Andrew will be 35 months old!

It's a little early (we'll be in the Netherlands on the 10th), so I don't think I'll get it written up then. I can't believe Andrew is almost 3. This last year has gone really fast.

Andrew is totally adjusted to the move. He still pretends to play with his friends Jonas, Carter, and Greg (Katsu's old boss ... I'm not sure where that is from), but he doesn't ask to visit them any more. I think he is excited about his upcoming visit to Ann Arbor though. He still talks about "Arbor" sometimes, like today when he said that we went strawberry picking in "Arbor", but not here, yet. He doesn't have any friends here, yet, but I think he is much happier. The babysitter takes him and Seth to the park for 4-5 hours twice a week while I work (unless the weather is poor), and they play with lots of kids, there, so it helps. We go to the park frequently, too. And the zoo every week. We haven't made it to story time much because it conflicts with Seth's nap, but I think just the change in the weather and being able to be out all the time helps, too.

Andrew has basically quit taking naps, though I can convince him to "read" while lying down on the couch and he will nap, maybe one or two days a week. He sleeps late, till 7:30 or so usually, now which is fabulous. Too bad Seth's internal alarm clock goes off at 6:00 am on the dot every day.

Andrew can read the clock to know when it is 9:00, so he reminds me every day when Sesame Street comes on. Oh, well - he really enjoys it and is learning his letters, well. We read scriptures together before he watches and he also does his medicine and brushes his teeth while he watches. He is very cooperative about the TV and doesn't ask to watch more than that.

Andrew loves to go my room, which he calls "his work" and dance around while he puts different music on the keyboard. He made up this new move called a "slide-jump", which is like sliding into the base on baseball. He LOVES to do it all the time. He even demonstrated it to my parents on Skype (he LOVES skype, by the way if anyone wants to call us on it). He also loves to climb and jump off of anything, but usually the couch. Between him and Seth, it seems someone is always catapulting off the furniture.

Andrew also loves to throw things. Sometimes balls and he is interested in learning to catch. Unfortunately, it is often cars and other toys. It is amazing how the house can get messy so very quickly.

Andrew is very excited to go to preschool. I am hoping this will eventually motivate him to finish up potty training. He still has accidents as soon as we put pants on him, but if he only has underwear on, he is obsessed with his male genitalia. Oh, well. When we are out and about, sometimes he is interested in "just looking" at other bathrooms, although very occasionally, he will use one, too.

Andrew finally got his first real hair cut. I took him to a kid hair cutting place. He kept saying he just wanted to "look", but the prospect of sitting in a taxi cab and watching a movie was too much to resist, so he got it cut. It is cute as you will see when we post trip pictures. He did really well, though he kept trying to bend his hair away and a few times he looked a little freaked out. No tears, though.

We tried Andrew on his little bike, which he is finally tall enough for (another inch would be even more helpful). He still is having a hard time getting the jist of pedaling, though.

Other than that, mostly the same. We spend our days reading, eating, playing with cars, making up new dance steps, cooking, going to the park, watching for daddy and ambulances out the window, going to the zoo, going to the library, and looking at all the spring blossoms ("blos-ooms" as Andrew calls them). Spring in St Louis is sure pretty (and hot -like mid 80s, really?). You know you want to visit (ha ha).



One thing I love about Andrew (and find fascinating), is that he has no fear when it comes to older children. He will tell them what to do, even if they are like 10, and they will go along with it. He has confidence. As soon as we get to a park, he will tell the other adults facts about it (like whether the slides is wet) and then will go up to other kids and say, "Come over here and go down the slide with me". I love it.