2 Years, 11 Months

How can it be that nearly 3 full years has gone by since Will joined our family?!   I want to remember a few things about this age:

• Creativity abounds:  Will is always telling us new and interesting stories and is getting a real flair for pretend play.  He also is frequently applying his TV knowledge to life events.  Our new favorite show is Doc McStuffins on Disney Junior, so I wasn't too surprised yesterday when he used his yo-yo like a stethoscope to check my heartbeat. 
• An ear for music:  He regularly tells me NOT to sing along with the TV, but he regularly asks me to sing him songs at bedtime.  This weekend we sang rock-a-bye-baby with me rocking him and pretending he would fall.  I always changed the second line to be something about how I could hold and hug him so he wouldn't fall.  He tried it out with Curiuos George, but pushed him off the bed every time.  But, then he got to practice his doctor skills to fix George's "broken head."
• Brave boy:  Besides the normal stuff like jumping off furniture, climbing on rocks, etc, yesterday Will decided to swim without his floatie on.  Mommy had to be on high alert, but he actually did pretty well.  He could also touch further into the pool than I thought.
• Growing up:  Ryan gave him a "big boy" haircut a few weeks ago.  It looks good, but so. . . grown up.  I'm sad to see the baby hair gone.  Will's eyes are also turning brown.  They were hazel (mostly green) for the past year like mine, but they're getting deeper brown.
• Smart and Specific:  Will talks in fairly complicated sentences now.  We regularly hear, "Do NOT [insert word or phrase]."  Common phrases include: "sing that song" and "tickle me." He's more defiant about some.   I'll have to think about what those are.

Taxes Are Done; Time for Fun!

It's that time of year when the whole family celebrates because we're done with the latest round of tax busy season!  This year - thanks to Leap Day, the weekend, and a federal holiday - it was at least 3 days longer than normal.  

Wednesday and Thursday were days for me to catch up on life (and shopping), and on Friday, Jason and I went to a Cubs game.  It was so windy and cold that we watched most of the game from the Captain Morgan Club attached to Wrigley, but we had a nice date.  Luckily the tickets and parking were free, because we spent tons on food and drinks, as well as Cubs and Blackhawks jerseys for Will! Saturday was a friend's birthday party. The favor was a lion cupcake that Will enjoyed for breakfast this morning.  Then we headed to the sandbox for a little (cold) fun to wrap up the weekend.  

Information Overload

Easter was hard to explain to Will. I mean, why does the Easter bunny give us candy and presents? It's not like Santa (which we didn't discuss much either) where it's a concept of being good (although we did use the candy to turn around some grouchy behavior). He pointed out his Halloween costume in his closet and mentioned how he gets candy then, too. I guess we don't have to put it all together perfectly the first few years. . . .We'll just enjoy that we had an opportunity to be outside and spend time with family!

When we drove into the city yesterday, Will was more interested in the cars and buildings than ever before. I took the opportunity to point out Soldier Field ("Where they play football.") and the museums ("Where we can see dinosaurs." and "Where whales and dolphins are swimming.") and the lake. Will could see a dinosaur skeleton outside the Field Museum, but not the whales at Shedd. First he thought they were swimming in Lake Michigan (which he called the ocean). On the way home he told me "The dinosaurs are swimming in the ocean," and he seemed to have forgotten about the aquarium.

Easter

We were blessed with beautiful weather and lots of family time this Easter weekend! Will got an Easter basket from us on Saturday morning (two books, a hooded beach towel and two Reese's peanut butter eggs) before we headed to the neighborhood eggs hunt. He got four eggs with candy and one Play Doh egg. Each child was supposed to get 12 (the amount each parent contributed in advance), so we're not sure where the extras went. I was just fine with less candy though! It was a beautiful day and from there we walked to the playground to burn off more energy before lunch. Amazingly, I got Will to nap on Saturday after lunch by laying next to him in his bed and reading and rereading his two new books. We woke up refreshed and went for our first family bike ride of the season using the trailer. We biked along the river and stopped at a playground near downtown. After playing for awhile, rain looked imminent and we bike home quickly. Jason and I got a little wet, but Will stayed dry under his plastic trailer cover.

Sunday was another beautiful day, and we enjoyed it with Easter brunch with Ryan and several of his friends. We devoured the delicious food (Will was a big fan of the ham), ate way too much candy, and played out on the front steps in the sunshine.

I have no idea where Ryan found a bucket with robots on it, but, wow, was Will impressed!! The candy, Slinky, and plastic bugs inside were also met with great excitement!

The steps were a little too wide for full Slinky success, but Will was quick to adapt this new toy to his favorite pasttime. He hung the Slinky from the front gate and swung a "golf stick" at it. Slinky Golf is very tetherball like, for those of you who have not witnessed it. :-)

Golf Craze

Will has just gone crazy for golf! I guess it's not hard to imagine that a little boy would love the idea of "big hits" with a stick and ball.
He literally begs to go outside to play golf every day. His favorite is to put a real golf ball on a tee and hit it with his driver for a "BIG hit!" And when he doesn't get to go outside, he's playing in the family room with his foam golf balls and putter while watching cartoons.
This past weekend, he got a new golf bag that he can wear like a backpack. He is in love! I hope this is a craze that isn't a passing phase for him, because I know his Daddy and his Grandpa Ed would love to have his company on the golf course over the next many years!

Big Bed

Here it is: Will's BIG big-boy bed! The headboard and footboard are from his crib. The footboard came off to make a toddler bed. Now the footboard comes back and assembles with new rails to make the frame of a full size bed. The frame is fairly high off the ground, so we couldn't add the boxspring that we bought with the mattress, or the bed would be ridiculously high! It's very comfortable though! Will wanted all of his animal friends (and blankets and books) in bed with him - just like when he slept on the floor. I helped wedge the row of stuffed animals in between the mattress and footboard to give him extra sleeping surface, but he still piled everything in the middle before falling asleep.

He did well for his first night. After his usual three or four trips downstairs in the first half hour, he settled in and slept until around 4:15. He cried out for me three more times over the next half hour, but then fell back asleep until a more respectable hour.

Swimming

No pictures today. I just wanted to leave myself a note about Will's swimming. We went last night for one of the first times in months, and he had so much confidence and enthusiasm! He's always enjoyed swimming, but he didn't stray too far from us. Last night he was doing "big jumps" off the side and getting his face in the water - all the while laughing and ready to do it again. He was also remembering to kick his legs hard to get where he wanted to go - which wasn't always towards Mommy or Daddy! :-)

I wish I had taken a picture before we left the house. He was wearing his swim trunks, long sleeved swim shirt, Puddle Jumper floatie, and his green frog rain boots. It was hilarious! If you can picture it based on the photo below, he wearing all that while swinging his golf club in the back yard waiting for his Daddy to finish mowing the yard.

Silly in Spring

When I got home last night, I was thrilled to see my bike and Will's trailer were in the garage! Spring is here once the snow blower and bike trailer swap for spots in the shed and garage! And resourceful Will combined all of his favorites for a few minutes of springtime fun, as well.

Conversations with a Kid

I had the following conversation with Will before bed the other night:

Me: Uncle Ryan's birthday is coming up. What should we get him for a present?
W: A robot.
Me: A robot?
W: Yes, that would be COOL.
Me: What does a robot do?
W: I get Uncle Ryan TWO presents.
Me: What two presents would you like to get Uncle Ryan?
W: A robot and a Thomas.
Me: You have a lot of Thomases. Can you share one you already have?
W: No. Uncle Ryan has his own. He can get a Percy and play trains at my house. Then I'll have a Percy and Uncle Ryan has a Percy.

The conversation just trickled off there as he went on to other things, but I asked Jason about the robot part later (I already know of his Thomas love). Apparently robots are the new big thing. And when he puts his mesh laundry hamper on his head he says he's a robot. Hmmm, I guess that means we could get Ryan a new mesh hamper for his birthday. . . . :-)