Andrew Update

This picture pretty much sums up life with Andrew these days! He is into everything, and when he's not actually "in" something he is running around like crazy.

He made a big transition this weekend. He is no longer sleeping in a crib. We put his crib mattress on the floor in preparation of getting him into a "big boy" bed soon. We figured we should start the bed move now so he does not associate "losing" his crib with "gaining" a brother. I think that would have kicked off the sibling rivalry with some gusto. The first night on the floor Andrew promptly rolled off the mattress in about 5 minutes (but kept sleeping). However he wasn't so sure about the new set up and woke up at about 3:30 very disoriented and was crying. But today, he woke up about 4:45 and just started checking things out in his room. He realized that he was no longer confined in his crib and dependent upon us parents set him free. He was really funny; he quickly turned on his light and started to do this baby babble narration of his freedom epiphany, so he was just chatting it up in his room with himself and checking out his toys. After about 10 minutes, he came into our room wanting to snuggle. I am hoping that as time goes on, he'll get used to the mattress and stay on it. When he's had some success with that, I'll be ready to move him to a proper bed. (Although I am not in a big hurry since his parent's mattress is still on the floor...)

Andrew's vocabulary has stayed about the same in the past month, but his physical fearlessness and coordination are really developing. Like I mentioned above he loves to run, in fact he now prefers to run instead of walk - he also loves to climb, climb, climb. He LOVES to play "basket ball". We don't have a proper hoop, but he improvises by throwing the ball into anything resembling a basket: onto a chair, behind the baby gate, on top of our bushes, etc. What makes it so interesting to watch (and what makes it a game rather than a ball free-for-all) is that he will do this with concentration and repeatedly. I think that a toddler basketball set will be on his Christmas List.

Andrew's physical proportions continue to mature and he is now becoming more boy than baby. (But he can still fit into the clothes we bought for him a year ago!) The roominess he needed last year for his tummy has been replaced with the length he now needs for his torso and legs.

Andrew's personality as always is very charming and loving. He freely gives out hugs to anyone who asks and he still likes to be cuddled when he's sleepy. We feel pretty lucky to be his parents.