Drew - Version 2.0

Today is Drew's 2nd Birthday!!! I can't believe that my Baby Boy is 2!

We started the day with candles in his pancakes. He was overjoyed at getting to blow out more candles! Ha ha!

At 2 years old:

• Drew weighs 29 lbs 5 oz (50-75%), is 36 inches long (75-90%), and his head circumference is 48.5 cm (25-50%). Big boy!
  
• Drew is usually very sweet! We have noticed that the boy definitely needs his sleep, though. When he is overtired, watch out! I have pushed him past his limits a few times recently, and have lived to regret it. Good naps and a full nights sleep are the way to go with my Drew. :)
• He immediately says, "Bless you!" as soon as someone sneezes. Even if no one else is paying attention, you can always count on Drew for a blessing.
• He is infatuated with my bracelets, for some reason. He knows exactly where they are in my jewelry box, and will jump at the chance to get them, if the door to my bedroom is left open.
• He loves to hide! Luckily, he isn't very discreet about it, so I always know what he is up to. He will sit there saying, "Are you? Are you?" until we find him. His favorite place to hide is in the corner of our closet.
• Every time that he yawns, he says, "Big yawn!" Then he'll say, "Tarred (tired)." He is so consistent with that sequence - it cracks us up.
• We are officially a pacifier free household! A wise woman (aka my sweet mother-in-law) once told me that it was her goal to get rid of her kids' pacifiers before they turned 2. That worked well with Clayton, so it was my goal for Drew also. We made it - but only by a few days! We took it away this past Tuesday afternoon, and Drew has done so well! He cried for 20 minutes before his first nap without it - and it totally broke my heart. I was about to throw in the towel, but then he stopped and fell asleep. He cried for a few minutes that night, and then hasn't fussed since. He made it so easy on his Mama. Bless his heart. Y'all remind me of that in a few years when he is driving me crazy, okay?

This picture is from last week. I had to snap one last pic with his "Bappy" before we pulled the plug. :)

• He loves to give exploding fist bumps. He'll tap your fist and then say, "Psssshhhh!!!" How do boys just know how to make those sounds??? You don't even have to teach them.
• Drew bows his head, closes his eyes, and folds his hands before each meal to pray. I love watching him pray. :)
  

• He drops off the beginning sounds of most words. I was really worried about it from a speech perspective, but my speech pathologist buddy assures me that I shouldn't worry until he is 3. It does make it difficult to decipher what he is saying. He says "ide" and that could mean slide, hide, ride, etc. You have to use a lot of context clues. We say that he speaks Drewanese. Ha!
• Drew loves shoes right now. He has tried on every single pair in our household, I think. At the risk of embarrassing both of us, he walks better in my heels than I do. ;)
  

• Drew's hair has a mind of his own! The back constantly sticks up if I don't spray/gel it down. The last time that he got a haircut, I asked about it. The stylist told me that he is blessed with a "double cowlick." Good times...
• Whenever Wade goes outside to get the newspaper, Drew immediately starts saying, "Pop it! Pop it!" He and Wade have a tradition of popping the plastic sleeve that the newspaper comes in. What an odd thing to be so passionate about, right?
• If Drew is too quiet for a minute or so, and I am fairly certain that he is up to something, I will ask, "Drew, what are you doing?" His response is always, "Uh-ing..." It took me awhile to figure out that he was saying, "Nothing..." That response is never a good sign. :)
• When all 4 of us are in the same room or all in the car together, Drew does this thing that we now affectionately call "Drew's Role Call." He names each person in the car and waits for each of us to respond. "Mommy?" "Yes, Drew." "Daddy?" "Yes, Drew." "Bubba?" "Yes, Drew." If you don't acknowledge role call, then he will repeat your name louder and louder until you give a response. He has to keep dibs on all of us, I guess.
• Drew gives the best kid kisses EVER! He will press his lips to ours and say, "MMMM-WAH!" He used to be quite stingy with his kisses, but he has recently gotten better about sharing. I'm so glad that is the case.

Happy Birthday, my sweet boy! What a bundle of energy you are these days! You have such a precious spirit, though, that I pray will never leave you. You are tender to correction, which I have found to be such a blessing. You are playful and fun. It is impossible to be sad when I see your big smile. Your Sunday School teacher said a few weeks ago, "That is the happiest child that I have ever seen! He never stops smiling!" I couldn't agree more. :) I love you in a different way than I have every loved anyone else. I love you with my Drew love, and that will never change. Here's to another wonderful year with you!

Chugga, Chugga, Choo, Choo! Our Drew is {Almost} 2!!!

We had Drew's 2nd birthday party last weekend, and it was so much fun! His actual birthday isn't until this Saturday the 23rd, but we had his party a week early. We like to draw out the celebrations as long as possible!

For Clayton's 2nd birthday party, we had a train theme. We hired a trackless train to take the kids on rides around the neighborhood. I will never forget how much fun Clayton had on that train!

His little brother is quite infatuated with trains at this point, as well. So, we decided to have a "Vintage Carpenter" party and just do it all again. :)

Drew had a ball! His sweet little face was lit up for the entire party. The train took the kids around the neighborhood for an hour. Drew stayed on the train the whole time and would say, "Again! Again! Again!" as soon as it would stop to reload passengers. I was so glad that he enjoyed it! He was precious to watch.

The Choo Choo Train

Happy Party Goers :)

A side by side comparison: 2 year old train-loving Clayton on the left
and {almost} 2 year old train-loving Drew on the right.
I'd say that they are definitely resembling each other these days....

Wade & I with our birthday boy

That boy has such a big chunk of my heart...



He pretty much looked like this for the entire hour.

Daddy/Son

Grammie & the birthday boy





At the end, the conductor let Drew sit in the engine car.
I'm pretty sure that ringing the bell and "driving" was the highlight for my boy. :)

Cupcakes - Yum!

Drew LOVED blowing out his candles!
Wade had to relight them 4 or 5 times before we even got to sing. Ha!

After cupcakes, Drew started saying something over and over again. We looked over and realized that he had somehow shimmied out of his diaper. He partied his diaper right off! Still not sure how that happened... Little Houdini!

We had so much fun celebrating our boy! Thank you to all of our sweet family and friends that came to Drew's party! We are so blessed to be surrounded by people who love our kids. We are so grateful for each of you!

Howdy Folks!

We went to the Great State Fair of Texas today. It was a beautiful day, and we all had so much fun! We usually try to go to the fair every year, but we missed last year. So, we had to make up for lost times this year!

Wade & I are both such creatures of habit - we follow the same route and do the same things every time that we go to the fair. Why fix what isn't broken, right?

We start by seeing Big Tex and eating a corny dog. Eating a corn dog at 10:45am is totally normal at the fair. Ha!

Then we go through the food & fiber building to check out the free samples and see Elsie the Cow. Then we head to the petting zoo. The boys loved feeding all of the animals this year!

The giraffe wasn't hungry today. :)

A real longhorn - Clayton thought that was cool.


Drew liked the goats and sheep the most. They were more on his level. :)

The goats were spazzing out trying to get Clayton's cup of food.
He said, "Hey! I think these guys kinda like me!" ;)

A baby camel...

and the mama camel.


A baby zebra

Wade & Drew fed the ostrich. I asked Clayton if he wanted to feed the ostrich and he said, "No way! That guy bit me last time!"
I laughed and laughed! He did get bitten by an ostrich the last time that we went (when he was 3!). I had totally forgotten about that traumatic event, but he sure hadn't!

Llama Llama Red Pajama :)



Little Tex

After the petting zoo, we always go to the Little Hands on the Farm exhibit. It is my favorite part of the fair. :) The kids walk around the "farm" and learn about how a farm works and get to pretend to be the farmer.

The kids get an apron, a basket, and a baggie of corn. Then they start their work day.
They water the fruit trees and pick a peach for their basket. Then they go to the hen house and feed the chickens some corn and get an egg for their basket.

Then they milk the cows and plant some seeds in the garden.

Cute little farmers :)

Then they pick their vegetable and put it in their basket.

They drive their tractors to feed the cows...

Then they go to the Farmers Market to sell their goods.

Both of my kids bought fruit snacks with their earnings (shocker!). :)

I really enjoyed watching Drew go through the Little Hands exhibit. I didn't think that he would really participate, but he did. He was very serious about each thing that he put in his basket and sorting his things for the farmer's market. I still picture him as a baby, but I guess that he isn't as little as he is in my heart. I just can't believe that he will be 2 in just a couple of weeks!

Wade & Clayton rode some crazy ride,

and kept their hands up the whole time.

We finished off the day by playing 1 game in the midway. Clayton played all by himself! He threw 4 darts and popped 3 balloons. He won a Scooby Doo puppy, and he was so proud of himself! You would have thought he had won a million dollars!

It was such a fun day to spend as a family! I enjoyed every minute with my boys - all 3 of them!