Three Bump Day

Jason just coined this phrase as we were discussing Will's adventure filled day from yesterday. An active baby is bound to get a few bruises, I guess.

Bumps 1 and 2 were at Grandma Hilary and Grandpa Ed's house while he was using their couch as a jungle gym. Daddy caught him as he was diving over the arm, past the end table, and onto the ground. Will got two small bumps from the end table (above his right eye and ear), but he was intercepted airborne and didn't hit the ground. Will was pretty upset for a few moments, but I think he was scared about the flight more than the coffee table hit.

Bump 3 was just pulling a hard plastic toy off the fireplace hearth while losing his balance and having the plastic part smack him between the eyes. Small toy; small bump.

This picture seemed appropriate for this post. It's from Monday when he was wearing his Colts blue and looking sad. It was supposed to be his Super Bowl win celebration outfit, but we didn't have any black and gold, so he wore it even though the Colts got beat up.

Illinois Earthquake

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/02/quake-like-tremors-reported-in-western-suburbs.html

Here's a link to an article that says an earthquake was felt in our suburb at 4 a.m. The epicenter was approximately 30 miles northwest of us. I don't remember anything unusual around then (or even know if I was awakened, since I try not to look at the clock when I get up in the middle of the night). In fact, the first I heard of it was from my co-worker when I got to work. I did, however, hear and see the lights from the snow plow up and down my street several times.

Walking the Dog (Toy)

Cool! A speed bump!

Hey, move it, lady! I'm in a big rush!

Finally made it through all that traffic!

I didn't see a No Parking sign, did you?

I'll just leave my wheels there while I play awhile.

Walking with Toys

While I was out running errands this morning (including a fun trip to Old Navy to buy Will some cute clothes - including the outfit below - with my Christmas giftcard), Jason got out and assembled Will's new Tonka "Scoot-n-Scoop 3-in-1" toy. We bought it at an after Christmas sale but have been waiting to get it out. Now that he's been all over the house with his dog walker toy, we got out the truck version! As you can see, he LOVES it! :-)

Excuse the mess in the background. Saturday mornings are for fun and games instead of house cleaning! I shot a video on Friday night of Will walking behind his other push toy all through the family room and living room, but I guess I don't have a still photo. I'll try to upload the video next week; it's pretty adorable.

Happy Friday!

We're looking forward to the weekend! Will wants to learn how to eat solid foods and walk. I'd like a nap and some shopping time. Jason would like to take down the outdoor Christmas lights finally. (Well, he didn't actually say that. . . )

Here's Will with his first use of the mesh food bag. He's sampling canned peaches. My friend Nikki gave us one of these before he was born; she sent us all sorts of awesome "must haves" that she discovered as a new mom the year prior. I had almost forgotten about it until I read another friend's blog where her daughter was using it. I think he liked it. We've only used it once though, because he slept through dinner last night! Oops! Hopefully he'll catch up on the sleep this weekend.

8 Months Old

We're almost a week late with these pictures, but here we are at 8 months old before bed last night. Mr. Will's pictures are very reflective of the past month: smiles, laughs, and moving all over the place!

Updates for this month:

• Just tonight Will walked behind his walker toy (what are these called??); he's been cruising along the furniture for a few weeks; and has been standing to play for a month.
• Will has discovered his "voice" these past few weeks and is laughing and babbling all the time. Jason is coaching him on saying dada. Rachel is his greatest source of laughter.
• He still pulls my hair; only now he does it harder. And now he has begun scratching my nose. I'm looking to put an end to that behavior!
• He's eating more and chunkier foods. He's been eating my homemade pureed peas & carrots without gagging and gnawing on rice cakes and Gerber puffs.
• Sleeping is going pretty well: he's reliably going to bed around 7:45 (and we let him cry it out if he has to) and if we're lucky he'll sleep until 6 a.m. We aren't usually that lucky! ;-)

Vacationing With Kids

This was our first vacation with Will in tow. It was an interesting experience. Luckily, this was just meant to be a relaxing vacation without much to accomplish. Mission accomplished! :-)

A lazy lunch and cocktails on the beach? Check!

Oh, you were thinking beer instead of milk?

Lunch hasn't arrived yet? Then you have time to "hold" the sand!

We had great accomodations for vacationing with two couples and two kids: "Nana's Beach House." That's Aiden's Nana. They have a great setup with room for everyone AND they already had toys and beach stuff, so we didn't have to haul anything extra along from home! I was thankful for that, since I was already hauling one medium suitcase, a backpack/diaper bag, stroller, car seat and baby by myself for the trip out. Whew! Did I mention that Jason treated me to a spa day?! Ha ha.

Travel High Chair

Will got to use his new travel high chair on our vacation. It's a handy little fabric contraption that attaches over the back of a standard chair and has buckles and straps to fasten the baby to it. In this picture, he is sitting in a booster seat for height. If the chair back is short enough, the baby can sit directly on the seat.

http://www.amazon.com/My-Little-Seat-Travel-Months/dp/B002AKLSMW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=baby-products&qid=1265130863&sr=8-1

The fabric folds up into its own carrying case that is about the size of a diaper. Very convenient! It's recommended for trips where you don't have access to a high chair (in our case: the beach condo and the bowling alley in Wisconsin), or if you just want them to be up close the table like here.

The Pool! The Beach! The Other Beach!

After a great week vacationing (well, and being sick) at home with Grandma, Will and I flew to Fort Myers for a long weekend at the beach. We met up with Jason who was already in Florida for business, and our very good friends Keith, Desiree and Aiden from Kansas City. Will got to have his first and second swims ever at the condo pool in Naples! He has always loved the bath, so we had high hopes for the pool. We weren't disappointed! Luckily, the weather was mild and the water was heated for the old people! :-)

The first beach day, my sinus infection was really bad, so the Shields family stayed home while the K, D, and A enjoyed a gorgeous day and dolphin sightings. We did venture out on day 2, but it was windy and not as warm. Will and I stayed under the umbrella and played for most of the time. Although Jason took him on a nice long walk up the beach for people and bird watching.

On Sunday we drove to Captiva Island where we rented a beach cottage for one night. This was literally right out our back door! We actually had a water view out the front door (and across a few streets) as well! The day was overcast and cool, but it was great. Jason devised a fabulous surprise day at the spa for the ladies! I was treated to an hour long massage and a pedicure and Desiree got a spa mani/pedi while he and Will explored the island with Keith and Aiden. Wow, wow, wow, what a treat! LOVE that guy!

Fort Myers is a great destination when flying alone with an infant due to the high grandma ratio on board! :-) We flew Southwest on the way out, and all of their people were awesome every step of the way. Our return trip on Airtran wasn't anything special except that we had Jason with us this time, which was nice. He had never flown with Will before today. Will was an excellent traveler and received many compliments and smiles and waves on both legs of the trip.