Birthday Boy!

I can't believe that over a week ago (the 19th) my little boy turned one! Where has the time gone? It seems like just yesterday that I was leaving the hospital heading home to Ryan, while Drew stayed in the NICU. So to think that was a year ago blows my mind! My little Drewski has changed so much over the last year. He's turning into such a little man! Here's what he's up to these days....

CLIMBING - This boy LOVES to climb anything (and everything) that gets him the least little bit off the ground. He can sense when Ryan has left the bathroom door open. We have a step stool that Ryan stands on to wash his hands. If Drew is "missing", that's the first place we check. And sure enough, that's right where he is. Standing on the top step, waving at himself in the mirror. We're constantly checking to make sure the door stays closed 'cause he's going to get hurt one of these days. (He's already fallen off once and busted his head pretty hard!) He also likes to hold onto the top bar and stand on the bottom bar of the oven. It's all good until the oven door starts to open and he leans WAY back trying not to fall off!

WAVING - He waves "bye bye" all the time...whether you're leaving or not. If he even hears the word "bye" he starts flapping his arm around like crazy. He also says "bye bye" (in his own baby language). While waving his arm somewhat uncontrollably, he'll babble in a VERY high-pitched voice "ba ba ba ba." It's really cute!

EATING - Several months ago, he decided he was DONE with baby food...and refused to eat it. He wants to eat whatever it is that we eat. How he chews steak and raw carrots with only two bottom teeth baffles me! But he can do it! And he's in a phase where he wants to feed himself. If the fork or spoon comes near him, he grabs it and shoves it in his mouth. He's pretty good at it...till he starts flinging it around in excitement and food goes flying all over the place! We gave him cake on his actual birthday...and he was NOT interested. He wanted to wave it in the air and throw it on the floor. He did much better with it at his party though!

WALKING??? - Nope, not walking yet. Although he did take his first two (un-forced) steps two days ago. He was holding on to the table leg and I squatted down and put my arms out. He let go of the leg, steadied himself, and took two steps before falling into my arms. Ryan was so excited for him! He's called just about everyone to tell them "Drewski took two steps!"

DOG FOOD AND WATER - Yeah, if he's not looking at himself in the bathroom mirror, he's either playing in the dog's water or chowing down on Dog Chow! This boy can find pieces of dog food ANYWHERE. He'll be on the other side of the house, and you'll notice he's chewing on something. After prying open his jaws...you'll find a nice, soggy piece of Dyson's food. Yuck!

SCHOOL - Yes, you heard me...school. Although he was "expelled" from school in January, God blessed us with an opening in his class. He started back to school this week. (It's crazy how quiet my house is on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So much to do, yet I want to sit and enjoy the silence!) He loves the friends in his class and he loves his teachers. He has so much fun that he doesn't even cry when I drop him off. My baby's growing up!!!

We DIDN't fall off the face of the planet!

Wow! Has it really been almost 3 months since I've posted anything on here? I guess one of my New Year's Resolutions needs to be "keeping up with our blog!" Anyways...I'll try to sum up the past three months.

November 3rd - I had spinal fusion surgery (ALIF to my L5/S1 disc). I am pretty restricted as to what I'm allowed to do for at least 3 months. Limited housework (darn), no bending (only I make an exception to shave my legs), and no holding my kiddos (that's the hardest) until I go back to the doctor on February 18th. It still seems SO FAR away.



We took the kids to see Santa...and it was rather uneventful (as you can tell from the picture). Ryan was excited...and wanted to know where his Spiderman bike was. I guess he hasn't figured out the part about waiting til Christmas morning! Drew didn't realize he was sitting in a stranger's lap until Santa said, "My, what big eyes this baby has!" (in his oh-so-low Santa voice)...which scared the crap out of Drew and he started screaming. That's when Rob came to the rescue (before I could take any really good pictures of him being terrified of the jolly man). Oh well...there's always next year!



December (sometime towards the beginning) - Drew figured he needed to keep up with his "baby cousin"...and decided to "sprout" his first two teeth...which you can KINDA see in the picture, if you look closely. Just like his big brother used to do, he LOVES to chew on the edges of the coffee table...to keep them nice and sharp, I guess.



December 24th - We celebrated Christmas with Noni and Bumpa (Rob's parents). We had a really good time. Drew got an airplane...and LOVES it. He and Ryan fly all over the house in it!



December 25th - We celebrated Christmas with Papa and Ghi...and the rest of the "Sendt" clan. It was quite a chaotic day, but that's when memories are made, right? The best part was the fact that Ghi and Papa's heater was broken...so it was FREEZING in their house. Thank goodness for the fire in the fireplace, otherwise we'd all be sick.

Throughout the month of December, we visited the boys' pediatrician MANY times...probably somewhere in the range of 15 times or so. They have both been fighting ear infections. They have taken amoxicillin, zythromax, augmentin, and finally (coming in at $94) clindomycin. We went back to the doctor this week...and they are CLEAR! Thank goodness. We were praying that 2010 didn't start with both boys needing tubes.January 4th - We had a nanny named Katy start, to help out with the kids (on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays) until I'm cleared by my doctor. This was her first day...and she is WONDERFUL! She was exactly what my kids need....someone who has LOTS of energy to keep up with them and doesn't mind spending her day on the floor playing cars, building racetracks, stacking blocks into tall towers, wearing funny hats, etc. The kids absolutely love her! We are so blessed to have her help! (On top of keeping the kids entertained, she picks up around the house too. What else can you ask for???) When Ryan woke up from his nap this day, he walked into the kitchen and said, "I missed Katy." Awww, he's so sweet!

January 7th - We were thrown a curve-ball by the MDO program that the boys go to. I talked to the director and she said that Drew no longer has a spot in the class, so he's not allowed to return. (We joke that he's already been kicked out of school!) They were doing me a HUGE favor by allowing an "extra" child in the class for a while. But decided that they wanted to go back to only having 8 babies after Christmas. So, we were without a back-up plan for him. We were shown proof (again!) that God has a plan that's bigger than anything we could think of. Our nanny, Katy, has agreed to come on Tuesdays and Thursdays to help me take care of Drew through the end of February. Isn't God good?!? We are having to do some pretty tricky things with our finances in order to make ends meet, but we're trusting God that it'll all be okay. She will start working for us full-time this next week. We can't wait!

What else is going on???



I can't believe that it's already time to start planning Drew's first birthday party! Where has the time gone? I feel like it wasn't that long ago that we were (finally!) bringing him home from the hospital and introducing him to his big brother. So much has changed since then. And my two boys are such a blessing in our lives. They get along great. (In fact, there are many times when we're at dinner and Ryan says, "Drew's my best friend!") He's crawling and has just started to stand up by himself. (He's only done it a few times, but again, I guess he's trying to keep up with his "little" cousin. Malachi is practically walking already!) He still only has his two bottom teeth, but that doesn't stop him. He will no longer eat ANY baby food (or anything that resembles baby food, like applesauce)...he only wants whatever we're having for dinner. And he can chew like you wouldn't believe! Even without teeth! Some of his favorites are: pretzels, lasagna, pancakes (he eats 2-3 big ones at a time) and cheese enchiladas! Besides Gerber, there's nothing this boy won't eat!



In December, I took Ryan for a speech evaluation (through the school district). He is a little behind due to his numerous ear infections when he was younger. The speech therapist said that his intonation is that of a deaf child. In other words, the way he pronounces words reflects that of a child who has been unable to hear for a majority of his life. They said that he would NOT qualify for PPCD (aka preschool) because he is ahead of where he should be intellectually. But he WILL qualify for weekly speech therapy. We go back to finish the testing on January 25th. Sometime after that he will begin getting 50 minutes of help each week. As much as I absolutely LOVE to hear him talk and tell stories, I am ready for him to be understood by those outside of our family.

That's about it. We are really hoping for a healthy year for our family. (Please God, no more medical bills!) And I'll do my best to keep up with this...for a while at least. :)