Sunday, January 24, 2010

Mischief





Sorry for the lack of photos to update, but the boy moves so fast that most of them just come out blurry!

I titled this entry mischief because that seems to be the theme of the whole month! Our little stinker now has to be locked upstairs or down (depending on where we are) because he likes to roam away now! Where I used to be able to sneak away and change the laundry before he even noticed I was gone, now I turn around and he's right there at my feet trying to feed the dogs! He enjoys feeding them very much, and now he can even reach the treat jar, open it and give them tiny fistfuls of duck jerky! Not to worry though, our pitties are very well-behaved and wait patiently for him to decide when to hand them over.

He's spent a few nights with G&G Guida and he now carries my childhood "I'm going to grandma's" suitcase with him when he goes. It's adorable, but we may have to modify it and turn the little girl into a boy. He loves his time there because he has so many cupboards to rummage through, rooms to wander, fake flowers to smell and doors to open (he can manage their handles, but not our knobs yet, thank goodness!). And of course we know he enjoys the food there!

He quickly learned a new word: "coo-kie!" after a trip to Costco when he was so well-behaved we got a big box of chocolate chip to share. When they were finally gone he watched Terry throw the container away, then promptly dug it back out and brought it into the living room saying, "coo-kie, coo-kie, coo-kie!" So now he likes to dig in the trash for potential treasures! He often uses that word in unrelated activities, possibly hoping that Mom might take the hint and fetch one for him.

The garbage has become such a problem that Dad found a clamp to keep it shut, but Will figured it out in one afternoon! He came waltzing into the living room with it and began to terrorize Baby, who thinks it too closely resembles the nail clippers. He had a riot when he realized that she was running away from him, and he cackled loudly as he chased her several times around the coffee table!

Feeding himself is going well, despite this particularly hilarious photo. He does seem to manage to ruin every pair of pants that Daddy wears to the dinner table though...

He has perfected "bye-bye" finally and uses that at random as well. He does pick up on people ending conversations on the phone and leaving the house, but he usually waits until they are gone to say it.

That's all for now, hopefully I can catch my little blur once in a while to add some more updates!

Happy birthday, Nana!

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Happy New Year!












Grandma and Grandpa Guida watched Nick and Andi overnight on New Year's eve so we took
Will up to play with his cousins while Terry and I had dinner out together. (Will's had several new teeth erupt this week, and quite frankly, we needed a break from his misery!) We knew some time with his favorite cousins would cheer him up for a while.

We had a very nice dinner, some lovely New Year's and past year's toasts, and time to talk (something we miss) at Iggy's in Ogden. It's one of our favorites. Then we headed back to find Will still up and plucking ornaments off his grandparents tree. It was almost 10:30 already, and he was quite punchy and adorable. He gave us a big smile and went right for us for hugs. It was a very healthy break for all of us, thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

He fell asleep on the ride home, of course, and we got him in bed and went downstairs to watch the ball drop a short while later. When we finally did go to bed, Terry and I laid there talking a laughing for almost another hour. And though we didn't get to see any of our friends, or got to any parties, it was one of my best New Year's eves. Not bad for people who've spent nine years together!

New Year's day we woke up to snow, and decided to pack up our sledding gear for dinner at Grandma and Grandpas. We made our favorite chocolate chip peanut butter oatmeal cookies, and Dominick made prime rib and creamed spinach. Will and I made a couple trips down a small hill with Nick and Andi before dinner, and even Clyde got to romp in the snow!

After our delicious dinner Chris, Shelly, and the kids headed home to beat the impending weather, and we watched "Julie & Julia" with G & G while Will had a late nap. It was better than we thought it would be, and made us hungry despite the gourmet dinner we'd just eaten!

When Will woke up he cuddled with Grandpa and had fun listening to Grandma on the phone even though she was sitting right next to him! He's discovered listening to the phone (not talking, mind you), and he loves to put it up to his (or your) ear. He even carried around the remote control for about five minutes the other night, listening to a very important imaginary conversation. Maybe he plans on working in intelligence some day...

Silly Willy










Mom finally got the nerve to allow Will to feed himself, despite the horrible mess that she knew would ensue, as well as the terrible fits that would occur when he wasn't allowed to do it every time thereafter.

Despite those concerns, it's been going very well, and every day it gets a little less messy.

One of Will's favorite things to do lately is stop and smell the flowers. I take him to the flowers at the grocery store, and now he's spotting them everywhere! He even smells the fake ones at Grandma's house!

Christmas #2!!













We had a special treat this year for Christmas, we got to see my brother's family several times in one week! They came over to watch movies and made us fondue one night, we made chicken enchiladas on another movie night, and everyone joined us again on Christmas night.

Unfortunately Will was running a high fever most of the week, but he was still in good spirits most of the time. We opened our presents (what was left of the ones I could actually wait to give him) on Christmas Eve, which has become our tradition. We took some cute home movies of the five of us on the floor in the living room playing with Hot Wheels, race tracks, and silly socks! Eventually we fell asleep before the big day.

Will woke up very sad on Christmas day, he had a very pitiful cry and just wanted to cuddle for about an hour. I was more than happy to oblige, and we watched cartoon specials before getting ready to go to Chris and Shelly's.

He starting feeling better after a nap on the drive, and after a delicious breakfast prepared by Shelly, we had a great time opening tons of presents. His favorites were a guitar from Grandma so that he could play with Uncle Chris, a farm puzzle from Aunt Shelly, a whole collection of Hot Wheels from Nana, and of course, a Swiffer from Mommy!

He had so much excitement that he fell asleep on the ride back home, so we missed the Moore family gathering at Nony's, and he slept about 5 hours! He slept right through our spiral ham and clam chowder dinner, all the talking and laughing, and finally woke up just in time to have a Skype video chat with Nana and Aunt Carolyn before everyone headed home.

Uncle Harry hung out for a while, and we watched Finding Nemo before bed. It was another great Christmas with our favorite people!

Getting ready for Christmas







I know this is way overdue, but I'm trying to catch up with this busy time of year!

Jill, my cousin and one of my best childhood friends came back to Utah for her baby shower just before Christmas. She and her husband Cam will be welcoming little Camille this January. (I know, nice name combine, huh!)

We had a great time with my Dad's side of the family, since we didn't get to see them last Christmas, and won't be having the annual party this year while Aunt Joan recuperates from her surgery.

Will got some much needed play time with people closer to his own age, and I got to get out and have some girl time.

Later we came home and decorated the house for the holidays. Will was more than happy to help me empty the big box of decorations since he has recently discovered the pleasure of filling and emptying various containers. His favorite was the garland, and he soon began plucking the glass balls off the tree like ripened fruit!

Daddy tied a pretty ribbon around him, and we unwrapped him later only to find a very smelly present...