Fun times and good memories

Drew got a taste of his first Halloween this year as the cutest giraffe that you have ever seen. He was able to hit a couple of houses in Meema's neighborhood with his cousins from Florida, Sierra and Morgan.

Am I not just the cutest?!?! Morgan (future cheerleader), Drew and Sierra (as rocker, Hannah Montana) prepare to go find some candy. Trick or treat! He knows what to do with the candy already! Drew playing with a toy that his Great-Grandpa Gordon made. I'm sure he would so pleased! Last weekend, we went to the mall where Drew got to meet all of the players on this year's Wake Forest basketball team. A few of them were especially nice and gave him a high five. He really enjoyed seeing the Deacon, too. We have a little Demon Deacon fan-in-training on our hands!

Go Deacs! Drew & James Johnson. He loved his first ride on the Merry-Go-Round at the mall, too!
Drew prepares for his next set of reps.
Finally, we are in loving memory of Drew's Great-Grandpa Black, who went to a better place on Wednesday, October 29, after 94 good,full years here. Luckily Drew was able to meet him this March and we were able to get this picture (previously posted) that we will always cherish.

Bring on the Funk

Drew had his first taste of funk music at the Lexington BBQ festival today. We'll let you be the judge as to if he likes it...

We also went to the Black & Gold scrimmage for the Wake Forest men's basketball team this morning. It was nice because it was in a small gym instead of the coliseum. Drew really got into it, too! He was clapping his hands and watching the game and he even got to give the Deacon a high five (but I forgot the camera!) He also really enjoyed watching the cheerleaders... MEN! It has been a fun day with little Drew-Drew.

In other news, Drew has been battling a pretty bad cold this week... there have been some rough nights for him here lately, and a little pitiful moan that would break your heart, but hopefully he is turning the corner on that. Brad actually saw him take 2 steps on his own last weekend prior to Drew realizing he wasn't holding onto anything, but I haven't seen him yet. I have caught him standing on his own for a couple of seconds - again, only when he was occupied by a toy or the remote (currently, Drew's ultimate toy) with both hands so he didn't realize he was actually on his own. He really, really enjoys waving these days - and "bye-bye" appears to be quickly approaching possible first-meaningful-word territory. It sounds awful close to it, anyway, when he is waving at people as we walk away.

That is all for now... just anxiously awaiting Drew's first Halloween next week and *gulp* his first birthday the next week. Where has the time gone?

11 months old!!!

It has been a while, so it is time to bombard you with pictures and updates. Drew continues to grow and grow. He has become quite the pro at walking behind his "grocery cart", and he can cruise around furniture; however, he won't let go and attempt to give it a whirl on his own yet. He is actually very cautious about his walking attempts - he seems very calculated in how he lets himself down and balance himself. He did get up 7 stairs on his own this week too (with Mommy close behind, don't worry!). Drew is now eating 100% table food, which seems to be going well. OK... I know you all get on here mainly to look at the pictures, so I'll get the show on the road:

Drew eating his first menu item in a restaurant - mac and cheese! Since he is up on his feet so much now, we caved and finally bought him his first pair of shoes. I think I embarrassed the entire family by insisting pictures be taken inside Stride Rite... but it had to be done! Drew tots around the store - making sure they are a good mix of comfort and style He gives a new definition to the phrase, "he is really enjoying his new shoes". We went to the Chili Cook-off at Tanglewood Park a couple of weeks ago. Although Drew's "Uncle Mike" and his crew didn't win their deserving crown of best chili at the festival, we had a good time. There was a Babies-R-Us area with some toys in the shade, that Drew especially enjoyed. This was also at the festival - I think it is such a sweet picture. The same weekend, Meema came up to watch Drew a bit so Brad and I could have some "adult" time. For the past few years, Brad has sponsored a part of the Chris Paul Winston-Salem Weekend. Brad put on his first non-wedding-related tux since prom, and I put on my first non-wedding-related formal dress since prom and we went to the Banker's Ball - a formal dinner and auction. We had a lot of fun and it was a great weekend for a great cause. Here is Meema and Drew-Drew right before we left - I like this one because it looks like they are both up to something!
Mommy and Daddy all dressed up at the Ball Photo-op with Chris Paul. This past weekend, we drove up to Henderson to celebrate Camden's 10th birthday (one of our nephews born today... 10/6... our other nephew, Nicholas, has his 3rd birthday today also). HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAMDEN AND NICHOLAS!!! It took Drew a bit to get used to a small dog, but he and Sophie quickly became friends (Aunt Melissa's dog) Drew enjoys some of cousin Camden's birthday cake Our little mechanic checks the oil in "Bob" Drew also went to the Dixie Classic fair yesterday. Unfortunately, it was hot (fairs aren't supposed to be hot!!!) - but it was fun. Drew enjoys his version of fair food: ...and also his very own, custom fair ride Drew is a big fan of waving right now- here he is waving at people (or trees, or cars, or... well, you get it) that he passes. I'll call him Mr. Dixie Classic himself: Daddy showed Drew the cows - yes, he got to enjoy the fair animal aroma also! And to end, a sweet picture of our boys - one trying to get out, the other trying to get in. Luckily, neither has yet to figure out how - though I know it won't be long until that changes!

How 'bout another one?

Another video, that is! No, I haven't been forgetting to take pictures - we just got a new camera and I haven't had the time to figure out how to download from it yet. I will soon - as I have some cute new pictures to put on.

But, here's another "tickle, tickle" video for the mean time. =)

Videos!

Such big changes happening - I had to put some more videos up!

Drew loves to talk these days!

Here is proof that he is now crawling like a big boy:
And I can't believe this one myself - our baby boy is walking (sort of!). Ahhhh!!!!

I caught a laugh!

Finally! Whenever I get Drew in a giggling fit I always try to grab the camera, but usually by the time I finally get back, it just isn't funny any more to him. At least I was able to catch a little giggle this weekend... but it's quick - you better pay attention! =) Here we go:

He has made a huge step in his crawling, as he has finally gotten strong enough to pull that big belly of his off of the floor and get up on all fours. He will do this until he see something he *really* wants, then he drops and the commando crawl is back in action - that is his high speed crawl! Here he is up on all fours: We got a laugh out of these... he grabbed onto a tissue and a corner of a page ripped out of a magazine and became obsessed with these. He carried the around with him for at least 30 minutes... if he dropped one he would turn around until he found it so he could proceed. Silly! Mr. Sunshine and Mr. Goofball Finally, I love this video, but Mommy still isn't too tech-savy and can't rotate it on the computer - so you'll have to turn your head to the right to enjoy it!!

10 months old!!!

... a couple of days late, but here it is. Drew had his 2nd Modified Barium Swallow Study done today at Brenner Children's Hospital. While his swallow has gotten a little bit stronger, the therapist recommended that we continue to thicken his bottle to honey consistency. =( Not what we had hoped to hear, but we are still thankful, as this is a very small inconvenience for our otherwise healthy family compared to what other little ones & families are going through. We have to brag on how brave and very good he was during the whole study. He was so curious! So another 4 months of using that ol' thickener and monitoring what he is allowed to have at day care. Otherwise Drew and the rest of us are doing well!

Brad took Drew to his first baseball game on Labor Day Brad and Drew waiting to catch a foul ball Handsome cousins! Camden and Melissa came to visit this weekend!

Go Pirates!

Happy Labor Day to everyone! Although Drew was here last football season, he didn't get to participate much in the festivities at that time. So far, this season is different! "Uncle" Jason & "Aunt" Michelle (also East Carolina alumni) came over Saturday to help Brad pull on the Pirates as they took out Virginia Tech. Brad's old roomate, Ron, even brought Drew an ECU football on his way to the game in Charlotte which Drew enjoyed pushing it then chasing it around the den throughout the game! Here is Drew watching the game with his first football: Brad with his 2 babies - pulling on the Pirates. Drew even got his first bite of cake this weekend, thanks to the yummy dessert that Michelle made! Here is a video of Drew feeding himself cake for the first time:
Drew is a pulling-up machine these days! This is how we find him just about anytime that we put him down in his playpen or crib (makes it a bit harder to fall asleep for naps): And this video is dark, but I like it... it was him waking up from a nap today:

So many updates

Sorry for the lack of posts - so much has happened these last couple of weeks & I am so far behind in my updating! I will try to cram in as much as I can!

Drew has had a big week or two. He recently went to the doctor and he now weighs 27 pounds, 3 ounces. He is 31" tall and his big ol' noggin' is 19" around. All three continue to place him in above the 97th percentile for his age. Two more teeth have cut through the top for a total of 5 right now. He started to pull up a little about a week and a half ago, and he is getting quite good at it now. Now, he can go from crawling to sitting (which helps in the pulling up quite a bit). He loves to stand up, and-with guidance-he tries to take steps!!! He moved up to a different section of day care and he is starting to feed himself *very small* bites of "real" food. He goes back for another swallowing test on September 8th, and hopefully we can advance that a little more and get rid of that thickener (which makes it quite difficult for him to get liquids from a sippy cup). His babbles are sounding more and more like words each day and he continues to be a very mellow, sweet baby.

Drew has had a LOT of fun these past couple of weekends, too! 2 weekends ago, Brad and I flew to Chicago to be in our friends Bryan and Esther's wedding. We are very lucky and grateful that Meema, Aunt Lynda and Aunt Weegie all came up to look after Drew. We missed him and talked about him alot during the weekend, but we also knew he was in quite good hands and getting a WHOLE lot of attention! Brad and I had a great time at the wedding and also while exploring Chicago a bit. Here are some pictures of the fun (sorry the format turned out like it did!) Thank you Aunt Weegie, Aunt Lynda and Meema!!!

Do you think he was the center of attention, or what?!?!Aunt Weegie feeding DrewDrew loves his aunts - and his swing!And here are a couple of pictures of Mommy and Daddy away in Chicago:
The BeanBrad at Wrigley Field with our good friends, Jason and MichelleThe groom, Bryan, with Jason and BradMommy and Daddy all dressed up with Jason and Michelle - just before the weddingThen, this past weekend, Sammy and Elena were down for interviews at a couple of schools in GA and SC... hopefully we can hopefully get them down South soon! We met them at Meema's house - it was a nice treat to see them and see Mimi and Nicholas (Sammy's kids - Nicholas is almost 3 and Mimi just turned 1). They are so cute and have grown sooo much. Unfortunately, I took all of my pictures on Meema's camera - so as soon as she posts them online I will put them up.

On the way home on Sunday, we were able to swing through Columbia and stop at my good friend Sarah's house to see her, her husband and meet her sweet little one, Daniel. Sarah and I have been friends since the first grade (24 years!!!! yikes!). She had Daniel in February - so he and Drew will grow up the same age too! =) It was wonderful to see them, though too brief, and Daniel is quite a cutie.

Daniel checks out this new guy moving in on his toys
A cute picture of Sarah with DanielThe closest we could get to all 4 of us actually looking at a camera!
Whew - we have been busy! I hope everyone out there is well!

Bumbo butt

This is what happens when your baby is:
a) able to crawl
b) strong enough to flip over to his belly and
c) 5+ pounds too large for his Bumbo seat (but his Mommy crams him into it anyway!)

Some videos

As promised, some videos (from the beach). The first one shows his commando crawl (what we do for entertainment and footage, huh?) and the next one shows him swimming with Daddy in the pool. Enjoy!

9 months old!

Can you believe it?! And we got to spend it in the doctor's office. Drew officially has his first ear infection. We are very fortunate that he has made it 9 months before getting one, but put that with two teeth that are cutting at the same time and it makes for one pitiful little boy. Hopefully his medicine will kick in and clear up this infection soon. But, even at his "worst" he is still the best and the sweetest little guy ever!!! We are currently downloading some video, so hopefully I can make it work and get a video up on here soon - nothing today though, sorry!!! Drew has mastered the commando crawl, and he has started to push up on all fours to get his tummy off of the ground this week. He is such a curious little boy - and he really does seem to try to figure out how things work. For example, if we are swinging in the swing he will grab on to the chain, look it up and down, watch it as it moves, study it... and the cabinet doors - he will crawl to them, open them and just peer inside - he just wants to know what is in there! It amazes me how he remembers how things work too - if he has to press or turn or pull things to make them work - and he can get so determined and focused on certain tasks. He also remains very good natured - generally calm and separation anxiety is not a concern yet. He loves to look at his dog and his friends at day care and when you are able to win over a laugh it is something that just truly melts you! (He had me crying I was laughing so hard at him laughing the other day - awesome!!!) So, that is our Drew-Drew in a 9-month nutshell. Hopefully some new pics and videos will be up soon!