Growing Up

Looking back on five weeks of life. Where does the time go?

According to Carter's, Libby is no longer a newborn. She now stretches her newborn-sized outfits to the max and has moved onto 3 month clothes already. She had her one month checkup on Wednesday and weighed 8 pounds, 12 ounces and was 20+ inches long. She's moved from the 10th percentile in height and weight to nearly the 50th in weight and still just the 15th in height. She's a big fan of boobs. She's also sleeping better at night and is awake for longer stretches during the day. And when she first wakes up in the morning, she can sometimes coordinate all the pieces of a smile. It looks like she'll have two dimples, just like Martin.

Speaking of Martin, he's still full of energy but has become the kindest and most thoughtful little boy. It seems like he's always learning something new that he can't wait to show or tell us about. In fact, just this morning he had a new skill to show off. Martin had scampered off to the bathroom to poop and after a few minutes yelled out "Hey Daddy! Come watch me wipe my bottom!" It was hysterical.

Martin and I enjoy an after dinner cuddle on the patio.

Winnie had his end of the year assembly this week. He's been going to a mother's day out program twice a week since January, and Thursday night the school had a program to celebrate the children. The school is affiliated with a nearby Methodist church, and Winnie's class sang "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands." I don't think he actually sang any of the song, but he did stand there looking cute.

Winnie, in the orange shirt, waits for the go-ahead to stand (and, theoretically, sing) for his performance.

Now that the heat is on here in Texas, the boys have been loving our super Costco special inflatable pool. Bathing suits are optional, but so far we haven't had any sunburned butt cheeks! Libby and I enjoy being lifeguards, and Shamu and Baby Shamu are usually good about not splashing us.

Did you know killer whales eat cashews? It's true!

Arthur is trying again to farm in our back yard. The abundance of squirrels makes things tough, but the worst garden pest of all is Winnie. He picks anything he can find, whether it be unripe strawberries, peppers, or tomatoes. We have had some success with the cucumbers and zucchini, mainly because you need scissors to harvest them. Here, Martin and Win show off some of our crops.

Zucchini!

Cucumberlicious.

Oh hey, we had another kid.

So you may have noticed a few changes around here. A new template, updated title and description, just a few little housekeeping items I took care of. Oh yeah, we also had another baby! And she's a she! No longer will our house be dominated by garbage trucks, digger books, and lawn equipment. Martin and Winnie have a little sister and she's just about perfect. Here she is!



Elizabeth Wren D'Andrea was born on April 26, 2009 at 10:10 am. She weighed 6 pounds, 10 ounces, and was 18 inches long. She's officially a dreamboat and we are all in love with her.

Catching Up

As usual, it's been a while since I posted anything. Since the last post was all the way back in December, there is a ton to report. A few highlights:

• Winnie started sitting up, then crawling, and now pulling up on things. He's totally mobile now. He also loves him some finger foods. No words or teeth yet, but he's working on both.
  
• Martin turned 3! He handled his birthday with the usual gusto and had a fun party complete with a moonwalk in the back yard. It rocked.

I can't remember all the stuff we've done in the past few months, but I did put together a photo album of some highlights from February I thought you might like. Here's a link. Eventually I'll get some more pictures here on the blog, but that may not be for another few days. Meantime, enjoy these pictures.

Aye, yi, yi! Christmas pictures are the worst!

This afternoon when I was heading out to pick up Martin from Tree Tops, I stopped to talk to our new neighbor. It was a lovely afternoon, and she was sitting in her front yard with her three kids, tripod tipped over and camera sitting nearby. Her two boys were tearing around the lawn, wearing matching green polo shirts, and her 2 month old daughter was in an adorable Christmas frock. "The dreaded Christmas picture," I said with the "I've been there" look. She and I commiserated for a few minutes over the trials of trying to corral our children in a cute picture once a year, usually at the last minute. Why do we do it? Because a card without a picture is unacceptable and a card with a less than perfect (but more accurate) picture of our lovely children would be disastrous, at least in our holiday-stress-induced opinion. The right thing to do would be to send out a picture of Martin happy, but covered in lollipop goo and Win still in his pajamas and covered in barfaroo, as we fondly refer to his endless spitup. Instead, we try all sorts of tricks to come up with a picture that portrays our kids as impeccably clean, smiley angels. The things we do for our fans.

In honor of Christmas picture season, and to make everyone out there trying to get The Perfect Picture feel better, I submit to you the worst Christmas picture of all time. Here is the D'Andrea family at the Texas state Capitol tree lighting and sing along, trying to look festive. Merry freakin' Christmas, y'all.

Mischievous Martin in the pumpkins.

Winnie napping in his new big boy car seat.

As usual, I am going to post a big message catching up on all we've been up to lately, since I just can't seem to do little mini-posts on a regular basis. Here we go...

I'm already closer to 5 months old, but my mom's a slacker and never updates this blog.

Winnie turned 4 months old on October 20 and went to the doctor for his four month checkup on 10/23 because I am already confusing my sons' birthdays (Martin was born on Feb. 23 and Win was born on June 20). On 10/23, Win weighed 15 lb 3 oz, was 24 1/4" long, and had a robust 43 cm head circumference. He's at the 50th percentile for weight, 25th for height, and between the 50-75th for head size. I think he's just about the same size Martin was, but I can't remember and I have been terrible about documenting that type of thing. Win is nearly rolling over from back to front, but doesn't seem to care about going the other way. Seeing as how it took Martin nearly 10 months to roll over, I'm not too concerned, especially when I see how mobile Martin is these days! We go back at 6 months for more poking and prodding.

These chubby legs were made for needle sticks. Ouch!

We celebrated Halloween. We started by going to a fabulous Halloween party at the Cohen's house. Martin dressed up as Lance Armstrong, a costume I threw together at the last minute by going through the closet and garage, looking for dress-up wear. He seemed to have fun, but still didn't completely understand the whole costume thing. On Halloween night, Martin got to go trick or treating for the first time with Dad. They went up and down the street and came back with quite a haul. In what will probably come as a major disappointment to Anne Geddes fans everywhere, I did not force Winnie to wear an adorable costume or dress up like a head of lettuce. In a nod to the latest holiday to be over commercialized, Win did don an orange top.

Martin wears his school (diaper change friendly) costume and tries out a lawnmower at Lowe's on Halloween.

Be honest - does this shirt make me look fat?

Martin as Lance Armstrong, complete with yellow Livestrong bracelet and tight outfit. Not surprisingly since we live in Austin, most people recognized his costume. Success! Here he is, off to trick or treat for the very first time.

No doping scandals or celebrity girlfriends here, just good times and lots of sugar. Martin shows off his loot after a trip up and down the street.

In other news, Martin is actually beginning to show the slightest interest in using a potty, which makes me very happy. And Winnie finally moved into his very own crib, a move delayed by the fact that we lost several crucial crib parts in the move to our new house. Thanks to Zach's Papa and 8 trips to Home Depot, Dad was finally able to rebuild the crib this weekend. I'll leave you with a picture of Win taking his first nap in the crib.

Martin chose green apple Lick-A-Stick candy as his reward/bribe for tinkling in the potty. Here he is in sugar heaven after his one success to date.

Winnie and Vivi chill out together one lovely Fall afternoon. These two mellow babes are sure to be pals.

Who's idea was it to give up naps?

My Sweet, Sensitive Boy

Martin has always been a very sensitive boy. Whether it comes from his close relationship with Elizabeth or his father's kind genes, Martin picks up on feelings and is very in tune with his own. For example, a few months ago Martin started "taking my temperature", as Zach's mom put it, by asking me, from time to time, if I was happy. Most of the time, he'll ask me after he's done something particularly naughty that he knows has angered me. Often, though, he's sensitive enough to pick up on the fact that I'm in a bad mood for whatever reason, and he'll ask "Mommy, are you happy?" It's very sweet and it always helps to put things in perspective.

Martin is also sensitive in other ways. Tonight, for example, I started singing "On Top of Spaghetti", the old classic song about the meatball that goes missing after a catastrophic sneeze. As I sang it, his little lips puckered and his eyes teared up. I couldn't figure out what was wrong until I finished the song. When I was all done, he looked up at me and said "That's a sad song!" as he burst into tears. Poor boy! It makes me fear for the days to come when truly upsetting things will happen to him. I wish I could protect him from everything sad and unhappy that is bound to cross his path, but I know he will shed his fair share of tears. Fortunately, there should also be more than enough giggles to make the journey a happy one. What a wonderful little boy Martin is.

And in case you were wondering, Win has nerves of steel. He's heartless, I tell you!

Hello? Are you still there?

I've become a big fat tugboat while you weren't looking...

More likely than not, you've been asking yourself that very question about us. We are, in fact, still here growing and going strong, but several things have conspired to keep me from blogging much. First, we had a second kid. I'm not sure how much you know about kids, but let me tell you, they take up A LOT of your time. One took up most of my time and the additional kid now takes up just about all the rest, in a blissful, happy sort of way. Second, we went on vacation for 3 weeks to Loon Lake in upstate NY. We all had a grand old time in the woods, but didn't get a chance to write about our adventures. Finally, we moved! We bought a new house and sold our old house and now live a sweet new place in northwest Austin. We love our new home, but there are still loads and loads of boxes to unpack. With all this nonsense going on, there hasn't been much time for blogging. Sorry about that. Here's a rundown of our comings and goings of late.

Win, or WinnieWin as Martin has christened him, is almost 4 months old already! At first we thought he was going to be a magnificent ball of chubbles, but his growth has slowed down a little bit and he now seems just right. His legs and arms have extra folds in all the right places, and his budding belly hangs out just far enough. He's a jolly little guy who's quick with a smile or giggle. He was a stellar sleeper for the first three months, but has lately become much more demanding in his preferences for how to be put to sleep. This means I've been getting much less sleep and more cuddle time with my littlest boy. Enter Dr. Ferber and his tried and true sleep training. Win is on day 3 of Sleep Boot Camp, which pretty much entails lots of crying and a little sleeping. Fortunately, results should come quickly, and we should all be happy and sleeping well again soon. Other than that, Win is a happy little boy who relishes all the attention we give him, which, considering he's Martin's little brother, isn't always as much as he deserves. Win's just the best.

Martin is 2 1/2 and all boy. He's slimmed down and is now a wiggling, giggling mass of muscle and determination. His favorite game is "Chase Me!" where one of us is supposed to fly around the house after him. Martin has become a big fan of our oft-neglected dog, Abita, and loves to chase her around the yard. That's by far my favorite version of chase me. Martin's quite the talker, and has recently started using his words to play mind games with us. While Grandma was visiting last week and we were all sitting outside, the following conversation occurred:
Martin: "Hey Grammie, want to come inside and play with my toys?"
Grandma, who is happily sitting outside with a glass of wine and Win on her lap: "Um, not right now Martin. I have to hold Winnie." (and I've already built 6 car warshes out of blocks for you, played with the train 8 times, not to mention I got up with you at 6:45.)
Martin: "Why don't you give Winnie to Mommy and come inside."
Grandma, looking a bit fidgety, but still sticking to her guns: "No thanks, I think I'll stay out here and talk to Mommy and Daddy."
Martin, in his best singsongy voice: "Grammie, we've got fans inside. And air conditioning. It's so COOL in my house. Don't you want to come inside?"
With that, Grandma can no longer resist Martin's charms and she heads inside to build another car wash out of blocks.

Martin's doing great. He still truly loves vacuums, but has graduated to become a true connoisseur of lawn equipment. As we drive through our neighborhood, he narrates for me. "Look, Mommy! A riding lawn mower!" or "Mommy, did you see that! It was a backpack leafblower! With a cord, Mommy. A cord!" I think his little heart skips a beat each time we see a wood chipper parked in front of someone's house. Nothing pleases him like a trip to Lowe's to try out every grass trimmer, chainsaw, leaf blower, or lawn mower not tied down. Here's a little tip from me - NEVER buy the floor models in the garden section of Lowe's. Martin and every other small engine loving toddler has broken it in for you, and probably broken it as well.

Here are some pictures of our little family for you to enjoy. Till next time, peace out!

Win up at Loon Lake and asleep (7 weeks old). We'd stack cushions on top of him to trick him into thinking he was still being cuddled. He'd sleep for minutes!

We enjoyed several delicious happy hours up at Loon Lake. We decided it was time to teach Martin the most important happy hour manner, namely no double dipping. This is what we got for our efforts - a whole bunch of half-eaten snacks. Clever little monster.

Martin, the happy hiker, about to ascend Stewart Mtn, elev. 200 ft. He actually did an amazing amount of the hiking himself, lured with power vitamins (jelly beans).

After the hike, a rare moment at rest.

Winnie gets acquainted with Chestertown's most famous roadside attraction, the enormous cock. Ride 'em, cowboy!

Not the best picture, but a decent comparison of the size difference between the boys.

Remember this? We planted a tree for Martin just three weeks after he was born in our old back yard.

Here's Martin and the tree, 2 1/2 years later. How they've both grown!

Winnie's learning to master the play mat. You should see him throw punches at the poor little animals who dangle helplessly from the arches. He's merciless!

This Ferbering is fun, you say? I'm intrigued.

Martin, in a classic big brother move, helps give Win a bottle.

We all headed to Zilker Park one lovely afternoon to feed the ducks and enjoy one of Austin's finest attractions, Lady Bird (formerly Town) Lake. Here, Martin and Dad head down to the water. Talk to you soon!