Belle: Then & Now

A new year of preschool / play school has begun for Belle.  I took a photo of her front of the sign just as I had last year and was shocked at the comparison from year over year.  My baby girl is going to be THREE in nineteen days and she is no longer a baby, but a "big girl" as she likes to refer to herself.  I love every moment of being her Mama.  She has been one of my greatest teachers in life in her short life thus far.  I can't wait to see what more I learn from her in the next year.

Then - September 2013:

Now - September 2014:

William Walker is ONE

Our little boy turned one a few weeks ago.  ONE.  Goodbye baby and hello toddler.  To put it simply, he is an absolute joy.  We had an airplane themed party for him in an actual historic airplane hangar.  Will loved crawling around before the party in the big, open space and we loved hearing him make his happy sounds and see his huge grin.  He really does love airplanes and points to the sky when he hears one fly overhead and says his own version of airplane.

Will also loves music, country to be precise.  He puts his hand up in the air and sways and smiles.  It appears that he loves making music too.  He now has several drums, tambourines and other noise makers.  For this Mama who avoided all toys that made sounds with Belle, I am learning to embrace Will's love for music.

Will is getting close to walking.  He crawls on all fours and is beginning to do free standing.  He has been furniture walking for some time now and I am just waiting for the day he is brave enough to take his first step solo.  He is a climber.  He mastered the stairs several months ago and can bolt up them now.  His big sister taught him how to go down the stairs and he has only tumbled down a few times.  He enjoys standing on toys that he shouldn't, reaching for light switches, sitting on top of tables, in drawers and really wants to be big enough to climb on top of our bed.

Will's vocabulary is growing.  Of course Dada and Mama are common, he has a word for Belle, but it really just sounds like he is yelling out at her.  He says outside, dog, this, that, more, apple juice, Liz (our nanny) and several other words.  I can't wait to hear more from him as he gets older.

Will is still our cuddle bug.  He loves to have a soft blanket by his face.  He blesses us nightly by getting up around 1 a.m. or so to have a bottle and when he is done, he rolls over and lays on me and gives me a big hug.  Within several minutes he is sound asleep again and I will admit I usually doze for a bit with him there.  I want to soak this period up as long as I can before he moves on.

Will loves water.  He squeals with delight when he hears a bath running, doesn't flinch when the sprinkler is running on him to keep him cool, hasn't missed a beat during his swim lessons and loves his water table.  We also have an outdoor play set that he enjoys standing on and shouting from.  It appears that he is announcing to the neighborhood he is outside and loving it.

I thank Will every night when I put him to bed for being my son and being so sweet.  I can't seem to find the right words to properly express my enduring love for this little boy.  He has simply rocked our world in the best of ways.

10 Months - Our Little Bruiser

Our bed buddy at ten months ~ Love

Will turned ten months old yesterday and both Scott and I had a moment of shock while processing the idea that our baby will be one in two short months.  Our little man, also known as our little bruiser, is growing and changing almost daily right now.  Here is a short summary of what life is like with him.

Sleeping:  Will keeps teasing us by only getting up once a night for a few nights a week and then he will change it up and go back to two or three times a night.  We have a bad habit of letting him sleep with us starting after the first time he gets us up since he seems to just love, love, love sleeping in our bed with us.  It is almost like he knows I am putting him back in his crib and not in our bed as he is dozing in my arms and lets our a wail, which leads me to rush back to our room to avoid waking up Belle.  I swear he has me so figured out.

Wrestling an alligator:  Getting Will dressed feels like I am wrestling an alligator.  Changing Will's diaper feels like I am wrestling an alligator.  Cutting finger nails or toe nails or wiping his face off or trying to feed him at times, all of this feels like the sport of wrestling on occasion.  

Crawling & Furniture Walking:  Will became a very, very fast crawler in a matter of one week.  He also celebrated his one week of crawling by furniture walking.  If anything comes across his path, he uses it as a means to stand up.  All of this activity has led to multiple bruises, bumps, scratches and lots of tears.  Oh and then there are the stairs.  Last Friday I watched him crawl across our back yard, climb up two steps onto our deck and then crawl up two more steps to our back door.  I was dumbfounded.

Toilet paper:  He discovered it, he unrolled all of it, he ate it, he loved it and it is now stored above where he can reach.

Bath time:  Our kids take all of their baths together, per Belle's demand.  It can be quite comical watching them trade toys, bubbles, and wash cloths.  Will loves to drink the water (don't tell his Dad) and splash.

Mama & Will:  For the past few weeks I have been working three days a week, this lets me have a Mama and Will day together.  It is very special to me.  He has had to share me with his sister since the day we brought him home from the hospital.  We run errands together, play, eat, cuddle, nap, play, etc.  

I recently told someone that when I found out we were having a son I was nervous about being a Mom to a boy.  Would I know what to do?  How would I need to adapt?  Thankfully, Will has shown me how to be a Mom to him as a person, not necessarily as a boy.  He is perfect and being his parent is an absolute honor.

Will at Nine Months

Last month you learned to crawl and this month you are all about standing up and furniture walking.  Fingers crossed you wait to actually walk for a few more months.  Now that you are crawling you have gotten creative with carrying items around the house, you put a toy or any other treasure in your mouth and then crawl around the house with it.  Then you stop, play with it, put it back in your mouth and crawl around some more.  It is so cute and I need to take a photo of you doing it before it becomes a thing of the past.  Your smile is so contagious.  I think you can win even the grumpiest of people over with it, especially with those two dimples.  You are growing.  In one week you outgrew all of your pjs and pants.  You love chasing your sister around the house and laugh and smile.  You pull at my heart strings at night right now because we are letting you put yourself down, which can mean I listen to you cry for thirty minutes and then some nights only five.  Your Dad is away for work this week and you are my bed buddy and I love how you cuddle up to me.  You have yet to meet a drawer or cupboard door you do not want to open and shut.  You also love the refrigerator.  As soon as you see me opening the door you crawl as fast as you can towards it and then pull yourself up and coo and touch everything.  Go figure.  Today is my first day with just the two of us and the morning has been splendid and I look forward to having this routine with you.  I love having you as my son Will.  Being a Mom to a boy is so different than a girl and I like how you challenge me.  Just always stay sweet for me, promise?