Is this what preteen Drew will be like too?

Drew was indoctrinated into the world of video games today. Our 5 year old neighbor brought over his Nintendo DS and Drew was hooked. After dragging him inside kicking and screaming for bedtime, he continued to whine that he wanted a "puter" too.

I gave the standard "Maybe Santa will bring you one" or "Christmas is around the corner" responses, but, as the whining continued on and on, I finally said, "NO! Not today now let's go to bed." With this he slunked into the corner of his room, crossed his arms and said sulkily, "Nobody cares about me." Give me a break.

I can't believe this is happening already. He hasn't even turned three yet, and he's already trying the poor me, guilt trip tactic?! I'm totally floored right now.

One last trip to the river...

We had a cool, cloudy and rainless day on Saturday, so we elected to head down to the river to kill some time and to get to some places that are pretty inaccessible most of the year due to high water. Chances are that the rains will be coming in soon, and this particular trip probably won't even be possible again until July of next summer. We took a lot of pictures. Here you go.

Drew is wearing his new Beijing Olympics 2008 hat. I actually won it from NBC while answering trivia questions online as I watched the Olympics. I was pretty surprised when the Fedex envelope arrived, and Drew pretty much insisted that it become his. Enjoy your new hat, son.

Drew practices his balancing skills... he'll need them later.

Drew.

Drew, Mom and a log.

Heron on a post in the Columbia River.

Drew enjoys throwing rocks in the river.

Drew, the flowers and the weird driftwood trees.

So we get to this spot that looks like all of these dead trees are sticking out of the ground. It turns out, each one of these dead trees was actually driftwood planted there by someone. There was evidence that some of them had been placed there recently, and some had obviously been there a long time. It was cool and creepy at the same time.

Jill and the creepy trees.

Dad and Drew had WAY too much fun climbing on these logs.

That balancing practice really paid off.

Dad and Drew on the log.

Drew checking out Dad who had just checked out the next leg of our journey.

Drew found what was either a teen drinking spot, or a bum lair. It was surprisingly clean for either.

More creepy trees.

Dad and Drew on the way back.

All good things must come to an end, for Drew, it ends a bit more painfully than for others.

The Dark Knight

So yesterday we were doing laundry when Drew walks up to a pair of Jill's black shorts and put them on his head. He then started breathing hard. When Jill asked what he was doing, he said that he was Darth Vader. Pretty cool since he has only seen Star Wars once.

I was at work today, when Jill sent me this in an e-mail... "So we got Drew's Halloween costume when we went to Freddies today. (He latched onto a costume and I figured we might as well get it while it's in stock!)." So he's going to be Darth Vader, right? Nope. The e-mail continues... "I tried really hard to get him choose the Darth Vader costume, but no dice. Anyway, you'll see who he chose when you get home. He refuses to take it off.. he'll probably be wearing through December."

Ok, Ok... if it is not Darth Vader, the only other option was Buzz Lightyear. Drew is always spouting off Buzz Lightyear's lines, and he loves to pretend to fly around the room. He has a full size Buzz Lightyear toy that he LOVES, and he is always calling Star Command with invisible buttons on his arms. I called Jill after work and she informed me that I was wrong again, and that I would never guess. So I quit trying, and headed home, curious as to what was going to greet me when I opened the door...

Batman... The Dark Knight himself!!!!

Oh boy! He did not take the mask off ALL day until it was time for bed, and he insisted on sleeping next to the mask. I believe that the mask fairy will sneak in tonight and try to hide the silly thing until a later date. Drew has never been this obsessed with anything... ever.

Halloween will be fun this year!

Drew B, The Somersault King!

Drew likes to somersault.

School!!!

Drew started school today. He is going to preschool on Thursdays and Fridays. Here he is all ready for his first day of school, wearing his Cars backpack. He had a great time, and he is looking forward to going back tomorrow!

Here is Drew and Grammy. He is wearing his gift from his Aunt Jackie, a Skaneateles sweatshirt! Thanks Jackie!

Shadows

Drew discovered today that the bathroom is a wonderful place to take the flashlight and play with shadows.

Buzz Lightyear

Jill and Drew went to the Goodwill outlet store to browse the bins on Friday afternoon. Drew got new jammie pants, a couple of motorcycles, and probably his favorite toy OF ALL TIME... Buzz Lightyear!

When we went to bed last night, we went in as always to check on Drew. Here is what we found. Drew. Asleep. Holding Buzz with BOTH hands. Buzz is even looking at Drew!

Saturday morning. Drew was playing with his new motorcycle... turns out this is Ghost Rider's motorcycle. It has motorcycle sounds and flashing fire... Evil!

Awesome Evening

The weather was perfect today. Sun. 76 degrees. Need I say more? After dinner the family headed out to the front yard to enjoy the spectacular evening. Here are the photos!

Mom and Drew are hanging out under the curly willow tree. It is a perfect natural clubhouse underneath! The cool thing is that this is the tree we planted for Mother's Day after we found out that Jill was pregnant with Drew.

Drew wants to learn to climb trees. Here he learns the basics.

Drew.

Drew doesn't like to sit long, so here Dad obliges Drew's request to spin around and around.

I had to include this picture because Drew looks terrified. He actually laughed and loved this game. For that reason alone, this picture is hilarious to me.

Dad and Drew rest. I just finished spinning around, and thought I was going to puke. I cannot for the life of me figure out why kids find that dizzy sensation so damn fun.