This week has been, for us, an eventful one. The week dawned sunny and bright--perfect Memorial Day weather. While Dan set off early to lab, Andrew and I headed just south of State College to Boalsburg Village, one of several locations in America that claim to have originated the Memorial Day holiday. Although our arrival fell between the two staged reenactments of civil war battle, we were able to walk down the main street where several vendors were set up, and found, to Andrew's great delight, a petting zoo at the end of the street. It took Andrew a few minutes to realize that none of the baby animals were in any way dangerous (initially, he hung close to me and wouldn't touch anything). Gradually, when he realized that none of the animals would hurt him, he ventured close enough to touch several of them. He seemed to particularly like the baby calf--he would crouch down next to it, carefully reach his hand out to touch the calf's flank, and then spring up looking inordinately pleased with himself.
(We thought Booty might be jealous of Andrew's proximity to the goats).
After Andrew's nap, we picked Dan up on campus and proceeded on to the first of our two Memorial Day barbeques. (Although technically the first one, at our friends Adam and Lauren Christensen's, was a "Barbanosh.") Although someone had thoughtfully provided a croquet set, in the actual event, none of the adults got to play (at least, not while we were there). Andrew and another toddler between them monopolized all of the mallets and pulled up most of the wickets. At one point, Andrew was trying to carry four or five of the mallets. When this palled, he discovered the croquet balls, but, to his dismay, he couldn't carry more than three at time.
Following our stop at the Christensen's, we proceeded through Bellefonte and up Purdue Mountain Road to Gerry and Celie Hanscom's. After enjoying some quality burgers, I put Andrew down in his pack 'n play in the Mountain Man room (it only took half an hour to get him to sleep--and then he woke up the instant I set him down so I had to let him cry himself to sleep after all!). Dan enjoyed his traditional couple rounds of hearts with Bishop, Michael Higley, and Mike Olivetti, while I hung out with the other guests. We got home a little late, tired but replete and looking forward to a good night's sleep. Of course, we should have known better. After waking up at 5:30 (Sunday), 5:00 (Monday--are you noticing a trend?), Andrew woke up at 4:40 a.m. the morning after our latest night in weeks, and refused to go back to bed.
The croquet theme continued the next day. Andrew and I went to target to pick up a monster croquet set for Dan, who was planning on playing croquet with the young men. (It turns out one of the young men brought his own set, but as he was missing the wickets, it's just as well that Dan had some spares). The boys were pleasantly surprised to find that croquet was actually fun (once they discovered that you got bonus points for hitting opponents' balls out of the way). Dan won, but more from luck than technical artistry, as Brother Knosp was a better player.
Wednesday also dawned bright and warm--a perfect day (finally) for the scheduled Day in the Park. This week's outing was planned for Spring Creek Park, a park known primarily (as may be guessed from it's name) for the creek that runs through the park. (Incidentally, for those of you who may remember seeing our engagement pictures, this is also the park where we took the pictures--it boasts, among other things, a romantic-looking covered bridge). I prepared Andrew by putting him in a swim diaper and swim suit and lathering him with sunscreen. Given the amount of time our preparations took, I was privately thinking Andrew probably wouldn't even want to get in the water. I was quickly disabused of this notion! Shortly after our arrival, Andrew waded into the stream. It was pretty cold, so he quickly waded out again. But then, entranced by the sight of older kids splashing through the stream, he gave a joyful shout and raced after them. He was several feet out (and several inches in), when he realized, again, how cold the water was and started crying.
Luckily (or unluckily, as the case may be), one quickly grows used to the coldness of the water (more likely, numbness sets in), so it wasn't long before Andrew was acclimated and splashing in the water like the best of them. His only problem was that his footing wasn't always sure--a couple of times he stumbled foward, catching his hands on the bottom of the creek but getting a face full of water at the same time. (If you look closely at the next picture, you'll see drops of water all across Andrew's face--this was taken seconds after his first stumble).
It also didn't take long before Andrew was completely soaked--of course, dumping a nearly full bucket of water (which he found unattended on the shore) down his front didn't help.
After we'd had enough fun in the water, I dried him off, put him in a clean onesie, and we played for a bit in the sandbox (another prime attraction of the park, I'm told--it's quite nice, unlike the nasty ones you often find) before heading home for a much-needed nap.
Thursday was also eventful for Andrew. At babysitting that morning, Andrew finally met his match. According to Stephanie, Gaby's mom, Gaby was particularly agressive--agressive enough that she sent Andrew running out of the room, and, when she started to follow him, he started crying. (I record this so that all of you whose children were terrorized by Andrew at Christmas can feel vindicated that Andrew, too, has experienced those same feelings of terror at the hands of a smaller child. Gaby may only be three weeks younger than Andrew, but she's a good six or seven pounds lighter than he is). That afternoon, I dragged Andrew with me on a visiting teaching visit. We have--more or less--successfully baby proofed our house, so I'd forgotten the kinds of hazards a childless home can prevent to inquisitive little fingers! Andrew was constantly on the move from the moment we entered the house--he took DVDs out of their cases (and managed to get one stuck in the VCR!); he took all the shoes off the top rack of their shoe rack and took them one at a time to Anita, repeating, "shoe, shoe" (one of his newest word acquisitions) over and over again. I think Anita found it funny, but I was pretty relieved when we left, b/c then Andrew couldn't do any more damage!
The first Friday of every month, the local library offers a free developmental screening for children 0-5. I've been meaning to take Andrew for a while, but somehow I always forget when the first Friday rolls around. Not this time, though. I admit, it wasn't quite what I expected (mostly, we just filled out a form that asked questions about different milestones children were expected to reach by a certain age). But the women running the screening session were really nice--they complimented Andrew (which always helps!) and talked about some activities that we could do with Andrew to help him work on fine motor skills (the only area where his development was not well above the potential problem area--although, as it turns out, the only reason I thought Andrew couldn't yet do some of the things--like throwing a ball overhand--was simply because we hadn't tried it with Andrew). But this week has been a good developmental one for Andrew--he's added several more words to his vocabulary (shoe, car, puff, book--although they sound more like "ca" "pu" and "boh"), and learned how to climb into his high chair, on the table, etc.
The first Friday of every month, the local library offers a free developmental screening for children 0-5. I've been meaning to take Andrew for a while, but somehow I always forget when the first Friday rolls around. Not this time, though. I admit, it wasn't quite what I expected (mostly, we just filled out a form that asked questions about different milestones children were expected to reach by a certain age). But the women running the screening session were really nice--they complimented Andrew (which always helps!) and talked about some activities that we could do with Andrew to help him work on fine motor skills (the only area where his development was not well above the potential problem area--although, as it turns out, the only reason I thought Andrew couldn't yet do some of the things--like throwing a ball overhand--was simply because we hadn't tried it with Andrew). But this week has been a good developmental one for Andrew--he's added several more words to his vocabulary (shoe, car, puff, book--although they sound more like "ca" "pu" and "boh"), and learned how to climb into his high chair, on the table, etc.
Here's Andrew looking snazzy in his new church duds. (There's something irresistable about little boys with ties on!)
Andrew's long-lost twin-sister, Andrea (love the head-band!)
Andrew also cleared out one of the cupboards and then almost managed to close himself up in the cupboard.
Andrew helping out in the kitchen while I was cooking.
Sliding down his little tykes slide in the living room (he's almost mastered climbing on the slide independently, but he still gets stuck trying to get his feet out from under him at the top of the slide).
Playing with the pop-ons Bubby and Poppy gave him for Christmas (he's discovered that they're good for something besides just dumping out of the bag).
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