Wow, it has been such a long time since I've added to our family blog. The past month and a half or so has been so busy it's obvious that the blog has gone lower and lower on our priority list! We finished up our mild and snow-less winter, and welcomed an early and quite warm spring. Andrew turns 9 months tomorrow and has turned into quite the busy little boy.
Throughout the month of February, Andrew started running these fevers on and off. He of course was acting totally fine and normal, but these fevers of 100+ degrees kept popping up. We were back and forth to the pediatrician countless times, trying to get to the route of this issue, and after many exams and blood tests, luckily it turns out he's perfectly fine. It seems that he might be one of those kids that is prone to having a slightly higher body temperature or just hangs on to viruses a little longer than normal. Other than that he's had a pretty healthy winter. We did start spring break off with an ear infection, but it was nothing a little Amoxicillan couldn't fix!
Andrew continues to be the absolute light in our lives and is growing into such an energetic and loving little boy. Around 7-8 months he started pulling himself up and now he currently cruises around the living room furniture. He's able to stand up without holding on to anything, and even took a couple steps this past weekend. He's so unbelievably determined to walk and I'm sure it is a feat he will conquer by the end of April.Andrew also loves to talk and interact with people. His conversations include topics such as, "Da-da-da-da", or "Ba-ba-ba-ba". He also does a lot of grunting and blowing raspberries, and also makes a bunch of noises that we really can't even describe. Every once and a while we can get him to wave and it sounds like he is saying something similar to "bye-bye". Todd and I have turned into his own personal jungle gym. He has no problem just plowing over top of us if we are in the way of a toy he wants to get to or anything like that. Andrew loves the t.v. remote and is always playing with it, and of course shoving it in his mouth. He really doesn't have a favorite toy that he hangs on to, but will play with all the toys equally, and honestly his favorite things to play with are not your traditional baby toys (i.e. t.v. remote). He loves to crawl up to the wall and walk along side of it. I'm not sure the appeal, but he seems to enjoy doing that.
I'm still making his baby food, but slowly transitioning to some of the pre-made organic food from the grocery store. Now that he's getting older and can have more of a variety in his diet, it's getting harder for me to keep up with making so many different things for him to eat. He's growing so fast, and weighed in at 18 lbs 2 oz when we were at the doctor the other day. We continue to marvel at how much he changes from day to day, and can't believe our little tiny baby is now turning into a little boy. He still has his bright blue eyes, and his hair is really starting to come in more and more, and it is very blonde!
February ended with a trip to the Baltimore Aquarium to celebrate Todd's birthday. Kelly and Alex came with us, and we had such a fun day! Andrew was so well behaved and sat through the dolphin show and did great going through all the exhibits. I can't wait to take him back there once he is older and really can understand what he's seeing and what's going on there. It's such a wonderful place to take kids.
For my birthday this year, we went out for a night in D.C. for dinner and bowling. We left Andrew home with MiMi and Pop Pop and had a great night out on the town. Later in the month, we went out to Arlington to have brunch with Kelly and Alex for Kelly's birthday. It happened to be St.Patrick's Day, so after we ate, we decided to stop at a bar to have a quick drink and then head back home. Well, it ended up being a gorgeous day out, and we found the perfect place to sit outside of this bar to enjoy our afternoon beverages. The first drink went down pretty well, so we decided to have another, and then decided to make a day of it. We had so much fun just sitting around, watching all the crazy, St. Patrick's Day people, and enjoying the beautiful day. Andrew was with us for all of this, and he really enjoyed the nice weather and seeing all the people. It was such a nice day and we were glad we could celebrate Kelly's birthday that way. 
The following weekend we went to visit Todd's family in Pittsburgh. Everyone was so excited to see Andrew and could not get over how much he's grown. Todd and I put Gram and Pap in charge of Andrew that Saturday night so we could go to dinner, then try our luck at the new casinos in Pittsburgh. We had a lot of fun donating money to the city that night, and unfortunately came home empty handed. Oh well, maybe next time!We finished out March with a trip down to North Carolina to visit the Sandell's. This was the first trip I had made down there since we moved back, so I was looking forward to seeing the area again. Lauren and I got up super early on Saturday morning and ventured down with my parents driving behind us. All-in-all the kids did well, but with diaper changes and food stops, the trip took a little longer than anticipated. We had a great time visiting with Leigh, Rowan, and the Sandells. It was fun to see Andrew interact with the other kids. He seemed to really enjoy them, and I really love the fact that my friends and I all have kids around the same age. It will be so much fun to watch them grow up together and become friends.
April looks like it will be another busy month for us. I have recently moved into my brand new school, which is awesome! No more driving all the way out to Chesapeake Bay Middle, but a short drive to Severna Park. I feel so lucky to be in a new school and look forward to using all the new technology being offered there, and more than anything the shorter commute!
