First Cold

You may not see it in this smiling face, but Will has his first cold. We heard the cough during the week but thought it was mostly due to his new "habit" of spitting up. But Friday morning he was congested and had noisy breathing. It's been worse today. So far we're just treating with lots of love and some saline drops to keep his nose draining. Will has been a great patient (screaming hysterically is a perfectly acceptable response to getting your nose suctioned) and is still mostly his smiling self (this picture really was taken today). We aren't sure if he got it from his first week of daycare, or from Jason who was feeling sick earlier this week, or from me who felt sick a week ago.


We are so amazed at Will's new skills these past few weeks. Will can:

• Hold his head and neck up very well - including looking up over our shoulders and turning all the way left or right to watch things.
• Grab toys and shove them in his mouth.
• Grab and hold the toys on his swing tray.
• Grab and hold onto his toes.
• Suck him thumb and/or various fingers.
• Move himself from a shoulder burp position back into a nursing position to let me know he's not finished.

His favorite toy is Starry who has been discussed in previous blogs, although his play gym and sitting in the Bumbo are very close seconds. He finds great relief in his pacifiers and by clutching a small blanket (mostly dry wash cloths or his burp rag) as he falls asleep. He's a great sleeper: usually 8-9 hour stretch, quick nurse, and back to bed for another hour. One night this week he slept 10 1/2 hours before waking. And when he does wake up, he's in a great mood!

Oh, and I should mention his favorite activity is to watch TV. . . . I know, we're bad parents! His favorite "TV" is his Baby Einstein aquarium music box and his second favorite is watching Daddy play video games on the big screen.

3 Months Old

Hi! I'm three months old today! That's huge!

For my special birthday dinner, I was thinking some fresh frog. . .

Just kidding! Froggy is my friend!

First Few Days Update

No new picture to post, but wanted to report that we are getting into a routine here. Will has been keeping his teachers busy with bottles and diaper-changes. He's still working on the napping part. On Monday, he only took a few short naps, so he was very cranky when he got home. But, then he slept 10 1/2 hours straight that night (previous record was 8) and then napped well at daycare yesterday. Since he was well-rested, we had time to play and have a bath last night before bed. He slept 8 hours straight and then napped for about another hour. We'll see what his report card says about naps today. He's already used his "back-up" outfit due to a big spit-up. I was pretty sure that's the reason he would need it. I'll have to write an update soon about my work and what I think of commuting and downtown Chicago. But, time is tight for the working mom, so it won't be today!

More Sunday Shots

Here are a few more pictures from our Sunday with Ryan:Ryan and Jason made fun of Will's hat, but it's a good thing he was wearing it; I ended up with a sunburn on my neck and arms! Will rode in his stroller during most of our walk along the lakefront, but we did get him out for a few photos and to enjoy the breeze.

As you can see, we made ourselves right at home! This is what we were doing while Ryan was slaving in the kitchen making us our tasty brunch.

First Day

Here we are on our first day of school/work this morning! Not much time to write tonight, because I'm sleepy! Will has been in bed for 2 hours already. We spent an hour together feeding and talking when I got home, and then he needed rocked to sleep. He ate and played well today according to his teacher, but he took pretty short naps. Hopefully he gets into a routine that involves at least one long nap. Otherwise, he's going to be a mess at home every night! Work was good; I got all settled back into my "work station." It's a cube, but it does have a 27th floor window view of the Chicago river.

Meeting Ernest Hemingway

On Sunday Ryan hosted us for a fabulous brunch of fresh made juices, homemade pancakes, bacon and French press coffee. All were awesome! Here are some pictures of Will and his cousin, Ernest Hemingway (aka Ernie the cat). I didn't even realize how adorable this interaction was until I just downloaded the pictures!!

Look Who's Talking

Mr. Personality has been chatting it up the past two days. He just talks and talks and talks - mostly to his Daddy - using all sorts of new sounds and mouth movements! One of these days I'll catch it on video instead of just watching it. (Sorry the title is a bit deceptive; nothing to watch right now.) This picture is a little dark since I didn't have the flash on, but this is what a well-rested baby looks like at 7:30 a.m. :-)


Unfortunately, as much fun as our newborn has been, our older child, Rachel, is demonstrating some bad behavior. She has started rummaging through the trash - even when we're nearby - and ignoring our commands in the yard. I had to chase her (carrying Will) over a block last night when she decided to chase birds. And, this morning, we woke up to her eating part of a dining room chair. . . This is puppy behavior - not 8 year old behavior. Is it jealousy? Fellow moms, did Casper, Marley or Tex do these things?!

Do These Stripes Make Me Look Fat?

Another new outfit: Will's striped pajamas courtesy of Uncle Ryan. This was the very first outfit that Will received, so we wanted to make sure he wore it before he outgrew it. Luckily the rain has cooled things off at night. Besides growing bigger, Will is growing more intense in examing his toys:

Mommy's Little Helper

Will had two choices this evening: go to sleep early or help Mommy with chores. As you can see, he chose the latter! He helped me vacuum upstairs while riding around in the Hotsling. I have recently been trying him out in the sling again now that he is big enough to face out. He didn't love the cradle carry as much as I had hoped, so I didn't use the sling much when I first got it. Tomorrow we've got the downstairs to vacuum, so hopefully he'll want another sling ride!