Fun with cardboard boxes

In the past few weeks Drew's imaginative play has really started to take on a life of its own. He is starting to make up great stories and it is so fun to see what he will come up with next. I'm especially excited to see him using abstract objects to represent real-life things (stick = fishing pole, dog bowl = pond, snap beads = hose, train trailer = vacuum, etc.). As the post title suggests, we've also been having some fun with cardboard boxes. We had a big box left from some new patio furniture (which I love, by the way) and Russell cut out some windows and made the flaps into a door. Drew (and Maggie) love to play in it and Drew has affectionately called it his "Space Rock." As best we can tell it's a combination of spaceship and rocket. When you ask him where he's going, his most consistent answer is "Sn-onic to get a 'swich'" = Sonic to get a sandwich. It's so cute!


This past week we read a book about trucks (Trucks: Whizz! Zoom! Rumble!) and at the end there's a picture of a little boy in a truck that he made out of a cardboard box. Drew decided that he needed to make a truck too. I'm pretty proud of our results and he thinks it's pretty cool that he made a truck.

The beginnings of the truck

Of course, we needed a wheel
Then we painted it blue...

...like Daddy's truck

The finished product - ready to roll!

Josh - 5 months

Yesterday Josh turned 5 months old! This is such a fun age and I love watching him learn new things each day. He has recently found his toes and loves to grab them and play with them and put them in his mouth and slobber all over them! It's really cute (but hard to get a picture of - when he sees the camera he starts to smile and the toes come out). He still adores his big brother and loves to watch him. He makes lots of sounds and has started combining vowel-constanent sounds. He can roll from tummy to back and is so close to rolling from back to front. I think if he'd just kick his leg at the right time he'd have it. He can sit supported pretty well and is getting closer to independent sitting. He'll still slowly topple over or fold in half if you leave him propped for too long. He has beautiful blue eyes and it looks like his hair will be on the red side like mine. Unfortunately for him, that also means he got my fair skin. We both got sunburned this weekend at the park. (Nothing too bad, it's mostly just his cheeks and it's already starting to fade.) He nurses every 4 hours during the day and is sleeping all the way through the night! (He eats at 7:30pm and then goes to bed and doesn't have breakfast until 7:30am.) We haven't started any cereal or baby food yet, but will probably begin in the next couple of weeks. He has such a wonderful temperament and is such a joyful addition to our family! Now, how about some pictures of the cutest 5 month old I know!!

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL???

Go Texas Tech!!!

Destin 2009

We just returned from our first family vacation! This was the first time that we've gone anywhere as a family that wasn't to visit more family. We went to Destin, Florida and enjoyed a wonderful weekend at the beach. Russell and I have gone to Destin by ourselves twice before - once before Drew was born as our "baby moon" and once after I had weaned Drew (before our trip to Jamaica). This was the first time for us all to go, and it was great!!! The weather was beautiful all weekend and because most schools are back in session it wasn't crowded at all. It was a wonderful trip! We'd been talking about going to the beach with Drew for a while and he was so excited. He loved getting to wear his swimsuit, digging in the sand, building a sandcastle with Daddy and watching the waves. He tolerated getting his feet wet and even went out a little ways with Russell carrying him. Josh was a trooper - he obligingly took his morning nap on the beach under the umbrella. None of us got sunburned, although I think I have a few new freckles. It was great and a trip that I would definitely repeat. Enjoy the pics!!

Drew and Daddy on the pier leading to the beach (Friday afternoon)

We're at the beach!!

Mommy and Josh ("wearing" Drew's sunglasses)

Daddy and Drew getting their feet wet

(LOVE this picture, LOVE these boys!)

Footprints in the sand

(Saturday morning) Ready for the BEACH!!

Josh sleeping

Drew digging in the sand

Josh still sleeping...

I think he liked the beach, what do you think?

Josh seemed to enjoy it too!

Drew and Daddy in the ocean (okay, it's the Gulf, but it's so pretty here!)

(Sorry the picture is a little blurry - I was taking it from the beach and had to zoom all the way out on my camera)

Back in the hotel room - laughing it up!

My goober boys

Blue eyes

Yep, that's his foot he's putting in his mouth

Mommy and the boys ready for one last walk on the beach (Sunday morning)

Mommy and Josh looking so cute in his hat!

Daddy and Drew one last time

Brothers

I finally got some good pictures of the boys together! I love them!! Hope you enjoy too!!

2 1/2 years!

Can it really be true that my baby is 2 1/2??? With Josh in the picture now it seems like most of my "milestone" postings are about him, but I don't want to forget what Drew is doing either. This is such a fun age and I am constantly amazed (and challenged) by the things he can do. This post will mostly just be "Mommy ramblings," but I wanted to make sure I had somethings documented for my own memory. His vocabulary has just taken off in the last few months and it seems like each day he has something new to add. He is a wonderful big brother and loves to watch Josh and make him laugh. We've had very little instances of jealousy (for which we are extremely thankful). I can't wait to see how their relationship grows and develops over the years. I hope they become the best of friends. Drew has really started developing his imaginary play in the last couple of weeks. (In fact, as I sit and write this he is pretending to be fishing with a stick in the dog's outside water bowl.) He loves to "play" with our cat, Maggie. So far she's been extremely tolerant. He still loves to look at books and is very gentle with the pages. I've started sharing my collection of paperbacks with him (under supervision) and he treats them with love and respect - I'd expect nothing less! I hope he always loves books and the adventures they can take you on. He's a lefty through and through. We laugh at the articles that say, "by now you MAY be able to see a preference for hand dominance," we've known for a long time that he was a lefty. He writes/draws left, most often eats left, he golfs left, bats left, throws left, kicks left. (He still uses his right hand, so no worries developmentally.) He can recognize all of his uppercase letters and most numbers 0-10. He knows all of his colors and basic shapes. We've begun casual potty training as he's beginning to show signs of readiness. Last night, for the first time, he used his little potty before bed with success!! We are so proud of him!!! He still loves Elmo and Sesame Street, but his newest love is Curious George (I think we have every episode saved on our DVR - gotta love the DVR!!). He also enjoys watching Clifford, Super Why, and Word World on occasion. I still think his favorite activity is playing outside and now that it's starting to get a little cooler (at least this week) we'll be able to be outside more. It's been a great ride so far, and I can't wait to see where the journey takes us next!

(Just some cute pictures that I took on the 25th, his actual half-birthday)

Josh's official stats

Today was Josh's 4 month well check. He is looking great and right on track with his development. His official weight was 16lbs., 3 oz. - which puts him in the 60th percentile. His height was 25 inches - which puts him in the 50th percentile. He had to get 2 shots, plus an oral vaccine. He did pretty good with the oral, and didn't cry at all for the first shot! The nurse was completely surprised. I think he made up with it on the second one though; I guess he knew what was coming. We go back at the beginning of October for his 6 month check.