And baby makes... four

Alexander Nicholas was born very late Tuesday November 1 after a very long labor process.  The short version is that we went to the hospital at 2am Monday morning at an appropriate stage, especially considering that the doctors wanted to get two doses of antibiotics, 4 hours apart, before the delivery (long story).  Things progressed well towards that direction until about 6am when they came to a screeching halt... and then reversed a bit.  The kid started swimming laps (at 41 weeks!!) and got out of the perfect headstand he had been doing for the previous month.  We got kiddo flipped around and then had a couple interventions to help things along while he was still in that position.  Mom still had to do all the normal contracting and pushing and such, and she was absolutely amazing, and in the end we got a perfect little person.  It took nearly two full days, but we got him out eventually, which is all that matters in the end.
    Alexander is doing quite well (retaining weight, no jaundice, etc.) and literally gets more beautiful every day.  He started with a full head of dark hair like his mother, but there are already signs of it getting lighter (not surprising if you know my side of the family).  He has been observing every little thing since he first opened his eyes, and I swear he's already trying to figure out how to make a social smile.  On the downside, he fights sleep more than anyone I've ever encountered.  His brother is a master of fighting sleep, but I think Alexander could surpass him quickly.
    Mom is doing less well.  No major medical problems to worry about, but her legs haven't recovered from the stress as well as they did the first time, so she's having more trouble getting around.  But every day is better than the last, so I'm sure she will be almost back to full capacity, in terms of leg strength at least, by the time I go back to work.

First Haircut

After nearly 3 years, Andrew finally got his first haircut.  He was a little anxious about sitting in the chair and all, but once he got situated with lollypop in mouth and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the TV, the hairdresser could have done anything and he wouldn't have minded.  He definitely has his father's hair in terms of the back sticking up when it gets too short, so she put in some "product" to keep it down.  She also asked whether he wanted any color, and his response was predictable to anyone who has ever discussed colors with him in the past 6 months: blue.  He LOVES blue.  Coincidentally, his sucker was blue, so his tongue matched his hair.  He was a trooper, and he looks a lot cleaner cut, but I gotta admit I kinda miss my shaggy little boy.
   When we got home, we made some "ghost brownies" (it was a kit from Target, 70% off after Halloween), and Andrew was an excellent helper.  He measured spoonfuls of water, stirred very gently, and didn't get mad at Daddy for forgetting to grease the pan before pouring in the mix (Daddy remembered midway through and poured it all back into the bowl, greased the pan, and poured it again).  He also got himself and Mommy a brownie, without Daddy's knowledge, before we had a chance to add the marshmallow ghosts and frosting.  But it all worked out in the end, and we had a fun afternoon.  He is an amazing helper, and very good at sharing.  There are times that Daddy could learn some patience from his son.  Not a lot, but some for sure.

Still here

Sorry about the lack of updates, all you faithful fans of Andrew. It's been 2 months since our last post, and most of the summer has passed us by. We've traveled to Nana's house to see cousins (and Granddad run fast), had a week-long fever, and learned that "parents" means Mommy and Daddy. We've also felt the baby in Mommy's belly move a LOT, which makes me want to get back into the habit of blogging so we can keep everyone up to date as things progress in the coming months.

Andrew is super-excited about being a big boy, now that he has a big boy room and wears big boy underwear, so he is adamant that he is no longer a baby. He is, therefore, very willing to let someone else take that role. I think part of him wonders what will happen when the baby is outside of Mommy instead of inside, but most of his interactions suggest he will be a good big brother. When we ask him what we should call the baby, he invariably tells us "Andrew". It is a good name for a baby, but I think we'll go with something different this time.

Big Brother

While most people who read this are already aware, I thought I would make it "internet official" by posting it on the blog. Perhaps we need to change the name to the Bean and Monkey Blog now. Andrew is looking forward to being a brother, at least as far as we can tell. Then again he hasn't actually met the baby yet, so we'll see how long that lasts.

Welcome to winter!

Last weekend we made it through being very snowed in all day Saturday. When we did venture outside to shovel (yes shovel---a snowblower is now very high on our wish list!) Andrew was up to his waist in snow on our driveway. He didn't like anything about it, and decided to stand in the garage and watch Mommy and Daddy shovel. Some of our excellent new neighbors came over with a snowblower and two girls with shovels to help us. We were able to share some of the 10 dozen cookies we had just made with them to thank them.

Andrew's 2nd birthday went very well. We had a party with his two best friends (and one older brother and associated parents) at our house. Andrew danced with joy when his friends arrived. It was so much fun to see them all playing together.

Andrew can now identify Santa, reindeer and Frosty and we frequently hear about them if they are spotted anywhere--in a book, on television, card, catalog, billboard... Christmas is coming!

Fall catch up

Ok, time to play catch up since our last post :) Andrew again "ran" in a TC Marathon weekend family event. This year was the Toddler Trot and

you can see Mommy and Andrew in the middle (mommy in grey sweatshirt) making it through the course.

Andrew was a great Tigger for Halloween. We had a great time at Zoo Boo as Andrew walked the whole zoo gathering treats in his "punk" (his first use of the classic pumpkin pail). We were happy we went to Zoo Boo as the actually Halloween we were all recovering from the flu and didn't go too far!

Then Mommy had a conference in Orlando so everyone came so we could see Sea World. It was excellent as Mommy has been to EVERY Sea World and was thrilled to share this experience with her boys.

New House

Well, it's been a long time since our last post due almost entirely to the time-consuming nature of packing, moving, and unpacking all our stuff with a toddler running around. We have a new home that is bigger, younger than us, and has a couple more bedrooms and bathrooms, but it has a lot of stairs, which Andrew is very slowly getting used to. In the relative calm of the past few weeks, we went to the apple orchard twice, once with Grandma and Granddad and once with our friends the Moons, and Mommy hosted a party!! That last part was actually pretty exciting.

Our house-warming gift to Andrew has been two train sets: one Thomas, one Ikea. They are supposed to be compatible. They are not. So now he has blue (Thomas) choo choo in the family room and the other choo choos (Ikea) in his playroom in the basement. Yes, there is a dedicated room to Andrew's toys, to which we can close the door and never mention to guests.

Otherwise, we are all doing well. Thank you to all who read this and continue to care about Andrew and watch as he grows.