Do Over

Okay, yesterday we took pictures outside and they were alright. The light was really bugging me and instead of pulling up the photo editing program, I decided to give it another try. Not sure these are better - but the bad lighting isn't the problem this time.

Beautiful Fall Day!

We had a very pretty day today with just the right amount of leaves on the ground in our backyard for some pictures. William was way more interested in the leaves than looking handsome for me. The strong sun gave us some problems, but I still think we got some cute ones!

Then we moved further back into the trees

Peeka- BOO!

My newest favorite picture of William. Don't you wish you were this happy? About a blanket and someone yelling "Peek-a-boo" at you for the 565735435241324687th time today?

William has been playing this peek-a-boo game for quite some time. It has evolved from a simple kind of game into something, well still simple but more complex. It began with peeking at each other around the couch and William dissolving into giggles. It has changed into hiding his face against all type of objects (toys, carpet, blankets, hands, etc) and calling for one of using his special "Mama/Dada/cat/grandma/grandpa" all purpose word "Ehh!" Although this word doesn't look like much written down, it is very distinct from other sounds he makes. I can now tell when he is starting to get worried about where I am when he can't see me because he crawls around saying "Ehh!" Anyway, he calls for us and when we reply "William?!" he pops his head back up and we say "Peek-a-boo!" Giggles follow. Every single time. The old couch type of peek-a-boo is also still good for a laugh every single time. In this last week, the game has progressed to hiding other objects. He'll take a toy and hide in the fold of his blanket. Before you can finish saying "Where did it go?", William will be reaching into his blanket to pull the toy out. Giggling the whole time. Hours are spent daily playing different variations of this game.


We've been working to get this on video for at least a month without much success. Either he is being cuter than we ever thought possible or we are laughing until we about wet our pants. Enough enjoying the moment: must document.

Hiding: Where IS William? Can you find him?

Oh quit being lazy, just turn you head! Sometimes we need to stop and play with whatever we are hiding for a little while.

Hiding with some help from mama. I know this one is blown out, but I know you all can pretend like it isn't.


And the reveal: Peek-a-boo


Hiding again!

Trying to play while hidden. Very sneaky.

PS Regarding the pants situation: We are having a little bit of a squished banana problem over here. We are LOVING being able to put the bananas into our mouth by ourself, but one of the slippery suckers always ends up under him somehow. I guess I'm going to have to do laundry. Or buy more pants....

2 Pieces of Pizza, 6 Zucchini Breads, & Other People's Kids

I'm going to try and wrap this up quickly as I have a lovely glass of wine in my hand and I suspect my spelling, grammar and all other coherent thoughts will be leaving me shortly. Mmmmnn.... Oh yes, back to work. Tonight we made the biggest batch of zucchini bread ever: 6 large loafs. Or is it loaves? A certain someone should be spending some time clearing out some room in their freezer.

I can't believe I forgot to tell you that yesterday we went out to eat with the youth group I am assisting with for pizza. Being the wonderful mother I am, I packed enough food to feed an army of 9 month old children as well as a bib and washcloth (please don't report me, I did forget the sippy cup). Recently, William has been very observant about what is on our plate and going into our mouths...and politely requesting tastes of everything. This is how he has already tasted: sour cream and cheddar potato chips, gardetos garlic breadsticks, garlic mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and now pizza. Please note I am not proud of the health quality of many of these foods. Last night, I gave William the crust off of one of the pieces of pizza. Then, just for fun, I gave him a tiny piece off the end of my cheese pizza. He gobbled it up (all the while offering his soggy crust to every person who passed by his high chair and then pulling it back while giggling). In fact, he continued gobbling until he had consumed 2 (two) entire pieces of pizza by himself (please note: pieces were of smallish size and several chunks did end up on the floor). We were amazed...and all of a sudden a little worried. People keep telling us that with every subsequent child you become more and more laid back about the parenting standards. Our hypothetical next child might as well start with the cookies and chips as soon as they are born. Oh, and ice cream too. Note to self: must work on those vegetables harder. Dip in chocolate if necessary.

And now for the pictures of other people's kids:

Can you believe these babies are already 3 month old? I am loving those chubby cheeks!


Can you believe this kid is already 23? Mike got to celebrate his birthday with my parents and his godparents (Sheila and Bobby). I'm not saying anything about his cheeks.


I don't know whose baby this is. But, her name is Sampson.


My parents attended the commisioning of the Sampson last week. I guess there was a hurricane moving through Boston. Either that or my family is a little odd. Please note my uncle is wearing fishing waders.


One of William's handsome Uncle Mikes. Here he is hard at work selling merchandise. I think he works in the gift shop on board the ship also...or is it the casino?

PS Thanks mom for leaving that little bit of whine behind fro me to emjoy tonight. Tome for me to go to bed!

Still Busy

We are as busy as can be. All presents are wrapped for half of the family. Two more cheesecakes, more banana bread and other goodies have been made and frozen. Airport regulations have been researched. New carseat is installed. Worrying about clothing and packing has begun. It is that time of year.

William has brought his own particular brand of joy to everything. Cooking, wrapping and all the preparations require all kinds of forethought that sometimes make my head hurt with all the planning. I miss my spontaneous self...just a little bit. He is still crawling and cruising like crazy. While we were at the Y today, it is possible he took his first of many steps. He was reaching for me while standing up unassisted. With the reaching, he took two steps forward before falling into me. I feel like it was all kind of by accident and couldn't get him to do it again today. Does it count? I don't know - we'll see if he gets a little braver over the next couple of days. If he keeps it up, I'll count it. If not, I write it off as a fluke and keep on waiting!
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We are all saddened by the loss of one of William's favorite toys. This is one he looks for in the morning and each time we sit down on the floor to play. It is a foamy type car that has some sort of felt material around it. It fits just right into William's hand and doesn't have any sharp edges. For $0.25 at a garage sale, it has been worth every penny - even if it isn't pretty anymore. However, last night William bit a chunk out of one of the wheels. Luckily John was right there to pull it out of his mouth, but we are quite sad without it. I don't know even where to begin to replace it short of knocking on some strangers' door to find out where it was purchased. There isn't a brand name of numbers or letters on it anywhere. So, if you run across one like it - keep us in mind....

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I am a little disappointed in myself for letting this one slide by. I had planned on writing up something special about the date when William was 39 weeks 3 days old. That would be the date when he was Out more Than In. Alas, that date was October 30th and I was in a tizzy trying to figure out how to best make Halloween special. How could all that time be gone? It isn't possible for him to have been outside longer than inside without me realizing it. I figured I still had a couple of weeks yet to go and decided to just count it out tonight to see how much longer it would be. Too late, oh well...

Update

Just a quick update. We've had a busy weekend. We made 2 cheesecakes, 4 pans of carmelitas, 2 zucchini breads, and we're done shopping for one whole side of the family. John worked on our cabinet project, we watched a movie together, went to church and attended the church's "Stone Soup" supper this evening. Are you impressed? We are.


Oh yeah, and William has slept through the night every night for the last week. Only, I've found a new series of books that I just can't get enough of and I'm staying up until all hours of the night to read more and more...I won't even tell you what time I went to bed the last few nights. Even more incredible, William would have slept until 8:15am this morning if it wasn't for daylights savings time! Stupid "falling back"....


Goodnight,

The Heidts


PS Happy birthday Uncle Mike!

Halloween, Part 2

Last night I ran out of time and...well time I guess to finish uploading all the cute pictures. Here are the rest of them!