William Wednesday

I was right when I wrote a couple of months ago that the "firsts" were almost over, but the fun was just beginning. I was so right! The exploration and discovery never ends and he just soaks everything in like a little sponge.



William had his 1 year check up yesterday. It was 2 weeks late because he was sick and then I just needed to find a time that I could make it work. He is in the 100% for his height and 25% for weight - seriously, why can't I have that proportion? The doctor asked a lot of developmental questions and dietary questions and said he is ahead of the game and doing great. Duh - we already knew he was perfect didn't we? :)

The doctor tried to give him a spongebob sticker but he just looked at it with a confused look on his face. She asked if he had ever seen spongebob and I said he hasn't ever had much of an interest in cartoons. Maybe he will as he gets a little older, but when we try to put them on he doesn't pay much attention. Fine by me - I'm not much into TV or movies, and I don't want to have to fight the TV battle his whole life so if he isn't interested I won't push that one :) He'd much rather play with his toys than watch cartoons.

And oh my goodness does that boy love his toys. I thought he loved his toys before his birthday, but once he got newer, cooler, more age-appropriate toys he has a BALL! He got a lot of toys so I chose to put some in a closet to bring out throughout the year for new discoveries rather than overloading him at once. So the toys I've let him have for now are his mega blocks (giant legos) that came with a wagon, a guitar, a record player and a drum. He also gets the stuffed animals and books, but those are in his bedroom and he prefers them at night time/morning time. His guitar is his new toy for mommy's room - meaning he only gets it when he's in my room. I had read somewhere that having toys for special places that a child may tend to be needy or distracted is a good way of keeping them occupied. He LOVES his guitar so I instantly thought it'd be perfect for occupying him in the mornings when I am getting ready. And it WORKS! He absolutely loves when he sees it in the corner and he struts over there to play the songs. He has the cutest little dance he does - he shakes his head from side to side, flaps his arms and sometimes wiggles his hips. When he's dancing he always pauses to make sure he's being watched though, as being watched is half the fun.

He also dances with his drum downstairs. I may have a musical baby :) The drum sings "feel the salsa rhythm from your head to your toes dance to the beat of the bongos" and he just laughs and laughs as we dance together. He loves to get Austin and me to dance with him.

Another new favorite for him is trying to learn how to stack the mega blocks. He has such concentration and intensity surrounding his mega blocks and last night he was so frustrated I even had to take them away. He can stack one, but he wants to be able to take it apart and put it back together instantly. If his hand twists the block and it won't stack he gets so frustrated with himself. Last night he got 3 stacked together, but was VERY mad when one fell off. I am trying to allow him to get frustrated enough to learn but not too much to where it is just spinning his wheels and making him more mad than is useful. Does that make sense? It's a hard balance to find. So, when he got to the point that his frustration was no longer beneficial I started packing the blocks back into the wagon that they are stored in. The wagon is like a crossover between a wagon and a dump truck - you can lift the basket part and all the blocks dump on the ground. Anyway, as I was packing the blocks up William started to help me. Touched my heart. Then his form of helping turned into climbing IN the wagon WITH the blocks. He's climbed in it before when its been empty, but last night he wanted in with the blocks. So, what happens when you put a baby in a bucket that's already full? Yep, the blocks just overflow. Which is hilarious to a 1 year old, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't laugh too.

Laughing is one of our favorite things to do right now for sure. This weekend we were running errands and William was having a blast in the back seat. He entertained us with his dancing, his clapping, and playing peekaboo with his blanket. He LOVES peekaboo. It usually starts by me throwing his blanket on his head, then he laughs as we say "Where's William?" and he pulls it down. Nothing unique here - just generic peekaboo. But it never gets old. He also loves to mimic sounds and loves to blow raspberries back and forth with Austin.

And I haven't even told you the best part yet. Guess what William did this week? he said MAMA! It started in the bath one night when he was just saying the "mmm" sound" He's say "mmmmma" then I'd say "Mama?!" and he'd look at me and grin and say, "DADA!" We did that a few times then I gave up, but the next night during bath time he looked right at me and said MAMA. He still babbles dada more, but he will repeat Mama when we say it and sometimes he'll say it on his own.

We've had a ton of fun watching him explore his new toys, climb up and down the stairs, run down the hallway and cuddle with the animals. Every day is fun - he is truly the light of my life and he will make the next 9 months MUCH more bearable for me. I can't wait for every new day and new discovery!