It's VERY Relaxing!

Andrea still loves going on her swings. Lately, we've noticed that she has a tendency to zone out, and get a little sleepy-looking after being on the swing for a while. Today, I noticed her nodding off, and I said, "Someone's getting sleepy. . . you can't fall asleep yet!" and she would giggle. We went through this little game for about 15 minutes, and then she dozed right off!

Talk about relaxing! That must be the life . . . settling into a comfy swing, in the warm morning sun, with someone to give you push every now and then, and then you just drift off to sleep . . . :))

Just Some Cute Pictures

Here are some cute pictures I've snapped of Andrea over the past few days. :))

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She's a busy little Mommy--between caring for Dora, going shopping, and talking on her cell--and not to mention, looking good!

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But, like any Mommy, she has to stop and put the little ones in line when they get rambunctious!

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Who doesn't enjoy slipping into something more comfortable after a long day?!

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Egg Roll loves to play with Andrea, and all of her toys. He leaps out at her; he sits on her plush chair; and he likes to hitch a ride on her shopping cart, when he can get away with it!

Andrea--you have a stow-away!
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Aiden came to visit today, and he read Andrea a story!

Is she flirting?!

Introducing "Egg Roll": A New Playmate for Andrea!

This is Egg Roll. He (we think it's a he) is our new kitten. A long time ago, Mommy promised Daddy he could name our next cat Egg Roll (thinking it would be years before we'd get another cat, since we already had Buster). After Buster died suddenly last year, we knew that we'd get another kitty, but we didn't know when. A few weeks ago, Aunt Kathy told us she had a cat that had kittens, and the Humane Society couldn't take them. So, we decided to adopt one. He was born May 1st, and was just ready to leave his momma now.

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Andrea was intrigued by him right away. She wanted to watch (and copy!) everything he did, right away. We're glad she's excited about her new friend, but we've got to keep her out of his food and litter! So, he's going to stay downstairs for now.

Andrea saw him trying to climb the cage he came in, and up the furniture. So, she decided to try and climb our wall! I love how Egg Roll was watching her as much as she was watching him!

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Andrea needed a few reminders to be gentle, but overall, she was really good with the new kitty. It's funny how Andrea is imitating the new kitten, right down to his tiny "Mew!" We keep reminding her that he's a baby, and we need to be gentle and not scare him. I think this is great practice for when Bud arrives next month. I also see it's good because the kitten is getting so much attention, and I can sense Andrea is adjusting to this.

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I set up a bed for him downstairs tonight, nearby his food and litter. It took a couple of tries, but I think he likes it now.

Nighty-night, Egg Roll!

Backyard Fun in the Sun

Well, my first week of maternity leave has turned out to be absolutely gorgeous--sunny, and in the mid-80s. It's a bit warm for me at times, but Andrea loves it. So, of course, we've taken advantage of our time off together to enjoy our backyard. It's a bit more fun this year, because Andrea can run around and explore on her own now. But that also means we have to find things to keep her amused out there.

Daddy was driving home from the store on Sunday, and he saw someone has two free kiddie pools out at the road. It's funny, we were actually going to buy a hard plastic one that afternoon, but he got 2 for free! Well, actually, I think one was a sandbox, but I scrubbed them both out, and they work just fine. Sure, they're a bit weather-beaten, but they're solid and they don't leak, which is more than I can say for those annoying inflatable pools we got last year!

The water was a bit too cold on Monday, so I just put a bunch of plastic toys in the one pool, and Andrea used it like a water table. It was perfect! She loved it.

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Today, it was warm enough to go for a swim! Andrea constantly asks to go swimming (even though we don't have a pool!), so today I could finally say yes. I had the turtle pool (once a sandbox) covered with its lid for 2 days, and the water was actually HOT now, so I had to add cool water before she could go in. Andrea was so excited once she could go in!

Look at her laughing--what a silly girl!

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We also purchased Andrea's big birthday gift this weekend, and Daddy and I set it up on Monday. We decided to give it to her early, because it's one more thing to make the backyard more toddler-friendly. It's a little climbing castle, with a slide and a swing. It's just toddler size, but still a good investment, because by the time Andrea outgrows it, Bud will be ready for it.

"Woohoo!"

"Dancin'!"

Andrea is passionate about music. Usually, it's singing; but this past week or so, she has really started to work on her dance moves! You should see some of the crazy stuff she does--waving her arms around, funny walks, rolling around on the floor, etc.

I tried to get some of it on video this morning. Of course, she never does her best work for the camera anymore, but you'll get a taste of what she's been up to. She particularly enjoys spinning to the music--with dizzying results, of course. :))

http://media.putfile.com/Andrea-Dancing

Big Girl in a Big Girl Room!

Andrea's been promoted this week. She's a big girl now!

For a few weeks, she has been sitting in a booster chair at the kitchen table. She was a bit confused at first, and still headed to her high chair; but now she prefers the booster, because she can sit at the big table with Mommy and Daddy.


Now, it was time to quit the "bubba" cold turkey. She was down to morning and night, and as of two days ago, we've converted to sippy cups at those times as well. So far, it's going . . . okay. We get lots of whining, and she says "no, no, no" when we hand her the sippy cup, but she eventually gives in. It helps that I play up her "pretty cups" and Daddy pretends to drink her milk, and says it's "delicious," so she'll want some. Tonight that worked really well--he even got her to say "delicious!" after she took a sip!


The biggest change came today, when we moved her into the big girl room! Daddy and I spent the whole day installing and setting up and moving furniture and organizing toys (we had a relative of a friend do the painting this time). Andrea was a little miffed that we were so busy, but once the room started to come together, she had a lot of fun.


She loves the canopy over her bed; I have to be careful, and tuck it back a bit for now, because she likes to rub her face in it, and snuggle up in it! But she was also lying back on the bed, and staring up to admire it. One time, I told her it looked like a pretty princess bed; she picked up on that, and all afternoon, it was "princess, princess!"


She also enjoyed how I re-organized her toys. Her toys were scattered in about three different rooms, in a bunch of old diaper boxes, baskets, etc. Now she has an organizer in her room with removable tubs in it, and her toys are all neatly sorted (yeah, like that will last long!). This was really exciting for her, because we found toys she hadn't seen in months (as they were buried in the bottom of the old toy bins). So, it was kind of hard for Mommy to do the sorting, as Andrea wanted to play with every "new" thing she spotted; but at least it kept her happy and occupied.


Here are the pictures I took of her new room. The walls are a very light purple with a very light pink trim. I didn't get a picture of the wall with her toy storage, but I got her bed and dresser area.

(This is Andrea's door hanger that she made at Aiden's party last weekend.)

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So far, the change in rooms appears to have gone over smoothly. She's been asleep for over an hour now, and hasn't fussed at all--even when we laid her down. We've got our fingers crossed! Now, I wonder how long it will be before she figures she can crawl out of bed, open the door, and wander out? ;))

Nighty-night, Andrea!

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Tomorrow Daddy and I have to empty out what was the spare room closet, and move all of Andrea's things from her closet into her new room. Then, she should be completely settled in.

After that, if we feel up to it, we'll start setting up a few things for Bud . . . but there's no rush (I hope!).

Typical Andrea!

I got a few pictures, and a little video the other day, of what I'd call "typical Andrea." :))

She is so silly!

One minute, she's playing with a blanket on her head, like a hat.

Then, it becomes a game of peek-a-boo.

Next, on video: http://media.putfile.com/Andrea-and-Dora :

She sits in her chair, rocking and singing along with her beloved Dora--so cute and sweet!

Then, she flings Dora over the back of the chair, and proceeds to slide down it herself!

Following that, she wanders over to play with the TV buttons, and admire her reflection in the screen.

Finally, she pauses to check out the camera.

It's typical Andrea. :))