Where has the time gone? It seems like not long ago we were snuggling baby Andy and lugging him around, and now we can barely keep up with him!

Andy had an entire week to celebrate turning 3! It started off with a sleepover and visit to a train museum and restaurant with Deda and Papa which, as you can imagine, was AMAZING to Andy. Then a trip to the fire station on Monday. Andy LOVED seeing the 3 fire trucks and the ambulance and was also pretty interested in the fire pole. He didn’t actually ask if he could slide down it, but he did want to know basically everything else about it. After the fire station we met Daddy for lunch at Firehouse Subs.

On Wednesday, his actual birthday, Andy got to pick the menu, so we had cinnamon rolls for breakfast, hot dogs and mac and cheese for lunch and pizza for dinner (we are so proud of his healthy choices!). On Thursday, Andy got to go to Uncle Bill’s Pet Shop with Eden’s preschool class. He was allowed to sit in the circle with Eden’s class before we left the church and even got to help with the good morning song. He thought he was pretty special being a part of Eden’s school! Friday we had his birthday party. It was a fire truck theme and all of the kids wore fire hats and spent a lot of time pretending to spray people with their fire hoses. Andy had a great time playing, opening gifts and eating a big piece of cake.

Andy has been working very hard at being gentle with others and has really been doing a good job monitoring himself. He puts on his own shoes, gets himself partially dressed, loves to be chased by Ben around the house, and is suddenly very opinionated about everything (like which seat he should sit in, what socks he should wear, what cars he takes with him and what tv shows we watch). He’s still really into any transportation related things and would watch documentaries on cars, trucks, trains, etc for hours if we let him. A new interest is monster trucks, although we had to put an end to Andy being a monster truck because the main job of a monster truck is to run over things and Eden and Grace did not enjoy being constantly run over.

Andy still has a very sweet and snuggly side. He’s always the one to ask us to cuddle him at bedtime, needs extra hugs and kisses before Ben goes to work and before going to sleep, and is the first to be concerned when someone else is crying. He’s also developing quite a humorous side, cracking Ben and I up with his delivery. He got his eyebrows from Ben and is already figuring out how to manipulate them for added impact. Andy has always been very easy going and still is, for the most part. He’s content to play with Eden when she’s in a playing mood, or is happy to drive his cars around in the basement when she’s in a funk. He’ll sit and watch tv until we turn it off (which is great in the car!), but likes to sit in our laps and read or play outside as well. He’s VERY anxious to start school next year and loves going to church and Wiggle Worship, although he’s ready to get out of the buggy!

At Andy’s check up he weighed 34 pounds and was 38 1/2 inches tall (75 percentile in both). He did a great job answering questions and following directions during the appointment and Dr. Timmons was very pleased with how he is doing.