Happy Birthday, Andrew!

It's official! One year ago today, we welcomed baby Andrew into our family. Wow. That was a fast year. He figured out how to pull himself up today and boy, is he proud. He can walk well with assistance, so I guess it is only a matter of time until he is flying solo.
In other news, we welcomed an unexpected addition to the family today: Luke's friend, Bob. Unfortunately, Luke is the only one who can see Bob. Bob appears to be ultra skinny and low maintenance, although he likes to eat cookies...

The Little Fireman

Luke's Halloween costume arrived in the mail today. He is just a teeny tiny bit excited. Presently he is wearing it while eating PB&J and watching his new favorite show, "Fireman Sam". Ah, it's good to be three. He is very eager to ride in a fire truck. I really hope the pre- school has a fire station field trip on the calendar.
In other news...Luke went to the bathroom at pre-school ALL BY HIMSELF. For those of you who have witnessed our long, slow (agonizing) potty training process, you might just feel the need to shout "Hooray!". I high-fived Mrs. Leigh when she shared this little tidbit with me. I spent several minutes praising Luke for his achievements. Once we were in the car and on the way home, he shared with me that he hit one of his friends and Mrs. Leigh had to talk to him about it. Hmmm. We can't have everything, I guess.
Luke's verbal abilities have really blossomed over the past several months. Although, I must admit I grow a little weary of the chatter and I'm woefully ill-equipped to deal with the "hard" questions. A teenage boy was killed here in Maple Valley last week. Apparently a he and his skateboard collided with a dump truck. Flowers and balloons are sitting by the side of the road, which happens to be a frequent route we travel. Luke wanted to know what happened. Honesty is the best policy, right? We told him the boy was hit by a dump truck and he died. DIED??
How exactly does one explain "died" to a three year old?
I thought I would be extra honest and tell him that everyone will die someday.
Perhaps that wasn't the best choice.
As we are driving home that way today (I must confess I went the long way on the way to preschool to avoid all the questions), Luke begins to name everyone he can think of and wants to know if they will die, too. Poor kid. I hope he isn't too traumatized.

First Day of Pre-school

Phew! I'm sure glad this day is done. I was so anxious for Luke to start pre-school today. I was worried about dropping Andy off with a friend, stressed about traffic, concerned Luke wouldn't use the potty...I can't really think of anything I wasn't worried about. I suppose this was a good reminder that God hears all of my cares, because things went very smoothly. Andy was perfectly content with his surroundings, Luke went right into the church and used the bathroom, then, in typical Luke fashion, went straight to the toys. We listened to a sweet little story about saying goodbye to our moms, which included our first craft. We put my handprint next to Luke's on a piece of paper, then kissed 2 hearts and placed them on the handprints. If he ever gets anxious about being away from me, he has "the kisses" on our handprints hanging in his classroom. It was very fun. I don't think he was impressed, but a craft is always a bright spot in my day. He has 3 boy classmates and 8 girls. Wow! My objective in enrolling him is social development. It looks like there will be lots of opportunities to learn to get along with others, because every child is unique. I was determined to have him fully potty trained by today, but it didn't happen. I'm quite thankful that pull-ups are acceptable, because he sure did wear one today.
This was the most popular toy: the rice table. Luke is trying to pretend Sophie isn't telling him what to do. She did not want anyone to manage her project...welcome to the first day of the rest of your life, kiddos.
This is a modified co-op, which translates to parents doing a portion of the work to keep tuition costs reasonable. I signed up to be the class photographer/scrapbooker. I'm really thankful this is a 2 person job, because it is difficult to take good pictures of small people who don't sit still. Luke said he had a good time. I hope he still feels that way on Wednesday. I was quite proud of him, he told me about 45 minutes into the morning that I needed to go. So, I went. I think Andy and I will enjoy some one-on-one time.

First Cake

We had a pre-birthday celebration for Andrew yesterday, since the family was all together. Little man was not impressed by the mound of sugar camped out on his high chair. Perhaps he has inherited the "messy is bad" gene and just didn't like to have anything on his hands. I can't imagine where he got that from. For being such a large child, you would think he would inhale anything he could reach, but not so. If it isn't pureed, he isn't interested. We all enjoyed the cake on his behalf.

Andrew's Baptism

We chose to have Andrew baptized at our church yesterday. My parents and grandmother came for the day, as well as my sister and her family. Our new associate pastor, Jeff, did a wonderful job. Luke was in rare form, dancing in the aisle and adding his own comments during the baptism. If I wasn't so worried about Luke's behavior, I might have felt a little sentimental about the event. Pastor Jeff asked for someone in the congregation to commit to praying for Andrew from now until he is 18 years old. It's kind of an awkward pause as you wonder if anyone will raise their hand. Our friend and fellow small group member, Tara, was kind enough to rise to the challenge. Andrew did quite well. We never know what to expect when we throw a surpise into his normally predictable routine. He added a few words of his own and squealed a little. There is a portion of the sacrament where an elder asks the congregation to commit to helping us raise Andrew in a Christ-centered church family. She also holds the water for the baptism. In case you are wondering about the stranger in denim, it's Laurie the elder.

Luke, pondering the view from the stage

The sprinkling

Celebrating

The fellas, looking quite content during the limo ride.

These pictures are especially enjoyable because there isn't one single child hanging off any of our appendages! All of the little cuties stayed home with babysitters...what a treat! We relished every minute of our adult conversation and delicious food as we celebrated Don and Betsy's 50th wedding anniversary.