Happy Thanksgiving/Birthday to Drew!

We had double the reason to celebrate this holiday!  Drew turned one on Thanksgiving Day, giving us an awful lot to be grateful for.  I was happy to not be in the hospital this year and very glad to be eating Wendy's turkey instead of hospital turkey!

Nana  helped Tess make a proper Pilgrim hat for dinner.  My favorite look is the Pilgrim hat plus her Tangled princess dress.  Very fancy.

Tess at Wendy's beautiful Thanksgiving table, complete with colorful maize candles and fall crackers for Drew's birthday.

Life of the party.  He conked out in his seat during dinner.

A few things about one-year-old Drew:

• He weighs 23 lbs. 13 oz. and is 31 inches long.
• He can do a pretty fast army crawl that looks more like he's swimming than crawling.  He can stand holding on to the couch, but doesn't pull himself up yet and can't stand on his own.  He also has yet to figure out how to go from sitting to crawling and vice versa.  So if he's sitting, he's pretty much stuck, though he has started pushing himself around a little while in sitting position. Walking still seems a far way off.
• Drew still loves to hold straws, crayons, markers, pens, and balls.  He also loves buttons and anything electronic.  He loves the telephone, computer and changing channels on the TV with the remote control.  He enjoys baths.  
• He is a light sleeper.
• When he gets excited, he extends his arms and wiggles his hands like Tess does.  
• From what we can tell, we think Drew may be left handed.  He seems to favor his left hand for most things like eating, throwing a ball, and playing.
• We think Drew has some understanding of the words: Mama, Dada, Tess, num-num, ball, hug and kiss.  The only word we are certain he understands is light, because when he hears that word he looks straight up in the air in search of a light.
• Drew loves music and actually has a good sense of rhythm.  Whenever he hears music, he starts bopping along or swaying in time with the beat.
• He still thinks Tess is the funniest person ever.  
• He lets out great belly laughs when Tess pokes him in the stomach or in the foot or bops him on the head.  He also laughs hysterically when he is tickled on the hips.
• At this stage Drew is something of a picky eater.  He still loves baby food and isn't a big fan of texture in his mouth.  He eats cheese, bread, crackers and pretzels, but doesn't like vegetables and refuses to eat meat of any kind.  He won't eat rice, but has started to eat noodles.  I'm hoping that once he gets used to textures he'll eat a wider variety of foods.  He takes his bottle less and less (he tends to knock it away from his mouth), so he's going to need to start eating more.
• Drew loves going out and being outside.  He's a very easy baby to take places.
• If Drew really likes something (e.g., the cord attached to the attic door), his eyes widen and he purses his lips into a circle and says, Ooo-ooo!  Ooo-ooo!  
• Drew LOVES books and gets very animated when looking at pictures.  He uses his pointer finger to tap the page and often lets out excited shrieks.  He especially loves picture flap books and has a very long attention span when looking at them.
• Drew is a strong boy and is able to pick up or grab just about anything within reach.  It is difficult to hold him still when changing his diaper.  (If given a chance, he will quickly flip over onto his belly and crawl away--regardless of whether he is wearing a diaper.)
• Drew smiles easily and flashes a big smile at many people.  

Drew had a wonderful first birthday.  He got a walker (wishful thinking) and computer toy from us, some darling clothes from Nana and Papa, and some fun books and money from Dipsy and Papa Murdock.