We were able to get a whole different side of the family together just after the New Year.
We took a trip to Foley, AL, and got together with Sam's mother and stepfather, sister and boyfriend, and step-sister and husband. It's the first time we have all been together in the same place. Andrew had a great time seeing everyone and playing with all sorts of new things, especially his air rockets and the "goofballs" (golfballs) on the green.
The family together!
Just playing a little game of bocce.
Andrew thinks it's "fetch".
"I gotta the goofballs!!!"
High five for Aunt Jodie.
Looking at the trains in Foley's model train display.
Riding the train and ringing the bell.
The visitor center had a train that took visitors on a train ride
around the park. Andrew loved the train.
Chugga chugga chugga chugga choo choo!
Playing puzzles with Aunt Jodie.
Playing with Jon and Bill dropping marbles.
Andrew did NOT want to leave!
He misses his family!
We had a great Christmas vacation in Memphis, and Andrew had a fabulous time not only getting spolied with presents, but also playing with his cousins, who he's only met briefly one time before.
Seeing Andrew interact with his cousins brought tears to our eyes. With Andrew's autism diagnosis, interaction with other kids has always been very reserved, or nonexistent. With Ellie and Will, it was like he had two best friends. In fact, the first day they got out of the car, Andrew ran to the driveway and yelled "Hi, Ellie!!" while waving to her (we had only practiced names one time two days prior). It was adorable. Any time they were together, Andrew was always around one of them playing, and even taking turns. It was amazing to watch.
Anyway...on to the pictures...
Playing letters with Jaja.
Playing letters with Jaja.
Three generations working on a puzzle together. Andrew loves puzzles.
Opening some presents.
Dancing with Jaja.
Opening his present from Ellie and Will. Andrew absolutely adores this car track toy.
Playing games with Ellie.
Jumping on the cousins' new trampoline.
Playing piano at the Gober Christmas Eve party.
Hanging around with the cousins at Christmas dinner.
Playing cars with Will.
Helping Ellie groom her horse.
Just being cute.
Apparently, this is how you eat whipped cream off a piece of pie.
Saying goodnight at the end of Christmas Dinner night.
Andrew got to make his first Gingerbread house the week before Christmas. The house was already made from a kit, but Andrew dictated where we wanted the "glue" so that he could put candies on.
He absolutely loved doing it, but surprisingly never ate any of the candy, and you'll laugh when you see what he did with any icing that got on his fingers.
Yep...when Andrew got icing on his finger, he never ate it. He fed it to Sam or Emily. This kid is adorable.
Andrew's school is very into healthy eating. They make good choices for snack every day, and get the kids involved as often as possible. On this day, Andrew helped make zucchini pizzas. I love how his tongue is sticking out. I can't tell if that's because he's concentrating really hard, or if he's just drooling over the end result.
I just realized that Sam never did a post about Halloween here, so sorry for the delay! Andrew was the cutest Peter Pan ever. (Or Robin Hood, depending on who you ask) Our neighborhood had a party with food, music, balloon animals, face painting, and a costume contest. Andrew had SO MUH FUN!! We don't have a ton of good pictures from that night because he wouldn't slow down for even a minute. Our night got cut short by some rain, but it was already past bedtime anyway.
Over the past few weekends, we've taken Andrew out for some fun activities. One day we hit a local neighborhood festival with bounce houses, pumpkin painting, games, and other fun kiddie things. On another day, Sam and Andrew took a trip the the Atlanta Zoo to see some animals and play.
First, from the festival:
Playing in the bounce house. He loved bouncing around!
Searching through hay for a prize.
Painting his own personal mini pumpkin.
And the trip to the zoo:
A lion! It's a lion! Lion starts with L! Lion says "RAAAWWWRRR"!
I think the gorilla had something up its nose.
Andrew pretending to be a baby bird.
Andrew, you have a hair sticking up. Just one.
Petting animals at the petting zoo.
He loved brushing the animals. He kept putting the brushes back and grabbing a new one.
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