Easter Weekend 2013

Last year, Wills was too little to really participate in Easter festivities. This year he really got into it!

Our very first Easter egg hunt. We went with our cousins, Ethan and Clara. It was raining, so all of the activities got moved in doors.

Ethan knocking down the walls of Jericho

Clara enjoying an Easter egg

Dying and decorating Easter eggs.

Easter morning and his basket of goodies.

Easter service Sunday morning.

With Wills' friend Donavan and his mommy Rachel 

Easter fun at Grammy and Papaw's house.

 

 

Cousins!

Happy Easter everyone!

Family Fun

Last weekend we went on the hunt for a toddler backpack. I had no idea it would be so difficult to find one that did not have some sort of character all over it. Luckily we ended up finding a North Face Sprout backpack and it was on sale! Charles decided that Wills needed a backpack for our trip next week so that he can carry his own stuff. I'll be sure to let you know who ends up carrying it the most.

A friend of Charles' offered us his Thunder tickets for the game on Sunday against the Portland Trailblazers. We decided since the tickets were free and Wills doesn't need his own ticket until he is three, this was our chance to take him to his first game. We had both decided if we made it to half time it would be considered a win. Amazingly, he actually made it the entire game. Our seats were up in "Loud City" and the audiologist in me really felt like we needed to protect his ears. I bought these off Amazon. They are the same ones Drew Brees' little boy wore at the Super Bowl. It actually says they are for ages 13 or up. I guess it's a good thing that Wills has such a big head. He did a great job of keeping them on. He took them off a few times and we would let him rest a minute and then put them back on. About halfway through the game he had them off and something really loud happened and he dived into me. Charles put them back on and he never took them off again. 

Pregame with queso fries at Texadelphia

 

 

We won the game, there was an engagement on the KissCam, and there was a half court shot winner for $20,000. It was a great time and we would definitely do it again!

Sesame Street Live

Wills' Aunt Erin asked us if we wanted to join her and Hudson for Sesame Street Live. I immediately said yes! After our experience two weeks ago at Great Wolf Lodge (it was awful, Wills was terrified, thus no blog post), I was a little concerned that the crowd, the noise and the creatures would send us running. Thankfully I had nothing to be concerned about. Wills did surprisingly well. He danced in his seat and clapped a long. It was about 30 minutes with an intermission and another 30 minutes. The last 15 minutes, Wills was done. I can't blame him. I was done too! 

They had a play zone open before the show. Wills wanted to push all the buttons and I had a hard time keeping him from cutting in front of other kids or photo bombing other peoples pictures. 

Our seats were pretty perfect. An entire row just for us and close to a side stage that the characters would come dance on. 

We found out Wills loves popcorn. He kept harassing poor Hudson. Thankfully Hudson is a generous little guy and was more than willing to share. 

And here we are at home playing with our $10 Elmo balloon. When I looked around and saw all the surrounding kids with light up wands, sno cones, t shirts and all kind of other things, I felt a little less crazy for paying that much for a balloon. The fact that he hugged it immediately after we got it and has been playing with it since we have been home helps too!

First pair of glasses

So those of you that know Charles and I well, know that we both have very poor vision and have been wearing glasses since the tender age of 5 and 4 respectively. Due to this, and a few little signs with Wills (super klutzy, eyes cross occasionally), I decided it was time to see an ophthalmologist. We took him to Children's Eye Care and saw Dr. Richard who has specialized in pediatric ophthalmology for over 30 years. The staff was super nice and Dr. Richard was amazing with Wills.

Checking out the fish while we wait to be called back

In case you're curious about the process, they took us back to a room and a nurse asked me some questions, looked in Wills' eyes, and then had me hold him down so she could dilate his eyes. He recovered from that and she sent us back out to the waiting room to wait for 20 minutes so his eyes could fully dilate. After that wait, we went back to an exam room and then Dr. Richard came in to see Wills. He looked in Wills' eyes and immediately said "He is nearsighted". He then put these lens-less glasses on him and then dropped in different levels of prescription to find the right ones. Wills is a -3.5 in each eye. Dr. Richard said this was kind of a lot for one so young, but that Charles and I have a lot of vision impairment for anyone, and you can't fight genetics.

Eating some goldfish while we wait for his eyes to dilate

We went directly to the optical shop and I just went with what they recommended. His glasses are supposed to be virtually indestructible and they have a 1 time replacement in the first year. They came in today, so we started wearing them when I got home from work. He was not great about keeping them on. He did wear them while we watched Curious George, did facetime with my parents, and during our story time. Hopefully he will adjust to them quickly and wear them consistently.

Watching Curious George. He is wearing headphones because we are practicing for our plane ride to Philly.

FaceTime with Grammy and Papaw

Reading "The Gruffalo"

I will say, he is pretty adorable in his new glasses!

19 months

 

So the plan was to do an update at 18 months when Wills had his 18 month well baby visit. Unfortunately, he was not well for that appointment and it had to be rescheduled to today. So this is actually a 19 month update. Thankfully he is finally well. He is still suffering from some pretty nasty allergies and is one snotty kid with the occasional cough. However, he is a much happier little man than he has been the past month or so. At our well check today, Wills got two shots and handled them like a champ. The only change to our day was that he took an awesome nap this afternoon!

Wills did finally start walking in November. The walking didn't last long though. His pace is usually a run follow by some sort of fall or crash. He is definitely not the most graceful of kiddos. I can't imagine where his klutziness comes from. He still loves to read. He will bring you book after book to read to him. Today was my day home with him and we probably read books for at least an hour of the day. I am so thankful he loves to read and really hope this sticks as he grows older. His appetite was really poor while he was sick, but since getting better he has become a bottomless pit. Unfortunately he is a very opinionated bottomless pit. If it is a fruit or a carb he is all over it. If it is a meat, it is questionable. And if it is a vegetable, particularly a green one, it is a big no. I continue to offer vegetables at every opportunity hoping that his is just a phase. 

Wills' language has really progressed over the last few months. It's not all intelligible, but he is really trying. The words he has that we can actually understand and are correctly used in context are: Mamma, Daddy, ball, dog, hi, bye, baby, duck, banana, balloon, uh oh, shoe, bath, boot, please and Stella. Stella is his little girlfriend that he sees several times a week. He also does the sounds for cow, owl, snake, dog, sheep and train. He consistently points at all his body parts when asked and he still loves to give high fives. Charles has been trying to teach him knuckles, but Wills always just uses his pointer finger to touch Charles' fist. When Wills was around 6 months old, we tried some baby sign language with him and we though he just never really picked it up. Apparently we were wrong, and he now signs "eat" when he wants to eat and he signs "more" when he wants more of something, whether that is more food or more books.  

Wills now has 16 teeth. His first set of molars came in while he was sick. No surprise there. I am sure that played a part in how sad and fussy he was during his sickness. We still brush his teeth everyday, but for some reason he likes doing it while he is in the bathtub. If you brush his teeth in the tub he is more than happy to let you get a good brush in. If we forget and try to do it after, oh my goodness, you would think we were torturing him. 

Nineteen Month Stats:

Weight: 25 lbs 5 oz, 38%

Length: 33.5 inches, 75%

Head Circumference: 49.53 cm, 86%
Clothing Size: 12 to 18 month tops, 18 to 24 month bottoms

Nicknames: Buddy, little man, big man, dude

Must haves: Books, basketballs, cozy truck, shopping cart, Holly

This time last year, we were driving back and forth to Stillwater to visit Holly in the ICU. We truly thought she was not going to make it. Thank goodness she did, because this little boy thinks she is pretty awesome. He always pets her and he does a pretty good job of being gentle. He will go and sit right beside her on her bed and just hang out. Today he actually went and laid down in her bed with her and stayed there snuggling her. He does like to harass her too though. He likes to put her food in her water bowl so it gets soggy and he likes to chase her around the house with his shopping cart. We are working on stopping both of those things. When he isn't chasing her with his shopping cart, I think the love is mutual! 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Wills had a great Valentine's Day! We hope you did too!

Making Valentines

His Valentine loot. Maybe set the bar a little high this year?

We spent the evening with some friends so Wills got to play with his buddies.

And of course, his Valentine pj's

Happy Valentine's Day!