Will's Brave New World

long time gone

2011-01-27T00:52:00.002-06:00

With the arrival of Will's sister last year this blog went into hibernation. Perhaps we should look at creating a new blog for both of the kids and keeping this one as a time capsule. For better or for worse, we're fully immersed in the land of social networking and many of the stories and images that would have gone here wind up over there instead. Are there any of you that have not yet succumbed to the power of facebook that would like to see us continue to post here or in a new blog?

A couple of pictures with Mommy and Daddy

2009-11-28T21:42:00.001-06:00

Will greeted us with this...

2009-11-28T21:41:00.000-06:00

"I am a robot."

Christmas Tree!

2009-11-28T21:09:00.001-06:00

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Fall Treats, Week 3

2009-11-28T20:42:00.004-06:00

This time, we made owl cookies. These were really simple, and Will had tons of fun putting it all together.

Start with one pack of refrigerated sugar cookie dough. Add cocoa to 2/3 of it. Roll out the cocoa dough. Roll the sugar cookie dough into a tube and wrap with the cocoa dough. Refrigerate. Slice and put two cookies together to form eyes.

Add a cashew in the middle for the beak.

After the cookies are baked and cool, add drops of icing and stick M&M's in them for eyes. You could add eyelashes, but that proved a little beyond the skills of a toddler, so we left them.

Will had a blast making these (and licking the icing, eating the M&M's, which he calls "yummyums," etc.)

Fall Treats, Week 2

2009-11-28T20:32:00.004-06:00

Sorry - I got bogged down in school stuff/pregnancy health concerns, and I haven't posted in a while.

Will and I continued our fall treats tradition the next couple of weeks. First up was a peanut butter bar that looked amazing but was so sweet and rich that we couldn't eat them. Rolf ended up taking them to work. They were still fun to make, though.

The middle was essentially a rice krispie treat batter without the rice krispies - marshmallows, butter, and...

...sweetened condensed milk (no wonder they were too sweet!).

Mommy pulled her hair back, so naturally, Will had to do likewise.

The finished product. It's a layer of peanut butter cookie, filled with a marshmallow/condensed milk/butter/peanut butter layer, and topped with more peanuts. Dang. Not one we'll try again, although they tasted pretty good.

Fall Treats, Week 1

2009-11-02T18:50:00.006-06:00

I fully intended to work some sort of Fall/Halloween-themed craft with William each weekend leading up to the 31st. Life and other things got in the way, so we didn't really get anything done.

I have resolved the weekends between now and Christmas will be different, however. I have downloaded several fun recipes, and my little baker and I will be posting something each week that we have worked on together. I really want to make sure we get in as much one-on-one time as we can before he has to share Mommy and Daddy with a little sibling.

Our first fall treat was an interesting little cookie the authors of the recipe call "Aut-yum Leaves." It's very semi-homemade, which is a good idea when you're baking with an impatient toddler.

I didn't get any pictures of cutting out the pie crust. We were working so hard at maximizing the pre-made rounds that we forgot.

After we cut the leaf shapes out, Will added a mixture of peanut butter and chocolate chips to the middle of each.

He then brushed the edges of each one with egg wash. I pressed the top layer of leaves on, and Will gave them each a final bath of egg wash.

The recipe called for raw sugar. We were out, so we used colored orange decorator's sugar instead. It gave them a bit of fall flair.

When the cookies were nice and brown, we took them out of the oven and let them cool.

A close-up of Will's handiwork.

Contrary to the look on his face, he loved them! He got home from school today and immediately asked for one.

These are pretty good little cookies. They taste like little mini-pies. I might try them again someday with a bigger cutout shape and a fruity pie filling or something similar.

Tune in again next week for another adventure in the kitchen with my li'l' chef.

Fall Festival

2009-10-25T17:23:00.004-06:00

I went on a field trip to Ft. Worth with my Aca Deca kiddos yesterday morning, and Will and Daddy stayed home and played HARD. By the time I got home at 5:15, Will was completely conked out. We had to wake him up, though, because my school's fall festival was last night. Roused my sleepy boy, got him dressed (with major protest) in his costume, and drove to Grandma and Granddad's for dinner before we all headed over to the carnival.

We had gone to the carnival last year, but this year, Will wasn't so sure about it. He moped around for a while before he finally decided he was having fun. By the time we were ready to leave, Will wasn't. He was only consoled by the prospect of cake and ice cream back at Grandma's.

Here are some pictures from the night:

My little firefighter in front of the school bus

He played "Pin the Bowtie on the Ghost" - no blindfold for the little guys!

Will is still not so sure about the carnival at this point

That changed when he threw a strike in bowling and got to pick three pieces of candy for himself

We ran into Will's friend Jack while we were there. They refused to pose together.

Will took the longest turn at ring toss EVAR.

Walking back out to the car with Grandma and Grandad. He had a blast (and slept late on Sunday to boot!)

Apple Cake

2009-10-18T20:59:00.004-05:00

Will has turned into quite the baker. This morning, he helped me make pancakes for breakfast, and this evening, he helped me bake a cake from my great-grandmother's recipe.

My parents went on vacation through New England, and on the way back through Virginia, they stopped at an apple orchard. We have more apples than we'll eat, so I dug through my recipe box, found this old recipe my mom had written down for me, and we got to work. My mom hasn't even made this cake before, so chances are, this was the first time in fifty years or so anyone has made it.

I didn't get any pictures of the prep because I was too busy keeping Will's fingers away from my knife, but here is the finished result:

Lovely chunks of apple throughout

Will's first tentative taste

Hey, Mikey - he likes it!

A thumbs up from the master baker

For those of you interested, here's the recipe

Grandma Gill's Fresh Apple Cake

4 c. chopped, peeled cooking apples (I used Golden Delicious)
2 c. sugar
Mix in a large bowl and let stand.

After 15 minutes, add

1 c. oil
2 beaten eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3 c. flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 c. pecans, if desired (we omitted these)

Bake in a greased and floured tube pan at 350 degrees from 1 hr, 15 minutes (I think it could have come out 5 minutes earlier and been fine)

Good recipe, although as we sampled it, we started trying to think of variations on it - brown sugar vs. white, caramelized apples, adding other fruit (cherries, maybe?), etc.

Alphabet

2009-09-06T21:52:00.003-05:00

Sorry about the orientation and the audio - our camera does that gargly thing sometimes. I love the soul he puts into "Q R ESSSS," though, so I had to post it anyway.

Butterfly in the Sky...

2009-09-06T21:28:00.003-05:00

Will LOVES Reading Rainbow. Here is our tribute to the fallen show. It will be missed.

Say Cheese!

2009-08-30T11:04:00.003-05:00

Will still refuses to eat meat. Once in a blue moon, we can get him to eat chicken nuggets, but that's a miracle. I think the kid would subsist entirely on macaroni and cheese or grilled cheese sandwiches, if we let him. Fortunately, he'll eat beans and eggs, so we know he's getting protein. I can sometimes sneak in hamburger pizza, too. He is so excited he's eating pizza that he plows through without noticing the hamburger on it.

A few pictures of Will enjoying his favorite meal. Say cheese!

Long Overdue Summer Update, Part 2

2009-08-30T10:58:00.002-05:00

No Potty!

I taught summer school this summer, so Will was able to spend a lot of time with his Grandma and Grandad while Mommy was at school. He had a blast! I swear, he grew an inch and a half this summer (I have measured him at 36 1/2"), his vocabulary just exploded, and he is sooo close to being potty-trained. I tried the three day naked from the waist down training, and we thought we were almost there, but since school has started back up, he has had some problems backsliding. I think it's the emotional adjustment to being back in daycare all day that's got him refusing to go. He will still go if forced, and he will still tell us if he needs to go if we're in public, but at home, it's "No!" Sigh. He'll get there soon enough. The new teacher in his room at daycare is supposed to be really good at potty training, so I hope with her reinforcement at school, he'll be good to go really soon.

Long Overdue Summer Update, Part 1

2009-08-30T10:38:00.004-05:00

Sorry about the long hiatus in posting. Will got to visit with his Grandma and Papa from Missouri in July. They came down to visit, and we took a few days to explore Central Texas and the Hill Country. The last page of the scrapbook below is comprised of pictures all taken by Will.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

WE got lost in the land of social networking (facebook)

2009-08-29T18:46:00.002-05:00

Will is still here and so are his parents. there will be pics and updates either tonight or tomorrow.

Happy Birthday to You!

2009-07-09T15:57:00.004-05:00

Will loves to wish you a happy birthday. We think he had such a good time at his birthday celebrations that he wants to spread the joy year-round. :-)

I FINALLY caught him on camera singing. He only sings a couple of lines, but it's better than nothing.

Hot Fun in the Summertime...

2009-06-21T21:43:00.006-05:00

Yesterday, we filled up Will's little turtle pool we got him last year so he could play in the water. As you can see, he had a grand old time splashing, getting splashed, and throwing the beach ball around.

Will had on his water socks. He wasn't so sure of the water at first.

He and Daddy played catch with the ball.

Plop!

Daddy poured water on his head.

My goodness, he looks 7 in this picture.

Then we read the paper and saw the Target ad (insert angelic singing voices here). They have a 9 1/2' x 6' pool (inflatable), for $14.99! We ran out as soon as we were all up and clean this morning and got one. This pool, while not super huge, is plenty big for all of us to sit in and play. Will and Daddy had a great time with the water (which we were able to get about 8-10" deep). Will stayed in until he turned blue from the cold, then threw a fit when we made him get out.

Daddy splashes Will...

Will splashes Daddy...

Then they chill together in the new pool.

In other news, Will has begun to pee in the potty much more regularly. He will also announce it loudly and proudly, whether we're in public or not. Good thing I'm not easily embarrassed. We always high five him and give him a good little celebration when he tells one of us, "I PEE-PEED IN POTTY!" If strangers don't like it, screw them. Most have been very nice and smiled appreciatively when they hear our son's bathroom behavior.

Will would like to say something to his grandfather in Missouri...

2009-06-21T10:09:00.004-05:00

Let's Get Physical

2009-05-30T23:10:00.003-05:00

Will is always fascinated by my workouts as he walks from his bath to his room at nights. This particular night, I started the DVD before he got into the bathtub, which meant that Will got first crack at it. He certainly seemed to handle Jillian Michaels just fine!

Birthday Party with Friends

2009-05-19T21:57:00.005-05:00

Saturday, May 16, Will had a little party with his friends, ranging in age from 4 months to 3 years. We all had a good time. Will was a little worn out at the end because he refused to nap on Saturday, but he loved playing with his friends and opening more presents. He blew out his candles so quickly, I couldn't get a picture of it. Here are some other pictures from the day:

Jack on Will's Retro Rocket. Last year, on Will's first birthday, neither boy could sit on it. Now, they both ride with ease.

Miss Janie on the same Retro Rocket. She didn't like the noise the green button made, but she loved being a big girl up on the rocket!

Silly William being hung upside down by his mommy.

Emily, the youngest guest, and her daddy.

Since Will's big boy room is rockets and stars, we had to have star cakes. I made one especially for each kid over 6 months old with his/her initial on it.

Apparently, Jack did something to crack his mom and dad up. Not hard - Jack's a funny boy!

Brenden and his mommy, Maggie.

Two wild boys playing with balls from Will's ball pit. They were having a contest to see who could pelt the parent looking from the kitchen the hardest.

I think all the kids had a good time. Will got some cool presents, including a Handy Manny toolbox that he has not stopped playing with since Saturday. If one of the tools is missing, he'll ask, "Where's Squeeze?" or "Where's Turner?" until he finds them. He also got a cool bubble gun, some more fun art supplies (paint - hooray!), and a ball and bat that he can't wait to try out - outside. :-)

Will is definitely a loved little boy.

P.S. I do have to say, Will picked his outfit for the day. I offered a soccer ball shirt and a bug shirt, but he said, "No. This shirt." and picked out the Beatles tee.

Will's Two Year Checkup

2009-05-19T21:34:00.002-05:00

We went to the doctor on Monday morning. Will is 35" tall and weighs 31.5 pounds. He is in the 75th percentile for both height and weight.

The doctor was impressed with how verbal Will is. I was frustrated because I had to circle "no" on three of the checklist items before I got to several others Will can already do (colors, drawing a line, etc.). He was a little too distracted to correctly identify their badly drawn cat, and he didn't really know the word for "man," so there was one strike. Not all people who don't know him understand 50% of what he says (although it depends on how well they listen and if they are used to hearing a two year old speak), so there was strike 2, and he can't put on any article of clothing by himself (strike 3). He's almost there with, say, pajama pants, but not yet. Oh, well. He's still ahead of his age group cognitively speaking.

The doctor also said that his eyes, ears, heart, and lungs were "perfect," so that was a big relief. We're so lucky that aside from a few ear infections and a couple of stomach bugs, we've had a happy and healthy boy. Will got a hemoglobin check at his 18 month appointment, so we escaped the doctor's office without any needles at all! His next round of shots isn't until his 4th birthday. Hooray!

Will was not happy the doctor looked him over, but he loved the Nemo sticker he got at the end.

After the visit, we went to Northpark mall, where we made Will a new dog at Build-a-Bear for his birthday. The dog, named Bear, is pictured below. Will was enthralled with the colors and accessories, but there were just too many things to look at to get him to settle down and pick an animal or some clothes. Rolf and I pretty much picked things out for him. I think Will was slightly afraid we were trying to replace Boyd.

Speaking of Boyd, we went on Ebay and ordered him a backup. The way Will flicks that poor dog's tail when he's tired, I know he's going to lose it before too long. This way, when Boyd does start to come apart (or if he's really dirty and is in the wash at bedtime), we have another one to give Will. It'll be interesting to see if he's fooled. I mean, this is the kid who is so smart that he won't be fooled by the dummy Wii remote we made for him out of a Wii remote shaped tin covered in a sleeve just like the ones we use. He knows it's fake because there is no trigger, there are no lights, and there is no wrist strap.

I love that he's so smart, but, dangit, sometimes I'd still like to be able to fool him to avoid meltdowns and/or damage to my stuff.

Will is Two!

2009-05-14T19:54:00.000-05:00

And a handsome two-year-old, at that.

Family Birthday Party

2009-05-09T21:10:00.003-05:00

We held a combo Mother's Day/Will's Birthday cookout this afternoon. Of course, I didn't get nearly enough pictures. Will got a lot of amazing things, including some really cute clothes, a new pair of Chucks, and lots of cool art supplies. He even got 3-d sidewalk chalk! Totally cool.

Will wanted to answer the door when the doorbell rang, but he couldn't part with the Cheetos. He took them with him to greet his aunt and uncle and cousins.

So many presents...which one to open first?

He almost blew out the candles on his own. He knew what to do, but couldn't quite aim his breath.

He got lots of cool art supplies, including window crayons. I wrote this from the inside, backwards. Not bad, eh?

R is for Rocket

2009-04-19T18:34:00.006-05:00

Will is now, I guess, officially a big boy. We changed his room from a nursery to a boy's room this weekend, replacing his purple with blues and his dragons with rockets and space stuff. We aren't quite finished yet, but this is the general idea.

Will now has a twin bed. For now, it's on the floor, so he can climb in and out of it on his own. His sheets have stars on them, and his blanket is navy/red. We stripped his dresser and nightstand of the white paint and trimmed them in red.

We added glow-in-the-dark stars to his walls to complement the ones on the ceiling.

I'm not showing you the corner and the window because it's still a mess. His tall bookshelf is totally junked out right now, and we don't have curtains just yet. On his closet door, he has a cool space growth chart, and on his room door, there's an awesome big rocket. On the bottom is a closeup of his dresser complete with robot decals. A little boy's room should be whimsical and fantastic, don't you think?

Below is Will's reaction upon seeing his room for the first time. He was exhausted from an afternoon playing with Nini and Papa, so he spends a lot of time with his paci in his mouth and flicking Boyd's tail. We think he likes it.

Bubbles, Bubbles Everywhere

2009-04-19T18:27:00.003-05:00

Will took his first bona fide bubble bath last night. He had a blast playing with the foam. My favorite thing to do was to wait until he had a handful of bubbles, then put some on his nose. Smack! His hand would hit his face, covering it in more bubbles. I'd say I was a mean mom for doing it, but they were Johnson's No More Tears bubbles and will cracked up every time.

Easter Egg Hunt

2009-04-11T20:33:00.004-05:00

We had Will's Easter egg hunt the night before due to impending storms Easter morning. Because he had a hunt at daycare on Friday, he knew just what to do. I think he was excited he didn't have to share these eggs. We, of course, didn't tell him that many of these eggs were the same ones he had found at school the day before. Shhh...don't let on.

Then he came inside and explored his bounty with Daddy:

He'll get an Easter basket tomorrow with coloring books, a Word World DVD, and a Hot Wheels car.

My Little Handyman

2009-03-25T20:05:00.004-06:00

We had a little technical difficulty with the dishwasher after the remodel (my fault!), and Rolf fixed it the other night. He grabbed his tools and got down on the floor. Of course, Will had to follow suit. He grabbed a screwdriver Daddy wasn't using, and got down to work. He has developed this disgusted throaty exhalation, a la Napoleon Dynamite. Admittedly, he picked it up from me. I can't decide which is funnier - that or the "Aw, man!" he shouts when something falls (he picked that one up from Daddy).

Yum!

2009-03-22T17:40:00.003-06:00

It seems that many of the pictures we take of Will involve food somehow. I think it's really the only time he's still long enough for me to think of taking his picture.

Yes, that is a ring of chocolate around his mouth, the result of a chocolate chip cookie + a paci on the car ride home from Denton.

A couple of weeks ago, we celebrated my brother's birthday. Will's grandma sent home a cupcake for him to have later. Will obviously hates chocolate.

I made some peanut butter-oatmeal no-bake cookies for our family retreat weekend (they were awesome). We finished one jar of peanut butter and started a new one, so Will had a good ol' time scraping the old jar clean. Both he and his shirt went into the bath immediately following this.

Bug!

2009-03-22T17:38:00.001-06:00

Will watches a beetle climb the wall.

That 70's Kitchen No More!

2009-03-22T17:30:00.004-06:00

Rolf and I spent four full days this spring break ripping out and redoing our kitchen. It was a TON of work, we're exhausted and sore, but it was so worth it. I actually have counter space now! Here are a couple of pictures:

Just for kicks, here's a picture of what the kitchen looked like when we moved in in May '04 and what it looks like now.

Family Time

2009-03-22T17:19:00.005-06:00

Will had a very busy spring break. Last weekend, we went to his Uncle Jason's house and had a big aunts and uncles and cousins party through Monday morning. Will loved playing along with the big people. Here he is, accompanying Daddy and Aidan on Guitar Hero (on the XBox 360) with his Wii controller.

He also was intrigued by the dog's cage. I think by this point, he was tired enough to sleep, but not so tired he wanted to leave the party.

Will had a great time with his cousin Ian, who was very sweet to him. Here they are, watching Cars.

The best pictures from the weekend, though, came when Will and his cousins took the dog for a walk. How sweet are these?

As promised...pictures!

2009-03-03T20:09:00.003-06:00

Will had a lot of fun with yogurt that day...

He skipped his nap that day. We put on a video, and within 10 minutes, we saw this. Unfortunately, it was already 5:30. We couldn't let it last.

He has gotten so tall that he is sitting, on his bottom, in a chair in this picture.

Will likes to talk on the phone...for about two seconds. He lasts longer on the toy one.

He decided that the sun was too bright, so we bought him some cool sunglasses. He actually wears them! Maybe this'll stop the "sun...bight" coming from the back seat.

I'll try to be better about posting in the future..

It's been a looong time...

2009-03-03T14:59:00.002-06:00

For those of you who keep up with Will remotely through this blog, I apologize. It just never seems that we have the time or energy to post. We've also fought off sinus infections, stomach bugs, and long standing sore throat accompanied by laryngitis in the past two weeks.

Over the past few weeks, Will has made huge strides in his speech and cognitive development. He has started speaking in rudimentary sentences. His most common:

"I sorry"
"I dropped it"
"I broke it" (usually he didn't)
"Love you"
"Where go?"
"Night-night"
"Thow it" (throw it)
"Get the ball"
"Kick it"

He still says "please" and "thank you," which are becoming clearer every day.

He also knows his primary colors, pink, purple, green, orange (most of the time), black, and white.

He can count to three, sometimes. It usually sounds like, "one, two, one - yay!" More and more often, three gets stuck in the right place though. About half the time he gets to three, he continues to five.

He says his ABC's much the same way. "A, C, C, I, P, S, B, A - yay!"

He knows the sounds and names of the following animals: cow, horse, sheep, dog, cat, pig, elephant (although that one's hard to say), owl, lion, and tiger.

He will sing bits and pieces of songs, including "Itsy-Bitsy Spider," "Little Bunny Foo-Foo," and others he sings at school I don't know.

The other night, he told me a long story about what happened at school that day. I will attempt to transcribe it:

"Gabe, Carsen, bite [pointing to his wrist]. Gabe bite. No! No! Carsen *garbled* bite Gabe." Repeat ad nauseum.

When I asked his teacher about it, she verified that Gabe did indeed bite Carsen on the wrist. Gabe had bitten Will on the butt that same day (through his diaper, so it didn't hurt him), and he yelled out, "No! Gabe bite bottom!" He also told the kids in his class to "go play" because he wanted the teacher to hold him and not them.

In terms of potty-training, it, too, is a bit sporadic. Some of that is my fault. I don't always remember to ask him. He's getting better about telling us when he goes, and he actually tells us before he pees sometimes.

Will still loves to help me cook. He will gladly salt water for pasta, pour in any ingredient I need in any dish, and watch me do the rest. He will say, "See? See?" and drag a chair over to the counter. We always talk about how the stove is hot and he shouldn't touch it. Sunday night, he was watching me scramble him an egg for dinner. I forgot to remind him how hot the stove was. Rolf was right behind him, washing dishes. I grabbed the eggshell and took it to the trash. Rolf grabbed the skillet and began to wash it. Our eyes were off Will for two seconds, which was long enough for him to stick his thumb on the hot burner. Poor baby. It blistered immediately, and once he realized what had happened, he screamed long and loud. We ran it under a cold tap, then iced it. Once he calmed down, we were able to give him a bath and get him to sleep pretty well. Monday, he kept offering his thumb for kisses. The redness was all gone, save one thin line, but the blister was still there. It was tough to see him hurt, although I know this was a lesson he needed to learn the hard way. He's too curious. I have a feeling we're in for a long line of ouchies because he'll have to find out a lot of things for himself.

I will post some pictures later this evening. I swear, he's grown three inches since Christmas.

Some Random Things...

2009-01-29T11:54:00.003-06:00

I have had to stay late at school every day because of Academic Decathlon, so poor Will has been stuck at daycare longer than usual. He really seems to be taking it well. I am sure to devote extra attention to him in the evening (until Daddy gets home, when he switches favorites).

Obviously, I think my kid's smart, but I still think it's pretty neat that I can point to a picture of the president and ask him who it is. Every time, he'll point and say, "'Bama." He won't call anyone else Obama, so I have to believe he knows who his president is. One of my earliest memories was seeing Jimmy Carter on TV, so I guess it's fitting Will follows in the poli sci/history footsteps of the rest of his family. (Both of my parents, all of my siblings, all but one of my in-laws on my side, and Rolf and I all have degrees in either history or political science).

Will loves to help me cook. I pull up a chair for him to stand on (right next to me so he doesn't fall - don't call CPS). He is fantastic at salting the water for pasta, and he even helped me bake cookies last week! He poured in every ingredient for me. I think I have a budding chef on my hands. I love it!

Yesterday, school was closed due to ice that melted by 10:30. The district doesn't do late arrival, for some reason. It was nice to be home with Will, though, since I won't see him Friday or Saturday. Will alternated between being a complete angel and being a complete hellion. I suppose he is getting closer to his terrible twos.

The past week, Will has been so nice and compliant when it is time for bed. Even yesterday, at naptime, he went without a fuss. We read to him and then let him walk and climb into bed on his own. This way, he feels as if it is his choice.

Every day since Sunday, Will has gone potty in his potty chair once a day! We have to ask him, of course, and he's only taken care of #1, but I am so proud of him! On Tuesday, we had to run by the grocery store on the way home. We didn't get home until nearly 6. I took him to the potty, took off his dry diaper and he peed! It's really exciting to see him start to take control of his actions and gain more independence. I am not mourning the thought of his getting out of diapers. They're expensive!

Will Pee-peed in the Potty!

2009-01-25T10:32:00.003-06:00

This morning, Will patted himself and said, "poo-poo," which is his universal signal that he has done something in his diaper, be it #1 or #2. I was about to jump in the shower, so I handed him off to Rolf to take to the potty. By the time they got to the other bathroom, it was too late for #2. Rolf sat him on the potty chair, told him to be still while he fetched a clean diaper, and ran to Will's room. When he returned, Will was still on the potty, just as daddy had asked, and he had tinkled!

We are super proud of him. If this keeps up, we'll have him potty-trained by summer for sure!

P.S. Rolf left the tinkle in the potty chair in case I wanted to take a picture. I'm an embarrassing sort of mom, but I'm not THAT embarrassing! :-)

A Few Pictures

2009-01-22T21:44:00.004-06:00

Just cute.

Will's stunt the other night: he dug out two pacis and chewed on them both.
He was so proud of himself!

When Will gets a hold of markers, he does this

....then he tries to make hand prints on his easel.

A boy and his daddy

Elton John?

Will's new play mat. Yes, there is a 9, but Will had pulled it out and stashed it somewhere.

Update and Milestone

2009-01-12T21:46:00.004-06:00

Bedtime has been better since the weekend. I think maybe Will is getting used to the routine again. He was down by 8 last night. He had a nightmare at about 10 (at least, he started crying then). Rolf went in, calmed him down, and put him back in bed. Will started crying again almost immediately. I unearthed myself from the papers I was grading to go to him. He was sitting up in bed, and I picked him up. I rocked him for a few minutes, then tried to get him back to bed. He had horrible sinus breath, so I asked if he was thirsty. "Thusty." I tossed Boyd into the bed and retrieved the sippy of water we keep for him. Several pulls on the sippy, and he leaned over to get back in bed. Yes, you read that right. He actually voluntarily got back into bed. And stayed there. He was awake for another 5-10 minutes, but I wasn't in the room with him. Hooray!

As for the milestone, not once but TWICE in the past three days, Will has sat on his potty chair with no pants on. He hasn't actually gone potty in the chair yet, but he's getting more comfortable with it. Saturday night, I was bathing him, and he said, "poo-poo." Because of our past experience cleaning poop out of the tub, I pulled him out quickly. I plopped him on the potty chair, where he sat until he got chilly*. Tonight, he had already pooped a little in his diaper, but when I went to draw his bath, he came to sit on the potty chair. I ended up pulling his pants down and taking his diaper off to see if he needed to do any more. He didn't, but boy am I proud of him for wanting to try!

He's gotten to the point that if one of us is in the bathroom, he'll come in and sit on the potty chair along side us. I don't harbor any illusions that we'll get to stop buying diapers any time soon, but it certainly seems he'll be ready to try giving them up this summer.

*ETA: I didn't torture the poor boy; I merely let him sit there a couple of minutes. He was wet from the bath. As soon as we saw that little chin wiggle, we picked him up and dried him off. I realized later that the way I wrote it sounded bad.

I love this...

2009-01-12T21:39:00.003-06:00

Okay, so he doesn't turn the pages quite in the right order, and he's not quite speaking English, but this is seriously one of the cutest things I've ever seen.

Yes, those are post-it notes on his back. He and Rolf were playing with them shortly before the reading commenced.

Rough Week

2009-01-11T07:35:00.002-06:00

This week was our first week back at work/school since December 19. We loved spending time together and with Will.

Monday came around, and we got Will up and ready to go to daycare. He, contrary to my expectations, did great! He loved having other kids to play with. They said at music time, he was the only one really participating with the music teacher's songs and hand gestures, grinning the whole time. Monday night, we were able to get him to bed with his usual routine at his usual time. No sweat, right? Wrong.

Tuesday, Will had a lot of fun at daycare again. I was relieved, thinking that this might be a fairly easy transition back to work. Tuesday night, we got Will into the bath around 7, got him dressed for bed and ready to read by 7:15, and ready to sleep at 7:30. Ha! As soon as we put him down in his bed, he started screaming. Not crying, but screaming, as if in terror. I tried rocking him for a while more, got him to doze off, and set him down. He screamed again. Eventually, I brought him into the living room, turned off the lights, and got him to sleep again. As soon as we reached his bed, he bounced back up and started his screaming again. The process: snuggle, sleep, bed, scream. Repeat ad nauseum. We were absolutely unable to get him to calm down, so we broke one of our cardinal rules and brought him to bed with us. There, in the dark, he whispered something around his paci that sounded really creepy and went to sleep. We were not so lucky. I know I was up once an hour, worried that my pillow had fallen over on Will's face and was smothering him. Rolf nearly fell off the bed twice. We have a queen-sized bed, neither of us are small people, and Will made himself at home and stretched out diagonally. It was a rough night for all.

Wednesday, he had another great day at daycare, although he seemed a little reluctant to sleep there, too. Wednesday night, though, brought the same screaming. Ugh. At one point I figured we were going to just have to let him cry it out. Usually, he's down in 10 minutes. Not this time. He screamed 20 minutes straight, barely taking a breath. He sounded terrified. I was starting to wonder if there wasn't something in his room bothering him. My mom joked that I needed to tell Granny to go away and let him relax. I believe that kids are able to see things adults can't, and his sudden terror of his bed had me thinking that maybe her joke was close to the truth. Earlier in the day, I had taken him to his room and asked him what was bothering him. I sat in his rocking chair, and he babbled something and headed for the door. I watched as he closed the door and went into the hallway, like he wanted me to see what happens when he's alone. I looked around and tried to feel any change in the room, but he burst back in with a "mama!" after 10 seconds. It was almost like he was worried. Rolf finally got him to sleep in his own bed at 10 PM.

Thursday was more of the same, but Rolf was able to get him down by 9:45.

Friday, we let Will stay up with us while we played on the Wii. By this point, I was figuring that his reluctance to go to bed was more separation anxiety than anything. After all, he went from spending all day, every day with us to seeing Rolf for a mere hour and a half before he had to go to bed. He went to bed with much less of a fuss around 9:00.

Saturday, Rolf tried putting him to bed at his normal time and was able to get him down by 8:00. Of course, we had spent the entire day with him, and he had pulled the "I fell asleep for 20 minutes in the car so I'm good for the day" thing. He was pooped. The real acid test will be Monday, after we're separated again all day.

Ugh.

Ice!

2009-01-03T13:41:00.004-06:00

While Will's Missouri grandparents were in town, we went to the Gaylord Texan's Ice exhibit. They bring in artisans from China to create amazing ice sculptures. The display is kept at 9 degrees, so they issue parkas to the visitors. Problem - Will is a Texan, and he doesn't understand the necessity of covering up when it's cold. The sculptures were amazing, but Will pitched a fit through most of the display. He didn't want his head covered, he didn't want his hands covered, and he didn't like the cold. Ugh. We managed to get a couple of pictures in which he isn't crying, though.

The North Wind greets you as you enter the exhibit.

This is the entry tunnel - before Will started his screaming fit.

A gingerbread house made out of nothing but ice!

Okay, I agree with Will on this one - the Santa is pretty scary.

This was an ice slide, but they wouldn't let Will ride with one of us. Nobody got to slide. :-(

An amazing life-size nativity scene.

The goofy critters at the end.

There were, of course, other things there, including a 15 foot angel, but there were a lot of people to try to take pictures around, and as I've said before, Will was no fun to be around.

Very neat exhibit, though. Expensive, but fun. We'll try it again when Will is a little older.

Long Overdue Christmas, part 3

2009-01-03T11:45:00.004-06:00

The day after Christmas, we went out to spend a little of our Christmas money. That afternoon, Will's grandparents came down from Missouri to spend a few days. Once again, Will was spoiled rotten by doting grandparents.

By far, Will's favorite present was the ball pit he got. His unbridled joy was something to see.

Long Overdue Christmas, part 2

2009-01-03T11:10:00.003-06:00

Christmas morning, we heard Will coo about 7:15. I wanted to make sure everything was ready for him, so we got up and turned on the lights, got the camera set up, and waited. And waited. And waited. We opened our Christmas presents to each other and waited. And waited. At 8:00, I finally decided to go wake Will up. Fifteen minutes later, a sleepy Will stumbled into the living room to see what Santa brought him.

After we saw what Santa brought, we headed back to my parents to see what Santa left there. We saw my cousin Sean, who had come in late the night before.

Before it got too late, we went to Rolf's stepdad's. Will loves to visit his Nini and Papa. There he was spoiled yet again. We stayed for the afternoon, and when Will got sleepy, we headed home.

Long Overdue Christmas, part 1

2009-01-03T10:29:00.004-06:00

Sorry it's taken me so long to get this post up; we've had company or have been working on getting life and the house back under control since I got out for Christmas break.

Will had a fantastic Christmas. He was duly spoiled by all his doting relatives (including Mommy and Daddy).

On the 23rd, we had my local (Texas) sibs over for a fun evening. We ordered pizza, and played the Wii. At one point during the course of the evening, Will disappeared for a couple of minutes. When he emerged from the dining room, he had a slice of pepperoni in his hand. He reached up on the table, opened the box, and helped himself. Silly boy.

Christmas Eve, we went to my parents' house. We had an awesome lunch of tamales, queso, and other Tex-Mex specialties. Will had a great time opening his presents, even though we were working past his naptime. Afterward, he watched my nephew and my cousin play cards. I don't know what game they were playing, but Will thought it was hilarious. Check it out:

After going all afternoon without a nap (too much excitement!), Will was getting cranky. We headed home around 4:30. Will fell asleep before we got home and slept until 7, when Rolf's brother came over. Will stayed awake until about 7:30, long enough to open his presents from Uncle Rolland, and went back to sleep. There he stayed until past 8 on Christmas morning. He was one pooped little boy.

The Best Sound in the World

2008-12-18T19:46:00.002-06:00

19 months old!

2008-12-14T20:10:00.002-06:00

Will is 19 months old today. He's such a big boy!

Insert "pothead" joke here...

He's such a big help in the kitchen. Here he is, reorganizing Mommy's storage bags.

He doesn't like his bananas cut up anymore. He's a big boy, so he'll take it whole, thank you very much.

He's getting better...

2008-12-14T20:00:00.003-06:00

He'll hate me for this post some day, but he's just so dang cute.

He's letting us know now.

Is that a Port Wine Stain?

2008-12-14T19:50:00.003-06:00

Nah, just Zinfandel.

Rolf poured himself a glass of wine this evening and set it on the coffee table. Will came in, talked to us for a minute (his distraction technique), slyly reached onto the table, and yoinked the glass. A brief tussle later, red wine was all over the coffee table, all over the couch, all over the Christmas cards I was addressing (so now you know what happened if yours is stained purple), all over Rolf's pants, and all over Will. We were afraid Will's hair was going to be dyed. If you look closely, you can see the pink stain over the right half of his face (his right half). Fortunately, Will is stain-resistant.

Can you help?

2008-12-12T21:02:00.002-06:00

I don't usually use this blog for things like this, but this is kind of a special project for my students.

The Invisible Children Schools 4 Schools program partners a school stateside with a school ravaged by war in Uganda. The (student) leaders from the top 12 money-raising schools in the country get to travel to Uganda, spend time with their counterparts over there, and generally have a life-changing experience. The video they showed tore my heart out.

My school is currently leading its cluster (beating out several much, much richer schools in Texas). We are, apparently, neck and neck with a couple of the other schools. The girl who brought this cause to my school is a fantastic kid. I would love to help send her on this trip. My classes at school (4 sophomore classes) donated nearly 1900 books to ship overseas (the school is nearing 10,000). Now, they're trying to help Horn High be one of the top money-raising schools in the nation.

I know everyone seems to have a hand out this time of the year, but if you could donate just a couple of dollars, it would go to a good cause and help send one of the most terrific kids I've met on the journey of her life.

Time is running out! They have until Wednesday, December 17 to do this.

Thanks.

Conversation in our car this evening

2008-12-06T20:35:00.003-06:00

Will: "Shew! Shew!"
Mommy: "Punkin, did you go poo-poo?"
Will: "Poo-poo. Shew!"

I'm glad he's starting to communicate these events with us, even if it's not always accurate. After we found a parking lot to pull into, there was no smell emanating from his diaper. Maybe it was a toot?

Christmas Tree!

2008-11-29T22:07:00.002-06:00

I HIGHLY suggest you hit pause and arrow through the book at your own pace. The auto-playback is flipping fast!

| View Sample Photo Books | Create your own Photo Book

Eighteen Month Checkup

2008-11-25T19:10:00.002-06:00

Height: 33" (54%)
Weight: 27 lbs, 4 oz (75%)
Head: 19.5" (75%)

All in all, a pretty proportional kiddo.

The bad news is that his last ear infection either didn't heal, or it healed and came back in both ears. Poor Will has to go on another round of antibiotics. This is ear infection #4. The nurse practitioner said (before she saw his ears) that 5 infections within a year or an infection that lingers through a few rounds of antibiotics usually warrants the referral to the ENT. Ugh.

Everything else looked good. He's walking/running like he should, talking ahead of schedule, pretty coordinated for his age. He got three shots (two boosters + flu). He also got his finger pricked for the hemoglobin test. That, of course, hurt and made him mad. His little hands were cold, so she had to milk his finger a bit, so that made it worse. He didn't really melt down, though, until she put the bandaid on his finger. For some reason, he really doesn't like bandaids. I held him down for his other three shots and then pulled his bandaid off. That calmed him down a bit, until he saw his finger bleed. I guess all the screaming got his blood pumping because that darn finger just kept going and going. I applied pressure. Will screamed. I wiped it with a Kleenex. Will screamed. I ran it under a cold tap. Will screamed even more. He clutched at me and at Boyd, getting us all a little bloody. Finally, after what seemed like five minutes but was probably 90 seconds, his finger stopped bleeding and we were able to get him dressed and out the door.

Will stayed with Grandad this afternoon while I went to school, donated blood, and taught one class for the day. He had a rough go of it over there, too. He napped MAYBE 20 minutes in the car on the way home from the doctor's office, and he wouldn't go down for Grandad. Dad said that for a good 25 minutes, Will stood at the kitchen cabinet, screamed, reached for his paci and Boyd, took a breath, handed his paci and Boyd back to my dad, screamed again. Apparently, it was very methodical.

Of course, I have pictures scheduled for Will tomorrow afternoon. Let's hope he's in better spirits then.

Just Sayin'

2008-11-25T18:50:00.003-06:00

You know, I tried the corporate thing. I hated being behind a desk. However, there are times when it sounds appealing. Like tonight. I could be out having free drinks because some VP had a birthday instead of at home, trying to keep an 18 month old who has a double ear infection, who got three vaccinations today, and who did not nap all day from destroying my house while he refuses to eat, to sit still to read, or to go to sleep.

Recent Will Pics

2008-11-23T13:42:00.003-06:00

Ah, yes. The genetic fascination with writing utensils. I'm so proud.

In his cute Cookie Monster sweatsuit he got from Grandma and Grandpa.

This is why he loves Boyd so much - his tail. He also is re-addicted to his paci. I wish it weren't so, but he has to have that thing with him.

We cleaned out the fireplace so we could light a fire one cold evening. Will had to help. Since it was flameless, we let him. He knows not to touch the fireplace unless Mommy or Daddy says it's okay.

I just love fall colors. I am an autumn, and judging by this picture, so is my son. He has gorgeous chocolatey brown eyes. Mine are hazel-green, and Rolf's are brown-green, but Will's are pure brown.

For some reason, the advent of cold weather puts me in the mood for ice cream, so on our way home on Friday, we stopped by Dairy Queen. This was way past Will's bedtime, but he saw fit to shake himself out of his stupor, grab his fork, and help himself to my sundae. He always wants to eat what I have. Apparently, whatever Mama eats is teh awesome, even if it's the same thing that's on his plate. He'll say, "bites? bites?" Sometimes, that's followed with a "theeze," but usually it's followed by an open-mouthed, "aaaaahh." He has to be hitting another growth spurt soon because he is an eating machine. I made pancakes for breakfast this morning, and he ate two and a half full-sized, grownup pancakes. Holy cow.

Will Updates

2008-11-23T13:10:00.002-06:00

I know, I know. It has been nearly three weeks since I posted. I apologize for the delay. I have pretty much decided that Project 365 is officially defunct. I can post at least one picture a week, but I can't guarantee every day any more. In many ways, that's a good thing. It means I'm living more of Will's life with him than recording it.

Will's vocabulary is growing exponentially. Whereas he once picked up a few words a month, it seems that now he is picking up a few words daily! Much of it it still echoing what we say, but we've heard a good 50+ words come unprompted from his mouth. Fortunately, none of them have been naughty just yet. The best thing is that now he'll say, "love you!" That made my week the first time he said that to me. I'll try to get him talking on camera soon, but he generally clams up once the camera is out.

Reading is still one of Will's favorite activities. He will read to himself and request books to be read to him. One day a couple of weeks ago, Will shut himself in his bedroom (shutting doors is one of the new games he plays). Since we have the monitor on at all times, we decided to let him play. He was shuffling around in there, talking to himself and singing for several minutes. Rolf decided to check on him. He quietly opened the door, peeked around the corner, and called me in from the kitchen. I joined him at Will's door to see our little man stacking about a dozen books in his rocking chair. Once he realized he was being watched, he turned around, stuck up his hands in an "I don't know" kind of stance, and said, "Wead? Wead?" How could we resist?

Brushing his teeth used to be a favorite part of his day, but by October, it had turned into a struggle. Even singing the "Brush Brush Bree" song from Bear in the Big Blue House didn't seem to help. Rolf had a stroke of genius (no pun intended), and let Will try out his powered toothbrush. The vibrations felt good on those molars coming in, so on our next trip to Target, we bought a kid-sized power toothbrush. Will brushes his own teeth, does an actual good job of it, and he is happy to run to the bathroom to brush again.

Will is now officially out of the "infant" rooms at daycare and is in the first "toddler" room. We got the tuition break to prove it, too. $20 a week less. Woohoo! Will loves being with older kids. The younger ones just frustrate him. I know they have a good curriculum there. Will comes home knowing words we havent taught him, knowing what the parts of his body are without our concentrating on that lesson, and knowing songs we haven't sung (or sung in a long time).

The last major update is that today, we bought Will *drumroll, please* a potty chair! All of my babycenter emails suggest getting your child used to the idea once he shows interest. Boy, does he show interest! I haven't used the bathroom alone in two weeks now. There's a little girl in Will's room who is in the process of toilet training, and all the kids in his room are fascinated with the fact that she doesn't have to get up on the changing table. Will has also begun pulling at the front of his diapers when he's wet, and he goes for longer periods of time without wet or dirty diapers. Now, I'm not delusional. I don't think he'll be potty trained in the next few weeks, or even in the next six months, but I don't see any harm in his getting used to the idea of going in the potty.

I'll post pictures in a separate post.

I'll try not to take as long before the next post.

HOPE

2008-11-04T22:51:00.001-06:00

Springs

Project 365 Weeks 23-25

2008-11-02T20:49:00.008-06:00

This has been a weird couple of weeks. I am coming out on the other side of some insidious throat infection that, oddly enough for me, wasn't strep. It had all the earmarks - massively inflamed and painful tonsils, body aches, chills, fevers spiking as high as 103.9, and the feeling I was run over by a mack truck. Fortunately, the antibiotics seem to be kicking its butt. My throat only hurts a little bit now, only on one side, and only when I swallow.

I tell you all of this not to elicit your sympathy, but to offer some excuse for my absence in posting and my disorganization when it comes to the pictures.

Without further ado, here is what my darling boy has been up to the past couple of weeks.

Monday, October 13 - Will has a little leftover 'nana pudding from Daddy's birthday celebration at Will's Nini (who may become Nana) & Papa's. Will feels the need to style his hair with whatever his food is.

Tuesday, October 14 - He has such long eyelashes.

Wednesday, October 15 - Will has a strange affinity for my phone. He won't mess with Rolf's, but if mine is unattended for five seconds, he finds it and starts pushing buttons. He actually called his grandma the other day. The cuteness in this video gives me a twinge of guilt, too. I have taken his picture so much for this Project 365 that when he sees the camera, he starts blinking against the anticipated flash. I hope I'm not damaging his eyes. I'm trying to get more shots that aren't head on.

Thursday, October 16 - My little artist. Give the boy a writing utensil and something to write on, and he's a happy boy. Here he sports his painting smock from Harrod's in London. I found it at a consignment sale and couldn't resist. Harrod's was one of the places Rolf and I missed during our trip to London, and we wish we could have gone. Below, you can see the pumpkin Will's grandma got him to paint for Halloween. Will picked the different colors. I was just there to pull the caps off the paint pens for him.

Friday, October 17 - I don't even remember this day.

Saturday, October 18 - Beautiful weather, so we sat outside for a while after dinner. To my surprise, Will was suddenly tall enough to climb in and out of his chair on his own. I knew he'd grown over the past couple of weeks, but this confirmed it for me. He's just chillin' here.

Sunday, October 19 - Will plays with Mommy's headbands and looks up at Daddy with the sweetest puppy dog eyes. The bump under his eye is the result of an overly-energetic dance move at daycare. He spun around, lost his balance, and his face met the corner of a shelf. Ouch!

Monday, October 20-Friday, October 24 - An entire week's worth of pictures are MIA. I don't know their location at this point. If I find them later, I'll post them.

Saturday, October 25 - Will and Mommy at the Halloween Carnival, er, Fall Fun Festival, at Mommy's school. He hadn't been feeling super well, but he felt better in time to have a great evening.

Sunday, October 26 - Will's favorite kitchen activity - playing with the drawers we left unlocked for him. I think he'll have a lot of fun learning to cook in a couple of years.

Monday, October 27 - ??? I had started feeling pretty bad by then, so who knows?

Tuesday, October 28 - We had soup for dinner to try to help soothe my throat. Is there any better comfort food than grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup? I don't think so. Will seemed to like it, too. After he couldn't scoop anything else up with his spoon, he grabbed the bowl and drank. Rolf was so proud.

Wednesday, October 29 - see Oct. 27

Thursday, October 30 - I hung in for a half day at work so I could get my stuff ready for the sub, then came home and crashed. I picked Will up at 4, came back home, and collapsed on the couch again, getting worse with every passing minute. Will was so sweet. He grabbed my drink from the coffee table and brought it to me. When I ran to the bathroom to lose my lunch, he followed me in and asked, "are you okay?" I swear, he said it!

Friday, October 31 - I finally went to the doctor to get fixed up, and we headed to the grandparents' houses to trick-or-treat. We put a "quarantine" sign on our front door and left a bowl of candy for trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood. I figured I could handle sitting on a couch and watching my little man have fun with his grandparents. This is my little Cookie Monster heading up the sidewalk to Nana and Papa's house. Forgive the gangsta hike up of his pants. It was not part of the costume. As a side note, Halloween marks the 13th anniversary of Rolf's and my first date: Harry Connick, Jr. at the Super Pit in Denton. Floor seats. Awesome. I still have the pick HCJ used at the concert.

Saturday, November 1 - Nana and Papa had volunteered to take Will and play for a few hours so I could rest and Rolf could pick up the house a bit. I pulled the carseat out of my car and set it in the kitchen so they could install it in their car when they came to pick him up. Will woke up from his nap, wandered into the kitchen, and immediately sat down in his car seat.

Sunday, November 2 - Will helps himself to a blueberry muffin for breakfast. Look how much older he looks now than he did at the beginning of October.

CuhKey Monster!

2008-11-01T09:37:00.004-06:00

Will had a blast visiitng his NiNi and PaPa. PawPaw had just built a covered back patio with a low fence that let him play with the dogs without having to worry about getting knocked over. They spoiled him with candy. YUM!

Then we went to visit Granma, Granddad, and GreatGranddad. We had fun with the trick or treaters that came to their door and watching some horrible b movie camp with boris karloff and jack nicholson. Will was getting a littly tired by the end of the evening but we all had a wonderful time.

Ghostie was running a pretty bad temp by the end of the night. She has been under the weather for the last few days and here fever seems to come and go. we left just as it was getting to it's highest point of the day.

pics of the evening to follow

rolf

Halloween Carnival

2008-10-25T23:12:00.002-05:00

Will has been kind of under the weather for a few days. He has been caught in the nasty web of weather change, wind, and molars. You'll be able to see the sheer volume of drool the kid has produced all week in the pictures. Poor baby's little cheeks have been chapped because he has been soaking his bedsheets with slobber.

Fortunately, Will woke up this morning feeling much better. He was fine all day, until we put on his costume. He had a major meltdown when Rolf tried to put the slippers we bought for his outfit. Will didn't seem to like the idea of mini Cookie Monster heads on his feet. We traded the slippers for his tennis shoes, and we thought that was it, until we picked up my mom to go to the carnival. One of the dogs loved on Will a little too hard and knocked him on his bottom. Absolute meltdown. Poor punkin.

By the time we got to the carnival, Rolf and I were pretty nervous about how Will would handle wearing a sweatsuit in a hot school cafeteria, tons of people, and lots of noise. After the first couple of minutes, Will got into the festivities. It only took him two mini-games to figure out that he got to put the candy he won into his own treat bag. Sweet boy kept trying to give it back to the people who were running the booths. Once he figured that out, we could hardly keep up with him. He dug through "sand" (shredded paper) for candy, plucked a lollipop and won a treat bag, pinned the nose on the pumpkin (and did a damn good job getting it nearly spot on), plucked a duck from a tub, bowled, played Plinko, plucked more ducks, and did a cake walk. One of my former students scared him by being dressed as one of the Joker's henchmen from The Dark Knight, but other than that, he did really well. He wasn't even afraid of my friend Megan, who was dressed as a witch, complete with green makeup.

Check out the slideshow below for pictures:

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Zoo!

2008-10-18T21:37:00.003-05:00

We took a trip to the zoo today. As much as Will loves animals, we knew he'd have a blast. We were right. He was enthralled for much longer than we figured he'd be able to be. In fact, Will's friend Brenden did really well, too. All the parents were pleasantly surprised at how well the little boys held up.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Will Reads to Himself...and Us

2008-10-13T19:24:00.003-05:00

This is Will's Sandra Boynton book Blue Hat, Green Hat. The book goes something like this: Three animals are wearing an article of clothing in an appropriate manner, e.g. "Blue hat/Green hat/Yellow hat." Then we see the turkey wearing the hat on his feet instead of his head: "Oops." Will says, "UH-ooohhhh." He loves that silly turkey who gets everything wrong. We were still eating dinner when Will finished, so we let him down while we finished up. He grabbed his book and sat at daddy's feet and read the book to us. Pretty durn cute, if you ask me.

Project 365 Weeks 21-22

2008-10-13T18:45:00.004-05:00

I know I missed a week posting. I am sorry. Time just seemed to run away from me.

Monday, September 29 - No picture. I dunno what happened, other than I suck.

Tuesday, September 30 - So many of our pictures involve night-time reading for a couple of reasons. One, my child loves books as much as his mommy and daddy do, and two, it's generally the only time he's still enough to catch him.

Tuesday, October 1 - Poor, tired baby. Will had his pictures taken at school (hence the long-sleeves), and after school, Grandma and Grandad picked him up from daycare while mommy had a meeting. Will had a fabulous time dancing in Grandad's shed. He loves the sound of his feet on the elevated wood floor. He also played outside with the dogs for a loooong time. By the time we got home, Will was beat. He grabbed Boyd and his blankie and snuggled on the floor.

Thursday, October 2 - Apparently I suck. Again.

Friday, October 3 - Will's big cousin Aidan turned 13 today! Will celebrated by taking off in his rocket ship. Look how big he's getting. I swear he's grown 3" in the last month alone!

Saturday, October 4 - He looks more grown up all the time, but he still has his chubby baby cheeks here. He's actually starting to sprout a mullet. I guess the time for his first haircut is coming soon. *sniff*

Sunday, October 5 - Grandma's 60th birthday. We watched Grandma and Grandad's dogs over the weekend while they headed to Austin for Grandma's retirement meeting with TRS. Will wanted to be with the dogs at all times. Here, the dogs are running around outside, stalking the squirrels they don't have in their neighborhood (the trees are too young). Will nestled himself in daddy's lap and watched.

Monday, October 6 - My fair day. I also had a doctor's appt. in the afternoon, so once again, we didn't get a picture.

Tuesday, October 7 - I don't remember what happened here. Just no picture. Dang, I just am starting to suck at this.

Wednesday, October 8 - Proof positive that Will has grown fast. This is an 18 mo. shirt. We are desperate for cooler weather because he has very few short sleeved shirts that are big enough to be comfortable for him. Plus, I had to post this picture. Love that little tummy hanging out. :-)

Thursday, October 9 - Will is becoming more receptive to wearing hats. he actually kept this one on for a good 5 minutes before he started playing with it. Now if I could just get him to wear sunglasses...

Friday, October 10 - Daddy's birthday is the 11th, but the family celebrated my mom's birthday that day. Will and I had a small party with daddy on Friday night. Can you tell what Will's favorite part of the meal was?

Saturday, October 11 - Everywhere Will goes, Will has his Boyd and his blankie. He'll pull all of this paraphernalia out of his bed every morning and will carry it around the house at night.

Sunday, October 12 - Will discovers the joys of the train table at Toys 'r' Us. Too bad we have no room for something like this. He would have a great time.

I will do better in the future. I promise!

Yum

2008-09-28T21:31:00.001-05:00

Make a Smilebox postcard

Project 365 Week 20

2008-09-28T19:48:00.005-05:00

Monday, September 22 - The bed is still new enough that it's fun getting in and out of. The art board is there to cover the plug. The cute little dragon faceplates don't hold the plug covers very well, so we are waiting until the bedroom redo to see the best way we can keep someone's little (usually slobbery wet) fingers out of it.

Tuesday, September 23 - Daddy reads to Will. This is our favorite time of night. Notice that Boyd joins the story time party. Sometimes Boyd makes a better door than he does a window, but Will was cooperating and keeping him out of the way for these pics.

Wednesday, September 24 - Tonight, it was my turn to read to Will. We love the dollar spot at Target. We bought this book there, and it is one of Will's favorites. The Sesame Street books are generally pretty good, and Will loves identifying "Cuh-kie" and "Bee Biew" (Big Bird). See above picture for comments re: Boyd.

Thursday, September 25 - Daddy didn't get home until after Will was in bed, so I had to grab a picture of Will in his new footie pajamas I got at the big consignment sale for super cheap. Yes, those are cheerios strewn on the floor behind Will. We had an eventful dinner, consisting of my offering just about everything we had and Will's snubbing it or tossing it about, as you can see. Fun, fun, fun.

Friday, September 26 - Wii! Rolf got to test drive a Wii his office bought for an upcoming trade show, and Will had a blast watching us bowl. Saturday, I played a couple of games while Rolf showered. Will disappeared into the other room. Figuring he went to bother Rolf in the shower, I called to him. He came running back into the living room with the DVD remote control from our bedroom, parked himself about 3 feet from the TV, and started waving the remote at it. Very cute, but also a reminder that at this age, he's a little mimic. I really need to watch my language better around him.

Saturday, September 27 - We took down the crib once and for all. It was a bittersweet moment. We hope we'll be able to use it again one day, but there's no guarantee. Will is growing so fast. He's working on phonemes he hasn't tried before, and his language increasingly sounds fluent. Fluent in what, I'm not sure. Rolf swears that sometimes Will is speaking French. Lately, I think he's sounding a bit more Russian. I have a feeling that one of these days, all those puzzle pieces will fall into place and he'll be speaking fluent English.

P.S. Notice Will holding the pliers. He helped dismantle the crib. I think he was happy to have his room back.

Sunday, September 28 - This pretty much sums up the day. If we were doing what Will wanted, when he wanted it, we were all kinds of good. If not, Will threw one of his tantrums. Sigh. I'm afraid, along with the strawberry blonde hair, that Will got his mommy's temperament. There's a reason my mother used to recite this to me when I was younger:

There was a little girl,
Who had a little curl,
Right in the middle of her forehead.
And when she was good,
She was very, very good,
But when she was bad she was horrid.

That's Will, except male and sans curls. Today was just a grumpy day.

Project 365 Week 19

2008-09-21T21:36:00.004-05:00

Monday, September 15 - What did we do? I can't remember. No photographic record, either. Drat.

Tuesday, September 16 - Will pulled the chair one way and tried to sit in it the other at daycare. The bruise just over his right eyebrow is pretty, isn't it? It matches the blue in his cool comic book onesie.

Wednesday, September 17 - Will in the woods? Nah, just walking in front of a massive tree branch that Rolf cut down pre-Ike. The tips of it were traipsing on the roof, and we didn't know wht kind of wind we were going to get. Instead of risking shingles, Rolf climbed up in the heat and cut it down. With a hook saw on a stick. Ugh.

Thursday, September 18 - My handsome boy. Look at that pretty hair!

Friday, September 19 - Will stayed with Grandma and Grandad after daycare, and by the time we got home, he was worn out and cranky. He was up long enough to whine, drink some milk, and get ready for bed.

Saturday, September 20 - Dancin', dancin', dancin', dancin' machine!

Sunday, September 21 - Will helped Daddy anchor his bed rail to his new toddler bed. Later, he went to sleep in the bed for the first time. I almost cried, but held it back. Rolf tried to comfort me, telling me how it was cool that we raised him to another milestone, and I agree. But the part of me that isn't sure we'll ever get to do this again mourns the baby that is left behind with every step Will takes toward childhood. He's already so big and doing so much on his own. I know we'll be registering him for Kindergarten before I can blink. Every day with this little guy is so special.

more firsts

2008-09-21T20:46:00.002-05:00

tonight marks the night will sails to slumber on his first big boy bed. i am both thrilled and terrified. we've installed a railing to keep him from rolling out His old crib is being mothballed until the fleet needs it again.

Project 365 Week 18

2008-09-14T20:17:00.005-05:00

Monday, September 8 - Will has been one hungry hungry hippo lately. He's eating a lot, sleeping a lot, and fussing a lot. He's hitting several new cognitive and physical developments. Plus, he's going through a growth spurt (in his mouth, too - see previous post). Will's World hasn't been a happy place to be lately. :-(

Tuesday, September 9 - We were eating non "pre-chewed" food, as my department chair calls ground beef and chicken nuggets, so Will got to eat one of his Gerber graduate meals. The instructions call for 3o seconds in the microwave, but after just 20, it's lava in a tray. We usually have to remove the dinner early and stick it in the freezer for just as long, if not longer, than it was in the microwave. Even then, it's still plenty warm. Will will blow on his food if he thinks it's hot (see post Cookie Monster for evidence).

Wednesday, September 10 - Will's Great-Grandad turned 85 today. We also experienced a sudden downpour around the time Rolf was on the road home. Will loves outside in any weather, but he seems especially fascinated with the rain. I'm a bit more nervous because the concrete on our patio is extremely slippery when wet. His feet slide around a little. For that reason, we only take very short sojourns outside when it's raining.

Thursday, September 11 - "Bear?" After a particularly fussy afternoon, Will grabbed the remote, waved it at the television, and asked for Bear. Since all my other efforts (playing, reading, cuddling) were refused by Mr. Grumpy, I obliged. I put the DVD in and turned around to see that Will had very properly sat on his stepstool and was awaiting his favorite show. He began to bounce when the theme music came on, happier than I'd seen him all day.

Friday, September 12 - Will is in a better mood, and he has several new toys, including this farm magnet set. I went with Jack's mommy to a massive consignment sale on Thursday night. We got in early because we were teachers. Apparently, it wasn't early enough. Most of the great stuff already had "sold" tags on them. My major coup? A toddler bed for $30. Rolf and I had debated about whether or not to transition Will to a toddler bed or a twin mattress. Since I was able to find the bed so cheap, we will get him into the toddler bed by Halloween. He'll have more autonomy when it comes to getting in and out of bed, which is a mixed bag. I'm glad he'll be able to lay down if he's sleepy, but I know the first time I wake up to find him standing next to my bed I'll be scared sh!tless.

Saturday, September 13 - As Ike rained down on us outside, we had a nice hang-around-in-your-pajamas day. As I said in my previous post, Will was up and down most of the day. He had a good run in the afternoon playing ball with daddy, though. Will's favorite thing to do is fling something, anything across the room and yell, "Ohhh!" If I can get it on video, I'll show you.

Sunday, September 14 - Rolf and I caught The Who's Tommy at the Dallas Theater Center this afternoon. It's part of our goal to support the arts more and to have more couple time. Will stayed with Grandma and Grandad (and Great-Grandad, who now lives with G'ma & G'dad). Of course, life was much more exciting over there, with three people doting on him and two dogs to play with, so naptime was nearly non-existent. Because of that, Will was ready when it came to bedtime. Here he is, with Boyd, his paci, and his blankie, ready to get into the rocking chair for his bedtime stories. I love that he's starting to take the initiative when it comes to bedtime. That's one reason we're fairly sure the toddler bed is a good idea.

Molarity

2008-09-14T20:07:00.003-05:00

Sorry about the geeky chemistry reference. (okay, I'm really not.) This Saturday, knowing we were facing a day full of rain (and potentially dangerous winds) from the remnants of Ike, we planned on staying in all day. Good thing, too, because Will was fussy and feverish. He was up at 6, down again for a nap by 9, and another at around 1 in the afternoon. He must be teething, we thought. Hah! That's an understatement. I stuck my finger in his mouth as he watched the downpour through the patio door and felt a bud on the lower right side behind his canine. Okay, I figured. That's about right. Let's see how the others are coming. I moved to the left side of his mouth. Ouch! He bit down with a molar that's already half in and one that's, oh, about 1/3 through. Rolf went back to check the other side, and the top right molar is starting to peek through.

For those of you keeping count, that's roughly 14 1/2 teeth in, 5 1/2 more to go before we get a break from this. For the real stat junkies out there, this will mean eight, yes, EIGHT teeth broken through between July 7 and September 21. Poor kid.

Project 365 Week 17

2008-09-08T17:15:00.004-05:00

Monday, September 1 - Labor Day. Will and Daddy share some of the last watermelon the season has to offer. Will could have eaten the whole thing, if we'd let him, but I didn't want to deal with the diapers that were sure to follow. I know daycare didn't, either.

Tuesday, September 2 - "Bye-bye!" Will decided that after the fit he threw at daycare (separation anxiety is a bitch) that he wanted to go out again. We're not sure where he wanted to go. He just wanted to be somewhere besides the house. I can't blame him; I'm the same way sometimes.

Wednesday, September 3 - Will and Daddy play. "Whee!"

Thursday, September 4 - Apparently inspired by the political season, Will practices his stump speech. He's got my vote!

Friday, September 5 - As an effort to make dropping off at daycare a little easier in the morning, I have started to send Will with his dog Boyd. After I picked up Will at 4:15, we got home to find Rolf had gotten the hot water heater taken care of (too much money, but at least the house is up to code now!). Will was tired and cranky and acted like he needed a nap. Rolf tried to put him down at around 5, when we realized that Boyd was nowhere to be found. In one terrible, sinking moment, I realized that Boyd was still at daycare. Knowing that we wouldn't get any sleep all weekend without him, I rushed back up to get Boyd and two pacis that had been left in the Infant II room. Will has been spending his afternoons in the 18-month room. He loves playing with the bigger kids, and honestly, I think he likes the teacher in that room a lot better, too. We rescued Boyd in time, and we figured out that Will's fussiness was as much hunger as anything else. In all the hubbub, we didn't get a picture.

Saturday, September 6 - Blanket monster! Arrrrr!

Sunday, September 7 - I think we're about to see another growth spurt, a developmental milestone, or a few teeth. Will has been eating everything he can get his hands on, he has been fussy fussy fussy, and he has been sleepy. He walks into his room, pulls his blanket through the crib bars, and requests "Boee?" and "Pah" (his dog Boyd and his paci). Then, popping the paci in his mouth, he cuddles up on the floor or in one of our laps. He usually only uses the paci to sleep at night, but I'm afraid it's starting to become a little security measure for his separation anxiety. We're going to have to work on weaning him of that soon.

Water Dragon redux

2008-09-04T23:06:00.002-05:00

Apparently it fled from the hall bath and took its revenge on the hot water heater this morning. the call to the mega hardware chain for assistance guaranteed a call back in an hour for installation tomorrow...as you can probably surmise, i didn't get a call back from my 'installation co-ordinator' :P

with everything we've done to the house ourselves already, i'm tempted to try this on my own this weekend...

on a different note, the weather was beautiful today. we went and played in the back yard when i got home from work. Ghostie got some good shots of will practicing his oratory skills, check it out in the next 365 update.

rolf

Whee!

2008-09-02T18:50:00.002-05:00

Who needs fancy ride-on toys?

Cookie Monster

2008-09-02T18:36:00.003-05:00

...or should I say, "Cuh-kee" Monster?

Monday morning, Will was up bright and early. Because of the holiday, I tried to let Rolf sleep in a little. I got Will his milk and began to scramble him an egg for breakfast. I heard his little bare feet slapping the floor as he ran across the house. The sound faded slightly before the monitor picked him up again. I heard him burst into our bedroom, saying, "cuh-kee, cuh-kee, cuh-kee." Rolf didn't have a chance. Essentially, Will said, "screw the scrambled eggs, Ma, Daddy gives me cookies." It's kind of Rolf's fault, though, because when he let me sleep in on Sunday, he fed Will graham crackers at breakfast.

Here is my little cookie monster in action.

Project 365 Week 16

2008-09-02T18:11:00.002-05:00

Monday, August 25 - The first day of school with students. Photography was the last thing on my mind.

Tuesday, August 26 - After a vigorous play session in his sand table, Will gets Daddy to rinse his toys.

Wednesday, August 27 - After heading outside to water the flowers and back in to get a bath, Will sat down and pulled out his books. He loves to read so much that he will, with no prompting, pick up a book and read to himself. It doesn't matter that anything round is a "ball" and that most animals are "dogs." What matters to me is that he loves books. I figure he was genetically predisposed that way, but you never know...

Thursday, August 28 - Will was a sleepy boy tonight. All we were doing was changing his diaper, and he grabbed Boyd and his paci and tried to settle in for the night. I don't blame him. By Thursday, I was more than ready for the weekend.

Friday, August 29 - After his bath, a naked Will ran through the house, squealing in delight at the feel of the wind on his bum, dodging every effort to corral him, and refusing to settle in to brush his teeth. This is the only picture I got that night that didn't include parts of his anatomy I promised I would never publish online.

Saturday, August 30 - Will in his cool shark swimsuit at his friend Brenden's new house. Based on his love of bathwater and hoses, we assumed Will would love to swim. We assumed incorrectly. Will hated it in the pool. I can't blame him too much. He's only ever swum once before, for about 5 minutes, when he was 3 months old. The water was too cold for him that time. This time, I think he had a better feel for the idea of water as an awesome presence. It must be genetic. Both my mother and I are not water people. I'll go soak in a pool, but I am not a big swimmer. I think I must have been drowned in a past life...

Sunday, August 31 - For some reason, we missed grabbing a picture while we ran errands. Before we knew it, the day was over. Dangit.

water dragons

2008-09-01T20:19:00.002-05:00

i have done battle with the water dragon in the hall bath. it was a hard fought struggle that required me to re-supply from the neighborhood hardware store and bust out with the dremmel cutter... but it is done. the 30 year old fixtures have been replaced with shiny new stuff that will make us 30 percent cleaner and help whiten our teeth in our sleep.

Response to comments below...

2008-09-01T09:58:00.002-05:00

I started this in the comment section of "Velcro Dad," but it got long-winded (surprise, surprise), so I decided to make it into a post instead.

Personally, I would prefer to leave our political views off of Will's page. I set this blog up to keep Will's more distant relatives up to date on his life, not to explain to the world to whom my vote goes and why. I know the blog is mundane at times; I don't always have the time to craft a witty post, and lately, the energy is lacking, too. I will try to post livelier stories of Will's (mis)adventures.

Additionally, I am very private about my political views around my students because I don't want my political philosophy tainting their view of me as a teacher. Most 15 year olds aren't quite mature enough to separate what their parents tell them is the right way to think from the people they admire. The last thing I need is for some kid to think I grade his paper harder because he follows a different political party. If they listen closely to what I say, they can figure out my viewpoint. Most don't listen that closely. Besides, discussing politics and religion (outside of immediate family) makes me physically sick to my stomach. They are two areas that represent who people are at the core of their being, and arguing won't change that.

Rolf's feed is already on the right side of the blog. My feed includes the Onion, the blog Cake Wrecks, and the Great White Snark. Everything else is either a friend's blog or the SAT question of the day, to which I subscribe for the SAT prep class I teach.

Rolf is thinking about starting a different blog for the side of our lives that has less to do with Will. I am not sure how it will fly, since Rolf doesn't even post here, and I have my aforementioned aversions to publishing my thoughts about the world where my students can find them. You may think me spineless for feeling this way, but remember the city in which I teach, and remember the close-minded nature of many of its citizens. The subject I teach has more "subjective" grades than straightforward a+b=c. Add to that a high-maintenance group of "helicopter" parents (not all, but there are more than a few in my school's neighborhood), and there's a recipe for trouble. It's not worth it to me. I live my own personal philosophies in my daily life through my service to the community and my tolerance for all walks of life, and I teach that service and tolerance by example in my classroom. I feel that's enough.

All that aside, the Henson exhibit sounds fantastic. I would love to take Rolf and Will to the Smithsonian someday. I don't think Will is going to be up for that much museum time for a couple of years, but it's definitely on the to-do list. One of my long held goals is to be a card-carrying member of the Library of Congress. You know, just 'cause.

Velcro Dad

2008-08-30T22:49:00.003-05:00

Today we went to visit maggie and patrick's new diggs. they have a new pool that will wanted to look at, but not play in. he seems to have an aversion to large amounts of water...little guy didn't even like seeing daddy do a giant cannonball off the diving board.

we also helped will's great grand dad move back in with his grandparents. it wasn't alot of furniture... but the presence helped fill the room.

ghostie is mourning the loss of summer vacation while i take a few days off from work and fix some things around the house this coming week.

i'll be working behind the scenes on a site re-design and possible new host over the coming months. we'll see where that adventure takes us. if you have any suggestions, or just want to tell us what you'd like to see more of, leave a comment or send us an email.

rolf

Project 365 Week 15

2008-08-27T18:31:00.003-05:00

Monday, August 18 - It was the beginning of my first week back at school. Bleah. All I got of him was the video of him calling his daddy that I previously posted.

Tuesday, August 19 - It was pouring. Will thought it was tons o' fun to play under our leaky gutters, until he slipped on the wet concrete and fell flat on his back. Scared me to death, but only shook him up for a minute or two.

Wednesday, August 20 - After a total meltdown at daycare, crying inconsolably for over an hour, Will had a good day at home with Daddy. Ruined Mommy's birthday when she found out via voicemail three hours later, but that's okay. Here he is showing off his new feat: climbing up on the couch.

Thursday, August 21 - I turned around in the car to see this. Will had grabbed his baseball cap and thrust it on his head. Or at least balanced it on the top. :-)

Friday, August 22 - The city of Mesquite finally got its act together and instituted an official recycling program that is both visible and publicly advertised. These bins were on the front porches of everyone in the neighborhood. Will just thought it was a new push toy.

Saturday, August 23 - This was after an abbreviated birthday-lunch outing for Mommy. Rolf tried to take us out for a nice dinner, but Will didn't feel like playing. Once we got him home and napped, he still didn't want to do much besides snuggle his puppy Boyd. He still looks snarky, doesn't he?

Sunday, August 24 - We have finally put away the high chair for good. Will is in a big boy booster seat now. He likes feeling like a big boy.

Will Calls Daddy

2008-08-18T17:21:00.003-05:00

This is what Will does when he picks up my phone.

Project 365 Week 14

2008-08-17T20:17:00.004-05:00

Monday, August 11 - This is one of Will's favorite activities - crawling up on the hearth. Unfortunately, it usually accompanies leaning on the firescreen or pulling on the fan.

Tuesday, August 12 - Will discusses with Daddy the finer points of dinner.

Wednesday, August 13 - Grandad's birthday. Here is Will with birthday cake on his face.

Thursday, August 14 - Since Will has decided meat is only a sometimes thing we had to look to alternative sources for protein. Good thing he likes beans!

Friday August 15 - See that green stuff hanging off his lip? That's guacamole. That's why he's making this face. He isn't so fond of the ambrosia of the Texan gods just yet.

Saturday, August 16 - It looks like we beat him up, doesn't it? Will woke up this morning with his left eye swollen and caked shut. I took him to PrimaCare because the last time that happened, he had an ear infection that had backed up into his eye. This time, it was just a sinus infection. Poor punkin looked worse than he seemed to feel.

Sunday, August 17 - "Done." Will struggles to fling his plate, still with food on it, to the floor. Mommy struggles equally hard to prevent said food from flying all over the kitchen. I'd say this one ended up a draw.

Okay, One More...

2008-08-10T20:03:00.003-05:00

I promise, this is the last one tonight.

Here's Will looking at a Halloween costume catalog we got in the mail. If you listen closely, you'll hear him identify the Cookie Monster costume. He then proceeds to eat from his fruit bar, and ID's Cookie once again. When he's really earnest about saying the word "cookie," his entire face turns red, his fists ball up, and that vein pops out on his head. It's hysterical.

He's getting much better, though. Just this weekend, we started hearing more of the "oo" in "cookie." So now it's more like "coo-kh."

Will Loves to Read - to Himself!

2008-08-10T18:15:00.003-05:00

Sorry it's so bumpy; we were in the car.

I am a posting fool today!

Project 365 Week 13

2008-08-10T17:58:00.005-05:00

Monday, August 4 - My boys are dressed alike. Aren't they cute?

Tuesday, August 5 - Will's favorite post-dinner activity - watering the plants with Daddy. The constant 100+ degree heat is really starting to take its toll.

Wednesday, August 6 - Will helps Mommy in her room at school. He had a blast playing soccer with the principal's secretary, running the long hallway, and coloring on some butcher paper. He also helped Mommy find her scissors, a screwdriver, her stapler, her push pins...

Thursday, August 7 - Will's new thing is the "Ahh!" of refreshment after drinking from his cup.

Friday, August 8 - In honor of the Olympics, Will wears his red, white, and blue "America" Mickey Mouse pajamas. Though you can't tell it here, the graphics actually look vaguely Soviet. Oh, well. The spirit of the Olympics is about unity in diversity, right? Will's just learning that early.

Saturday, August 9 - Will's friend Jack turned one today, and his Uncle Richi also turned a year older. Jack had a party, and Will had a blast. Mommy just forgot to take any pictures. I pulled this one from Jack's blog.

Sunday, August 10 - Will tries his new strawberry fruit snacks. He wasn't sure about the texture at first, but he soon gobbled it all up.

A Typical Day in Dogpatch, U.S.A.

2008-08-10T17:49:00.004-05:00

For his birthday, Will's friend got him this bowling set. The pins are milk bottles, and the ball is a cow. When the cow is rolled (or shaken), it plays banjo music and moos.

He's a little late, but I think Will could have auditioned for my cousin's production of Lil' Abner (showing at the Campus Theatre in Denton through the 17th). He would be the littlest denizen of Dogpatch, but all it would take is some banjo music, and he'd fit right in. Check it out:

Project 365 Week 12

2008-08-03T19:28:00.003-05:00

Monday, July 28 - Will's favorite new game is a version of hide and seek. I'll "run" from him, hide so he knows where I am, and when he nears, come out and say "boo!" He nearly falls over laughing from it. I caught his face as I said "boo!" here.

Tuesday, July 29 - I apologize for the overexposure. Will begged for an Oreo, so I gave him one. He turned around a couple of minutes later to show me this full beard made of Oreo goo. I took this one, saw it was overexposed and took another before Will started to reach for things with his chocolate hands. I quickly cleaned him up. When I looked at the camera later, the other one hadn't processed right, so this is the only capture I got. :-(

Wednesday, July 30 - Do you think he's getting tired of the camera in his face every day?

Thursday, July 31 - We moved our recycle bin into the kitchen from the laundry room so that we'll use it more. Will was instantly intrigued and had a great time pulling this cardboard packaging in and out, in and out.

Friday, August 1 - I love the look on his face. The paw you see at the bottom of the picture is the Bear in the Big Blue House stuffed animal Rolf got me back in the late 90's. It was in our attic, and Rolf fished it out for Will to play with. Bear is nearly as big as Will!

Saturday, August 2 - See previous post on Will's response to Rolf's playing video games.

Sunday, August 3 - Attack of the Giant Baby? Nah, just Will climbing all over Rolf from the perspective of Rolf on the floor. Doesn't my boy have beautiful brown eyes?

Willsword

2008-08-03T19:20:00.002-05:00

No, it's not a typo. Rolf started a minicity for Will here, but someone had already taken "Willsworld" as the name. Grrr...

Anyway, you can visit once a day, and each visit marks a growth in population. Eventually, we (and by "we" I mean Rolf) can build a little society with industry, transportation, etc. Those of you who like sim games can understand his enthusiasm for this project. Those of you who don't - well, visit the link often for Will's sake. :-) Rolf put a permanent link to it on the side column. Feel free to leave a message on the bulletin board there.

Thanks!

Daddy's Boy (and Mommy's, Too!)

2008-08-03T18:55:00.004-05:00

Will was born into a family of gamers. I have had a video game console (or at least a computer) in my place of residence continuously since I was four years old. There's really no way we could (or would) keep Will from games. In fact, Will was only a few months old when he first sat in Rolf's lap to help him conquer the world via X-Box:

Even at such a young age, Will figured out that there was some connection to the green controller and what happened on the screen. If I remember correctly, Will rotated the map of Rolf's strategic war game at dizzying speed continuously for a minute or so.

Here is Will yesterday, after he awoke from his nap. Rolf was playing Lego Star Wars II, and as you can see, Will had plenty of advice to offer:

A Little Perspective

2008-08-03T18:43:00.010-05:00

In one of the final stages of our whole-house clutter-busting cleanup, I finally allowed myself to go through Will's old clothes and sort out what to keep and what to donate. We kept very little. Besides a few gender-neutral tees for those first few days, we kept Will's Halloween costume, his Christmas outfit, a teensy onesie from when the 0-3 month stuff swallowed him and he wore NB (which was still big!), his first UNT t-shirt (his "smart cookie" shirt), and the outfit we brought him home in. It's amazing to me how much he's grown even just this summer, but check out the difference between 3 days and 14 1/2 months:

I had the cap tucked in behind his head, but it still kept slipping down.

Here was the other day:

The child has inherited the big head that both his parents possess. We like to think it's to hold all of his brains.

2008-07-28T12:24:00.001-05:00

I made a word cloud with Will's vocabulary. I think it's pretty.

Project 365 Week 11

2008-07-27T11:46:00.004-05:00

Monday, July 21 - We beat the heat by heading to Dairy Queen for ice cream. Will loved sharing Daddy's Peanut Buster Parfait.

Tuesday, July 22 - Another first. Will started pointing at the words in his books and saying, "bah bah bah dah bah." He's made the connection between the symbols on the page and the words we say. He has also started grabbing our fingers and pointing to the pictures he wants us to name. Often, our reading sessions sound like, "Tree. Alligator. Tree. Elmo. Tree. Tree. Alligator. Turtle. Tree."

Wednesday, July 23 - While visiting his Great-Grandad, Will finds a new toy: Grandad's cane. After a few harrowing moments of Will swinging the cane past the TV and Grandad's head, we maneuvered both Will and the cane out of harm's way.

Thursday, July 24 - Why so serious? Will does his Joker impersonation with fruit for makeup.

Friday, July 25 - I promise, he isn't wearing the same shirt as yesterday's picture! Here is my little piano man, tickling the ivories.

Saturday, July 26 - Instead of a picture today, I'll post a video. Sorry about the poor quality; it was taken on my cell phone. We went out to eat, and Will decided he wanted to share Daddy's french onion soup. The reaction at around 20 seconds is priceless.

Sunday, July 27 - Will is such a big helper that he helped Daddy do the dishes this morning. Unfortunately, he was too fascinated by the utensil caddy (especially the knives), so we had to divert his attention elsewhere.

Another First

2008-07-21T08:40:00.003-05:00

Saturday night, Rolf gave Will his bath. This is a fairly unusual occurrence, as I usually bathe Will and Rolf takes care of the tooth-brushing and bedtime stories. We switch out every now and then, though.

I was in the living room, surfing the internet and enjoying a few moments free of Will responsibility. The boys were in the bathroom, and I could hear Will splashing and playing happily. Suddenly, Rolf called me to help. I jumped up and rushed in there. Rolf was holding a naked Will out to me to take and dress. I asked him what was wrong. His response was, "Will pooped in the tub. He just leaned over, grunted, and there it was." I had to laugh. I knew the day would come, and I always assumed it would happen to me. I guess Will figured that since daddy thinks farting is funny, he'd think pooping was even funnier.

I know it won't be the last time this happens, but for now, I'm glad I've escaped it. One of my most vivid memories is taking a bath with my sister when she was maybe 2, reaching for the soap in the water, and grabbing hold of poop instead. I remember screaming bloody murder and scaring both of my parents into the bathroom to see what was wrong. It traumatized me when I was 7. It's funny how things change when you become a parent. When we were first married, Rolf told me he didn't think he could change any dirty diapers because his sense of smell was so sensitive. I can't imagine he'd ever dreamed he would be fishing poop out of the bathtub someday. Bodily functions just become something else to take care of when you are responsible for another human being. I had no problems changing my Granny's colostomy bag, either. It's just something you do if someone you love needs your help.

Tasty Bubbles

2008-07-21T08:34:00.003-05:00

It's a very short video because Will decided that he'd had enough right around the time I got the camera turned on him.

Project 365 Week 10

2008-07-20T19:53:00.004-05:00

Monday, July 14 - This is Will's "The Whole World Is Against Me and My Life Is Pure Sadness" face. If his feelings have reason to be hurt, it breaks my heart. However, most of the time he uses it to make us feel bad for telling him "no." Then it doesn't affect me at all.

Tuesday, July 15 - I hear a bang from the other room, head to the living room to find that Will had pulled on the cord that plugs in the baby monitor in our room and taken the monitor for a tour of the house. I think he was intrigued by what he could hear coming from the unit.

Wednesday, July 16 - With fresh batteries, the bubble machine cranks out bubbles like crazy. Will thought it fun to catch them in his mouth. I will post a short video of this later.

Thursday, July 17 - "What are you looking at? Haven't you ever seen a toddler brush his teeth?" He's getting better at it all the time. Instead of just chewing and sucking on the brush, he now twists his wrist to imitate our brushing action.

Friday, July 18 - We were getting ready for a garage sale. I sold some of Will's baby stuff because they were taking up too much room, and while we hope to have another someday, it won't be for a few years (if we're lucky enough that lightning strikes twice). I have some other stuff saved, but I don't know how practical that really is. Here, Will says goodbye to his infant gym. The picture I wanted to get was of him sitting in the gym with the mirror up against his face, cooing at the cute baby in it. Alas, the camera batteries were dead, and by the time I got them changed, this is what I could get.

P.S. Rolf and I went to see The Dark Knight later that evening. Totally freaking awesome. I would love to see it again.

Saturday, July 19 - After Will returned home from Grandma and Grandad's (his refuge from the late night movie and busy garage sale morning), we played outside. Will, of course, had to find a stick. Here he is using it to chase down the bubbles.

Sunday, July 20 - Will and Mommy discuss the idiocy of holding a garage sale in July in Texas. Saturday was very successful (the high only reached 92 before we quit), Sunday, not so much (the temperature was a muggy 92 by 10:30 A.M.). The bear and pillows ended up in Goodwill, and the couch will either go there or to the Salvation Army. It's a great couch for an apartment - a very lightweight, easily movable (Rolf and I can each carry it on our own), and it folds out into a sleeper. If you know anyone who might need it in the metroplex, send them my way!

Words, words, words

2008-07-15T11:58:00.003-05:00

I received my weekly Babycenter email update on Will's development. Physically, he seems to be right on track, getting into everything, walking with confidence, etc. However, I had to laugh when I read this line: "At 14 months, your toddler understands many more words than she can say. Her spoken vocabulary likely consists of about three to five words, typically "Mama," "Dada," and one other simple word such as 'ball' or 'dog,' but she learns the meanings of new words every day." Three to five? Rolf and I made a list of the words Will says on a semi-regular basis, words he obviously understands and connects to objects around him.

1. Mama - he doesn't say this one often enough to my liking, although my mom said he saw my picture at her house and said, "mommy!" He prefers Dada.
2. Dada, Daddy, Da - he recognizes Rolf in pictures, and he grabs my cell phone, puts it on his shoulder, and says, "Da?"
3. Grandpa - he learned this one staying with Grandpa in MO
4. Grandma - he has two grandmothers called "Grandma," so this one is fairly easy for him
5. Grandad - he loves my dad, who has taken care of him several times when he's been sick
6. Bubbles - will request them from either the bubble machine or the bottle
7. Done-done - said with the accompanying baby sign, the only one he ever picked up
8. Down - when he is finished eating and wants out of his high chair
9. Bear - ashamed to say, this is not just when he sees a teddy bear, but also when he requests an episode of Bear in the Big Blue House. He'll even take the DVD case up to the TV and hold it up when he says it
10. Ball - one of Will's favorites. He'll point across a store and yell out "BAH!" if he sees some
11. Dog - Will, like his parents, loves dogs. We'll have to get a new one next summer, I guess
12. Bird - he learned this one in MO, watching the hummingbirds fly around his Grandma and Grandpa's porch. Also applies to Big Bird and any other bird in his books
13. Please - we taught him to say this as a request before he turned a year old. It sounds similar to his version of...
14. Cheese - his favorite food up to this point. Good thing he got over the lactose issue!
15. Read - R's are hard, though, so it sounds more like "byeed"
16. Outside - Will's favorite place
17. Door - he knows it will get him outside
18. Window - ditto for our sliding glass door
19-24. Moo, Baa, Bow-wow, neigh, meow, quack - when prompted for the correct animal about 85% of the time
25. Star - he has glow in the dark stars on his ceiling, and he loves looking at them at night. He looked up at the light in the hallway this morning and said, "tar!"
26. That? - fairly obvious what that's for
27. Num-num - besides being the "yummy" sound, I think this is what he calls bananas. That's my fault for calling his baby food "'nana num-nums" when he was little
28. Cookie - for Cookie Monster and his arrowroot cookies
29. Trash - I haven't really heard him come out with this one yet, but Rolf says he says"tash"
30. Teeth - he LOVES to brush his teeth and asks to do so after his bath each night

Additionally, we have heard him mimic us when reading That's Not My Puppy and That's Not My Dragon. It comes out "nah mah bubbee" and "nah mah dgun." Last night, Rolf was reading him a book featuring Grover and "cute things to touch." Rolf showed Will Grover on one page, then Elmo on the next. He explained how Elmo was the red one, and how Grover was blue, and we both heard Will say, "that's not the red one" as he pointed to Grover. I'm sure some of that was shared hallucination, but I wasn't really listening to them, and I heard the same thing Rolf did.

Will babbles all the time. There are so many words just hanging out in there that I know are just going to pop out any time. His mind is obviously faster than his tongue, but that tongue is catching up quickly. I love watching him work hard to pronounce a word correctly. For example, "please" used to be little more than a voiced "th." Last night, he worked really hard and came out with "pteeze."

I wish I could crawl inside his head to know exactly what he understands and how much is right there under the surface. Parenting is like putting together a million-piece jigsaw puzzle: it takes a lot of searching for the right piece, a lot of trial-and error, and a lot of patience, but slowly and surely, a complete picture emerges. From what I've seen so far, Will's picture is a masterpiece.

Project 365 Week 9

2008-07-14T08:19:00.004-05:00

Monday, July 7 - While playing in his room, Will decided to use half of his Kansas City Chiefs bank as a hat. His Grandma and Grandpa gave him that bank, and we took the rare coins they had put in it out of the little guy's reach. Since this bank isn't breakable, we don't mind if it's within his reach.

Tuesday, July 8 - Will helps Mommy unload the groceries into the refrigerator. Somehow, he missed the memo that Mom had already cleaned the old stuff out of the fridge. He cleaned out the entire bottom shelf of the door before I got a single bag unloaded. We put everything back in, but by the time I emptied another bag, the door was empty again!

Wednesday, July 9 - Target finally put the kid-sized sling-back chairs on enough clearance for me to buy one for Will. We tried it out on the rug before we put it out on the patio with the big people sling-back chairs. Will really liked sitting in it. He can easily crawl out of it, but he hasn't quite figured out that he's not quite tall enough to be able just to back his bottom into it. It's cute to see him try, though.

Thursday, July 10 - Background Info: My grandad, who has been in assisted living apartments for just about a year now (he's blind from macular degeneration and uncoordinated from brain tumor surgery in 1976), is moving in with my parents soon. My mom had to get rid of the sleeper sofa they had in one of their guest rooms and offered it to us. We jumped at the chance so that we can have guests sleep at the house again. Unfortunately, our office looked more like a junk storage room than an office. I had been meaning to clean it out for a while, but this forced my hand. We cleaned out the closet and office, pulled up the nasty 35 year old carpet (we only have it in one room now!), repainted the room, and carried the tile from the living room and hallway into the office (hereafter to be referred to as the "library"). This is day one of Operation Guest Room. I was working at clearing off my desk, and I heard little grunts and shuffling sounds behind me. I turned around to see this. There really is no better toy than a box, is there?

Friday, July 11 - After months of eschewing tomato sauce in any form but ketchup (a trend that dates back to his days in utero), Will suddenly ate his lasagna with gusto. Maybe there was enough cheese to counter the tomator sauce, or maybe he was just really hungry. Whatever the reason, I was thrilled to see him try something new. Now if I could just turn him back on to more green veggies...

Saturday, July 12 - The biggest day of Operation Guest Room. We finished painting, pulled up the carpet, and laid the floor. Will wanted to help every step of the way. Unfortunately, that usually meant that he would pick up a knife or a screwdriver or something equally dangerous. This time, though, he picked up a (dry) paintbrush and helped touch up an already painted wall. Poor baby. I feel like this was one of the few times somebody wasn't yelling, "no, no!" at him. It was a tough weekend for the little man. He really just wanted to help. He's such a sweet and inquisitive boy.

Sunday, July 13 - Will sits on the couch in the new library/guest room. (I promise, the paint isn't nearly as pink as it looks in this picture. It's really a nice clay/terra cotta color.) Will is getting better and better about climbing up on and off of couches. It's more reassuring and more nerve-wracking at the same time.

We just have a few more things to place back into the guest room closet and some more books to move around, and we'll be finished. I am refusing to stash things just wherever the mood strikes this time. I've cleaned out my files and have a couple of boxes' worth of papers to shred, we've put shelves in the closet for stuff, and we have pulled enough stuff out to have a pretty good garage sale this coming weekend. If you're in the metroplex, tell people to come by! We have furniture, sporting equipment, baby items, and toys.

Project 365 Week 8

2008-07-06T22:18:00.003-05:00

Monday, June 30 - Will stayed with my mom and dad while Rolf and I went to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. It was our first time to see a movie since Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix last summer. We enjoyed our date and the movie. Will enjoyed my parents' backyard, including a fire ant pile that he stood in, uncomplaining, until my dad noticed the critters on him and swooped him out of danger. Unfortunately, over two dozen of the beasts bit my baby. Will had his foot covered in blistery pustules, as you can see here. They were on the top of his foot, on his ankle, on his toes, between his toes, and even on the ball of his foot! He never complained about his foot itching or hurting, though. What a trooper! I took this the day after, when we were on the first leg of our road trip to Missouri to visit Rolf's family. The kid has great timing, doesn't he?

Tuesday, July 1 - This was after Will had awakened from his first nap on the road. I don't believe we were quite out of Texas at this point. He was still in a good mood. That would change intermittently over the next couple of days, although I must say, Will was extremely well behaved for 95% of the trip. The other 5%, I was tired and grouchy, so I know Will was. He was amazing.

Wednesday, July 2 - We finally arrive in MO, and Will takes a walk with Grandpa in front of their house. You can just see the lake at the bottom of the hill. It is beautiful up there.

Thursday, July 3 - Will plays peek-a-boo with one of his great aunts. He has two named Vicki, although I don't think they spell them the same. The Missouri Aunt Vicki(e?) was having a great time with the little booger here. They were laughing their heads off.

Friday, July 4 - Will's first boat trip. Once he got used to the noise of the motor, Will loved looking out at the lake, picking up sticks from the floor of the boat, and wandering around in his swimsuit/life jacket. A word of advice: swim diapers are really only good as poop catchers. Poor Will had pee running down his leg before we'd been out an hour and a half.

Saturday, July 5 - Will says goodbye to Grandpa and Grandma. Literally. While we were there, he started to say, "bye-bye" as he waved. Before, it was more of a "baaah!" Now he's got it down. I'll post later on the other vocabulary he's picked up recently. (Get your minds out of the gutter - it's all innocent. Sheesh.) He had a great time up there, running around, looking at the birds, petting the dogs and cat, and seeing new things. He also enjoyed spending time with his Grandma and Grandpa. I think they enjoyed the time with him, too.

Sunday, July 6 - My brave little guy has survived five nights in strange locations, out of his area of comfort. He's also dealt with three and a half 4+ hour days in the car, a disrupted nap schedule, people making a fuss over him (as well they should) :-), and unfamiliar food. He has been amazing, only screaming in the car 20 minutes total. We went to a Toys 'R' Us in Arkansas to pick up more diapers (I ended up being one short for the week), and we got him a couple of books as a reward for his bravery and patience. Here he is, reading about pets. He saw lots in MO - five dogs and a kitty. He loves animals, and he loves books, so he was thrilled to read this book. I love his look of concentration.

Night Terror

2008-07-01T06:07:00.002-05:00

Last Wednesday night, Will had what we assume, in retrospect, to be a night terror.

The night started out innocently enough. Will went to bed at his usual 8-8:30 bedtime without a fuss and settled into sleep pretty quickly. Around 11:30, he started crying. Loudly. Rolf went in to soothe him, and I hopped to the kitchen to get him some water. His cries just got louder and more frantic. When I reached the room, Will was sitting up in bed, shaking his head from side to side and batting at Rolf's hand. I tried to give him the sippy cup, and he knocked it from my hand. When Will gets up at night needing water, he will often knock the sippy away until he realizes what it is, so I didn't think much of it. We tried to pick him up and cuddle him, but he just thrashed around in our arms, screaming. We assumed he was having a nightmare, so Rolf brought him to our room where the light was on.

Will continued his thrashing and crying, which had by now become full-fledged screaming. His eyes were open, but he wasn't seeing us. He beat at us, kicked at us, wrenched away from our grasps, and writhed around. Rolf eventually calmed him down by talking low to him ("shush"ing wasn't working at all), and Will stopped his freakout. Unfortunately, he wanted nothing to do with sleep. He fought us tooth and nail until 1:00 AM, when I finally took him back to his room, held him, rocked him, and sang him back to sleep. At 1:30. He was wary of his room the whole time, looking around suspiciously, pointing at things and whimpering. I had his low-wattage star lamp on for him, and that seemed to help. When I turned off the lamp, he started crying again. I had to hang over his crib and rub his back and sing to him before he settled down enough. As much as it hurt me to do it after such a horrific episode, I had to leave him before he was fully asleep and let him cry. I knew he was good and tired (and knew for damn sure I was), and my presence just kept him on the defensive and awake. Within five minutes, he was asleep. He was up by 6:15, acting as if he had slept the night through without incident.

The only thing that makes us wonder if this episode was something other than a night terror is that Will's foot seemed extremely sensitive. He kicked his leg like he was in pain, and if we touched his leg, his screams turned into his "I'm hurting" cry. Everything else pointed to night terror - 1st 3rd of the sleep cycle, awake but not aware, resistant to soothing, and not seeming to remember a thing about the episode in the morning.

My other thought was that he had either a) growing pains or b) achy joints left from his feverish start to the week combined with the night terror.

Fortunately, it hasn't happened again, although if it does, we now know to leave him alone, watch to make sure he doesn't hurt himself, and let the terror run its course. That will be so hard to do, watching my baby panic without being able to help, but I know that any ministrations on our part will not do anything but prolong his panic.

Ugh.

Project 365 Week 7

2008-06-29T23:01:00.004-05:00

Monday, June 23 - The beginning of a pretty rough week for the little guy. Poor Will has a really hard time teething, and he doesn't teethe just one at a time. Oh, no. He'll get 3 or 4 at once. Monday, he was just a tired little guy. His big development was that he figured out how to propel himself forward on his ride-on toys. Hooray, Will! This has been a big source of frustration for him over the last couple of weeks. He has been able to get on and off, but he couldn't go anywhere while he was on until today.

Tuesday, June 24 - Pretty much how the day went. Overnight, Will didn't sleep more than an hour and a half at a time, and he was up from 3:30-6:45. He was up for the day before 8. He cried if I didn't hold him, he cried even harder if I did, and if I put him back down, it was even worse than before. Poor baby was feverish, fussy, and inconsolable. Mommy had a pretty rough day, too. After being up all night, Will didn't nap until 3:30 PM, so there was no way I could sleep by then. Ugh.

Wednesday, June 25 - Not two minutes prior to this, all the toys were put away in the basket. Of course, Will noticed the cool stuff once Mommy put it all away. Within 30 seconds, the basket was essentially empty. Will nearly did a flip into the basket as he reached for the toys he hadn't seen in months. Instead of being concerned at his scream of frustration, I grabbed the camera. Does that make me a bad mom?

Thursday, June 26 - Our sweet boy has returned. After a full night's sleep plus a five hour nap, his mood (and mine) improved dramatically. Here he is, surrounded by his books, reading before bedtime. Yes, I'm aware he's looking at the book upside down, but I just love that he's grabbing books like crazy and reading whatever he can get his hands on.

Friday, June 27 - A post-dinner pastime: digging through the cabinets in the kitchen. These are the only two he can look in. There isn't much he can do to harm my steamer or my double boiler, and the lids make good noise. We don't let him anywhere there are glass bowls or chemicals. There's not much more fun to a little boy than something that makes lots of noise. :-)

Saturday, June 28 - Prelude to Will's first bratty public meltdown. We went to the grocery store, and by the time we were in line to check out, Will was in full-blown scream mode. After the idiot woman in front of us decided to move her cell-phone-talking-complaining-about-my-son's-freakout happy self out of the line so I could remove the boy from the situation and make everybody happier, we went outside, where Will eventually calmed down (once we got in the car and were on the way home). There was no reason for this screaming fit - he wasn't hungry, tired, or thirsty. He just decided that Tom Thumb wasn't where he wanted to be. I'm just glad it didn't get too bad until we were about ready to go and Rolf could take care of the checkout.

Sunday, June 29 - We're back to the sweet little boy today. Here he is, playing the superhero with his blanket as cape.

Project 365 Week 6

2008-06-22T14:53:00.003-05:00

Monday, June 16 - While playing at Grandma and Grandad's house, one of the dogs joined in the fun. Unfortunately, Will was slightly off-balance and fell headfirst into the door. He had a nice little bruise right in the tuft of hair at the peak of his forehead.

Tuesday, June 17 - After our blazing weekend in San Antonio, we inflated Will's pool. Unfortunately, the day we chose to fill it was the day the rain came and the temperature dropped 20 degrees. This was before the cool front blew in, but the water was plenty cold. Will was good for three minutes, tops. Here he is escaping the frigid hose water.

Wednesday, June 18 - Will paints with Cool Whip. I didn't have to worry about his eating the paint, and he had a blast creating pictures for Daddy and Grandma and Grandad.

Thursday, June 19 - Will's one year pictures (see previous post).

Friday, June 20 - I failed to get a picture somehow. :-(

Saturday, June 21 - Will does his Cindy Crawford impersonation with one of Daddy's Cocoa Pebbles.

Sunday, June 22 - Will just HAD to go outside while Daddy was mowing this morning. Here he waits for Rolf to put the mower back in the shed. He loves being outside so much.

What does the cow say?

2008-06-22T14:45:00.003-05:00

Will speaks.

One Year Pictures - Finally!

2008-06-19T20:39:00.005-05:00

So they're a month+ late, but we went to get Will's picture made today. I took my friend's advice and tried a new place this time. They were fast, efficient, and got some good shots. Here are the poses we got.

This one is my favorite. It shows his personality best.

Project 365 Week 5

2008-06-15T22:32:00.002-05:00

Monday, June 9 - Mommy's Little Helper. Will found my broom and dustpan and helped me clean up the kitchen.

Tuesday, June 10 - I made Will some playdough today. He had a great time playing with it, squooshing his fingers into the stuff.

Wednesday, June 11 - We went to visit Will's Great-Grandad at his assisted living apartments. Grandad likes to feed the birds, so he and Will headed out to the courtyard to spread seed for the 50+ pigeons Grandad has tamed. If you look, you can see just how similar their gaits are. An interesting juxtaposition of one at the beginning of his life and one toward the end of his.

Thursday, June 12 - Will got lots of books from Grandma, who is weeding out her library of books for her classroom before she retires next year. This is awesome. I can't think of any better gift than our choice of her old books. We're splitting them with my sister, who teaches special ed.

Friday, June 13 - Mommy's Little Helper, part 2. I was putting the clothes from the dryer in our bedroom and came back to the laundry room to find that Will had taken the empty Clorox bottle and was "pouring" it into the dryer, just as he'd seen me do with the washer.

Saturday, June 14 - We took a trip to San Antonio for Father's Day weekend. This was Will's first trip to the Alamo. It was really stinking hot and humid and crowded, but we managed to have a blast anyway.

Sunday, June 15 - Rolf's second Father's day. This is Will on the inflatable mattress we bought so he wouldn't roll off a hotel bed. He had been so overstimulated from the heat and the noise and the crowd that when I finally got him to sleep, he was OUT. He slept later than I did!