Andrew is Three!

Time flies, time flies, oh how time does fly. Little man Andrew turns three on Thursday, so there was a big ol' party last weekend to prove it. It started at the same gym we visited for Dex's party a while back and then we ate and opened presents with just the family after that. Luckily, LM decided to take a two hour nap at 8am on Saturday morning, (he was up at 6, back down at 8) or we wouldn't have made it through half of it. It was a fun time.

The Birthday Boy

Before we get too far - here's a little walk down memory lane:

Andrew, as a warm, new little bundle of love.

First Birthday

Second Birthday

Ok, now that we're all caught up...I forgot that my newer camera's battery was almost out, therefore I didn't think ahead to charge that battery, or take a spare. Thus, I whipped out the Rebel XT for most of these photos. The only thing about that is, well, the settings and capabilities are a bit different than the newer one, and well, I haven't used the older one in a while. So, there's my excuse for the less than stellar shots at times. Dingbat with the Camera (that's me) forgets to check her settings. You might remember that about her. Luckily, Aunt Kim was also snapping away and she got some great photos. Here are some of the ones I caught:

Fun on the trampoline...

...here LM was lying down while Andrew bounced him in the air.

And of course, there is little sister Katherine front and center!

The "triplets" busting a move.

Grandparent Row

There was a game of Musical Chairs.

Only a good portion of the attendees didn't seem to get the game. It's OK - they had fun running around.

You can see here LM fell squarely in the "doesn't get it" camp.

Of course, Dexter was there!

There was, of course, singing and cake.

Andrew blew out his candle all by himself!

Then, onto presents.

You might notice a resemblance between the two on the left and the two on the right. 

At least this was the part they played at the party. Hee hee.

There were several of Andrew's toys that LM took a liking to.

Including eating pizza with Nonna in Andrew's bike helmet.

This activity table was also a hit.

Incidentally, we purchased a (much smaller) one like this for LM just the week before off Kid's Woot. It arrived Saturday by the time we got home, and I took some photos of S and LM assembling it. I'll show those to you one day, too.

He rode this gift throughout the house on his tip toes.

Very seriously checking out Papaw's photos.

Playing with the boys just before we left for home.

Happy Birthday Andrew! Thanks for inviting us to the fun. Here's to another one this time next year, OK? Deal? Deal.

See you soon.

Playin' the Piano

As has been covered before, the kiddos LOVE playing Nonna's piano. Here are some photos from a recent visit with Nonna's piano and the cousins, as well as some other fun they had that day:

LM is like, why are you here, Mama, bugging us?

Every once in a while, you must take a milk break.

Watchin' the television with the Dads.

Eating with big cousin Andrew.

Emptying Nonna's pantry.

Did I show this before? 

DANCE PAR-TAY!

The five of them were getting DOWN, dancing like they'd never danced before. It was so cute.

More cousin photos to come this week, as we celebrated Andrew's 3rd birthday on Saturday. I just have to get them uploaded, etc. 

See you soon.

Speaking of Water

One of the cabinets LM is allowed to explore in the kitchen houses a sleeve of disposable plastic cups. He has played with these cups for so long that there is really no way we would ever use them to serve a beverage. They have become a toy. He loves to get them out, separate them, carry them around, and now...fill them with water. He is just tall enough now to use the water dispenser on the refrigerator. So, of course, he tries to use it all the time. We usually tell him no, but last weekend, he got his cups out and wanted to fill them with water. I let him. Here are the results:

Once all the cups were filled, it was time to do something else with them. So, I suggested he take the cups and empty them into Echo's water bowl. He did. With much success, and some misses. So, then, of course, he wanted to clean up the spilled water. Thus, making it a successful activity in his mind. 

Happy Friday to you! I am taking the day off today to regain my sanity - I plan to do very little. Or even less. This weekend we have a birthday party and a couple of other events. I'll tell you about them next week. I hope your sanity is in check and your weekend is a good one.

See you soon.

Accordion

We had the pleasure of eating lunch one day with S's Uncle John and Aunt Leigh when they came to town over the holidays. But, the real pleasure was LM's, as Uncle John gave him one of his accordions that he had as a child. LM is completely enamored with this contraption, even though he's too small and has virtually no idea what to do with it. Here are some photos of him checking it out anyway:

I mean, what's not to love - it's shiny, red and has buttons and keys!

He will take a visitor to our home into his room and wait for them to open the carrying case to get this thing out. He loves it - the way it looks, feels and sounds. It's great fun. Thanks Uncle John!

See you soon.