It's a Girl!!!

We received big news yesterday...our second child will be a daughter!! At 20 weeks and 1 day, she weighs in at 12 ounces and is absolutely beautiful!! We can't wait to meet you!!!

"Talking"

I don't know what happened in today's news to rile Andrew up, but I sure loved hearing him rant about it!

20 months

So it's almost Christmas and we have no snow on the ground. Usually I wouldn't mind this, but I've really been looking forward to taking Andrew outside to play in the snow. We had one snow fall of about 2 inches or so. In the pictures coming up, you will see him having a great time even in just a few inches of snow.
Andrew has also been learning a few words. He is a little behind in his vocabulary. He 'talks' all the time, we just don't know what he is saying. The words we can understand are 'go', 'down', 'downstairs', and 'Mmmmm, milkies' (aka: milk).
In other news, I am now 18 weeks along in the pregnancy. I have a nice round belly and am feeling great! We will hopefully find out the gender of our baby by the end of this month.

Always the helper! We hope his love of shoveling the snow continues for a long time :)





























And here, Andrew is helping Daddy fix a door knob.

big news & more...

As you can see from the picture, our big news is that we are pregnant! In this picture I am 12 weeks along. Due date is May 17, 2012. I was shocked that my belly popped so early. When I was pregnant with Andrew I didn't start showing until week 18.















My 2 handsome guys














Andrew's 'cool' look















Andrew dressed up as an alligator for Halloween this year. He didn't quite understand the idea of 'trick or treat' yet, but he sure did have fun running up and down the streets in his costume.



















Picking through all his goodies. He basically had fun just throwing all his candy on the floor.














Funny face :)














Andrew loves to play in the dishwasher. If I don't fully click it shut, he will get into it as in this picture

18 months

At 18 months, Andrew's growth continues to be off the charts. He gained 2 lbs 8 oz, now weighing a total of 32 lbs 10 oz. He also grew almost 2 inches in just the past 3 months. Amazing! He has a few new interests: turning light switches on and off; shapes (he's particularly good at pointing out moons & stars); and his favorite food is now kiwi. He has 8 teeth and 2 more growing in on the bottom which has resulted in more drooling, more thumb-sucking and more finger gnawing. Poor guy! And he finally got his first pair of 'real' shoes. Up until this point he has been wearing soft-soled shoes. But with rainy and snowy weather on the way, he needed something more substantial. The funny thing is he wouldn't wear them for the longest time. I would put them on his feet and he would just stand there and cry, like his feet were in cement. Anyway, we are finally making progress though he is still a little clumsy.

My little helper

My dear Andrew has become quite the little helper these days. I love it! He helps outside in the yard, or unloading the dishwasher or dryer. It may take a little longer with his help, but watching him 'help' just warms my heart. He's always going to be willing to do chores, right?!

Sweeping the deck:



















Putting yard waste in the lawn bag, mostly acorns at this point. We must have a million of them in our yard:


































Dusting the floors:



















But at the end of the day, we still have time to have some fun. Pushing his bike, instead of riding it, is a big hit these days:

17 months

I can't believe a month has passed since I last posted. I'm so sorry! We've been busy with lots of visitors, but life has started to slow down again and now I have time to BLOG.
Andrew has been doing great! He continues to be very curious about his surroundings and we just love it. We can also tell that he is understanding us more. He responds to things like: 'let's go outside', 'snack', 'let's go upstairs', etc. Just tonight I told him it was time to go to bed and he went right to the stairs and started to climb up. Good boy!

Here is a mischievous moment. He loves to look in the refrigerator when I open it. But this time he climbed right in
Here is an end result of pulling eggs out of the refrigerator. They all fell to the floor and broke. He played in yolks before I could clean them all up. Thus he had to clean up in the sink, which ended up being quite a fun activity for him



















These next few pictures are just him out on a walk in our neighborhood. I think I got some good shots!

From walking to running

Now that Andrew has perfected the art of walking, it is like he is seeing the world through different eyes. We go for more walks without the stroller, he wants to spend less time on Mama's hip (which is great news for my back), and he is picking up his speed and learning to run. I had to laugh to myself today when we were going for a walk around the block. It takes a long time for us to walk because he has to stop an investigate every little thing. He picks up a lot of treasures along the way such as an acorn, a stick, a penny, a shiny candy wrapper, a sunglasses lens, etc. Of course he only has two hands, though, so when he comes across a third treasure from our walk you can see in his mind he is weighing his options: 'if I let go of the stick, but keep the acorn, then I can have the shiny candy wrapper. Hmmm...is it worth it?' I just love this little guy!

We went to the zoo today and it honestly was not a big hit with Andrew. I'd point out animals to him and wouldn't even get a reaction. But he did enjoy running through trails and hallways, and occasionally helping me push his stroller:














At the petting zoo, Andrew was neither afraid nor excited. He just stood there while the goats approached him, hoping for some affection














The only thing that caught his attention in the whole aquarium was the starfish. He had to look at it from all different angles.



















One activity he has been enjoying more is reading. He loves to turn the pages of his board books while speaking gibberish. So cute!



















We showed up a little early to story time at the East Grand Rapids Library, so we went out on their deck for a while. He loved it!







































And finally he is learning to brush his own teeth, thanks to berry flavored toothpaste :)

16 months

Here is what is going on with Andrew at the age of 16 months:
-he is down to one nap
-he has 6 teeth
-he is able to repeat sounds, but no actual words
-spinning wheels continues to be one of his favorite activities, though now he enjoys rolling and throwing balls
-he can climb up the stairs

Andrew enjoying a lollipop














taking everything out of the pantry and rolling it across the floor



















playing in the sprinkler



















We went to Millennium Park with my sister and her family. Andrew's cousin, Daniel, was nice enough to share some of his sandwich














Andrew just took off at the splash pad and didn't even look back. Once again he is drawn to a water toy that spins!

The past few days

Ryan scored front row tickets to a Grand Rapids White Caps baseball game. This is already the second game Andrew has been to in his short life. We took our chances bringing him since it was so hot & humid, and the game started at his bedtime.

Proud Daddy with his son














Having fun














Andrew hates wearing hats so we did our best to get a quick picture of him in his Detroit Tigers cap & t-shirt (notice the thumb in the mouth...he is fading fast!)














Taking a rest on Daddy














Revived for a short time when we gave him cotton candy :)














Now that Andrew is walking, there are so many more things for him to get into around the house. We are always amused as to what trouble he will find next and learning to pick our battles as a result:

This is a no-no on so many levels!














And this is a battle I can't win. Everyday the pj's that I nicely fold and put away end up on the floor. Oh well. When I see that sweet face I just have to laugh and shake my head.

15 month stats

At 15 months, our dear boy is off the charts for his stats. He weighs 30 lbs 2 oz which is about the 105%, his height is 33 1/8 inches which is 100%, and his head circumference is still way off the chart. He seems to be hitting all his milestones right on target. We are so proud of him and feel fortunate to be his parents!