Happy Birthday, William!

My dearest William,

Today you turn 2 years old. On one hand, Daddy and I are amazed by how much you have really changed as we looked at some older posts on this blog from when you were one. But on the other hand, I do not have any trouble believing you are 2 because you do all kinds of things that assure me that you are not a little baby. You are like a sponge, absorbing everything around you. Every day, you surprise your daddy and me with something new that you know how to say or do. Its something I really love about this age. (For example, we have been reading a little Christmas book about Jesus and the manger and the animals and people around him. It doesn't actually say that the baby on the last page is Jesus - just something like "I am the baby and the reason for Christmas" or something. But you pointed at it one night and said "Baby Jesus." )

And, you can count to 10 on your own (without missing any numbers or mispronouncing them), and yesterday - you showed us that you know those numbers are for counting as you counted the raisins on your tray during lunch time. Not perfectly - but you counted there were 5 of them (when there were actually 4). This morning, when I asked you how many balloons you had, you proudly said 3 (which was right!).

You are very outgoing, even with perfect strangers ... which could develop into a problem, young man! But for now, it makes me happy to see you quickly adjust to new situations and new people. It doesn't take you long to let go of me in a loud, noisy setting to get down and play and explore. Your great Uncle Paul visited over Christmas - whom you never met - and you kept pointing proudly at him and saying Paul! and gave him a hug after you'd known him only a short while.

You can sing the ABC song pretty much by yourself, although you muddle over some of the letters as you sing a long. And singing has become your new favorite thing to do - just in time for Christmas carols. The other night, you woke up around 10pm and you were just sitting in your crib kind of talking to yourself. Daddy and I were eyeing the monitor when you started to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (you know that whole song perfectly). It was the cutest thing! Especially because you went right back to sleep afterwards...

Elmo has pretty much moved off of your favorite list - something just 3 months ago I didn't think was possible. Instead, you seem to like Cookie (the Cookie monster) better as far as Sesame Street goes. And you new favorite character, hands down, is Nemo! I can't possibly guess how many times you have watched Finding Nemo now. But you often request it by saying "Nemo Shark!" - which I think is what you think the name of the movie is.

I love to watch how funny things really make you laugh. You have the cutest little belly laugh when you get tickled by something. And it catches me off guard how sometimes you'll be watching a cartoon and you get the joke or silly thing they are doing and laugh and giggle. I love that you are beginning to really understood humor.

As far as food, I think you would be perfectly content to eat turkey-dogs and ketchup for every meal, and you practically do because its easy to fix and you usually won't eat whatever we are eating. I'm afraid I've got a picky eater to pay me back for all the casseroles and meals mom fixed that I would turn my nose up to. And raisins!! Oh dear, Will. You love raisins. I think you might turn into a raisin if I'm not careful! I have to buy them by the tub now because you go through them so quickly. You also love to eat grits, Nutrigrain bars, hotdogs, peanut butter (scooping it off the bread because you don't like sandwiches), pizza, chicken diced and mixed in with rice, corn, carrots, applesauce, cheese, fries, oh - and birthday cake, which you call "pancake".

Now...keeping it real ... every moment with you is certainly not perfect! I do wonder what the rest of 2s will be like (and many say that 3 is harder than 2) when you can already throw an amazing tantrum before you are 2. Sometimes, the looks you give me are more of an 8 year old than a 2 year old. You are definitely testing limits - in fact, sometimes, when you are about to do something you know you are not supposed to, you will say "no, no, no" and then proceed to do it! But trying to maintain our cool and wait until you calm down and then talk to you about why you can't do something or what you did wrong seems to work best for you. I try to remind myself that you are just very curious about everything and don't understand why you can't do certain things. I definitely hear my mom talking through me already though when I say "listen to me!", "don't tell mommy, no", etc. I can already see the response "because I said so!" coming ... one I know I hated when my mom said it ... but now I know why she did!

I know you won't remember your second birthday in years to come, but I think you had a really good time today. I am struggling with making your birthday "special" because it is only 2 days after Christmas. People are traveling to and fro on this day - everyone has opened presents of their own - Christmas decorations are everywhere (I haven't even posted about Christmas yet) - and everyone is pooped from the Christmas season. But your birthday party is next Saturday - to which I hope some of your friends will be able to attend! I only hope that one day, when you do read this blog and reach this post, that you will agree that you never did feel slighted on your birthday and that you know how very special this day is to your father and me.

So, to celebrate your birthday, Daddy and I took you to EdVenture this morning. The difference between this time and what you could do when you turned one is pretty amazing. Then, we had lunch at ChickFilA. I let you watch Cars on the DVD player on the way back home and you were dead asleep before we got home and napped for about 3 hours. Then, we went to a favorite pizza place for dinner, came home and had a little cupcake, Mommy & Daddy presents and, of course, ended the day letting you watch "Nemo Shark!". Below are lots of pictures from the day. (Mommy & Daddy took good ones this time because we got to play with our own Nikon SLR from Bapa and Grandma that we got for Christmas! YAY!!!! I am SO excited about that.)

I love you so very very much William. So much that it makes me literally tear up to think about it. I thank God so much that he gave us you - an adorable, sweet-natured, hilarious little boy!

Christmas Cookies with Grandma

Mom & I have made these specific Christmas cookies with the same recipe and the same cookie cutters for as long as I can remember. They take forever to make, but they are so yummy and it just isn't Christmas without them.

This year, she brought everything to my house on Saturday, and we started making cookies while Will took his nap. Our plan worked perfectly because he woke up when we were finishing up, decorating the cookies, so that he got to "help" and "decorate" some cookies too! (Just like his mommy, he just wanted to eat the frosting!)

Lights at the Zoo

Last Wednesday, we took Will to see the Christmas lights at the zoo. I have always wanted to see the lights, and I thought Will would love to see them too. He had a blast on the carousel (he actually shook and squealed with excitment when it started up) and loved playing on the playground, and the biggest hit was the fake snow that was blowing around in some places in the zoo. But, keeing it real, he really didn't care much about the lights, and because he had a big day with his Christmas program at school (see post below), he quickly became tired. I think he threw three really loud tantrums, the biggest on the way out when we had to return the car. Daddy and I were exhausted by the time we got home ... but I do think that Will had a great time. I hope that next year he will love looking at the lights too! :-)

Will's Christmas Program

Last Wednesday, Will had his Christmas program at school. He sat with all the kids and sang Christmas carols. His favorite, by far, is Jingle Bells, which he sings all the time. Bapa and Grandma came too, and we all hid from him while he sang so he wouldn't try to leave. Despite my efforts, he did catch me, but unlike at Thanksgiving, this time he was just elated to see me but stayed where he was. Smiling and waving and shouting "Mommy!" It made taking the morning off of work for his 10 minute program well worth it. :-)

Bapa took some wonderful pictures from the morning --

And here is a series of pix that show how much this kid loves his Bapa. Here I am showing him Bapa in the crowd -And here is his pure elation at seeing him!

After the Christmas program, Will found a microphone and went to town singing Jingle Bells to the line of kids and parents waiting to get food. I love these pictures Bapa took --

Ear Infection Again!

Poor Will! I totally jinxed him this weekend. We went to one of his classmates' birthday party this weekend and one of the mom's was telling me that her son had an ear infection in both ears. I bragged how Will has never had one since he had tubes, and then she told me that her son had tubes too but they still get infections. And I said - not Will - never had one since the tubes were put in ...

And then he wakes up in the middle of the night Sunday telling me "ear hurt!" and the doctor finds that he has an ear infection in both ears yesterday! Ugh!

BUT - lest there be another pessimistic post - Will is not really acting sick. He is a little fussier than usual but otherwise just fine, and the antibiotics have probably already kicked in. AND - our little Christmas tree is up and decorated, decorations up outside and inside, almost all Christmas presents purchased ... and I am feeling the Christmas spirit again! :-)

Yikes!

Could someone please tell me how it can possibly be only 2 weeks before Christmas Eve today? C.R.A.Z.Y!

Christmas with a 2-year old: The Rest of the Story

Being able to share Christmas with my son is a blessing that I am thankful for every day ... but that should go without saying. All of us bloggers tend to blog all the "perfect" moments - as it should be - but, in light of the second Christmas escapade this morning, I realized that it was time to share all the stories - the bad and the good. Because, frankly, although in the moment I want to tear my hair out and scream, looking back on it - its pretty darn funny! So, without further ado .... Christmas with a 2-year old: The Rest of the Story ...

Chapter 1: Christmas pictures

Ah - Christmas pictures - getting Will all dressed up in a cute little Christmas outfit and getting some adorable smiley shots of him for Christmas cards. Right? Ha! So, ummm...we arrive at 8:50am for our portrait time, but for some reason, the only employee with a key fails to show up until 9:30. That's right, me and a few other families are standing out in the cold, chasing our kids at Sandhills. By the time the doors open, Will is worn out and I'm tired of saying "Will - no! don't touch that! Will - come here!" (Got a $30 discount...but still not sure that was worth it.) Sitting still for a picture is the furthest thing from his mind by the time we get in the studio. Ellis is picking up the Christmas cards now and I am a bit leery of what picture I ultimately picked and what the card says. I wouldn't be surprised if I had them spell one of our names wrong. Its a whole different kind of tired when you've been chasing a toddler around for an hour and a half. Whew!

Chapter 2: Getting a Christmas tree

What could be more fun than getting a Christmas tree?! Feeling to full Christmas spirit this morning, I put Will in his little reindeer sweatshirt and bring along the camera intending to capture many moments ... and get this one --

before the tantrum set in. Not so sure what exactly set him off. Maybe he was just hungry, or maybe I was too mean to not let him play with the electric cord to the chain saw, or the big gigantic clippers, or maybe it was because I was a mean mommy and wouldn't let him run wild in the parking lot or splash in the freezing cold water?? Needless to say - tantrum consumed him. I carried screaming child to the car, Ellis got them to put the tree on the car (is it even the "perfect, right" tree? I don't know!), and we drove off - exhausted. And then, when we're almost home, Ellis says "umm...did you pay for the tree???" That's right folks! We stole a Christmas tree!! Nice. Real nice. (Ellis is back there now, paying for it. And Will is off in slumber land, and all is peaceful again at our house. Aaah.)

I am now very much looking forward to driving to S-burg tonight to see Jennifer and Julie for a ladies-only dinner and then off to see Twlight with them! Can't wait!

Update: Y'all! Will's Christmas pictures came out pretty darn good! I can't believe it. You'd never guess that he was about to catapult from the chair on the Christmas card. :-)