DrewDrops: The First Year

A full year of Drew's growth and development, archived for posterity:

                     

  

Drew's first haircut.  He cried the minute the stylist turned on the clippers and kept crying the whole time.  He didn't cry that hard even for his immunizations!  Poor baby. ~11-21-11~

Quickly enters the world, weighing 6 lbs, 15 oz and measuring 19 1/2 in long. ~11-24-10~

First doctor's visit. Weighs in at 6 lbs, 10 oz and measures 20 in long. ~11-27-10~

Two week doctor's appointment. 7 lbs, 8 oz (10-25th%) and 20 1/2 in long (20-50th%). ~12-08-10~

Hits the 10 lb mark! ~12-23-10~

Starts cooing and smiling. ~1-10-11~

First reaches out to hit a toy. ~1-23-11~

Two month check-up. Wow, has Drew grown! 12.1 lbs (70th%) and 24 in long (75th%). ~1-26-11~

Sleeps for 7 straight hours at night! (Usually sleeps for about 4 hours at a time.) ~1-27-11~

First blowout at church. All down his back. Awwww. ~1-30-11~

Drew now loves to stare at his fist. ~2-01-11~

Drew's blessing day. ~2-06-11~

Drewey grabs a toy ring on his bouncy chair! ~2-11-11~

Drew laughs. ~2-12-11~

Drew colors for the first time (Valentine Day's card for Mir). ~2-14-11~

14 lbs! ~2-19-11~

Drew is now 3 months old, but he's regressing in his nighttime sleeping. Lately he's been up every 3 hours--it's like having a newborn again! I'm due for some rest! ~2-28-11~

Drew's nighttime schedule now has him up every 2 hours. For real. ~3-07-11~

Drew now laughs when we play peek-a-boo with him. ~3-19-11~

Last night Drew slept from 10:30 pm to 7:30 am. I don't dare become hopeful, but the full night of sleep was wonderful! ~3-21-11~

The most frequent comments I get about Drew are that he looks just like his sister and that he looks like me. ~3-21-11~

Drew's latest sleeping permutation: He has pushed back his 4 am feeding to 5:30 am. The catch--he won't go back to sleep when he's done at 6 am. So he's sleeping longer, but I'm sleeping less. ~3-25-11~

Drew's 4-month appointment was today. He weighs 15 lbs. 13 oz. and is 25 1/2 in long. That puts him in the 75th percentile for both weight and height! ~3-30-11~

Drew eats applesauce and pears with enthusiasm. ~4-29-11~

I've been nervous to post this, but I think Drew has finally learned how to sleep through the night. Drew has been going to sleep around 9:30 and sleeping until 6 or 7 in the morning. He's been perfecting this routine over the past week or so. My fingers are crossed while I'm knocking on wood. ~5-20-11~

Scratch what I posted about Drew sleeping through the night. ~5-26-11~

Stats from Drew's 6-month check-up: 27.5 in long (almost 90th%); 18 lbs 4 oz (65th%); head circumference (70th%). ~5-26-11~

Drew is now a champion baby food eater. He has to eat 3 times a day and eats 2 containers at a time. His interest in his bottle is waning. ~6-10-11~

At the beach, Drew loved the sand but wasn't a big fan of the surf. ~6-18-11~

Drew has become a prolific pooper. He used to have a stinky only once every 3 days. Since the introduction of baby food, he's now up to 3 times in one day. ~6-20-11~

I felt the first snaggly start of a tooth on Drew's bottom gum. That's earlier than Tess, who didn't start cutting teeth well until 9 months. ~6-21-11~

Drew's ears were clear at his follow-up appointment today. My suspicions were confirmed that he has been gaining weight at an astonishing rate. He now weighs 21.5 lbs. That's up 3 lbs from his appointment last month! It's getting more and more difficult to haul him around in that carrier! ~6-22-11~

Drew rolls over (back to front)! ~6-25-11 (9:20 am)~

I spied tooth #2 coming through in Drewie's mouth today! He's going to be so cute with two bottom teeth! ~6-28-11~

Drew has entered his screeching stage. It started during church on Sunday and I wasn't able to sit through any of the meetings. Happy screeches, but loud screeches nonetheless. I remember Tess went through similar phase and mom says I was a screecher too. ~7-11-11~

Another Drewie trick: if you shake your head back and forth and make silly sounds, Drew will start to shake his head like crazy. He thinks he's very funny. ~7-11-11~

Drew has a new trick that he performs with gusto. Lying on his back, he pulls up both legs together and throws them down in a big donkey kick. When he gets going fast, he actually catches air! ~7-11-11~

Drew can sit up by himself now! ~7-16-11~

Some things that are true about Drew:

*He still has to be swaddled and held tightly to fall asleep. He also likes to have a blanket or soft toy next to his face.

*Whenever I swaddle him and feed him a bottle, he gets so warm that little beads of sweat form on his nose. He's the sweatiest baby ever.

*He fights going to sleep and usually puts up a big fuss before he finally drifts off.

*You know he's about to fall asleep when his eyes flutter and roll back in his head.

*His favorite toy is my shoe necklace. He loves fingering the shoes and little beads.

*He is very ticklish under his chin.

*He likes it when strangers say "hi" to him.

*His sister can make him laugh like no one else can.

*He does not like having his face washed.

*He loves his rubber ducky in the bathtub.

*He's kind of a mama's boy. ~7-31-11~

Drew is now at the "find-tiny-microscopic-things-on-the-carpet-and-put-them-in-your-mouth-and-choke" stage. ~8-03-11~

Drew now loves to clap his hands. He's also been eating small bits of real food. ~8-18-11~

Drew is growing into a big boy! Stats from his 9-month visit: 21 lbs 15 oz (almost 75th %); 30 inches long (90th %); head circumference 90th %. ~8-31-11~

Drew has been saying his first new word (besides "mama" and "dada") over and over again: "ball, ball, ball, ball!" ~9-10-11~

Brace yourself if you ask for "kisses" from Drew. He grabs your hair, cheeks, eyeballs (whatever is in his immediate reach), opens his toothy mouth wide, and shoves your whole cheek into his slobbery mouth. Little lover boy. ~9-12-11~

Drew has an obsession with long, cylindrical objects: straws, pens, pencils and markers are his favorites! He'll hold one in his hand and just look at it and play with it for an hour. ~10-16-11~

Drew gives you really cute pats on the back when you pick him up and give him a hug. ~10-16-11~

Drew loves playing ball. He gets so excited playing, he often squeals with delight. He can actually throw a small ball pretty well, and he can push a larger ball to you for a game of catch. ~10-16-11~

Drew can now do a half-hearted army crawl if he absolutely HAS to move somewhere else. He'll reach his arms in front and push himself forward just enough for his purposes. Usually he just gives up and finds something else to be interested in. ~10-16-11~

Drew can do a fairly fast-paced army crawl now--especially if he sees something he wants. He clasps his hands in front of his body, rests on his elbows, and pulls forward with his forearms. He mostly drags his legs, but he will use the sides of his feet to push a bit. He hasn't learned how to transfer from a sitting position to a crawling position, nor has he started to pull up on things. ~11-20-11~

Drew does not do well with the 11:00 am church schedule. He might allow Ryan to sit through Sunday School. However, he is usually fussy during the third hour (1:00-2:00 pm, his nap time), and they often walk around the halls. ~11-20-11~

Drew has a fourth tooth coming through on the top. That makes six total: 4 on top and 2 on the bottom. ~11-23-11~