11months young

Drew is on day 3 of being 11 months young and I am trying to blog from my phone for the first time. Maybe this will allow me to blog more often even though they will be shorter!

Anyhow, Drew is almost 18 lbs, small for his age and in the 2percentile for height. Not much we can do about that but we've been trying to fatten him up for the past, oh, 11 months. He has never been a good eater or packer-on of pounds even from the minute he was born. So, we're doing our very best. He loves his pancakes!!! 

Meat-rack is very vocal and loud but sweetly whispers "TJ" a lot more often now. His very favorite is yelling, "DADADADA" or shouting to let people know he is present. He likes to step on everything. And push his walker or books, cars, toys to the couch and stand on then to climb up. He LOVES to see me pull out his shoes! He shrieks and kicks and tenses up excitedly because he knows that means he gets to walk outside and go up and down the driveway with his shopping cart. And pull weeds and put mulch on his head! 

He and TJ will lay on their backs together and hold hands and Drew will suck his thumb...for minutes at a time. It's so cute! This is the longest he's been will in to relax or "admit" he's slowing down and taking a break. 

TJ has started football practices and I remember his first day like it was yesterday. How he's grown!!! He has some confidence and knowledge and boy is he tough! He's fast too and really enjoys it. That's the best part...seeing him working and playing on the field, then turning to look at us with a giant smile!

2nd grade is less than a week away. I am in shock. Summer is over and while it was chaotic and fun and wonderful, it was also nothing like I had planned. Hardly any days at the pool...but we made up for it in playgrounds, ice cream, parks and Lakeside, and Legos! We did a lot with friends and had some time just T and me too. When Drew napped, we did all we could with little toys and tough stuff. 

It took until about a week ago for TJ to be ready for school. He's there. I'm not. 6 days til I write a sobbing blog. Ya might wanna skip that one. 

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Mister Mischief

It's amazing how different TJ and Drew have been as babies. They are similar in sweetness and TJ was definitely active, but Drew is SO active and SO fast that he's more than earned his nickname of 'NonStop'. Tim calls him MeatRack and MeatBall the most and TJ and I call him BooBoo and Drew-suff (don't ask me how that started ... like Joseph I guess?) mostly. 

Drew is already trying to be very independent. He likes what he likes...and will let you know what he doesn't! He pushes our faces away or to the side if he wants to inspect our ears or play with our hair. He listens when I say 'no' to touching the fireplace. However, he will try and try and try and then shake his hands and scream next to the fireplace because he's not allowed to touch. It's quite cute. :) He is sneaky too. He sees gates as challenges and works to get out more than he plays inside. 

He's an expert stair climber too. At 10 months. Eek! Of course we have our hands around his waist but he does it all himself and looks down 3 or 4 times each flight and giggles. He gets so much satisfaction out of it! 

His inch-long white eyelash is gone. And I'm actually sad. He had this insanely long eyelash on his lower lashes (left) and it kept growing for months! But the other day, my Mom noticed it was missing! How dare it fall off and not tell me! : ) 

Right now, he has a double ear infection and we are ALL four of us on day 5 of the worst cold/flu known to man. Seriously, I can't believe how long it's taking to shake this! Lots of slow walks around the block and movies and playing guys on the floor. 

TJ will be starting 2nd grade in less than weeks. SECOND GRADE! It makes me so sad but also excited for him too. We're super proud of the kind of kid he is. We know we're so lucky that he has good judgement. We were at the playground the other day and two boys were up there (4th grade maybe?) and they were trying to break the swing for special needs kids. I asked them nicely to stop. And to think about leaving it for the kids who can't use their legs. I could not believe the response I got. And neither could TJ. Total disrespect and talking back. It was disgusting. One of them boasted that their dad was a cop and I wasn't his mom so I couldn't tell him what to do. I said something like, "well good luck in life" and he said, "well I'm kinda rich so I've got a great life." That made me break out in a sweat. Seriously, those boys are in for a rude awakening someday. TJ was very upset that they talked to me like that. My protector. 

Football starts soon! His team jersey is silver with red lettering. I can't wait! We just finished up swimming lessons and baseball so we have this week free and then back to practices and games! In swimming lessons, he only has one level left until he's completed the highest possible. He had an awesome teacher again this session. His teacher commented to me that T's an incredibly hard worker and that while this level wasn't easy for him, he never gave up. Even in the 200m final test. Woohoo! That's our boy! 

Tim and I are constantly in awe of TJ's relationship with Drew. First of all, Drew just adores TJ and whips around to look for him whenever he hears his voice. He wants to pat his head and pull his hair in adoration. Ha! But TJ's view of Drew is more than adoring. Every once in awhile, T will get tears in his eyes and say, "Mom! I can't believe we have a baby in this house. I just can't believe it! It's like Christmas every day. He is just so cute and fun. I have a brother!" It gets me every single time. He appreciates so much and I am thankful for that every minute. He's my big helper even moreso than I ask him to be. He checks on him when he naps to make sure he's still breathing : ) not per my request. Lots of love in this home. 

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