Lilypie Kids Birthday tickers

Lilypie Kids Birthday tickers

Lilypie Fifth Birthday tickers

Lilypie Fifth Birthday tickers

Lilypie First Birthday tickers

Lilypie First Birthday tickers

Monday, September 24, 2007

Buying Stock

With a little boy, I've realized that I need to buy stock in paper towels and Spray-N-Wash. We go through both in massive quantities. As he gets older, I'm sure I'll need to add Band-Aids to that list, as well.

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Firsts

Will and I were playing in his room yesterday afternoon, and he pulled up on the bookshelf. This was nothing new, except that this time, he let go. And toddled toward me. Six steps (or was it eight?) across the room into the arms of his Mama. I couldn't believe it, and I got so excited. I was shouting and clapping and saying "Yay, Will!!!". I'm not sure he knew exactly what the fuss was about, but he wanted to join in, so he started clapping too. He was clearly proud of himself, even if he didn't know the magnitude of what he had just done. I was so, so thrilled to be around to witness this "first".

Will has been practicing his new found skill some today. He was kind enough to show off for Daddy, Hulie, and Great Melanie. He still prefers to crawl if he's got to go very far or get anywhere very fast (the most he's done is about 10 steps at a time). I can see the benefits of walking slowly occurring to him: "I can travel AND carry this newspaper with me. This is great!"

In a week or two, I'm sure I will be posting about all of the trouble Will is causing with his new walking. But for now, I'm enjoying this milestone. And yes, Mom, we will get him some shoes.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

I've Learned

So sure, Will's grown a lot this first year. He's gone from a screaming, helpless newborn to a screaming helpless toddler. No, I jest. I am truly amazed at everything a baby learns in their first year of life. Smiling, crawling, pointing, eating everything in sight. But, enough about him. Let's talk about me. What about all of the things that I've learned in my first year of motherhood?
  • I've learned how to accessorize with spit up and snot.
  • I've learned that a baby smile can fix any kind of bad day. A baby belly laugh just might be key to peace in the Mideast.
  • I've learned that you can never be too prepared. Of course, even if you think you have everything you could possibly need, you will be missing the one thing you actually do.
  • I've learned that you can't do everything. The people who tell you that they do it all are either A) lying (most likely answer) B) on speed or C) never sleeping. I've even learned that maybe I don't want or need to do everything. These days, I'm okay with missing a dinner out or a party. I'm thrilled when watching Weeds on the couch is all I have to do!
  • I've learned there are worse things than a flabby belly. This is a good thing to learn, because apparently mine is never going away.
  • I've learned to take any help that is offered. If anyone offers to babysit at any time, we take them up on it. We will find something to do.
  • I've learned that even in a childproofed room, a curious baby will still find the one thing that you don't want him to have. (Okay, who am I kidding? None of our rooms are really, truly childproofed.)
  • I've learned that perfection is not the goal. With a baby, if you continuously strive for perfection, you will be continuously disappointed. I'm trying to learn to be happy with "good enough".
  • I've learned to never discuss what a good sleeper your baby is with other parents. Not only will this serve to piss off the other parents, but it will most certainly come back to bite you in the ass. Maybe not now. Maybe not with this baby. But someday.
  • I've learned how to be patient. Well, at least sort of patient.
  • I've learned that there are lots of ways to be a good parent and that, if someone chooses a different route than I choose, it can still mean that we both made the right choice.

So Will--you've already taught me a lot. I'm sure any future brothers and sisters will thank you for breaking me in.

Monday, September 17, 2007

Will's First Artwork

So, to commemorate Will's first birthday, I had the brilliant idea that I wanted to get him to do some hand prints. In black paint. "Wouldn't it be cute to include his hand prints with his thank-you cards?", I thought to myself. And yes, it would have been adorable. But, as you can see, Will had other ideas about making hand prints: He wanted nothing to do with it.
I think he's the next Jackson Pollock. These will be up on ebay shortly. Start your bidding!

Par-tay!

So, I've been meaning to write this post about Will's birthday party for several weeks now, but like with everything else in my life that doesn't demand immediate attention, I've been putting it off. My problem with blogging is that I always want the posts to be 'just so', so I end up waiting far too long in the hopes that the perfect words will come to me at some point. Sensing that that's not going to happen, I decided to just post something.

For Will's first birthday we had a small party with mostly family. Zach's parents were in town, and my parents, sister/BIL, and cousins came over, plus a few close friends (but no other kids). I don't believe in big parties for kids until they're at least three. I mean, if I'm going to spend all that time, money, and energy, they need to have at least a chance of remembering it! I'm only half-kidding---I really don't think that kids need a petting zoo or moon bounce at Will's age. Considering that tin foil still excites him, I think we can hold off on the moon bounce.

ANYWAY, the party that we did have was lots of fun and very sweet. I don't think Will had any clue as to what was going on but he looked adorable in his blue gigham shorts and white t-shirt with a cupcake applique. The adults had BBQ and a delicious chocolate and peanut butter cake from Olexa's. Will had his own little cupcake--white cake with chocolate icing--decorated like the big cake. However, the big disappointment of the party was that he had no interest in the cake at all! Even when we fed him a piece, he didn't seem care for it. I think he was honestly just ready to get out of his high chair, but I was really hoping for the picture of him with chocolate icing all over his face. I guess this is a good lesson in enjoying the life you have rather than the one you picture in your head.

Will got lots of presents--way too many, in my opinion, but I know that there are so many people who care for him and want to get him something. And that is really nice to know. But, he didn't understand the idea of opening the presents, so Zach did it for him. He seemed genuinely excited by all of the things, and he has really enjoyed playing with them since. However, he probably also would have been excited simply by the BOX that the toys came in. In fact, he really loved the tissue paper and the ribbons used for wrapping. His favorite present was, yes, the balloon that we tied to his high chair. That has provided hours of fun over the last few weeks. (Although, the balloon has come back to haunt us. He is now obsessed with them and just about had a coronary yesterday in the grocery store because I wouldn't let him touch each and every balloon that we saw. I guess I never noticed how many balloons there are in a grocery store.)

Overall, it was lots of fun being surrounded by people who love Will almost as much as Zach and I do. I think he had a wonderful day, even if he didn't realize it was all for him. We were all exhausted after the party, and the adults had to join Will for nap time.