Mack and The Farm

Around Andrew's 3rd birthday, we put “the farm” in his room. His $20 red & black piece of plastic (a.k.a. Mack, the car carrier from the movie CARS) was the BIG birthday hit. Crushing my attempt to walk down memory lane, he really didn't care much about the big wheel (the childhood rite of passage present), or the basketball hoop (aren't all little boys supposed to love hoops???), nor the sit 'n spin (which was really for Mommy). Nope. All he cared about was Mack. Then I reminded myself that his birthday wasn't about ME. It was about him. And at 3,
filling Mack with a dozen matchbox cars is what made his world go round.

He began stacking all of the cars inside and on top of Mack “just so” to be transported every night
up to his room. Then they had to be transferred to "the farm". Steve and Clare had given him the Fischer Price farm. Evidently, each car had its own particular spot in the farm. The barn doors were carefully opened and each car was methodically parked in its correct spot “to go night night”. Often in the morning, all 18 were lined up meticiously in his room. They may have been perpendicular to the wall, or on the window sill, but they were perfect.

2nd trip to the Dentist

Andrew's first trip to the dentist was a complete disaster.  That about sums it up.  It was terribly frustrating because we thought we'd done everything right.  Margaret was an infant, so that means Andrew must have been about 2.5.  We'd gotten a recommendation from our Pediatrician.  She sent us to a "wonderful" pediatric dentist.  Well, this dentist had cute GIGANTIC stuffed animals dropping from the ceiling.  Maybe some kids found them entertaining, but our toddler found the oversizing crab dangling into his personal space to be nothing but terrifying.  Once the hygienist called us back, things continued to go downhill.  She was very sweet, but she did little to accommodate Andrew's nervous demeanor.  She went through the motions of a regular dental check-up as any adult would.  I guess she gave her instruments cute little names, but he didn't care at that point.  He was afraid of them and when she tilt the chair back, it was all over.  I had made sure to find a time that Andrew's hero, Daddy, could go along with us.  Thank goodness for that!  That was the only good move of the day.  I cradled Margaret while Michael physically held Andrew down in the chair, as instructed by the hygienist, so that she could do her thing.  Screaming at the top of his lungs the entire time, I was sure that Andrew was headed for a European smile the rest of his life. 

Icing on the cake---as if we needed any?---we got a bill for the disastrous experience.  Evidently said "wonderful" pediatric dentist wasn't even in-network.  Lovely.

Michael and I both love our extremely convenient Dentist, so I called them for a rec.  They are just a general dentist, technically, but take them at 3.  So voila!  We now have a family dentist.  Six months later, we braced ourselves for Andrew's second dental visit.  Talk about night and day experiences!  The hygienist is my new hero.  She had Andrew counting his teeth for a while and wisely asked if he even wanted to sit down.  He declined (clearly, given recent events), so she just went with that.  She read his hesitation and kept it simple.  I think she even managed a cleaning while he stood there silently with his cute little hands in his precious plaid pockets:)

Look how far you can get with a child when don't freak them out in the obviously optional reclining chair!

Counting teeth - now THIS is how a little one should experience the dentist.

Reviewing the tools (love the hands in the pockets!)

Andrew's 2!

March 12, 2010:
I am....

• Two!!!
• Completely obsessed with truuuucks (esp. "duuump trucks"), cars (particularly "Daddy's caaaar"), all things trains (hear high-pitched "choo-choo"), and babies (more on that).
• Somersaults (i.e. downward dog with a little push)
• Moving - gonna be in another new house in May, but this one will be all our's!
• Playing lacrosse, soccer, baseball and riding anything that I can sit on, whether it's meant to be ridden or not!
• and....

going to be a BIG BROTHER! It may be a little early for Mommy's orthopedic's liking, but around September 18 (or in August if this one follows in my early footsteps), Mommy and Daddy pray that I will remain happily obsessed with babies!

A few pics and videos from the last 6 crazy months.....

Even birthday cakes need to be blessed:)

This train table is so amazing I feel the need to become one with it!


What could be better than riding IN a dumptruck on my birthday?!?! Thanks, cousin Sarah, for pushing me super fast!

The birthday boys - notice the eating style differences between 2 and 3!

Handsome young men:)

Third 2-ft snow storm in less than 3 months...I am OVER the snow being OVER my head!

Helping myself to the candy off of cousin

Alex's gingerbread house:)

Happiness is a sweatshirt with trucks on it!

First of two 2-ft storms at my new house in Charlottesville, VA.

Playing football and cutting down my Christmas tree.

The Blue Ridge mountain views near my new home (a few weeks past the fall peak).

Last day in Denver - what timing for a 2 ft storm!

Last hike of a 14-er as a current resident, but I will ALWAYS be a Colorado native!

Helping clean house to sell the house.

Conversing with an 18-month-old.

Somersaults

Someone give this child a trumpet!!!!

18 Months

First tricycle, from the Anchor Center charity event.

Monday mornings are rough.

Chilly morning camping.

Chilling in the hammock

The 17-month-old lumberjack has his first smore!

Eating about half of the watermelon brought for the whole group!

Camping with my church friends...all 18 of them and their 14 parents!

Independence Pass, on the way to meet 1-day-old Jack Haynie in Aspen.

4th of July in Banner Elk, NC.

Where'd everyone go?

Elk Park, NC waterfall.

Hiking's tough - quiet ride home.

Loveland Pass.

Hiking Loveland Pass @ 16 months.

Just another day at the park.

15 months, with my best friend, Molly:)

Dining al fresco at Grandma's.

Clearly not a care in the world:)

18 Months and I am into:

Saying and waving goodbye to anyone, everyone, and everything. I like blowing kisses, too (sounds and all!).

Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh....all the time, and always the right context.

Hugs, hugs, hugs, and more hugs!!!

I discovered my belly button on the tarmac in Rapid City, South Dakota and have enjoyed an intense obsession with it ever since. (I'm still not sure why I was in SD, but M&D were extremely thankful for my discovery, which entertained me the unexpected 4 hours on the plane.)

I know my body parts and am pleased to pieces to give you a "high-five" after I have correctly demonstrated to you where they all are.

When Mommy holds me (only with her right arm, of course), I immediately grin & bend back, asking to be "swung" like a monkey upside down. What could possibly be more fun?!?

Molly still rocks my world, especially when she kisses me - we even kiss through the screen door! Daisy still naps - all the time.

My cousins absolutely crack me up!!!

The "Tonga Dance" is my favorite move when I'm excited. I stomp, stomp, stomp my right foot, do two squats, then twirl a few circles:)-

The trumpet introduction on CBS' "Sunday Morning" makes me go wild! Thank goodness for Tivo so I can hear it over and over again:)

The sofas are fun to climb, slides (head first) are super, and the ottoman is the best thing I've found to propel myself off of. I carefully use my hands at home, but at school when I land staight on my head, I get"time-out" so that I don't break my neck!

Vocabulary:
Bye, Bye
Uh-oh
Football

Water

Duck

Woof woof (what does a dog say?)
Tractor
Daisy
Dog
Ma-ma (finally!)
Da-da
Baby
Nay-nay (Nate, best friend at school)

Cracker

Truck

Yellow

Lego

Grover

March 12 - First Birthday!

March was a BIG month!

• I turned ONE and I started walking!!!


• I went to Mommy's cousin's wedding in Asheville.


• I got croup (again!) while Grandma was hanging out with me so Mom & Dad could go away (thank you, Grandma!)


• I went to the U.S. Olympic Trails for curling - have YOU ever seen curling?!? (Long story - don't ask - M&D won't even tell me how we ended up there!).


• I learned to climb the stairs!
  
  

Curling is actually kind of interesting once you learn what's really going on.

But the best part was dancing during timeouts...

In Asheville for Will & Kristi's wedding, I got to hang out with some of Mommy's cousins again.

I (a.k.a Kyle Singler) had a stare off with Gene for a while, but Mommy was too slow with the camera. I put my sock in my mouth and had places to go!

My cousin Sarah had this really awesome Duke Chearleading outfit on....but the bottle she gave me was even MORE cool:)

Sarah and Abby ran up and down the hall of the hotel SOOO much (and I crawled after them just as fast as I could!) that I just crashed!

And then it FINALLY snowed in Denver! Mom and Dad have been talking about this sledding thing ALL winter, but then they finally got to show me what it was all about!

It was fun, but really, really bright outside.

My first birthday party at school! Nate and Hailey have March birthdays, too. We're the very oldest kids in the class now!

It was good to celebrate our birthdays, but sad that our favorite teacher, Corri, moved away:(

And then Hailey made fun of me for being an old man! "Just wait a week, Hailey!"

It looks like I was salivating for my birthday cake, but I was actually crying because all I wanted was a nap!

But then I finally dove in!

"Is this what you guys wanted to see?"

"Now may I just PLEEEEZE take a nap????"

Let's try again at home, with our own cake, no audience, no pressure...

Mommy blew the candle out in my face - who likes smoke up their nose?!?! Mommy says we'll try again next year:)

"Ooh, what's this??" Mommy and Daddy tell me that this is supposed to be my favorite present and that I'll learn why very soon:)

I experimented with just the first step one day, looked for permissin to try more, then promptly figured out how to climb the whole staircase! Now I want to climb back down.