up to his usual activity. Hooray!

Jana has been feeling better too, and we've all enjoyed a return to normal health!

This video is long, but if you've got the time it's pretty fun to watch. Drew starts it by putting a book in his dresser. He loves to open and close the drawers on his dresser. Then he grabs his walker and takes it for a spin. We were trying to be quiet so that you could hear Drew's noises, so you'll see Jana's hand at one point waving to Drew to get him to come back to us. At the end of the video, Drew returns to his room and his dresser. He goes right back to the drawer that has the book in it! He couldn't get the book out though, so I gave him a hand. We were impressed that he remembered which drawer he put his book in! Enjoy!!

surprise!

This past weekend I got up on Saturday morning and went to take my shower (it's always the FIRST thing I do in the morning). While I was in the shower, I heard the patter of tiny feet, and suddenly the curtain was thrust aside! Drew wanted to say hello! He's never done that before, so I was a little surprised to have my son peeking in on me during my shower. Jana came in to see what I was so surprised about and she took these pictures of Drew.

He stayed by the shower for several minutes and enjoyed chatting with me. It was so cute that he couldn't wait for me to get out; he had to talk to me NOW! Jana was cracking up as she snapped these pictures!

As you can see, Drew was pretty happy to talk with me, and I have to admit that he's probably the only one that can get away with talking to me early in the morning! He turned away from me and gave Jana this big smile because he was excited about spending time with his two favorite people: his mom and dad!!
We did some rearranging in Drew's room this past weekend and as part of it Drew discovered this train from his great aunt Liz and great uncle Bob. He immediately started taking the blocks on the train off and then putting them back on. Drew catches on to new toys quickly!

Drew was busy playing and a quick glance was all I got when I tried to get his attention. In the background you can see his bookcase, which I painted navy blue to match his room. Now Drew has a place to arrange his expanding book collection!

Drew was playing nicely shen he picked up his stuffed Curious George toy. Watch the video of him giving it a kiss (Drew's getting better at kisses) and then a hug. It was so cute!! After doing that, Drew abruptly drops his toy on the ground and heads for something else. I love how quickly he switches from affectionate to moving on to playing elsewhere.

A typical evening

What does our typical weekday evening with Drew look like? . . .

Well, it starts with some hugs because we are so excited to see Drew at the end of the day! Then we do a little reading together . . .

And we chase Drew around the house to practice his walking . . .

And Drew shows off for us as he walks and plays!

Usually, we have some things we like to get done (like laundry) and Drew loves to help out.

Drew helps us fold the laundry, and he runs around the house with it, of course!Then we end our night the same way we started it, with some hugs!

Drew has gotten a lot more affectionate, and even with me he will put his hands on either side of my face and pull me in for a kiss. It's so cute! He also randomly walks up to both Jana and me and gives a hug. We are loving it that as Drew gets older he is learning to be more affectionate with us and to sit for longer periods of time with us. We're very excited about continuing to read with Drew and with having him on our lap. It's so much fun!!

sunlight

This past week we had some unseasonably warm days here in Lansing, and it gave Drew the chance to continue to try out some of his summer clothes. In this picture he's wearing his light blue t-shirt from Florida, and he looks very casual and summery. Also, he was on the move (as usual) so I apologize if the photo is a little blurry. As Drew gets better at walking expect more blurry photos as he blitzes past. The sunlight was streaming into the front of our house and Drew was fascinated by our open front door. Of course, he went over to investigate.

This is one of Drew's favorite meals: turkey sausage and macaroni and cheese. Mmmm. Nutritious! :) I think this is one of Drew's favorite meals because it is something he doesn't get all that often. Sometimes it is nice to have a simple meal, and it helps when Drew likes it too!

Drew got pretty excited about the meal, and he also figured out how to rock his highchair back and forth (don't worry, he can't come close to tipping). Listen carefully and you can hear Jana giggling in the background, and I guess you can probably hear me too!

We're continuing to work on getting Drew to wear his hat. I thought maybe if he couldn't see the brim, then he wouldn't notice that it was on and it would stay on longer. It worked! He wore his hat for a while yesterday backwards like this:

In the course of doing some spring cleaning, we found some new "toys" for Drew. In this picture Drew is trying out some old headphones (sans the cord, of course!).

Drew also got an old camera. Jana was trying to encourage him to take some of his own pictures so that he can start working on his blog himself!

Last night while I was watching Final Four basketball I heard a peep from Drew's room that turned into a cry. When Jana went in to investigate (after waiting to see if he'd go back to sleep on his own), she found a tired, but hungry little Drew. I got to give him a snack to fill his tummy, and then he fell back asleep on my chest. It brought back memories of a year ago when I watched NCAA tournament basketball with a tiny sleeping Drew on my chest! Drew is so much bigger, but he still looks small in my arms, doesn't he?

Drew discovered a spare rod from some window shades, and he loves to play with it. We get a kick out of watching him weild it because it is so much longer than he is! I couldn't resist taking some video of him playing with it. Also, Drew has no pants on in this video, which Jana and I found really amusing. We love watching him run around the house in his shirt with no pants!