Partyin' with Bob & Larry

...and Grandmas & Grandpas!

I guess you could say Drew's been celebrating his birthday all week, with his birthday this past Monday and the anticipation for today. Drew's VeggieTales party lasted all day today, with games and presents this morning, an extra long nap this afternoon (that was Mom's party!) and cake and ice cream tonight. Drew had a great day with his grandparents, and we are so thankful they were here to celebrate with us.

Two Year Stats

Weight: 34 lbs 9 oz
Height: 36 1/4 in

Both of these, as well as Drew's head size, are in the 95th percentile, just where he's been all along. For those of you who don't know what that means...there are basically 5 kids that are taller, weigh more, and have a bigger head than Drew. :)

The Big Day!

WOW! Drew is two! I'm having one of those "mom moments," where I sit here in total disbelief that two years has already passed since Drew was born. (And I wonder how my parents must feel!) And perhaps all the details of that day are so vivid because we are quickly approaching the arrival of #2. (I can only hope that delivery goes as well as Drew's did!) We are enjoying a quiet day together at home. Like Drew's Uncle Justin said, "bummer to have a Monday birthday"... but lucky for Drew, he has the day off. :) And so does Brad, so we've been veggin' all day. Drew's even still in his PJs (hey, it's his birthday...nothing is off limits. That is with proper adult supervision!) Drew got to open a present from us today, but we're saving the rest until Saturday when grandmas and grandpas are here to celebrate with us. Here are a few snaps from this morning, and some other favorites from the last month.

Who doesn't love a handful of sour cream & onion Pringles for breakfast???

Future carpenter.

Drew wanted to share his stickers with Luci.

Big boy!

Lounging with Dad...and the popper.

Such an advanced reader...the phone book is so interesting!

Remote hog.

Lounging with Dad...again.

Potty Parade!

Much to our surprise, Drew has taken an interest in his big boy potty. We've talked to Drew about using the big potty and have tried to keep mentioning it throughout the day, but Drew never seemed to care. That is until this past Saturday when Drew very adamantly stated "Drew go potty." He proceeded into the bathroom, lifted the lid on the regular toilet, closed the lid, and then left the room. He did the same thing about 45 minutes later. So that night, after his bath, I asked Drew if he wanted to sit on his potty. He said "OK." A while ago I had bought a new Elmo book that has magnets to create-your-own picture and decided we'd use it exclusively for potty training. (Many thanks to Megan & Noah for the idea, and to Waldenbooks for having such a book on their clearance rack!) So, out came the book, and Drew was hooked. Although he sat on the potty for about 25 minutes, he did not pee that time. But on Sunday, he sat on his potty maybe 5 or 6 times and peed FOUR times that day! How excited were we! Yesterday he sat on his potty 4 times and went once, and today he has sat on his potty 3 times and has gone once. So we'll keep trying and encouraging, but will be careful not to push it. After making a trip to the dollar store, we are now fully prepared. Here's the process...
1) Drew sits on the potty with his Elmo magnet book
If he pees...
2) A potty party! We clap, scream "YEA!!" and get all excited, followed by
3) A potty parade! We march into the kitchen to get the...
4) Potty prizes! Drew gets to pick a dollar store toy item from the potty prize bag and then he gets
5) Potty praises! Drew gets to put a reward sticker on a chart on the refrigerator.

So, that's the plan. We'll see how long it lasts; how long Drew grooves with the big boy potty before he lacks interest all together and we try again at another time OR he's ready for his new big boy underwear (also, of course, Elmo). Part of me knows that Drew is aware of the potty and what he's supposed to do with it, but another part of me also thinks he lacks some cognitive development to know when he has to go and the physical ability to hold it in while we rush to the bathroom. Either way, it's a start. And we will have potty parades until he is in diapers no more!

Budding Artist or Comedian?

While drawing on his DoodlePro, I asked Drew to draw a picture of mommy.

He drew this and exclaimed "Mommy!" when he was through.

Ahh, the powers of observation. Yes, I am one big round ball.

Funny Drew, very funny. Hardy har har.

31 Weeks, and Counting...

A quick update on Baby before I lay down for a nap. Man, this third trimester exhaustion is, well, exhausting!

I saw the perinatologist in Peoria last Tuesday for a second time to remeasure the baby's anatomy. Everything is looking great. He tells me there is nothing to worry about; but did mention that the baby's head is ginormous. Approximately 3 1/2 weeks ahead-of-schedule ginormous. I asked if that might play a role is going a full 40 weeks, and he said "it might." He'd recommend to my physician that remeasuring in another few weeks in my clinic might be a good idea. The baby currently weighs 4 pounds, 1 ounce, and they can also tell with all of their fancy technology and calucating, that this baby is on target to weigh less than Drew did at birth (9 lbs 2 oz). So that's good news for me! I asked then about any medical/scientific explanation as to why my belly is so extremely large. He said "no." The numbers they use for measuring are pretty crude, and some women will measure small, some large, and others right on. I'm just that lucky, I guess. He then let me go without having to make any appointments to see him again.

Back to my doctor yesterday for a routine OB check. I saw a different doctor in the clinic than I have been most recently, so I didn't feel like I could ask some of my questions without having to explain the whole of the "issues" I'm having. After measuring my belly, she did comment that I have a "pretty big one in there." (Duh.) I then asked about delivering early because of it and she said that just because a baby is big doesn't mean I'll go into labor early. (Double duh. Drew was big and was two days late.) I didn't pursue any kind of discussion about inducing early at that point. So everything is status quo. Nothing new. My next appointment is in another two weeks, with the doctor I'm more familiar with, so perhaps will begin the I-really-want-this-baby-to-come-like-pronto discussion with him then.

Dippin' Sauce

Everything needs some kind of dippin' sauce...

French fries need ketchup.
Chicken nuggets need bar-b-que sauce.
Mashed potatoes need gravy.

Goldfish crackers need grape jelly.

I looked over at Drew during lunch today and saw that he had laid open his PB & J sandwich and was scraping his goldfish through the jelly.

Now that's creativity.

And a bit disgusting.

Good Night, Drew. Good Night, Elmo?!?!

My little boy is growing up too fast!

I knew it would be around this time that we'd begin to transition Drew into his new bed, and his new room, making room for Baby in Drew's old room and the crib. I just didn't think it would be this easy! Don't get me wrong, I'm thanking my lucky stars for it! (I can only hope potty training is this successful!) After we returned from our travels to IA and MN for the holidays, my plan was to begin to transition Drew to his new bed beginning with naptime. I figured that after a couple weeks, he'd be ready to try his new bed at night time too. Well, apparently Elmo is all a little boy needs to make such a big change! With his new Elmo sheets, pillow, and blanket, Drew not only stayed in his new bed and fell asleep yesterday at nap time, he did so at bedtime, too! And slept until 8 this morning! That makes today Day #2 with no problems. Too good to be true, I figure. I'm sure we'll hit a wall one of these days and have to fight Drew to stay in bed instead of play with the toys in his new room. Until then, I'll consider this a very successful milestone for our little guy...and a very emotional one for mom as I realize more and more that my baby isn't going to be my baby for very much longer!