We kind of feel bad posting that we were out washing cars today, since Ashley told us it was 9 degrees there in Vermont...sorry, Ash! BUT...since it was 80 here, and we needed a good pre-nap activity, Dad agreed to wash the cars. (it goes against all Dad rules to wash the cars when it is sunny and hot out, but he was a good sport!) So, buckets and rags (and a shovel?) in hand, Will got right to work.
In keeping with weekend chores tradition, Dad finished painting the patio today. Too bad he forgot the most important rule: work TOWARD the door! *just kidding, he had to paint that corner last since it was wet from the flag and sprinkler*
In other news, Dad got burned this week while on the shooting range. Here is a picture of his battle scars...literally. The shell casing from the guy shooting next to him popped up and went down his shirt...five times. OUCH! Don't worry, he'll be alright after a few weeks of putting on a tough guy face at work and whining at night to Megan. Hey...who typed that?!
Either Will is very curious about the world around him, or he's anxious to see Mom's hair turn gray before the year is over. Either way, he is sure enjoying exploring every inch of the world these days. Mostly, though, he likes the inches just above his reach...you know...so he can CLIMB to them.
And don't even try to tell him "Please don't climb that." or you will be the recipient of one of these looks:
Of course, there are times when he keeps his feet on the ground, but usually it's to dance or drive a truck over some bubbles. Food used to keep him down...but not anymore:
All of this climbing and exploring can only mean one thing: he's pretty strong!
When Mom said, "Will needs a snack.", she sure didn't expect to come back to the living room to find that Dad sure took care of the snack problem...in true Dad fashion. Will and Dad really enjoyed their tub of popcorn...enough to make both grandfathers extremely proud. Notice the new haircut? Will sat in the barber chair by himself this time and never even fussed. Who is this big kid?
Will is now officially 1 1/2. 1.5 years. 18 months. 548 days. A lot of diapers. Even more food. A lot of giggles and smiles. Some tears. Worth every day, hour, minute, second.
1 1/2 is turning out to be a fun age. An expert runner/walker, Will beat up pretty bad on his last pair of shoes, so, we took him to get a new pair this morning. It's his first "real" pair of sneakers...all hard soled. We thought he might have trouble walking in them at first, but, he tried to run out of the store at the mall. He wore them all over at home, running down the sidewalk and then stopping and looking down at his feet. He tested them on all surfaces by stomping on the concrete, grass, wood chips, mud, you name it.
He's also been working on his animal sounds. His absolute favorite song is "Pig on Her Head" by Laurie Berkner. We would have posted the music video here, but the one on YouTube isn't the real music video from the DVD, so it really doesn't do it justice. Here's a video of Will watching "Pig on Her Head" and mimicking the animal sounds. We recommend the DVD, We are the Laurie Berkner Band to anyone with a toddler.
His new favorite game to play is "Go". This is very similar to a game Uncle J used to play with Nikki, Ian and Ari which they called, "Put me on the couch". Basically, Dad holds Will until Will says "go" and then Dad tosses Will onto the couch where he bounces, giggles, laughs, and rolls back off the couch into Dad's waiting arms. Repeat. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Every night.
Will is also a very loving 1.5 year old. He kisses and hugs everything. He has tried to hug other kids at the park who are crying. The other day, while walking to get the mail, Will stopped on the sidewalk, got on all fours and started bobbing his head up and down repeatedly. Mom had no idea what he could be doing...until she caught up to him. He was "kissing" all the ants crawling on the ground. Ants need love too.
When Will sees a baby, either in person, on TV, or in a book, he puts his finger to his lips and says, "sssshhh". He LOVES the "little old lady whispering hush" in Goodnight Moon. He does not like the last page of that book, when she is no longer in the room.
Today, we were lucky enough to go to the Quail Botanical Gardens with our friends Christine, Luciano, Erica and Jackson. The three boys had a blast running through the Children's Garden where they were able to plant their own plant, paint, use glue and paper, watch the electric train, play in the water table, do bubbles, and dig for dinosaurs. Basically, a little boy's dream place. Will especially enjoyed the water table with the small waterfall. After we exhausted the possibilities of the Children's Garden, we headed over to the regular garden area for a lunch time picnic. Luckily, there is a walled in garden with a nice grassy area: perfect for keeping little boys in one spot. The boys climbed and explored and stopped by the blanket for a quick bite here and there. Will has really turned into a semi-big kid as he was climbing onto benches, over walls, and even standing on the small railing around the train.
Happy Valentine's Day! This year, Will is looking for a Valentine who enjoys animals, walking running in the park, listening and dancing to music, playing the harmonica, riding bikes, playing with blocks, drinking milk and eating turkey hot dogs and cheese. The ability to throw and catch a football is a plus. Must be willing to spend some afternoons saying, "Hi!" to everyone at various stores.
Here are some out-takes from the Valentine's photo shoot. Click on the picture to enlarge it.
We know you just CAN'T wait until Saturday's big Valentine's post! Lucky for you, Will had a Valentine's party at Stroller Strides today, and Patti took awesome pictures. After all the running, climbing and cupcake eating/wearing, he was so tired he fell asleep on the way home and stayed that way from the car to the crib and then for 2 more hours. Whew! What a party animal! He was quite refreshed after his nap and decided to read a little bit to Snuggles.
Please take note that he now uses his finger when "reading" the words. He actually points to the words and drags his finger over the sentences. Mom does this when she reads so Will notices the words and the pictures. Yeah, yeah, there's something in Mom's background about teaching and learning to read and some Master's Degree thing...so she was very excited to see this new skill.
And we will close with a funny story. Will's vocabulary is ever expanding, and he tries to imitate most words that Mom says. HOWEVER....after reviewing all the animal sounds Will knows and the words, Mom ventured out and said, "Will, can you say, 'Mom'?" Silence. "Will, can you say, 'Mom'?" More silence. "Will, say, 'Mom'."
Will's reaction? He put his little pointer finger to his lips and said, "Ssshhhhhh." Right. Ok then. Love you too.
Just so you don't think Josh and Will are the only ones doing things around here, Megan manages to squeeze in a little fun sometimes, too. Wednesday night was the monthly Mom's Night Out for Stroller Strides. Every month, Julia or Gretchen plan fun nights out for the moms. Last night, we went rock climbing. It was a challenging and fun experience. Thanks to Laurie for babysitting watching TV while Will was asleep.
In addition to snips, snails and puppy dog tails, we are learning that little boys are also made of scraped knees and black and blues. Don't let this big grin fool you.
Just earlier in the day, Will tripped at the park and bonked his head. Somehow, Mom has acquired the magical kisses power, for, everytime Will scrapes or bumps something, he brings the body part over to Mom accompanied with a whine. After a quick kiss, he's all smiles. This one took a few more kisses, but, luckily, he's just fine and recovered rather quickly (faster than Mom did!) when a boy whizzed by on his new big wheel and Will couldn't be bothered with Mom's fussing since there was a new "vehicle" to inspect. We don't think we'll ever get used to these bumps, scrapes and various shades of "bruise". Is that a Crayola color?
