Ok, so maybe the Cheerios didn't exactly "attack" Will, but he was goofing around at breakfast and discovered that when he removes an "O" from his mouth, it sticks to things. Like his arms. And the highchair. Oh, and his nose. From there, they went everywhere. Not to fear, he also knew that when he wanted a snack, an "O" was within his reach and he simply removed it and ate it. Now there's a way to travel with your snacks!
Today, Will went to Jackson's house to meet Jackson's Grammie and Grampy. Jackson's birthday is on Thursday, so Will delivered his present a little early. With all their new mobility, there is plenty to explore and plenty of trouble to cause! We can't wait to watch them grow and learn together.
Today, Will and Mommy were invited to join Ali, Tyler, and Colby at the Sprayground. A Sprayground, as we just learned, is a cement area with holes for water to shoot up and kids to run through. Will enjoyed crawling around and splashing in the water....of course.
When: whenever Will gets his little paws on a canister of Puffs...apparently he can open them now
Mommy was driving to our friends' Christine, Luciano and Chiara's house on Friday. Will was clapping and laughing in the backseat the whole way there, which is not unusual, but his exceptionally good humor seemed a little suspicious. When Mommy got to Christine's, she discovered the source of Will's enjoyment: he had managed to pull the canister of puffs out of the diaper bag AND open them. Much to his enjoyment, he had himself quite a feast and a party in the backseat. He also managed to perfect the "Who, me?" look just in time for the camera.
We are so proud of Aunt Leah (that's Dr. Palifka to you)! She is working on her residency at Brockton Hospital now and the Brockton Enterprise is going to be following her and the other two residents as they complete their year long residency. You can read all about it at http://www.makingadoctor.com/ Way to go Aunt Leah (and cousin-to-be)!!
Like any good soldier, Will has not given up on his mission to find Dad. Since he hasn't found the actual Dad yet, he has settled on discussing things with the magnet Dad. He spends his time in the kitchen moving magnet Dad from the fridge to the oven to the dishwasher and back around again. Only 7 more days until the real deal will wake him up in the morning! (Hi, Dad, we know you check this!)
Will is 11 months old today! Hard to believe that he's that old. Everyday he seems to absorb more and more from the world as he masters new skills. This weekend, he mastered the art of moving from crawling to sitting. It's sort of like watching a new driver learn to back up into a parking space. He has to do it over and over again to get where he really wants to be sitting, facing where he wants; but he loves to practice! One of his new favorite pastimes is emptying (as seen in a previous post) and [now] filling various bins, buckets, and bowls. He loves to fit smaller items into larger ones. He is 100% focused when he does this, and it occupies him for extended periods of time. After emptying and filling the bowls, he flipped them over to try his hand at the Caribbean Steel Drums, Will style.
Will has the same affection for breakfast that his Dad and Uncle J have. Recently, he is devouring Eggo waffles. This, of course, in addition to yogurt, fruit, oatmeal, and Cheerios. He even knows to crawl over to his highchair when Mommy says, "Breakfast time!" Waffles, anyone?
When we say Will is into EVERYTHING, we mean everything! This morning, he began his day by emptying out Mommy's bin of clothes in the closet. He was pretty proud of himself as he systematically threw everything in a pile. Unfortunately, he doesn't return the items when he is done. He continued on into the living room where he emptied his block bag one-by-one. Then he took his show to the park where he enjoyed watching all the dogs play while he swung in the swings. By 10am, Mommy was ready for a nap, but Will was still going strong!
Will is a very busy guy these days. He has been swimming every day this week, each time with different friends. Today, he went to Jackson's house to splash around in the kiddie pool in the backyard. Since Jackson's Dad was out for the night, Mommy, Erica, Will and Jackson had dinner together and then the boys took a bath together. The boys were double trouble with their mobility, especially when they found the dogs' bowls.
Will is very hard to photograph these days since he is always on the go. He had an unfortunate other "first" this afternoon when he ended up with a black and blue ear. It's a very hard lesson to learn that sometimes your body just isn't ready for the things your brain wants (like standing). We are sure it's not the first black and blue for this very fearless boy.
Will and Mommy were invited to spend the day at the beach with Monica, Sean, Shane, and Sienna. What a fun day! Will really enjoyed using his mobility to explore the beach and sample (literally) the sand. He crawled directly into the ocean and kept going even when the waves were crashing in right under his belly. He has no fear. Of anything. Sean, Shane, and Will dug a hole to collect the water and we all had lunch and snacks on the beach. We will definitely be doing this again soon!
In case you were wondering where Dad/Josh is this month. He is aboard the ship called the USS Bonhomme Richard off the coast of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. We sure miss him around here. He's still not in the bathroom, but Will checks every morning. Hi (Aloha) Daddad!
Will had some errands to do, including going to Babies "R" Us to get Jackson's birthday present. Lucky for him, the people from Kiddie Kandids were on the lookout for cute subjects to practice their poses and props and backgrounds. Will was happy to oblige as the subject of some pictures which can be seen HERE. He got a free 8X10 for his "hard" work. It's hard to take a picture of a picture, so that's why there's a glare.
In other news, yesterday was Cousin James' 1st birthday. Happy Birthday, James!
PS: In case you haven't noticed...it seems many of Will's relatives and friends now have blogs! How fun!
Will is learning quite a bit these days. He has several new talents and skills which include, but are not limited to:
1. Waving hello to everyone on the sidewalk or in the stores. He might as well run for election, too.
2. Giving some lovin'. It's the best kind there is! Hugs and kisses are his new favorite things to give out.
3. Continuing to demonstrate his (correct) opinion on baseball teams. This did, however, prove to be a challenge when he got his haircut on Saturday while the Sox were playing the Yankees and the barber had it on the TV. The volume had to be adjusted so Will would sit still for the haircut.
4. High fives. Usually only given to those he knows. Everyone else gets a wave.
5. Pulling up to his knees. His feet aren't far behind...he just needs a spotter for that part.
6. Switching from crawling to sitting. Mommy still hasn't witnessed this but Will is sitting in his crib after each nap time, waiting to be picked up and proud as punch that he got himself to a seated position.
Will was curiously eyeing Mommy's spinach and cheese tortellini this afternoon at lunch time, so Mom gave him a little. It was gone pretty quickly and Will was begging for more. Needless to say, this lunch time resulted in a Loooong bath!
Since Josh has been gone all of 4 days now, Will is convinced he must be hiding somewhere in the apartment. He crawls up and down the hall, checking the bathroom repeatedly (Dad does spend a lot of time in there..haha). He checks the closet and the bedroom and today he even crawled over to the patio sliding door. Each time he checks a location, he calls out, "Dad, Dadad?" Mom has had a hard time explaining the concept of Hawaii to Will. Meanwhile, the search continues.
Will does not spend any time in his saucer anymore, but he needed to be contained while Mom cleaned up a little mess on the carpet today. Dad wasn't in the saucer either, but Will checked anyway.
Will is now the proud owner of FOUR teeth. We recommend NOT enlarging this one...sorry but food is the best way to get him to open his mouth for the photo "op".
After being mistaken for a girl twice this week (both times by elderly ladies but Daddy said that was besides the point), it was decreed that Will needed a little trim before Dad's big send off to Hawaii at 3am tomorrow. After his afternoon nap, Will headed to the barber shop where Dad gets his hair cut every Sunday. Ardyth was a bit surprised to see Josh back for a 2nd time today and then even more surprised when we asked if she would give Will his first big haircut. Will was very well behaved sitting on Daddy's lap in the barber's chair and didn't cry at all. Mommy frantically took pictures and fussed over how much older her little boy looks. After collecting the standard first curl, Will left with his new "do" to hit the pool.
Will has mastered the art of crawling now and he is everywhere! Here's the promised video of his newest skill. Later today, he will have an even more exciting "first" to share...stay tuned!
Top five reasons to love the San Diego County Fair:
1. The animals (Will wasn't sure WHAT to make of the bleating goats)
2. The food. Who knew so many items could be placed on a stick for your enjoyment? Examples include pizza, cheesecake, mac and cheese, hot dogs, apples, and Twinkies. Apparently if it's at a fair, it can be eaten on a stick, fried, or [preferably] both. Will liked sampling Dad's BBQ ribs. And no, Megan did NOT eat all that herself, but, it seems Josh likes to photograph the food. (the ice cream on the right is appropriately called a Cow Pie)
3. The Ferris wheel. Well, maybe only when it sits still. When it started going Up, up, up, Will wasn't too sure this was a good idea after all.
4. The Carousel. Mom chose (wisely) a horse that doesn't move for Will to try. Don't be fooled: these "kiddie" rides move much faster than you think.
