10 Months Old

Another month has flown by! Our little (getting bigger and bigger) guy at 10 months old! Cheese!

• Tooth #7 has sprouted. There may be more, but I have seen 7: four on the top and three on the bottom. It's still really hard to see his top teeth, because he doesn't show them off in pictures, and he doesn't like when I pull back his top lip to look.
• Separation anxiety seems to have escalated. He cries if I put him down or walk to another room. I feel like this is due to his increased awareness of us and where we are and where we go. For example, if I walk to the kitchen, he knows that's where I've gone and he wants to be in there with me.
• Sleep, sleep and more sleep (but not at daycare). He's such an active boy that he sleeps really well at night (about 11 hours), and this weekend he took a 2+ hour nap both mornings. We think he's too easily distracted at daycare, so he usually takes two short (30-40 minutes) naps.
• Food! He's getting more comfortable with finger foods and chunky foods, and he's sampling all the foods from the school lunch menu. At home, he seems to hate peas and green beans. He likes Gerber puffs and canned peaches and vanilla yogurt all a lot. We continue to practice drinking water out of a sippy cup with the goal that he'll have it mastered by 12 months and can start drinking his milk that way, too.
• He's obsessed with my cell phone. If he sees it, he must have it, and there will be screams when it is taken away!
• He's also obsessed with the Baby Bjorn. We joke it's like the dog when she sees her leash!
• Clothes: he has almost outgrown his first shoes, and he wears 9 month and 12 month shirts and pajamas. For pants, he can still wear some 6 months along with 9 months. 12 months are way too long, and since baby pants have elastic waists, it's all about the length!

Good Run for the Wildcats

Well, it was great fun while it lasted! Unfortunately, the Wildcats were bested in their Elite 8 game yesterday. I don't think we can really complain though. Hey, at least we lasted longer than KU, right?! :-)

All (goofy) smiles before the game started
Will dialing Coach Martin during the half to give him some advice

Friday Night Fun

As I'm sure you've realized with the lack of regular posts, the family photographer has been preoccupied with other things (like my day job)! Jason has been making things so much easier by taking care of Will in the evenings and on the weekends when I'm at the office. I try to be home at "regular time" every other night. Recently that's meant that on the other days I go to work before Will wakes and get home after he's asleep. I spend lots of time holding Will when I am home. However, he's an active boy and sometimes he doesn't want his Mommy to be holding him (although he always wants his Mommy within arm's reach!) Here's how we spent our after work/school time tonight:

It takes everyone pitching in around the house to keep things going! Will lends a hand with the vacuuming so it can get done before his bedtime. Will helping Jason let Rachel out . . .Hey, why can't I reach her from here?!

Less than three weeks to go to the tax season, and then I get vacation! I'm actually taking off the last two weeks of April, and Will and I have some big adventures planned!

I've updated the sidebar with all of the new foods that Will is trying. Starting this week, we have asked his teacher to start having him sample everything on the regular lunch menu. We still have to send his baby food since he's tentative about the new foods and only eats "some" each day, but he's "getting better" according to today's comment! He would probably be a lot more interested in regular food if we actually ate dinner in front of him ever, but we almost always wait to make dinner and eat until after he's in bed. Thank goodness for daycare! :-)

Photos by Dad

Jason does a good job of taking pictures with his phone when he and Will are out and about without me. They've been spending extra guy time together recently with me working evenings and weekends for tax season. Yesterday they braved the snow showers for a trip to Buy Buy Baby for a music table. Will looks heartbroken to be out, doesn't he?! (Jason assured me he wiped down the cart...) Be sure to notice his KSU jacket! Go Wildcats!

Continuing on the shopping cart theme, here's Will and Jason grocery shopping on our vacation to Naples. I was sick the first day and stayed back at the condo to rest while everyone else stocked up on groceries. He looks so little in this picture compared to yesterday; what a difference 6 weeks makes!
And finally. . . my all time favorite! This picture is awesome because, well, it's adorable. It's also awesome, because this is what the guys did while the moms were at the spa in Florida. Cute, cute!

A Quick, but Long Week

A couple of random pictures from this week. We've been busy working (me and Jason) and growing (Will). Jason and Will spent Tuesday afternoon at the doctor's office after Will got sent home from school with a rash and "fever." He'd had the rash starting on Saturday, but it looked pretty bad by Tuesday. We're always a little suspicious of the daycare temperature taking since he always measures about two degrees cooler at the pediatricians (e.g. 98.9 on Tuesday versus 100.3). Anyway, the doctor said kids get rashes, and if you don't think it's food or soaps, etc, then it's probably some mild virus and that he could go back to school if he didn't have a fever. He did fine for the rest of the week and his rash is drying up. Tonight was Will's first time to wear two-piece, non-footie pajamas. With the rash, we're trying to keep him a little cooler, and the only jammies in his drawer were fleece, so I opted for the 12-month two piece plus a pair of socks. This is a good picture of his three bottom teeth.

Hey! You forgot the pants!

Notice the "artwork" on the front of the dishwasher. It's one of Will's two favorite spots in the kitchen. His other favorite is the refrigerator because we have a magnet toy that we got from my friend Beth and her boys.

New Pictures

By popular demand: new pictures!

Will is taking a nap before the big game at 5 p.m. We're hoping that breaking out the new track suit is a good luck charm for the Wildcats!

Update: after his 2 hour nap (whoo hoo!): Demonstrating his new skills of clapping and standing while watching the K-State game; and then getting pushed by Daddy on his newly converted truck.

One In, One Out

As of this posting, Will has now been out in the world for the same amount of time that I carried him during pregnancy: 40 weeks, 6 days. From what I recall, the first 30 weeks were a breeze, the next 9 1/2 weeks were a bit cumbersome as my belly got huge, and the last 10 days were tough! Mostly, the not knowing from day to day if it was going to be his birth day. Especially when I had several days of steady contractions that just didn't escalate. Oh, and the fact that I had about 3 items of clothing that were comfortable!

I recently transferred photos between our computers, and I was amazed to see the really early days. Will was so scrawny! He's still pretty skinny, but geesh! I have been cleaning out his closet, too, getting ready for the neighborhood garage sale, and it's amazing to see how teeny tiny his onesies were. And for a few weeks, they were even too big! Too funny.

It's amazing how much our lives have changed in the past 80+ weeks since we found out Will was on the way! :-)

Number 6

This morning I felt tooth #6 - the other middle top tooth (his left). He's now got - or almost got - three top and bottom sets of teeth: the middles and his right of middle. The top teeth are still very hard to see, because Mr. Will doesn't like me to pull his top lip back to look. When he smiles or laughs, it's just the bottom that show. From what I can tell, though, those middle top teeth are thick! No wonder he's been such a fussy monster the past few weeks.

Spiaggia

Last night I was lucky enough to eat dinner at One Magnificent Mile at Spiaggia. It was a foggy day and night, so we didn't get to enjoy the lake view, but I did enjoy a FABULOUS foodie dinner. My courses (as copied from the restaurant's web site):

PIATTO TIPICO D’EMILIA ROMAGNA
8 year Parmigiano Reggiano mousse with Prosciutto di Parma, mortadella, pancetta and Acetaia San Giacomo Balsamico Tradizionale Oro
(Translation: four bites of different stages of "ham and cheese")

RAVIOLETTO DI CRESCENZA CON FUNGHI E TARTUFI NERI
Crescenza cheese filled pasta with abalone and beech mushrooms and Savini black truffles
(Translation: One big ravioli stuffed with creamy cheese topped with sliced fancy mushrooms)

TAGLIATA DI MANZO CON CODA DI BUE
Wood-grilled prime strip loin with braised oxtail, hedgehog mushrooms, dandelion greens and Acetaia San Giacomo gold balsamic
(Translation: Six bites of strip steak sitting on shredded beef and sauteed mushrooms with three little dots of potent balsamic reduction for dipping)

TORTA AL MASCARPONE E CAFFE
Illy espresso and mascarpone cheese torte with caramel and Valrhona chocolate
(Translation: Thin chocolate oval wall holding in a Tiramisu-like creation)

My translations are not very fancy compared to the Italian! I felt like I was a judge on Iron Chef America, because the presentation was so lovely! My favorites were the the ravioletto and the dessert. The ravioletto had a luxurious filling that just melted in my mouth, and the mushrooms were very flavorful, yet not overwhelming to the cheese and delicate pasta. The dessert - which I was expecting to be like cheesecake, was in fact a tiramisu, which I also love. The marscarpone was so creamy and as you dug your spoon down into the shell, you uncovered the espresso and caramel flavors, which were so wonderful!

One of my co-workers (yes, this was a work dinner for a client in town) said that this is Obama's favorite restaurant. I can see why!

Too Many Teeth

Our little guy is trying to be an over achiever and get 2 or 3 new teeth all at once (including one of those big front teeth on top)! We're not really sure how many there are, though, because he's not at all interested in showing them off or letting me feel them. He's been really grouchy and tired the past few days, and not very interested in eating. He skipped dinner tonight in favor of jammies, Tylenol, and a warm bottle from Mommy. He was in bed asleep by 7:05. Let's hope the Tylenol helps with the pain and that he gets a good night sleep.

This picture is a few weeks old, but it might as well have been taken this morning! We had early morning bath time after a explosive poo wake-up call. We can laugh about it now, but poor baby, poor Mama, and poor Daddy, right?!

Some Oldies But Goodies

We haven't had a chance to take any new pictures this week, so here's a throwback to September - a whole 6 months ago! :-) Back when the little guy was a really little guy.

Hi Mama! Think I'll ever learn how to sit up? Next month? Really?

Well, hello there, Mr. Hippo. You're ok, but I really prefer the Giraffe.

9 Month Stats

Tonight we had Will's 9 month check-up, and he's now fast asleep from all of the excitement. He got a glowing review from the doctor. He also got another shot and a finger stick to test for iron. His iron level was borderline low, so we're supposed to give him a vitamin supplement. "Long and lean" is how the doctor described him. I know he's a skinny guy, but 17%?! She didn't seem at all concerned, so I guess I won't worry about it either.

The Stats:

• Head circumference: 19 inches (94%)
• Height: 28 1/2 inches (60%)
• Weight: 18 lbs, 6 ounces (17%)