Oh No

It happened on Friday.  Will said his first "no".  It was a matter of time before this happened, and leading up to it, he would either say nothing when he meant no (like if you asked him if he wanted cheese and he didn't, he just wouldn't answer) and then progressed to the head shake for no.  Now he says "no" to things he doesn't want.  For example, when we dropped him off at the nursery at church today he said a lot of no's (but luckily this is the first time he wasn't crying when we picked him up!). 

He has been saying "yah" for yes for quite some time.  I just love it.  Today he switched from "yah" to "yesh".  There is an h on his yes - that isn't a typo.  It is cute, but I do miss the way he said "yah" - it was adorable.  I am guessing he had a hard time with s's until today.

He is talking a lot and saying so many things.  A popular phrase for him is "I want more."  He wants more of everything he loves...raisins, trucks, juice... you name it.  Now it seems like he is changing almost everyday which is hard to believe, but everyday is better than the last.  In this time of thanksgiving, we are truly thankful for this little guy!

Thanksgiving Day

 We had a great Thanksgiving day in Austin.  We had Christmas in the morning with Aunt Jenny, Uncle GA, and Guerin, and then had Thanksgiving at Ahma and Bapa's with my parents, Aunt Leen, Uncle Chuck, Aunt Jenny, Uncle GA and Guerin.  It was fun to have everyone together, and great to see Guerin and Will play together again. 

Watching football with Dad and Bapa

Playing with the firetruck from Aunt Jenny, Uncle GA & Guerin

Having fun with Guerin

Guerin loves Spiderman and wears this mask everyday!

Hugs for Aunt Jenny

Cousins

Thanksgiving Day Christmas

We celebrated Christmas with Aunt Jenny, Uncle GA and Guerin on Thanksgiving morning.  Will got a new firetruck which is a huge hit!  It was really fun watching Will and Guerin play together.  They had a blast together!  Will is so lucky to have a cousin close in age - I think the will grow up being close friends.

Eager to play with his new toy

 He found one of Guerin's fire trucks

And another fire truck...

Crate training

Cousins working out



Happy Thanksgiving!

Tree Lighting

 Today was the annual tree lighting festival in Snider Plaza.  I would say that the festival was a big hit even though Will really disliked the actual tree lighting.  There were fireworks which scared him quite a bit!  He didn't love loud noise from the fireworks directly overhead, but he loved seeing his Aunt Leen and Uncle Chuck.  He just adores them both.

Will got his picture taken with Santa, saw a longhorn, went in his first bounce house, and ate lots of cookies!  It was a fun evening, but I think he will like it even more next year.

Will and Santa

In the bounce house

With dad eating cookies

getting a better view of the entertainment

Fall

 Fall is here!  It has been nice and chilly and we have more leaves on the ground than on the trees! 

Will has a group of friends that he and Loli meet at the park everyday.  It sounds like they have a great time together.  Will loves to play in the leaves, and at the park where there are large piles of leaves, he learned how to do snow angels in the leaves by watching the older kids... and apparently he thinks it is hilarious. 

Loli recently told me that he and 2 other boys all like to go down the slide together.  Will is first, with a 3 and 5 year old behind him and they go down holding onto each other.  I would love to see this! 

Will with a huge stick and little bruise from a bathtub/toy incident

looking up at an airplane (he doesn't say l's so it sounds more like "pain")

contemplative colorer

happy

Little Fireman

Will continues to have a love for trucks, but he really seems to love fire trucks most of all.  We got him a fire hat and he loves to wear it while he is in his fire truck.  We live close to a fire station (which is right across from the park he goes to daily) so he sees a lot of fire trucks.  His love of fire trucks is followed by a love a garbage trucks.  He sees those less frequently but he is facinated with them as well.

We are in the process of getting his room together for when he transitions out of his crib.  The transition will either occur when he gets of his crib again on his own or when Baby Girl is ready to sleep in the crib - we will see what happens first!  There is a definite car and truck theme going on in his new room, and we just ordered some super cute fire truck art for the wall.  I can't wait for it all to come together!  I must be nesting.  Only 10.5 weeks left until baby girl arrives!

Carousel Ride

Today while I was working, Will and Loli went to the mall for some carousel rides.  They went on as many rides as they could until they ran out of money.  Apparently Will loved riding his horse and cried when they had to get off. 

She said he laughed and laughed while they went around.  These are the moments when I wish I was there with him instead!  We will have to take him one weekend.  Seems like a good rainy day activity and maybe a little cleaner than stomping in puddles!

Straws

Will could not get enough straws for "our" shake this morning. 

Baby, it's cold outside!

44 degrees to be exact.  Regardless of weather, Will still desires to be outside.  So here he is all bundled up for his trip to the park today. 

"I Love Trucks"

While Will has been under the weather,  I have spent extra time rocking him before putting him in his crib for the night. He talks a lot these days and so we often chat about his day.  I ask him questions about the things he does, and he talks and talks about the things he loves.  Right now, Uncle Chuck's guitar, Aunt Leen's car and Bapa's car are top of the list as well as anything involving our neighbor Tara.  Planes are also quite popular - especially helicopters.  Trucks remain an important part of his life and he seems to favor fire trucks over all others. 

Thinking we were done rehashing his day, I asked him "You know I love you" and he replied "Yah.  I love trucks."

I had never heard him say "I love" anything!  It was super cute and definitely a moment I will always remember.

On Sunday we took him to see trucks at an event called Truck Time.  At Truck Time, you can sit in all kinds of trucks.  He loved the ambulance, fire truck and red cross hummer.  The big trucks may have seemed too big to him and all the honking scared him a little.  Otherwise, he could have sat in his favorite three all day long.  We kept going back to them...I think this will be an annual trip for us!

Deputy Sheriff

Enjoying icee

Stomach Bug

Will caught a stomach bug that has been going around.  He got sick one night right before bed time (thankfully on the old carpet that is being replaced in the next few weeks) and then sick two days later in my car just as we exited to see his Great Grandma Jo, Great Grandpa John, second cousins Dan and Jessica and Jessica's husband Matt.  I don't travel with extra clothes or towels in my car, so Will got a quick bath in McKinney and then we drove him back to Dallas in a coat and diaper.  Poor guy... other than these incidents, 14 hours of sleep one night, and 3.5 hour naps, you would never know this guy has been sick!

Here is out little patient staying hydrated in his new Star Wars pajamas.  I think Chad might put Will in them every night!

Morning Shake

Every morning when I am in town, I have a Strawberry Banana smoothie - also know by Will as a "shake".  It's the perfect combo of strawberries, a banana, vanilla yogurt, almonds, and some protein powder.  Will has enjoyed these with me since he was really little.  I forgot about the almonds at the time and I think he had his first taste around 3 months.  He has loved them ever since.

It went from him having a few little spoonfuls, to him sitting on my lap and drinking some without holding the cup, to him holding the cup while sitting down, to now him taking the shake with him around the house.  I am getting less and less of my favorite morning smoothie, but how can I not share with him when he says "mommmy peas shake"?

Eating Marathon

Chad and I just returned from a 4 night get-away to Carmel, CA.  We had the most relaxing time - doing practically nothing aside from sleeping, eating, enjoying the ocean views, eating, napping and eating.  We had amazing food - including dinners at Cassanova (our favorite), Forge in the Forest, La Bicyclette (it was so good we ate there 3x for lunch!),  Christophers, and Flying Fish.  Every night I wished I had eaten less - there just isn't much room for food now that I am 26 weeks pregnant. 

Tonight Will had his own food marathon.  For dinner, he started with blueberries, 4 meat sticks and a slice of cheese.  He asked for more cheese, and then more cheese, and then MORE cheese (that makes 4 slices!) and then while washing his hands he saw the bananas and asked for a banana ("banana peas mommy").  How can I say no to that?  So he went back in his high chair and ate a banana.  The whole thing.  That boy must be growing! 

19 Months Old!

Will is 19 months old and just when we dont think it is possible, we fall more in love with him! This month Will...

* says "Mommy" and "Daddy"

* says words together, like "Mommy's car" and "Daddy's keys"

* transitioned off a bottle to a sippy cup

* had his first experience trick or treating

* has developed a huge love for our neighbors, the Kinders.  He talks about Tara ("Te Te") all the time!

* loves stomping in puddles (with or without his wellies), raisens, and sloppy joes

* if all goes as planned, will have a little sister 3 months from today!

Music Man

Will had dinner with Sophia the other night, and then he came home and immediately started playing with the xylophone Sophia gave him for his birthday.  He picked it out of all of his toys... I think he remembered it was from her!

Slide Lover

This kid loves the swirly slides.  It is hard to take his picture as he often goes down on his tummy.  However, when he goes down sitting up he has the sweetest smile!