Will's First Snow

A little bit of snow fell this morning, so Will got to play in the snow for a bit. He loved seeing it out the window this morning - smiling and exclaiming "Snow!" Although it was just a dusting, all the schools and daycares are closed today - so its Will's first snow day too. After getting over the fact that snow on his mittens was not "dirty", he enjoyed playing around for about 20 minutes. Then, it definitely got too cold for him and he was ready to come inside.

2 Year Check-Up & Confessions

Yesterday, Will went for his 2 year check-up. He did so well - giving the doctor a high five and laughing at all the doctor tools. He even opened his mouth big when the doctor asked him to and held still when he looked in his ears. We've come a very long way from doctor visits of the past! No immunizations any more until he is 4 but he did have to get his second flu shot. I think he was having a great time and thought we were just playing when we laid him on the table. Poor thing - the look of utter betrayal on his face as it crumpled into a scream from the shot almost had me burst into tears. :-(

His stats were pretty interesting. At 30 pounds, he is in the 75th percentile - he usually has been around 40-50% so he gained quite a bit in the last 6 months. But he was in the 91st percentile in height at 36 3/4 inches. The doctor said that this age is a pretty good indication of the child's height later in life ... so we may just have a basketball player on our hands. He definitely got some of my mom's family genes in him ...

The big issue at the appointment though - which the doctor talked to me about for really like 5-10 minutes - was his pacifier. Yes, I have a confession to make. Although I was adamant about reducing its use about a year ago - I pretty much gave up the fight for nap time and bed time. He isn't allowed to have his pacifier any other time, and has to put his pacifier up when he wakes up. And, I guess I should go ahead and also confess that my son has named his pacifier "diddy." I know, I know. Its not the best name for such an object. And, frankly, Ellis and I got so used to him calling it diddy that I didn't realize how silly (and perhaps bad) it sounded until we were at the doctor's office yesterday and a baby came in with a pacifier and Will pointed excitedly at the woman holding the baby and exclaimed DIDDY! I hope she didn't think he was saying something else!

Anyway -- so I'm really torn about the pacifier thing. I have a hard time believing some of the things the doctor was saying about extended pacifier use - makes the child selfish, more likely not to listen to mom and dad, etc. And I know some of our family and friends think its ridiculous to take it away from him already. I guess I am somewhere in the middle -- although I am kind of ready to get him to depart from it. But Will loves his diddy more than anything. Its the first thing he asks for - other than his lovey - when he is ready to go to sleep. I'm not sure how to go about really making the "break." It seems we would have quite a few really restless wakeful nights.

How did you get rid of your child's "diddy"?? Any suggestions!!??

Will's Birthday Party

This past Saturday we had Will's birthday party at My Gym. He had a fantastic time at his party, and I think all his friends did too! He was so happy to see all of his friends and get to play at My Gym again. They had lots of free play, circle time, different games, fun with bubbles, a puppet show ... all kind of things. I was pleased with the party the folks there put together for us.
I'm not sure Will entirely understood the whole "birthday" thing - even though the kids sang and yelled happy birthday to him lots. He was just excited to have a "Party!" with "Pancake" (birthday cake). The funniest thing is that he went to another friend's birthday a few weeks ago whose name is RJ. And Will insists on singing the birthday song as "Happy Birthday RJ!" I guess he just thinks those are the lyrics for now. :-)

I was thrilled about Will's birthday cake too. When I ordered his cake from Tiffany's (my favorite bakery for birthday cakes), I asked for a "Nemo-theme" cake. I was expecting a white cake with Nemo on it, or something like that. I was so excited when it looked like this:

And the Dory and Nemo figures on it are actually bath toys that Will insisted on sleeping with tonight. :-) Many, many thanks to everyone who was able to make the party and helped make Will's day a special one!

Christmas 2008

I will let the pictures tell the story of our Christmas. We had tons and tons of fun. Will did not throw one tantrum at any of our many Christmas celebrations, and I know he had as much fun as we did - playing with his cousins, hanging out with his grandparents, and seeing his Uncle Steve and Aunt Mary (who hadn't seen him in a year). Chrismas Eve we spent in Union with Nanny and the cousins. Then, Will's Great Uncle Paul, Bapa and Grandma came over to our house for Christmas morning. Uncle Steve and Aunt Mary flew into town on Sunday morning, and we did Christmas all over again at Bapa and Grandma's on Sunday followed by several days of yummy food and great visiting time with our Texan relatives. :-)

It was a wonderful Christmas "season" - and I hope yours was as merry as ours.

Christmas Eve

Christmas morning at our house

Christmas at Bapa & Grandma's

(This next picture needs explanation. The fabulous tree above was the "don't touch tree" for Will. To keep him out of trouble, Bapa brought down a little tree for Will and ornaments he could play with all he wanted. Will loved his tree and never bothered the Christmas tree and other breakable decorations in Grandma's house! :-) )