Beach Trip 2009

Drew had a BLAST at our beach trip in N. Myrtle Beach this past week!! As soon as we got to the hotel room, he was running around - so excited. I think he was happy just to be there - he thought we were there to hang out in the hotel room! But then we went to the ocean, pool, and lazy river - and he loved it! The pool had a small 2 ft. deep baby pool attached to the big pool (just blocked off by a plastic gate in the water) - and it was perfect for him. He'd splash, walk around and push his truck along the edge, stick his face in the water and drink water, and squeal with delight! He played outside for hours everyday...and fortunately slept really well!! In fact, he would press play on his radio (which had his lullaby cd in it), and hang on the edge of his pack n play and say "night, night" when he'd had enough!

Here's a video of Drew's first experience walking into the ocean! He found out how hard it is to walk in moving water! (the wind is really loud on the video, so you may want to turn it down)

Just walking down the beach, checking out the waves.

Going swimming!

Drew enjoyed the sand and his new shovels and bucket (or as he calls it, "buck-ee").

He helped Daddy build a bridge to drive his truck and car under.

Here's Drew and Olivia with Grandmom and Granddad at the Grill House - our favorite Myrtle Beach restaurant! Drew was so excited when he woke up Saturday morning and Granddad had joined us!

Drew and his dad posing for Mommy at the beach.

Here's the fam!


Drew and Mommy posing for a picture.

He had to grab onto our legs or hold our hands -or the waves would knock him over!

Sherry, Grant, Olivia and Grandmom on the train at putt-putt. Olivia's ready - she's got her club!

Drew was checking everything out while we road the train. He thoroughly enjoyed the 30 second train ride...and had a little meltdown when it was over. He was so excited to get his club and swing it at the ball...but taking turns, what is that?? Waiting in a line, huh?? He lasted one and a half holes and we decided to take a rain check. The place was super crowded with lines between holes, so it just wasn't going to work out. But that 30 second train ride was fun!! He would strain and pull and try to get on every time it came by! It was frustrating at the moment, but pretty funny once we got outta there! It's something we'll remember and laugh about forever (and probably tease him about it).

The Spring House Restaurant had a bench the perfect size for these two! They sat down and hammed it up as we all pulled out our cameras!

Here's Drew and Olivia checking out each other's fashionable swimwear.

And a little video of them splashing away!

Drew started saying "oh my!" just before we went on this trip - and he said it a ton while we were there. It's hilarious! He sounds like a southern old lady when he says it. And sometimes he'll put his hand on his chest! I have no idea where he got that from! Some other words he's gotten really good at are milk (he says "mok" - rhymes with lock), snack, more (he says "mo" and does the sign language), uh oh, water (wa wa), beach, black, bee, bug (he says "buck"), daddy (he has started saying it da-DEE b/c that's how Olivia says it!!), bridge, truck, car, tractor... there's actually a ton now. He repeats a lot of what we say, and then we're amazed when he uses the word later on his own. He's at that age where he's retaining everything and is so interested - it's so much fun watching him learn and figure it all out!!

Thanks again Susan and Alan for such a wonderful trip!!

videos of a couple words

Drew has become pretty vocal lately. He says HI to everyone at the store and BYE to the cashier as we leave. And he always says BYE to the childwatch counselors when I pick him up, as he takes off running down the hall! We caught his two favorite words on video. The first video is him saying BUS. When I worked afternoons, we'd be driving to work when all the kids were getting out of school - so we'd pass a lot of buses and he'd point and say BUS.

And here's a video of him saying BUBBLE.






Another B word that he says - BAT. He likes to swing a bat - and he'll even put his hands together and swing his arms (w/o a bat) when we say swing! Here he is with a piece to the vacuum - swinging his "bat."

Happy birthday Olivia and Parker!

Drew's cousin Parker turned THREE today! I can't believe how big he is already!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY PARKER!! Hopefully we'll see you soon!

Yesterday, Drew's other cousin Olivia turned ONE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY OLIVIA!! We traveled to Raleigh to her birthday party and to spend time with Chad's family. Here is Drew - splashing all the other kids at the water tables! (Olivia loved her birthday hat and wore it for a long time - so cute!!)

Here's all the kids (except Gracie N!) at the water table.

Here's Drew eating some watermelon out in the rain last week. This boy LOVES fruit!!

And here he is at the fountains at Birkdale. This is before I was able to get his swimsuit on! Now that we know how much he likes it, we're more prepared and get his suit on first.

Drew has been talking more and more lately. He's very into animal sounds and trucks/motorcycles/trains/lawn mowers. And he's starting to develop a great sense of humor - he thinks he's hilarious, so that in itself is pretty funny! Sometimes he'll laugh so hard he doubles over and will put his hands up to his mouth or on the top of his head! He had a great time "performing" at Olivia's party - especially when everyone would laugh at him. He's definitely a ham!

fun weekend

This weekend Drew went to his buddy Jayce's first birthday party - it was a pool party! Here's Drew and Jayce. (LOVE Jayce's hair!)

Jayce's dad, Tom, took a bunch of pictures and they sent us some - so here they are! Here's Drew and I and Jayce and his mommy, Anne...and Diesel the dog in the background!


Look at Drew kicking! Several times he about jumped in on his own - a little too confident!


After a little while in the big pool, they ended up in the baby pool (or the dog's pool). Here's Drew, Ava, and Jayce (who has Drew by the foot!).

And Tom was pretty proud of this picture - look at that hangtime! And, of course, Drew LOVED it!! You can see Sofia's getting ready to go airborne with Don in a second too! haha

Then on Sunday we headed up to Lenoir for the afternoon. Drew got his first ride on a 4 wheeler! I figured the loud sound would scare him, but he was anxious to get on, and he really liked it! He called it a "mo mo" -which is what he says for motorcycle. Although, he also called a wheelchair a "mo mo" when we went to see Nana's new apartment! haha

Drew is enjoying baseball right now. He will watch it on tv, and he swings his arms when the batter swings. And he says "bat" over and over. He's trying to say "baseball" too. He's getting better at catching a ball, and he's quite impressive with a batting tee! Some of Drew's new words are night night, wa wa (water), mo mo (motorcycle), bubbles, cracker, tractor (sounds like cracker though), duck (and quack quack), moo and meow (they sound a little alike), bzzz for a bee and ssss for a snake sound a little alike too, etc., etc!! He'll surprise us with a new word everyday! Of course, they're not completely clear - but he's trying!

Lovin' the summer weather!

We had awesome weather this weekend...which means POOL TIME!! Here's Drew SOOO happy in his pool.

And contemplating his next move...or maybe posing for the camera. Mom and Dad, notice the plants in the background - that's the bulbs we planted in April!

And here he is exactly a year ago...with a similar pose and the same hat!

It's always fun to be a monkey in the pool!!

After pool time, we head to the deck to play some golf while drying off.

Here's a video of Drew showing off his dance moves that his grandpa taught him - fast feet! And his new thing is to fall down, so he does that on video too.

Last week, we met some friends at Monkey Joes and he kept jumping and landing on his rear (on purpose!) and the other kids thought it was pretty funny. And then this weekend, he discovered it's really fun to do it in the pool and make a splash! AND, he and Daddy sing Ring Around the Rosie and fall at the end...and he cracks up!! So, "falling" is his favorite right now.

We've been working on catching a ball, and here's a couple videos of Drew in action.

We went to the park this morning and then let Drew swim in his pool - and he took a 3 hour nap!! Then we went to a cookout at our neighbor's house (they have a son just 2 weeks older than Drew), and he played outside the whole time. He had a busy day, but I can tell he is loving summer already!!

more sounds from Drew

Drew has been on one of his learning kicks where he's trying to repeat everything he hears and trying to copy all our actions. Grandpa taught him how to dance this past weekend...and he whipped out his new moves in public today!! uh oh! I'll have to capture that on video! Here he is saying his name and a couple animal sounds. I'll have to get a video of some of his new words too.

We finally planted the flowers that we dug up from my grandma's yard in Indiana. I will get a picture of them soon. Here's Drew "helping" by trying to pick the flowers we already had!

Drew must have watched his cousin Olivia's blog video, b/c he is now trying to climb up onto the couch! He's gotten up there on his own a couple times and then jumps likes it's a trampoline! oh boy! He is also really getting the hang of swinging his baseball bat. I think a baseball tee will be our next purchase! Drew is continuing to eat and color with his left hand and then throw with his right...interesting!