Lilypie Kids Birthday tickers

Lilypie Kids Birthday tickers

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Lilypie Fifth Birthday tickers

Lilypie First Birthday tickers

Lilypie First Birthday tickers

Thursday, August 30, 2007

What a Difference a Year Makes




Dear Will

Dear Will,
Happy Birthday! You are one year old today, and I can't believe it. I can't believe how much you've grown in the last year. You are a little boy now, and not a baby (although you'll always be my baby.) By our measurements, you weigh about 26.5 pounds and are somewhere between 30 and 31 inches. It's quite hard to measure a wiggle worm like you. We're going to see Dr. Levin on Tuesday, so we'll get the official updates then.

You're not walking yet, but you're a speed demon crawler. You love to crawl down the hallway and bust open the door to our room. You do everything with such intention...we don't always know what your plan is, but you do! Sometimes you get a bit frustrated when you can't convey what you need or want to do (and by a bit frustrated, I mean that you pitch a fit!). You can pull up on almost anything, and you love to walk around the coffee table and sofa while holding on. You also try to procure things that you know you're not supposed to have--remotes, phones, magazines--but as of right now, Mama and Daddy are still faster than you. You love to bang on the table or the door like you're playing the drums. You are always in motion, unless you're asleep.

You are a good sleeper--you still sleep from about 6:30pm to 6:00am (or thereabout), but you try to avoid naps at all costs. You will generally take a nap if you're at home, but apparently there is too much interesting stuff going on at school. No time to sleep!

You're also a good eater (see weight stats above). You have six teeth to use for chomping! We haven't found many foods that you don't like. Right now, you love foods that you can pick up and feed yourself. For dinner, you often eat chicken, quesadillas, or ravioli. You've also had hamburger and grilled cheese. You love all fruits, particularly bananas and watermelon. Cheese is one of your favorite foods (no surprise there, given your parents' love of cheese), and you also love YoBaby yogurt. You're even good at eating vegetables--carrots are your favorite, but you also eat sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green beans, peas, and corn.

You can say about seven words that we can recognize: Mama, Dada, Baby, Bear, UhOh, Bye-Bye (which was your first word), Duck, and Dog (although these last two sound suspiciously the same, and we have to use context to figure out what you mean). You have infinite words that mean something to you, but that we can't identify. My favorite is "a-deedle-deedle-di".

Playtime! Simply...you love to play. You love to explore, and you are curious about everything. You want to touch everything (sometimes with your mouth, too) so that you can figure out different textures and materials. You love to wrestle with Daddy on the floor. You love to talk to your stuffed animals and play them a song on your xylophone. You're getting very good at your star-stacking toy and at making and destroying stacks of blocks. When we go to Hulie and Bubs' house, you love to play with/antagonize Annie the dog, play Bubs' piano, and climb the stairs. You love the water. Bathtime is pure fun for you, even when we pour water over your head to wash your hair. You often line up your duck toys on the edge of the tub. You also enjoy going to the pool and "swimming" around.

You're a very affectionate child, often giving great hugs to your favorite people. However, you're also quite agressive at this age. You like to bang on things, including Mama and Daddy's faces. We are trying to teach you not to hit or bite--you've gotten a few "incident reports" at school for biting the other kids. Mostly, I think the biting is from teething or being overtired, but I certainly hope it will end.

In short, you're a delight. We love watching you learn and grow. It's such a cliche to say that everything is different through a child's eyes, but it's a cliche because it's true. You have been a wonderful addition to our family, and we are so thankful that you are a happy, healthy little boy. Happy Birthday, sweet baby. And many more...

Love,
Mama

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

One Year? But I Feel Like I Barely Know Him!

Of course I know my child. Like most mothers, I can tell you what foods he likes (all of them), what makes him laugh (inexplicably, he cackles when he watches me take any sort of pill), and what really pisses him off (getting his diaper changed; pretty much anything that disrupts him from playing or eating). Yet some days I feel like, "Who is this little being in my house? Where did he come from? When did I become a MOTHER?" I really can't believe it's been a year (as of tomorrow!). It feels more like two months. And, I still feel like I'm faking it most of the time.

Objectively, I know I'm doing fine at this motherhood thing. He's healthy, he's happy, we're all getting some sleep. What more can you ask for at a year? Yet, you can never let your guard down. Just when I think I've got a handle on things, everything changes. I'd finally figured out bottles and that feeding schedule, and now we need to move to sippy cups. I'd gotten the hang of changing and dressing a newborn, but all of the sudden I have a wiggly, screaming toddler to contend with.

So yes, I know Will--I know the two-month-old, the seven-month-old, and now the twelve-month-old. But just when I get to know one baby, another one is rounding the corner. I can already see glimpses of Will the fifteen-month-old: walking, using more words, laughing a lot. I just have to trust that I'll get to know him and love him just as much as I have with the other stages of Will. Hopefully I will always been able to figure out what makes him smile, how to quiet his cries, and how to let him know that he is very, very loved.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Cutest Husband Ever

This morning, during our routine of "you entertain him while I shower, then I'll take him while you shower", Will wanted to be in the bathroom banging on the door while I was taking my shower. So, this meant Zach was in the bathroom too, trying to occupy Will. Of course, Will wasn't interested in any of the actual TOYS that were available to him. He'd rather open the cabinets, pull on the drawers, check out the night light, or chew on some shoes.

But Zach knew of something that all little boys love, because he loved them as a child too: FORTS! I looked out of the shower and saw that Zach had tucked a towel into one of the drawers and then draped it over his head for a makeshift fort for him and Will. It was the cutest thing ever. It gave me such a smile to see them playing like that, knowing that this was just the first of many, many forts.

Will: 1, Cell Phone: 0

While we were out shopping on Saturday, I made the excellent decision to give Will my cell phone to play with to keep him occupied in his stroller. I honestly didn't think he could hurt it (it should be noted that Zach disagreed). I thought he'd chew on it a little, press some of the buttons, and be happy and quiet while we shopped. Well, I'm sure you can see where this is going. Once we got home, I noticed that my phone was off and wouldn't turn on. But even then, I didn't think there was an actual problem. "No Zach, it's just out of batteries. Let me charge it and it will be fine."

Well, it wasn't fine. It wasn't even close to fine. We took it to the Verizon store on Sunday where they diagnosed it with "liquid damage". Yes, apparently Will had drooled on the phone so much that he had short-circuited it. Let this be a lesson to the rest of you!

At least I got a new phone out of the deal, which Zach claims was my plan all along. I'll never tell.... Will also got TWO new phones: my old one, and a display one that the lady at the Verizon store gave him. Of course, these are no longer of interest since they don't make noise or light up.

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Trying New Things

I would love to get inside a baby's head. Everything about life is new to them, yet they are constantly gathering clues to help make sense of it all. I've been thinking about this lately because Will's been trying lots of new foods. Can you imagine what it must be like to taste a hamburger for the first time? Or cantaloupe? Chocolate cake?

On Saturday, Will got a big treat--he had his first Gilchrist milkshake! It has been so, so hot here, so Zach and I decided to share a chocolate milkshake, and we thought we'd let Will have a taste, as well. Luckily, we were smart enough not to give him any until it was almost gone. He got ahold of the cup, starting sucking down the milkshake, and wouldn't let go! He knew a good thing when he tasted it. He definitely would have eaten an entire milkshake if we had let him. That night he got two other taste treats--his first "hamburger" (really, just a tiny patty of ground meat) and some mashed potatoes. An all-American day!! Of course, this type of eating is not acceptable for every day, but he needs treats once in a while. He needs new experiences...we all do.

We Were Right!

So, all last week, we thought Will was teething. He was fussier than normal, woke up early, was trying to bite anything in sight (I know--can you believe we figured out these mystery clues??). Yet, the tooth never came. Well, Monday morning, we finally caught a glimpse of it! His top tooth to the left of the two middle ones (is that an incisor? I don't remember my tooth anatomy) came in, bringing his grand total to SIX teeth! Unfortunately, he seems to only be getting teeth one at a time, which makes for a long, painful process (for us and him). I guess there will be quite a few more before we can declare ourselves done with teething.

Sunday, August 12, 2007

First Blood

Will got his first real "boo-boo" yesterday. He fell down and cut his lip on his teeth. And he bled. So sad. Luckily, I was not here to see it, and only heard about it second-hand from Zach.

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

How Much Applesauce Can One Baby Eat?

Will is trying to find out. He loves the stuff and had three bowls of it tonight. I hope there's no proven harm in consuming mass quantities of applesauce! We'll keep researching and let you know. He feels the same way about bagels and cream cheese. I just give him little tastes of mine, but he would eat it all day if I'd let him. I love to watch him put it in his mouth and roll it around a bit, as if he's savoring its deliciousness.

In other news, Will has a new word: "Beah", which in baby-speak means Bear. He points at his basket of stuffed animals and says "Beah" "Beah". I'm surprised that THIS is the word he has learned. I don't even remember emphasizing "bear" that much. I'd much prefer he'd learn "Mama" (he will say Mama, but usually only when crying). Oh well. It is super-cute to watch how excited he gets when I give him the bear(s) after he points to them (he's really learning to communicate his needs well, even with his limited vocabulary). He loves to give each bear a hug. I thought he wasn't going to get attached to a particular "lovey", but maybe one of the bears will make the cut. I'm trying to encourage the softer, smaller one.

Thursday, August 2, 2007

Non-Napper

A few months ago we were at a dinner party and a woman was joking about how her daycare had labeled her three-year-old daughter as a "non-napper". I remember thinking that, while napping wasn't Will's best skill (he was around 7 months at the time), I was sure it would get better as he got older, learned to crawl, expended more energy, etc., etc. Well, it has NOT gotten better, in fact it has gotten worse, and I think I can officially say that Will is a non-napper.

Yesterday Will slept for 20 minutes. All day. One, twenty-minute nap. It's ridiculous and extremely frustrating. I'm trying not to get too upset by it and to realize that maybe Will is just what some of the parenting books refer to as a "wakeful" child. And, at least he still sleeps at night. In fact, he sleeps very well at night, which is a blessing. And, at least he's not super cranky when he gets home, although I can tell he is tired. So, the non-napping does not present a dire circumstance, but it still really frustrates me. And, I wish his teachers seemed a little more concerned or a little more interested in solving this problem. They just seem to shrug their shoulders and say "he just wouldn't sleep". Of course you can't force a child to nap. But I think there are some things you can do to encourage him to nap. Now if only I could figure out what those things are...

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Sweet, but still Trouble


Such a Sweet Boy

We had brunch with my family on Sunday, and Will behaved very well. He sat in his highchair, ate his baby food lunch and some of Daddy's potatoes, and only threw a few pieces of food on the nicely carpeted floor. Near the end of lunch, Mom wanted to hold him, so she got him out of his chair for a cuddle. He gave her a big hug, then looked to her left and saw Zach. Will held out his hands to be passed to Zach, and then gave him a big hug. Then he saw Dad...he moved on and gave him a hug. Then Bob, then Mel, and finally to me. A hug and quick snuggle for each of us. It was super cute and sweet...a round of hugs from Will.

I want some assurance that he will always be this sweet. That even when he's bigger than me, he'll still want to give his Mama a good hug. Sigh.

A Random Milestone

The last bottle of Dreft.

Since I am OBSESSED with the baby smell of Dreft detergent, I have been unable to break myself away from using it, despite the fact that it is about three times more expensive than regular detergent. But, since we are approaching the year mark, I have resolved that my current bottle will be my last bottle.

Until the next baby, of course. :)