First Birthday Party

Last Sunday was such a fun day! I got to attend my favorite cousin Julia's very FIRST Birthday Party! It was such a fun afternoon full of games, presents and cake!

Here's a picture of the two of us when we still had our fancy duds on and before there was cake in Julia's hair. Julia had the neatest crown on that said "Birthday Princess." Isn't she pretty?


Here is Julia sitting in her mountain of gifts. We were all so excited to see what was inside all of the packages. She got a lot of fun new toys and a swimsuit and sunglasses for the pool this summer.

But, my favorite gift of all was the new wagon she got from Grandma & Grandpa Evens. It's so cool...there are seats that pop up in it and a little basket in the back (which is where Daddy tried to have me ride!) I can't wait until I'm a little bigger and we can go for a fun wagon ride around Albertville.
Thanks Julia, Aunt Sarah & Uncle Eric for a fun birthday party experience! Can't wait for next year!

Andrew.

Trip to Iowa

Hi Everyone!
I'm sorry it's been awhile since my last post. I've been very busy playing with my toys, rolling over and drooling a lot and I've neglected my blog - sorry! But...I'm back!

Two weeks ago I spent 5 fun-filled days at my Grandma & Grandpa Otterness' house in Peosta, Iowa. We had such a fun time! Mommy and I drove down & back by ourselves and I was such a good boy in the car - we only had to stop one time each way. When I was at my grandparents house I got to meet at lot of their friends - I was a big hit!

Here's a picture of me playing with my fun inch worm toy on the floor while I was there. We had to watch out for my grandparents dog Rocky the whole time I was there...he liked licking my feet!

And this is a picture of me with my Mommy, Aunt Beth & her dog Tyler. There have been a lot of complaints about my Mom not being in any blog pictures...so I thought I better include her to please my fans!! It was really warm on Saturday afternoon and we were able to go on a nice walk around the neighborhood.

I can't wait to go back to Iowa again over Easter weekend - it's so much fun there!!
Check back soon...I promise I'll be better at updating the site!

Love, Andrew

Vacation!!

Well, I went on my first official vacation!

My parents and I left Basil (my cat) at home last weekend for a fun winter vacation in Walker, MN. We all had a little cabin fever in St. Paul so we headed north three hours to my Great Aunt Arlyss's cabin on Leech Lake. It was kind of a long drive so Daddy and I took turns...
I know what you're thinking...no, my Mom is not Britney Spears!! Don't worry, we were actually in a parking lot and Daddy was teaching me to drive after I had lunch and got a clean diaper.

We arrived on Friday night and while we were there it snowed 8 inches between Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning! Daddy put me in the Baby Bjorn for a short walk outside. It was so cozy after he zipped me up into his big winter coat. But, we didn't stay outside too long because the snow was really blowing good!

I wasn't the only kid at the cabin this weekend. Here is a picture of me with Chris & Erika Hanson's kids: Eva, who will be 4 in a few weeks and Travis who is 1 1/2. They're a little bit old for me to play with right now, but I can't wait to be bigger so we can run around together!

I can't wait to go back to the cabin this summer so I can swim in the lake and roast s'mores by the bonfire.

Thanks for checking in on me...I hope you're doing great!
Andrew

I Love Visitors!

Thank you everyone for checking in on me by viewing my blog! It's been a lot of fun to read your comments (no, I can't read yet...but my Mom has been reading them to me!) I'm sorry that it's been a few weeks since our last posting. I've been very busy with all of the out of town family and friends that have come to visit me lately. Here's a recap of my most recent visitors:

This is my Uncle Eric holding me. He stopped by with Grandpa on the way to a Minnesota Wild hockey game last Saturday. He lives in Albertville, which is about 45 minutes away so he's not technically an out-of-town visitor...but close!! He is my favorite cousin Julia's Daddy.

This is my Mommy's very good friend Ann Maronick. She came to visit me all the way from Lansing, Michigan for a few days of fun last week! I got to show her the Mall of America, Grand Avenue, and we baked some yummy Valentine's Day cookies for Daddy's office. Thanks for visiting me Annie - I miss your funny baby voice!

This is my Aunt Beth, who was my most recent visitor this past weekend. She came from Downers Grove, IL to hang out and get some baby snuggles! We had a great time shopping at the mall, visiting Daddy in downtown Minneapolis and going to church on Sunday. I can't wait for her to visit again over her Spring Break in March.

Well I guess that's all. If any of you come to visit me you might make the blog too!!!
Thanks for looking in on me!
Andrew

Andrew Turns Three Months Old

Chuck had a fun time on Saturday taking Andrew's 3 month old pictures while I was at a conference all day. I thought you would enjoy a few of the best ones...




Don't you love his crazy hair??

Andrew also had a big week last week with lots of firsts. On Wednesday he smiled at something that wasn't a goofy Mommy or Daddy face for the first time. He was playing with this little inchworm stuffed animal and just out of the blue he started cracking up...it was the cutest thing to watch. On the same day he also rolled over from his back to his belly. I think it was sort of an accident...but that counts, right?
And then yesterday, he had his first big boy laughs! Up until this point he was only kind of silent laughing or grunting when he smiled. But yesterday he was giggling out loud!! Talk about contagious laughter...

First Trip to the ER

Well, we knew it would happen eventually now that we're parents, we just didn't think it would be this soon...a trip to the ER. Last Monday, Andrew ate a bottle of formula for the 4th time in his entire life. And unfortunately, he had a severe allergic reaction to it. He was covered from head to toe in hives, his face swelled up and he became extremely lethargic. We ended up having to call 911 to have an ambulance take him to the hospital. It was the scariest moment of my life. But, everything is OK now. They gave him benadryl and prednisone and the rash started to go away fairly quickly. He was pretty groggy for a few days, but now he is back to his regular self (and I've stopped sleeping on his bedroom floor!)

--Sue

Here are a few updated pics of the happy guy:

Andrew has a new "grasp" of fun!

These are pictures of Andrew from two weeks ago. He just learned how to grab onto things with his hands. He is very impressed with his new skill and loves to grab the rings on this jungle gym! I had to get my hair cut shorter recently too because it was very enticing to those little hands. The same week that Andrew learned to grab things, he also discovered his feet, and he's constantly leaning over trying to get them into his mouth...too cute!

--Sue