9 Months Old

Can my baby really be 3/4 of a year old already? I just don't see how that is possible! So what is new in Will's world? He has been battling a pretty nasty cold. I stayed home with him on Tuesday and took him to the doctor. Dr. Joe said it was just a cold and to let it run its course. Unfortunately Will seemed to be getting worse rather than better so we ended up seeing Dr. Joe again yesterday afternoon. Max is now on an antibiotic to help clear up his cold which has turned into an infection. Hopefully he is on the mend and his nose will stop running. He hates having it wiped and yells every time I try. So he often looks likes just like this picture - snot running down and all.

His two bottom teeth are just about all the way in. His top two are so close to cutting through. They look just awful - all bulged out and red. I really hope they cut through soon so my little man can get some relief.

Will is doing a great job at pulling up from a sitting position. He loves to stand whenever given a chance. It drives Max crazy that Will pulls up at the side of the train table. I have a feeling things are going to only get tougher in this area. Will is showing more and more interest in Max's things and Max isn't too wild about.

Will has been working hard to perfect his pincher grasp. I just gave him a few Gerber Puffs the other day and he loved trying to pick them up. I'm not sure how many actually end up in his mouth. While he is great at grabbing things with his thumb and forefinger, he hasn't quite gotten the idea of letting go of the treat once it reaches his mouth.

Probably my favorite Will 'trick' this month is his wiggles. He wiggles his little body on demand and shakes his head from side to side. He gets all excited and it is just the cutest thing ever.

It really does just amaze me how much children change this first year. It is a wonder to watch.

Visiting Uncle Mel

In my Christmas post I shared pictures of Will with two of my great uncles, Sam and Joe. My grandma had a third brother, my Uncle Mel. As I was growing up I was probably closest to Uncle Mel. He took me to Tower Tee and signed me up for a kids golf session with Hale Irwin. He would pay me $1 for every shot I took that made it past 100 yards. In all the years we went I think I made about $3. Uncle Mel was always willing to drive me to sports activities in grade school or work in high school. Although I have to admit that driving with him was always a little scary - he never was a great driver. I'm so grateful for Uncle Mel and the role he played in my life.

Uncle Mel is in nursing home now. He suffers from dementia and some days are better for him than others. Last night was a wonderful night with Uncle Mel. Max, Will, Nonna, and I headed to the nursing home to visit last evening after dinner. Uncle Mel lit up when he saw me and boys. He reached out for Will and wanted to hold his hand. Will was pretty excited about it too. In addition to just a visit we had an extra treat for Uncle Mel last night. Nonna and Great Aunt Carmelina had Uncle Mel's old home movies put on dvd's with music. We brought in my laptop and showed Uncle Mel a little of the movie. It was pure magic. He held my hand and told us who every person in the movie was. Max was excited to see his Nonna as a baby and he thought the swimming pool scenes were pretty funny.

I'm so fortunate to have my family in my life. It means even more to be able to share my family with my boys.

Happy New Year!

We rang in the new year with a fun new activity - bowling! As you may know, Brian is an avid bowler or at least he was at one time. He even has a 300 game, or two, under his belt. After enjoying a yummy New Year's Day breakfast we headed to the bowling alley. I don't think I'm sure who was more excited - Max or Daddy. Although I have to say that Max was so excited he wasn't very interested in posing for pictures.





Max loved rolling his ball down the lane and waiting for it to emerge from the ball return. I guess for a three year old the ball return is a pretty amazing thing. He would also plop his little tush at the line and watch his ball bounce it's way down the lane - thank goodness for bumpers!

Max was all tuckered out about two thirds of the way through their second game, but he was still pretty proud to pose for a picture with his very first bowling score. Funny thing is he got a 55 both games.

All in all I think his first bowling experience was a huge success. In the car he told us he wants to go again.

We are very excited to begin a new year - I'm sure there will be many more wonderful firsts in 2012. Happy New Year to all!

Merry Christmas!

I don't even know where to begin - this has been such an amazing holiday! We started off the celebration with almost 50 people over last night. Wow, that was a lot of people. All went well thanks to the efforts of my Aunt Carm and Nonna Carlotta. I couldn't have done it without them.









Most of my pictures are of Will because Max just wouldn't stay still he was just too excited. Will is battling a bit of a cold and only napped for about 30 minutes yesterday so I have to admit I was REALLY worried about how he would deal with the celebration. He was actually a little trooper! He posed for pictures with two of my wonderful Great Uncles.

Max was all excited to put out the cookies he had baked for Santa, but I think he was even more excited to sprinkle the special reindeer food with Nonna.



By far the highlight of the evening, other than the great food and fabulous company of course, was a surprise visit my Santa. The kids were so excited! Max was nervous but thrilled to be standing next to Santa. Graham had no fear and was chatting up a storm. Paisley wasn't so sure. Santa's visit was short, you know he has lots of boys and girls to see so he had to get on his way, but I think it is something the kids will remember for quite a while.





This morning Max couldn't wait to come downstairs to see if Santa did indeed bring his car garage. He was so excited when he saw the garage with Santa's note. Will was just excited by all of the pretty paper and bows. Although he did take a break from the paper to check out his toy from Santa. We had an amazing relaxing morning playing with the boys new toys and enjoying breakfast together - not to mention lots of coffee, hosting a holiday is exhausting!

Once we were rejuvenated we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a little low key brunch. It was so nice to relax and chat. Max is always super excited to see his cousins.

Mommy got a new camera lens for Christmas. I think I need to figure out how to get both kids in focus in the same shot . . . I guess I'll just have to practice and take more pictures of my beautiful little boys. Darn. Merry Christmas everyone!

Preparing for Santa

Last night we began our Santa preparations. Max worked with his Great Aunt Carm to make cookies for Santa. He loved every minute of the attention as she showed him how to place the cookies on the pan.

Once the cookies were made Max wanted to write a letter to Santa telling him what he wants for Christmas. I know we are a tad bit late, but I think Santa will get the message.
"Dear Santa, I want a garage for my cars please, thank you. Merry Christmas. Max" I helped him with the writing, but he came up with the words all on his own.

Today we caught him looking up the chimney. He told us that Santa is going to hold on to the flue to help come into the house. I can't wait to see how excited he is tomorrow morning when he realizes that Santa has visited. So much fun!

8 Months + 1 Day

I sit here looking at the Christmas tree. Both boys are asleep and my list of things to do is a million items long. How am I spending this precious time? Blogging. I love reflecting each month on Will and the changes I see with him. I feel like I need to keep in mind Ferris Bueller's famous quote "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while you could miss it."

Will changes so much from day to day. He still just has two teeth although the drool hasn't slowed down at all, so more must be coming. Just in the last week or so he has begun pulling up to his knees. He wants so badly to be able to stand. While he is an expert roller, he hasn't shown too much interest in trying to crawl. I need to work on giving him opportunities to practice while I'm home over winter break. After a little tough love from mommy he is sleeping thought the night - from 7pm until about 6am. Thank goodness - three nursing sessions a night was getting very, very old.

Brian and I are constantly amazed by the amount of babble we hear from him. We joke that he is more verbal now than Max was at 18 months. He loves to hear himself 'talk' in the car. Will has also gotten the hang of eating something other than milk - which I appreciate. He loves fruits, except for bananas. This is rather funny to me because I swear Max would be happy to live off of nothing other than bananas. Will tolerates green beans and carrots, but makes the most awful face for peas, squash, and sweet potatoes.

Probably my favorite thing about Will right now is his love for his big brother. He lights up when Max walks into a room and calms down whenever Max talks to him. What makes it even more adorable is that the feeling is mutual. Max loves Will more than anything. Max hates to see Will upset and he does anything in his power to make it better. The other night in the car Will was upset. We pulled up to a stop light and Max leaned over to him and said "It's okay Baby Will, it's only a red light." Too sweet.

I guess I took my moment to slow down and reflect, now it is time to get back to that to do list. It seems to be pretty long when you are preparing to host Christmas Eve for 40+ people. Remind me again what I was thinking when I volunteered for this? Oh yeah, that's right. I love my family very much and I wanted to give my sweet Aunt Carm a break.

Christmas with the Klippels

Uncle Will and Aunt Sue were in town from New York so we had an early Christmas celebration with the Klippels this past weekend. The boys were all excited - or at least Max was. Will was actually a bit cranky due to a shorter than necessary afternoon nap. He did perk up a bit to play with his Uncle Mason.

The boys posed for a few pictures in front of the tree. I have to say they look pretty cute! After a fabulous dinner we gathered around the tree to open presents. Will was pretty excited just to hold on to his gift - and try to chew on it. Max was more than willing to show his little brother how it should be done.

A good time was had by all. We are just so incredibly fortunate to have such wonderful people in our lives! We look forward to a few more Christmas celebrations to come over the next few weeks.