Logic of a Two-year Old

Andrew is starting to get such a funny little personality. It's so great to see him grow and figure things out. I wanted to write a few of the moments that make me laugh, so I can remember his little two and a half year old personality....as well as a few recent and random pictures from the last month or so.

Lately, he has started to pull out this fake-laugh from almost nowhere and because we laughed at him once...or maybe twice...okay all the time. He gets a real kick out of himself, thinks he's hilarious and does it all the time now.

This two-year old in our house cracks us up these days with his logic.

We were playing outside one afternoon and I mentioned how hot it was. It noticed he was sweating and asked if he was hot and wanted a drink. His reply...."Andrew IS hot." Then continues to blow on every body part he can see. His fingers, his arm, his knee, his toes...because that's what you do when things (i.e. our food) is hot. You blow on them.

Chilling on the couch watching a show with his favorites...remotes

For a few month's he went through a phase where he would bite things to show that he was angry. He would bite the couch, his toys, his arm, and sometimes mommy. After a time out, I'd come up and talk to him about what he'd done and I'd usually show him his teeth marks on what ever it was he bit.  Then I'd tell him that he gave ouchies by biting it. I knew it was starting to sink in when we were doing some feeding therapy on chewing and biting.  I was showing him how to bite a new type of food. He looked at me with a concerned look on his face and replied. "Mommy give it ouchie? Say you sorry"

I love how hard he is concentrating on the task of coloring. The smallest things are so hard when you are still working on sitting in a chair. 

Naming body parts is one of Andrew's past times. He finds it so funny to name and label everything. I'm sure like most two-year old kids, finding his belly button is one of the funnest body parts to find. I was on the floor working on a project one day and he walked over to me in his walker. He bent down and lifted the back of my shirt up. Then asked, "Mommy, where belly button?" Nope, sweetheart not gonna find it there!

We've had a blast going to a sensory gym for kids with special needs with a few friends. He hated the ball pit at first, but now it is his favorite part. 

Now that it's fall, the sun doesn't rise as early in the morning.  One morning this week it was a bit cloudy and rainy which made it still pretty dark when he woke up in the morning. His little logic was spot on...."mommy it's very dark. The sun is broken"

Trying to convince mommy that he can take his afternoon nap on the couch

And just one last one...
As we sat down for lunch one day, my stomach was making weird noses and growling. Between bites of chicken nuggets, he causally reminded me to "say excuse me, mommy" Guess all reminders to say excuse me after bodily functions applies to stomach growling too.

He is so into reading scriptures and the Book of Mormon right now. Found him like this with his blanket on his bedroom floor this week.

Being two is such a fun age...yes there are many tantrums and times where I'm completely exhausted, but someone told me once to enjoy the stage they are in as hard as it might be some days, because you never know what's around the corner...it might be harder.  That's exactly what I'm trying to do. I truly love seeing him learn, explore and become a little independent person.

Road Trip to Illinois

By the end of the summer Stephen and I decided we needed to get away! Get away from the Texas heat and the stress of everyday life. So we quickly planned a little getaway up north for Labor Day weekend.  We drove about 12 hours to visit Stephen's Sister Meghan and her family who live in Illinois.

Not knowing how Andrew would do on the 12 hour car ride, we thought we'd leave at 4am....our thinking was that he'd sleep for the first few hours and help shorten the amount of time we needed to entertain a two year old. Boy did that backfire on us!!! We should have known....because he NEVER sleeps in his car seat. So he took a quick 45 minute nap in the morning and then we had a tired and cranky boy on our hands for the rest of the trip.

But it was all worth it! We had convinced Stephen's mom, as well as his brother Jeremy and his family to drive down from Michigan and meet us. So we had a little mini family reunion with about half of the Holden family there. Meghan and Micah were awesome hosts as we had eight people crash at their house. And most importantly we had an wonderfully relaxing time. We played at parks, spent time at the pool, relaxed in the backyard while all the grandkids played, had a girls afternoon of lunch and shopping, went to a hummingbird festival and of course got lots of hugs and playtime with Grandma! It was hard to see this much needed get-a-way come to an end.

Andrew remembered and loved visiting with grandma! Boy has he missed her!

Slides are a favorite of ours! 

Playing in the backyard...he loved jumping on the tramp! 

Having fun at the hummingbird festival! 

I think the little girls had the loved the girls lunch and especially the shopping and trying on shoes! They worked really hard to convince mom that they could grow into the high heels. 

Okay, these kiddos crack me up. We sent them outside to play after church. After a few quiet hours we found them soaking the ground to make the worms come to the surface. They had a huge pile of worms on the tramp.....awww the memories you make with cousins. 

And since we had all the Holden grandkids together we had to take a picture. Trying to get seven kids to look at one camera...let alone smile is quite difficult. This one actually turned out pretty good...

Once again, Andrew loved playing and walking with Grandma. Just the other day the doorbell rang and Andrew and I were upstairs. He looked at me with big eyes and said "It's grandma!"  Needless to say he misses his grandma! 

It's Never Just a Short Ride

We've been excited to be able to get out and ride our bikes this summer, especially now that we've gotten a seat for Andrew. There are so many wonderful trails near our new home and we've loved exploring them all and seeing all the different parks and nature preserves that they all connect to.

We enjoy going for rides after dinner. Most of the time we'd say..."lets just go for a short ride tonight." But then we always want to see what's around the next bend or around the next corner. Sometimes we end up getting lost and trying make our way back home before dark, is always an adventure. 

Andrew loves the bike rides too! He asks to wear his helmet and go bye-bye in his "bike seat". I love riding behind Stephen and him and seeing Andrew hold out his hands as we go fast down the hills. Makes me smile every time. 

One Saturday in August, we decided to put the bikes on the back of our car and head up to a state park close by.

It was a beautiful little trail with lots of trees! Which in August here in Texas means lots of shade. In 100+ degree weather, a little shade is always welcomed. 

We had a great morning ride, and probably went about 10-12 miles... which for us was a lot!

Afterwards we found some tables and enjoyed a little family picnic lunch. We brought Andrew's walker and he thought that was pretty fun. He loved to go and explore on his own all the trails, the river and I think he enjoyed a little freedom of walking on his own.

My boys....I just love these two!

And for the Grandparents.... a little video update

Here's a few fun video clips of Andrew

This video of Andrew was taken at the beginning of July. As I watch it, it's amazing to see how far he's come in just a month or so with his language. He now know most of the words to his favorite songs without prompts. Andrew LOVEs to sing and asks for song after song before bedtime. One of his favorites is the "family song" or "Families can Be Together Forever" I just love the sweet spirit that comes when we sing it and the true doctrine it teaches. He'll ask for it over and over again and it melts my heart to sing it to him.

Riding his car. We've had this car put together for about a year now and he really hasn't wanted anything to do with it. It's been way too unstable for him to push around and he has literally screamed every time we tried to get him to ride it. We'll, he's finally figured it out. Darn CP makes it so hard for the brain, muscles and the legs to coordinate and work together. This is a tough skill for him. He's starting to enjoy it! Yay!

Andrew is way into anything with buttons. Phones, remotes, etc.... He Loves playing with them and hiding them. He also Loves calling people. He asks to call Daddy or Grandma multiple times a day! I love to see him pretending....a hard skill I'm so grateful he is learning.

It seems as though most everyone is heading back to school and summer is over. A very sad thought. With no school-aged kids, I feel like we still have another month or so of summer left here in Texas! We've had such a wonderful time this summer, getting out and exploring. This morning we decided to head to the splash pad and take his walker. Andrew had a ball. I mean really, his two favorite things walking and water. He went non-stop for almost 2 hours. I had to pry him way because it was lunch time and then he threw the tantrum of all tantrums the entire way home in the car. It's been interesting having a child with special needs and taking him into public places with other little kids. Some kids are scared, others curious, most just stare and there are a few who are really sweet. The little girl in the video kept coming up to Andrew and helping him walk. It was darling.

We really don't venture to the park much. ONE because it's summer here and way to hot to enjoy it. and TWO because it's too hard for Andrew to walk around and explore with woodchips and all the other stuff they put down in parks. Plus, all the stairs just aren't very accessible for him to play on the toys. We found this park close by and the entire park is ramps and the awesome rubber padding that makes it very accessible for him with his walker....plus a splash pad to cool off a bit. A perfect combination for this little guy. We will definately be going back soon and especially as it cools off a bit!

Family Time

Have I mentioned how much we LOVE having visitors?
We had been looking forward to having Stephen's parents come visit us in June and were excited to spend the week with them. However, I think they were mostly excited to come to Texas and spend the week with Andrew. Yes, I know. We are perfectly okay with the fact that Andrew is the reason for Grandparent visits. But little did THEY know that we had convinced Stephen's brother and sister who live in Utah to fly down the same week and surprise them. His sister Erin flew in just a few minutes before them and just 'happened' to bump into them in the airport. Then a few days later, I snuck away and picked up James. It was a wonderful week and we played hard. We missed having the whole family together, but grateful for the time we got to spend with each other. Andrew loved all the attention and with countless people to walk with him...needless to say, he was spoiled. We always have a wonderful time with the Holden's we catch up on all the latest movies, play games, and laugh tons! We did manage to squeeze in a few other activities.

We spent a day at Six Flags which was a lot of fun! Even Andrew enjoyed a few rides.  With a few of them he claimed he was "all done" after a few minutes, but he sure did love riding in the old cars with Grandma.

The train ride with Aunt Erin was also another hit. 

The big kids hit up all the major intense roller coasters. This was a favorite of mine, but it just so happens that a few weeks ago some lady fell out and died on the Texas Giant. Yeah, I don't know if I'll try that one again anytime soon.

 We spent a few evenings taking walks around the nature preserve nearby. We had some nice evenings...for Texas in June. Although, I think they were dying of the heat coming from Michigan. We would go running in the mornings together and were lucky if we got out before it hit 80 degrees.

Andrew stole daddy's hat on our morning walk. 

Andrew managed to teach Aunt Erin all of his favorite games on the iPad. 

I just have to laugh at this picture of James immitating Andrew....Hil.ari.ous! 

 We also hit up the Fort Worth Zoo. I loved how up close we were able to get to see all the Animals. Andrew has been to the zoo a number of times, but now that he's older he was way more excited to see the animals.

And darling Erin, who is in the animation program at BYU loved sketching all the animals. She is amazingly talented. It was fun to see the other little kids come up and watch her quickly sketch and ask all sorts of questions.

One morning we decided to check out the new Perot Natural History Museum here in Dallas. It's only been open a short time, but it was awesome inside. Lots of hands on stuff...even for adults. It was fun to do all the touristy things when we have family in town. We loved having the house full and spending time with Erin and James.

And of course we spent lots of time with the Aunts! They are wonderful and we have loved living so close to them here in Texas. 

Then we were lucky enough for Grandma to stay an extra week! YEA!!! We did lots of relaxing and playing. Grandma got to join in for Andrew's therapy that week and see what we do each day for therapy. Andrew had so much fun with just one on one Grandma time! We were so glad that she'd want to stay. Andrew misses grandma a lot and asks to call her on the phone all the time.

Playing on the swings!

"Helping" Grandma with her Sudoku

 Playing a little hide-n-seek. A new favorite game of Andrew's

Reading books together. Grandmas are the best! 

Insta-Update

I seriously can't believe it's been over a month since I've blogged....we've been busy with summer and trying to enjoy all that summer brings. Here's a quick update via Instagram and a small snapshot of our July. Might see a few more posts as I try to update a bit. But for now, here you go!

We seriously have had the best July weather EVER! Very unusual for Texas. July 1st started out like this...Usually we have almost every day over 100 degrees. We've had a handful of those days and a handful of days in the 70 & 80's It's been awesome and we've tried to get out and enjoy those cooler days.

We had a wonderful 4th of July! Good, but different. They don't do many parades out here because it's so blastedly hot, but lucky us it was in the low 90's on the 4th. So we had a quiet morning at home. Then we had a bunch of Stephen's co-workers over to our place for a BBQ and walked down the road to the nature preserve to watch some big fireworks! We had an awesome view and there's just something about fireworks! It was kind of sad though, because we live in city limits we can't do any of our own fireworks. I thought surely I could find some sparklers or pop-its or something small for Andrew. I went everywhere and there was nothing to be found. Crazy! Glowsticks was about the extent of it. The little guy did like the big fireworks, but by the time they started he was so incredibly tired that after he saw 2 or maybe 3 he claimed he was "all done" and wanted to walk. So that was that.

Andrew has a new fascination about dryers.I find it a bit hilarious and a bit weird. He always asks to go see the dryer and asks if he can give the dryer kisses. I caught him one day just laying his head on the dryer while it was on, feeling the vibrations. Monday is laundry day around our house and I wouldn't hesitate to guess that's his favorite day of the week...second to Wednesday....garbage day and watching for the garbage trucks go up and down the street. (Yes...this is the excitement we have at the Holden home)

This is how Stephen and I get a little bit of yard work done on a Saturday morning. Strip this boy down and let him play with the hose. Seriously...he played for almost an hour just laughing, giggling and splashing in the water. Cheap entertainment!

We've been trying to teach Andrew to say "help me" when he gets frustrated and screams. Now he's all about helping me do everything from brushing my teeth to taking out the garbage. This particular day it was "help me cook mommy?"....which how can you say no to that?

What is a summer without spending time at the pool? And we have been spending a lot of time there. We try to go a few times each week, which has been an awesome way too cool down on those hot days! Andrew loves the water and so we have frequented the pool a lot this month.

 We found a local petting zoo, so on a cooler day we headed out! Andrew loved walking all around and seeing all the different animals. They had everything from sheep, pigs, goats, donkeys, to rabbits, cows and baby chicks. It was a lot of fun and all hands on! Afterwards we had a picnic lunch and played at the park. Next time we won't be so last minute and invite some friends to join us.

There's always exciting times around the Holden house. Last week Andrew fell off a small step stool and we ended up in the ER. It was crazy. I was right there and saw it happen, but the thing with Andrew is he has no protective skills like most kids. (ie. putting his hands out to catch himself or falling onto his bottom etc..) So when he falls, he becomes stiff and topples over like a tree. Anyways. Because of this, shortly after his fall he became very limp and couldn't sit up or walk. Then he wasn't talking and when he did it was very jumbled. All of which are signs of a shunt malfunction. It happened right as we were going to sit down for dinner. We decided to try to see if he'd eat something and perk up. It took some convincing, but he ate and was right back to his old self. We were relieved, but still watching him like a hawk. Then right as we were cleaning up dinner, he threw up. It took us about ohhhhh two minutes and we were in the car heading to the ER. We decided to head to Fort Worth, because that is where is neuro-doctors are. If they did have to do surgery, they'd have his history. It was and hour plus drive, but it was worth it. After a few x-rays and CT scans they concluded it was just a mild concussion. Thank goodness! What a relief and Stephen and I realized this is only the beginning. As soon as he figures out how to climb onto stuff we are going to be in real trouble.

We decided to get Andrew a bike seat. We've taken advantage of some cooler days gone on a bunch of family bike rides this month. Andrew LOVEs it and pretends he driving as he exclaims "Wheeeeee" It's great to get out and I think we'll be doing a bunch more of this.

Finally after 3 months of no walker we have a new set of wheels for this boy. I don't know who's more excited mommy & daddy or Andrew. It's been a breath of fresh air and new found freedom/independence for both of us. It so hard to walk around with him all the time, all day long. I get absolutely nothing done. So this will help. Yea!  Funny thing though, we've had it for almost a week now and he really only likes to use it outside. We're hoping that's just the stubbornness of a  2 year old and we are trying to wean him off of holding our hand and walking, so he'll use his walker. Wish us luck we've had lots of tantrums and time outs this week.

Time is flying by way too fast. Here's to hoping that August will slow down a bit....lol!