10 Months Old

Oh Amelia. You are 10 months old now. There are days when that doesn't seem possible and others when...well, I'm so exhausted with keeping up with you I don't think I'll ever sit again. You are quite the spitfire these days and have definite opinions about how you think things should happen. You threw your first temper tantrum this month. It was brief but intense. And hilarious. You were sitting on the carpet in our living room and threw yourself backwards in anger about having a teeny tiny [choking hazard] toy taken away from you. You were easily distracted out of your temper, but you sure meant business. You cried, banged your hands on the ground and kicked all at the same time.
You are quite the shoe and sock girl lately. Earlier this week, I caught you trying to put a sock back on your foot after you took it off. You love to take off your shoes and socks. I think within the first five minutes of going anywhere, you easily dispose of both. You love all shoes. All of are shoes are now all nicely put away because you love to chew on them and crawl around with them. You aren't picky about who they belong to or what color they are. We'll have to work on that, won't we sweetie?


There are lots of things you really love lately. You love eating table food, your brother, giving kisses, taking baths, music, dancing, our cats, your brother's toys and when your daddy comes home. Your eating has really taken off. You eat everything in sight saying "Mmmmmmmm" the entire time you are doing it. If I didn't know you do the same thing with cardboard (eat it, say "mmmm"), it might go to my head. You continually impress us with the different things you are willing to eat and the amount you consume. There are occasions where I'm sure you eat more than your brother during meals. Amazing. You chow down on cooked vegetables, fresh fruit, noodles, yogurt, cereal, and meat. The only things you don't like currently are toasted bread and broccoli. These two consistently end up on the floor (although other things do too when you get worked up or when you are full).

You also continue to idolize your brother. You want to be right with him, doing what he is doing all the time. Every single second. He brings a smile to your face and can make you laugh harder than anyone or anything else. This is something we are having to work on because while he tolerates you pretty well, he does need some space. He also isn't a fan of your destructive tendencies. You certainly aren't gentle with books, blocks, cars or any of his other favorite toys.

You also love bath time. Maybe because it is more time with your brother? We were just remembering that about now is when William starting not liking baths anymore. This doesn't seem to be anywhere on the horizon with you. You have no fear whatsoever. At all. Your whole face in the water? Not a problem. When you hear the bathwater start running, you make a beeline for the bathroom. You don't want to miss a moment.

A quick note about your daddy. You have really become a Daddy's girl. You are so excited when Daddy gets home from work. The minute you hear him walk through the door, you are looking, looking, looking for where he is. And if he hangs up his coat before coming to hold you? The world comes to an end. There are tears and dramatic crying. And worse yet, if he has to use the bathroom? Well, nothing could be worse. No distraction will do. Not Mama, not your brother, not toys. Nope. Nothing. Not until Daddy reappears. Then all will be right with the world.


Sleeping has improved. Most nights of the week you are sleeping straight through from about 7:30 to about 7am. Not always, but most nights. You have relocated from your bedroom to our walk in closet in our bedroom because your room is just too cold to sleep in without a blanket. It makes putting laundry and other tasks more difficult with you in there, but it is the right thing to do. We're hoping for an early spring so you can go back to your pretty bedroom where you belong.

You talk all the time. You have several recognizable words: Mama, Dada, Hi, Hi there, no-no and bye bye. The rest of what you say isn't understandable to anyone but you. But, that doesn't stop you one bit. You are a champion crawler and unbelievably fast when you want to be. A small whirlwind flying through the house emptying wipes, dumping toys, pulling books down off the bookshelf. I can always tell where you've been just by following the trail of messes. You've been on the verge of walking for at least a month. You can do it and I've seen you thinking about it as you eye the distance between the couch and the coffee table. But, it appears you are willing to just bide your time and make us wait a little longer. This is a face looking for some trouble

Love people, love to dance. You point at the CD player and laugh when the music starts. You hang on with one hand to a chair, the coffee table, your brother's leg, whatever is nearby and dance. You also love us to dance you around and you'll bounce and clap your hands in delight.


There isn't much the same about you from ten months ago. You are turning into a little girl. Your eyes are starting to change, your hair is coming in like crazy. You have wonderfully fat thighs and cheeks. Just like a baby should. At least once a day, I am distracted by your beautiful babiness. It makes me stop what I am doing and forces me to kiss your cheeks. Because really? Someone should always be kissing your fat cheeks. They were made for kissing.

How many...?

We like to play this game recently:

Mama: How many eyes do you have?
William:....[counting]....two!

M: How many noses do you have?
W: ONE!

Etc, etc, etc


As I was tucking William in tonight, we talked about all the things that had happened today. It was a crazy busy day despite the fact we didn't set foot outside the house. After talking things over, William turned to me and asked "How many eyebrowns do YOU have Mama?"

Two, I think.

Mama's Try

Well, it isn't getting any easier to get a picture of either of these kids. William will now smile on command, but it only lasts a second - tough to catch. Also, when he says cheese, he looks away from the camera. So, either he is looking at the camera/not smiling or not looking at the camera/smiling away (but you can't tell because you can't see his face). These pictures were all taken on his third birthday. Here are the best ones of today!

funny, verbal, smart, demanding,

Kind of funny how all of these have a greenish cast. I bet I could take care of that in a hurry if I wasn't so lazy with photo editing (if I edit one, I'd have to edit them all. I have a HUGE backlog. See: two children under three).

And just a few details about what is going on! William is funny, curious and demanding as of late. He is so observant and picks up things about both John and myself we didn't realize you do. He'll say or do something (like run his fingers through his hair or copy the exact way John is sitting in his chair) we haven't seen before and all of a sudden John and I stop what we are doing to look at ourselves. Because most of the time he is mimicking one of us.

William wants to be a big boy and likes to do things for himself. On his own timetable. He is fully capable of dressing himself from head to toe, but without intervention it would take him roughly 30 hours to do the task. It been a period of battles the last few weeks, trying to get him ready to go anywhere in a timely manner. He loves story time at the library. But no amount of coaxing, bribing, threatening, forcing, etc is going to make him move any faster. Boy is it a bummer when you get to story time in time to say good bye to the friends leaving after it is over. Even that doesn't hurry us up.

He has recently decided it is high time to start learning how to cook which has led to some serious....ummm....let's call them discussions (read: showdowns) at mealtimes. I'm working on finding tasks for him to do in the kitchen, but really I believe he is a little young to operate the oven and stove. We are working on him making his very own beloved peanut butter jelly sandwich. The mess is unbelievable, but so is his pride when he gets it done.

The eating around has also shown significant improvements as of late. I'm sure it is largely due to a growth spurt or extreme hunger, but William is willingly trying (and EATING) a number of items on his "won't eat" list. We've eaten chili, stew, chicken soup, tacos, mashed potatoes, vegetables - all kinds of amazing things. I don't expect it to last, but maybe the next time he'll remember a little so it won't be quite the battle. Maybe?

William knows about a trillion and one words. I'm not sure if a minute goes by when his mouth isn't going one hundred miles an hour. He is asking questions, telling stories, narrating what he is doing ("Now I am running!") and singing. All wonderfully cute. And overwhelming. Because it doesn't ever stop. He passionately loves anything to do with vehicles,trains and letters.


I'm afraid to write about this here as it will probably jinx us, but the potty training is going very well. After several false starts, we have gone several weeks now without any accidents at all - of any variety. I'm still nervous leaving the house with the big boy underwear, but it doesn't feel like a wild gamble anymore.

William you are one amazing boy. You have grown from a round little toddler into a big boy with sharp edges and chicken legs. I'm so proud of everything you've learned and to have been part of it. Here's to another amazing year!

1/27/2010

Today should have been a day of joy and happiness for our friends, the Hawn's. Today we remember their beautiful baby boy who would have been one today. We were lucky to be with them for a few [cold] minutes this evening to celebrate his memory. We released balloons and were together to celebrate the moment his life began just one short year ago. It was a [cold] beautiful moment. It feels like there should be more to say, but I don't know the words. Happy birthday Ryan.

THREE!

A look back: William is born, William's first birthday, William turns two

Well, the long anticipated birthday is finally here! Can you believe it? We can't! John and I raced around last night to make a little "Happy Birthday" atmosphere. John ran to the store for the BIG present while I stayed home to [listen to the baby monitor, duh] frost cupcakes.

We blew up balloons and got things looking pretty festive before going to bed ourselves. The hardest part? Getting the bike and a bunch of balloons into his room without waking him up. Good thing he is a sound sleeper!

The longest part was finishing up my homemade birthday banner. At 1:30am, I finally had to face the facts: I didn't have what I needed to finish. The ribbon I had picked out for this project wasn't going to work and after several different attempts to fix the situation, I had to face the fact that it wasn't going to happen. So, I had to improvise - I think it came out okay. For the record, it was supposed to be finished at the top and have a ribbon piece attached. For today this works - I'll be working on finishing this up for sure though.

In the morning, when we heard William stirring, we got up (John stayed home for awhile this morning to greet the birthday boy) and put the caramel rolls into the oven before going in singing to the birthday boy. And he was SO excited. It was a perfect, wonderful moment.

Sleepy boy

Check it out! A big boy bike! With a helmet*! With balloons!
Looking at the bike, admiring the balloons.
Sitting on the bike - Amelia also loved the bike/balloons. This girl has an instinct for finding dangerous situations. She loved chewing on the balloons, putting her fingers through the spokes and pulling herself up on the bike. No big deal, right?
Admiring the letters. All day he would come back and trace the letters.
Tracing the letters
Cheese! Standing in front of the birthday banner. Note: Amelia also really liked the banner. She liked to pull it down, chew on the balloons and eat the clothes pins.
Making it up as we go along. We were waiting for the rolls to be done and we improvised by having William open up some of his presents and cards. Note: A BALLOON! ON MY CHAIR! FOR MY BIRTHDAY!
A RACECAR CARD!!! I believe he slept with this the night of his birthday and carried it around with him everywhere during the day.Racecar stickers!

We love mail

Amelia eats Cheerios while Mama does kitchen duty and Daddy does camera duty.
A Tag book! YAY! Thanks Great Grandma Gerry and Great Grandpa Tom!The carmel roll

An official carmel roll portrait
Candy? After breakfast? Why not?A new car carrier! WOW! Thanks Great Grandma Nona and Great Grandpa Budd!

Wearing his "3" shirt made by Mama in front of the birthday banner. I am so crafty.


John left for work and we settled in for a normal day. We had a nice day together playing. A friend came over late morning with her kids and we had a nice visit. We ate lunch together and then...normally it is time for a nap. William rarely naps anymore during naptime - maybe 2/7 days a week. But I very much need nap time to do chores, blog and mentally regroup. Absolutely necessary. About a month ago, William was complaining about having to take a naps usual. For some reason, I threw it out there that maybe when he was a big boy and three years old he might not have to take naps anymore. I haven't mentioned anything since then, honest (because I am not totally stupid).

Much to my dismay, William announced that thankyouverymuch he would NOT be napping today. What? Oh yeah, because now he is a big boy and all. Yes, that is right. After some initial confusion, William reminded me of my promise made more than 30 days ago about not needing to nap when he turned three. GAH**! We came to a compromise in which he agreed to read books on his bed for a few minutes while I did some Mama things. And by a few minutes, I mean about 16 minutes. You may be hearing less from me until I figure out a new time to catch up with our blogging!

We went out to dinner at our local Culvers with a lot of good friends. Coincedentally, our church had a fundraiser there and a lot of our favorite people were eating there in support. It is always nice to have an extra set of hands, but it is amazing to have forty extra sets of hands. Someone is always available to hold Amelia, entertain William, wipe up spills and generally keep us company with adult conversation. Wonderful. William was thrilled to have a whole restaurant of people singing "Happy Birthday" and loved sharing his "Dump Truck Cupcakes" with all his special friends (no pictures of these).
Wearing his birthday hat, waiting for his dinner.

Cupcakes are serious business, leave me alone!
After dinner, we came home, got ready for bed, and finished opening the rest of his presents.
A piggy bank! Thanks Aunt Megan!Putting money into the bank - fun!

And so came the end of the birthday. We improvised and pulled it together at the last minute. But, it was a sweet day full of special moments for our big guy. Happy birthday, baby. We love you more than you'll ever know.

*Funny story about the helmet. We tried multiple helmets on William at the store before we found one that met our criteria 1) No licensed characters 2) Fit his noggin. The one we went with? Is sized for children 5 and up. William has a seriously huge noggin.
**He made it up to me when he pooped on the potty today on purpose for the first time. So. Proud. So. Happy.

Almost Three

William is so excited about it being his birthday. We talk about it almost every day. Very cute. I asked him what he wants to do for his birthday. His reply:

Mama, Daddy, Mia, Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Mike, Aunt Megan will be there! They will sing HAPPY BIRTHDAY WILLIAM!!! (jumping up and down in excitement) We will wear birthday hats and sing HAPPY BIRTHDAY WILLIAM (jumping up and down in excitement). Oh! and BIRTHDAY CAKE!!! (more excited jumping).

He is one excited boy. I am trying to focus in on the pieces that are important to HIM. You know, the part with the singing and the hats and the cake. Trying not to stress about the lack of a formal plan surrounding this Very Important Day. There aren't any presents, there aren't party invitations sent out. But, I know there will be singing. Oh yes, there will be lots of singing.




Here are a few other pictures of what is going on this week:

1/16/2010 Helping Mama make blueberry bread. Or, how to make something take 400% longer than it should.We love to stir and pour things.We also like to make messes, although this time we did alright.1/19/2010: We finally put a coat hook up at William's level so he can get his own jacket and hang it back up again. If you'll notice, he was so excited, he hung ALL his accessories upon it when given a chance.1/25/2010 Amelia was looking out this window and playing with this spoon (when we have hundreds of wonderful, educational toys, my children prefer flatware). Several times while I was watching her, I noticed her leaning back and standing TOTALLY UNASSISTED. That's right. My Baby girl. Standing up ALL ALONE. Sniff.
She may look cute. I promise this girl is Trouble.
Finally: Why, yes! I am a nerd who dresses her children alike at every opportunity. You have no idea how much I love this. Even though they will hate this picture.Look! The stripes line up!

A Hat