Fourth of July Weekend

The week of the fourth, I had off Wednesday-Friday, so we had a lot of family time. Playing at the playground is probably his favorite thing to do right now. 

We met Kaden and Peyton for a play date on Wednesday morning.

Wednesday afternoon, Andrew and I went over to my dad and Myrna's. Dad showed Andrew how to use a "stomp rocket", which was a huge hit. 

After playing in the yard, we headed over to a carnival in Kirkland. The rides were like Santa's Village on steroids and they didn't really care what he rode. I was really nervous the whole time, but Andrew just wanted to go higher and faster!

The fourth of July was a little rough, because no matter what we did, we could not get Andrew to fall asleep for his nap. There was just no way he was going to make it to the fireworks when he woke up at 6 AM. So, we decided to leave Mike's parents' house at about 8 while they headed out to the fireworks. 

When Andrew got out of the bathtub that night, we got him in his pj's and went out to the deck  to see if we could see any fireworks. We actually got a really great show from a few of the neighbors and Andrew loved it. He said, "Did you see that, mama?" and "Give me the big ones!" It was one of those nights I'll never forget, as we were all snuggled in a blanket. 

On Friday, we went back over to my dad's, because Ken was over there, as well as my aunt and uncle. Ken moved to North Dakota last week, so that was the last time we will see him for a little while. 

All tuckered out...

That weekend, he spent some more time playing at Mike's parents' house and boating. 

A long weekend would not be complete without some ice cream...

Santa's Village

So thrilled that we found the perfect day to take Andrew to Santa's Village in East Dundee. He has been talking about it ever since, and he says he wants to go back to "Ho-Ho's house." Bunny went with him on every single ride.

His first carnival ride ever.

He went on the boats 5 times. 

Sleigh ride...

This was one of the coolest rides. We rode on the fire truck to a fake fire and we all got to use our fire hoses (with real water) to put out the fire.

This was the best part. You go to Santa's house and he takes each child in individually. He opened the door for Andrew and then brought him in to show him around. He sat on his lap, but was silent when Santa asked him what he wanted for Christmas, which he told us is now 177 days away. Ha! This is the part that Andrew has been talking about ever since we got home.

He was out cold in the car. :)

Andrew's First Movie: Monsters University

 Andrew went to his first movie last weekend, which was so exciting! We have been waiting for a G-Rated movie for some time. It's just one more thing that we can all do together. We saw a 9:45 showing of Monsters University in hopes that there wouldn't be that many people there. There actually were quite a few people, but Andrew did a great job. There was one point in the movie where he kept asking to go home, but it passed after about 10 minutes. It he didn't have to sit through 30 minutes of previews, it would have been perfect!

 I think his favorite part was the popcorn. He insisted on sitting on the end with the popcorn on his right side. We just ended up buying a second bag for me and Mike, because it was too difficult to reach. Plus, every time we asked for popcorn, he would just hand us one piece at a time. He ate almost the whole bag himself! The next day, the girl that watches him told me that when she asked him about the movie, all he talked about was the popcorn. Ha!

Andrew's First Dentist Appointment

Last Tuesday, I took Andrew to hi first dentist appointment. I took him to a pediatric dentist in town that actually works in a green castle. The inside has a whole castle theme, as well, and Andrew was excited to see all of the toys. At 8:30 on the dot (the time of his appointment), he decided to poop in the waiting room which stressed me out a bit, but we got it all taken care of. :) 

When they called him back, they let him look at the fish for a minute and get acclimated to the room. The dentist then came out dressed like a king and let Andrew pick out a sword and a crown to wear. It was a little odd, but Andrew RAN to go pick out his toys. 

He was a bit unsure about getting into the chair, but we coaxed him in. 

The dentist was pretty concerned about the front tooth he chipped last July. He said the tooth/area has a lot of trauma to it, and it could easily get infected, because so much of the tooth is not protected by enamel. We have to keep a very close eye on it, and he may need to work on it or even remove it at some point. He said that his adult tooth may be impacted, which has got me a bit nervous. Nothing we can do right now except keep it as clean as we can. He has 16 teeth and no cavities to report to date. We go back in December to see how things look and do his first cleaning. 

When the exam was done, Andrew got to pick 2 toys from the toy chest and he even got a goodie bag to take home with toys in it. Boy, was he pumped! 

Since he has asked to go back multiple times this past week, I think the first visit was a success!!