"Yeah! I went poopy in my big boy potty!!"

We had a monumental event in the Liby household tonight ... a huge poopy in the "big boy little potty" (as Drew likes to call it). It was a shock to all of us. Usually, Drew will sit down on his potty before he gets into the bathtub so that he can "go pee". He has been doing this for the past six weeks, or so, and has never had so much as a drip come out -- but he insists on doing it every time. Tonight, he sat down and then told Tim that he had to poop. Tim asked him if he was pooping -- which Drew confirmed, and I quickly joined them in the bathroom where we celebrated ... well, poop. LOL! As soon as he was done, we wiped and then we gave him a surprise to celebrate -- another "chugger" to add to his collection (from the TV show, Chuggington -- a Drew Liby favorite). It happened to be a really cool chugger, so Drew is super excited. We called Ma-wrose, Auntie Anne and Grandma Liby to share the big news. Even when he was in the bathtub, he was still celebrating and yelled out with his hands in the air, "Yeah! I went poopy in my big boy potty!"

It was so much fun to celebrate as a family this event in Drew's life. Drew is so proud of himself, and he can't wait to tell his daycare provider tomorrow. I like teaching my son new things, and one of the things I like to teach him the most is how to celebrate achievements. I am not going to lie ... the past few weeks have been ... well ... challenging to say the least. Drew is becoming more independent (not a bad thing in and of itself) and defiant. Sometimes after he is in bed, Tim and I are just worn out. But tonight ... tonight was so much fun! We laughed and giggled and celebrated right up until the moment we laid him down to sleep. Even as I type, I am still so proud of Drew. Below is picture of Drew showing off his chugger:

What a joy it is to celebrate. Proverbs 23:25 states, "May your father and mother rejoice; may she who gave you birth be joyful!" I cannot find the words that fully describe how blessed I am by Drew Liby -- even when he is being a stinker. These verses are a great reminder to rejoice, and tonight that is exactly what we are doing. Way to go, Drew Liby!

Smart as a Whip

Man, this little boy is so stinking smart! Just a bit ago, when I was in his room getting him from his nap, Drew bent over to pick up the cars he always sleeps with (on any given night, you can find two cars in Drew's crib with him -- usually the two most recent acquisitions). I told him that while he was doing that, I would open "his blinds" to the window in the room. While I am opening them, I am thinking to myself, would it be blind or blinds? Singular or plural? Hmmm. I hadn't quite figured it out, when I hear Drew pipe in, "Dere's only one bind in the room. Not two binds. Just one bind." He totally was correcting me. It was so funny. I never expected my two and a half year old son to correct my grammar! :)

Because of the Wonderful Things He Says ...

I know, I know, I know. I say the same thing all of the time. But it is true. Drew Liby is so stinking funny. Tim and I laugh out loud regularly at him. On top of that, he has the sweetest little heart. He is sensitive and compassionate, and I really love that about him. One of the things we need to work on: he isn't the most outgoing. That is fine, but he is getting to the point where he will start missing out on some really cool things if he doesn't step out of his "safe zone".

I only wish that you, my family and friends, could see him in his most relaxed and funny states that Tim and I are so blessed to experience. Here are a few of those moments from the past few weeks: Tim and Drew took a walk in the Wildlife Arboretum behind our apartments the other day. While walking Tim and Drew heard a very loud bird calling that sounded similar to this ... Dooo-doo. Dooo-doo. Dooo-doo. Tim stopped Drew and said, "Drew, do you hear the birds talking to us?" Drew said, "Yes, Daddy. They're saying, Drew-bug. Drew-bug. Drew-bug." He even said it in the same cadence as the bird!

I said to Drew, "Drew, you are my favorite little boy." He replied, "Mama, you are my favorite big boy."

Tim is riding in his first mountain bike race today. I am so excited for him, and I really wanted to go and watch him ride. However, with the weather (it is freezing outside!) and Drew's schedule, it wasn't possible for me to go. After making the final call this morning that Drew and I wouldn't go, I told Tim I was sad. A few seconds later Drew is crawling up in my lap to give me a snuggle. I said, "Oh, a snuggle. What is that for?" Drew said, "You sad, Mama." As he is crawling down he said, "You feel better, Mama?" How stinking sweet is that?

Drew loves to put his stuffed animals to bed. He will go and get them all out of his crib, on his own -- which is a task that if funny to watch, and pretty ingenious of him to come up with -- and then he will lay them on the couch or the floor and cover them up with his blankets. He will even bring out his pacifiers and cars to put with them. When we did this the last time we were playing, he was putting his doggy to sleep. He said, "Oh, Doggy wake up!". I pet Doggy on the head and said, "No, Doggy is sleeping. Night-night, Doggy.". Drew picks up Doggy and looks at him in the eyes and says very sternly, "No snoring, Doggy!". It was so funny -- of course, Tim and I busted up laughing and I had to call Ma-wrose to tell her.

The other day, we were driving and I saw a bunch of wild turkeys behind a building. I thought it would be cool for Drew to see, so I turned around and pulled very slowly into the parking lot so we could watch them. There were a ton of them. There were five males, and then a bevy of females. The females were mostly laying on the ground and taking dirt baths. The males, however, were in their full glory ... chests puffed and tail feathers spread out, strutting their stuff (can someone say mating season?!). After watching for a bit, I told Drew we were going to leave. I said, "Bye, turkeys." Drew followed with, "Bye turkeys. See you. Love you.".

Tim announced that it was sunny out. Drew replied, "That means I can wear my sunglasses." Pretty cute, huh? This child of ours is amazing and we are blessed parents because we get to walk through life with Drew Liby. I thank God for that little boy daily!

My Best Friend ...

On Thursday night, as we were arriving in Streetsboro, Ohio to visit with the Vanderheide family, I was telling Drew how excited I was that we were almost at my best friends house. I proceeded to ask him who his best friend was. I asked him if it was Maddox, his sweet little friend from church and my dear friend Kelly's son, and he said, "Noooo". I asked him, "Well, who is it then? Who is your best friend?" His response: Daddy. He said Daddy. You know that Tim about melted right then and there. It was so sweet!

He Just Makes Me Laugh

Tonight, as I was giving Drew a bath, we were joking around and he said something and I said, "No way, Dudes!" He replied, "Yes way, Mama Dudes!" He is so funny!

Funny Moments with Drew

This little boy is just killing me lately -- he is so funny! Here are a few examples:

Yesterday, I walked into the apartment and found Tim washing dishes and Drew sitting at the table eating lunch. I said, "Hi, Boys!" Drew responded, "Hi, Girl! Hi, Mommy!"

At Christy's the other day, Drew was telling Evelyn (one of the other kids that Christy cares for) that she couldn't get into a drawer that she was trying to open (a drawer, mind you, that Drew gets into all the time). He kept saying to her, "No, no, Evie. No, no.". When he finally "scolded" her into "obeying" (read: she's one and got bored so she decided to move on to something exciting) and she crawled away Drew said, "Good boy, Evie!".

Tonight at dinner, I told Drew that I was proud of him because he ate such a good dinner and tried everything on his plate. He looked at me and said, "In my bowl, too!". It was so clever - Tim and I both laughed out loud. He did have a plate of food and a bowl of fruit -- and he did try everything on his plate and ate all of the fruit in his bowl.

The other day, Drew and I met Tim for lunch. As we were drawing near to finishing, Tim let Drew have a taste of Pepsi. Drew took a drink and said, "Tat epsi hurt my tongue!" And then he asked for another drink.

And, just because I think this is pretty monumental, this past Saturday Drew said the following sentence: "Hold on, Mama. I put my pac in my crib. I commin!" That is 12 words! I think that is pretty good, don't you? :)

My Colors!

I asked Drew this morning if he wanted to color -- always a favorite past time in the Liby house. He immediately said yes and ran to his booster. I went and grabbed the supplies for him and brought them to the table. As I was sitting his notebook in front of him, he exclaimed, "My book!". As I set the crayons in front of him he yelled, "My colors!"

My colors ... that is funny stuff!