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
30 August 2008
27 August 2008
Project 365 Week 15
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.
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.
18 August 2008
17 August 2008
Project 365 Week 14
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.
10 August 2008
Okay, One More...
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."
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."
Project 365 Week 13
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.
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:
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:
03 August 2008
Project 365 Week 12
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
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!
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!)
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:
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
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.
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.
28 July 2008
27 July 2008
Project 365 Week 11
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.
21 July 2008
Another First
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.
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
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.
20 July 2008
Project 365 Week 10
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!
15 July 2008
Words, words, words
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.
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.
14 July 2008
Project 365 Week 9
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.
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