Summer's Over and Sixteen Months

Well, summer is officially over (according to the fact that I'm back at school and obviously not the weather, seeing as it was 110 here today!). I've been back at school for two weeks now, as evidenced by my lack of blogging. Although I'm so sad to lose all the time I had with Andrew this summer, the beginning of school is an exciting time and I have a good group of students this year. It's so bittersweet to go back - I like the interaction with people that school gives me and I love teaching, but I feel sad that I'm missing out on so many things in Andrew's day to day life. Luckily this year has got to be a little bit easier than last year just because Andrew is in more of a routine. It's hard to believe that I was doing this all last year with a four month old that still woke up multiple times a night! And now we have a sixteen month old who's becoming more and more amazing each day!

Precious Andrew,
It's hard for me to believe that you are 16 months old. Each day I marvel at the little boy that you have become. The past month, although busy, has been wonderful. Your personality comes out more and more each day. You are a silly, sweet, and smart little boy. You have started dancing when you hear music or when we say "dance, dance". You bounce your legs and body and move your arms. It is adorable! You have also started doing this cute thing with mirrors... you have a "Look at Baby" book with mirrors in the pages and you will stick your face right up to the mirror. We aren't sure why you do it, but it is so cute and funny. It's like you see your face and want to touch your nose to your reflection. I'll have to see if iI can get it on video!

You are still a mover and a shaker! You climb on everything - your tricycle, your four-wheeler, the coffee table, and pretty much anything you can get on top of. You are also experimenting with all different kinds of movement - you like to turn in circles so much that you get dizzy and fall down. You run everywhere when you get excited, and you sometimes like to walk around on your tiptoes. You also like to walk backwards! We aren't sure why you do all these things - sometimes we think you just like to try new things out!

You are babbling all the time! Unfortunately we are all behind and still aren't sure what you're trying to tell us, but I'm sure that will come soon. Your favorite things to say are "da" or "do" or "di" when you see something or are telling us something. You will point and use one of those sounds. When you want something you will do the sign for 'more' (which to you means "give me that") and say "ah". You love to listen to songs, especially the Itsy Bitsy Spider, and will try to make hand motions along with the words. You still love books, especially the Look at Baby book and the Hello Texas book.

You are still a small guy - you are wearing size 3 diapers (about to move to size 4) and are still wearing all of your 12 month clothes! You can fit in some 18 month shirts, but you still have some 12 month shorts that fall off of you. You probably won't get too much bigger with the way you eat! You probably eat 1 good meal a day. The only foods you will consistently eat are fruits, chicken, and any kind of snack food (goldfish, teddy grahams, cheerios). We joke that you are going to turn into a chicken with the amount of it that you eat per week.

Andrew, you are an amazing boy and so loved by your parents, grandparents, and family. We are so lucky to have you and look forward to the wonderful advances you'll make in the next month!

Here is a cute video from the other night... we kept Andrew up past his bedtime and he got delirious with tiredness and it made him very silly!