The Great Outdoors

With this great weather, we have been spending lots of time outside watching cars and bikes go past our house while I vigorously swat at mosquitoes. It is probably a funny sight for those passing by. Here are some pictures taken during my breaks from mosquito wrestling. (I escaped with 5 bites, Will with 0!)

Kaitlin visits Will!

Will had a great time this weekend with a visit from Kaitlin Thomas! Deanna and Michael brought Kaitlin to town for the weekend. We had a fabulous time with them! The babies were interested in watching each other, and we are looking forward to the day when they play together!

We took the babies to a photo shoot on Saturday and then spent the afternoon with a bunch of college friends. Kaitlin and Will were in heaven! Ellie and Peyton loved holding and taking care of them, and the babies loved watching all the other kids play.

Will was so tired that not only did he fall sound asleep on the car ride home, but he snored!

Good Burp!

Yes, I actually said that. I've said it a lot in the past 5 months, and I am sure tonight was not the last time those words, said with sincerity, will come out of my mouth. It is on the list of things I never thought I would ever seriously say.

Apparently we celebrate the little things. This is probably a common thread we have with all families out there. I am not sure when this will stop, but in many ways I hope it doesn't. We very happily respond when Will rolls a ball to us, we applaud his food consumption, congratulate him when he figures out something new - like that his toy has a rattle.

At some point these things become expected. I assume the praise for giving us a big smile will go the wayside in upcoming months as Will moves onto bigger and better things. Maybe you always celebrate the small things, but the small things just change over time.

On a roll

Will had been on a roll. He had slept through the night for the past 6 weeks.

At our last trip to the pediatrician, Will was 4m old and he had just started waking up in the night after weeks of getting a full nights rest. As of the day of our doctor's appointment, it had been 5 nights in a row where Will suddenly woke up crying. Everytime we walked in, Will would smile big and kick with excitement. What mom doesn't love to see that? So, I would swoop down and pick him up, hold him, offer him a bottle, and then put him back to bed.

When telling the pediatrican about our woes, she immediately recognized us for the rookies that we are and pointed out the error of our ways. Will didn't need us. He just woke up and wanted to play. He really wasn't even hungry, but as our pediatrician said, if someone offered you chocolate cake in the middle of the night - would you turn them down? So we got the message loud and clear... it was time for the dreaded experience of crying it out.

Oh how I didnt want to do this! It is really hard for me to hear that little guy cry and not run in and see that smiling face and watch him kick. (I just love the kicks!) How sweet it is that he stops crying just with our presence! Luckily, we found a great book that made us feel much better about crying it out.

So that night we put him down for bed. We first heard his cries at 10:30pm. I told Chad to come get me in 10 minutes if he was still crying, then I went to the other end of the house, closed the door and turned up the tv. I was going to have to hiberate to get through this! After listening to the cry for maybe a minute longer, Chad walked in the room - he couldn't take it either. We just sat there, watching the monitor/Will TV and wondered if we could do this! Would he stop crying? Our pediatrician said that as long as we know Will is ok, we could let him cry it out as long as it takes or, more likely, as long as we could take it. I just wasn't sure how long I could take it. Thankfully, Will stopped in 10 minutes. He woke up again around 4am, and the same thing happened. This happened for 2 nights in a row, we let him cry, and since then we haven't heard a peep from him during his typical 13 hour slumber.

Well, until last night. Last night we heard Will start to cry around 4:30am. While I think we both were surprised, we looked at the monitor and could see him moving. We decided everything was ok and just to let him cry. A very slow and painful 10 minutes passed, and I had to go check on him. Good thing, because the boy was stuck! He had his head cocked way back (the uncomfortable position I have mentioned before) and his facewas pressed up against the side of the crib. I assume he couldnt figure out how to move his feet so he could get his head out of that awful position. I felt just terrible for letting that little boy cry knowing now that he was stuck! It actually took a little while to calm him down. I think he was a bit scared.

And then it was just the sweetest thing to sit there and rock him. I love letting him snuggle up against me and burrow his head into my arms. Once he calmed down, he looked at me and smiled. For a moment I missed those early nights when he wasn't sleeping through the night. I always enjoyed the night time feedings as they were so peaceful. There is something so serene about rocking a little baby in a dark room with lullabies in the background. There are no distractions. It was a great time for reflection and to give thanks for the gift of motherhood.

Today I am a little more tired, but I think it is those little special moments that I will remember. I won't remember that I was tired today, or how great I felt on the nights when I got a good nights sleep when I was not awakened by his cries. I surely will remember laying in bed, watching the clock for the 10 minute mark, walking in his room to find he was stuck!, calming him down, and then...the smile as if to tell me he was ok. It is these sweet tender moments that will stay with me forever.

Eyes on the Prize

Will just exited the stage where he was just happy with whatever toy you gave him. He would just take it from you if you handed it to him, and it would usually go right into his mouth. Now, you can tell what toy Will wants. He will stare it down, plot to get it, and then put it right in his mouth. If you try to hand him a different toy, he will push it away and keep his eyes on the toy he wants. Along with Sophie the giraffe teether, these keys are a current favorite. He also loves my actual car keys, but I don't love those going into his mouth. I know it will happen, so I am slowly releasing my control... but I'm just not there yet.

The High Chair

Today Will had his first meal in his new high chair! He seems to love it. I love it as much as he does. He hasn't totally associated the fact that it is the new place where he will eat. He got to the point in his Bumbo seat that when you put him in it, he knew it was time to eat and he would start making the "I want to eat now" sound while looking around frantically for the white bowls we always use that he also recognizes.



So for now, he enjoys playing here as well. It is a great spot to put him where he can't fall over, roll into something, etc. while I do whatever it is that I need to do. From his chair, he can watch the dog drink and eat which happened not by great planning, but just luck. Amazing, fantastic luck. I wouldn't have imagined how entertaining this could be, but I think Will could sit here for hours, play with the Fisher Price toy that came with it (thank you FP!) and watch Maggie eat. Unfortunately, on an average day, Maggie can eat her food in less than 2 minutes. We will have to slow her down. Maybe it's time for some peanut butter...

Today I am declaring cantaloupe as Will's favorite food. I enjoy feeding him cantaloupe as we do a little "one bite for you, one bite for me." I am teaching him to share.

Side Sleeper

Will has always slept on his side - even when he was first born. He has always slept in this exact position - with his head tilted back. It looks terribly uncomfortable to me, but he obviously doesn't think so. I went in to check on him as I do every night before I go to bed - I can see him on the monitor (also known as Will TV), but it isn't the same as seeing him in person. Seeing him sleep always makes me smile - not only on the outside, but also deep down inside as well. It can change your mood from sad to happy. I cant explain it, but it is the sweetest thing.

Tonight he had the pancake bear (from his Aunt Amye) between his arms like he was hugging him, but when I went back with my camera, the pancake bear was face to face with him. Every night we put him down with the pancake bear, giraffe or duck blankie (courtesy of Julie), and a silky blankie (from his Aunt Leen). I am hoping he will become attached to one or all of these. He likes to hold his blankies in his hands while he is trying to fall asleep - he opens and closes his hand, regrabbing them time and time again. I think it is calming and soothing for him.

I had a blankie when I was growing up. Well, I had many. Surely I had a favorite, but I just remember always having a blankie. I was embarrassed about it, and I remember that on my last day of preschool, we were cleaning out our bins where we kept our things. I left my blankie in the bin because I didn't want anyone to know I had it. I guess I would sneak it out during nap time. Anyway, my teacher found it and held it up in front of the whole class and asked "Whose blankie is this?" I was too embarrassed to claim it, so when my mom picked me up on that sad day, I had to tell her the terrible news. We went back the next day to reclaim my prized possession. I was thrilled to get that thing back! When we got there, the janitors repurposed it...as a rag! They were cleaning with it! This is one of my earliest memories - maybe because it must have scarred me.

After that, I remember taking my blankie to sleepovers with friends. I would take it out before bed and tell them that I had to lay on this "special blankie" because I had a back problem. Seriously. I remember saying those exact words to Jennifer Monoghan, my best friend from elementary school, before we went to bed one night after playing My Little Pony. Today I find that memory hysterical. I assume my friends didn't think anything of it since I don't have any bad memories about sleepovers and the blankie.

So I am not sure if Will is going to follow in my footsteps and attach himself to a blankie, but if he does, I hope he carries that blankie with pride, or, if he needs to, maybe he can use that hereditary back problem as an excuse.

Game Face

Tonight the Longhorns play the Red Raiders. Will is all suited up in his longhorn gear for the day, but he will likely miss kick off since he is an early to bed kind of guy. However, we asked him to put on his game face and this is what we got.



















Here is Will's message for the Red Raiders...

Our first dependent

Our first dependent is this little pug named Maggie. She happens to be the cutest pug ever - giving us fantastic head tilts when we talk to her as if she is trying to understand us. We adore her. She is spoiled rotten. We plan things around her. Well, we did. Not anymore.

Now that Will is here, she has taken the back seat. We actually have gone out of town and the day before we left, we realized we had not made any plans for her to have a dog sitter. I knew this would never happen to me. Not me and my dog! But it did.

Luckily, Will LOVES Maggie. Seriously love. Our nanny and I both use Maggie as a safety when Will cries and we are unsure of what he might want. We call Maggie over to us, and he smiles and laughs. We let Will pet her, and Maggie seems to be ok with this. She even didn't mind too terribly when Will grabbed her ears. I know she didnt love this, but she didnt react and just let him play with her. She is amazing with him!

Before Will, Maggie even went to a hotel with us. See her here helping us get some Starwood points.

Now she is back to being a regular dog. We still adore her, but she is playing second fiddle to the new kid on the block. We know we owe her for being the calming force and mood changer in times of need. We give her extra bones for her assistance. I think once Will gets to the point where he is dropping food, Maggie will be paid back in spades for this short period of hair and ear pulling.

Check out these smiles:

The best way we have found to keep Will on his tummy for long periods of time is to give Maggie a bone and have her stay close by. I am convinced he could probably watch her for at least 30 minutes before he would realize that he had been on his tummy that long! (Why didnt we think of this earlier!)

Our little reader

More Peas Please

If it wasn't obvious from looks alone, Will's love for food proves there was no mix up at the hospital - he is our son! Will's new food this week is peas. He gets equally as excited to put on his bib (his arms flap in the air like he might be taking off) as he does to eat. I love the little sounds he makes while he is eating and between bites. It is as if he is saying "this is soooo good! keep it coming!"

(I had trouble posting the video to the blog, so click here to see it.)

After some inspiration from my friend Liz, I have been making Will's baby food. One, it was a fun project to research and shop for, and two, it seemed like a good way to ensure Chad and I ate healthy. I figured we would steam some green beans for us... and steam some extra for Will. So far, it has been fun and easier than I expected. Will has had pears, apples, cantaloupe, bananas, sweet potatoes and peas. We are a little deficient on the veggies, so we are going to step it up in hopes that we can accomplish the goal of healthy eating for all three of us.

Baby Blackberry

Yesterday Will was making all kinds of noise while I was on the phone. Once I hung up, his eyes followed the phone so I handed it to him. He proceeded to review the call log:

And then he used the track ball like an old pro.


This boy might look a lot like his dad, but he gets his love of the phone from his mom!

Rock Steady

One of the things that amazes me most is watching Will change from day to day. One day I could place anything around him and he wouldnt reach for it, the next day he put his hand in my smoothie that was next to him and while I moved that to a new location, he picked up a pen that was within reach and starting chewing on it (oops!). One day Will has no interest in rolling over, the next day he rolls. One day, he topples over when trying to sit up on his own, the next day he is rock steady. (I love this picture of him sitting up - his whole body was still and his eyes went from side to side as if to say "check this out - I am sitting up!") It seems the changes are that sudden - that overnight sleep propels him to grow into the next stage.

Tonight while I rocked Will to sleep, I found myself holding him longer and thinking that there might actually be a day when this little 5m old baby will no longer fit in my arms. While that thought makes me a little teary, it is moments like these that force me to stop, take a moment to savor the stage he is in, hold him a little tighter and rock him a little longer.

Will Rolled Over!

I have been debating about starting a blog for quite some time. I even reserved his URL before Will was born, but just never added anything to it. Now I just love reading my friend's blogs, so I decided it was time to blog about Will. Let the fun begin!

Yesterday Will rolled over! I put him on his tummy while I got him some milk, and I could hear him fussing and grunting. When I walked over to get him, he rolled over! He did it again later in the day, and I suspect it will be a new favorite hobby.

My sister Kathleen and I went shopping today and we bought Will quite a few things, including his new favorite book. This is the first book that Will hasnt tried to immediately put in his mouth - maybe due to size! I think he likes all the colors and also likes hearing his dad make all the noises of the animals, cars, etc featured on the very colorful pages.