Where have we been?

Time flies in a merciless way these days.  I can't believe my last post was about Drew's birthday party!! We have been in the thick of gymnastics meets around here and of course the day-to-day happenings that now come with an almost-14 month old.  I posted Drew's 13 month old pictures three weeks late and will try my best to keep up better.  Since his party, however, we have survived another "Beach Break" gymnastics meet at our gym (nearly 500 competitors come to town + some of our best coaching friends).....I went to Charleston, Savannah and Rock Hill for gymnastics meets while David and Drew stayed home with the dogs.  We all went to Raleigh for a birthday party and so Drew could have a sleepover at Sassy and Papa's house.  Drew's "sleepover" is code word for "Mama and Daddy get a night/morning off."  Just in case you were wondering.  David and I stayed at the Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill and enjoyed dinner at Acme in Carrboro, drinks at Goodfellows and Top of the Hill, SLEEPING IN UNTIL 8:30am and breakfast at the Carolina Inn.  We walked around campus and I showed David the building where I was taking an intro Anthropology class and Julius Peppers showed up for the final and sat next to me.....not only did I feel 2 inches tall and wafer thin (which I was NOT wafer thin my freshman year in college) but suddenly, I felt like Albert Einstein.  Everyone (except maybe him) knew that we got different exams because they were multiple choice and the professor wanted to help us abide by the strict honor code and not cheat.  But Pep didn't hesitate to look at me and say, "Don't be skurrd (scared) if I look on yo paypa (paper) fo dis test."  I kid you not.  I smiled and said, "Okay."  I do not want to fuel any fire about UNC's "special" classes that enable some of our brightest athletes to remain in school but being a proud alumni who worked hard to maintain a decent GPA, I will admit that there were a few perks to wearing a basketball or football jersey.  The main perk was probably not having to wait in line at Players....and there was a Holy Grail waiting on you when you got up the stairs, but, you know.....there are perks at every school if you are an athlete.  (I'm slightly embarrassed by the fact that I think I just recalled the signature drink from Players.....I certainly preferred the Blue Cups at He's Not Here).

ANYWAYS....I could go on and on about the memories in college but seeing that most of our friends have families, careers, church groups, etc.....I'll leave them for our next get-together.

After our weekend away, Drew came down with a horrible bug.....throwing up out of nowhere, dehydration, lethargic.  Just down right pitiful.  The vomiting lasted 24 hours but we were down for 48 hours.  We slept on the living room floor where ("slept" is a stretch) we could remove a towel or blanket easily when it got puked on.  I called an on-call doctor around midnight and he said to give Drew a teaspoon of Pedialyte every 20 minutes ALL NIGHT.  I nearly cried.  But, doing that probably kept him out of the hospital the next day.  We survived the night with a couple random hours of sleep and went to the doctor that next morning.   Same scenario all day.....pedialyte every 20 minutes or so.  Our doctor did say that if he fell asleep, he could stay asleep for a couple hours but to get him up after that and continue the pedialyte.  As hard as it was to keep that schedule, it was worth it to avoid the hospital.  We survived our first real sickness and Drew is back to his normal self now.

In terms of Drew's development, not much to report.  He seems to be getting taller and thinner.   His "vocabulary" is growing and hilarious.  He babbles so much and wants you to understand him but for the life of me, all I can decipher are HI, BYE, BOTTLE (which is a sippy of milk), MAMA, DADA, MOO, EEEEE (squeal in delight at the sight of Mickey Mouse), GRRRR (his lion/bear/pirate noise), EEEYYY (meow).  He understands a ton of words and can comprehend a few complex sentences.  He does get frustrated if he can't do something on his own or grasp the concept you are explaining but all in all, he can understand most of what we say to him.  He will do certain things on command, such as "Cheese", "Say Bye", etc.  Currently, he is "napping" in his crib and talking up a storm.  I just can't spell it to put it on here.  He has a serious love for this one particular lovie that pretty much needs to be present during all resting/nap times.  He also has a napping Mickey that is in the crib with him.  I dropped his morning nap about a month ago, but have recently started it again because he got sick.  I'm starting to remember why I dropped it......he has been in his crib 45 minutes and he isn't even close to falling asleep.  He usually goes down for his afternoon nap around 1 or 2 depending on how his morning rest time is.  His naps range from 1.5 hours to 2.5 hours depending on circumstances.  He starts his night time routine between 6:15-6:30 and is in bed as early as 6:30 but usually no later than 7:00pm every night.  He will stay in his crib until 7:00am.....not always asleep until then, but happily playing/laying/babbling until then.  Occasionally (and believe it or not) he will sleep later than 7:00am IF we put him down earlier than 7:00pm.  Sleep begets sleep is the best advice we have ever gotten.  Drew's diet is steadily increasing in the "real" food department.  Most meals he will eat part of what we are having or something else that he can feed himself.  We still do some baby food containers or pouches but there is no way he will let you feed him 100% of the time.  He MUST participate.  Whether it is with a spoon or with his hands, he will feed himself something.  He likes manicotti, black bean burgers, turkey, cheese, most veggies (some have to be disguised), rice, chicken, beans, all fruit (except the skin on blueberries isn't a fav).  All in all, I think he is pretty much on target with his eating. I won't say that its a cake-walk because I do find myself getting quite frustrated during meal times but it's a selfish thing......either we end up with food everywhere (floor, his hair, up his sleeves, his back) or he is being stubborn with a certain food or he decides to start blowing air out of his lips after taking a bite of something....OR, he wants a spoon/fork so bad that he will refuse to lift his head up to take a bite until you give him his own utensil.  Independent and stubborn.  Hmmm...wonder where he gets that from?

Drew still isn't walking which doesn't really have us concerned but certainly makes us wonder why.  He has been standing since 8 months or so and can cruise the furniture pretty good.  His crib has been all the way down for a while because of how quick he was to stand up in it.  But he isn't the least bit interested in walking.  He crawls, climbs and actually walks on his knees to get any and everywhere.  He can carry items while walking on his knees so the need to walk on his feet isn't there.  He can push his wagon/toys all over the house and in the driveway but won't let go and do it on his own.  There are times we try to get him to walk with our assistance and he will just go limp and refuse to put his feet down.  Funniest and sometimes the most frustrating thing I've ever seen.

He continues to be so funny and sweet and just a joy to watch develop.  While he is currently screaming in his crib because he dropped the aforementioned lovie out of the crib, I still can't imagine loving this little boy any less.  He is so cool and is growing up before our eyes.

In other news.....We are headed to Kiawah for Easter.  I'm looking forward to a few days of relaxation and no agenda.  I'll try to do a post on that when we return.  For now, this sums up life from the coast.  I'll leave you with some phone pics that will help you through your day....I know this face helps me get through my days!!

Drew had a sleepover at Granny Soo Soo's and Cousins Liza and Margaret helped him play dress up.  

Mama was putting stuff away slower than Drew was taking it out.  

Disclaimer:  all pictures you see with his NC State shirt on were sent to me from David while I was away at a meet.  David considered it their "good luck" shirt this season and even brought it out of the closet a time or two when Drew was already in bed and the Pack was playing.