It's Christmas time!

Here's our tree and our first born, Patton.

We enjoyed the rest of our long weekend! I can't believe it is over. Luckily I only have three weeks left until Christmas break! We decorated the Christmas tree last night. The tree mixed with the snow today put us in the Christmas mood. Now we just have to figure out what we'll be getting everyone and we need to get out there and shop. I'm never very good about shopping early, it takes me so long to decide what to get everyone!

Drew was a big help when it came to decorating. He was going through all the boxes and insisted on being in the middle of everything. It was so late (for Drew) that we finally just put him to bed and finished it up ourselves.

This long weekend has been so fun and great timing for us. Drew has really started to take on the whole walking thing. I'm so glad we've been home with him for this fun time. It is his idea to get up and walk now so he's doing it all the time. He loves picking up his bouncy ball, throwing it and walking after it. He was using the ball to help him get up, but now he can stand up from a sitting position all on his own. We are so proud! I am hoping he'll be walking by his 14th month b-day on the 11th!

He also loves the whole idea of giving kisses. He's been doing that for a bit now, but tonight he made the kissing sound when I told him to give daddy a kiss goodnight. He's so funny! Here's another kissing story for you...I was holding Drew the other day and was standing next to Mike. I kissed Mike and Drew pushed Mike away from me and puckered up for a kiss from me. It was so funny (I loved it of course, Mike wasn't too impressed)!

Here are a couple pics from the last couple days:

Watching tv in his diaper.So happy he's got the remote!

Taking a rest.
helping
Oh so helpful!
Vroooom!

Standing!Standing and looking for someone to pass to.

Thanksgiving Fun

Sitting by the fireplace (he just loved sitting there). Doesn't he look so grown up in the button down shirt and cuffed sleeves?

We had a fun Thanksgiving. We cut our stops down from 4 to 2 this year. It was sad not seeing both sides of my family and Mike's family, but it made for a less hectic day for all! Drew enjoyed the day and getting plenty attention from everyone. He also enjoyed playing with cousins Jake and Kaitlyn. He just loves other kids, it is so cute how his face lights up when he sees another little one. He also loved being on stage and walking for everyone. He took quite a few steps in the last couple days, he's getting so much closer! We got a quick video of Drew walking to Grandpa Gary, we didn't catch his longest stretch of walking, but it was still so cute. He now has a "walking face", we could tell if he was going to walk or get down and crawl by his expression. He would get the "walking face" and take off and then everyone would cheer. He loved it! He also joined in on the clapping, he's so proud! Mike and I are very proud too!

Here are a few pics from our day:

Drew in the bed of Uncle Matt's truck!

playing with daddy

Look at those eyes!

sitting at the table & eating

hanging out on the stairs

giving hugs

What a ham!

Video of Drew walking to G-pa Gary.

New Record

Hanging out in chair with hammer

Yesterday...Drew broke his previous record of three steps. He took an amazing 8 steps for his daddy! Of course he did this while I was gone, so I'm a bit bummed. But I know he'll be doing it again soon! Mike was so stunned that he didn't even think to grab the camera. Drew was stunned too. We are getting there, I am hoping Drew will be walking by Christmas. Each day he gets a little braver and braver!

A little funny story for you...tonight I was getting Drew ready for his bath. He was crawling around the bathroom and decided to grab his shampoo and before I could stop him he dropped it straight into the toliet. It was like slow motion...I knew where he was headed for, but I couldn't stop him in time. Gross!

Oh and another funny story...Patton gets a little fixated if something (food especially) gets stuck under the coffee table. So she was laying down and trying to get her snout under the table to get a Cheerio. Drew was watching all this take place and so he got down and looked under the table too. It was very funny! He's picking up on a lot of new things...he even sees Patton as a role model. That is a bit scary!

Drew's newest favorite spot (I finally made him his own special drawer in the kitchen with all of his stuff):

Favorites

Eating Cheerios

Here is a list of Drew's favorites....

Food
Cheerios
apples
pears
grapes
blueberries
watermelon
grilled cheese
chicken nuggets
any kind of crackers
yogurt
ice cream
most cereals
peanutbutter sandwhiches
daddy's famous quesadillas (refuses to eat it if mom makes it)
bottles (too bad we are pretty much done with those)



Toys
any kind of ball
fire engine push toy
puzzles
hammer
any and all cylinder like toys (for example blocks)
sorting toys, he loves putting items in things


Things to do
play peek a boo
play catch
give hugs
give kisses
wave
crawl up the stairs
play "I'm going to get you"
clap
point
babble on and on about who knows what
play with puppy dog, Patton

Best Buds

Drew & Patton hugging! So cute!

Drew just loves his puppy, Patton. Too bad Patton doesn't always feel the same way. She does seem a bit more interested in him lately, but she's so jumpy around him. She sees him coming towards her and she typically gets up and jumps away. Tonight Drew fed her a couple of his Cheerios and he was sharing his crayons with her. He loves crayons, but doesn't get the whole coloring thing. He just likes to hold them because they are round (he has an obsession with round things for some reason). Too bad he was holding them out for Patton and letting her nibble on them, he also tried to nibble after she was done. Don't worry I stopped both of them in their tracks. I did capture some cute pics of the twosome!

Sharing Cheerios!
Sharing another Cheerio.

Drew showing Patton his newest karate chop move.

Sharing crayons 2 (notice Patton's tongue)

Drew petting Patton.

The BIG 3-0

Just wanted to say Happy 30th Birthday to my brother, Matt! I used to hate being the younger one, all of a sudden it isn't so bad!

THREE BIG STEPS!!! Video inlcuded!

We have BIG news in the Howell household! Drew took three consecutive steps about three or four different times. Yeah Drew Boo! This by far is the farthest he's walked. He walked towards me a couple different times when I had his blue ball. He is getting braver and braver! Mike did catch it on video one of the times. In this video he only took one or two steps, but he did better the other times, but of course we didn't catch it. You'll just have to take my word!


We also have some pics from our weekend at the lake. Drew got to visit Silver Dollar City for the first time. It was a very cold day and our little man wasn't too thrilled about being bundled. He was so bundled he could hardly move. We are so lucky that Drew is such a trooper. He only napped about 1. 5 hours that day and he stayed awake for the whole visit and hardly made a peep. But boy was he ready to sleep by the time we got to the car.

Pat resting on the way home.
Drew & G-pa Gary

Mom and Drew on train
Bundled

Climbing

Look at his hair...it is really growing!

Drew may not be walking yet, but he sure is a climber. He is constantly climbing into his little chairs and then stands on them. He tries to go from the chair to other objects, he is a wild man. Today he was pushing around his fire engine push toy and parked it right by the couch. Next thing I know he's climbed up to the couch. Crazy boy! It wouldn't be so bad if he just sat on the couch, but he doesn't. He will sometimes try diving off head first. He's so timid about the whole walking thing, but doesn't think twice about diving off the couch or climbing from one thing to the other.

We are off to the lake tomorrow. Cross your fingers he'll sleep well down there for us. He hasn't always slept so well at the lake, but everywhere else he does fine. So we'll see!

13 MONTHS!!!

Drew is 13 months old today ! Where does the time go?

Standing All Alone

Well it is Sunday night and Drew is tucked into bed. I can't believe our weekend is over already, where does the time go? We had a pretty good weekend.

Yesterday Mike and crew (Gary, Greg, and Kyle) delivered our huge tv to someone who lived by Lake Perry. It took them several long hours, but it is finally gone! It had been sitting in our garage since we got our new tv a month or so ago. While Mike was gone Drew and I had lunch with Aunt Julie and cousin Celia at Panera (one of my favorites) and then Drew and I went grocery shopping. He is a pretty good shopper, but sometimes he's done before we are finished gathering the items on the list. It's a good thing I am always prepared with Cheerios. What would I do without Cheerios? I think every kid loves Cheerios! Drew also watched Sesame Street for the first time, he seemed to be interested in it.

Last night Drew spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa Purcell's. He hadn't seen them in three weeks! Mike and I went out to dinner with the Taylors and then went to Sam's Club. Pretty fun...wouldn't you say? I wanted to go to a movie, but there wasn't really anything out worth going to, so maybe some other time. Today we went to a couples baby shower for Clint and Lacey. It was fun watching them open all their presents and it seems like yesterday Mike and I were doing that!

This evening Mike grilled some steaks and then we had a little standing clinic with Drew. You may wonder what I'm talking about. We set up several situations for Drew to practice his standing. He wants nothing to do with practicing his walking unless it is his idea. He has stood a few times here and there when he's doing something and doesn't realize he's standing. Once he realizes he quickly sits down. Well tonight Mike got him going and he was standing here and there. The magic tool is Mike's hat. Here are so pics from the big event...I only took 20 or so and some video.

A little unsteady

Look at that stander!!!

Kissing my boy.

Teething

Sitting comfortably with daddy.

Spitting

Number 6 is in! Drew's 6th tooth came through sometime in the last week. He is currently working on some bottom teeth. He has four on top and two on the bottom. This week has been a little rough for our poor guy. He has been pretty cranky and had a fever on Wednesday evening. He hasn't eaten his normal amount the last couple of days either. We can't complain too much, because we haven't lost any sleep over this. Drew has slept well at night and that is important especially when Mike and I have to work! So thank you little guy!

Hopefully his teeth will break through the gums soon so he can get back to himself. On another note...Drew has started splashing in the tub. He has splashed here and there in the tub in the past, but now it is at a new level. The walls get covered with water, I get covered with water, and the floor gets covered with water. But it is all worth it, it is so fun to watch. He sure keeps us laughing around here (I'll have to get some pictures of the splashing soon).

Here are some pics from the week:

playing with new hammer toy

• 

Drew & grasshopper toy

Upclose

Smiling at Patton

Daddy left for his basketball game and Drew was sad to see him go!

Another Concert and the dog park

This is what happens when you miss your nap for a concert!

Drew and I went to another concert yesterday morning (our last one was this summer when we saw Mr. Stinky Feet). We went to the Baby Sing and Sign Jamboree. It was a lot of fun, Drew enjoyed the singing and I'm not sure he even noticed the baby sign language. He enjoyed dancing to the music and crawling around. We met some friends at the concert and ran into several other friends while we were there. It was fun watching the babies interact and they were all going in different directions. Drew wanted to be front and center so crawled right up to the stage many times and many times I'd go fetch him and he'd throw a nice fit. At one point he crawled off but just sat front and center. He kept turning around and smiling and waving at me.



Today we finally got to the dog park. I think we have gone one other time since Drew was born. Poor Patton! I don't feel too awful b/c Patton gets to run most mornings with me. We just haven't made time to get to the park. She loved the park and Drew enjoyed his piggy back ride in his Ergo carrier.

Drew & Patton loaded and ready to go to the park.

Off Patton goes.

Drew, Mom, and Patton enjoying the park.
Pat got a little hot & tired after the lap around the park.

We are off to celebrate Grandpa Gary's birthday tonight...and Drew might be sleeping over tonight. It will be nice for dad in the morning b/c dad has to get up early to get him to Grandma's every Monday morning. We'll of course we'll miss Drew tonight, but it does make for a simpler Monday morning!

We also want to welcome Grandma and Grandpa Purcell back from a long trip. They are back in the states, but won't be home until later tonight. Welcome back we missed you!



Here's a picture from yesterday: