Look Mom, No Hands!

Drew is in another round of swimming lessons right now that occur only on Saturday mornings. I'm sometimes reluctant to put him in the Saturday-only classes because I wonder if he loses anything he's gained in the week downtime, but it was the only option for classes for him this time, so it's what we went with. Last week he had no class because of a triathlon in town that was using the pool, so yesterday it had been two weeks since he'd been in the pool. It was also, however, parent observation day. So as I sat on the edge of the pool watching Drew I think he was determined to show me that he had no problem retaining his water skills from week to week.

After some assisted practice swims with the forward and backward stroke, Drew was ready to show off. His teacher had each of the kids float on their back. Drew is the youngest in the class (again) and the older boys are much stronger swimmers than he is, so the teacher typically has to support Drew during his back float. Not this time though. As I looked on through my camera lens, I realized his teacher had removed his hands from supporting Drew and my baby boy was actually still floating. I was so glad he had chosen parent observation day to do this for the first time and I could tell him right after how proud I was of him.

Drew still has plenty of work to do on improving his strokes in the water (as you can see in the video) but he's improving so much.

Here's a few more pictures I took during Drew's lessons yesterday.

Waiting his turn on the wall.

Practicing freestyle with the noodle for support.

Another pic on the wall.

Drew had some very red eyes to show for all his underwater retrievals of these diving sticks during class.

I'm pretty sure Drew could spend the entire 30 minutes of his lesson jumping in the water, climbing the ladder, and jumping in again. To say he loves jumping in the water might be the biggest understatement of the year.

Scenes from a Birthday Party

A couple of days before Drew's birthday one of our friends' sons turned 3 and had a small party at Peter Piper Pizza in town. With all the chaos of Drew's birthday, I had forgotten about the pictures until I was sending the ones I took to my friend and realized there were a couple pretty cute ones of Drew. So here's just a few pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Patiently awaiting his pizza and sporting a very stylish party hat

"Mommy, look! It's a motorcycle just like Daddy's motorcycle."

A boy and his balloon

Things I've Learned in Pre-K (Part 1)

I labeled it as Part 1 since I assume this could be a recurring feature of the blog. Never know what's going to come out of their mouths. Last week's gem, brought to you by the letter of the week: C.

"You can't bring a cactus for show & tell Mommy because it could pop your finger. But you can bring a picture of a cactus...that's okay." ~Drew

Check out Drew's updated stats

On the right under Drew's info you'll see I updated his stats based on his checkup with the doctor today. Yes, he's almost 44 inches! It's the 98th percentile for his age, but for weight he's still near the 50th percentile. Kid has his Daddy's metabolism for sure. Other than being a little skinny, he checks out as a very healthy 4 year old boy.

Drew also was on the receiving end of 3 shots and a TB test prick this morning and was the bravest little guy in town. I had been warned that one of them really stings so I was prepared for tears. I tried to prepare him by telling him about the little sticks and being a very brave boy for them, and he was totally fine! Didn't even flinch. The tech was so stunned he gave Drew two lollipops instead of one because he couldn't believe how great he was. He was very proud of his 3 bandaids and wanted to tell his teachers all about them when he got to school.

Tombstone...not my scene

A couple weekends ago we went to Vigilante Days in Tombstone..."the town too tough to die." We thought Drew would enjoy it, but it was kind of a bust. Drew wasn't really into the cowboys as he had been when he went with Grandma Mary and Pop Pop last summer. It was way touristy and just not really my thing. I've never been a fan of Old West type stuff, so it's not particularly surprising, but we did snap a couple cute pictures I thought I'd share.

Bill & Drew in Big Nose Kate's Saloon

And Drew enjoying a big chocolate ice cream cone

First Homework

At the end of Drew's first week of Pre-K, his teacher handed me some homework for the little man. I thought to myself "Homework? For a 4 year old?" But then I saw what it was and thought, oh...this will be fun to do together.


Drew had to fill in the answers on this information sheet and decorate this pennant with pictures/drawings/words of things he likes. So we set about the information sheet first and I thought it would be a good opportunity for Drew to practice writing his letters. I also, however, wanted his teachers to be able to read it, so I guided Drew's hand while he was writing. After the first couple of lines I realized Drew was more proficient at writing than I thought he was so I lessened my guidance. I think he did a pretty good job and it was fun for me to hear whether he would choose what I thought he would for the different questions. There were few surprises, except that I hadn't realized spaghetti ranked right up there with pizza for favorite foods.


The pennant was a lot of fun to do. We went through old magazines I had (thank goodness I still had some Parenting and Family Circle magazines and not just Cosmo to choose from!), the grocery store ad, and a toy store sale paper to find pictures of things that Drew likes. Drew would cruise through the magazines and ads and get so excited when he found something. Then he would cut the pictures as I guided the paper. Because I'm anal retentive I came up with a few themes for his photos and organized them on the pennant according to favorite foods, favorite shows to watch, and favorite things to do/play with. Drew loved using the glue stick to put all the pictures on. It was a really fun project and Drew enjoyed showing his teachers and friends all the pictures we picked out.

Happy 4th Birthday Drew!

We just wrapped up quite a birthday weekend here in the Cherkauski household. Sunday August 16th was Drew's 4th birthday, and while the majority of the festivities were on Sunday, with my parents and sister visiting from out of town we really made it into a whole weekend. As usual, I have a million and one pictures, so without any further delay, here's a review of the weekend in photos.

My parents and sister arrived around 4 on Friday afternoon. When I picked Drew up from school shortly before that he immediately asked whether everyone was here yet (we've been counting down for weeks!). I said no, but they're close. Then he yelled all the way across the parking lot "I'm so excited they're almost here!"


While Dad and I prepared dinner that night, Drew showed off his big boy bike-riding skills to Aunt Katie.

After cruising around the neighborhood cul de sacs, Drew & Aunt Katie switched to baseball in the backyard.

Eventually, on my third try, I was able to get our grill turned on. Yes, the grill we've had for 7 years. I didn't know how to use it until Bill gave me a lesson Thursday night. You see, Bill was out of town on Friday and Saturday. One of the soldiers from his platoon that he deployed to Iraq with was being commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in Kentucky and he asked Bill to pin on his rank. Bill was, of course, honored to do it for Winburn and also got to catch up with 3 of the other soldiers from the Cav unit in Germany. Unfortunately, the commissioning happened to fall on the same weekend as Drew's birthday, so Bill had quite a quick trip to Kentucky, leaving early Friday morning and returning late Saturday night. But he was very glad he went. And I, was very glad once the grill finally lit on Friday so my dad could make the yummy steaks they brought.

Saturday morning we got off to an early start as we had plenty to check off the pre-party to-do list and Drew's swimming lessons to attend. Everyone seemed to have something to do except Drew, so he lounged in front of Dora the Explorer, using his Elmo chair as a pillow instead of a chair.

While I went grocery shopping for party food, Drew "helped" Grandma with the cake and posed for pictures for Aunt Katie.

His Gene Simmons impersonation apparently?

Drew and Grandpa spent some time working on various puzzles.

While working on the 50 states puzzle, Drew cleverly noticed and remarked that "This state looks like a boot." So here he is showing off Louisiana.


After lunch, Grandma began the long process of icing the two cakes.

As is tradition since Drew's first birthday we ordered Chinese takeout for dinner on Saturday night. Daddy was a little hurt we didn't wait for him but we saved him some leftovers to enjoy for lunch the next day. Plus, with a feast like Bill and I had planned for Sunday we didn't want to have Chinese for lunch the same day.

After our very filling Chinese dinner, and as Drew gives goodnight hugs and kisses at bedtime, Grandma finally neared the end of her 10 hour process of making and decorating two cakes for the party. If that's not love, I don't know what is. Grandma has made at least one cake for Drew's birthday every year since his 1st birthday and Drew's character requests seem to be getting more intricate...the fact that we were expecting 20 people for the party and would need two cakes didn't help matters either.

Here's the birthday boy retrieving the Sunday newspaper

Daddy had a long layover during his return from Kentucky and did a little extra shopping for the birthday boy. He found a really cool magnetic, two-sided Lightning McQueen puzzle. Here they are putting it together for the first time after our blueberry pancake breakfast.

Since we had several smaller gifts this year, instead of one larger present, we let Drew open some of the gifts from us, Grandma & Grandpa, and Aunt Katie before the party. Here he is tearing into the first one.

After a few pictures of Drew showing off his presents in front of his face, he finally mastered the off-to-the-side present display.

Drew showing off his new T-shirt that Aunt Katie got at the NYC Transit Museum

Drew thanks Aunt Katie for the presents

Uncle Johnny called to wish Drew a Happy Birthday. Cousin Ava, Uncle Eric, Aunt Jalene and Grandma Mary called too, but I only snapped one photo. Poor cousin Ava was so sad she couldn't come to Drew's birthday party that she cried herself to sleep.

His expression doesn't show it in this picture but Drew was very excited that Grandma & Grandpa found comfy pants that "have the guitars like my guitar hero game."

Funny little expression on his face as he shows everyone his new Cars Road Trip book.

Drew modeling his new Lightning McQueen backpack from Grandma & Grandpa

Drew & Aunt Katie having a blowout battle before the party starts.

Drew takes a turn on the slide as he and his friends run all over the backyard. I had worried they might be bored out there given that we have no grass, only one playset, and just a few sports things. I quickly discovered...kids don't require much to have a fantastic time!

After enjoying a yummy dinner of shrimp and chicken kabobs (that Bill prepared and grilled to perfection), bratwursts and potato salad, it was time to move on to our next yummy treat: cake and ice cream.

Grandma's masterpiece: beautiful AND delicious.

Drew attempting to blow out his candle

Family shot

Drew was far more concerned with shoveling cake and frosting into his mouth than he was with looking at the camera. But really...who could blame him. It was VERY good cake.

Drew & Mommy show off a presents from one of his friends.

After Drew finished opening his presents I handed him treat bags to give to each of his friends. Once the kids discovered the treat bags included bubbles, they were out the door to run around the backyard after bubbles. Despite having a pile of new toys and games, the fact that all of his friends had treat bags with bubbles and he didn't have one was very distressing to Drew. Fortunately, Drew's bubble gun still had a little bit of bubble solution in it and the day was saved.

After all of our friends had gone home and a quick cleanup of the biggest parts of the mess that was our house, Drew got a bath and was treated to a bedtime story from each of us to cap off his birthday celebration.

Aunt Katie & Drew after finishing a story


After I took Aunt Katie's picture I realized I hadn't taken a picture of Drew with Grandma & Grandpa, but by that time Grandma was already reading her own bedtime story. Not really wanting to get out of her pajamas, we snapped a quick pic of the three of them cuddling under the covers.

I read the last of the 5 bedtime stories in Drew's bed and then we recapped the best parts of Drew's birthday weekend. He told me about Grandma's nice cake, having fun with his friends, and opening presents ("Presents was my favorite Mommy"). It didn't take long for Drew (or any of us for that matter) to fall asleep that night.

Monday morning Drew was quick to put on shoes with his pajamas so he could help Grandpa load the suitcases in the car for their return trip to Las Vegas. He's so darn cute.

It's hard to believe our little man is 4. I often wonder at what age some of Drew's memories will start to become permanent. I think my first memories are from when I was 3 or 4, so I'm hoping that Drew's little mind holds onto at least a small part of the fun, friends, family and love that went into this celebration of his birthday.

My Baby's First Day of Pre-K

Monday was Drew's first day of pre-kindergarten. He is staying at the same school he's been at for preschool, but moved up from "The 3's" to "The 4's." He was a little unsure about leaving his two teachers who've been so great with him since he started this school last September, but was somewhat reassured by the fact that he would have 3 new, very nice teachers in the new class and that a few of his friends would be moving up to the same class with him. The huge fire truck he saw during a quick tour of the new classroom didn't hurt either...

When we arrived at his new class Drew was a little bit hesitant and I thought it could get ugly. I had told him I would stay for a few minutes to help him get used to everything and by the time I left he was giving me goodbye hugs and I love you's with a HUGE smile on his face...ready to face the day. When I picked him up he was bouncing off the walls with excitement about all the great stuff he got to do during the day. "Mommy I was the door helper!" Wait till he finds out about Show and Tell! One of his teachers said he's the best little helper, loves to help clean up, is a great listener, and is very kind to all his new friends. I'm so grateful for the gentle, kind-hearted spirit inside that little boy.

And of course, pictures of the little man on his first day!

Those in my family will recognize the hutch in the background of the first two pictures. That was THE picture taking place in my parents' house growing up. Every first day of school from kindergarten to 12th grade. Every prom. Every graduation. Every anything...you stood in front of the hutch and smiled pretty. When my parents made the move to Las Vegas my siblings and I split the various pieces of furniture my parents couldn't take with them/didn't need and Bill and I got the hutch. So, of course, Drew had to stand in front of it for his first day of Pre-K pictures.

And here is outside with his backpack.

My little man.