Tanner's Orchard

Continuing what I hope will be an annual tradition for our family, we spent this morning at Tanner's Orchard, picking apples and playing with pumpkins (okay, we didn't really pick apples, but we taste-tested some rather delicious ones!). And we were lucky enough to visit the orchard again with our very good friends Scott, Kathy and Grace Vrieze, who are visiting us for the weekend. We spent a Saturday morning together at the Orchard last year, on a very chilly day, unlike today, and when the Vrieze's were making their plans to come visit us this fall, we decided that going to the orchard was a must!

I guess Drew has "matured" some from last year. He wasn't as thrilled about the pumpkins this time around, and we didn't have much luck getting him to pose for pictures. The first few pictures I've posted have last year's similar photo next to it to compare...it's easy to see how much our little guy has changed!

Drew and Grace are having a great time playing together this weekend. They're like two peas in a pod!









Last year....












this year!














Last year....













this year!
















Last year....















this year!













Last year....














this year!














Last year....













this year!

This year...

20 Months Old

Clearly excited to be 20 months old!

One of the highlights of my day is hearing Drew talk. He'll repeat more and more words, and his pronunciation can be hilarious! He understands many more words than he is able to say, and if we can't quite understand what he's trying to tell us, he'll try to show us. Some of his (and our) favorite words are:
"oops"
"puzz"
"help"
"milk"
"church" (he knows that this is where daddy goes when he leaves in the morning)
"cracker"
"Cookie, Cookie" (he does it chant-like just like Cookie Monster does!)
"cancakes" (that'd be "pancakes")
"pips" (and that'd be "chips")
"fives" (not to be confused with "fries")
and just the past few days he's been saying "poopy" more often. It doesn't mean he has messy pants (he's kind of anti-diaper changing these days) but perhaps means he has to poop. Hmmm..potty training cue???

Here are just a few pics from the last month...

"Mmm, pop. Good."

I walked around the corner from the kitchen to find this...Drew found the switch for the ceiling fan.

So pony must have needed a hat...and perhaps a kiss by the look on Drew's face!

Sheesh, Drew. Help yourself.

1...2...3...4...

We've been working on counting, from one to 10. The normal progression of learning has taken Drew from repeating the number after we say it, to beginning to count on his own. (It's so fun to see these little intellectual light bulbs go off for him!) It's looked a little like this...

Mommy/Daddy: "One"
Drew: "One"
Mommy/Daddy: "Two"
Drew: "Two"
Mommy/Daddy: "Three"
Drew: "Three"
...and so on.

Then, it progressed to the following.
Mommy/Daddy: "One"
Drew: "Two"
Mommy/Daddy: "Three"
Drew: "Three"
Mommy/Daddy: "Four"
Drew: "Four"
Mommy/Daddy: "Five"
Drew: "Six"
Mommy/Daddy: "Seven"
Drew: "Eight"
Mommy/Daddy: "Nine"
Drew: "Ten"

This is generally what his counting looks like at this stage, where he'll repeat some numbers but then occasionally move on to the next number in the series, too. And then today, all on his own, unprovoked and without prompting, Drew said "One, two, three four." And the coolest part about it was that he associated these numbers with his cards as he moved them one at a time from one stack into another.

Very cool. Very fun. That's Drew! :)

An Okoboji Weekend

We got back on Monday afternoon from our vacation with the Vander Waals. It was a nice weekend spent on Lake Okoboji with family. Drew ate, napped, played, swam, golfed (kinda) and laughed. And, further proof that we don't take as many pictures as we used to, Drew and Brad swimming is about all we captured with the camera!





Many thanks to Gma and Gpa VW! We enjoyed ourselves very much!

Drew continues to do so many cute things. His vocabulary is bursting and he can pull some of the funniest facial expressions. He's musically inclined as he busts into dance when he hears some tunes. And just today we've started to practice spitting as he brushes his teeth. He gets a pretty big kick out of it! It's amazing to me how fast he is growing. Everyone said "Enjoy the baby days...he'll be a teenager before you know it!" It's coming far faster than I could have ever imagined!

Also, things are progressing as they should be with Baby #2. I had my 14 week appointment on Tuesday and things are just as they should be. I'm feeling better than I was a few weeks ago, but still have some aches and pains that bother me throughout the day. Just add it to the list of sacrifices we mothers make for our children!

The Puzzler

We don't mean to brag...but...we think Drew's pretty smart. :)

OK, seriously, we don't want to brag. Those parents who have nothing negative to say about their own kids really do drive us crazy. And we really have no idea, developmentally, if Drew should be able to do some of the things he's able to, or if he's behind in other milestones. We thought we'd share this accomplishment with you via video so you can see Drew in action and judge for yourself!

We picked up this puzzle last summer at a garage sale, long before Drew was even ready to look at it nevermind try to put it together. As time passed, he enjoyed playing with it, but only to stack and sort the pieces. This past summer, he did pick it up more frequently, and was interested, but couldn't grasp exactly how it worked. He'd watch us put it together and hand us the pieces to do so, but he wasn't able to do it himself...until last week. He, all of the sudden, took a greater interest in his "puzz" and with much determination, has learned how to put the puzzle together almost entirely on his own.

So enjoy "The Puzzler." The video is about 5 minutes long, and a bit poor in quality, but had to do that in order for it all to fit on the blog.