Family Fun Weekend

We had a super fun weekend! We played, we napped, we shopped, and then we did it all again! Oh, and we walked and walked and walked!

On Saturday afternoon we walked to the elementary school around the corner to swing on the swings, and then we played in the front yard for while.

And then we went to the backyard so Rachel could play, too. Will's favorite part of the backyard is the rocks. He always has one in each hand. . .unless he puts one of those in his mouth!

Today Will decided we had spent too much time inside (even though we'd been back home from our stroller walk for less than an hour), so he found the Baby Bjorn and put it on. He was very persuasive, and we headed outside to help Daddy with his project to install the new shutters.

Notice the plastic bowl in the background? There are 10 more cups and bowls cropped out of the picture. Will loves to unload all of his cups and bowls and lids out of the kitchen drawers.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

As a thank you for our hard work during tax season, one of the partners that I work for took a few of us to a Cubs game on Wednesday afternoon. It was warm and sunny, the seats were awesome, and the Cubs won!

Unfortunately, the Cubs are no longer undefeated at home in Year One

View of 3rd base

Watching the pitchers warm-up in the "bullpen"

This is the only pictures that is zoomed.

The rest are really that close!

When Cabbage Patch Kids Invade!

Anyone need a Cabbage Patch Kid? My prized possessions of childhood arrived in the trunk of my parents' car last weekend when they were here for Easter. I unpacked them yesterday and laid them all out on our pool table to assess their condition after 18 years in cardboard boxes. I'm sad to say that although I recognize all of them, I only remember the order that I got them in for the first 5. The next 16 are a bit of a blur. :-)

The baby ones in front all smell like baby powder. Unfortunately, that seems to cause a discoloration of their plastic faces. The girl baby already had that before I packed them away. The boy in yellow has it now. The boy in blue is the one that I've decided William gets as his toy.
The World Traveler (Tania from Spain) is one of my favorites. The pink sweatsuit one next to her is Oriana (The First!).

The Clown one was always really hard to play with due to that bulky outfit. On the back half of the table are the other dolls and stuffed animals that my parents snuck in. We'd only agreed that they'd bring the CPK dolls. :-)

The First Fall

With the new baby steps, comes new baby falls. Will got this cut under his left eye sometime Friday night. He fell really hard in his crib right when I was putting him to bed (and he decided he didn't want me to leave), but I didn't notice the cut as I was comforting the wailing baby. So, we're not sure if he fell again later. Jason said Will's eye was slightly swollen when he woke up on Saturday morning. He doesn't seem too bothered by it luckily.

Baby Steps!

We had actual steps last night!! First just one-and-a-half or two, and then a few more. By bedtime, there was at least one stumble of 5 or 6 steps. I was so proud (and a little sad)!

I took a little video but haven't tried to upload it yet (not sure if I will. . .I don't have much luck with the video). This picture is from last month when we were testing out his next car seat that we've owned since New Year's Day but still haven't installed in the car. It was pretty much the only picture I had on my computer which I didn't think I had posted yet. :-)

Our other big excitement is all the new foods Will has been eating. On his report card for Thursday it said he ate A LOT of hot dogs and beans. Usually he eats SOME or A FEW. Good to know the little guy has good taste! Ha! Last night for dinner he had kiwi fruit, green beans and yogurt mixed grain cereal (in a green bowl). He liked the green beans as finger food MUCH better than the pureed kind!

Happy Birthday Ryan!

Brookfield Zoo

To round out Will's Easter presents, we bought a "Family plus" membership to the Brookfield Zoo which gets the Shields family unlimited visits for a year. The plus is that we always get to bring one free guest and we also get 6 single use visitor passes, plus free parking, plus a discount at the snack bar!

How many adults does Will need at the zoo? Five!
One to push him in his pimped out stroller

(Thanks Grandma!)

One to hold him at the indoor giraffe exhibit

(Thanks Mom!)

One to hold him at the outdoor warthogs exhibit

(Thanks Uncle Ryan!)

And one to drive us there (Thanks Dad!)

And one to get the snacks (Thanks Grandpa!)

[NOTE: camel picture not representative of Daddy and Grandpa]

Who Could Say No to This?

With visits from Grandma Joni, Grandpa Roger, and Uncle Ryan this weekend, Will has been spoiled! He got new books and clothes and lots and lots of attention. But, seriously people. . . who can resist that face?!

Who wants to hold me next?!

Happy Easter!

What a fun "baby's first Easter" we had! The much anticipated Easter basket was a lot of fun for me. I think Will liked it, too. I assembled this weeks ago and could barely wait until the big day. In fact, Will received this on Easter Eve, because part of the gift was bath toys, and I wanted him to get to play with them on Saturday night.

Camera 1 or camera 2 this time?

(All the papz were snapping away!)

Will loved the feel of the spongy letters on his budding teeth!

He "8" the letters in the tub, too!

Big thanks to Grandma Joni for three nights and three baths while she's been visiting! He really loves to play in the bath these days, and Mama just doesn't give him enough bath nights!