Another Indiana trip!

Drew and I flew to Indiana this past weekend, and we had a great time! It's awesome for me to see him recognize and get to know our family there - which is why Chad and I make a huge effort to head that way so often! Here's some videos and pictures from our visit.

Drew LOVES his cousin Lyndsey. I heard Drew cackling and giggling in the kitchen, so I had to go see what was going on. He was holding his little car up to the fridge and Lyndsey was bending down so his car would go down the fridge...and he thought it was hilarious!!

Then later that evening, we realized the three little guys were all in the den...alone! They were being so silly, dancing and jumping around! Here's Drew, Parker and Will being goofy.



We met Sarah, Marc, Tim and Lyndsey at the State Park to ride horses and go for a hike. Here's Lyndsey, Drew and Tim on the mini bench (same bench from our last visit). (By the way, Drew recognized this trail and headed straight for the bridge (yelling "bridge!") before he could even see it - I was impressed!)

Drew didn't care for the pony ride too much. He kept saying "down!" But at least he tried it.

Here he is at the beginning of the ride. It didn't last long - he ended up getting off and walking most of the way, and then we got him back on again at the end.

Here's my dad (Drew calls him Papa now) trying to control Drew's crazy horse....just kidding, the pony was slow, harmless, and kinda sad. His name was Oreo.

One of the colts came over to visit us as we were making our way around the circle. Drew wasn't too sure about him either.

On Monday, Drew had a busy day! First we met up with one of my friends and her son at a gymnastics center - and Drew got to play for an hour! He loved the trampoline and the big blow up crayons. After that, we headed up to Greenwood to meet Julie, Parker and Will and we went to the Children's museum in Indy. I didn't get too many pictures there, but here's one of Drew in the dinosaur room. He loved this room! There was all kinds of loud noises (the dinosaurs roaring would vibrate the room, and there were storm sounds too) - and he got so excited he was squealing! Here he is with the dinosaurs.

The dinosaur room had tunnels, so of course Drew loved those! He would walk in them all squatted down like a duck.

Drew and Parker got to dig for dinosaur bones too!

Then we went to Parker's favorite area - the construction site! Here's Drew hogging shovels and digging in the fake dirt.

Drew had a rough time on the flight to Indiana (didn't want to sit in my lap and fought taking a nap), but he did really well on our flight back to North Carolina. The plane wasn't full, so we got two seats to ourselves. Here he is on the plane ride home.

potty!

Oh yeah, I meant to write about Drew's little accomplishment! We always let him sit on his potty before getting in the bath tub. Well tonight he actually peed in it! He got a concerned look on his face like he was making a mistake, but we clapped so he acted proud! But we're just practicing...we're not ready for potty training yet! SOON, but not yet!

couple videos of Drew

We've been putting all Drew's balls in his ball basket (the Easter basket he got from his grandma and grandpa). Well, his new favorite thing to do is shake it real hard and watch all the balls fly out...and then he carries it like a purse! While mowing, nonetheless!!

I know this next video isn't that exciting...but it's exciting to us!! Anytime we find a treat that Drew can have (all the good stuff has milk or eggs in it!), it's fun to watch him enjoy it! Chad's mom found some ice cream for him, and I gave him some after he was such a good boy getting blood taken. There was just one nurse working when we were there, so I had to hold him down by myself! But he sat on my lap and was super still - he just let out an angry cry when she stuck him. Then he just watched her draw blood, and said "boo boo" when she put a bandaid on! By the way, this blood was taken to test for his food allergies again, so hopefully we'll have good news in a week or so!!

Tweetsie and 18 month Dr visit

This past weekend we went with Chad's parents to Tweetsie Railroad in Blowing Rock, NC. Its main feature, obviously, is the big train ride - and Drew loved it! The train made several stops where the cowboys would hop off the train and put on little shows (they even fought Indians!). A little girl in front of us starting crying with all the gunshots... Drew started clapping!! He really liked the loud train sounds too! He'd make a silly face when he heard it - similar to the face in the picture below with Grandmom in front of the train.



Drew got to meet some deer, goats and pigs.


Here he is driving the fancy car with his daddy. It went over a bridge - so Drew really liked it!

He sat on the fake horse just before we left. He grabbed the reins and was ready to go!

He even rode the ferris wheel that overlooked the mountains at the top! I was very nervous every time he moved (there wasn't much holding him in), but he didn't fight to get out - he actually liked it. He'd say "up" as we went up and then "down" when we went down. He's very in to opposites right now (up/down, on/off, open/shut).

Drew had his 18 month doctor's appointment today. He was such a big boy! It's nice that we don't always have to lock him into a stroller now - he walked right in, rode the elevator, followed the nurse to our room - he was very good. He got some shots, but only cried when they actually stuck him. Then he was fine once he had a bandaid. He pointed to it and said "boo boo." We also got his new measurements - and this boy has been growing!! He is now 34 inches tall (90th percentile)!! His weight didn't go up too much - he's at 25 lbs 2 oz (40th percentile). And his head is the same at 48 cm (55th percentile). The doctor isn't concerned with his lower measurements - she said he looks healthy all around! Here he is posing in his chair in his room - I need to dig up the other three pictures that I have of this same pose at other ages (I think 3 mos, 7 mos, and 13 mos). And now....18 months!!

And then he posed in the dining room, sitting on the window sill.

I wish this one had turned out better - what a sweet little boy!! :)

Trip to Indiana

We had a great time on our weekend trip to Indiana! And, more importantly, Drew had a great time too! He loved being outside at my parents' house, playing with all the toys at Ben and Julie's house, and running from room to room to see the fans at Sarah and Marc's house. He calls both of my parents "mama" which is close to grandma - but we couldn't get him to get the P sound for grandPa. I forgot my camera when we went to Donner park and swam at Ben and Julie's, but I'll get pictures from my parents later. One morning we went and visited my Grandma Plopper at the nursing home. Drew was a little shy, but waved and blew a few kisses - I think they really enjoyed that! Then we took Drew to the Brown County State Park for a quick walk. Here he is leading the way with my parents!

And here's a quick family shot on a miniature bench overlooking the huge park.

Later that day the family all got together at my parents' house - here's the three youngest cousins playing on the slide. Will (13 months), Parker (3) and Drew (17 months). Parker and Drew had a lot of fun together this weekend! And Will tries to keep up - I'm sure at our next visit he'll be right there with them!

Here they are taking turns on the slides.



We went and ate at the renovated Zaharako's, which is a small local restaurant. Everyone in my family - all the way back to my great grandparents - have sat at this little kids' table and enjoyed a coney dog and vanilla coke at Zaharako's! It was the high school hangout when my parents were young. I'm so glad Drew got to experience it too!

Here are the boys posing with their grandpa!

Hopefully we'll be back soon!! It's such a fun trip b/c Drew is so good in the car (he only sleeps about one hour the whole way) and he has so much fun while we're there! While we were there, Drew sprung a few curls on top of his head!! And since then, it's gotten curlier already! Uh oh - he's gonna take after his mommy! Also, Drew had his first taste of ice cream. My mom found some non dairy ice cream for him, and he loved it. He kept saying "ice cream," "brrr" and "more!" He also learned the number 2 while we were there - if he sees two of something or if he's holding two crackers, he'll say "two."

When we went to visit my Grandma Greenlee, she was rolling a ball with Drew. If it would get out of her reach she was using her cane to hit it. Drew studied her cane and then said "golf!" It was pretty funny!! We got him a Sporty Baby dvd about golf from the library to watch in the car - and he really liked it! And in the evening, Drew enjoyed watching baseball on the big screen tv with his Daddy and Grandpa before bedtime!