Will's Life

couple of fun notes about WGH

2010-04-25T16:08:00.000-07:00

Some recent emotional expressions from Will: 'I’m happy mommy.' 'I cried about you.' 'That feels better!' 'I'm not sad anymore.'

He totally 'gets it' when we have at home conversations and what to share at school. Like we can giggle about potty talk and boobies v. bloobies, but he never talks about it in front of anyone else. Awesome.

He really wants to take care of Rocky. "I want to take care of Rocky. Give him meds and keep him happy. Let's take him to the doctor."

Dies over skiing, biking, and skateboarding, which he calls fakeboarding, cause he isn't so good with his sk's.

When we get ready to go on a trip he LOVES to pack and pull around his own suitcase. Sooo great!

sillies

2010-02-05T20:18:00.000-08:00

beth and nash, for you! in december

2010-02-05T20:12:00.000-08:00

december 2009 at home vids

2010-02-05T20:03:00.000-08:00

fireworks

2010-02-05T20:00:00.000-08:00

driving away from school today, i am laying out our evening. it is the amazing Steamboat Olympic sendoff party - block off main street, athletes, tv crews, music, fireworks. 'Will, we are going to see some fireworks!' 'Fireworks on Debbi's Boobies!' he said. wow. yes, deb wore a shirt on new years with fireworks on it. LOL

left and right

2010-02-05T19:54:00.000-08:00

sooo, he knows his left and right. he knows you go left at the end of the road to get to the playground and then the trash truck always turns right. sooo, we were across town the other day and I said 'we are turningnnggggnnggg...??' he yelled 'LEFT!' and that's right. been quizzing him to make sure it isn't a fluke.

he also counted to ten for me today. down the stairs - he counted each one. annnddd, matt and i were talking and we were thinking how rad it would be to have a math themed birthday party for will next year! HA! Insane! Give out calculators and do numbers stuff, etc. LOL. so nerdy.

Pool

2010-01-06T13:42:00.000-08:00

Took a bit of time off from writing for the holidays. playing catch up, but the below story prompted me to write again, as this one had me in absolute shock.

Last night, Alex, Will, Matt and I decided to go out to dinner downtown. This was AFTER we picked up Will's pair of season ski rentals in town. He is dying over the boots and can't wait to ski. anyway...

we went into the kinda lurky Old Town Pub. Sat down and all was well. Getting comfy and I spotted a pool table across the room. Something popped to mind and I said 'Hey, Will, do you know what that is? A POOL TABLE. With the green top and all the balls?' He looked over and studied it for a bit.

I next said 'do you ever remember seeing one of those before?' (i then whispered to matt and al that i would die if he got it.)

about 8 seconds of studying, silence went by. I had my arm around him and he looked at me and said, as if it JUST came slamming into focus, 'With Shai!'

Yup, the only time in his life he has ever seen or been near a pool table was 3 months ago in Cambodia. We went into the FCC (Foreign Correspondants Club - yes, as seen in the Amazing Race, months later) and got drinks. The 6 of us were literally there for 30 minutes and the boys messed around with the balls on the pool table for 10 minutes.

I am still kinda shaking my head at that one. jaw agape. so proud of this kid. i screamed and hugged him when he said it.

Fasterfaster

2009-12-15T07:56:00.000-08:00

Driving home from school yesterday in 'Will's lit-tel (that's how he says little) silver carrrr.' - i.e. the Matrix.

Came to a stop light and a long line in front of us. Will was eager to get home, I suppose and said 'GoGoGoGo'. I said 'Ohhh, we can't go until the light turns green and everyone in front of us goes.'

He looked down and then up and said 'drive on the sidewalk, Mama!'

I didn't teach him sidewalk and I don't think matt did either. wow.

French

2009-12-14T12:39:00.000-08:00

Told dad and matt, but the phone rang yesterday afternoon as we were having lunch. The house phone, which only family calls on, basically. Will yelled ‘I get it! I get it!’ and runs over to get it. I said ‘awesome, you get it!’

He picks up and says (without prompting) ‘hello’?! I heard a wonderful woman’s voice on the other end…and realized it was Isabelle Miard. I said ‘Will, it’s Mamian…Sophie’s mom in France!’ His eyes lit up and he just listened to her beautiful French. I said ‘Will, how do you say Moon in French?’ (he is still holding the phone) ‘LA LUNE!!!’ I hear Isabelle on the other end say ‘Bravo Will!!’ Then I said ‘What do we say before we eat?’ ‘Bon Appetit!’ he yells, with a silly inflection at the end. She was DYING.

He then decided he was done with talking and handed the phone off to me…anxious to run off and play with his baseballs.

Awesome.

Ice Skating - Nov 15, 2009

2009-11-15T21:10:00.000-08:00

Pauline and Bryan...this one's for you!

2009-11-15T20:58:00.000-08:00

i can do it

2009-11-15T20:48:00.000-08:00

Eves at home

2009-11-15T20:34:00.000-08:00

Magnifying Glass

2009-11-15T20:29:00.001-08:00

Grandpa Bill got Will a magnifying glass, so will walks around the house 'making things big'. It is hilarious.

Halloween Scene

2009-11-15T20:19:00.000-08:00

They shut down Main St. Steamboat and it is filled with trick or treaters and great families.

Nanas in Pajamas

2009-11-15T19:50:00.000-08:00

Rapping

2009-11-12T13:47:00.000-08:00

Of course Matt taught Will how to rap. Pbbh-pbu-chhh, pb-b-chh. And then, every once in a while, he throws in a 'BREAK IT DOWNNN' or a 'YO YO YOOOO'. He even puts his hand in front of his mouth. Pretty amazing to watch.

So, the days after Halloween, Will really had candy on the brain. So, we got in the car the next week and there were some candy wrappers from the festivities. I hear from the backseat 'Em-in-em-uhhhs!', will's word for his fave, M&M's. I peek back and see it is an empty wrapper.

"No, Honey, that is just a wrapper."

to which he responds by...you guessed it, rapping. 'BREAK IT DOWN!!' pbbuu, pbchhhh.

boo boo buddy

2009-11-12T11:51:00.000-08:00

Nana Niki got this for us/will many moons ago and we never really thought we would use it. a Boo Boo Buddy. The blue doggie. well, it is now officially the greatest thing in the house. Any TINY remote bump or fall or injury of ANY sort...will starts to crinkle up his face and just as quickly as he does that, he cries out BOOBOOBUDDDIIIEEEE! to which we retrieve it from the freezer, place it on the injury and the crying stops and we move on. It even works if he bonks and I ask if he is OK? 'OK Will? Boo Boo Buddy?' YEAAAHHHHHHH, he cries.

I LOVE YOUUUU

2009-11-12T11:50:00.000-08:00

called EVERYONE last night because Will now says I Love Youuuuu! Lisa died: I love you (deep breath) Leessaaaaa. Niki was crying: I love you (niiii-keeee). Debs was beside herself and Jenny wanted it on tape to play over and over again.

potty v2

2009-11-12T11:44:00.000-08:00

sooo, we (will and I) have a little routine now. every morn, get up, get nudey (will) and cleaned up. then head to the potty. we both sit on our potties and read magazines and look at pictures, while we try and go peepee. he has peeped now twice on the potty! kinda fun just to get it all started. same routine at nighttime!

oh, and then he hops off and runs around the house yelling 'NUDEY BOOOYYY!!!!'

Potty

2009-11-10T07:46:00.000-08:00

Sooo, Will is OBSESSED with his potty. He basically carries it around (sits it in front of the tv in the living room and sits on it), climbs on it, steps in the bowl, etc. Little plastic thing. He calls it 'Wiol's pot-ee'. anyway, we have just in the past week or so really started listening and focussing on his potty as a place to go potty - started taking off his diaper to sit on it, etc. wanted to get him used to it first, and now it is no longer really a toy. we have also, ahem, taken to reading with him on the potty...in an effort to keep him on it longer. so, last night, we were looking at a travel magazine and WHAMMO, I look down and a little trickle of peepee is coming out. he was busy looking at the pictures and talking. 'WILLL! You are going peepee in the potty! GOood booyyyy!!' cheered for a while and celebrated. He was happy, but i think still didn't realize that he was going peepee. so, maybe we aren't sooo ready yet for the potty, but getting there. Too cute. And today is school photos. LOL!

W and Names

2009-11-09T08:43:00.000-08:00

Will has a fun 'W' on his wall in his room. So, he has always said 'Double-U for Will!' And Grandma Debbi taught him his parents names...last week he came over to me with his eyes kinda rolled up and with his chin down and gave me a hug and said 'Robbbinnnn'. We were DYING. reminded me of some of Molly Pitts' insane expressions.

Anyway, in the car yesterday driving to school he was holding his tennis ball that we found on the run the other morning (he calls it his rodeo 'tussin' ball, cause that's where we found it and apparently tennis is hard for kiddos to say).

I hear this 'DOUBLE-U Wiolllll Hallll' coming from the back seat. I look back and he is pointing to the W at the start of the word Wilson on the tennis ball.

Uncochief

2009-11-09T07:54:00.000-08:00

Yes, the name of our street is very strange - what is an Uncochief anyway? My dad and Matt's mom have vowed to find out what it is and are still doing research.

Anyway, driving home from school today and will calls out all the landmarks as usual. Rodeo! Dino! Swimming - mommy Wioll swimming! HopHopHop (Rabbit ears motel)! Ice cream (Fuzziwig's ice cream shop)! And the latest...'Wiol's Horsey - Lightning!' (the horse outside FM Light and Sons cowboy shop that kids can ride.

So, headed up the hills to our house yesterday. Bus! (sees the green bus) Chicken, inside, dinner. (kitty on our street named Chicken is not outside...must be inside having dinner, of course. doi.)

So Will knows and can say that we live on Uncooocheeefff. So, we have been on long drives before and he says 'Home, Uncochief, Please.'

'Will, we are going to turn the corner now and let's look for Echo, the doggie! Will, do you know where Echo lives?'

'Uncochief.'

So, apparently he comprehends that uncochief isn't just something we call our house or some word we say when asked what street we live on. it is a living, breathing street that has other people and doggies living on it.

20 months old.

Mimicing

2009-11-04T11:46:00.000-08:00

Sooo, Will basically repeats ANYTHING that anyone says, all the time. no rhyme or reason and will do it for or from anyone. today at day care, Ms. Lynn tripped and said 'Whoopsie Daisy' under her breath. Whoopsie Daisy just happens to be the silliest word ever, so that is the new fave now.

On the way home from school today, he started saying 'Ohh MANNNN!' to which we followed up by teaching him BUMMER!

Then, if I try to cue him to say something, I whisper the word in his ear. he thinks that he should then say it in a whisper. so, that's pretty fun too.

Morning Run

2009-11-02T10:54:00.000-08:00

Woke up this am at 6 for my morning run. i HEART daylight savings. Sunny and gorgeous and ready for me to hit the pavement. love it.

anyway, while i was getting ready, i heard Will start stirring. dang, no run today. Wait! Why don't I take him with me?

Sooooo, I bundled him up in the jogger in the 25 degree weather and we headed off. had the best time, laughing singing, looking at horses, finding a tennis ball on the ground. everything. just the best time together.

there are a series of 4 horrible hills to get back up to our house. pushing the jogger up them is not the easiest thing in the world, to say the least. so, i ran/walk/jogged up, huffing and puffing. Will cheered me on 'go, mommy go!' so great.

we FINALLY limped into the driveway, with me totally exhausted. and will says 'MADE IT!'

done. made it all worth while. what a magical kiddo.

Halloween

2009-11-01T10:58:00.000-08:00

Will went as a caveman this year for his first real Halloween. Thanks to Nana Niki, he was rarin' to go. all set in faux fur everything on his hat, etc. caveman 'club' and we were dialed.

got to our girlfriend Holly's for a little H-ween party and had such fun. surprisingly, will actually kept the costume on! he played and played.

then we went downtown. So, they close off the streets in steamboat and open it to all kids and trick or treaters. all the shopkeepers sit on their stoops and hand out candy and it is really about the best event in steamboat. pretty insane.

anyway, will's eyes were open wide from the moment we got out of the car and saw a clown ride his bike by us to walking through the haunted realtor office with me. (he could care less about the haunted). at the beginning, he was nervous and soaking it all in. then, after about 3 shops, he would wriggle his way through the line and hold his little bag and say 'twicker tweat'! then he would get a piece of candy and some darling smiles and he'd say 'dankkkk uuuu' and walk away and look into his basket and see what he got. pretty amazing.

niki and bill loved watching it all unfold. had a grand time. took photos and really loved spending time with will. will could care less about the scary costumes...he was more entranced by them. i spent lots of time explaining it all so he felt a part of it in his costume. now he loves his pumpkins at home and his candy bowl and everything. i am sure he thinks we will do this every saturday nite.

photos to come! oh, and, despite being totally wound up and amped up on sugar sat nite, he slept like a champ. all night and woke up, ready to take on the leaves and house cleanup on Daylight Savings Sunday!

Turning the page

2009-10-27T14:49:00.000-07:00

Last night we were reading books before bed and I couldn't get the page to turn with my finger. so, i licked my finger and turned the page without even thinking. 3 seconds later, will is licking his fingers and turning the pages.

Foreign Language

2009-10-25T14:50:00.000-07:00

Got Willy some new foreign language books and he is reallllyyy picking up spanish! Need to keep working on the french. Fave words are:

Caballo - horse
Rapido - fast
Adios - byebye!

Dy-No-Mite

2009-10-24T14:44:00.000-07:00

So, everyone in the family has some phrase that they teach Will that is forever associated with that person. For example,
'what does Grandma Debbi say?' 'YEEEE-HAAWWWW'
Auntie Lisa = 'Hol-ey Smokes!'
Uncle Al = 'Awessoommmmme' (spelling = how he says it)
Grampy Ray = Puffs his cheeks up
Auntie Pauline = 'Eeee,Eeee' and dances with his arms
Uncle Bry = 'YUCKKKK!'
What did Grampy Bill teach you? = 'Hammer!' (taught him to hammer nails)

Soooo, since my parents are in town, we needed something to teach him for Nana Niki. What did she come up with? Dynamite! So, he says 'Dy-NO-Mite!'

And then when I have to help a little if he forgets, I whisper in his ear 'dynamite'. then he turns and puts his hand up to his face and whispers 'dynooomite'.

RE-DIC-U-LOUS

2009-10-20T14:40:00.000-07:00

Got to school last Tuesday the 20th and Miss Crystal (Will's teacher) informed me that Will's word of the day was, get ready...ridiculous. yup, he walked around all day saying things were ridiculous.

insane.

sickysicky

2009-10-05T14:51:00.000-07:00

welp, we would have never known had mother's intuition not kicked in. but willy has two MASSIVE ear infections and pneumonia in his chest. Sighhhh. he is such a lovebug. out of school this week with uncle al to get well. seriously, the same kiddo and the only way I knew is he said 'ears hurt'. got him on antibiotics and healing fast. should be back to normal quickquick. he can't stand being indoors!

Kep Beach - Veranda Resort Cambody

2009-10-01T21:18:00.000-07:00

will at soccer game

2009-09-28T00:59:00.000-07:00

Angkor Wat temple.

2009-09-28T00:46:00.000-07:00

thot of you, Isabelle and Jean-charles, the whole time!!

breakfast this morning

2009-09-28T00:25:00.000-07:00

The Living Room cafe.

Cambody grocery

2009-09-27T23:53:00.000-07:00

called Lucky's. Awesome. this vids is taken just before I got yelled at for taking pics in the grocery.sigh, didn't want me to copy their fabu mechandising techniques or something. LOL. no, the groceries certainly aren't all like this. lots of ex-pats in here and very few locals, but that's OK. got food and wine for dinner. and beers - Tiger, Singha Lao, Angkor,etc.

Cambody3

2009-09-22T04:04:00.000-07:00

Cambody2

2009-09-22T03:50:00.000-07:00

Cambody Day 1!

2009-09-22T03:33:00.000-07:00

hats

2009-09-14T21:39:00.000-07:00

Singing and Talking

2009-09-14T21:02:00.000-07:00

Alcala

2009-09-10T08:40:00.000-07:00

*DAMMIT* Can't paste the email string! Sigh, quickquick here.

Daddy took care of Will last night and Will started yelling Alcala, Alcala! and pointing. Matt followed his eyes and point...Alex. of course! Debs helped enlighten us that he was saying UNCLE AL. sigh. of course. leave it to the grandma!

Shhhh

2009-09-09T08:39:00.000-07:00

Sooo, I taught Will to whisper today. It is HILARIOUS. he kinda just yells in a low voice and puts his hands over his mouth. Awesome.

The day of Hats

2009-09-06T08:37:00.000-07:00

Sooo, Will is forever on a tear about hats. And lately he has been pretty on fire about neighs (horses), to say the least. We drive by the horses every day after school and he sees the cowboys and we say YeeHaww! Anyway, realized that we totally all have cowboy hats! So, got em all out today and we all had to wear them everywhere, according to Will. His new fave. Wore it to school today and he was so proud and showing it off to everyone. Amazing. He looks darling in it too...got a pic of him in his high chair wearing it during dinner tonight.

pockets and a hunt

2009-09-01T08:13:00.000-07:00

went to the grocery yesterday and will has a new frustration - he doesn't have enough hands to hold everything he wants to hold. (!) so, we were cruisin through the grocery and he had a ball in each hand (still his fave) and he wanted to hold a peach that was in the cart too. brow furrowed and grumpiness and a little whining ensued. so, i said, 'WILL! you know what?! you have these amazing things in your pants called pockets! they are material that is sewn shut and they hold things! so, look, i can put your ball in your pocket and it is still yours and you still have it!' i take it from him gently and drop it in his pocket. then reach my hand in and get it out again. the look on his face was astonishment. happiness. excitement. then he puts one in his pocket and out. in and out. and now he has a free hand for his peach. ahhh, if life were this easy for all of us.

(when we got home, he said to daddy 'POCKET!' and then i slipped some stuff in his pockets when he wasn't looking. he reached in and found some toys. Oh BOY did that make him happy! so, now will has and knows and says pocket.)

after a little bit at home we decided to play everyone's favorite game: throw balls over the deck railing! and, since they are balls, they roll all the way down the driveway and sometimes into the street. usually will plays by himself until he calls in for a partner. and by partner, i mean - someone to go and retrieve the ball down the hill. So, i hear the famous 'Help Please Mama! Get it Please!' from the deck. I come running out and see that he only has one ball in his hand. i.e. the other one is down the hill...since he almost always has one in each hand.

Sooo, yesterday, i decided to turn it into yet another game. 'Will, let's go on a HUNT for the ball!!' He got the look on his face like 'OHMYGAWD mama! i am so excited i don't know what to do now!' 'Will, go get your hunt hat first!' he runs and gets his little explorer hat (yes, he has one and knows that he has to wear it for a hunt). then he runs to the front door. 'Will, do you need your crocs on?!' 'Yeah!' (see below) and he plops down on his bum and we put his shoes on. Daddy pipes in 'do you need your flashlight?!' 'Yeah!' Runs and gets his flashlight. And we are finally ready for a hunt.

Much pleasure, happiness and sillies ensue as we are hunting around the driveway in the daylight with our explorer hats and flashlights on. then, we the unthinkable happens! we find THREE balls! Yup, lost one and found three. He was BESIDE himself! Annnnddd, what did we do with the third ball? Put it in our pocket.

whammo.

(see below note from above: I NEVER thot I would be one of those parents...the ones that corrects their kiddos when they use bad grammer, etc. well, after listening to his dear old mom a ton, he now says 'YEAH' instead of Yes. sigh. so, we are working on correcting that ASAP. heehee)

2009 Steamboat Triathlon!

2009-09-01T06:23:00.000-07:00

Lisa graciously took amazing care of Will - got him up, fed him and carted him all over the course to see us! Amazing to have our smiling little guy there to cheer us on...and Lisa! Thanks Lisa!!

Hall Movie Night - w/ Noddy

2009-08-31T22:28:00.000-07:00

here's Noddy, in case you are wondering. pretty hilarious. Pauline and Bryan introduced Will to him over the Holidays.
http://www.noddy.com/

dancin in summit county

2009-08-31T22:18:00.000-07:00

Circle, this one's for you.

2009-08-31T21:59:00.000-07:00

From the Archives: Judkins Apr09 Visit

2009-08-31T21:48:00.000-07:00

New fave person? ELKE! Of course!

2009-08-31T21:41:00.000-07:00

bluebies?

2009-08-31T21:34:00.000-07:00

neighs

2009-08-17T10:29:00.000-07:00

Well, we think we have the horse-fear thing figured out. Maybe. And, of course, Will helped by telling us.

So, we went to our first Rodeo with Pauline and Bryan over the 4th of July, here in Steamboat. We sat quite far away and Will was in awe. Sooo interested and trying to figure it all out. We watched everything and all was well. Went home and he hasn't stopped talking about 'Neighs' since then. Horseys say Neigh, of course.

I think Neigh might actually be his most often used word. That and Bike and Rocky. And Mama and Dada. And shoes. OK, anyway.

So, we went back to the rodeo last weekend after Will begged us for weeks and we talked about it a ton. (Keep in mind that Steamboat is a VERY horse-oriented place. So, on almost all of our bike rides (2-3 per week) Will sees a horse. There are horse statues everywhere as well.) Oh, the day before, we went down to the cowboy shop in town and there is a life-sized plastic horse out front with a saddle on it. So, Matt sat him on it and he said 'No, No, No ALL DONE' repeatedly. Matt held him there gently and encouraged him and taught him more about the horse and the saddle. He eventually stopped asking to get down and it wasn't so bad.

OK, so then we go to the rodeo. Will's eyes were huge at the whole scene. We even got ice cream (rice-rice, in Will speak - with Claw-Claw, chocolate) and sat VERY close this time. Like horses were 8 feet away. The beautiful gals came in carrying the flags and he was pointing and mouth agape. All was fun and good. Then they released the bucking broncos and he went bananas. Crying, yelling, terrified. 'No, No, No, All Done. Car, car, car.' So, we waited it out for one more rider and then left. We continued to talk about it the whole way home and ever since. I told him how happy the horses are to be playing with people. So, now he says 'Neighs. Happy' every time.

We keep talking about it, buying books and telling him about horseys. He is sooo curious and interested, but then gets very spooked. He asks for all the books on neighs all the time. We were doing stickers the other night and I said 'Oh, let's put that little girl on the horsey!' (stickers) He said 'No, No, No'. Hm. so something about riding?!

Went to the Routt County Fair this weekend and we saw lots of animals and he kept asking to see neighs. We saw the neighs and people riding on them and running and he was OK. Nope, riding is not the problem.

So I did what I should have done 2 months ago - I asked him. "Will, why don't you like the rodeo? (he knows that rodeo is where the horseys play and the neighs are just the horseys themselves) Is is because the neighs are scary?"

"No."

"Is it because the people are riding the horseys?"

"no."

"Is it when the people fall off the horseys?"

"Owweee".

'Ohhh, so it hurts the people when they fall off?' YES.

And where this all started was this weekend. Watching ESPN and there was a beer ad where a guy is jumping on a trampoline and falls off and the whole tramp falls on him and he gets hurt. Will was watching and says 'NO, NO, NO!!!' And started crying! Sooo, he is very sensitive about people getting hurt.

Gotta love him. 18 months old.

tonite goofies

2009-08-15T19:13:00.000-07:00

he was pooped tonite, but still had some fun on the deck after dinner.

still loves bubbles.

runnin thru the sounds.

too shy to say what uncle bry and auntie pauline say (YUCK and ee-eee-eeee). on a mission to get the ball. threw it overboard again.

we had a long day

2009-08-15T19:01:00.000-07:00

falling asleep eating pizza tonite. 8/15/09

this is what we do

2009-08-15T18:57:00.000-07:00

Trilingual

2009-08-15T18:51:00.000-07:00

we have now added Ciao to the mix. he has bonjour and adios mastered.

climbing

2009-08-15T18:45:00.001-07:00

sooo, matt and i turn around the other night and will is standing on the dining room table touching the chandelier. he is super mellow and just inspecting so we didn't scream or anything, but definitely 'ahem, need to keep our eyes peeled for you!' sooo, this is how he gets up.

dancin at a bar outside

2009-08-15T18:37:00.000-07:00

picking a flower for mama. i almost cried.

dancing at an outdoor concert

2009-08-15T18:33:00.000-07:00

my new sleeping bag - July09

2009-08-15T18:26:00.000-07:00

two others from today...just came to me.

2009-08-13T14:25:00.000-07:00

1) in addition to adios and bonjour. he now says Ciao! and says it CHHH-OWW. awesome. this morning he said 'adios duncan!' to the doggie next door. he uses it regularly.
2) this morning he had a big boogie in his nose (sorry, beverley, i know how you hate it). so i ran and got a tissue. as i was walking back to him, i said 'you need a tissue! (and he wiggled his nose)' 'you know honey, if you ever have a boogie and can feel it, you just say 'NOSE!' and we will get you a tissue.' whatever. wiped the boog and was on our way. i went downstairs and matt said that not 8 minutes later, he came up to him and said NOSE. so matt went looked and there was another boogie. matt got a tissue and wiped.

mama's birthday

2009-08-13T08:11:00.000-07:00

soooo yesterday was my (Mom/Robin's) birthday. greatgreat day, thanks to matt and will and the doggies! wooohoo!

Anyway, we woke up and I said 'Will, guess what today is?!' he got all excited. oh, wait, this is how the morning went down. slight deviation...

So, i hit the alarm at 5:30am cause i didn't sleep so well. no workout before work for me. finally get outta bed at 6:45. turn on the shower and start to hear some rustling through the monitor from Master Will. Matt and Rocky are still in 3rd stage REM. Atlas is whining already (welcome to our world). then as I am getting out of the shower, I hear shreiks of joy and laughter and this boom-boom-boom coming from will's room - right across the hall from our room and the bathroom.

i peek in, dying to know what is going on. he has his hands on the side of his crib and is jumping up and down in the crib. screaming and smiling. HILARIOUS. he was sooo happy and raring to go. (no, he can't fall out, don't worry)

so, anyway - 'Will, guess what today is?! Mama's Birthday!' He gets very exited - does he remember his first birthday? Hm. Anyway, milk, car, day care drop off. Afternoon comes and matt and I (after an amazing 20 mile bike ride together - snuck outta work early...actually, didn't sneak, everyone was so stoked for us to get in a good ride. so great) picked him up at day care on bikes. That is his FAVE thing ever. he sees me walk in in my biking shoes (more on that later) and says bike?! I say, 'yes will, we are on bikes!' he b-line's directly for the front door of daycare and literally RUNS to the bike parking area. gets into his little trailer and is ready to go. gave him some squirts of our gatorade, which he loved. then daddy said 'we are surprising mommy and going on a PICNIC!' to which will said 'Hop birdee'. i.e. Happy Birthday. Wow. so, we headed to the park for the most amazing french picnic, thansk to Matt - brought a rugby ball and a blanket. a bottle of rose, some baguette, our fave chocolate, etc. Just an AMAZING birthday. soo fun! we played and laughed and had amazing food. headed home and had bath time, then off to bed...for all of us! we were pooped!

couple of other gems about master will.

So, he is MORE than obsessed about shoes. People can't be in the house without shoes on, in Will's mind. So, if you take yours off, he goes and gets them and brings them to you and makes you put them on. He knows which shoes are mama's and which are dada's. He runs around saying 'shoes, shoes'. He says 'Crocs' for his crocs that he wears every day. says 'wip-wops' for his flip flops.

he also has started pronouncing things a little better. amazing! like, he always said 'bubbies' for bubbles. just yesterday, on a whim, he said 'bubbles', so now it is bubbles. and bikes were always 'bikeys', now they are bikes. crazy.

he is best friends with a little boy Owen at school. Everything is 'Owennn'. he carries toys in from the car in the morning just to show them to owen. and when they see each other, they both do a little high-pitched scream and run off playing together. owen's mom, Lisa, said they were driving into town the other day and Owen was saying 'Willllllllll'. She was so excited. we need to get together with them on the weekends.

lastly, i have been telling will that we are going to cambodia - sooo interesting explaining countries to him. 'we live in our house on Uncocheif street. that street is in steamboat. in US. we are going outside of us to cambodia. and arthur lives in france. and grandma debs lives in California. etc.etc.' he soaks it all in. anyway, we are going to cambodia to see a little boy named Shai. 'Shyyyyy', he says. So, I say cambodia about once a day now and whenever he hears it he says 'SHHHHhhyyyyy'. amazing. going to teach him to say hello in cambodian as well.

words

2009-08-07T19:12:00.000-07:00

so, the language thing with him is pretty insane. for example, tonight while getting him ready for bed, I usually carry him over to his bedroom window and we look out the window for 'mals' (animals, in will-speak). so, were looking for mals and i noticed that daddy had put the sprinkler out to water the back lawn. i said, 'do you see any mals?' 'no' he says. 'hey, look will, dadda put out the sprinkler! cool!' then, matt went up to read to him - his favorite new books: Doctor Seuss from his Great Grandparents Ray and Bev. Matt laid him in his crib and will looked at him, pointed out the window and said 'Dadda, Sprinkler?' clear as day. We said the word ONCE. I just don't get how he is so good with language. amazing. 18 months old here.

corn

2009-08-05T19:17:00.000-07:00

sitting at dinner and we had brats on the grill (courtesy of dad!) and some grilled corn. will looked at my corn and said 'corn please?' (didn't know he knew the word corn...must have heard us saying it? then he proceeded to eat it just like an adult and was chowing for a good 10 minutes. LOVED it! Not sure where he learned a) the word corn and b) that he likes to eat corn. crazy. oh, he also likes 'claw-claw' for dessert: that's chocolate.

tri-lingual

2009-08-04T19:38:00.000-07:00

new fave words we taught him:

Adios (good bye in spanish)
Bonjour (hello in french).

Every morning, he walks in to see matt and says 'Bonjoooouur Dadda!' with puckered lips and all.
Waving good-bye to dad in the morning while leaving for school/day care it's 'Adios Dadda!'

daily adventures

2009-08-03T19:19:00.000-07:00

the morning drive with will is one of my favorite times of the day. we get all set for school and he gets so excited to go out the door and get in the car. 'Mamma Car?' he says, to ask if we are going in mom's car. we start down the stairs and he says 'hand?' and i take his hand to help him down the stairs.

we get all loaded up and head down the driveway in the car. he waves and says 'ba-byyee dadda!' down the drive he says 'WWwwweeeeeeee'! then, we make our way down the street while will waves hello to all the animals. 'Bye Duncannnn' for the golden retriever next door. 'Hi Chimp!' to Champ next door. yes, he calls him chimp. we head around the corner to pass by the green bus. 'BUSSS!' 'will, what color is the bus?' BLUUEEE. Oh well, the word green isn't coming very easily yet.

two days ago, I got a new one - 'CHICKEN!' Umm. Chicken? Oh yes, that's right, there is a new, darling black and white kitty at the next house whose name is Chicken. We met him once while we were walking last week.

It was trash day so he called out TRASHHH for every can. Then, we get downtown and daddy has taught him Stop Sign. 'Stop Sign, Stop Sign.' Smiling the whole way, we have some bright, spunky kids music on as background noise. he is holding a fave toy (usually a ball or car) for the ride and his sippy cup of milk - which he still doesn't like drinking out of.

we turn onto Lincoln (main st.) and it's MOOOOOTTTOOOOOO! As loud as can be. (that's motorcycle) then, of course, 'BIKE, BIKE!' and, we roll through town and stop at the light where we turn to go to the rodeo. 'NEIGHS' - he wants to go to the rodeo and see the neighs (horses). (don't know how he knows the turn for the rodeo) pass the Rabbit Ears Motel with the bunny logo and he says 'HopHop!'

Today we sang the ABC's and he yelled out DOUBLE-UUUU, when I got to W. (wow.) Then, I line it all up for him. 'OK, honey. So, Mamma's gonna take you to school and you are going to play and have soo much fun with Miss Lynn and Miss Crystal (he is the youngest kid to ever say CRYSTAL and she was crying when she told Matt) and all your friends. Then, mamma is going to pick you up and we'll go home and play catch and ride bikes or go for a walk with dadda and rocky and at.' (he is looking intently now) Then, tomorrow, we'll do the same thing and then you know what the next day is? The Week-end!' to which will declares every time: 'BIKE!'

By this time we are usually passing the gas station that has the big plastic dinosaur in front (with a saddle on it. wierd?) and he yells 'DOUGH-YY'. that's dino. Then, we turn onto the street where his school is and I get 'ChooChoo!' Yes, there is a train that goes by the end of the street every day.

Alas, we make it to school and he is so eager to get out and walk in on his own.

These are the best times. wow. can't wait to do it all tomorrow.

Will the Tivo

2009-07-29T14:42:00.000-07:00

Sooo, it's no secret that Matt has a SMALL obsession with Tivo. Well, now he is getting Will into it.

This is what I hear this weekend coming from the master bedroom in the morning:

'Will, this is the Tivo remote. It allows you to Pause, Play and Fast on the TV. Can you pause?'

So I come into the room and pause/freeze in mid-air when Matt says 'Pause' again. Will looks up and smiles. Matt says 'Play' and I continue what I am doing. Matt says 'Fast' and I hustlehustle speedy run around like a chicken with my head cut off.

Will is dying laughing at this point. Then he yells out PAUSE. So I stop and he is so proud. Matt yells Fast and I go fast again. Then Will catches on and says 'Pause' 'Play' 'Fast' and I am doing it all.

And so it begins...the new game. Every time will says one of the words he laughs and smiles. sooo great.

Thanks Tivo.

Counting and colors

2009-07-29T13:42:00.000-07:00

SOooo momentous day yesterday!

Master Will was walking around the house holding two balls - a softball and a fuzzy blue one. He looked down at the balls and furrowed his brow a bit and said 'TWO BALLS'. Um are you kidding? I was dying. Does he really know the number two and that he was holding two balls in his hands? It all started with Nana Niki months ago when she was saying that the little man in the truck (Monsieur Azul) has two eyes - one, two!

Then, last night the babysitter (we had softball) was playing one of Will's fave games - 'Go on a Hunt!' Basically, it goes like this. 'Will, let's go on a hunt!' So, he runs and gets his miner/adventurer hat and puts it on and comes back to see you. Then you tell him something to hunt for. Truie (the sitter) told him to hunt for the blue ball. He ran over to the pile of balls and picked out the blue one from all of the other ones there. Brought it right back to Truie. She was DYING. Sooo impressed.

Apple Juice

2009-07-26T13:40:00.001-07:00

Matt taught Will to say Apple Juice today and he says it clear as day - Ap-ple-Joose. Says it slowly and enunciates perfectly. It is hilarious and so cute. He looks so proud when he says it and we cheer and give high fives. Too cute! He even said it on the phone to Nana Niki and P-Bill!

Ass-Ass

2009-07-22T12:33:00.000-07:00

Age: 8 days shy of 18 months

Will is playing and rolling around on the carpet in the living room a couple of weeks ago. He stops to a halt and stands up with a furrowed brow. Runs over to me and says 'Ass-Ass' and sticks out his tongue. I look at his tongue...covered in dog fur. (Hey, it's no lie that we have a bit of fur around our house.) Yup, he was letting me know that he has Ass-Ass (That's 'Will' for Atlas) fur on his tongue. I told him to stick it out and we wiped it off. And onto the next thing.

He does this about daily now.

P-Bill, Pillows, Sleeping Bag and Milk

2009-07-21T13:47:00.000-07:00

1) Last night Will and I were downstairs, outside watering our fave little bed of flowers together. He holds the long watering wand and I control the water (thankfully). He loves to point it everywhere and get everything wet, and put his hand in front of the nozzle every once in a while. And we now have a cute little snake that has taken up residence in the flower bed - he suns himself and plays in the bark/mulch during the day and sleeps under the deck at night. Love it all. He is rad. (not sure why it is a 'he'. are there female snakes actually? their boobs would leave little grooves in the sand as they slithered along. heh.) Matt and Will named the snake Joey. So, we watered the plants and said hi to Joey (hiii, noey - in Will-speak). Will then decided to run over to the corner of the driveway and was looking intently at some piece of wood. I came over and asked him what he was looking at...'BILL', he said. I said 'Grampy Bill?' 'BILLLL'. Um. Oh! Right, that is where grampy bill taught will how to hammer the nails when he was here. Will was touching the nail and saying Bill. I asked him if P-Bill taught him to hammer and he said 'hammer'. We then went upstairs and were playing catch on the deck. Will ran over to a chair and said Billllll. I then realized that that is the chair that Grampy Bill sat in while he was here. Wow - had P-Bill on the brain today!

2) While having our after school snack on the couch last night, we were all sitting and enjoying each other and Will got on a tear. He was rolling around in the pillows and jumped up and decided to bring us the pillows so we could get a closer look. (: He got one pillow and brought it over to Matt and said 'Dada'. Got another and brought it to me and said 'Mama'. Then, got up on the couch, put his hands behind his head and leaned back on the third one and said 'Willllll'. (What color is Will's pillow? 'BLUE', he said.)

3) We bought Will his first sleeping bag this past weekend, in preparation for Hall Camping this weekend! Can't wait. And neither can Will, since he won't let the sleeping bag out of his sight. As Will says, it is 'lelllo'. (yellow) He sprints up to it and dives onto it, burying his face and rolling around on it. Fabulous. I keep telling him that this weekend we are going to sleep outside in our sleeping bags! He doesn't quite know what to do about that. His eyeballs are massive.

4) Sooo, we kinda realized that we need to get Will to drink less milk out of a bottle and more out of a sippy cup. At school, he drinks milk from his sippy cup all day. But at home, he loves the bottle. So, Matt and I decided to drop it cold turkey. He is pretty adaptable and good. So, this morning, I filled a sippy cup, heated it up and handed it to him. Furrowed brow - 'milk?' 'Yes, Will, today we will have milk in a sippy cup.' 'NOOOOOO!' He put it on the floor and walked away. I walked over to him and sat next to him on the couch, while he stood. I looked him in the eye and said 'I'm sorry, honey, I realized I didn't explain this to you. There comes a time when people don't drink out of bottles anymore and drink out of cups....' I explained it all and ended with 'so, that's why we should have milk from a sippy cup during the day now.' He looked at me and then away. I gave him a squeeze, got up and walked away. Glanced over my shoulder...he had grabbed the sippy cup, gotten up on the couch, laying back on a pillow and drinking from the sippy cup. He just needed to know why. I don't blame him.

LOVES weekends!

2009-07-09T10:05:00.000-07:00

Age: 17 months

Every day on the way to school, I tell Will the 'agenda' for the day and next couple of days, so he has something to look forward to. We particularly focus on the weekends, of course.

So, this morning I was telling him that we are going to dinner with Pauline and Bryan after school and then tomorrow is Friday! 'And you know what Friday is, Will?! The start of the WEEKEND!' He smiles and says 'BIKEY'. So, apparently he has learned that on the weekends we all go for bike rides.

Catch and Trucks

2009-06-25T09:46:00.000-07:00

AGE: 17 months minus five days

1) Woke up to him saying 'Ball-ahh', which is 'Will' for Ball. So I went in and we hugged and played while I changed him and I gave him a ball to hold. a fave baseball from his uncle Al. then I told him we should play catch. so, I put his hands in front of his tummy in a catching position and threw the ball into his hands. He was ELATED. and then he said Billl. I thought he said Ball...hm.

so he threw back to me and we played 'catch' for a little bit. All the while he was saying Bill. I said 'Grampy Bill'? He nodded and said Billl. Sometimes he says P-Bill, for Grampy Bill. Then I realized that the last time we were all together my dad taught Will to catch just like that!! He totally remembers, insane.

2) This morning I was telling Will what a fun adventure we are going on this weekend to pick up Auntie Pauline (Leeenn) and Uncle Bry in Estes Park and we would see Auntie Roisin and Auntie Anne after that. I then told him about all the fun and we are going to see Auntie Lisa! to which he responded: "LEE-SEE" with a big smile and a look around. I told him "Oh sorry, hun, we are seeing them tomorrow, she isn't here now." Then I said we were going to see Ross too. To which he said "Truck!". Um, yes, because Ross drives a truck. He remembers from when they were here in May that Ross drives a truck. Then he said 'Rosss, Rosss, Rossss'.

WOW

and lastly

2009-03-08T07:00:00.000-07:00

Eve at home

2009-03-07T21:41:00.000-08:00

Walkin and Playin

2009-03-07T21:20:00.000-08:00

General Evening Silliness

2009-03-07T21:11:00.000-08:00

Diggin Barney in my crocs

2009-03-07T20:59:00.000-08:00

Some gems

2009-03-07T20:36:00.000-08:00

Around the House

2009-03-07T20:19:00.000-08:00

Winter Carnival!

2009-03-07T19:57:00.000-08:00

First weeks in the Boat

2009-03-07T19:43:00.000-08:00

Starting to Walk!

2009-03-07T19:32:00.000-08:00

Taking a few steps to Gramma Deb - from the William chair.

SmartWool's Annual Ski Day

2009-03-06T16:30:00.000-08:00

Rad band called Missed the Boat played - fun bluegrass, rock from Steamboat - lead singer/guitarist works in Marketing at SWool

Hiking Spring Creek 3/1/09

2009-03-01T16:26:00.000-08:00

Snowy Morning in the Boat

2009-02-15T16:17:00.000-08:00

LOVE the pillows and couch

2009-01-28T08:03:00.000-08:00

Sooo helpful in the kitchen, Part IIb

2009-01-28T07:13:00.000-08:00

Sooo helpful in the kitchen, Part IIa

2009-01-28T06:23:00.000-08:00

Sooo helpful in the kitchen, Part Ib

2009-01-27T23:25:00.000-08:00

Sooo helpful in the kitchen, Part Ia

2009-01-27T22:41:00.000-08:00

Pushing and Tickling

2009-01-20T22:24:00.000-08:00

Miscellaneous Happiness

2009-01-10T22:10:00.000-08:00

Fun in England!

2009-01-05T22:00:00.000-08:00

This is what it is like to ski in Megeve, France.

2009-01-05T21:44:00.000-08:00

Making YUM noises

2008-12-18T21:36:00.000-08:00

Atop A-Basin, Skiing - Nice views

2008-12-10T21:29:00.000-08:00

CA Road Trip

2008-11-17T15:42:00.000-08:00

1st Trick or Treat

2008-11-17T15:18:00.000-08:00