Miner's Park

Today I took William to a little park designed for kids ages 2 -5. He had a great time. I was so surprised at how well he was climbing the equipment and crawling through the tunnels. By the end of our time there, he was sliding all by himself.

Sleep

His upper body basically at a 90 degree angle with the crib
A few months ago
The best bed head ever

Since he was little, William has been a very active sleeper. I believe this is true of most children, but it never ceases to amaze me the positions he ends up in. I thought I would share the most recent funny position we found him in, plus a few from the past.

Airplane Park

We took William to the park yesterday. He enjoyed the swings and running around all of the big open fields. He was fascinated by the plane that is at the front of the park. Unfortunately, it is WAY out of reach, so he could not get to it. He didn't seem to mind too much.

Terrible Twos....Already???

Aaron took vacation this week, so we are trying to do fun things with his time off. This morning, I told him we should try to make a memory everyday. William helped us succeed in that goal today. We took him to have breakfast for dinner, however, from the moment we sat down he was not into it. We let him play with crayons, play with Daddy's spoon, and eventually play with the ice in Daddy's tea. In order to keep a long story short, I will sum it up by saying I carried William out in full tantrum mode and Aaron was left to pack our food to bring home. The food did take a really long time, so it was arriving right as William was entering total meltdown. I am not sure that restaurants will be high on our list of things to do for quite some time.

Mommy's Helper

William is in love with his toy vacuum now. If I get the vacuum out he has to have his out too. No making fun of my pj's in the picture, but it was so cute I had to post it. He really likes his toy lawnmower as well.

Trip to the Zoo

William looking for the monkey under the sheet
He is loving his new found spoon skills (even through the lid of the snack trap)
William and Mommy on the carousel
William and Daddy on the train
A MUCH needed nap

We took William to the zoo yesterday, and he had a great time. We did it in two parts, and the day worked out beautifully. He was able to nap in the car while it rained and then we went back for the afternoon. I am pretty sure his favorite animal was the hippo, as he is now saying that word over and over. He thought it was funny to see them swimming with the fish. The train was a ton of fun, and he wasn't scared of the tunnels at all. At home, he is always making elephant sounds, but when he saw them in real life he was a little leery at first. It was like he was thinking "I can't believe these things really exist."

Father's Day

William feeding Pop

The boys
Too much fun

We spent Father's Day with Aaron's family at their house in Ballwin. We had a great day, and William loved playing with all of the toys that Grandma D and Pop have for him. He got to spend a lot of time in a little pool on their deck. He had an absolute blast. Mommy wasn't prepared for the swimming so we had a regular diaper that only lasted so long. The rest of the swimming was done in his birthday suit, which will explain some of the pictures posted.

As for Father's Day, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank my dad for being an inspiration and a constant positive light in my life. It has been so fun watching him as a grandpa and seeing how much love he has for William, and how William adores him.

Aaron probably won't appreciate me posting this, but 0h well. He is a wonderful father and everyone should know it. William is his world and it is amazing to see how William lights up (and often dances) when his Da-Da enters the room. He is a huge support, and I am a lucky woman to have him as a husband and father to my children (well child for now...don't get any ideas).

Route 66 Festival

On Saturday, we took William to a festival in Edwardsville and met Grandpa and Grammy there. There was a band and lots of fun activities. William loved to dance to the music and enjoyed the bounce house with daddy. He had his first glass of lemonade and he LOVED it!

William is 20 months!

It is unreal to me that William is closer to 2 than to 1. He has changed so much, and everyday he seems to do something new. Today we had a carpet picnic for lunch because we had already been outside all morning on the trail. William seemed a little hot after the walk, so I decided against an outdoor picnic. He didn't seem to mind much...considering he got to be back in his pjs for lunch. He spent most of the day running back and forth across the house and squealing. He has also decided that his Anywhere chair is now something he should push all over the house and climb...YIKES!

Letters "o" and "e"

Yesterday morning I walked in to get William out of his crib, and I had a shirt on that said "Memory Walk '04." He looked at my shirt and pointed to the the letter "o" and said "oh" (he also pointed to the zero and said "oh"...but I will give him that one), and then he pointed to the letter "e" and said "eee." Did that really just happen or was I dreaming. I continued to test him through out the day, and he really does know those letters. The funny thing is I have no idea where he learned it. We just bought an alphabet puzzle a few weeks ago and have not done much with it. I am betting that his amazing babysitter Miss Angie, must be teaching the boys the alphabet....I am AMAZED!

Topper's Tail

I have to say that William has loved the dogs pretty much from the beginning. He has always laughed at their antics, and since he became mobile he loves chasing them. Topper is more tolerant of this behavior. William will pet him, drive his cars on him, and has now decided to grab Topper's tail. This newly added activity has surprised Topper quite a bit. Enjoy the video.

Piano man

William loves the piano, however, I am not quite sure why it has inspired him to make his monkey sound. You will see for yourself in the video.

Laughter

William continues to make us laugh on a daily basis. It doesn't matter what he is doing, or how tired I am sometimes I cannot help myself. The other night he did not want to go to sleep, and I was sitting down by his crib. He kept standing up and smiling really big at me and laughing. I know, I know...I shouldn't laugh but I couldn't help it. Needless to say, all bets were off for bedtime at that point. He is cutting his bicuspids on the bottom and they seem to be taking FOREVER! He has had really interrupted sleep the past few naps and at bedtime.

He has been in a really good mood despite his lack of sleep. This week we have spent a lot of time playing piano, running after the dogs, and just laughing. He has developed a really funny laugh that you will hear in the video posted. I will have to post the other videos separately.

Mommy's Birthday

So, it was my birthday today. I received beautiful yellow roses and a giant balloon from Aaron and William. William loved to watch the balloon go up into the tall ceiling in the living room, and making Daddy get it down. Aaron also took me shopping on Sunday, and we had a really nice time. I am posting pictures of the flowers and balloon. I also got flowers from my Dad, which William was very excited to smell. Every time he smells a flower he says "Mmmm."

The video I am posting is of William reading his animal book. You won't hear any of his distinct animal sounds, but he certainly does enjoy reading to himself....I wonder what he is saying.

Play Time

William played with his water table today for over an hour and threw a royal fit when we made him come inside. It was the first time we put water in it. We were letting him drive his cars around in it before, which he also loves.

He took a ride in a wheelbarrow, and held on for his life, even though he had a smile on his face the entire time.

He has decided that blueberries are his favorite food, and perhaps the only thing he will enjoy eating until who knows when. I believe he finished off nearly a pint in 2 days. For all of those concerned about him choking...don't worry we cut them.