Mornings with Will

 Mornings with Will are always so sweet! He wakes up in a good mood every morning!

 He smiles and laughs so easily.

He runs over to his high chair when I tell him I have a snack for him and he never complains about what I fix him for breakfast. He just eats it (unlike some other people in this house).

Those Mickey Mouse pjs he's wearing are some of his favorites! He always pulls on his shirt to show it to me.

"Hey DaDa...Check Me Out!!"

It's "fireworks season" (there's another post about fireworks season HERE and HERE) therefore we are seeing very little of our daddy these days. I don't even think he's coming home from work tonight. So I wanted to post a little video message to Daddy from Will. This is Will's big new trick that he's been working on all week. But today he made some major progress. This is for you Daddy!

Will: 13 Months

 

  This little boy reminds me so much of his big brother at this age. Will is on the move with his little walker. He has two of them and is all over this house. He can even steer them around and over things. And sometimes when someone is chasing him he actually runs. But he will NOT deliberately walk. As soon as we try to get him to walk on his own or even by holding onto one of our hands, he sits right down. He will not take a step for us. Not one little step.

I'm not too worried about it because I've actually seen him take steps quite often all on his own when he forgets that he's not holding onto something.

He pulls up on everything and cruises all the time. He's constantly getting hurt. It's so sad. He has bumped his head and smashed his fingers or fallen over too many times to even count.

Will's favorite toys are doors, tv remotes and the vacuum cleaner. And that's why he only got snacks for Easter.

Other stats:

Eats table food

Still loves his bottle

Says "uh-oh, dada, Chrish, this & hat"

Naps very little

Hates the feel of grass

Laughs & laughs at Christian and McKenna

 Thinks it's funny to quack like a duck

crawls, cruises & walks with his walker

loves baths

hates diaper changes

size 4 diaper

Size 12-18 month clothes

And he had just had a bath....

I was on the phone this morning (talking to a reporter from our local newspaper...more on that in a few weeks) and I was trying to ignore my children and all their interruptions. Then I heard a splashing sound and look who I found playing in the toilet. Thankfully someone had remembered to flush...that doesn't always happen around here. Of course, I let him continue playing while I ran and grabbed the camera to get a picture. He's the third child. By the time I have my fifth child I'll probably put them in the bathroom on purpose just to keep them entertained. Okay...kidding!! There will be no fifth child. I can assure you of that.

He looks a little surprised to see me, doesn't he?

William Turns One!!! The Mickey Party Recap!!!

 We just loved celebrating this cute blue eyed boy!!! Will loves Mickey. It's probably the only show or character that he pays any attention to at all. So the big kids voted to have a Mickey Party!!!

 Here's a look at a few of the decorations!!!

A Mickey Banner I made with his name on it!

 The dining room all ready for the party guests!!!

 I loved the polka dot theme!! Here's one of the kids place settings. The strawberry Crush was not a hit. Yuck! But it looked cute!

 

 Super easy Mickey cupcakes. Those are just Oreo cookies in two different sizes!!!

 Here's the birthday boy with his cake. He wouldn't touch the cake or even a cupcake for that matter. He ended up having some pears.

 All the cousins from my side of the family were there to celebrate Will. That blessed my heart so much that they all came. I mean...hello....gas is almost $4 a gallon. When I hugged my sister-in-law Erin goodbye I started crying because it just meant so much to me that they made the effort to be there to celebrate Will.

The cousins were all so into Will. Several different times I caught them all laying on the floor with him playing.

I've got a million pictures from the weekend, so I'll be back with more when I get around to it!

Hair"cute"

It was time to get Will looking sharp for his big birthday. So he got his first REAL haircut. He was not a fan of the whole experience, but he didn't have a melt down. He held it together for the most part and look at what a handsome little man he is!

Getting ready for ONE

Will is getting really excited about turning one. He's been practicing lots of grown up tricks in preparation for his big day. He's been reading a few books. He's been practicing his walking. He decided that chores are really his thing. He loves to help me load and unload the dishwasher. And of course... in true boy fashion...he tries to scare me to death by climbing up the stairs. He also says two words now "Dada" and "Chrish."

I've got to share the story behind "Chrish" just so I don't forget. 

Christian had just gotten home from school and I went upstairs to get Will up from his nap. I was carrying Will down the stairs talking to him about how Christian was home and he could go play with Christian. Will spotted Christian in the playroom and I pointed to him and said "Do you see Christian?" and Will said "Chrish." I about fell over. So I repeated "Christian" and he said "Chrish." And we did that over and over again. Christian was so thrilled!!!  Will has also started to mimic different sounds. If you quack like a duck, most of the time he will do it too. This is such a fun age...except for the biting. I've never had a biter before, but I sure do right now.

My Baby

In less than 48 hours my baby is going to be 1. 

What a sweet year it's been.

I am so in love with this adorable little person that the Lord blessed our family with.

It's hard for me to remember what life was like before Will.

He has been the best thing that's ever happened to our family.

We're gearing up for an all "Will Weekend" around here. All the Brinkley cousins are coming to town. 

That's right...all of them. 

What a treat!

I feel so blessed that they love Will enough to make the trip to come celebrate with us.

Stay tuned!

Love the look...

He wasn't so sure about his party hat!

11 Months Today

Do you see all this sweetness??!!!! Oh I could just kiss him all day!!!! It's hard to believe, but my baby is 11 months old today!!! You know what that means...we've got a big birthday coming up.

He is so fun right now. Yesterday he spent time studying the light coming in through the window. Do you see those bottom two pictures? It was precious to watch him try to touch the sunlight. He just could not figure it all out. 

He's feeling so much better now. He's eating up a storm and is loving real food. It seems like we're trying something new all the time. Yesterday he had some of McKenna's birthday cake and lu-v-ed it! The day before that he almost an entire grilled cheese. All the sudden, the boy can eat, which is good since he had two stomach virus' this winter all in the same month. Every time I would take him to the doctor they would have to mark in his chart that he had a stomach bug and that's why he wasn't gaining weight. I don't think they'll be too worried when we go next month.

In the art of keeping it real around here, I'll just tell ya that I'm not sitting around crying about the fact that my baby is about to be one. Honestly I can't wait for him to start walking. I can't wait for those massive molars in the back of his mouth to just come on already, so we can sleep and not scream at 4am (it seems like that's when the motrin seems to wear off). The poor boy actually rubs the outside of his jaw with his hand. He's having a majorly rough time and that's why "2 yr molars" are not supposed to arrive when you're only 11 months old.

11 Month Stats:

10 teeth - Wow!!

Says "dada" and "uh-oh"

Weighs about 23 lbs

Crawls

Stands while holding onto something

Cruises a little bit

Favorite Foods= cheerios & bananas

Wears size 12-18 month clothes

Loves Mickey Mouse Club House

Thinks McKenna's bedroom is fascinating

Bites

Is starting to understand "no" & cries if you use a "mean" voice

Loves to be outside

Is happy in the car

Is adored by everyone in our house!!!!!

Big Sister

 

I looked across the room and spotted this sweet scene the other day.

Seriously, how cute are they??

It's taken McKenna a little while to figure out this whole big sister thing. She's been pretty loud, wild and rough with Will from the start, but she's starting to calm down and really be responsible with him. She ran to me sobbing the other day because she thought Will was choking. He did have something in his mouth that he shouldn't have (that happens about 20 times a day) but he wasn't choking. I was pleased with how she handled it. She made the right choice to recognize that it was a serious situation. I'm proud of the big sister she's become.

RSV

This sad faced little man was just diagnosed with RSV. Usually that acronym strikes fear in the hearts of any momma hearing that diagnosis. But thankfully Will is almost 10 months old and he's a big boy, so he can totally handle this without a hospital visit. 

This morning when he woke up, his cough was so bad and his nose was so junky, I just decided to take him the doctor for a follow up visit. The big kids are getting better and Will is barely better, so I felt like something wasn't quite right. I'm glad we went and I'm thankful to have an answer to "why" he isn't improving like I thought he should. 

RSV can take awhile to clear up. In fact, it can take up to 3 weeks to completely go away. Please join me in asking Jesus to clear up Will's lungs much faster than that!!!!

Playtime

Will LOVES playing with Christian and McKenna!!!

The things they put him through....

Tree pictures....

Walking...not quite

(9 months)

Daddy's been practicing with him and he's actually getting pretty good! It won't be long!

The crawler and the tree

 I love how this precious boy of mine crawls over to me as soon as I walk into the room. And he really gets excited if I sit down on the floor and wait for him. 

I wasn't so sure how things were going to be with a Christmas Tree and a nine month old crawler. I didn't make the tree off limits because it just seemed totally unfair to put a shiny, lit up tree in the middle of the room and then tell him "no." So he's been allowed full access to the tree.

And it's been very sweet. He's very curious but those precious little hands of his are very gentle. He swats and  plays with ornaments and occasionally gets them off the tree. So we've hung all the "baby proof" ones around the bottom. McKenna for the most part monitors the ornament situation around the bottom of the tree. She rearranges things for him and put the ornaments back on when he takes them off. And she tattles on him if he starts to play with a string of lights (which really hasn't been that big of an issue). I'm glad Will is getting to enjoy his first Christmas!! He loves all the lights.

Little Boy

I looked up and this little boy was peeking down on me. Don't worry his daddy is right behind him!! He's growing up so fast right now! He is no longer content to just hang out in his exersaucer. Those days are over. He crawls everywhere....fast!!!

He ate a cracker for the first time today. And just because I know you're all dying to know...I solved our nighttime diaper wetting problem. He wears a size 5 Huggies Overnight Diaper to bed and then I put a size 6 Huggies overnight diaper on top of it. The size 6 diaper is never usually wet, but it comes up much higher on his tummy which keeps him dry if he's sleeping on his tummy & his diaper leaks.

Will: 9 Months

Guess who is 9 months old today??!!!

To celebrate he got to eat pancakes for the first time this morning. He was slightly interested and did well with a few bites and then he was over it.

Just a few things I want to remember......

Teething is difficult for Will. Every time he cuts a tooth we barely sleep. So far he has 8 teeth, so we haven't slept much. Four on the top, four on the bottom.

I never thought I'd say this, but I can't wait for Will to be walking. ha! He is crawling everywhere and picks up all the tiniest things and shoves them in his mouth. At least when he's walking he won't notice quite as many crumbs & legos. Will is a FAST crawler!!! I can turn my back and he's gone. He has realized that the playroom is where the real action is. It's also one of the most dangerous places in the house thanks to his big brother and sister.

Will hasn't said any words yet, but he growls and laughs a lot. We also hear a lot of "a goo."

Will's favorite thing is cheerios! He eats them by the handful.

I'm done with nursing. I felt good that I nursed him for almost 9 months. I am actually sort of disappointed that it's over. I really wanted to nurse him through the winter to keep him healthier, but he sort of weaned himself. When Christian was in the hospital in October Will had bottles almost exclusively for 3 days. Then right after that we went on vacation and he had a lot of bottles because that was easier to do while traveling. Will decided that he LOVES bottles and that was it. I forced him to nurse for another month and then one night when he was arching his back and screaming I decided that it was time to let it go (but the cost of formula is killing me!!! I'm way too frugal for this!)

Every night when it's time for bed I carry Will into his room and he immediately starts crying. He's cries because he can hardly wait to snuggle up in the rocking chair and drink his bottle. The whole time I rock him his left arm is busy. He rubs his head and bangs on the bottle and tries to stick his fingers in my mouth. When that arm of his gets still I know he's finally calmed down and ready to go to sleep.

Will likes TV. He loves to eat books. Peek-a-boo makes him belly laugh. Ride-the-horsey-go-to-town is one of his favorite games. He loves it when you sing "I love you a bushel and a peck." Like most babies, he is fascinated with tags.

Will is by far the happiest baby I've ever had. He even smiles when he's crying. And you should see how his face lights up with Christian or McKenna talk to him. Ohhh precious! I'm so thankful my kids get to experience the joy of having siblings (Keeping it real...just a I typed that I heard Christian & McKenna yelling at each other).

This blog is Will's baby's book! After all, he is the third child!

A little boy & his Grandmom

Will went through a stage when he screamed and cried anytime anyone other than family tried to hold him or even talk to him. But he never acted like that with his Grandmom. Do you see that huge smile on his face?? That's the face he always whips out whenever Grandmom shows up!

His First Christmas

He's so sweet. I love watching him discover all the splendor of Christmas. He loves the tree. We have a few ornaments he's allowed to play with. Thankfully he hasn't touched any of the lights. He is ALL OVER the house these days, so there will be no presents under that tree until Christmas morning.