11 months! Oh no!

It seems surreal to think that in less than a month my baby will be turning 1. I've been following the other August MN Moms and Babies and some of them have already hit that big milestone. It's fun to think that Andy will always be the baby of the group, but it's also a reminder of just who had to wait the longest to hold their little angel in their arms.

In two days, most of us are getting together to celebrate wit

h a big bash. I'm looking forward to seeing all my friends again and it's always a treat to see the babies together. I hate that almost no one lives close enough to me to see on a regular basis. These ladies really have been such a great support team for me, and I'm proud to call them all my friends.

Andy is now not only standing up on his own, but walking! Where did the time go! I remember when he was a little peanut who stayed still when we put him down somewhere. Those days are long gone! Here he is watching TV with Brother Kyle. I was excited to finally get a picture of him standing on his own, and then about two weeks later he was walking around the living room. I feel like sometimes I really shouldn't blink!

Some Pictures

Sleeping angel.

Kyle being lovey dovey with Andy in the beanbag.

Andy and Kyle at the playground.

Andy exploring at a local play area.

Andy and Kyle doing brotherly stuff. AKA, Kyle lugging Andy around in the toybin.

Ack

Ok yes, by the way I am horrible at keeping my blog up to date. Oops.

Andy is 10 months old now. It seems like the last year has gone by quick as a flash. If I could do the whole thing over and make the time slow down I would. He's now talking, even some English words, standing on his own, and starting to make some tentative steps towards freedom.

We've discovered that Andy Pants really likes the water, and bathtimes are a lot funner now. He splashes and makes waves and is even ok laying down in the water so I can wash his hair. That was something that Kyle always hated, even to this day. We went swimming at a friend's pool a couple weeks ago and Andy was on cloud 9 after the initial shock of getting into the cool water.

Kyle finished second grade with pretty good marks, especially in math. I'm impressed with the improvement he made over the last few months of the school year. His handwriting has improved and he was starting to learn complicated math like multiplication and division. We're excited to learn even more fun things in third grade. I was going to put him in summer school, but at the last minute changed my mind. Mostly because Andy was teething and keeping me up into the wee hours of the morning, leaving me unable to get Kyle up, ready for school, and at the bus stop all before 7am.

Speaking of Andy and teething, he got his first couple teeth (bottom center) at about 7 months. Then until the past week he hadn't gotten any new teeth. We can now see the very edge of a top center tooth peeking through the gum. I can't wait until this phase is over. He hates teething and so do I.

Rob is still working at Comcast. He went from being a floating lead to leading a team he really likes. He's been doing a lot of overtime, which of course helps to pay the bills, but that also means he's not here much of the time. By the time he gets home, Kyle is in bed and Andy is heading that way if not already there. Gives me a lot of freedom to keep my own routine around the house, but it's still tough work taking care of two by myself.

Andy really likes music and will bop along to faster songs now. He also enjoys hearing the "ABC song" in English and in French. Other songs we sing are "Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Frere Jacques", "O Champs Elysees", "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes"(in E and in F), "Allouette", and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". I'm not as bi-lingual as I used to be, but I'm still trying to expose Andy to the sounds of the French language.

Andy loves playtime, and is very ticklish. If I tickle him and then act like I'm going to tickle him again, he laughs even if I don't. He's really learning patterns and expectations. I can tell he's an intelligent little boy, which is good. Takes after his parents. LOL He's also very stubborn, and is starting to test the boundaries already. He hates the word No, and won't hesitate to yell at us if we take him away from playing with outlets or the cat dishes.

Garfield and Andy have become great buddies, but Spencer is still wary. He stays out of Andy's way, and Andy usually just ignores him. He knows that Garfield will lay there and let Andy climb all over him and pull his hair; Garfield almost seems to enjoy it! I guess any attention is good attention. :)

I guess that's it for my update. Hope to stay on top of things more from now on!