Andrew Update - 2 years 3 months

Andrew is sure growing up fast. He seems like he is going through a growth spurt and is hopefully getting taller. Maybe he can ride his bicycle soon. Changing diapers has become significantly more difficult because he can kick really hard and has strong legs. He loves to go for walks - on Sunday, it was 100 degrees out and he still wanted to go outside. He also loves to move about. He likes to have "dance parties" where he mainly just jumps around to the music. He LOVES to play hide and seek, unfortunately half the time at bedtime or when he is supposed to be asleep. This usually involves him telling you where to hide, if you are playing along. He usually talks the whole time and is not a very discreet hider. His favorite spot to hide is in the closet or behind a door or underneath a blanket.

Andrew is learning lots of new things. He is still a huge talker and what he says actually makes sense. You can actually have a conversation with him now, which is fun. There are now no secrets, though. If Katsu shows Andrew a movie in the morning while I am sleeping in, Andrew will tell, along with the movie title. His play is becoming more imaginative and more complex. His cars will stop for (imaginary) stop lights until they turn green again. He gets this cute, high pitched voice he uses when his cars or people are talking. He doesn't even need a toy as a prop - he plays with anything, his food, his vitamins, his fingers, or even thin air. He is learning about "same" and "different", his colors, and his numbers and shapes. I don't teach him these, except as they normally come up in conversation, so I'm not really sure where he's learning them from. Maybe Katsu has covert teaching moments in the morning. (Katsu says, no - I guess Andrew is an autodidact)

Andrew is a GREAT big brother. He loves to help take care of Seth. He loves to hug and kiss him. He reminds me to do "tummy time" and brings toys and talks to Seth. If Seth is crying, he tells us to come or asks to help. He will bring burp cloths and the nursing pillow to me. He repeats what we say and calls Seth cute names and will try to calm and soothe him just like we do. It is SO cute. For the most part, he is not too violent ... though occasionally he tries to bite the baby (yikes!), but usually he is just a little too rough.

Andrew still has some terrible two streaks and those toddler thing (like he just discovered the joy of sticking rice up his nose!), but he is doing really well. We started a bedtime chart with the routine on it, and this has really helped out and made Andrew very cooperative. He cleans up his toys really well now and will search the living room afterward to make sure he got everything. We labeled boxes for all his different toys so it is easy for him to pick up.

We are trying to get Andrew more independent - picking up, taking off his own clothes and putting them on, and learning how to pull down underwear and run to the potty. I can tell these tasks will be an ongoing process. We also need to be more diligent about his chore of feeding the cat.

We've had a fun month. We sure love Andrew.