Battery Saturday

Our goal for this Saturday was to put the batteries in all things baby related... the swing, the papasan chair, etc.  We coined the day Battery Saturday, but instead it was just so awesome outside (75 and sunny - in January!)that we decided to spend most of the day outside after we took Maggie for a quick trip to the vet. 

Will loves taking Maggie anywhere.  She rides in the backseat in a bag and Will constantly checks on her.  It is a matter of time before he can unzip the bag and set Maggie free, but in the mean time, it is fun to take him on the trips to the vet.  He cried when Maggie went back, and the ladies working there thought it was the sweetest thing.  They offered him a tootsie pop which was a HUGE hit.  He still talks about it, and even tonight he said he was sick, needed to go to the doctor and get a tootsie pop.

After the visit to the vet, we went to the park and had a picnic lunch.  Will is much more interested in playing than he is in food, so we used his Tupperware to make castles and cupcakes.  Here he is putting a candle on the cupcake, and then we sang Happy Birthday to Katie (who will be here in 3 days!) and he thought that was hilarious.

Will is now doing this with his tongue when he runs.  Is he destined to be an athlete?

Where the kids sleep

This is a sweet picture of Will sleeping (on his back with his blankie on his face) in his fire truck room last night.  We had to transition him to the big bed full time after he again showed us (again) how quickly he can straddle the side of the crib and act like he is riding a horse.  So far he loves his new room and has been sleeping well for naps (2.5-3.5 hours) and at night (11-12 hours).

So, with the transition, we have converted the nursery for Katie's arrival!  I love the way cribs look when they are raised up for the little newborns and with a big fluffy bumper.  We have a few things left to do - some wall decor, a valance, etc. - but otherwise we are ready for our little girl to arrive one week from today!

Monkeys

We had a great weekend with Will.  We went to a birthday party at the Nature and Science Museum at Fairpark in Dallas, and the party theme was monkeys.  We talked about monkeys all morning before the party, and Will knew 3 main things about monkeys:
1.  They eat bananas.
2.  The sound they make.
3.  That on Go, Diego, Go, they always tell the Bobo Brother monkeys to "freeze!"

As a result, we took a stuffed monkey with us in the car on the way to the museum, and the whole way there, Will would tell his monkey to freeze (and he sticks his hand out like we would to tell someone to stop) and then make monkey noises.  It was awesome.  This is such a fun age!

Will loved the museum and we loved exploring Fairpark.  I have only been a few times and mainly for the State Fair.  There are lots of fun things for us to explore with Will, and it will be fun to enjoy some of these opportunities during the cold month of February where Will and Chad will have lots of one-on-one time together on the weekends.

playing with dad on the big mammoth

he loved sliding down the tusks

the two Forsberg boys

Lunch Date

Will has been talking about this girl Riley for the past few months.  They go to the park together during the day and they love to play in the sandbox together.  Will will point to his sandbox toys and tell me that he and Riley make "cakes" and "castles".  They apparently get along great and play well together.  Riley is 2.5 years old, and she adores Willito - or "Wheat-O" as she calls him.

Today I got to meet this little girl!  Riley came over to pick Will up to go to Chick-Fil-A and the two of them left in the new double stroller.  Will loved having Riley sit next to him.  He kept patting the seat for her and saying "Riley sit down". 

I hope he is chivalrous and offers to buy her kid's meal or at least opens the door for her to go to the play area.

Daddy Climbs

 Ever since Chad put the Christmas decorations back in the attic, Will points to the attic and says "Daddy climbs".  Then last weekend Chad had to change some light bulbs that required he used a ladder - much to Will's delight.  Now we hear even more "Daddy climbs" and he even pretends to unscrew the light bulbs.  So tonight we got out the ladder to let him climb which he just loved.  He changed quite a few light bulbs in his mind - I love watching him pretend!

unscrewing the light bulb

moving the ladder to change another light bulb

there he goes!

little handyman

Will watching "the guys" (as he calls them) play guitar on TV

Trying to imitate "the guys" when they play the guitar behind their heads

Will trying to hide in the refrigerator - the door can almost shut with him in there!

coming out from hiding

Riding his bike - just like Jack!

We got Will a bike for Christmas but we actually gave it to him back in October.  We had gone to the park and another kid had a bike that Will just loved.  He probably sat on it for at least 10 minutes, and I knew then that we would get Will the exact same bike for Christmas.

I was so excited to get it for him!  We gave it to him early since we had a feeling he would be getting lots of other goodies for Christmas.  The bike came, and Chad assembled it before Will woke up one morning.  We were sooo excited to show it to Will...and well, he liked it ok.  He played with it for a minute or two before moving onto something else.  We got him a helmet as well, and that was definitely a huge hit.  He had to wear it around the house at all times for a few days.  The bike, however, was the not the hit we had imagined.   Sigh.

Until today.  Will rediscovered his love for the bike and has been riding it through the house "like Jack!"  (Jack Black rides a mini-bike in his formerly favorite TV show/episode - Yo Gabba "New Friends" with Jack Black.  I have easily seen that episode 50x.)  He is really proud of his skills and it is so cute to see how proud he is to be riding like Jack.

"riding" around the kitchen with Loli close by

 

Will's attempt at putting on his helmet

Getting back on

just like Jack!

Apple of my Eye

This little guy wanted an apple tonight.  He didn't want me to cut it - he wanted it whole.  He ate the entire thing!  Chad was eating an apple at the same time.  He was standing up facing the TV, and when Will saw him, he too stood up and faced the TV and ate his apple.  So cute to watch him imitate us!

Snow Day

 It snowed today in Dallas!  Will and I saw the snow and went to tell Chad.  Next thing I know, Chad and Will are heading outside.  Will was still in his PJ's, so we just added a coat, hat and wellies, and he was happy as can be!  He loved the snow, and he lasted much longer than Chad and I did.  He was sad when we made him come in because we got too cold!

Chad handing Will a snowball to throw

He loved it! 

Airplanes!

 On Saturday, we took Will to the flight museum.  Will got Chad a membership there as a Christmas gift since they had so much fun playing there last year.  This was my first time to go, and it was so fun to see Will have such a great time running around in the kid's play area.  This will likely be the site of Will's second birthday party - he loves airplanes!

In the cockpit

in the bounce house

waiting for dad to get more quarters so the airplane can fly!

Little Man

Will isn't potty trained yet, but we are working on the concept with him. He always finds an ESPN magazine to read when he takes a seat...

Words

My mom suggested that I write down the words Will is saying these days, so here is my best shot at things I have heard him say unsolicited.

- please, thank you, gracias, hi, bye, good
- drink, milk, juice, lemonade, coke, water, aqua, coffee
- cup, straw, plate, fork, knife, spoon
- store, apple, applesauce, orange, grapes, cheese, cracker, salsa, chips, ketchup, bread, raisins, fruit snacks, toast
- santa, christmas tree, star, reindeer, candy cane, present
- pumpkin
- airport, plane, helicopter, fly, boat
- trike, car, truck, keys
- firetruck, garbage truck, trash, stink (thanks to the book "I stink"), dump truck
- wheels, honk, beep, horn
- hose, spray, ladder
- fall, wash (in relation to doing laundry), bath, splash, clap, play, need, climb, scoop, read, walk, run, go, sit, sleep, stay, push, pull, eat, cook (in reference to putting something in the microwave), open, close, shut, throw, wait (usually with an "I" in front of these).  Today he burped and said "I burp!"
- broom, mop, sweep
- bathroom vocabulary (including for the sake of documentation!) - wet, poop, pee pee, toot
- stairs
- one, two, three, four, five, six (in spanish as well) - This is somewhat solicited in that we are usually counting and he chimes in.
- more, again
- bed, crib, room, pillow, blankie ("bobbie"), chair
- toothbrush, toothpaste, brush, blowdryer
- outside, moon, star, snow, rain, cold, hot
- light, dark
- guitar, bag, tent, picture, card (in reference to the memory card for my camera), clock
- pool, park, bubbles, ball, bat, slide, swing, sand, cake, castle (all in relation to things he makes in the sandbox)
- eyes, nose, mouth, tongue, head, tummy, legs, arm, feet, hands, fingers, toes
- coat, shoes, socks, shirt, pants, hat, gloves
- duck, dog, cat, kitty, bunny, sheep, horse, cow, bird, whale, turtle, fish, bee
- baby, sister
- night night


So far, he three word sentences have been "I want more", "I push car", and "I play Star (Wars)".  One of my favorite two sentences together was "It's dark.  I need lights."

He doesn't say his colors without being asked what color something is, so I didn't include those for now.

Napping in a big bed

Yesterday, our nanny went to get Will after his nap and found him straddling one side of the crib, acting like he was riding a pony.  So, today Will took his first nap in his new fire truck bed.  It was a matter of time before we started the transition, but we were just hoping it would be after baby girl got here so we could utilize Will's new room as a guest room and a second bedroom for me and baby girl if needed.  Instead, we are going with Plan B and we hope that he sleeps really well in his new bed!

I woke him up when I snuck in to take a picture of him, but he went right back to sleep.  I wish I had a picture of him riding on the side of his crib to go with this one, but I missed that moment!

21 Months Old!

Will is 21 months old and beginning his last month as an only child.  He is busy talking up a storm!  It was such a fun month with the Christmas holiday.  I think Will misses seeing Santas, Christmas tress, and eating candy canes.  He still talks about all three regularly.

This month Will...

* fell is love with fruit snacks, raisin bread and the store brand black cherry yogurt (which he calls "dad's yogurt").  By love, I mean he consumes massive quantities of these things... like 4-5 pieces of bread and 3 adult servings of yogurt.  He would eat an endless amount of fruit snacks if I didn't hide them somewhere new everyday. 

* loves Star Wars.  He said "I play Stars" yesterday and grabbed Chad's hand to go upstairs and play Star Wars with him. 

* loved looking at Christmas lights.  He would say "wow" appropriately when we saw a really good display.

* remembers who gave him what gift.  He will see his guitar and say "Chuck" and usually follow it up with "Airport Aunt Leen" which sounds more like "poor port unt een".  He knows Aunt Leen and Uncle Chuck go together as well as all the other couples in his life.

* goes to bed easily.  He now says good night "night night" to me downstairs and blows kisses while going upstairs with Chad to read and play before going to bed. 

* counts.  He has one-two down.  He can count higher with help, but currently only points out things where there are two of them.

* fell in love with Dora.  He really likes the only episode he has ever seen which is about a car race.

* says "I read", "I walk", "I sit", "I play", "I read", etc. 

* really enjoyed spending time with Lovey, Granddad, Ahma, Bapa, Great Grandma Jo, Great Grandpa John, Great Aunt Lori, and second cousin Jessica.  As expected, he was spoiled by all of them with trucks, hugs and lots of love.



Welcome 2011 - The Happiest New Year for Chad

This might be the best start to any year for Chad.  Will woke up and went to play in the fire truck room (his future room).  Chad and I are still emptying our items from his future closet (a New Years Eve activity), and there was a bin of Star Wars figures in his room.  Will found Jango Fett and was running around the house holding him saying "Star! Star!"  (That is what he calls Star Wars.)  He wanted to play with anything and everything Star Wars, so Chad got out his old school Star Wars characters to show him.  Will loves them and kept saying "I want more!"  He just can't get enough.

To add to Chad's pleasure, I asked him to buy some more Star Wars things for Will.  Chad seems to own a lot of the bad guys, and I would love for Will to have some good guys.  He asked me twice - "Did you really just ask me to buy some Star Wars characters?  Really?"

Chad is already in love with 2011.  We have an exciting year ahead as we add a new little one to the family.  Happy new year to all!

Playing with a lightsaber

Checking out dad's collection

Planning a trip for 2011

"I read"

At the park

he loves the sand box