One and one half.

Dear Wil,

Ten days ago marked yet another milestone in your short, precious life. Ok. Not really a milestone, but it feels like one to me! You are 18 months old. That is gigantic! You may as well be 18 YEARS old. I can't believe how time has flown by. It feels like only yesterday that we brought you home...

and now, you're all grown up. Ok. Again, not really all grown up, but I'm the Momma and it feels that way for me!

Perhaps I'm feeling a bit nostalgic because I know that in less than 6 short months, you'll have a new brother or sister to spend all of your time with. I'm so excited for a new baby, but a little scared too. Does the new baby know how much I love YOU? Will the new baby understand that sometimes I will want only YOU? Will I be able to share my love between the two of you? People say, "yes... of course... people have more than one child all the time and Mommas and Daddas have plenty of love to give". I hope they're right (I'm sure they are).

At the end of each day, when I'm feeling nervous about #2, I remind myself that I will always have YOU. My first. My first love. My first feelings of absolute fear that I may not be doing something right. Your first smile, giggle, roll, crawl, word (Da-Da, of course), step, and everything else we've experienced FIRST, with YOU.

Speaking of you (as usual)... here is a little bit about YOU! You weigh 25lbs 14oz and you are 32 inches long. HUGE! Actually, right on track for a regular ol' 18 month old... in the 45th percentile-ish. Your head is still big! But, you're getting hair. Actually, I'm going to say it, you have hair. It's just white!

Here are a few things you LIKE:

Eating. Everything.

Playing with the neighbors!

Elmo. It's true! These are your NEW Elmo slippers. LOVE!

Animals. Your latest obsession is fish.

Fishies. You call them "i-ees"!

And... Gymnastics!

Here you can run, roll, crawl, jump, swing, dance,
hide, hang, and be ALL Boy!

I let your inner-monster out every Friday from 11:00-12:45.

I must invest in this roller coaster thingy! It's your favorite!!

 

Here you are jumping on the trampoline. Well, you can't figure

out how to jump yet, but were working on it! In the

meantime, you just run around in circles and then fall down!

Climbing in the Bouncy House! See that giant mountain

back there? You can't make it over it.

It's our goal for the winter...

Get to the other side of the mountain!!!

You've been working on your 'climbing' with Miss Lillianne.

It's tricky. You're a bit top heavy!

There. All of these pictures have already changed my mood from a bit weapy to super excited! You're amazing! Can't you see?!? I am so excited for the next 18 months, better yet, the next 18 years to see how much you'll change. I can't even picture it, yet. We love you Wilby!

Don't tell anyone, but I think I love you the most.
I'm sure of it, actually...

~ Momma

Chores.

Wil's obsessed with Gravel's dog food & water. He's constantly messing with them. The following may be a terrible decision on my part, but I'm at a loss (and tired of giving him time-outs because of his obsession... they don't work!).

Wil has a new chore - feed your dog. Will he take his job seriously? Or, will he be even more enamored by these two silver bowls? Probably the latter.

Someday...

For the past two days, Wil has insisted that I open our front door so he can wait for the "truck" (school bus). Today he waited for 10 entire minutes. He loves to watch the kids, particularly Charlie & her little brother Levi.

"No, no, no." I tell him. "You're too little to go on the school bus." Is it wrong that I NEVER want to be standing on that street corner with my neighbors? I could throw up just thinking about it. I know, I know... someday he will be five. Until then, he's ALL MINE!

Not the biggest of big brothers.

But, still...

Wil's baby brother or sister will be joining us in March!

(Yes. Another March baby...)

EXCITING!!!

Boy.

I bought these shoes on sale last fall (Target - 5 bones ~ SCORE!).
They're size 5.
I NEVER thought they'd actually fit.
Ever.

He has kid shoes.
He's a kid.
I don't like it.

Are you feeling bored?

Wil's got an idea...

Remove EVERYTHING from the cupboards.
Bang them. Throw them. Wear them.

Then... put them on your Mom's head. Take pictures.

Good times.

Vacation Bliss!

Adam had 10 days (yes! 10 days!) off of work last week, so we celebrated with two camping trips & a cook-out at my folks'. Here are a few pictures from along the way:

We played with cute cousins.

We played with best friends:

We went to the New Zoo in Green Bay (that's a giraffe we're feeding!!!).

We explored caves at Governer Dodge State Park!

And best of all, Wil got a whole lotta Daddy time.

Experiments!

The preschool teacher in me attempts to provide my child with interesting, sensory experiences from time to time. Of course, I was much better at implementing these in the classroom, but every once in a while, I go above & beyond my Mommy duties... (ok, not so often). Here's Wil exploring with the easiest one of all ~ cornstarch & water. (If you have a 1 year old & you attempt this at home, don't forget, they eat EVERYTHING! I forgot.)

At first, he wasn't so sure...

then, things got more interesting!

Before long, he was throwing everything into the bucket he could find... leaves, grass & ROCKS!

After 15 minutes or so, I started to clean-up. During the two minutes it took me to rinse out the bucket, I was able to capture this:

and this:

and finally, this:

(If you can't tell, that is Wil's water table... it's NOT for standing in.)

This picture perfectly reflects my life.

So... you're done then?

P.S. And, yes. I do dress my child. Just not that often.

Hard Workin'