Happy Birthday Drewbie!

 It's hard to believe it's been 3 years since Andrew came into our family.

I thought about reminiscing through all that we've been through since then, but decided to just let it rest and love on him.  He is such an amazing little boy.  I love when he lifts his eye brows, tightens his lips and blinks his big brown eyes at me.  I love to hold and cuddle him.  He warms my heart with his smile.

He wanted a train cake for his birthday, so I stretched a little farther than putting a toy train on a cake and came up with this.  Ryan helped me, and it turned out cute.  Andrew loved it! and that's really what mattered most.

Shave and a Haircut

Tyler is such an intelligent boy.  He took all of his bathtub letters and stuck each one on a tile in this pattern.  He was upset that he didn't have enough to complete the square.  He is always making me smile and shake my head.

It's become apparent that he needs more time outside or more guidance in his entertainment.  The boys were playing in their swimsuits (because they were in a kick of playing 'beach') and got the bright idea to try out my razor.  Andrew ended up with razor burn on his back and some nicks on his spine.  The next day as I was reviewing the rule of 'No using Mom's razor', I learned that Drew had also shaved Ty's stomach.  It's very common for swimmers to shave their bodies, but I think they need a few more years.

So they moved on to art projects.  For a few days they would cut and glue paper.  I had tiny pieces of paper all over the kitchen and living room floor, but they were happy and safe so I didn't worry.  The only problem was that we just had one pair of scissors, so when I found kid scissors for 99 cents I bought them.

When we got home from the store the boys went in their room and Ty started playing with Drew's hair.  They had my round brush and a clip and a pick and Drew was a great client holding very still.

Ryan and I sat down to relax and in comes Andrew with a new haircut!!

You can see that most of the top of his head had been cut nearly to the scalp.

 So the next morning I took my smallest lift on my clippers and buzzed the rest.  There are still some low spots, but I can't make myself shave it, so it will have to grow before we fix them. 

Zac has learned how to scoot now and is starting to get into distance scooting.  He eats two meals a day of baby food or small bites of regular food.  He loves food and always wants to be at the table with us during meals, and makes a fuss until we give him a bite.  He got in the habit of waking up twice a night when he was sick a few months ago, so I'm trying to change that now.  Of course, the boys all got coughs and runny noses again, so that may go on hold again.

Ryan is going on his first camp as Scout Master this weekend.  Hopefully they'll all stay warm and have a great time. 

It's a busy life, but we love it.

(Ty's project yesterday.  Don't worry it's a toy.)

 We've tried several times to get a family picture in the last few months.  This is our favorite.

 Andrew has been doing great still.  He still has not had to have a dilation.  At this time last year he was in the hospital recovering from his surgery.  It's now been 8 months since his last dilation!  He did have a little pneumonia in early Dec, but we caught it quickly and so it never gave him too much trouble.  I can't believe he'll be 3 next week! 

We've been working on the alphabet with Ty, but Drew is learning at the same pace (and maybe even faster) than Ty.  They can recognize several letters, and thanks to Leap Frog's "Letter Factory" they know most of the sounds.  I'm starting to help Ty practice writing letters.  Our new routine is that we have story-time and 'learning-time' after breakfast each day.  We all really enjoy it.

 Drew got a new train for Christmas that has rekindled the love of trains in our house.

Ty loves tractors and construction equipment.  He wears one of his three John Deere tractor shirts nearly everyday.  (He was wearing the same one everyday, but he got two new ones for Christmas.

 Zac is getting big so fast.  He's eating baby food now and gobbles it up.  He's a major momma's boy.   

He really likes playing on the floor, although we have to be careful that Andrew doesn't knock him over with all his hugs and kissing.  Zac gets up on his knees easily now.  He does move forward sometimes, but I think we have a few more weeks before he really takes off.  Time to buy a baby gate for the stairs!

Ty and Drew are so creative in their play.  Look carefully and guess what they're doing.

They're playing church!  Notice the ties and belt in the other chairs.  They were pretending to hold song books and singing.  So cute! 

We had a nice holiday season.  It was especially nice to see Skip and Bonnie and finally meet Griffin.  We hope your holidays were merry as well.