How Big is Drew....SO Big!

Last weekend my baby turned 1! I cannot believe a year has already gone by since he was so new, fresh & tiny! What a way to welcome spring, with a new baby boy, kind of like a little chick just hatched from the egg. And now we welcome another spring with a busy, happy 1 year old!
(Since I've yet to get a baby book, I'm recording Drew's milestones here...Readers please bear with me or skip ahead!)
All about Drew: At 1 year you continue to be a very happy, easy-going baby, you love to smile, laugh, babble/talk, and watch your older siblings play. Generally you like to be right in the middle of all the action! Sometimes if I am telling the older kids to calm down in a stern voice, you will get a stern voice & it sounds like you are yelling "Hey" and trying to tell them to straighten-up, too! You will resort to full-out belly laughs at the oddest things, like when someone sneezes. You think it is completely hilarious! You have a lot of teeth, 7 & 3/4. You are working on that 8th tooth now & possibly a few more & you have been mildly cranky the last few days, I think it is related to the teething...or perhaps you are just practicing your temper...you do NOT like having your diaper changed & you REALLY practice your temper then...screaming, wiggling, kicking..the WORKS. I have never seen a baby roll over so quickly as when I lay you down on the changing table...I think you may have some future success in wrestling because it often takes 2 of us to pin you down just for a quick change! I think the reason for this is that you are always on the go...you like to be moving, crawling, cruising, scooting, climbing, exploring...you don't stay in one place for long! You LOVE to eat & I can't think of anything so far that you don't like. Despite the fact that we have been feeding you like crazy the past 3 months, at your 1-year check-up you still weighed in at just under 20 pounds (19 lbs 13 ozs, 10th %) and are 29 3/4 inches long (50%)...I think you have your Daddy's fast metabolism coupled with the fact that you are rarely still, but you do still have cute little fat rolls on your legs & feet. You have the sweetest way of swinging your feet or rubbing them on my leg while you are eating & we remember Darcy & the older kids all doing the same thing. You are saying several words like "Dada" (still "Mama" very rarely), "JA" for Jack, "DA" for Darcy & also for Dog, "Kiki" for Kitty or sometimes "KA" for cat, "TuTu" for Thank You, "Uh-oh" & still "Good job" for Good job (that was your 2nd word after Dada.) You wave "bye-bye" & raise your hands for "SO BIG" after I say "How big is Drew?" You are starting to clap & try pat-a-cake. You give kisses by making a big smooching sound! Basically you melt our hearts every day & we love you SO much! We are so glad the Lord blessed our family with YOU!

As I had previously blogged, I let go of the idea of throwing a big 1st Birthday party for Drew when our house renovations put us moving in much later than anticipated. So we had a little family get-together last Saturday night to celebrate our boy! I work best with a deadline, so even a family-only party was a great way to get me motivated to get the house in order...we still have a LONG way to go, artwork to hang, a few more boxes to unpack, but all in all the house cleaned up nicely! (I know I'm behind on blogging, but I am working on a post of more house pictures & some before & afters!)

Back to the Birthday Boy...one good thing about moving...you find things you didn't remember that you had! Case in point, this cute little tool bench, in perfect condition, just perfect for our 1 year old! Jack didn't even remember that it was his many years ago & I don't think Drew minds, so we re-gifted it! And as you can see, Drew is already enjoying playing with his new tools! 

One thing that has seen better days in our household is our toddler walk-behind/ride-on toy...it has been through 3 kids & some serious play, so Pop & Nana surprised Drew with a new toy to help him practice his walking. 

"A present, for meeee???" 

"Ooooohhhhh, it plays music, too!"

"I think I'm going to have some good times with this toy!" 

(Mommy & Daddy were relieved to notice that it does have a "low" volume mode!)

"Thanks Pop & Nana! I love you!!!"

The cake, an ice cream cake with fudge in the middle.

"Happy Birthday Dear Drew....."

A little help blowing out the candles is always nice... 

Digging right in....mmmmmmmmm!

 

Being 1 is GREAT!

More presents! 

Drew's actual birthday was on Sunday & we celebrated by going out to lunch at Red Robin after church. We had a yummy meal & the older kids made sure we let the waitress know it was Drew's birthday so the staff would sing him their little birthday song and, more importantly, so he could get the free Ice Cream Sundae! 

And as a little birthday present for the Mommy who delivered the birthday boy, all I asked for was that we get a nice photo of the 4 kids together...seems like it would be so easy...sigh...47 pictures later...here are a few of the better ones...

Mommy with the Birthday Boy! 

Daddy with the boys...Drew needed to make a call. 

Big 1 Year Old! 

This Birthday Boy is tired...heading to bed! 

We enjoyed some wonderful, warm Spring weather this week...perfect for a 1 year old to play outside!

All Daddy asked for the baby's 1st birthday was that we get the boy a hair cut!

Okay, can you stand the cuteness?!!!

Sure is a lot of fun being ONE!!!

Originally, I was going to end the post here, but since it took me SO long to publish this post, I can now add the "after" photos showing off Drew's stylin' new do...yes, I finally broke down & gave the boy his 3rd hair cut last night...an experience I can best describe as Whack-A-Mole with sharp pointy shears thrown in just for fun...and LOTS of screaming if you try to hold his head still...there were definitely some stray cuts, thankfully only of hair, not flesh...and truthfully, I don't think I did too bad...

Politician hair

Playing with the comb...now you see it... 

Now you don't! (Of course followed, by "UH-OOOH") 

Just being silly! 

 

How big is Drew...soooooooo BIG!