He's finally CRAWLING!!!

Will has been working on this for about a month, but he is finally crawling ALL the time, not just a few steps here and there. It is such a big milestone and one the therapists have really been working on.

We are still concerned that William's upper body strength is lagging behind his lower body. This milestone is so encouraging because he is obviously strengthening his arms and shoulders and stomach while crawling around. It also helps his reflexes so that he can learn to reach out and catch himself when he falls from standing. PLUS, it makes him very happy to get around so much faster.

This is a video that I took tonight after we had been out in the cold. He took off before I could take off his snowsuit, but it didn't seem to really bother him (except the slipping around). You can also hear a nice clear "bye-bye" at the end. Enjoy (and please ignore the mess)!

Leavenworth, Washington

Hmmm...just realized that this never got posted. Oops

We spent the afternoon in Leavenworth last Saturday

or, as we told Ian it was called,"Christmas Town". Some pictures of our day...

Finding our perfect tree.

Michael and "our" tree. We went to Trinity Tree Farms, which is actually not far from our house (about 10 mins) although it felt like we were out in the woods. It is one of the things we love about where we live. We are so close to the mountains, but also only a little way from Seattle. It is a great location.

We had a lot of fun with Ian picking the right tree. There were so many to choose from that Ian was a bit overwhelmed and wanted them all. "How about this one, and this one, and this one..." He was very excited. Plus, Ian is always up for open spaces where he can run around without getting into trouble. He had a great time.


Our family self-portrait. I love that the boys are looking at each other. Will loves riding in the sling on my back. He tells me lots of secrets while he's hanging out back there...I just can't wait until I can understand more than "ball", "tickle", "kiss" and "woof" which are his only real words right now. :)

Ian hiding in the trees.

Will and I waiting for the "big guys" to finish cutting down the tree. I like being in charge of the baby. I always get to watch the hard work. :)

Ian and Papa showing off their (Papa's) handiwork. Our tree!

Carrying the tree to the road...luckily they come by with four-wheelers and tag the trees and take them up to the front for you. After all, this is "U-cut" for yuppies!

Ian exploring the trees that were more his size. We were up pretty high and completely in the clouds.

Ian driving an old fashioned fire-truck at the tree farm. It was a bit hard to drag him away.

Santa was visiting the tree farm! We finally figured out the way to get Ian near Santa - get William to start crying. :) Ian was very unsure, but he was a lot happier to go make Will feel better. He is actually a very protective big brother when he isn't shoving William over! So, I think this is the best Santa shot we'll get this year. I thought it was probably successful that only one boy was in tears.

William, after being rescued from Santa, waiting happily in his car seat while Papa ties the tree to the top of the car.


Let the decorating begin...

Ian was a little impatient waiting for Mama to get the lights up, but after that he had a lot of fun hanging ornaments. In fact, we were very impressed at how good he was at hanging ornaments. Unfortunately he wants to do it everyday, all day. Every morning I catch him trying to "put the decorations in the right order". I guess he always thinks it needs a little tweeking. :)

I hope that everyone is enjoying the season. We are missing all of you!

Thanksgiving and the "day after" (i.e. Nana and Mama torture everyone else by dragging them out shopping)

We had a very nice Thanksgiving with Nana and Grandaddy. It was our first time spending a Thanksgiving in our own house (good thing Nana was around to do all the real cooking) and we finally had a reason to use the good china. Maybe Mike and I are growing up after all.

We had a lovely lazy Thanksgiving day with good food, the Macy's parade on West Coast time, lots of playtime and plenty of relaxing. We followed it up by braving the crowds in Seattle, looking at Santa from afar, but never getting too close, and enjoying the Christmas lights and carousel at Westlake center. It was a good way to kick off the holidays!


Michael and Ian watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Ian is in pajamas as he almost always is. In fact, even when dressed he usually has pajamas on under his clothes. At least we are pretty close to fully potty trained which makes Mama more willing to allow creative dressing.

The boys waiting for dinner. Yum!

Something funny in the kitchen!

We agree that aprons are not the most flattering attire, but I couldn't leave all pictures of us out. Notice the chicken on the counter. We decided to forego a Turkey since none of us really wanted one AND they're huge AND this was a grocery store rotisserie chicken that we didn't have to cook. Ssshhhh....

William guarding the table. He was content to watch the action and LOVED dressing but only if we left the gravy off. In fact, when I tried to add gravy he cried. Note for Christmas: dry dressing only please. Another note for all you wondering what "dressing" is: our version (perhaps a Southern thing) of stuffing but made from cornbread. It's good stuff.

Black Friday Fun...

Ian looks like he's up to something...

William trying to stay awake and hanging in there. He was a pretty good sport for a long day of shopping.

Riding the carousel. Ian absolutely LOVED this. I think he could have stayed all day.

Welcome Christmas! The lights are on in downtown Seattle!

Better Late than Never...The Pumpkin Patch

We took the kids to a local corn maze and pumpkin patch. I think the corn maze was a bit lost on them, but Mike and I enjoyed it. It was the shape of WA and had landmarks along the way. It also had marked "highways" and a map so the whole thing only took about 10 minutes. Perfect for toddler attention spans.

Ian enjoyed looking at all the animals and loved riding the wagons that were pulled by a tractor (for some reason we didn't take a picture of that).
We spent most of the time picking out pumpkins. Ian insisted on picking out the most rotten pumpkins. Most of the ones he wanted were half black! Very unlike his mother who only wanted a "perfect" pumpkin. We settled somewhere in the middle. :)

Included in our "didn't get pictures" are any of the kids in costume. We stayed home and passed out candy and Ian's outfit was on and off but never more that a few seconds at a time. He did love passing out the candy though and liked picking out exactly what was going in the bags of all the kids (some of the trick-or-treaters were less than thrilled however).

Here are some pictures from our day. Hope everyone had a happy Halloween!

Ugh, what a day!

Well, this was suppposed to be a post about William's new braces for his ankles, but I'll just have to get to that in a minute.

I had to call 9-1-1 for the first time in my life today! William crawled into the bathroom, shut the door and opened up the cabinet drawers. The door wouldn't even open an inch. I could just barely get my fingers through the space. So, I sat there for a few minutes trying to talk William into closing the drawer (which he knows how to do), but he ignored me and just kept trying to open the bathroom door. I called everyone I thought might have ideas, but nothing worked. I tried to push and pull the drawer closed with a hanger -- nothing. At this point Will was starting to get very upset and I, of course, was beginning to panic so I called the fire department who arrived in about 2 minutes, borrowed a butter knife, shut the drawer and was gone. VERY embarassing since I had been envisioning ladders up to the bathroom window or other such heroic measures. A butter knife. Honestly.

Ian informed me before they arrived that he would just go hide in his bed because he was pretty sure he'd be scared. He did just that while they were inside the house and then told me afterwards, "Mama, lets not do that again, ever." I agreed.

On to other things. William's PT brought his new braces yesterday and fitted them. It was kind of bittersweet. Of course I want William to get everything that he needs or could be beneficial, but seeing your baby with braces on their legs isn't easy.

Anyway, they seem to be working out pretty well. He was a bit clumsy at first just getting used to the braces and the fact that he has to wear a bit bigger shoe. I think the whole thing probably feels heavy to him as well. But, after two days he already seems not to notice them and I think he looks so much sturdier and straighter on his feet. I think that they're going to be helpful and the therapist said they may even help him walk sooner than he otherwise would have. So, these are just a few pictures of him wearing the braces and then one of the braces themselves for those of you that are curious. Here's hoping the next time everyone sees him he's taking a few steps!

Just having some fun.

No news to share today. I just thought I'd share some pictures of the boys playing around. Enjoy.

Brothers in the tub. We have tub markers and stick on letters and Ian refers to the whole process as a "messy bath".

Ian riding his new tricycle and William looking on. It works a little better when it isn't on the grass, but my opinion is already obsolete around here.

Playing in the Thomas tent that Aunt Meghan gave Ian for his birthday. They both love it!

Ian driving the firetruck. He really wanted to drive, but it took some convincing to get him anywhere near the fireman. We are working on our social skills. :)

Our visit to Aunt Jenny's

These are pix from our September visit to Aunt Jenny's house. The boys and I had a ton of fun.

Great Grandaddy and William "sharing" the remote...

Baking a chocolate sailboat cake...

Looking at pictures with Nana...

Climbing the stairs...

Ian turns 3!

Ian had quite a day. We found out that he is very easy to get along with when we just say "yes" to everything! Mike took the day off work which made the day pretty special already. We opened early morning presents and then headed to McDonald's for pancakes and some time on their playground. After a trip to Toys R' Us we headed home and had pizza and cake. We spent the rest of the day playing with new toys (that very conveniently arrived spaced out throughout the day) and finished with a ride on Ian's new tricycle. He really did have a blast.
Mmmm...Cake!

First round of gifts. I think the quote was "OOOOH my Goodness!" to everything he opened.

Ian's (unfortunately) pink firetruck that also looks like it may have been in an accident. At least 3 year olds aren't picky about such things yet and lucky for Mama, there was no one else to impress. :)

William enjoying Ian's cake.

Ian talking on the phone to Nana. He spent a lot of the day on the phone and loves to wander around and talk (just like his parents).