Decorating for Christmas

On Saturday, Mike brought up the tree, and I let Andrew help with the bead garland and a few ornaments. 

We took a brief diaper change break:

Then it was time for the beads...

As you can see, he did a great job!

The stockings, which had to be replaced with clear packaging tape...

On Sunday, I brought up the rest of the ornaments that were kid friendly. When he woke up from his nap, he took all of the ornaments off that he could reach, tore the garland off, and used the tree skirt as a blanket. Ahhhh, life with a toddler. :)

Thanksgiving

This was a tough one, because Andrew was not feeling well on Thursday. I felt awful, because I ended up giving him something that I had the week before. He was coughing a lot and just seemed miserable during the morning. After his nap in the afternoon, we took him over to the Mike's parents' house for dinner. From the moment we got there, he perked up and seemed to feel better. 

He ate some crackers before the food was ready and then didn't really eat anything once it was time to eat the good stuff.

With Great Grandma Betty:

Having his way with the kids table tablecloth...

Starting a band with his cousins...

Snuggling with Grandma...

Marcia even got Andrew to say "I Love You." He also said "olive" while we were there and now says the word "silly." His vocabulary has been picking up just over the past week! 

On Friday morning, we were happy he had his 2 year appointment scheduled, because we were worried about his cough. However, he said it was just a virus and nothing to worry about. He has been feeling better, so that was good news. I have been a little worried about his weight, but the doctor said that he is genetically thin, and all we can do is continue to feed him healthy meals throughout the day. His height and head are right on track, but he was only 22 pounds 6 ounces (2nd percentile). I know it didn't help that he had barely eaten for days, because he was so sick. Poor guy is still wearing 12 month pants, and he wore the same pants at Thanksgiving that he wore at last Thanksgiving. At least I don't have to worry about having the opposite problem, which would be really hard. We're just so blessed that he is a healthy little boy. After the tough year we have had, I am thankful for the little things. Another reminder of that is when my dad and Myrna were leaving my house from Andrew's party last weekend. Myrna got a call that her brother was in an accident, and he ended up passing away a few days later. They spent the day before Thanksgiving at the funeral, and I know it has not been an easy week for her. 

I'll end this blog with a few pictures of Andrew outside. It was unusually warm last week!

Andrew's Second Birthday

On Saturday morning (the 17th), we celebrated Andrew's second birthday with a party. It was a sports balls bonanza! 

I was wondering how long it would take him to get into presents once people started coming...about 5 seconds. :)

Oh, what's in here?

Wow, this is a little heavy...

Ugh......

Almost there...

The balloons were the highlight of the party.

Ready for Cake!

Yum!

 Time for presents!

Let the party begin!

He was lovin' his new Elmo slippers...

Andrew took a short one hour nap after his party and then bounced out of his crib for more fun with his new toys. He even went back for seconds on his cake. 

He just loves dressing himself up in Mr. Potato Head's accessories. 

 Here he is with his new fire truck. You can even hear a couple of "hello's" in there. 

On Andrew's actual birthday, he went to daycare where he was welcomed in true birthday fashion. They were waiting for us when we got there in the morning, and they yelled "Happy Birthday!" as we walked in the door. When I was getting Andrew's stuff out, and Andrea (the girl that watches him) went to the kitchen to put his milk away, I turn around and see his buddy Jaden hugging him and kissing him on the cheek. It was so sweet that I actually teared up. Later she sent me a picture of the kids at the table and a big plate of cupcakes with a "2" in them sitting in front of Andrew. She is just so wonderful, and I know she made the day special for him. When he got home, Mike and I ordered him pizza and gave him his cat keyboard and bounce, bounce tigger, which he has really been enjoying. The keyboard has actually been making me a bit crazy, because he plays it when he is supposed to be going to bed. 

I think it's safe to say he had a great week. Plus, his balloons are still going strong.