Drew LOVES to sing, and here he is trying to delay bed time by singing for us (it didn't work). This time it was "Ring Around the Rosy" and he was very into it!
Drew chatters non-stop at home and in the car with us. Here is an example of how he talks while playing. This is actually from a week or two ago, and in watching it I'm amazed at how much more verbal he is today than he was even a week or two ago.
I've got more videos of Drew in action that I'm working on getting on here, so keep posted!
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Drew is 2!
This post is a few weeks late, but better late than never! Drew celebrated his second birthday on February 3, and to celebrate his birthday we got together with both Jana's family and my family. Because most of our family on both sides is in Grand Rapids, we held the party at my parents' house. It was fun for Jana, Drew, and I to be surrounded with people who love Drew and are excited about celebrating his life.
Drew got lots of clothes (at our request) and lots of books. What more does a two-year-old need? :) Whenever Drew opened a book, he was eager to dive right in and start reading it. Here he is reading "Green Eggs and Ham."
I love how this picture captures some of Drew's enthusiasm for opening presents. He pulled the tissue paper out of these bags with gusto!
Grandma Sue cheated on the "no toys" rule that Jana and I instituted, so Drew managed to get at least one toy (he has PLENTY of toys at home and he got PLENTY of toys at Christmas). Drew was pretty excited to get a new toy.
Here Drew is opening Richard Scarry's "Best Word Book Ever." Drew moved quite quickly through opening all his presents. He was focused and all the presents were for him (unlike at Christmas when other people had to open presents too).
Of course, Drew had to take a little break from present opening to read some of the Best Words Ever.
Drew didn't get nearly as excited over the clothes he got as Jana and I did. You can see his somewhat skeptical expression as more clothes are revealed in this box. Drew is getting to be a big boy and he's moving into 4T shirts and 3T pants. He's also a few inches taller than most of his peers . . . I can't figure out where he'd get his tall, slim build from :)
Drew was more fascinated by the receipt on this present than the clothes that Jana is holding behind him!
While the adults sat around and talked, Drew got busy with his new toy. He just plopped down in the middle of all of us and started to play quietly by himself.
After opening presents we had birthday cake. Drew LOVES fire engines, so Kelli helped out by drawing a fire engine on Drew's cake. It looked good and tasted great!
Drew was pretty excited about everyone giving him so much attention and he LOVED it when we all sang "Happy Birthday" to him. Since his birthday we've caught him singing "Happy Birthday" a few times . . . to himself! ("Happy Birthday to Drew")
For the special occasion of turning two, Drew was allowed to stand on the table before blowing out his candles. He's enjoying the clapping after "Happy Birthday" here! 
With a little help from Jana, Drew was able to blow out both his candles. I don't think he got the concept of making a wish beforehand. Drew thought the whole singing "Happy Birthday" and blowing out candles experience was so cool that we re-lit the candles and did it a second time for him. He was eating it up!
Drew ripped off his bib, but still managed to get a few bites of his birthday cake. 
Drew also recently had his two-year-old doctor's appointment, where we found out that Drew is right on schedule (or a little ahead) developmentally. His verbal skills are good, his social skills are good, and his physical skills are good as well. We were not surprised to find out that Drew is a pretty big boy. Drew is now 36 inches tall (the 90th percentile) and weighs 29 1/2 pounds (the 50th percentile). It makes sense that he's taller than most kids his age! Drew handled his flu shot very well last fall, but today's vaccination shot was NOT much fun for him. He stopped breathing for quite a while after the shot before letting out a wail unlike any we've heard from him in many months. Jana and I liked the shots when Drew was younger better because crying was more of a normal occurence and Drew couldn't talk about the shot afterward. We felt so bad for him! Even our nurse was a little upset about giving him his shot! Drew calmed right down though afterward and by the time we made it out to the car he was on the lookout for construction barrels. Construction barrels are one of Drew's new favorite things and he loves to point them out to Jana and me while we're driving around.
Drew got lots of clothes (at our request) and lots of books. What more does a two-year-old need? :) Whenever Drew opened a book, he was eager to dive right in and start reading it. Here he is reading "Green Eggs and Ham."
I love how this picture captures some of Drew's enthusiasm for opening presents. He pulled the tissue paper out of these bags with gusto!
Grandma Sue cheated on the "no toys" rule that Jana and I instituted, so Drew managed to get at least one toy (he has PLENTY of toys at home and he got PLENTY of toys at Christmas). Drew was pretty excited to get a new toy.
Here Drew is opening Richard Scarry's "Best Word Book Ever." Drew moved quite quickly through opening all his presents. He was focused and all the presents were for him (unlike at Christmas when other people had to open presents too).
Of course, Drew had to take a little break from present opening to read some of the Best Words Ever.
Drew didn't get nearly as excited over the clothes he got as Jana and I did. You can see his somewhat skeptical expression as more clothes are revealed in this box. Drew is getting to be a big boy and he's moving into 4T shirts and 3T pants. He's also a few inches taller than most of his peers . . . I can't figure out where he'd get his tall, slim build from :)
Drew was more fascinated by the receipt on this present than the clothes that Jana is holding behind him!
While the adults sat around and talked, Drew got busy with his new toy. He just plopped down in the middle of all of us and started to play quietly by himself.
After opening presents we had birthday cake. Drew LOVES fire engines, so Kelli helped out by drawing a fire engine on Drew's cake. It looked good and tasted great!
Drew was pretty excited about everyone giving him so much attention and he LOVED it when we all sang "Happy Birthday" to him. Since his birthday we've caught him singing "Happy Birthday" a few times . . . to himself! ("Happy Birthday to Drew")
For the special occasion of turning two, Drew was allowed to stand on the table before blowing out his candles. He's enjoying the clapping after "Happy Birthday" here! 
With a little help from Jana, Drew was able to blow out both his candles. I don't think he got the concept of making a wish beforehand. Drew thought the whole singing "Happy Birthday" and blowing out candles experience was so cool that we re-lit the candles and did it a second time for him. He was eating it up!
Drew ripped off his bib, but still managed to get a few bites of his birthday cake. Drew also recently had his two-year-old doctor's appointment, where we found out that Drew is right on schedule (or a little ahead) developmentally. His verbal skills are good, his social skills are good, and his physical skills are good as well. We were not surprised to find out that Drew is a pretty big boy. Drew is now 36 inches tall (the 90th percentile) and weighs 29 1/2 pounds (the 50th percentile). It makes sense that he's taller than most kids his age! Drew handled his flu shot very well last fall, but today's vaccination shot was NOT much fun for him. He stopped breathing for quite a while after the shot before letting out a wail unlike any we've heard from him in many months. Jana and I liked the shots when Drew was younger better because crying was more of a normal occurence and Drew couldn't talk about the shot afterward. We felt so bad for him! Even our nurse was a little upset about giving him his shot! Drew calmed right down though afterward and by the time we made it out to the car he was on the lookout for construction barrels. Construction barrels are one of Drew's new favorite things and he loves to point them out to Jana and me while we're driving around.
Friday, February 08, 2008
Jesus in the Bible
I posted a few days ago about Drew playing out in the snow. Here is a video of Drew in action walking around his "track" in the backyard.
This next video is basically audio of Drew's monitor. One night he didn't feel like sleeping, so I listened in amusement as Drew made up his own song called "Jesus in the Bible." That's the only line of the song, but it is followed by some claps and a "Yay!!" The fascinating part of the song is that Drew knows the words "Bible" and "Jesus," but Jana and I don't use that phrase with Drew. He somehow came up with it on his own and thought it would make a good song. After "Jesus in the Bible," there are also several repeats of "seven, eight, eight," which is another unique Drew song creation. I'm not sure where he comes up with this stuff, but it's lots of fun to listen to!
This next video is basically audio of Drew's monitor. One night he didn't feel like sleeping, so I listened in amusement as Drew made up his own song called "Jesus in the Bible." That's the only line of the song, but it is followed by some claps and a "Yay!!" The fascinating part of the song is that Drew knows the words "Bible" and "Jesus," but Jana and I don't use that phrase with Drew. He somehow came up with it on his own and thought it would make a good song. After "Jesus in the Bible," there are also several repeats of "seven, eight, eight," which is another unique Drew song creation. I'm not sure where he comes up with this stuff, but it's lots of fun to listen to!
Thursday, February 07, 2008
little reader
Drew is quite the little helper, and now that he has figured out how to use his green container as a stool, he's able to be even more helpful! Whenever Jana is working in the kitchen, Drew says "I can help," and he grabs his container, plops it on the floor, steps up on it, and gets his hands into whatever is going on. In this picture Drew is helping wash dishes. Jana usually gives him a towel and Drew dries the items that aren't easily breakable. We get such a kick out of how much Drew enjoys being useful around the house!
Reading continues to be a big thing in the Aupperlee house. Drew's attention span while reading books is great, and Jana and I love having him cuddle in for a story. As you can tell by Drew's pajamas, he's getting his pre-bed story here with Jana. After having Drew at daycare during the day, we're happy to spend time on the couch with Drew reading.
Drew enjoys the books and is getting better and better and knowing most of the titles of his books and being able to read along in a few of them. He's got a short book with vehicle names from A to Z by Richard Scarry, and Drew can "read" almost the entire book!
Drew is so busy playing most of the time that it's hard to get him to look at the camera. When he does look at the camera he usually makes weird faces to amuse himself while we struggle to get a cute photo. He finally gave me a normal look during this break from playing with his toy ambulance!
Despite being a big boy now at two-years-old, Drew is still amused by the occassional game of peek-a-boo!
Aha! A Drew smile was finally caught on camera! It was hard to get Drew to take a break from reading "The Little Engine That Could."
Drew talks ALL the time now, and Jana and I love to hear the sound of his voice. He's especially chatty in the morning before we get him up and some nights when he doesn't want to sleep. We'll sit and listen to him for minutes over the monitor as he talks to himself and sometimes to his stuffed animals. We've had some heart warming moments over the past few weeks when Drew spontaneously shows affection or randomly looks up at one of us and says, "I love you!" What great moments as a parent! 
Look for more birthday pictures to come, but the week before Drew's birthday our friends Jeremy and Kristin came over to celebrate Drew's birthday. Here is Drew opening his present. After Christmas and now his birthday, Drew is VERY good at opening presents. Remember last year when he opened his presents piece by piece of wrapping paper? Now he tears them open!
Drew immediately got into his new book . . . about Curious George! Drew loves the Curious George books, and we've gotten a number of them now that he LOVES to read.
Reading continues to be a big thing in the Aupperlee house. Drew's attention span while reading books is great, and Jana and I love having him cuddle in for a story. As you can tell by Drew's pajamas, he's getting his pre-bed story here with Jana. After having Drew at daycare during the day, we're happy to spend time on the couch with Drew reading.
Drew enjoys the books and is getting better and better and knowing most of the titles of his books and being able to read along in a few of them. He's got a short book with vehicle names from A to Z by Richard Scarry, and Drew can "read" almost the entire book!
Drew is so busy playing most of the time that it's hard to get him to look at the camera. When he does look at the camera he usually makes weird faces to amuse himself while we struggle to get a cute photo. He finally gave me a normal look during this break from playing with his toy ambulance!
Despite being a big boy now at two-years-old, Drew is still amused by the occassional game of peek-a-boo!
Aha! A Drew smile was finally caught on camera! It was hard to get Drew to take a break from reading "The Little Engine That Could."
Drew talks ALL the time now, and Jana and I love to hear the sound of his voice. He's especially chatty in the morning before we get him up and some nights when he doesn't want to sleep. We'll sit and listen to him for minutes over the monitor as he talks to himself and sometimes to his stuffed animals. We've had some heart warming moments over the past few weeks when Drew spontaneously shows affection or randomly looks up at one of us and says, "I love you!" What great moments as a parent! 
Look for more birthday pictures to come, but the week before Drew's birthday our friends Jeremy and Kristin came over to celebrate Drew's birthday. Here is Drew opening his present. After Christmas and now his birthday, Drew is VERY good at opening presents. Remember last year when he opened his presents piece by piece of wrapping paper? Now he tears them open!
Drew immediately got into his new book . . . about Curious George! Drew loves the Curious George books, and we've gotten a number of them now that he LOVES to read.
Monday, February 04, 2008
snow fun
FINALLY, another round of pictures of Drew! After finishing my dissertation and successfully defending it (Jana and I are officially both Dr. Aupperlee now), I got sick. Yuck! Getting sick is not how I'd recommend celebrating defending your doctoral dissertation. I'm actually still sick now, which is why I've been doing such a poor job of posting on Drew's blog. Don't worry though, once I'm feeling better I'll have LOTS to catch up on. I've especially got to work on getting more videos of Drew posted because I've got some cute ones.
This series of pictures is actually from a couple weeks ago, but we've been getting a lot of snow in Lansing, so Drew's been outside in the snow a couple of times. Drew is fascinated while watching me shovel the driveway, so here I am trying to get him started on shoveling. I think next year I'm going to have to get Drew his own shovel to help out! :)
Drew loves walking up and down the driveway in his boots, snowpants, coat, mittens, and hat. He constantly looks at his arms and legs like, "what is going on with all these layers?"
Here Drew is on the move. After some slow movement at first he broke into his usual full-speed-ahead Drew run.
Jana and I picked up a sled for Drew and on this particular morning we pulled him around the yard on the sled. Drew was so cute sitting in the sled!
For some reason, Drew refused to hang on to the sled, which made things a little more difficult because he kept falling off. You can see his arms stiff in front of him and his face looking down at the sled. That's how he rode in the sled most of the time. It was hard to tell if he was enjoying it or surviving it!
Jana took Drew into the deeper snow in our backyard and Drew did NOT like the deep snow. He was much more comfortable on the sidewalk or driveway after it was shoveled. He stood here for a while just looking down at his feet and trying to keep his balance. Deep snow is quite uneven!
I pulled Jana and Drew around our yard in the sled and made an oval track for Drew to walk on. He liked the packed down snow much better and walked several laps around our small backyard.
Drew briefly ventured off the path to check out the rest of the backyard. You can see that the snow was easily above his knees. No wonder he didn't like walking in it!
Drew was happy to get back on the driveway after playing in the backyard!
Keep posted for some birthday pictures because last weekend was Drew's birthday! Happy Birthday Drew! Drew is now 2 years old!
This series of pictures is actually from a couple weeks ago, but we've been getting a lot of snow in Lansing, so Drew's been outside in the snow a couple of times. Drew is fascinated while watching me shovel the driveway, so here I am trying to get him started on shoveling. I think next year I'm going to have to get Drew his own shovel to help out! :)
Drew loves walking up and down the driveway in his boots, snowpants, coat, mittens, and hat. He constantly looks at his arms and legs like, "what is going on with all these layers?"
Here Drew is on the move. After some slow movement at first he broke into his usual full-speed-ahead Drew run.
Jana and I picked up a sled for Drew and on this particular morning we pulled him around the yard on the sled. Drew was so cute sitting in the sled!
For some reason, Drew refused to hang on to the sled, which made things a little more difficult because he kept falling off. You can see his arms stiff in front of him and his face looking down at the sled. That's how he rode in the sled most of the time. It was hard to tell if he was enjoying it or surviving it!
Jana took Drew into the deeper snow in our backyard and Drew did NOT like the deep snow. He was much more comfortable on the sidewalk or driveway after it was shoveled. He stood here for a while just looking down at his feet and trying to keep his balance. Deep snow is quite uneven!
I pulled Jana and Drew around our yard in the sled and made an oval track for Drew to walk on. He liked the packed down snow much better and walked several laps around our small backyard.
Drew briefly ventured off the path to check out the rest of the backyard. You can see that the snow was easily above his knees. No wonder he didn't like walking in it!
Drew was happy to get back on the driveway after playing in the backyard!
Keep posted for some birthday pictures because last weekend was Drew's birthday! Happy Birthday Drew! Drew is now 2 years old!
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