This was the first time I've really gotten to interact with my nephew, Drew. Sure, I've held him plenty of times. But now that he's 23 months old, he's full of energy. He is such a heart breaker. He has big, deep blue eyes with long eyelashes and such a sweet smile. My heart just melts. But don't let his sweetness fool you. He is all boy. Or at least, that's what I've been told. He's into so much more than Sydney was at his age. People have told me 'that's the boy'.
He wasn't sure what to think of me at first. My sister tried to get him to come to me at the airport and he would have none of that! Sydney and I walked to the baggage carousel to get my bag. As we were on our way back, Mom & Laura walked ahead of us with the stroller towards the car. Drew craned his neck in the stroller to keep his eye on me. He wanted to keep track of that strange woman with his sister. In the car, I had a bottle of sprite from my trip that I finished off. He reached for the bottle, so I let him play with the empty bottle. He smiled at me then, as he threw the bottle around the backseat.
At Mom's house that night, I had my first taste of Drew's energy. I was in my room with Sydney, unpacking my suitcase. Mom was in the computer room, getting the crib ready for Drew. I thought Drew was with her. She came in to get Drew for bed, and he wasn't with me. We both said "I thought he was with you!" and then took off looking for him. We looked under beds and in closets. Then we found him- happily toddling up and down the stairs. We had forgotten to put the gate in front of the stairs.
The next morning Drew was up bright and early. Like his sister, he is a perky morning child. Wakes up happy and ready to take on the day. He is not still for long, always looking for things to do. He has one smile that is both innocent and devilish at the same time.
Monday morning, I was in my room getting ready to go downstairs to get a shower, and my Dad came home (he had taken Mom to work and then put Sydney on the bus for camp). When Dad appeared outside my door, I was surprised to see Drew in his arms. Drew is a very talkative child, and I never heard him come in. Drew had gotten sick that morning while my sister was getting ready, so Dad decided to bring him home to Mom's so Dad & I could watch him rather than risk sending him to daycare only to have him get sent home. Dad put Drew down for a nap. When Drew woke up, my Dad wasn't there. It was just me. He sat there in his crib, trying to get his bearings because he knew he wasn't at his house. And then, to top it off, the poor kid wakes up to this strange woman staring at him! I sat in the chair talking to him until he reached for me. I didn't want to traumatize him!
We went downstairs and he went potty, then let me change his diaper (he's in the early stages of potty training. Mom told Sydney he has to be out of diapers before Syd & Drew can come to my house- so I imagine she'll have him trained quickly!). I asked if he was hungry, and he said 'Yes'. He has this really sweet way of saying yes. It is quiet and the s is extended like 'Yessssssss'. I was looking for food that he could eat that wouldn't upset his tummy. I asked if he wanted fruit, and again got a 'yessss'. I asked if he wanted crackers, and got another 'yessss'. Then I had a heck of a time finding the crackers in Mom's kitchen. I knew she had them, but it took a while to find them. I fixed his plate and got him some water to drink, then fastened him into his high chair and sat down with him while he ate. He still looked at me like he was unsure of who I was. Slowly he warmed up to me. I guess he figured I had changed him and fed him, so I couldn't be too bad. As he ate, he started talking more. He looked at the pictures on the wall and pointed out the people in the pictures. He finished the crackers and asked for 'more please'.
At noon, the phone rang. I told him it was either his momma or mine. It was mine. Calling to check on him. I assured her we were fine. He got on the phone but didn't say anything to her. A few minutes later, the phone rang again. I told him 'that's your momma'. It was. She was worried that maybe they should take him to the Dr. "Is he warm? Has he thrown up again?" No, he wasn't warm. He was eating. He hadn't shown any further signs of distress. He talked a little to his mom, and then I got back on the phone. As I talked with her, he figured out it was a lot of fun to break the crackers into pieces, toss them on the floor, and say 'UH OH!' and then he laughed hysterically. The shyness had officially worn off. Laura said 'nah, he sounds fine'.
When he finished lunch, I washed his face. Then he walked through the house and said 'Outside'. I locked the door to keep him in the house. I don't deal well with vomit, and the last thing I wanted was him to get sick again. My goal was to keep him calm. Haha! He opened his toy box and pulled out a handful of trucks and a handful of baseballs. Most of the baseballs were just soft ones, but there was one that is a hard ball. Of course, that is the one he wanted to throw. I finally managed to get it away from him and hid it in the arm of Mom's recliner (and then remembered several nights later that it was there!). He rolled one of the balls across the floor and it went under a piece of furniture. He played with his trucks. Mom has a child sized recliner for the children, and he dragged it across the floor and sat next to me, wrapped up in the blanket watching TV. He had me going in many directions at once! He kept asking "Where's PopPop?" and I told him "That's what I'd like to know." (Dad was supposed to have been home long before he was).
Dad came home, and Drew insisted we go outside. Dad told him no, he was going to eat lunch and then we were going to get MeMe. Drew watched Dad carefully, and as soon as Dad ate the last bite on his plate, Drew said 'We go now!' There was no time to wash the dishes.
Like most boys, Drew loves trucks. When we pass a truck on the road, he says 'Truck!' and then says 'vroom, vroom'. It is SO cute! Mom works for the County Highway Department, so at her work there are a lot of trucks. When we pulled into the parking lot, there were a couple of trucks and Drew was so happy. When we left, Dad drove around the building to the other side where most of the trucks are. Drew's eyes were wide as saucers and he said 'Woah!' I told my Mom that Drew already thought she was pretty cool, but this sealed his opinion of her.
Drew also likes hats. He rarely goes anyplace without his hat. One afternoon we were at his house before the baseball game. Sydney was taking a nap, so Drew had the attention of MeMe, PopPop, and Aunt Amy. First he put on his baseball cap. Then it was a plaid bucket hat. And then he put on the Uncle Sam hat I bought him. He took Sydney's doll stroller and walked around the living room. He ran after the dogs to give them kisses. They climbed into our laps for safety. He didn't stop moving for more than an hour.
For all of his energy, there are times he is so sweet. He has to sleep with his blankie. Not just any blankie- the one that I made him when he was a baby. It is so touching that he carries that blanket with him, just like Linus. He likes to snuggle. And those eyes- look out girls! But the best is when he said 'Amy' and gave me that little smile. Yeah, he knows how to butter up Aunt Amy!
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