aRt

liFe & tIMeS of AnDrew

Hi everybody!! I haven't written on my blog since January, and my grandparents are probably getting hungry for another blog entry from me.

I really like art. Mom, Forrest and I are having a good time doing things like painting, coloring and stuff. Forrest loves coloring and drawing. It seems like that's all he ever says anymore, "draw, draw, draw" he says it like a million times a day. Mom is always getting down the crayons for him. I prefer painting and playdough. When I do draw I love to draw galaxies. I like drawing spiral galaxies the most, and mom always says they look good. I like to use black and color space. Mom always encourages me to use other colors too. Black is my favorite though. Today I drew a red hot and yellow sun with black space. It was pretty cool.

Here's mom and me painting mountains, rivers and evergreen trees.

After a while, Forrest and I had more fun playing in the paint water. Mom actually let us for a while, which surprised me.

On Easter, Forrest and I didn't feel too good. Dad cheered us up by playing play dough with us. It was fun because we made food. Mom and Dad helped me make spaghetti and meatballs and a salad. I liked the salad we made (but not real salad, of course...Oh mom just said she would love that to happen!!)

Pretty tasty lookin' huh?

Ringing in 2008

I know I haven't updated my blog in a while. My new Christmas toys have kept me pretty busy. My favorites so far have been the toy trains, aquadoodle, and cars.

I'm really starting to get the hang of playing. I make up story lines and make my cars talk to each other. I like it when someone older joins in and plays with me. That way, I can get new ideas for plots. I mostly like it when Forrest plays, but sometimes he just takes the car or truck that I like the most, and that's annoying. But still, he is cute and makes me laugh a lot.

Mom keeps telling me that I'm growing up. The other day I came down the stairs when KASH was over visiting and asked, "Where's Josh?" Kate responded that he was at work. I nodded in understanding, then added,"Where's Jacob?" They all told me he was at his house and asked if I wanted to call him. Amy dialed and got Jacob on the phone for me. I was so excited. Here's how the phone call went:
Me: "Hi Jacob!"
Jacob: "Hi Andrew!"
Me: "Do you want to come over and play trains with me?"
Jacob: "Sure."
Me: "Okay, bye!"
Jacob: "Bye!"

Everyone thought it was so cool that I organized my own play date. I was pretty impressed too. I'm not shy on the phone like I used to be.

I'm pretty much talking all the time now. Like yesterday, I said, "Amy, will you please pass the cereal." And I told Mom, "I can't open the door. Please help me!"

It sure helps having so many people around, and hearing so many words all the time. It helps me think of more to say. But that's all I can think of right now. I'll write more later.

Bye!

Word for word...

I'm really starting to turn some heads with my verbal skills. Whew, I didn't know how grossly underestimated two year olds are! I mean, I really seem to surprise Mom with some of the phrases I've been saying.

Here's a perfect example. The other day the Target toy catalog came in the paper...now just in case some of you adults have forgotten, that's a big deal for us kids! So, I'm checking it out along with everyone else and my whimpy 'oh, cool' just wasn't cutting it. I realized that I needed to make a lasting impression. Some of these toys were amazing!!

So, I started saying, "Wow! That's beautiful!!"

Everyone laughed and thought it was so cute. Now we're talking, I had the undivided attention of both Mom and Grandma. So, what did I do? Naturally what any two year old in my position would do. I started pointing to the toys I liked and repeating it with smile. Everyone thought it was adorable and I noticed Mom seemed to like it. Hmmm...maybe she'll pass on a good word to Santa for me. :)

Speaking of Santa, I've been SO NICE to Forrest (otherwise known as Fuf). I hope Santa learns that I really am trying to be a good boy. At first, I have to admit that I was motivated by the thought of a stocking full of goodies, but I've found that Forrest and I are actually having good times together. We've been playing together everyday, and I actually miss the little squirt when he's sleeping. To the kid's credit, he is pretty smiley and fun.

We love to play together and chase each other. The other day, we were running around the house and I couldn't find Forrest. I went straight up to Mom and said, "Mom, I can't find Fuf." She laughed, she thought it was adorable. I've heard her tell that story a few times, so I guess she was pretty proud of me for A) Putting all those words together and B) Actually looking for my brother instead of hiding from him.

In other words...
Rachel also taught me how to say "Peace!" and to make the peace sign with my fingers. Between that and "Sup Foo" that she and Rebecca taught me a while back, I'm dazzling the crowds here. I'll have to keep you posted on any of the other developments in the linguistics department here at the Petersons. Until then, "Peace!" :)

I love KASH!!

I'm SOOOO excited!! My Aunt Kate and Uncle Josh are moving close to me. I don't think they could bare it any longer...they missed me too much! :) I'm happy to have them close again. Mom says they are going to have a baby girl soon. I bet she'll be a cool girl like Aunt Kate. I've missed Uncle Josh too. I'm pretty sure that he's going to be a big time rock star and then I can go on tour with him and he'll buy me lots of bubble gum. Well, I guess I'd better go. Mom says I have to clean up all my toys before they get here so.... Bye!!

Am I in Heaven?

I have fallen in love with the violin. I talk about it all day, everyday.

Amy's friend, Vanessa, gave me a private viola concert over the weekend. I smiled and watched carefully. The music was very beautiful. She even let me hold the viola afterwards which was a very special treat!

If I were just a little older..

Grandma and Grandpa Peterson have the coolest toys at their house!

I tried to explain to Mom and Dad that I'm old enough to play with the x box. Aunt Rachel even showed me how to drive a car on Mario Kart Friday night, and I got pretty good at it. Everyone had fun watching me drive it, and I have to admit that I did pretty well under all the pressure.

But when I tried to practice on my own everyone got on my case. They don't think I can handle it unless they're around to watch me. I tried to prove them wrong. When they weren't looking I turned on the power and even got the screen up, but I didn't know how to start the game before they found me. I guess I need to watch Amy and Rachel a little more carefully next time.

And I also found a huge stash of Legos. I was so excited that I dumped them all out. Boy was that a bad idea. Mom immediately started cleaning them up before I could even look at them all.

I tried to explain to her that I'm a big kid now. I don't put things in my mouth like a baby. Geez, is it my fault that I have a little brother who eats everything? I mean there are some sweet Lego sets here. But no, I guess I'm stuck with the mega blocks and durablos until Forrest grows up a bit. Its tough being two sometimes, I'm so much smarter than I'll ever get credit for.

On the bright side, Aunt Amy printed out some really cute coloring pages today. I had so much fun coloring those that I almost forgot about the Legos...almost. :)