First of many..

Well Andrew got the first of many battle wounds last Thursday afternoon. He was learning about gravity and that it hurts when you fall from a high place. From all the times that he has fallen down while learning to walk, this is the first battle wound that he got while trying to climb. ( tried to get a picture an hour after the accident to show the intensity but I forgot.)Andrew was more scared then he was hurt when the incident happened. The wound has healed some though. When he fell he got a huge bump on his forehead and a really nice break of the first layer of skin but no blood. He cried because he scared himself not that he was in pain.We got a lot of people around us concerned if he was okay. David and I told him that he just scared himself and that everything will be just fine. People thought that he had a concussion or something and didn't want us to put him down for a nap later that day. We didn't think that he fell hard enough to put himself in a coma and put him down for a nap a couple hours after the fall. Andrew did wake up from his nap and scraped off the scab a couple days later. It has almost been a week since the incident and Andrew is just fine. We are looking forward to many more scrapes and bruises to come.

LongShore Park

This is the Long Shore park that is located off of Whites Canyon and above Canyon High. This equipment was made for children 2-5 years old.

This equipment was made for the 5-12 year olds.
It states this the poles of the equipment so that you know the ages for the equipment. Andrew just climbs up the big kid's play set but wont go down the slides unless I put him on it. The smaller set he just runs and climbs over the whole thing.
Sliding down the twisty slide.












Sliding down the straight slide.









Andrew tried to climb the rock wall on the small play set but didn't get too far off the ground. Then he tried to walk a dog that was visiting the park. The dog walked him more then he walked it.

Park day

Today was more warm weather and I just can't stay inside for too long.(Or Andrew just goes crazy) I have been running to a park at least twice a week and I brought the camera this time. I took some shots of Andrew playing and going down the slide on his own. I just can't keep him in one place anymore. He just goes everywhere and does everything . He will climb up the equipment and slide down the slides all on his own. Then Andrew will just run to or after any dog that just happens to walk by. Andrew tried the run after one dog but it was a little to far away for him. So he went back to playing in the sand/wood chips. Then a little while later, another dog showed up and he was able to visit with him for a little bit before Andrew went back to playing in the wood chips again.

Later on, Andrew went over to try to shot some hops with some older kids. I think that he is just a little too little to play. What do you think? But he just had a blast standing there and watching them shoot hops. He didn't get too much in their way.

Yesterday, I drove Andrew over to a different park to play at. That park is a new park that they just built off of Whites Canyon above Canyon High. It is a small park but very clean and the equipment is nice. Yesterday it was 90 degrees so we only stayed at the park for an hour. (I didn't put sunscreen on Andrew so he was getting sunburned.) When we got home Andrew went down for a two hour nap. When he woke up, I made him lunch and changed his clothes. We ventured out again to go swimming at the pool. My mom met me at the pool to hang out with us. While we were up at the pool David came home from school and shortly met us at the pool. The actual pool water was way too cold to go in but we did go in the spa. The spa water was just right for the temperature of the day.
Andrew is getting braver and we wouldn't be surprised if we can get him swimming this summer. He was stepping off the step/seat and going under the water and he was better this year about it then last year. He even was kicking his little legs every once in awhile. We just will have to see.

Check-up and Everything nice

Andrew had his 15 month check-up this morning at 9:30 am. The day started out okay. We woke up and got dressed for the day. Then Andrew fell over and started to cry. We then processed to cuddle on the couch watching tv. I tried to get up to make him breakfast but Andrew wasn't done laying on me. After a couple more minutes, he was done and I could start making his food. We were ready and out the door by 9am. We arrived just on time for his appointment.

Andrew weights in at 21lbs 10 ozs. He is still at the bottom of the chart in his weight, 10-25%. Not even close to 50%. But he is at 50% in his length, 31 in. The Doctor asked us if Andrew is eating plenty of food to make sure we aren't starving him because of his weight. We told him that Andrew eats more then we do and he is well rounded. Not to worry, his weight will catch up one day.

After the appointment, I headed over to my parents house to check on the dog, Amber. That visit was going okay until Andrew gave the dog one of his toys and she bit off the hand. When I said 'no', she dropped the toy and hand. Then Amber went and got one of her bones from the back room. Andrew and Amber played for a little bit more. Andrew was chasing after her. At one point Andrew picked up the bone and was handing it to Amber while she was chewing on it. That was going well until Andrew's hand got too close to Amber's mouth and she accidentally bit his hand. That ended on screaming and Amber going back outside. On the way home from my parents house, Andrew passed out around 11 am. I was able to get him from the car to his bed without too much screaming involved. It is a little too early for his nap but I hope that he sleeps for a good amount of time. Andrew really needs a good nap.

update: Andrew only took an hour nap today. What a crabby child we had today.

Lately, Andrew has just been a crabby baby. Since he has teeth coming in he is already crabby. Then when he wakes up from his nap too early, that just adds to the crabby mess. Then on top of that he gets hungry and frustrated we just can't calm him down. It really helps to have both of us there when this happens so that one can hold Andrew and the other can make food. (That doesn't happen too often.)

Now to the nice part of the post. In two weeks I am going to start to do Floral again at work. They are dissolving the Customer service center. They are taking out the video department and putting in a "Red Box" movie rental machine. Then they are taking out the photo machine and moving all the personal to other departments. With those things gone they don't need anyone to stand at the counter anymore. The only thing left to do at the desk is for customers to send/receive Money grams, purchase Money Orders and return items. As far I know, the mangers are going to take care of that part.

No more Bottles

Well, Andrew is totally off the bottle. To clear up a question that I have received. Yes, we took Andrew off the bottle cold turkey. We didn't to any gradual separation from the bottle. Ever since he was about a year old he was only getting a bottle for a nap and to go to bed only. The other feedings were substituted with a sippy cup and food. So for the past month or so, Andrew really hasn't been into drinking from a bottle but enjoyed the bonding time of cuddling in his chair in his room. So we just had to find the right routine, so that he would go down for a nap and bed without too much argument. It did take us a couple days to find the right routine. So I tried a couple days ago, at his nap time, to read a story to him in his chair while he drank his sippy cup. It worked great and not too much crying. Only a five minute or so cry. Since it worked so well, I told David to try this approach for his bed time. We have been doing this routine ever since. I have packed the bottles away for good.
The only thing that I can figure that was the biggest upset with Andrew was that bonding time was taken away at first. Everyday since he was born we have sat in that chair to drink a bottle to go to sleep. Since we originally stopped having that time, Andrew was getting upset. Not that he wasn't getting a bottle. He was upset that we weren't having that time together anymore. So we have gone back to that time and it is working out nice. Some days he still puts up a fight when we try to put him down for a nap. But eventually he just ends up passing out. (He thinks that he is going to miss something.)

P.S. He will take milk in his sippy cup now.

Hummmm

Well, we still are having a hard time giving up the bottle. Today Andrew complained for an hour an a half in his crib today and didn't go to sleep. I even went in there and gave him a bottle after an hour and he still wouldn't pass out. He just ended up passing out on the way home from church. (We left after Sacrament because he screamed the whole time.) He was asleep even before we got to the freeway. I was however able to get him from the car to his bed with only a short complaint before going back to sleep. But the last two nights, Andrew has been so stubborn that he has been getting himself so upset that we aren't giving him a bottle that he forgets that he is tired. He will scream for an hour straight until David gives in and gives him a bottle. The bedtime bottle seems to be the hardest bottle to break Andrew from. Maybe I just picked the wrong time to break him from the bottle. I mean, right now all he wants is the comfort that we give him. Andrew is teething major at this moment and that comfort time that he gets to fall asleep is going away. But I just have to stay strong and this will pass. Then we will be free from bottles for good. I just have to think positive right.

Finally!!!!

Well, I have given in and put Andrew down for a nap and bed without a bottle. I have swapped him a sippy cup for his bottle. Yesterday, I started this process out totally wrong. At his normal first nap (10 am), I just tried to give him a sippy cup while holding him in his chair. He just started to throw a fit. I then tried to just lay him down and just maybe he would cry himself to sleep. Not going to happen. I went back in with a different sippy cup with milk in it and that work for a little bit but not enough to fall asleep to. I tried again to just lay him down but more screaming came. I felt bad at just letting him scream and yell that I got him up and calmed down. We went down stairs and turned on a movie. We played a little but he was still so tired. He ended up passing out while I was holding him, while watching a movie (2 pm). This nap only lasted an hour because his pain relief had worn off by then. I was now at work and David had the job of putting him down to bed without a bottle as well. That worked out better then nap time. David just gave him the sippy cup of milk that I tried earlier that day and Andrew went to sleep. So we had a very successful day with breaking Andrew off the bottle.
So onto today, I just put Andrew down for his first nap of the day (11am). I tried a different approach by putting him in his crib with his sippy cup and walking away. Andrew just drank his water and passed out. I believe that Andrew is associating the chair in his room to getting a bottle of milk. So I guess I had to change to routine to get him to take his naps. I hope things go as smoothly tonight while I'm at work. If the sippy cup doesn't work again tonight as it did last night, I guess we'll work on bed time bottle feedings another time. If everything continues to go as smoothly, we can pack the bottles away until they are needed again.
Just a little side note: Andrew has six teeth coming in at this moment in time. His two fangs on the bottom. Then on top his two molars and those two fangs as well. So we really need to keep on top of those Tylenol or Motrin dosing. Just look at the bright side. He'll finish teething faster and he'll have all his teeth faster.

Two Sundays in a row!

Andrew has gone two Sundays in a roll without being a pain in the neck at church. We went to Nursery and played almost the whole time. The last two weeks we have had to take a walking break with his friend/rival Blake. (They have a love, hate relationship.) Blake and Andrew would be playing fine with one another and the next minute they are fighting. Blake has an older brother, Sean, so he has learned some things but Andrew is learning fast on defending himself by being around Blake. For example, today Andrew took a bit at Blake's arm when Blake attacked him on the couch. Andrew also shoved Blake when he wasn't giving him room to climb up the slide in Nursery. My little guy is learning fast with all those bigger kids around him at church. (Blake is only 3 months older then Andrew though.) No I'm not going to encourage Andrew to bit people but it is about time that he starts to fight back with Blake. He has been beating up on Andrew for several months now. Maybe Andrew will be able to hold his own the next time that the other cousins come to visit, whenever that happens again.
Well, we have gone through the first day of delight saving and Andrew's nap schedule and bed time were right on schedule today. We will just have to see how things go the rest of the week and so on. Even though to him it was 9 am, the clock says 10 am and he still went down for his nap. The same thing with his bed time. The said 7:30 pm when to him it was 6:30pm but he was ready to go to sleep though both times. I guess we just got lucky. The last few days, before the time change, he has been getting tired earlier in the day and I've been keeping him up to take his naps at his regular times. Maybe he was just getting himself ready for the time change. We will just have to see, if things stay the same.

Not enough time

Today I had another day off from work. I tried to make a quick run to Walmart to pick up some need items but Andrew was just being a pain. It was too close to his nap time for him to be happy while I tried to shop. I ended up leaving without the items I went there to get. So when I got home and put Andrew down for a nap, I called my mom to pick up those items for me. That was so nice of her to help me out. Once Andrew woke up from his nap and we ate some lunch, David, Andrew and I headed out to a park to play. I don't know the name of the park but the play area is fenced in and the little monster couldn't escape. Andrew pretty much just sat in the sand and played with his shovel. A couple times he got up and walked around and tried to play on the equipment. We went down the slide a couple times but for the most part the sand was the highlight of the day. Andrew even tried to follow one the older kids up the equipment but that area was for older kids. We only stayed at the park for 20 minutes because Andrew was getting tired for his second attitude adjustment. Also more larger kids were coming to the park and he was putting himself in harms way.

A little update:
Andrew has two more teeth coming in again. These are now on the top. The bottom two have already come in and it is starting again. For the most part he is just fine when he takes his nap.
David is still in school and moving forward day by day. He is almost to the end of his photo class that meets online. I believe he only has a couple more weeks left. Now his Chemistry class and Math class aren't over until May(I think). But he is taking everything in stride and trying to take it all in to pass his classes. I'm so proud of him taking the challenge of going back to school. Way to go!

Melt down

Well Sunday was just too long today. It all started out as an okay day until Andrew cut his nap to only an hour long instead of his usual two to three hour nap. So we figured that we will make it on time to Sacrament. We went to church and Andrew started to show off his voice. We survived Sacrament on another okay note. Last week, I took him into the Nursery room because I can't go to class with him and I don't want to sit in the hall with him. That was an okay adventure until he got beat up on by the bigger kids. Anyways, today I figured I would do the same thing and everything would be just fine. About being in the room for five minutes someone touches him wrong and he melts down. I took him out of the room and out side to calm him down. That worked and then brought him back into the room. He played some more away from everyone else, then again another kid knocked over some blocks into him and that was it. Mind you Andrew is teething major right now. The two molars are working their way all the way through now. So for the next hour and half or so left of church he just melted down. He just screamed and yelled the whole time. I walked the halls and around the outside the whole time. Nothing was making him stop. If I had my license and keys to the car, I would of went home to put Andrew down for another nap but I didn't have either of those. By the time David got out of class, I was on the verge of tears. When we returned home, I put Andrew down for another nap that lasted an hour too because the phone rang in another room. After that nap Andrew was a little better but I really hate Sundays right now. The time for Church doesn't work well with Andrew maybe things will get better as the year goes on.