Happy 1st Birthday Andy!

My sweet little Andy is one.  I can't believe it.  It just sounds so old!  And it seems like he became so old all at once.  It hit me last week--he got his first haircut, his first "big boy shoes," is down to one time a day nursing, and just doesn't look like a baby anymore.  I feel all sentimental and sorta sad that he's growing up so quick.  Anyway, here are some thoughts from the past month: 

• Andy is getting his front teeth! One is about half-way down and the other is just popping through.  Poor guy.  
• He loves to play airplane!  He can't stop laughing. 
• One of the biggest milestones of the month: no more helmet!  So exciting! He got it off on June 6.  He got down to 3 mm of asymmetry.  (No one's head is really perfect; 2-3 mm is considered "normal.")  There's still a small flat spot, but by this point, Hayley said it wasn't going to ever go completely away.  Overall, we're really happy with his head shape now.  You would never know he'd had a head shape issue by looking at him.  

Here he is with his Therapist at Hanger, Hayley.  She was great!

• He has done so well with food this month.  He pretty much eats everything!  Hooray for not having to get a therapist after all.  We know he likes something because of this cute grunt he makes, that seems to say, "Give me more.  Now."  He loves pancakes, yogurt, cheese puffs (which I selfishly feed him all the time because it's the only time I can get him to cuddle with me), baby oatmeal, grapes, bananas, my cereal, Chicken Pot Pie soup, and pretty much everything else.  (Except for veggies.  Not his favorite.)  
• He's weaned down to one feeding.  I definitely am not ready to stop nursing, but Cam and I are going on a cruise without Andy at the beginning of July, so the weaning had to happen.  It just about broke my heart to cut out feedings, he and I both love it so much.   Especially since we worked so hard to learn how to nurse.  It's just become this special bonding time for the two of us and I will miss it terribly.  I can't think about it or it makes me too sad!  Of course, it is so nice to not be undressing all day.  And that Cameron can put him down for bed without me.  He still doesn't love milk or sippies and I'm worried he's not getting enough fluids.  We're working on that.  
• Has stopped needing his daily prune juice, which he had come to love.  
• We just found out he is anemic. :(  So he's taking a daily iron supplement=not his favorite.  
• He likes to blow his food everywhere while he's eating.  It's not that he's full--he just thinks it's fun.  He just bursts out laughing as soon as I say "no!",  so I just try to not laugh and to ignore him for a minute until he stops.  He's a little comedian.  
• He has such huge reactions to everything, both good and bad.  He gets so unbelievably excited if he sees his favorite foods (yogurt, cheese puffs, anything really).  He grunts and waves his arms. It's adorable.  He also gets so excited to see daddy when he gets home from work.  And when he gets to see his friends.  Unfortunately, he also has huge reactions when something doesn't go exactly his way.  Like when I take one second too long to give him a bite of yogurt.  Or when I take away a pen.  And other equally devastating things.  :)
• He loves the pool.  He gets so excited as soon as we get there.  He's a busy body, crawling all over the shallow area and trying to escape to the deep section.  

Fresh from a fun pool trip!

• He had his first haircut on June 14.  He was really good!  I was surprised at how well it went. 

• He LOVES to be held and wants to be held all the time.  I think this has given me back problems.  It's actually pretty sweet--he crawls up to my legs, pulls himself up to standing, and hangs on to my legs until I pick him up.  
• He gets into absolutely everything.  I feel like his daily goals are as follows: 
• Get into the dishwasher whenever mom has it open.  Try to pull utensils out.  When the dishwasher is shut, turn it on and get all the dishes wet until mom remembers to pull the knob off.  
• Whenever mom opens a bedroom door, make a beeline for that room.  And head straight for the wallflowers and pull them out.  Next, play in the area where the bedroom door and bathroom door hit each other.  Lastly, shut the bedroom door and start crying because you can't get out.  
• Get into the garbage whenever possible.  Even though mom has moved it into the pantry, she'll forget to shut the pantry door sometimes.  Take advantage of these moments.  
• Suck on the dish soap bottle underneath the sink whenever possible.  On some lucky occasions mom forgets to child lock this cabinet.  
• If you get bored, don't forget about the DVDs.  It never gets old to pull all thirty of them out.  There's always the piano music you can pull out and start tearing too.  Sometimes mom doesn't catch you quick enough and you get to tear a little bit.  
• Open all the kitchen cabinets and pull out the tupperware.
• Above all, if mom forgets to shut the bathroom door, head straight for the toilet. It's really fun to touch and mom freaks out, which is fun to watch.
• Sleep?  We thought he'd eventually sleep until 6 if we were consistent about not going in his room until then.  We were wrong!  I haven't gone in until 6 for over a month (except for a week where I decided I'd go in at 5...and then he woke up even earlier), and he still wakes up between 4-5 AM.  Every. Single. Day.  Not exactly my favorite thing.  But hey, at least he's not lacking in determination and fortitude!  As far as naps go, he's still taking two naps, but it seems like he's transitioning to one.  
• Andy loves to be chased.  I'll get on the ground and chase him around--he thinks it's the funnest thing ever.
• He loves the vacuum.  How strange is that? (Probably because I smile really big when it's on because it used to scare him.)  I can't really vacuum with him around because he chases it and gets in the way.  
• He loves to play peek-a-boo behind our backs.  
• He finally learned how to wave!  It's super cute.  He's also imitating some sounds pretty well.  (Mama, Dada, Yaya, etc.)  He's coming up with new sounds all the time and is extremely vocal.  
• He's not walking yet.  I for sure thought he would be by now!  He still walks all over the furniture and loves using his walker, but doesn't really try to stand by himself.  He's afraid.  We'll catch him standing by himself, but he doesn't realize he's doing it.  As soon as he does, he sits down or reaches for something to steady him.  Strangely, he'll stand by himself in the pool.  I guess he feels like the water is holding him up?  Anyway, hopefully he'll start walking soon.  But why should he need to walk when mom will carry him 24/7? 

And a few extra pictures: 

 I catch him doing this all day: standing on his tippy toes, reaching for something.  Too cute.  And that little baby bum!  

His new favorite place: dad's shoulders.  

Opening some presents on his birthday eve.  Guess he couldn't wait! 

The blocks in the background are his birthday present from us.  I'm now questioning my decision to buy him something else I'll be picking up all day...

People I Love: Rachel

Rachel's post is long-overdue!  Her birthday was May 1st.  I love her so much. She is such a unique, wonderful person.  I seriously lucked out to have her as a sister.  

• Where to start?  Rachel is SMART.  I don't know if I've met anyone smarter.  And she works hard. Killer combo.  She was getting the top score in all her upper-class math classes as a freshman and sophomore.  Who graduates from BYU with a 3.96?!  Genius Rachel, that's who.  
• She is an incredibly hard worker.  Yes, she's smart, but she definitely puts in the work.  She sets goals and quietly, steadily works toward them.  
• Rachel is such a deep thinker.  It's kind of a joke, because my mom says, "Waters run deep with Rachel," about once a month.  But it is really true.  She doesn't speak to fill up the silence, but when she speaks, it's worth listening to.  Sometimes when she tells me the things on her mind, I realize she thinks on an entirely different (much deeper) level than I do.  
• She is quite the athlete.  I always joke that I gave her all my athletic genes, because she is SO good.  (And I am so bad. I'm thinking about when she tried to teach me to play soccer. What a joke. Neither one of us could stop laughing.)  Seriously though, she is awesome at every sport she tries.  Her latest thing is biking and I'm so impressed with her.  
• Because Rachel was "the tomboy" for so many years, it didn't seem like she had much style.  Her outfit of choice for years was soccer shorts and a Peanuts tee that said, "Out Camping." (random.)  However, I think she's graduated to the most stylish of the sisters.  She has such cool style; she always looks effortlessly beautiful.
• She might be the funniest person I know.  (Okay--I think she ties with Greg, Cameron's dad.)  She is so witty and clever.  She has the best sense of humor.  She remembers every line from every movie and times her delivery of memorized lines perfectly. And they're never lines that are inherently comedic.  She just finds a way to see the humor in them.   
• She is a beautiful musician.  She was always classified as more into soccer than piano; but hearing her play the 2nd mvt. of Rachmaninoff's 2nd concerto is one of my favorite things about being at home.  
• She is super good at cooking/baking.  And also super good with Andy (and all kids).  She could play with Andy all day and love every minute of it; and he would be on his best behavior loving every second of it.  Since she's always been the tomboy, these talents always seem to surprise me.   
• She is incredibly spiritual.  There have been so many times I've caught her pouring over her scriptures.  And whenever she shares any spiritual insights she's had, it is so touching.  She is always willing to follow Heavenly Father, no matter how tough it is.  She really trusts him with everything.  She is such an example.   

Us at her graduation from BYU in April.  

Probably my all-time favorite picture of her.   

Us before her prom in 2008.   

Us way back as I was leaving for England--2006.   

Beautiful Rachel at our wedding. 

Friendcation Part 2: Galveston!

I probably should have done these Friendcation posts in reverse order, but I was too excited to post all of Andy's adorable beach pictures!  A few months back, our friend Kasee had the great idea of renting a beach house on the coast.  There were four families available to come from our little Colonial Grand group, so we (mostly Kasee) began the hunt for a four-bedroom house in Galveston.  We went from May 17-20.  It ended up being SUCH a fun trip!  (Thanks Kasee for all your work in putting this together!)  We decided we need to have a friendcation quarterly instead of yearly--it was just too fun.  It was so nice to all be able to hang out without kids (after their bedtime).  We never get to do that!  I'm already missing it and hope we can do another trip soon.  The only snag was that Cam had to come join Andy and me a day late because of work.  I'm still really glad we went.  Kasee and Jason were nice enough to drive us down and everyone was so helpful while I was a single parent for a day!


Some highlights--

• We were literally right on the beach.  It was so fun to be able to walk to the beach in 1 minute.  
• The house was perfect!  You always worry the house will be less impressive in person, but it was perfect for us.  We really liked staying in Pointe West.  
• Playing frisbee and trying to play badminton.  (The wind wouldn't cooperate.)
• Andy waking up at 5AM every morning.  Oh wait.  That wasn't a highlight.  However, it was kind of nice to watch the sun rise on the deck in the wee hours of the morning.
• Playing games! I especially liked Wits & Wagers--a super fun game I want to buy.  
• Delicious food!  We ate our lunches in Galveston (great seafood) and then made dinners at home.  It was perfect.  Not to mention all the amazing snacks we ate all day long.  
• Walking on the beach late at night and chasing the crabs.  I was terrified.  
• I loved sitting around the table and talking to the girls. (The guys were busy watching the playoffs in the next room.)  
• All the playing at the beach!  We went to the beach by our house and also in downtown Galveston.  Both were super fun.  
• Of course, the biggest highlight was spending time with our dear friends.  We feel so incredibly blessed to be surrounded by such incredible people here.  There couldn't be better friends.  

I didn't take many pictures (because I was too busy having fun), so these are courtesy of Kasee: 

Our house 

The whole group!  Jason & Kasee; us; Blakely, Lindsey, & Charlie; Juan, Cami, Amelia, & Maya

One of the lunch places we went to

Friendcation Part 1: First Time at the Beach

Little Andy had his first beach experience in Galveston on May 18, and boy did he love it! He had this look on his face the whole time that said, "I never knew there was something as wonderful as this in the world!" He didn't stop beaming the entire time.  He loved crawling around, splashing, jumping over the waves, playing in the sand...all of it.  My sweet friend Kasee is turning into a pro photographer and took a ton of beautiful pictures. (177 of them!  And they're all adorable!)  So here is picture overload:

Sadly, Daddy didn't get to see Andy's first day at the beach.  But Andy loved day two almost as much!

My favorite new picture. Our happy little family.

I was pouring water from a bucket.  He thought this was the best thing ever.