Busy Boy!

**I actually wrote this posting at the beginning of June but am just posting it now at the end of the month. If the dates and events seem a little off, that's why! :)

Andrew turns 11 months today, and I can't even believe our sweet, little boy will turn a year old in just one, short month. Andrew has changed so much in the past month and is definitely a little boy now. Everyday he changes and is certainly growing out of the baby phase. He is full on walking now and walks everywhere and anywhere. He loves to explore, climb under tables and chairs, and even attempts to climb the steps. He continues to be such a happy little boy, and bounces around the house with  constant smile and talking everyone's ear off. Andrew is clearly a talker, although we really can't make out many of the words he is saying. He is trying to associate sounds to different objects, and has started pointing to things he wants. When we catch him getting into something he's not supposed to, we say "Andrew No", and he will look up at us and start shaking his head "no". It's the cutest thing ever!! We do think he is starting to understand the concept of "no", and he usually will stop whatever it is he's doing when we say it. Lately I've had music on in the background while we're home, and Andrew loves to go near the ipod speakers and dance. It's so funny to watch him do this, he usually waves his hands and bounces, so cute!! He only has 4 teeth and I feel like this is an area a growth that has taken a little longer for him. His two front bottom teeth came in around 7 months, and his top two teeth just broke through within the past couple weeks. He seems to have handled his new teeth pretty well. Luckily he hasn't been kept up in the middle of the night due to the pain, so if this is something that has bothered him, he hasn't let us know! Andrew is still a really good sleeper and gets a solid 9-10 hours a night. He also takes 2 good naps a day, so overall he is a great sleeper (I wonder where he gets that from!?!).  I finish school at the end of this week and couldn't be more excited. I can't wait to spend the summer at home with Andrew. Even though Andrew is usually up between 6:30-7:00, I'd much rather wake up to my sweet, little baby than an annoying alarm clock representing a day of school ahead. We plan on spending our days at the pool, as well as have many beach trips planned. Ahhh the life of a teacher in the summertime :)

April and May were as usual busy months for us. The easy fix of amoxicillan for Andrew's spring break ear infection was not as easy as we thought! Andrew ended up being on anitbiotics for 6 weeks due to recurring ear infections. If the third medicine didn't do the trick, we were going to be referred to an ENT, but luckily everything cleared up. In the beginning-mid May, I decided to stop breastfeeding. It was a very hard decision, but it was kind of a decision that was made for me. I got a nasty stomach bug in April, and that totally threw off my milk supply. After a whole day of not eating or drinking anything, my supply went way down. Ever since I was sick, I was pumping less and less. Normally I was making enough milk to get 28 oz. a day, however I got to a point that I was lucky to get 10 oz. I thought long and hard and started out giving Andrew as many breastmilk bottles as I could in a day and supplementing the rest with formula, but I got to a point where the formula bottles were more frequent than the breastmilk. I had such high hopes of breastfeeding until he was a year old, but things just didn't work out that way. I was very proud of myself for lasting 10 and a half months, with pretty much only pumping for most of the time. I plan on breastfeeding whenever little brother or little sister come along, but for now, will enjoy the break from it. Andrew took to formula very well so I was happy to see the transition went smoothly. I look forward to starting him on cow's milk once he turns a year.

Todd and I enjoyed "Rockin' the Red" and going to the Caps playoff games. It was such an exciting time in the DC area to see the Caps do so well in the playoffs, however their run ended earlier than everyone hoped, so I guess there's always nest year. We are so excited for the day we can bring Andrew to a game. I'm sure he will be a huge hockey fan if Todd has anything to do with it!

Andrew took his first trip to Connecticut to celebrate Grandma's 85th birthday. The first night we were there was less than fun for Todd and I. We got to our hotel around 1:00 a.m., and as soon as we got to our room it was party time for Andrew. He was so excited to be in a new place, that sleeping was totally out of the question. We tried everything to get him to go to sleep, but he wanted no part of it. Around 4:00 a.m., we decided to take him for a ride in hopes that would do something for him. Luckily he was able to fall asleep, but don't worry, he was back up at 7:00. To say Todd and I were tired was a complete understatement. We went ahead with our day though and knew we'd eventually catch up on sleep. Todd went fishing with my dad, Cousin Barry, and Alex. They had a great time and Todd caught a fish. One thing he did forget was sunscreen, nice job! Andrew was the hit of the party and so many relatives who have not had the opportunity to meet him got to see him for the first time. My grandma had such a great time and it was so wonderful to have the opportunity to celebrate with her.

We spent Memorial Day weekend the same way we have the past few years, although this year we found was completely different from years past, We stayed on 110th street in Ocean City with Lauren, Jimmie, and Matthew. The weather was amazing and it was the perfect beach weekend. Andrew decided to pull his same stunt of not wanting to sleep the first night we were there, so Todd and I tried forever to try and get him to sleep and not wake up the Buffington's. Todd took him for a ride down Coastal Highway at 4:00 a.m and Andrew fell asleep. As soon as they got back to our condo, wide awake again. Andrew chose not to sleep at all that night, so I just stayed up with him until Matthew woke up at 5:30 a.m. I would say we were all up and at 'em but 6:30. Three years ago there's no way we would be awake and alert at that time of the morning. Boy do kids change things! Since the boys were awake, we decided to start our day. Lauren and I took the babies for a walk, and Todd and Jimmie went fishing. After naptime, we ventured to the beach and the boys had a blast. Andrew wasn't too sure about the sand, but enjoyed playing with the beach toys and crawling around the blanket. We also took him in the pool one of the days we were there, which he absolutely loved! He was splashing and kicking his legs, and loved every second of it. I can't wait to take him to Whitehall this summer. Overall the beach trip was great! Definitely different from what we're used to, but we still had a great time.

June started out as birthday month! My dad celebrated on June 1st, and Todd's dad on the 3rd. We drove up to Pittsburgh to help celebrate Rick's 60th birthday. There was a family party at Aunt Sharon and Uncle Bob's house. Andrew as always won everyone over and we had such a great weekend. Todd surprised his dad with tickets to go to Boston to see a Redsox game, so they are looking forward to that this weekend. I'm sure they will have a great time and will love having some father/son bonding!

I am so excited about the summer ahead and all of the exciting things we have planned. The biggest event will be Andrew's first birthday party. I am still in the planning phases and can't wait for the big day to arrive! I know the summer will come and go quickly as it usually does, but we will make the most of it and enjoy all the exciting things we have planned!