Wow, we've heard a language explosion from Andy in the past few weeks! He's trying way more words now, and putting together new word combinations every day. Many of them are cute and funny (at least to Momma).
One of his recent favorites is, "Hey momma, look Andy," followed by some special new trick, funny face, or general silliness. He also loves watching the construction workers at our house and likes to pretend to be one of them: "Andy dig; hard work; boots help." This usually means he's been digging with his shovel in one of our many dirt piles. We found actual waterproof work boots at Target. They look just like daddy's and the workers; Andy will not go anywhere without them. They're so authentic, we can't get them on his feet without the aid of a shoe horn.
We enrolled Andy in swim lessons that ended last week. They seem to have paid off, as he is a much more comfortable swimmer and can get around the pool totally on his own if he wears his life vest. It's slow, but he can make it from one end of the pool to the other and back again without any help.
And that's the way he wants it. "Andy do it! Go away, Momma." I hear that a few times a day, with Mr. Independence trying to do everything for himself, including put on his own work boots. Picture a toddler working with a shoe horn and you'll understand why it sometimes takes us 15 minutes to get dressed.
He still loves to play golf and hear me tell stories of going to play golf. Our "hit ball" stories have evolved from Momma as the primary story-teller to Andy giving his input. I used to tell elaborate, imaginative stories about how the ball would get gobbled up by a fish or taken by a bird to incubate in her nest. That just irritated Andy, who wanted me to get back to "hit ball." Now that Andy is helping tell the stories, they always end with Andy driving the ball farthest off the tee and being the first to get his ball in the hole. Whoever else he's playing with--Momma, Daddy, Nana, Aaa (aka, Don), etc.--often end up in the sand, water, trees, or with balls that can't find their way across the green. For a while, Andy would tell me that Aaa was too sick to play golf, but Andy thinks he's feeling better and includes Aaa in the stories again.
One final Andy story to record for posterity: whenever we have to go out in the rain, he tries to protect me by putting his hands over my head. Very sweet, but not so effective. Still, a true gentleman, just like his daddy.
Marshall wants me to reassure our devoted followers that he will eventually have time to post several months worth of photos and updates.
