New Do

This Sunday, Colin & Will both got haircuts... Will now looks even more like a little man, though his "stylist" went a little crazy over the ears. It'll grow back, I guess. He now is running like crazy all over our house--it's hard to keep up!

Colin & I spent Saturday with a realtor in Winston-Salem, & we're excited about all the options. We're wavering between building in a new subdivision & buying a resale in an established neighborhood. We're getting excited about our new town!

Home Sweet Home

Christmas was wonderful, as always, except for the fact that Colin & I got a nasty stomach virus (originally thought to be food poisoning) and proceeded to pass it on to a friend, my parents, my brother, & 4 grandparents. Not the ideal way for anyone to spend the holidays. We're sorry, everyone! I know that wasn't the gift you expected from us. Hopefully you will still want to see us again sometime?!

We didn't take a single picture while away, but we did enjoy playing with our brand new video camera...Those things sure have come a long ways! Will must have been exhausted from all the excitement and people from the past week, & he actually took a 2 hour nap this afternoon. Amazing. It gave me enough time to take down all the Christmas decorations and attempt to organize all of Will's new loot. I think I'm going to need some large, ugly, brightly-colored plastic contraption to hold all his stuff, otherwise it's going to take over our home.

It was fabulous to see so many friends & family--we loved it!--but it always feels so good to be home again. Hope you all had marvelous celebrations of Jesus' birthday too.

Merry, Merry Christmas!

We're headed off tonight to begin the Christmas festivities...First to Richmond for a few days, then to Colonial Beach for the rest of Colin's vacation week. We can't wait to see family & friends in both places, & wish the rest of you a very joyous Christmas!

Chug, Chug, Chug

Now, Colin & I are not big drinkers. In fact, this can of beer has been in our fridge for over a year, and I recently threw out a bottle of champagne we received on our wedding day (almost 3 years ago). However for some reason, every time Will gets into our refrigerator he locates and pretends to drink this Bud Light. It's very strange...There might be several Diet Cokes and Dr. Peppers on the same shelf, but he will search out his beer. Let's stick with milk & juice for another 20 years, Will.

He's ONE, & He's off...

Friday was Will's first birthday--It's amazing how much he's changed over this past year! I know every parent says it, but they do grow up fast. He's truly becoming his own little person now... He looks like a boy--not a baby--and he's got a definite personality and mind of his own too. He interacts with the world now, which makes parenting so much more fun :) He claps to music, waves at anything (especially inflatable snowmen, Santa, & his daddy), has passionate conversations with himself of mamamama dadaada hehehee, reads his books out loud (in his own language, of course), and plays with enthusiasm. He also has graduated from those first cautious steps to full-fledged walking all over the house. He may look inebriated at times with a sometimes unsteady balance, but that boy can move. He especially likes carrying objects--masking tape, nail polish, daddy's pager--as he jets from room to room.

Though he still refuses non-baby food veggies, we've learned Will likes pizza & chicken nuggets. Colin & I ordered pizza Friday night, and Will couldn't keep his mouth off my slice. I think he just prefers food with flavor...seasoned beans, chili, greasy cheese...But he still mainly lives on yogurt, crackers, goldfish, fruit, and his Gerber vegetables. I'm beginning to wean him, now that he can drink whole milk, & thankfully he seems to be doing ok with non-mommy milk. FYI--He's 23.5 lbs & doing great, according to the doctor.

I think back on those first SIX months of interrupted sleep and wonder how we survived. I'm a girl who loves her sleep, & I was not a happy camper some days after getting 2 hours of sleep at a time. Maybe Colin is tougher than me, since he's used to staying up all night at work, but that was not pleasant for moi. Thank God that Will sleeps now!! What a difference that makes. And we put him down early--by 6:30pm--so that we have a few hours of non-Will time each night.

I have an amusing picture I'll upload later today, but for now my words will have to suffice. Happy birthday to our little munchkin, William Christopher.

What will he do next?

Apparently Will wasn't satisfied with the yogurt & fruit he had for lunch. While I was raking up leaves & Will was playing next to me, the boy decided to eat dog poop. I kid you not--the child was enjoying the remains of a neighborhood dog's droppings. I watch him carefully in the yard, lest he consume a poisonous berry or some toxic leaf, but I never expected this one. He often chews on sticks, and that doesn't bother me. I thought he was gnawing on a piece of bark until I found otherwise... I'm sad to say I even forgot to brush his little teeth before he went to bed.

Boys will be boys

Yep, it's cold outside, but that doesn't stop Will from wanting to play with leaves, dirt, & sticks. He does have several layers on (& normally a hat)--don't worry!



Here he is practicing his "downward dog" yoga pose. He does this often.


Will has also begun to throw tantrums--major ones. I naively thought this didn't start until the "terrible twos," but when Will doesn't get his way, he goes crazy. He flings his body to the floor, bangs his head, and of course screams. He's very strong-willed, so I've got to figure out how to best deal with that... Being a stay at home mom with only one child, it's obvious why he's so spoiled, but he can't have my undivided attention all the time. After all, a girl's got to use the restroom now and then, ideally without a child either in the room or angrily banging on the door!

Accident

Will face-planted on the sidewalk yesterday and busted his lip. I wasn't there at the time, but Colin was wearing a bloody t-shirt when I returned from my errand. Poor little guy! After screaming for half an hour, he calmed down, but his mouth still looks pretty bad. It's unfortunately worse-looking in person than it appears in the pictures. And it even shook up my husband, who sees some pretty nasty stuff over at the hospital. It's hard to have a hurting child, and it's really scary to see blood. With our little daredevil, I'm worried that we'll deal with this more in the years to come... He's tough though!

Happy Thanksgiving to all, & Early Happy Birthday to Will

Hope you all had wonderful Thanksgivings! We certainly did. Our families came down here, and we ate a ton of tasty food and enjoyed the good company. Will reveled in all the attention, of course, and appears a little depressed that it's just me today. It's been a paci morning so far. I had decorated our house for Christmas last week--just couldn't wait--so at least now it's "ok" to have a festive home. No big tree for us though this year...Will would take that down in a second. The Christmas music is playing, the mini-trees are up, the candles are going in the windows--love this season!



Since Will's birthday is so close to Christmas, we decided to celebrate it a few weeks early... He loves his new toys! Our house is overrun by plastic things, some large, some small, some quiet, many loud. He loves them all. Sometimes I forget to bring in his outdoor toys at night, and our yard looks quite trashy. Colin thinks it's funny, though I remind him I typically make fun of such yards. Oh well.



And yes, there was cake. I generally don't give the kid pure sugar, so he went wild.

I'm walking! Check me out!

Playing Ball (& Steps!)

Will was enjoying playing a little football with his post-call, very sleepy dad this evening. Within the past week, this 11 month old athlete has started to take a few steps. He won't do it on command, but he'll do what he needs to do to get from one toy to another. He is SO proud of himself, and he can't get enough of his spectators' clapping and cheering. Such a ham!

Saturday

I should’ve known better. Today was Colin’s day off, and I suggested we take a family trip to the mall. I rarely go alone to the mall nowadays, since Will (unless under the influence of Baskin Robbins ice cream or while “riding” the 50 cent kiddie vehicles) screams most of the time. Not pleasant. I’m accustomed to it, but other shoppers aren’t so thrilled by my child’s wailing. They smile and think he’s oh so cute--until he throws a fit, of course. I’ve been dying to try on clothes for myself, but Will either shrieks in the dressing room or escapes from it. Not fun to chase after a strong-willed faaast crawler while halfway clothed. So I was hoping today might be a good time to attack this task, as Colin could watch after Will.

The mall was absolutely packed, and as I’ve gotten older, I’ve grown to detest crowded shopping arenas. It makes me claustrophobic. Also, I couldn’t bear to leave Colin with our antsy child for long periods of time on his one day off. My poor husband has been working like a dog these past few weeks, and I already had torn him away from good football-watching. So, the shopping portion of it was a bit of a bust.

It was fun though—we stopped off at the kids’ play area and let Will enjoy himself for awhile, and it was also entertaining to watch him play with the stuffed animals at Nordstrom. Unfortunately, he took a liking to a pink toy poodle—not the manliest of creatures—and it wasn’t easy for him to part with it. We even attempted to dine out, and this is where I really should’ve known better. I think Colin and I devoured our food at Rockfish Grill (yummy!) in 5 minutes flat, since Will decided he’d had enough of our fun family outing. Let’s just say I better clean my contact lenses out really well tonight, since I’ve got mixed veggies in my left eye at the moment. I do miss leisurely meals…

Now it’s 7 pm, and we’re ready for bed. Another call day for Colin tomorrow and another day of who-knows-what for Will and me. It’s always a surprise :) I though my prior job as a high-school teacher was unpredictable and dynamic, but being a mom is so much more so! Each day, I wake up without a clue if Will is to take a decent nap, eat something other than yogurt and cheerios, scream or be perfectly cheery, want to cuddle and read all day or autonomously push his car down the street. I am thankful for every day I get to hang out with my baby (nearly a toddler!), but I must admit, those “easier” days are nice. I heard somewhere recently that truly parents aren’t “raising” kids; it’s the kid who “raises” the parent. On those not-so-easy days, I can see that. How ironic that God uses these teeny little people to mature and grow up the big people in their lives.

Question: Any advice on babies that still insist on eating baby food? Other than little pieces of fruit & crackers/cheerios/goldfish, Will won’t eat “real people food” that isn’t smooth in texture…It’s like he knows the difference between carrots that I cooked and pureed and the ones in the little Gerber tub. I’ll be sending him to college with his pureed squash in plastic containers.

Happy Halloween from Bumblebee Will!

Go Tribe!

Will & I had intended to be at William & Mary's Homecoming this weekend to celebrate my 5 year reunion, but plans are always changing around here! I think we'll hit Williamsburg later on this fall/winter, but I'm sorry I missed seeing those of you who were there. Please send me pictures of what I missed--I'd LOVE to see them. Looks like Will will have to continue wearing his UVA t-shirt until I can get down there to buy him one from my alma mater. Even after being out 5 years, I still can't stop saying wonderful things about that school. What a beautiful, unique, stimulating, amazing place! Colin claims that I think any W&M grad must be a great person, and I tend to agree. I loved my time there...I adored the surroundings and history (nothing like Food Lion shoppers in colonial garb), the professors and classes (though generally not easy...), the sense of community, the Theta girls & all those crazy parties & dances (back when I could stay awake past 9 pm), the Christian fellowship on campus, the Sunken Gardens & Barksdale (though I hear it is no longer?), the Wren building, having a meal plan all 4 years, the Cheese Shop & Sno to Go, my friends, all of it! And if you are a W&M friend, know that I'm thinking of you & am grateful for you! Even if you are far away. Enough nostalgia for now.

Anyhow, my parents visited yesterday and got to view Wild Willie in action once again. They marvelled at his astounding abilities--to push his car uphill & all over our yard, to consume large amounts of beans, and (consequently) to pass a great deal of gas. And then he chuckles, every time. Is he his father's son or what?

Here's the flatulent dude in his Sunday attire...

Pumpkin Patch

Play group today was at the local pumpkin patch, so we had a good time playing in the hay, going for a hay ride, & checking out the farm animals. Well, we generally had a good time. Will screamed for a good portion of it, as is the case in most of our outings. Anytime he had to be confined--to a stroller or my arms--he got mad. He'd much rather roll around in the mud or push his own stroller from behind. He LOVED playing in the actual pumpkin patch, as you can see in the photos!

Our Happy Clan

Another fun weekend behind us! Omi & Opi (Colin's parents) visited us on Saturday, and we got to enjoy lots of time outside, in our yard & at the park. Yesterday we braved the nasty rain to go to church. Will looked very handsome (see below!), though he screamed like a maniac in his nursery room until we retrieved him. I know there will come a time when he won't want anything to do with us, so I suppose we should appreciate the clinginess while we've got it :) And of course, the Redskins were on TV last night. Not a good outcome, but at least they were on the tube down here. Now it's really back to the grind for Colin... No more weekends off for awhile, & every few nights on call. We've certainly enjoyed the past couple of months though!

Shoes II

Here's the happy munchkin with his new kicks. He wouldn't be quite so pleased if he knew he was headed to the mall... It was pouring all day--I HAD to get out of the house :)

New Shoes

Since Colin has actually had weekends off for the past month—such a treat for us!—we’ve been trying to take advantage of them. This past weekend my football-loving hubby decided to cheer on both UVA & the Skins in person, so he dropped Will & me off in Richmond while he got his football fix.

Will had a marvelous time in Richmond with his grandparents. He even got his first pair of “real” shoes! He’s gotten so adept at pushing his little car across the lawn, and I was starting to feel like a bad mother watching my baby walk around outdoors in his “Robeez” soft-soled shoes. They are great little slipper-type shoes, but they’re not so appropriate when it’s 30 some degrees outside and the grass is wet. Anyhow, my parents also took pity on him and sprung for the Extra-Wide Stride Rite shoes. (Yep, not regular, not wide, but extra wide.) He looks like such a big boy now! But why do baby shoes cost more than a lot of adult shoes? And they outgrow them in 3 months? Good thing they’re cute. I’ll take pictures of the little man tomorrow with his new sneaks.

Other than that fun-filled excursion to Saxon Shoes, what else? My mom and I went to a women’s conference at church Saturday morning…We saw both sets of my grandparents & my sister…Will slid down the slide in the neighborhood playground almost by himself!... We didn’t get back to Durham until midnight Sunday night—way too late for me nowadays (I continue to marvel that I could once stay up & actually be social till the wee hours. Now I can barely converse intelligently about the weather after 8pm.) It was a fun weekend. But I’m once again glad to be home.

Incidentally, Will is 10 months old now. How time flies…More pictures to come…

Anyone have a clever (cheap) idea on how to dress Will up for his playgroup's Halloween party?

Winston

I'm trying (a little) not to be quite so Type A about our plans, but that's ambitious with a baby & a nap schedule. Saturday morning, I told Colin we should skip swim lessons & head to Winston Salem for the day, seeing as how we would be moving there in less than a year. I hadn't been there since my high school college search days, and the only thing I could recall was Wake's football field (odd memory for a non-avid sports fan)--it was time to return. So we did, and we located the mall (to my excitement, the largest in the Carolinas), the hospital (huge!), a number of neighborhoods where we might house hunt in another few months, and the Golden Corral (yes, we did eat dinner there). We didn't intend to dine on GC's famed buffet, but there was nowhere else to eat without a long wait, and we had a kid on our hands who'd had a long day. Colin & I enjoyed eating a little of every food known to man, & Will threw crackers & other sundry items all over the floor. Good times. Will held up remarkably well throughout the day, taking his morning nap on the drive there & his afternoon nap while Colin & I drove around town looking at houses. We spent some time playing at a local park, where Will happily frolicked in the mud, & we also wandered around the mall for awhile to stretch our legs. Winston seems like a nice place--more attractive than Durham & a good size. It'll be a pain to resettle, make new friends, find a new church & new barbeque joints, learn our way around a new town...but all those "new" things can be great fun too. And then we get to do it again in another 3-4 years...back to Virginia?

Will's Wheels

Will's new favorite sport is pushing his car up and down our yard--I just have to make sure to catch the speed demon before he runs right into a tree!

Update

We're hanging in there, though going through lots of tissues and tylenol. Will caught a cold somewhere & passed it on to me (& to Colin too a little bit). He's been screaming a great deal, and I have no energy. I know it'll pass--hopefully soon!--but in the meantime, we're just sticking around the house and watching a little Baby Einstein (Unfortunately for me, Will can tolerate only 15 minutes of it). Yesterday we did make it out to Chik-fil-a and shared an ice cream cone. Will didn't really want to eat yesterday, so I was trying to get something into his body...Ice cream always makes everything better.

This past weekend was fun around here. Saturday morning Colin got to enjoy swimming lessons with us, & Will continues to chuckle every time he gets in the water. Colin got to see UVA beat Duke in football, & we had friends over for dinner that night. Sunday morning, Will lasted the whole service in the nursery, though I've noticed he's either pant-less or his diaper's not quite on every time we pick him up. I guess they've discovered how challenging it can be to change little William Christopher's diaper--he's a strong one! I spent some quality time on my own in Old Navy that afternoon picking up a few "essentials," Colin played football with work friends, & I even got out to see "The Illusionist" with my friend Annie. Quite the weekend! For us, that's a lot of excitement in two days :)

One more story--Will loves his daddy a lot, but this morning was precious. As Colin was leaving, the little guy started wailing and booked it toward the door as fast as he could crawl. He pulled himself up on Colin's leg and begged him (in baby language) not to leave him alone with no-fun sicky mommy. Maybe I should've been offended :) but I was touched by how much our son loves his dad.

Happy beginning of October to you all!

Dear Omi & Opi,

Thank you for all my new PJ's! As you can see, I'm looking mighty good. Last night I wore my football ones and slept oh so well--until 7 am! My mommy and daddy were very grateful for that extra hour of sleep. Thanks for thinking of me. Love, Will

Beach Bums

We spent last Tuesday night through Sunday in Corolla, enjoying Colin's week off from work. The Gallahans joined us for the first half of our time there, and the Sewards came for the weekend. We ate a ton, went for walks, swam some in the ocean, and relaxed as much as parents of an active 9 month old can relax. One night Colin & I actually grabbed some Mexican and played mini-golf--all by ourselves! That's always a treat. Colin took advantage of Will's early risings to catch the sunrise on the beach one morning...

Will had a great time--the kid has NO fear and kept crawling straight into the ocean, over and over again. He laughed at the sight of particularly large waves. Here he's taking a break from such daredevil antics & is content playing with the ocean kayak strap. He's a little over 22 lbs & almost 29 inches, and he just got his 5th tooth. Our little guy is getting to be not so little...

We're pet-sitting for our friends Annie & Neal over the next several days, and I'm hoping that'll help entertain Will. After days of non-stop attention, the boy needs someone else besides mommy to give him some attention and listen to his shrieks.

I wish we had more pictures to share, but I tend to get lazy with my photography while away. Off to Kroger we now go... Let's hope Will can stay in the cart this time!

An Apple A Day...

Unfortunately doesn't keep the doctor away, at least for Will. He's got his 9 month checkup today. I don't have quite as many questions for his pediatrician this time--could I possibly be getting a little more laid-back about this whole parenting thing??

Here are a few shots of Will enjoying his new favorite food--the remains of my apple. At this point, he'd rather subsist on yogurt, fruit, graham crackers, and fruity cheerios. He certainly inherited a sweet tooth from both parents! Getting him to eat meat or veggies is not an easy feat... He did however eat a respectable amount of refried beans yesterday for lunch--I was so proud to witness my son's foray into the wonderful world of Latin cuisine.

Last night I ventured out by myself and had a fabulous time roaming the aisles of WalMart... How funny that an errand like that is such a treat nowadays :) It's nice to drive somewhere without singing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" to quiet wailing, and it's especially nice to take my time in a superstore without a (heavy!) baby in my arms who won't stay still in the cart. Much to my dismay, Will does not appear to like shopping. That could be a problem. Maybe it'll grow on him?!


He's got one of those horribly messy biter biscuits stuck to his shirt (& all over his face, hands & hair...)

Just Cruisin'

Will loves to cruise around our house, moving from couch to table to window drapes to TV to whatever else might be nearby. He loves his new fire engine shoes & is getting lots of use out of them with all that "walking" around.

This weekend was fun, since Colin was off for TWO days in a row! Amazing. We swam again in nearby Fall's Lake and witnessed a rather looong black snake's capture by park rangers on the shore--a tad disconcerting. Will moved up to the big boy Toddler I room in the church nursery, and he did much better. I guess he just needed more "mature" companions (or maybe he just appreciated the graham crackers they fed him). We also had company--my friend Kerri--so it was good to have another woman in the house to balance out all the football being watched, listened to, & talked about. Ahh--my respite from the pigskin madness is over. It's amusing to see Colin once again so revved up...this is his favorite time of year, after all!

This week holds play group, story time, Will's 9 month checkup, & his first swimming lesson (just signed us up for that!)... And the following week is Colin's first vacation week of the year--To the beach we go! Hopefully all is well after Ernesto...

I turned the news on for a few minutes, & Will was mesmerized by Matt Lauer.

Can't see them here, but 2 more teeth have come in on top! When I remember, Will loves to have his teeth brushed...I'm so proud of his interest in oral hygiene :-)

I wanna be just like daddy...

This was taken a couple of weeks ago... but I don't have anything new to share, & I think it's cute. Like all babies, the only thing Will wants most to play with is the only thing he's not supposed to play with. So I gave him my old phone. I think it might still work, so if you get a call and hear "hahaha ga ba hee," it might be our son.