Drew is 2: Stats and Stuff

We had our 2 yr appointment the day after his birthday and here are the results:

Stats:
Height:  36 in.  88th percentile
Weight:  29 lbs.  59th percentile
He checked out good on all of his developmental milestones and received his last set of shots until he is 5! 

 I had to laugh at the doctor when she asked some questions like 'can he say 20 words' and 'is he a good eater'?.... UH - YES to both!  Have you seen this kid and do you hear him?  He has already told you the alphabet, counted to 10 and named every animal he can see in this office! 

Drew's Favorite Things to Do:

• Play 'hoops' in the living room
• 'Clean!' He loves to just stand up at the sink in the kitchen and dump water from bowls to cups, ect.  It keeps him entertained while I make dinner and get things done in the kitchen  - so 'why not?' 
• Throw any ball he can find - he knows what every type of ball is.  Football, baseball, basketball, tennis ball, soccer ball - you name it he can point it out and say it.
• 'Help'... this can be anything from pulling laundry out of the dryer to putting pillows on the bed to help make it.  He likes to help!
• Take trips to Home Depot with Grandpa Merrill
• Golf with daddy
• Watch Elmo, Frozen, Jungle Book and baby Einstein when he can...
• Eat popcorn!  He is a really good eater and breakfast is probably his favorite meal.  He loves cheesy eggs, pancakes and waffles (oh, and just about every kind of fruit!).  He also love broccoli, avocado and 'roni'
• A very recent love:  "Go simming!' (swimming)!  This kid is going to be the biggest fish this summer.  No fear of the water!  When he jumps in, he says 'no mommy - go, go!' and shoo's me away with his had. He is telling me not to catch him. It's hysterical!
• Sleeping 11 1/2-12 hours each night.  Down around 8 and up around 7:30.

Drew's Favorite Things to Say:

•  Mommy, hug.
•  Hi (insert name).  He says hi to EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE we go! 
•  No scary pirates. (he is scarred from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney... still!)
•  Dunk the basketball
•  Sammy doin?
•  Forgot the money! (he is scarred from a time that I forgot my wallet at home and we had to drive back and get it)
•  Forgot the blankie! (he is scarred from a time that I forgot his blankie downstairs - there is no way this child is going to sleep without that thing!) 
•  Clean, clean.
•  Drew hide the poopy

Speaking of poopy... we haven't made a ton a progress in the potty training department.  He has poopied on the potty once for me and Ronnie and once for Ron and Cathy.   He gets really embarrassed when he has to go and he puts his hands over his face or if he can get away he goes and hides.  So now he started saying "Drew hide the poopy" -- I'm trying to tell him he needs to 'tell mommy or daddy or grandma' when he has to GO poopy, but I think he misunderstood.  Now he tells me when he hides the poopy and it's too late.  As long as he is trained by the time baby #2 comes mommy will be happy!

Things we are still working on:
 Colors.  He still thinks everything thing is purple, and if he doesn't say purple it's a complete random guess with any of the other colors he can remember. 
 Listening!
 Obviously - potty training.
 Being quite in church!  He is always quite as a mouse on the way to church but as soon as we sit down he has so much to say!
 Pedaling his new 3 wheeler, pushing in his beep beep and using his scooter.  (Not sure how bad I want him to master these three things!)
 Drinking with a big boy cup.
 I am sure there are lots more I am not thinking of, but these is our usual day to day list!

He is such a happy, smiley boy and his warm personality is truly contagious.  We love you SO SO much Drew Robert!

Drew is 2! Birthday weekend part 2

 

It's birthday party day!  We decided to start the party after Drew's nap so he would be in great spirits - and after a rough wake up (daddy was getting impatient and woke him up??!!) everything got better when he realized we had POPCORN!  Popcorn is one of Drew's most favorite things in life...

 

 

 

'More popcorn??'

So this mommy has to get on her soap box for just a minute.  I know that Pinterest and Etsy and all that stuff has put many of us "regular moms that don't have a crafy bone in our body" in quite the predicament.  All the over the top, do it yourself, make everything perfect mentality has somehow been a standard for measuring 'how good of a mom we are' in today's society.  Well - I have decided to bunk that thinking and will just do whatever feels most comfortable - if I don't have a Pinterest Perfect party with matching everything and elaborately decorated cupcakes that I made myself and a theme that ties in everything from the invitations to water bottle labels to the clever name cards for food, well guess what.  I am still a good mom! 

 

Ok.. just had to vent and document that for a second ;-) 

 

Now on to the party and time for presents!  We just had a simple little party with a small VIP guest list :-)  Grandma Lori, Grandma Merrill, Papa Merrill, Great Grandma Merrill and Titi Raquel (and of course mommy, daddy and Sammy).   But that doesn't mean this little guy didn't get some great gifts from his family that couldn't be here!  WOW!  The packages just kept coming!

 

He had a blast opening them... here are some pictures of a just a few! 

 

 

Daddy open???  This was Drew's new play food!

'Finally I can help daddy get those leaves up in the yard!'

My very own tent!  Night Night!

This kid loves books!  Loves to be read to and I couldn't enjoy it more!

"This is great!  Now I don't have to use the neighbor's chalk anymore!"

WHOA!  Look out Ashworth Dr.!  I'm gonna be flyin' down the street in no time!

Ok - so this next one is from Grandma Lori.  She sent it to us in advance and it sat in the box in the garage until the day before the party.  So we busted it out of the box while Drew was napping.... 2 1/2 hours later is was put together!   #notaseasyasitlooked

But it was worth every minute of that mother/daughter bonding to see how excited Drew was to have his very own BEEP BEEP!

 

Drew loves to "fix" things and often takes trips with Grandpa Merrill to Home Depot so having his very own tool bench made perfect sense!

 

 

If you didn't notice -- he was wearing a helmet in many of these photos.  That's because he got it as a gift and wouldn't take it off!  Captain Safety??????

 

After we got through that big stack of presents, we ate it was time to burn off some energy before we had cake. Let's play some hoops with Grandpa Merrill and daddy! 

 

He really is good at it... runs and yells "SCORE!  DUNK!" and he can drain them!

 

Next, outside with Grandma Lori to practice on our scooter!

 

 

Love this precious pic of him trying out his new chalk.

Time for cake!  We did a basketball theme this year (remember - not elaborate, just a simple cake decorated in red and gold for the Cyclones :-)  - and he is still talking about his basketball cake.  He was SO happy getting all the attention from the Happy Birthday song and blew out his candles like a champ!

 

He LOVES cake and did a number on his piece! 

It was such a wonderful day celebrating this guy's 2nd birthday!  We are so proud of him and the joy he brings us every day is indescribable!

We love you Drew! 

Drew is 2! Birthday Weekend Part 1

 

Before I start in on this post -I have to say that Drew is one lucky 2 yr old to have an entire birthday WEEKEND!  He was spoiled with a visit from Grandma Lori, day trip to Disney World and a super fun birthday party!

 

Grandma Lori flew down for the weekend and got in on Thursday night.  She couldn't wait to see Drew and we had a fun weekend in store! 

 

Friday morning, bright and early we jumped in the car and were off to have breakfast with Mickey Mouse!

 

Right when we sat down they started the parade - Drew jumped right and Mickey held his hand as they paraded around the restaurant... however, as soon as he didn't have mommy in eyesight it was a bit of a melt down.  So mommy saved him and back to our table we went :-) 

 

He LOVED the food  and still talks about the Mick-Mouse waffwaas (Mickey Mouse Waffles)!  Then the characters started coming around... he really wasn't quite sure what to think.

Hi Mickey - I am just like my daddy and very skeptical of things at first.  But don't worry - it doesn't mean I don't like you!

Pluto was fun - but Drew was still getting used to this 'characters in real life' thing!

 

Ok, let's jump on the monorail and head to Magic Kingdom!  First stop - 'It's a Small World'.  One of mommy's favorite rides because it reminds her of Grandpa Butcher.  I wish Drew could have met his great-grandpa Butcher, he was such an amazing man with the biggest heart in the world.  He would have just laughed and laughed at Drew and had so much fun watching him take everything in on this ride.  Miss you all the time, Grandpa Butcher!

 

CHEESE! 

Next we were off to ride Dumbo.  Mommy mentioned to Grandma that maybe we could get him some popcorn in a little while.  Grandma said "Oh, why wait - let me just get him some now"... So popcorn it was and we had a happy boy on our hands!

 

You want me to share with you?  Uh, I don't think so mommy.

This next ride was Drew's first ever roller-coaster, the Barnstormer!  He made the height requirements by about 1/2 in so away we went, and WOW -- it was fast!  Of course as we pulled up to get off Drew says "' gen'   (again)...  This little no fear kid loved it! 

 

 

 

After several more rides in Fantasy Land and a nice nap in the stroller it was already 3pm and time for the parade!  Grandma had a good eye and scored us a great spot for the parade.  The bands started coming down first and Drew loved it!  'BOOM BOOM!' he said, imitating the drums.

 

Oh, and the day would not be complete without a Mickey Ice Cream bar!

 

Love you, Grandma!

After the parade off for some more fun!  Time to check out the Donald Duck 3-D movie!  Drew loved wearing the glasses!

 

Our last stop of the day was to say good-bye to Mick-Mouse.  I have a hysterical video of him having a conversation with Mickey and was also able to capture some great hugs. 

 

'Mickey hug Drew?'

It was a great end to a great day! 

 

Truly the Happiest Place on Earth!

We were exhausted by the time we got to the car but was worth every minute of it!  Such special memories were had with Grandma Lori and we even decided that this might have to be part of Drew's birthday celebration each year!  What a lucky guy he is!

 

Love you Grandma Lori and thank you for coming to see us!

 

 

Webers in town = cousin memories for life!

So this is a super-duper late post...but certainly doesn't mean this Mommy Tale event wasn't filled with life long memories!

 

With the Webers taking their Spring Break to Tampa for Steph and Jimmy's wedding, we were able to spend some extra special time with them while they enjoyed their vacation!  They arrived late on Thursday night and stayed with us Thur/Fri, then on Saturday we all stayed at the wedding hotel.  Sunday/Mon they stayed at Disney then back to the Merrills on Tuesday.  BUSY BUSY BUSY with lots of logistics involved in this one! 

 

I don't have many pics (it's getting harder and harder to snap photos of the busy kids) but here are a few jems that I need to share.

 

Drew heard so much about Ethan and Luke coming to see him that OF COURSE he was up early yelling "ETHAN?????  ETHAN?????" from his room.  So Aunt Katie got these two early birds set up with some early morning cartoons :-)

 

 

 

 

The Rehearsal Dinner was Friday night... and everyone that has kids knows how hard it is to keep them entertained at a restaurant fom a couple hours, completely off their schedules!  Funny how once you have kids  - dinner at 7 is LATE!

 

 

 This pic cracks me up - basically Drew has so many "hor dourves" (aka - cheese and crackers) that he wasn't really hungry for his dinner.  So he decided to make a very beautiful piece of art with his food by very carefully stacking all of it into his water cup.  Aunt Wendy thought is was beautiful.

"I really need another French fry to top it off...waaahhhhaaaa"

 

Up and at 'em the day after the wedding!  First stop:  Disney's Polynesian Village to get the Weber's checked in (or at least try... that's another story).  Drew and I just came over for the day but I was so sad leaving, wish we had planned this when Drew and I could stay too... it was so hard to say bye!!!!

 

Drew:  "Let's do this."  Ethan: "I am going to ride 100 rides today and not stop once."  Luke: "I think I see a great rock out there that I could hide behind later."

Wendy was super organized and got all of our fastpasses booked in advance, so once we got to Magic Kingdom it was GO TIME! 

Here is mommy and Drew on the cars.  Of course Drew had to 'dwiiiive'!

Action shot of Drew in the Buzz Lightyear ride - he loved it! 

Waiting in line isn't so bad when I am with my cousins!

One of Drew's favorite rides was the Dumbo ride.  He loved going up and down and of course as soon as it was over he had an immediate "again - again!"

I wish I had a picture of Drew at the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, not because he was crying and scared, but because we have been hearing about the 'scaaaay pirates' for almost a month!  I think that ride scarred him for life!  He really worries about those scary pirates!  I keep telling him "no more scaaaay pirates', but he thinks they are coming back.  In fact - he is now in somewhat of a 'scary everything' phase.  He obviously has mastered the word that describes his feeling of fear. 

Ok - that's all of the pics I have :-(  But this trip was FILLED with memories!  Drew is still talking about dancing with Ethan at the wedding and every now and then he will randomly say "Luke sleeping?"   haha. 

We are so thankful that the Weber's decided to take their big trip this year to Florida to spend time with us!  Love you guys so much!