BIRDS!!!

I swear it is like an Alfred Hitchcock time of the year in my backyard. We have like a 100 birds that come to FEAST on the seed we put out for them. Andrew thinks it is the coolest thing ever. When I tell him that they are having their snack (usually before our dinner time), he runs to the kitchen. He slows down. Sneaks up to the back door. And then...whispers, "WOW!" It is so funny. I promise to get it on video in the next few days. It is so cute!! For now you will have to enjoy the pictures of the BIRDS!!

 

See? Crazy birds! But, it is pretty cool at the same time :)

When Andrew Wakes Up in the Middle of the Night

It's funny that this is the topic for this week's Toddler Talk Thursday, because, lately, that is what Mr. Man has been doing. He's quit with the occasional rolling out of bed, but has replaced it with late night giggles with Tusker (his favorite elephant). I don't know what those two talk about, but he just laughs and laughs. This goes on for about five minutes and, then, he's back to sleep. It cracks me up! I wish the baby monitor had a translation function sometimes....

This pictures is from a nap time a week or so after being in his big boy bed. I never get a night time sleeping picture. Maybe I should attempt it one day :)

Learning Letters

Andrew is learning the alphabet!! Well, ok, letters of the alphabet...not in any order or anything. But still. He is learning them!! I bought him this Melissa & Doug ABC puzzle at the beginning of the year and he's been playing with it almost every day since last month. He knows letters S, O, M, P, I, T, and R. Go Andrew!! We are trying to work on his name now. He knows the letter A sometimes. He says the letter names/sound (the ones he knows) when I ask him what [this one] is and he copies me when I tell him the other letter names/sounds. He catches on so quick!! I've only been doing this when he grabs the puzzle to play with and we make into more of a game then a learning thing. Let's see how many more letters we can learn before Alex gets here - 16 days to go!

Fixer Man

So, I finally got Andrew his tools. It's only been forever since I made his little tool belt that turned into a tiny chef's apron and a dinosaur utility belt... But, now he really can use it as a tool belt!

Is that not the perfect shirt for this, too? A total coincidence! The front reads:

"CAUTION: Under construction. Please excuse my mess"

LOL

Putting the tape back in...

Now to measure the floor. 

 

Getting ready to measure something!

Ah, the door frame.

Oops, he dropped it... But see the back of his shirt! LOL

"WARNING: Adult Supervision Required"

Definitely.

Oh, now to fix Daddy's chair. That secret side compartment is always falling out...

And, that door frame just isn't right....

Gotta measure it again...

And a last check on Daddy's chair :)

Fun time!! I was super happy to finally find a cheap-o tool set :) The hammer we had (actually we have 2 hammers...) and the screwdriver, pliers, and tape measure came from ToysRUs for $5. Nice :)

The Simple Things

Time for a weekly dose of Simple Things :)

A tiny chair with a tiny guy having a tiny snack of tiny bears!!

A Toy or Not A Toy? That is the Question!

A million toys. Cars, trucks, blocks, legos, animals, dinosaurs, Thomas playsets, outdoorsy toys... He has is all, right? Yes, but he chose to play with cardboard pieces from the box his dresser came in back in January:

I should have taken more pictures, but he's tricky now. He stops whatever he is doing when I touch the camera now... Stinker. Anyhoo!

He plays with all of the pots, pans, colanders, baking sheets, anything that he is allowed to get into in our kitchen. Though, he gets pretty annoyed when my giant stock pot doesn't fit on his stove. He still tries though. But, out of all of my kitchen things that he has ever gotten into, this is the funniest thing ever:

Wow...he's so much bigger now. This pic was taken back in October (13 months old). Now, he's 18 months. Time flies!

So, anyway, we've learned to not buy so many things now since he ends up playing with odd things. He has gathered quite a collection, too. This is what he has so far:

Taped up grocery boxes for his kitchen. 

Toilet paper/paper towel tubes for binoculars, horns, and whatever else he decides it is supposed to be that moment. 

Empty plastic containers for anything he can put inside.

An old kitchen towel.

He's so funny. He asks for things that he can have, too, if he see me going towards the trash can. He's learning to live green early, I suppose. Good for him!

If you have any odd "toys" that your kids play with, then you should definitely link up with Toddler Talk Thursday today! Good stuff!

Off to enjoy the rest of naptime :)

Happy Spring!

First Day of Spring! First Day of Spring!

Unfortunately that means wasps and allergies, but that's ok.... We have a fancy new wreath on our front door to celebrate Spring! WOOT!

Even though my car is being fixed at the moment, my super awesome friend saved me from doing laundry this morning. So, we headed to Hobby Lobby!! I saw this great spring wreath on one of my favorite blogs, and we both had to make our own version. It was super easy and only cost $12 :)

Happy Spring!!

The Simple Things

See? I'm telling you he loves to "cook." He will either help me or he will "cook" something for later. And, he will clean up when he is done. How funny! Oh, and yes, he brings me his apron for me to tie on him. It was supposed to be a tool belt. Oh, well. LOL - Good times!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Andrew and I made some yummy green oatmeal cookies this morning to have after lunch! I was going to put his green shirt on, but he wanted to wear this one. I give him choices now and he picked the "big brother" one. At least the "brother" part is green :) Anyway, he loves helping me make cookies...really, he loves helping me "cook" whatever it is that I am cooking/baking. He's my little Kitchen Leprechaun! 

 Ready to make cookies!

"I like watching it spin around."

"Why aren't they green yet?"

Added the green food coloring...

"Ooooo....greeeen"

Mixed and ready to be baked

They aren't baking fast enough...

"Hmmm...I've never eaten a green cookie..."

"They do look really good though..."

Munch, munch...

    MMM!

 Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Andrew's New Trick

I came into the living room one day after hearing some very silly giggles. You know, the kind that says, "I'm doing a new trick and it could be scary to Mommy. Hahahaha!" Well, not scary so much. But, definitely very silly! I've been putting my feet up on the coffee table whenever I have a break from cleaning or cooking or anything else, and Andrew thought that must have been a cool thing to try out. But, he isn't quite tall enough to sit on the sofa and put his feet up. So he does this instead:

Step 1: Place a foot on the edge and squeal as the other one comes up :)

Step 2: Laugh and laugh and laugh about the achievement :D

 Step 3: Bring feet down due to tummy hurting from laughing so much! LOL

P90X Update (Week 4)

A few weeks have passed since I updated you about Jason's progress with P90X, so I thought I'd share how it's been going. He is now on Week 4 (the recovery week). He gets to take a bit of a break from all the crazy workouts he's put himself through and focus on yoga, stretching, and core work. He's also on the 2nd diet plan, which is awesome because we get to add more variety to the weekly menus now. He's been going strong and still waking up on the 1st buzz of the alarm clock bright and early at 4:45 AM (I know...yuck! That is waaaay to early!). GO JASON! And no, he hasn't woken up Andrew. Just me, but that's not technically his fault... Somewhat because I am pregnant...but you know... LOL I can only use that line for 4 more weeks, so I'm gonna! Anyway, he's doing awesome and is looking hotter and hotter every day! :D Hehe!! He only has 9 weeks to go until he finishes. So, everybody wish him luck! YAY Jason!!

The Simple Things

Time again for The Simple Things! :D 

 

 Andrew just loves Thomas! Which is super because I (and my oldest little brother, James) grew up watching Shining Time Station on PBS. But, then, it evolved into Thomas the Tank Engine. And, today it is called Thomas and Friends. Sure does make me feel old... Anyone else remember it being called Shining Time Station? The conductor guy was so cool. He was really tiny and told the stories. Anyhoo! Andrew will grab his basket of tracks and engines and everything else he can to make a very cool place (with a bit of help). He plays for hours with this stuff. For real!! Though, as much as I thought he loved Thomas, he seems to really like James much more (which, yes, James gave to him lol). The funniest thing is hearing him "play" out different engines and people. Like, he will get Sir Topham Hat and make a deeper sounding voice and "talk" to the engines - I can only guess it is about those silly engines causing "confusion and delay" since that is usually the case... It's pretty cool to watch his imagination grow.