Christmas Fun with Family

Santa made a special trip to see William on Christmas Eve. William didn't know what to make of that long white beard and eventually decided he wasn't to be trusted. So Santa went on his way to deliver toys to girls and boys around the world.

William and Grandpa Mc playing with Williams ball blower toy.

A rare, really nice smiling picture of my Father!

Murphy testing out William's toy wagon.

Deciding which new book for Christmas to read. Will is loving the books with flaps to lift up and peek under.

The big Christmas Elf, aka Uncle Kevin.

Grandma Mc wanted to give William a Christmas Tree cookie, which he enjoyed and then proceeded to drool green for the next hour.

Uncle Kevin playing blocks with Will.

And my book shelf explorer, he loves to check out the nutcrackers and pull the baton out of his wooden hand.

We had a wonderful Christmas with my family. They are headed out this morning and then tomorrow Adam's family arrives and we get to have fun all over again. William is looking for more walking buddies. He is still using one support hand for walking and will only take about two steps without anyone holding on.

Merry Christmas to all!

Merry Christmas Eve

My guys at play.

My parents and youngest brother Kevin made it into town last evening. We are having a lazy morning (some more than others - Grandma's still sleeping). Should be a good time!

Book Lovers

This family loves its books, so when I found the new background I knew it fit us. William has lately been pulling books off his shelf in his bedroom then scooting into our lap to read. He is a good page flipper but doesn't always give us time to finish the page. His usual attention span is 4 to 5 books then it is off to explore.

Adam loves to sit in his chair, drink his coffee or cranberry juice and read. Needless to say this only happens for an extended period of time when little man is napping. Adam seems to have new books coming from here and there every week. Our shelf of books are full and I think we are going to have to add on soon!

My favorite time to read is right before bed. I crawl into the cold sheets and by the time I have gotten through a chapter the bed is toasty and my eye lids are falling. It's my favorite way to relax before bed.

Dinner Time Fun

Standing

Walking one handed with Dad.

Pulling up onto the highchair.

Crawling under the plants.

Playing with the piano pedals.

It seems like the milestones are coming fast right now. William stood by himself for a good 20 seconds before he lost his balance. He is all over the house, hence the pictures from all around above.

William has also said "MaMa" pretty clearly in the last couple of weeks. I am still not 100% sure it is me he is talking to, but I think it might be catching on.

He is loving walking with the aid of one of our hands and I think we might have a walking toddler for Christmas. Wouldn't that be a wonderful present for the Grandparents and us. Murphy so far has been doing pretty good with William. Obviously we watch them closely when they are near each other, as we still can't 100% trust Murphy or William. So it will be interesting to see what happens when William is walking unaided.

It won't be long...

till William is walking!



Well, everyone has now recovered from the stomach flu at our house, it hit the biggest guy the hardest. Last Saturday Will was starting to feel better but then both Adam and I started getting sick. Thankfully I was only affected one day so I could take care of William while Adam was really sick.

William is starting to pull little tantrums when he doesn't get his way or is tired. It consists of him flopping onto his back, fake crying and rolling around. Ignoring it works pretty well as he eventually gives up and starts playing with something near by. I think we are entering the toddler stage!

Christmas is in the air, we got snow yesterday so it finally looks like winter outside. We are looking forward to having the Grandparents out for Christmas. William enjoys the decorations around the house. His favorite are the nut crackers, he likes to pull the little nutcracker's beard to get his mouth to open.

The past few weeks we have caught whiffs of skunk smell in our neighborhood and a little bit of the smell making it into our house, nothing bad enough to get alarmed about. Our neighbor, Lynn called up and said she has called an expert up about it. If you have ever heard me talk about her, she is a nice lady, but not a fan of any furry creatures. She traps chipmunks because they savagely nibble at her plants to spite her. The squirrels constantly dig up her grass and don't get her started on the voles or rabbits.

Well Lynn reported there are six skunks on the loose in our town. How she knows this is anyone's best guess. It is suppose to snow tomorrow so our assignment is to look for tracks in the new snow and report back to her. We shall see what the snow reveals!

Stomach Flu - Yuck!

William caught a stomach flu from daycare yesterday, so I am staying home with him. Poor guy threw up last night some time and then has had diarrhea since. Sounds like a lot of children in the area are down with it and even some day cares are closing north of us due to the spread. Hope it doesn't last too long. Will seems to be handling it pretty well, just not 100%.

Here is a picture from Thanksgiving wrestling with Grandpa Mc.


And our last bear picture for his scrap book.

Birthday pictures posted at last...

First Hair Cut

I broke down yesterday and clipped the hair that was winging over Williams ears. It is a challenge to get a one year old to sit still while wielding a scissors, but we managed to get it clipped and not looking too bad. Much to Adam's disgust I save a few hairs for William's baby book.

William looks a lot like me as a baby in this picture; my Mom dressed me in overalls a lot when I was young, and no surprise this outfit was from Grandma Mc.


Will looks like me when squinting or wrinkling his brow, and he looks like Adam when he smiles.

We have enjoyed having Grandma Mc here for a long visit. She has been having fun playing with William, baking, and sewing. We are going to attempt a triangular visiting spree for Thanksgiving. We are leaving WI and then going to Iowa, then on to Minnesota, then back home. So hopefully William does well in the car at this age, if not it is going to be a long, long weekend.

Pictures Grandma Mc took on their days together. William is sporting his new jeans which are a great fit just a little long (thanks Grandma and Grandpa S).

And sporting our new coat from the Betker's. Its a perfect fit right now and is getting used with this cold weather.

Willam the One Year Old

William is having fun with his walk behind Mickey Mouse Airplane. He is not all that steady and needs a little help.



Stats from the Doctor's visit:

Weight 24 lbs 10oz (75%)
Height 32 1/4" (97%)
Head Circ 49cm (97%)

So we have a tall little boy with a large head, but we already knew that.

1st Birthday Preview

William had a wonderful birthday with both sets of Grandparents, Parents and family friends. Thanks to all who were here to make William's birthday a lot of fun. And thanks to all who sent wonderful birthday wishes and lovely presents. William is having a blast with all the new toys.

I should get more pictures from my friend Melissa, who took the picture taking off my shoulders for the party, later this week.

Pictures of William and some of his new toys!

Weekend Pics

Day Light Savings and babies don't mix. I have a very tired little boy at my feet, so I am only going to post a few pictures from the weekend.

Halloween Boo-Boos...

William is getting more and more mobile. He is crawling with his belly up and is pulling himself up on the couches and chairs. He is not too steady and has gotten two boo-boos to his head just this weekend. One left a bruise on his forehead and the other left his nose red.



Adam and I commented that there is going to be no down time for us when he starts to walk and can go where HE wants to, rather than being redirected by Mom and Dad on our frequent supported walks around the house.

He also has found that pulling out tissues from a box can be very fun and take a long time.

Riding on Daddy's shoulders is fun too, and you have to make sure to pat his head a bunch of times and drool like crazy.

Living wild this morning with out a bib, this shirt only lasted 2 hours and the front was soaked.

And lastly our "Super Baby"We went trick or treating at the neighbors houses and then had fun giving out candy to the kids that came to visit our house.

Crawling with belly up

William has just started to crawl with his belly up. He starts out that way for about 2 feet then flops down and does his standard army crawl.

Checking out a halloween decoration.

And he loves to pull himself up on Daddy, right now Daddy is the perfect jungle gym!