Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving was pretty low-key this year. It was just Tom, Brenda and Ryan, Will and I. We had already done the big traditional dinner the week before with Ryan's grandmas, so on Thanksgiving Day we decided to make snacks and play some games. Tom and Ryan woke up early and went hunting for birds. They didn't see much though and came home empty handed. We had mini turkey BLTs on croissants, veggie bars, pigs-in-a-blanket, and cheesy salsa dip. And puppy chow for dessert. It was a gorgeous day, like 60 degrees. So Ryan set up horse shoes and ladderball and we played a few rounds of those. Later that evening Ryan, Will and I watched Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving and Will really liked it. It was a pretty lazy day but we shared some quality family time and it was wonderful to reflect on the things we are truly thankful for.

Horseshoe Battle

This was our only attempt at a family pic...no comment

Nebraska Boy

The grubb

First Haircut

Will got a new look for winter. As much as it saddened me and as much as I LOVED his little ringlets...something had to be done. You see, whenever we went anywhere Will would get called my daughter by strangers. He could have been wearing blue head-to-toe, and people would still say: "Ohhh, she's so cute!" or "I love your daughter's curls!" Ughhhh. Boys can have curls too, people!

The other day I realized after Will had woken up and half of his head looked like a little matted bird's nest and the other half had curls nearing his shoulders, that it was time to lose the locks. I didn't take him to a haircut place; I just decided that to do it just right, I'd be doing it myself. I can only imagine the horrible bull-cut he could have come out with. Gross. So I just trimmed up the back and took a little off the top. Part of me was worried that if I cut off the curls, they wouldn't come back. But they did! :) So here's a few before and afters.

Before

Before

After

After

Halloween!

Arf arf! Will was his favorite animal this year...a puppy. :) Ry and I didn't dress up this year...we just didn't get things together quick enough! Someday we'll do something cute and creative. Anyways, Will's not really old enough to Trick or Treat so we just took him around to see friends and family. We also made a very brief stop at New Life Church's "Light in the Night" Halloween festival. Next year I think Will will get a lot more out of Halloween. I already bought costumes for the kids for next year!! (And can I just say that it is SO weird to say KIDS.) So Will is going to be Superman and the baby is going to be a lion.

Ryan and Will with Kelly (Ry's cousin) and Owen

Will eating Laffy Taffy on Great GREAT Grandma Mimi's lap

Will updates

Will had his 15 month check-up yesterday. This checkup was a month overdue, but better late than never!

Stats: Height: 34" - 95th percentile

Weight: 30 3/4 lbs - 96th percentile

Head: 19" - 97th percentile

He's very proportionate. The nurses were joking that he's a future Husker player. :) He also had to get 3 shots and handled them like a little champ. While he was waiting for the doctor to come in, he was just standing around with just his diaper on. Then he very deliberately removed his diaper and peed on the floor. It was so intentional. We couldn't stop laughing. So after we were finished at the clinic we went to Target and got Will a potty chair and pull-ups. It seems a little early for this, we'll see how he handles it. This morning after breakfast, he sat on the toilet and managed to "pop a little gas" and poo a bit...YIPPIEEEE!!!! My goal is to get him fully trained by the time the baby is born. It may be too ambitious, only time will tell!

On the potty! (sad little band-aids from the shots.)

Will is also quite the chatterbox...every day he jibber jabbers more and more and gestures as he's "talking." Some words in his vocabulary: baby, mommy, daddy, banana -"nana," ball - "baaaa," cat - "caaaa," all done - "ah daaaa," more - "maaa," blue - "booo," yellow "yaya," and sometimes he can manage "I love you" and "Grandma and Grandpa." He has his moments where he'll repeat just about anything you ask him to say.

Other cute things:

When I ask him "Where's the baby?" he points to his tummy, but if I say "Where's Mommy's baby?" he lifts my shirt and pokes my bellybutton.

If he wants to watch a cartoon (almost always the Veggie Tales) he marches over to the TV and turns it on and says "Vaa vaaa vaaa." I guess that's Veggie Tales in baby speak.

He's getting very good at following instructions and will put away toys if we ask him. He's also good at the instruction, "Take this _____ to Daddy." And he'll march over and give him whatever he was supposed to.

He can identify his nose, hair, ears, mouth, eyes, hair, tummy and feet. We're also working on identifying red, blue, green and yellow. Blue and yellow seem to be his favorite.