Happy Birthday Nora Jane!

Andrew's cousin, Nora Jane had her first birthday on Monday. Happy birthday angel! We love you.

Why I should never be responsible for the camera at any non-child event

When it comes to Andrew and all his activities, I'm a serious shutterbug. I swear, I snap 30-50 pictures a week of our little guy. But when it comes to capturing non- Andrew events, I have determined, I should NEVER be in charge of the camera.
For example, on our long "parents-only" event in New York at the end of August, I lugged my camera around NYC with the girls for the whole day, but did not take one solitary picture - nada. just the fact that we were enjoying NYC with some of our closest friends should have been incentive enough, but, it's NYC and there is some really amazing architecture in the city. Thank God we had so much fun, we're thinking of making it an annual event.
So, fast forward to yesterday. We have had Redskins season tickets in the Wood family since 1995 (I think - been a while!). I am a huge Redskins fan and have been known to be a crazy fan when certain ex-players pass us in public. Colin and I used to go to the home opener every year - before Andrew. So the past couple of years, we have been absent at the home games - it's much easier to negotiate with Andrew from the comfort of the Wing Factory or the couch in our basement while the game is on. Well, one of my girlfriends, Jen, actually happens to be a sports fan and so yesterday we ventured out to the game by ourselves. Of course, typical type A moms that we are, we had tons of food, beer, soda and water, chairs to tailgate and a camera (I brought that one) - everything for a perfect tailgate and day at the game. And how many pictures did I take? ONE...and it was not even of the two of us - it was of the pumpkin beer sitting on my bumper that we drank before we went into the game.
Jen - I had a GREAT time...and you were so sweet not to gloat about the wheels falling off the Redskins wagon in the 2nd half. If you want to go to next years NY/Redskins game, we obviously know who should be in charge of the camera!

The last 4th birthday celebration

Today was the last birthday celebration for Andrew's 4th birthday. He's had three birthday celebrations: a pirate treasure hunt party on Saturday, a birthday dinner on Tuesday and today, he had cupcakes at daycare. Andrew was so excited to see me in his classroom with chocolate pirate cupcakes. His teacher had his class sing happy birthday and then those kids chowed down on those cupcakes - which were covered in black frosting thus the black mustaches and tongues. Happy 4th birthday little guy!

Gifts from Nana's cruise

Nana and Oz have been on a cruise (August 24th through September 10th) that started in England and went to many of the Scandanavian countries, Russia and then Estonia. They came over Tuesday night to go to Andrew's new favorite restarant - Logan's Roadhouse (who knew peanuts in a galvanized bucket and a jukebox would entertain a 4 year old for HOURS!)- and fill us in on their trip. They loved England and the Scandanavian countries - all the men especially loved the beautiful blonde women and took a million pictures of them. They said Russia was a bit creepy and the tour guides emphasized not leaving the group for fear of being left in Russia - overall a very depressing country

Of course, they brought souvenirs from their trip for the whole family. I think the gift Andrew loved the most was a replica of the Russia military's hat. He puts it on and tries to salute whenever he sees it. Funny what things interest 4 year olds!

The day our world changed forever

Four years ago today, our life changed forever - in a good way. Andrew made his way into the world at 5:32 am - obviously an early bird like me. Actually he was a week and a half LATE, so he had to be encouraged by the doctor and the remnants of Hurricane Isabel.
He has grown in so many ways since then.. his first steps, his first words, his first day at daycare (sniff), his first boo-boo. I could go on and on with all of Andrew's "firsts".
For fun, we did height and weight yesterday. He's 42 inches tall and 42 pounds. He's had a growth spurt AGAIN. On average, he's grown about 4-5 inches each year...if he keeps this up I'm going to have a linebacker in my house in a few years!

Very far behind

I've been slacking over the last week, with no posts since last Monday. I got completely caught up in the preparation for Andrew's big Pirate Party treasure hunt on Saturday for his 4th birthday. Great news though, it was a success - more to follow soon!

Very busy weekend

I had planned to for this past weekend to be a very laid back weekend....Andrew requested that his 4th birthday party (next weekend) be a pirate celebration - complete with a treasure hunt. So, I had planned to spend the weekend getting all the supplies for the party and the treasure hunt. Well, guess plans are made to be broken, right? I think we now have all the party supplies purchased (some are just not here and will be arriving this week via FedEx and UPS).




Friday night, the whole family went to Cole Brothers circus with Trace Ann, Dan, Olivia, Tammy, Maegen, Syndney, Samuel and Tom. We went to this same circus last year and I totally forgot that the "big top" is not air conditioned. It was definitely a bit warm in the tent which I think made for one irritable husband (mine). But the kids all loved the circus - Andrew was fascinated by the motorcycles and the performer on the trampoline. All the kids loved the pony rides that they did at intermession...I swear I thought Andrew was going to want a pony for his birthday. So far - it has not made the list - THANK GOODNESS!



Saturday, we ran all around - dropping off Colin's corvette to get work done, doing the weekly errands, and getting birthday party supplies. Andrew is currently trying to break his nap schedule so naps have been somewhat all over the map recently. Saturday, he did not nap until almost 4 pm and then was extremely grumpy very the remainder of the evening....nice way to cap off the evening!

Sunday morning we had playgroup at the Dinosaur Park in Ashburn. Andrew had such a great time with all his friends. I think he was moving nonstop for the entire two hours that we were at the park.



Then we rushed over to Leesburg to drop off Colin's Hyundai for work and then back home...it was opening day for the Redskins and our house ALWAYS watches the Redskins. Do not call our house during the game unless you want to discuss the current game or there is an emergency involving a bleeding child. With Joe Gibbs at the helm, games are always nailbitters - case in point, yesterdays OT win over the Miami Dolphins with a field goal - and the Redskins are always considered underdogs. There's alot of yelling and screaming - we normally watch with my brother in law and his wife who are also huge Redskins fans. But it's alot of fun with our family and it's a great tradition for Andrew to grow up with.

So, today, it's back to the grind. I think Andrew was glad to go back to school today so he could "rest" ;-)

Andrew's current birthday wish list

Today's birthday wish list (because it changes daily)

A skateboard
A Spiderman car

Wonder what it will be tomorrow?????

Swimming Lessons have started

The flurry of fall activities have started. Suddenly Andrew wants to participate in a bunch of activities - tennis, swimming and soccer. Fortunately, his daycare offers a soccer program during the day, so I've just signed him up to start on September 17th.

This week, Andrew started back to swim lessons at Potomac Swim School http://potomacswimschool.com/. He's been in swim lessons since last January, but since he's turning 4 in little over a week, he's moved out of the "toddler" class and into the 4-5's which means a new teacher and CHANGES (and we know how Andrew feels about that!). But, I was hopeful that it might not be too bad since his friends Alexa and Olivia were going to be in the class with him. When I picked Andrew up from daycare, he was completely spun up about his swim lessons and when he got to Potomac Swim School and saw Alexa and Olivia, he could not contain his excitement. We had a little issue during the actual class when Coach Patty took Andrew into the water for the first time. He had her in his "death grip" and she had to work really hard to get him to release. But, I'm happy to report, by the end of the class, he was jumping

into the pool (and going under the water), blowing bubbles, and "swimming" to the side. I even had to get after him to get out of the pool so the others could "show skills" at the end of class. I guess there's something to be said for a little peer pressure (Thanks to Alexa and Olivia!)

Changes

Anyone who knows Andrew knows he is TERRIBLE with change. He is fearless when it comes to trying anything physical (obviously - see all his battle scars from running into bushes and falling off sofas!), but screw with the order in his world and he loses his mind.
With the new school year starting, the entire daycare that Andrew attends, changes their schedule. So, I used to drop him off in his class when they had gym time. This allowed his teacher to engage him one on one - normally resulting in Andrew saying "Miss Lily, you can't catch me!" and Miss Lily chasing him. As of Tuesday, the kids are in computer class when I drop him off....bad, very bad. Miss Lily can give him attention, but it's not like when he goes into the gym. She tried very hard today to get him to engage on the computer, but Andrew was having no part of that. He clung to my leg and when I tried to detach him, he crawled under a table. Poor little guy...he going to get used to the new schedule and then he's going to transition to a new class (the 4 year old class) in 3 weeks. I feel terrible, but I know that 5 minutes after I leave, he's a completely different child - playing and laughing with all his friends (I've checked in the video screens his day care has in the reception) I guess that's the down side of Andrew being such a momma's boy. :-(

First Day of School

Today is the first day of school for Loudoun County. When the big yellow bus pulled up this morning, I realized that this time next year, Andrew will be getting on the bus. Time has really flown....

Busy holiday weekend

After our whirlwind trip to NYC last weekend, the plans were to relax this weekend. When we made those plans, we definitely did not factor the very active 31/2 year old into the plans. So, all plans for relaxation were out the window - at least until he crashed each day for a quick recharge!

Friday night we decided to make home-made chocolate chip cookies and hot chocolate for movie night (yes, hot chocolate in August!).

Saturday, Andrew and Daddy washed Daddy's corvette.

Sunday morning, the whole family played tennis - or should I say - Andrew played tennis for about 20 minutes and then rode his bike around the tennis courts while Colin and I played tennis for an hour. We took a LONG bike ride (for Andrew) and walk for us in hopes of wearing out some of that excess energy Andrew had. Thank goodness for Jen and Brandon - they brought Alexa over to play with Andrew Sunday night. They played until close to midnight Sunday night so we actually got a chance to sit, drink yummy mojitos and chat with Jen and Bran

Today, we went to Algokian Golf Course and hit golf balls. Andrew's getting pretty good at hitting them (some of his golf balls went further than mine!). We're thinking about taking him out to Sterling Golf Course in late October.

Not a very relaxing weekend, but fun none the less....