Only Child

What happens when your big brother is at Summer Camp at Grandma and Grandpa's farm for 5 days?! You get the most smooches, hugs, snuggles, play time, food, giggles, and sweet mom and dad loves!!



Being the second kid is tough....I know from experience. So, when Parker got the chance to go to my mom's farm for Summer Camp for FIVE WHOLE DAYS, Brandon and I decided to make the most of Andrew's "only child" status for the week!

It's funny how different my two boys are. And this week...well, Andrew got to show us just how amazing he is, without big brother around to steal his attention.

Because we were in Colorado on Andrew's 8 month birthday, I didn't get to post about all of the fun things my baby boy has been up to...here's a little update:

Andrew is a big boy....I mean, that boy is sturdy! While in Colorado we had numerous people try to guess how old Andrew is- 16 months, 14 months, 18 months....nope, my Andrew is only 8 months old!

He loves his food! Well....he loves my food! Ha ha! Andrew has always been a good eater, but lately it seems like all he wants to eat is whatever is on my plate or in my glass (luckily, it's usually water). He will drink water out of a straw and he has tried everything from toast to grilled cheese to pancakes and he seems to be doing pretty good for a boy with no teeth!

That's right- my son is 8 months old and has no teeth! It's crazy! All of my friend's babies are getting 4, 5, 6, even 8 teeth and some of them are younger than Andrew. But, I'm not worried. He'll get them when they're ready to poke through!!

My baby boy wants to move, but he just can't quite get it. Andrew will get up on all fours, rock back and fourth, and then fall flat on his belly. Then he kicks, laughs, gets mad, and wants someone to help him get back up. I'm really not ready for him to be mobile yet and as much as Parker wants Andrew to be on the move...I secretly want him to be this way forever!!

Andrew is funny! He is a ham...always trying to get us to laugh or smile at him. And, it usually works!!! He and Parker have so much fun together and I love it when they're in the backseat of the car together and all I can hear is giggles (I need to record this sometime). They are always cracking up at each other.

Andrew's laugh is contagious. Whenever he giggles, you can find all of us giggling too!!

My Andrew is the sweetest little guy you will ever meet. He gives hugs when I pick him up and now when I say, "Andrew, give Momma a kiss", he plants a wet, slobbery tongue kiss on my cheek and I just love it! Brandon actually taught him how to do this and I think Brandon loves it even more than I do!!

Andrew is growing up too fast though and I find myself thinking about his 1st birthday with anticipation and fear!! I'm scared of not having my little baby anymore, but I also love each new stage that he is going through.

I've come to realize that with two kids, life is so crazy that it's hard to take time to see all of these small moments and to slow down long enough to make little memories. But, one of the best things about being a parent of two little boys is watching them grow up TOGETHER.

And, something else we've realized this week- we were so boring before having two kids! I love the chaos of our family and I know we are all ready for Parker to be back (every morning when Andrew wakes up he looks all around for Parker!!)!

So, Parker comes home tomorrow and Andrew has one more night of "only child" status. Let's see how many "only child" snuggles we can get in between now and tomorrow afternoon!