Whew, I'm behind!

Here are a couple of Anderson videos to hold you over until I can do some catching up!

Anderson shows who is the boss around here.

Anderson tries his hand at vacuuming the kitchen floor!

Walking Riley

As promised, I finally took the camera out to film Anderson in action walking Riley. At the end when he gets upset, he's frustrated that Riley's leash is wrapped around him. ;) Such a sweetheart!


Here's an adorable picture of Anderson sitting in his chair reading books with his two giraffes today. I was busy in the kitchen when I glanced over to see why he was so quiet. I was so nervous that I wouldn't get to the camera fast enough!

Love this video...

At first glance, nothing too spectacular is going on in this video of Anderson playing. I had just found this racetrack toy at a consignment sale and Anderson was enjoying those first glorious moments of having a "new toy". It's the little things in this video that I love the most. I love how he uses his chin to carry all three race cars at once. I love how he glances up at Riley as she runs past, making sure he doesn't need to follow her. I love the look of determination on his face as he tries to line them up at the top. I love the way his shorts are just a little too big so they sag down in the back when he bends over. I love how he sticks out his tongue as he works hard. Most of all, I love the little giggles that Anderson gives when the cars go zoom down the ramp. To me, everything about this video of Anderson shows what a spectacular blessing God has given to us.

Let's Pretend...

...to take care of the baby.
Anderson brought this baby downstairs this morning and wanted to rock it while I sang "Rock-a-bye Baby". He insisted on sitting in this Bumbo seat with the tray on (I'm actually thinking he's imitating me when I would use a Boppy pillow to nurse him and rock him???). Whatever was going through his head resulted in a precious glimpse of a very sweet boy.
...to have a lunch meeting.
Anderson and his friend Brody have a very important meeting at Dream Cafe. They were hard at work on reorganizing the sugar packets.

...to be a zookeeper.

Anderson loves these two giraffes. He will often carry them around giving them hugs and take them on fun activities like riding on his car. Those long necks must make them easy to carry!

...to sweep the floor.

Whenever we bring the hardwood mop out, Anderson must have a turn first! It's a little difficult to maneuver, but he does a good job!

...to be a chef.

I found this cute set of stainless pots, pans, and utensils that are kid-sized at Ikea. Anderson loves to pull them out while I'm cooking and make some special treats of his own.

Fun Times

Today Anderson and I went to Pump It Up Jr. which is one of those places with all the inflatable climbing and play structures. They had a special 2 hour window where it was only open to toddlers, so we went with a friend. Anderson was a champ! Once he got over the loud music and crowded conditions, he went right to work climbing, sliding, bouncing, falling, and having a blast. He loved the giant slide the best even though he got plowed over by a few bigger kids a couple of times because he was too slow in getting out of the way. There were only two incidents of tears due to being trampled by bigger kids, so I figured that was actually pretty good given the circumstances. After the fun, we went to McDonald's for Happy Meals and of course, that was fun too. Anderson particularly liked the purple unicorn that he got for his toy in the Happy Meal. Daddy will probably be promptly throwing that away, but he enjoyed it for a little while! Here are a few pics from our fun day.

One more story to end this fun. Yesterday I had a friend that I used to teach with over in the afternoon. She has a 4 month old little girl. Anderson took right to her and even went right over to her and gave her a kiss (at least his version of a kiss). He was very proudly showing all of his toys to her while they were over. The cutest part, though, came when they left. After saying goodbye, Anderson and I went up to his playroom. There are two of my old Cabbage Patch dolls there for him to play with, but he hasn't ever really paid much attention to them. Well, after having the baby visit us he went right over and picked up those baby dolls and hugged them, rocked them, and gave them kisses. It was so precious!

Oh, I have to add that during his bath tonight Anderson attempted for the first time to say 'turtle'. Only in his language it came out as "tur tur". I'm loving all the new words we hear everyday!

Fun in San Antonio

Last week Anderson and I traveled to San Antonio to spend the week with Grammy and Gramps Neumann. Despite being a bit nervous about flying with Anderson alone, he did fantastic on the flight there. In fact, one fellow passenger announced to Sharon as we were walking to baggage that Anderson had been the best baby he’d ever seen on a flight, and he traveled often! Yeah for my little buddy (and the snack cup of Trix cereal I had packed)! I do have to mention a big “Booo” about the Southwest Agent who insisted that I remove items from my suitcase because it was overweight, but refused to help me despite having a squirming toddler attached to my hip, two bags on my shoulders, a car seat, and a huge suitcase. Needless to say, by the time I actually had the weight redistributed properly, my things were spewed across the floor of the SWA ticket counter walkway and Anderson was screaming. So, thanks a lot to that agent for just standing there watching it all happen.

Alright…on to better things. On Wednesday Grammy, Anderson, Aunt Reagan and I went to the San Antonio Zoo. It was hot and humid, but we all had a great time. The butterfly greenhouse was really cool and Anderson seemed very interested in the butterflies as they flew all around him. I did catch one on my finger, but Anderson seemed a little concerned and wanted it to get off of my finger. He saw the black bears, the zebra, some fish, plenty of birds, and many other animals. His favorite part of the trip had to be the Kids Petting Zoo area. He made fast friends with the goats! I think he probably thought they were dogs. He was very gentle with petting them and even bent down to give them small hugs and a kiss. Brushes were available to use on their hair and Anderson found that to be quite fun. He even wanted to use the brush on his own hair after helping out the goats! After the zoo trip, we all went and had lunch with Great Gran at her house. Anderson enjoyed playing with the tricycle that Great Gran had for him and her kitchen cabinets made for a fun game of “Open/Shut”. Later that day, Anderson took a little swim in Grammy and Gramps’ backyard!

While in San Antonio, Grammy and I took Anderson to a class at Gymboree. He did fantastic at it, fully impressing the instructor with his signing skills (“Thank you” unprompted and in the right context!) and play skills. There was also lots of time spent playing at the house with the many, many wooden ducks. Anderson thought it was fun to rearrange and take them off the shelf.

Anderson and Gramps

Anderson loved playing in the yard with Riley!

Reading books with Grammy.

Anderson being an awesome office assistant to Gramps

We also celebrated Reese’s promotion while in San Antonio. He was recently promoted to Manager at Bain, so he deserved a nice dinner and some congratulations from all. Anderson proudly handed his Daddy the balloons we had bought for him when he walked into the house. It was very cute!

So, we’re back home now and are back to our busy schedule of play dates, Gymboree, swimming, etc. I hope you enjoy seeing some of the pictures from our trip to San Antonio!

Swimming in Myrtle Beach