Project 365 Week 7

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

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?

Will speaks.

One Year Pictures - Finally!

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

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!

Project 365 Week 4

Monday, June 2 - Out of the blue, Will knows how to drink from a straw (and he loves to practice on any drink we have!). I love this picture because he has mud all over his face and is looking at the camera like, "What? You gotta problem?"


Tuesday, June 3 - Casualty of war? Nah, just a bowl of macaroni and cheese. You can't see it, but it's all lodged behind his ear, too.



Wednesday, June 4 - Will was frustrated at his bubble mower. It was parked facing the wall. He couldn't turn it around, so he decided he would just drag it. Forcefully.


Thursday, June 5 - Petunias don't taste good, apparently. They're not poisonous, are they?


Friday, June 6 - Will likes to help us water the plants. We got him a Will-sized watering can at Target the next day.


Saturday, June 7 - "Do I have anything stuck in my teeth?"


Sunday, June 8 - I know, I know. I said he wouldn't watch TV until he was two, but we DO limit it, and at least it's something worthwhile like Bear in the Big Blue House. It's not like I'm letting him watch The Doodlebops (shudder).

Project 365 Week 3

Monday, May 26 - Memorial Day brings ice cream and Grandma and Grandad's. Will wasn't too fond of Grandad's smoked ham, but he did like the dessert!



Tuesday, May 27 - Incident report #1: Will gets bitten again. I'm not supposed to know who did it, but I have a pretty darn good idea. Usually they play well together, so it shouldn't be too big of a problem. Besides, Will only has one more solid week in daycare until we can stay home together this summer, and I know I won't bite him.



Wednesday, May 28 - Incident report #2 of the week. Will was walking to the table for lunch, and he tripped. His eyebrow found the corner of the table. Ouch!



Thursday, May 29 - Will watches the Beautiful Game. Not that we're dropping hints that he play or anything. :-)



Friday, May 30 - Will LOVES to brush his teeth. If one of us takes the toothbrush for him, he throws a big hissy fit. He'll brush a couple of strokes, then "dip" his toothbrush in the sink, then brush some more. You'd think it wouldn't take 5 minutes to brush 7 teeth, but Will does.



Saturday, May 31 - Will tries out his new wheels - a stroller for walking with Mommy this summer. Mommy likes it because it has real rubber wheels, shocks, and a nice canopy. Will likes it because he sits up high so he can see more and because he can play with the wheel as mommy drives.



Sunday, June 1 - Mommy and Daddy finally get around to getting some sand for Will's sand and water table. Will is going to have a LOT of fun with this over the summer.

Project 365 Week 2

Here are the pictures from this week:



May 19: Look Ma, no hands! Will plays with his new sippy lid. Love the fish lips.



May 20:My sleepy boy in his pirate pooch pj's. This is the day he decided to test out his teeth on a playmate at daycare. :-(


May 21: You want some of my sweet potatoes? I'll take care of the camera while you eat.


May 22: My little reader. This is Wake up, Sleepy Bear, a book my mom got him for Valentine's day last year (before he was born). The illustrations are just beautiful.


May 23: Ouch! 1-year vaccination time. Will was so upset at the pain that his face turned purple in a silent scream before he took a breath to let his second scream go. Then, on our way out of the office, he spit his yogurt melt at the nurse because she hurt him. Purple spit flew everywhere. I think it was really a half-sneeze, but with his temper (one trait he unfortunately inherited from me), who knows?


May 24: Worn out after a long day of play. After his day at the doctor and his vaccinations, the Academic Decathlon kids came to our house to throw my dad a surprise retirement party. The school isn't doing anything because he officially retired in 2002 and has been teaching part time ever since. Will, of course, had to provide the entertainment. Then Saturday, we went to Denton and tooled around, so that totally disrupted Will's nap schedule. We bought the neck pillow for long car trips, but he won't keep it on unless he's asleep when we put it on him.


May 25: It's a shame he looks nothing like his daddy, no? If I hadn't carried him, I'd swear he'd just spawned from Rolf's head. Here are my boys enjoying the Dallas World Aquarium (see previous post for more details). I love this picture.

Aquarium Trip (and post #100!)

We went to the Dallas World Aquarium this morning with friends of ours and their little boy. Here is the resulting scrapbook:

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Project 365 Week 1

I know I said I would post these on Sunday, and I know this is the first week and I'm already late! We went to a looong retirement celebration for our former English teacher (and my current department chair), and then we went to eat with one of our good friends we saw at the ceremony. So, without further ado, here are the pictures from my first week of Will: Project 365.

May 14 - a sleepy birthday boy

May 15 - I wanna play with the camera!


May 16 - Oooh...look...what's that on the TV?


May 17 - Lazy Saturday morning playing with the activity table.


May 18 - You have GOT to be kidding me...

Scary

A fairly severe storm rolled through the Metroplex last night, which is pretty common this time of year. Around 11:30, Rolf got up to check on Will, making sure the storm wasn't disturbing him. As he was getting back to bed, the windows lit up red and thunder shook the house simultaneously. It was the loudest thunder I have ever heard and the brightest lightning flash I've ever seen. It was even brighter and louder than when lightning struck the corner a block from my house when I was a kid. Convinced that one of our trees had been hit, Rolf and I leaped from the bed, grabbed the flashlight, and checked out our front and back yards. Amazingly, nothing was showing any signs of damage. More amazingly, our power was still on. Most amazingly, Will didn't cry. MY heart was pounding for a good half hour. I checked on Will before I climbed back into bed, and he was lying there, eyes wide open. I tried to leave the room, but he started crying. I gladly scooped him up and rocked him. It calmed both of us down enough to sleep.

I'm usually a big storm watcher. I guess I got that from my dad, who, when the tornado sirens went off, stepped outside to watch the sky. I love my covered patio because I can stand outside and watch the rain and the wind. I am like Mrs. Whatsit from A Wrinkle in Time...wild nights are my glory. However, that particular lightning strike? I could do without another of those for quite some time.

Time is a Cruel Prankster

Well, we've reached another marker. Today, at precisely 4:34 PM, Will turned one year old. It has now been longer than a year since I have been pregnant. What a weird thought, especially since it still seems surreal to me that I ever was, indeed, gravid. That's such an odd word. I never felt "laden" or "burdened." Pregnancy was the most joyful time in my life. Just anticipating the moment I'd ached for for over five years was bliss. Waiting those few seconds between the time the doctors and Rolf said, "He's here," to the first cry Will let seemed to last five minutes, but that little cry was the sweetest sound we'd ever heard. Rolf cried. I cried. Then Will didn't repeat that feat for a while. I was terrified. I couldn't see anything beyond the big blue surgical drape they had up between me and my incision. Rolf assured me that Will was fine. He was checking everything out in amazement. Even the nurses down in the nursery commented on how sweet he was and how he didn't put up a fight. He was too intrigued by what was going on around him. Rest assured, he has since learned to assert himself. Sometimes too well.

It doesn't seem like Will should be a year old already. Six months, sure, but a year? You have to be kidding. It has been a wonderful year. A year of little sleep, of a lot of messes, of tears, of laughter, of worry, of pride. I've watched my little man grow from a squinty, squishy face peeking out of a burrito-wrapped hospital blanket to a bright-eyed, inquisitive, silly, smart, walking, babbling little boy. Several weeks ago, I set the alarm on my cell phone for 4:34 this afternoon. When it went off a few minutes ago, I cried. Sometimes I look at Will and marvel at this little being, this miniature human, and I can't help but swell with pride and think, I helped make that. People stop us all the time to comment on how cute he is. The other night at the grocery store, a woman came to us from the other side of the produce department to tell us that Will had a perfectly shaped head.

I am going to start a Project 365 of Will so I can keep better track of this second year of his life. Don't get me wrong, the advent of digital technology has made it possible for us to have over 1000 pictures of his first year, but there were a few months that we didn't record as well as others. My goal is to take a picture each day from his first birthday (today) to his second. Then I'm going to upload them to Shutterfly or Snapfish and order a book that chronicles his progress. I will post Will's Week each Sunday night. That's my goal. If I don't, somebody get on me to do it. Please.

My Little Will Burrito

The Birthday Boy