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?

Jump for Joy ~ Belle is 2.5

Puddle jumping on our walk

Belle turned two and a half last weekend.  Can it really be true we are half way to three?  She has grown almost two inches in the past six months and has been sleeping in this past week until 9am to 10am daily!  Do I have a teenager or a toddler?  She knows her ABCs, counts to ten, can read her Thomas the Train books to me from memory and adores her baby brother.  Curious George was kicked to the curb a month ago and she is now infatuated with Jake and the Neverland Pirates and her Letter Factory video.  We talk about Captain Hook and the crocodile a lot and then she also likes to throw imaginary pixie dust on you and have you carry her around the house so she can fly.  This doubles as our arm workouts.  Her favorite excuse to use when she does not want to do something is, "I'm too busy."  I hear this daily, "No Mama!  I'm too busy!"  Busy doing what I am not sure, but I try my best to respect her schedule.  Belle has zero interest in potty training.  We have tried bribing her with ice cream and while she gladly accepted it, she is not motivated by it.  We need to find a motivator soon.  Grandma bought her a blue purse a month ago and that is her favorite accessory and hiding place for her treasurers.  By treasurers I mean the remote to our stereo, rocks, anything that might be expensive and small, scissors, Mom's lipstick, her binky and more rocks.  Belle is a very sweet big sister and very patient.  Will likes to be right up in her business and she handles it quite well.  She soothes him when he is crying and loves to make him laugh.  What I am most thankful about at this age is that I still have the honor of rocking Belle before bed each night.  She specifically asks for it and even on those nights where I am just done, I sit down and realize this moment with her will not be forever.  She twirls her hair and rest her head on me and I just close my eyes and thank God for my little girl.

Belle's growth chart stats

Our Family in March

Our family had a few photos taken on Sunday by our good friend Adam.  Of course I had completely forgotten about daylight savings and we all know how that can really make your kids sleeping patterns an absolute mess.  Belle was a bit of a challenge to photograph, but Will was on board.

Eight Months with Two Teeth

Eight months!?!  Eight months!?!  Time is flying.  In the past month so much has changed.  You sprouted your bottom two front teeth.  You have started clapping and it is so cute.  I think your sister was instrumental in teaching this to you.  You have more hair coming in and it likes to spike up.  You can now plank for longer than your parents, get up on your knees and move back and forth and seem to be days away from figuring out how to crawl.  You may be starting a trend of only getting up once a night (yes, please!) and I know your Dad and I would welcome it.  You seem to love food and haven't refused any of the food we have given you thus far.  You still cuddle when you are sleepy and it is precious.  Your digestive track is amazing and can go through a case of diapers in no time!  Some days it feels like your output is a hundred times more than your input.  You love to suck, bite, nibble, taste test everything within your reach.  You have learned how to take your diaper off, which is no cool buddy.  Best of all, you said MAMA to me very clearly the other day.  You looked me right in the eyes and said it and my heart melted.  Sure you babble all sorts of other stuff, but the best job title I have in the world is Mama and hearing it from your little voice is awesome.  

Will I know I say it all of the time, but you are so happy and have completed our family so nicely.  Watching you grow into a little boy brings us such joy.  I am so lucky to be your Mama.

Will at 7 Months

Will the wiggle worm is my nickname for you!  You desperately want to crawl and move right now.  You lay on your belly and kick your legs and swing your arms and you are getting stronger each day.  Next month we might be announcing you are on move and we will not be surprised.  Right before turning seven months old you suddenly started sitting up and doing it quite well.  You are learning you have a voice and make these animal sounds while you are playing that almost sound like you are in pain.  You are eating baby food now as well!  Bananas, sweet potatoes, applesauce, prunes, oatmeal and avocado have all been big hits.  We moved you to a high chair last night since you were making a habit of dive bombing out of the Bumbo.  Your hair is growing and it is a bright blonde.  Our Johnny Jump Up is your energy burner and you spin and jump and smile for about ten minutes each sitting.  Absolutely everything goes into your mouth, which means when you do start crawling we have to be extra careful.  Your eyes always light up when you see your big sister and you give each other these sloppy kisses that must mean you like each other.  I love staring into your blue eyes with your long eye lashes and wondering just who you will become.  I love you so much Will and hope you continue to thrive and always be the smiley boy you are today.

The king at the head of the table!

(The queen is at the other end)

10 Things About Belle

Belle is just over 27 months right now and changing so much on a day to day basis.  I thought it was only fair for our number one to have her own update on life with this little lady.

1.  She loves, loves, loves her brother.  She calls him "la-da" aka little brother.  She tells us where she wants him to sit, asks where he is if not in the same room with her, takes and gives him toys and announced last night she would like for him to move in to her room.  This has actually always been the plan, but we were waiting for him to sleep through the night, however, we have now decided we will be moving him in this weekend.  I hope she knows what she signed up for!

2.  Her hair is growing!  More hair has sprouted in the past three months than in the previous two years. She twirls it in the back just like her Mama too and I love it.

3.  She welcomes us with big hugs and kisses when we walk in the door or when she gets picked up from school.

4.  The most common phrase out of her mouth is, "What's this, huh?"  It can be endearing and drive you nuts all at the same time.  The worst part is that it is rubbing off on me and I caught myself saying it at work today.

5.  The color blue is her absolute favorite to this day.  It has been since she first noticed colors and she has never wavered from loving it.  She likes her blue spoon, bowl, plate, cup, ring, toothbrush, socks, blanket and any toys that are blue.  This has been tricky since having Will we were given a lot of blue items.  Of course, they all belong to Belle now and Will is kind enough to share.

6.  Belle has been sleeping in her very own big girl bed since before Thanksgiving and it is going pretty good.  In less than a week she figured out she could get out of her bed and can occasionally be found in our bedroom and creeping down the stairs.  All in all she is doing awesome.

7.  Her favorite songs to sing are Baa Baa Black Sheep, ABCs and Six Little Ducks.  We most commonly break out in song while eating lunch together.

8.  The most common word out of her mouth is "ME."  Me can mean mine or let me do it or I can do it Mama.  I do love her confidence in herself and her independence.

9.  Favorite TV show is still Curious George.  I think our entire family has seen every episode one hundred times!

10.  I still love that Belle is my baby girl.  I keep telling her Will is my baby and she is my big girl and she corrects me by saying she is my baby too.  Tonight as I put her to bed, I wrapped her up in a blanket and rocked her and sang to her and secretly loved that she was still small enough to fit on my lap and let me cuddle up to her.  It was so special to have a quiet, calm moment with just her as my baby girl.

5 Years and counting

One chance meeting at a wedding in Eastern Oregon, led to two years of dating and getting married on the third of January.  Now we are a family of four in five fast years.  I love you Scott and the life we have made.  Let's celebrate like it's 2009 this weekend!