First Haircut!

Will had his first haircut on Dec. 15th. He didn't cry or even act upset. The beautician said he was the best "first" she'd ever cut. Here are the pictures taken by Brian. I look a little proud, don't I? This is such a fun age, full of changes. I was sentimental about Will turning one, but now that it's here, I look forward to the fun we'll have as he grows and learns.






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Will's One Year Check-Up

Here are the highlights of Will's one year check-up and just Will in general:

* He weighs 21 pounds and is 30 inches long - still consistent with his 50% weight, 75% height growth.

* He's ready for cow's milk! We made the switch to whole milk, and our pediatrician said to start getting him off of the bottle. Right now, he's not keen on drinking the milk on his own in his high chair. He'll take sips now and then this way, but he won't drink enough to meet the daily recommendations. Our compromise is that I still give him his sippy like I would a bottle, only now it's milk instead of formula, and it's in a soft-spouted tall sippy instead of the bottle. Hopefully soon we can decrease the time we do that and have him drink more with each meal. It's a gradual process, but we'll get there.

*He needs a haircut! His hair is adorable and sticks out now behind his ears and neck, but it does look a little unruly. Since we have enough stereotypes to deal with living in Alabama, we're going to take our Will to get a hair cut in the next few days to avoid him having "baby mullet hair."

*Cruising machine: Will is still not walking, but I think it's more of a fear issue than one of physical capability. He cruises fast and stands alone for quite awhile now. He kneels, squats, and changes to and from any of those positions with ease. It's so cute to see him squatting by his toybox, fishing out whatever he wants at the moment.

*Social butterfly: Will is happiest when we get out of the house at least once a day. He's a flirt and loves to bat his pretty eyes at the ladies. The boy is equal opportunity - young, old, any shape or color - he will smile and wave at them all. He also loves to play with his friends. HIs best friend Elias is traveling at the moment, but Will can't wait until he's home again and they can have another play date.

*Sleep changes: Will was waking frequently during the night, which wasn't easy on his mama. He's always been a great sleeper, so it spoiled us. I contributed his waking to teething and his ear infection, but I'm starting to wonder if it was because he was ready to drop his second nap. Lately, we've been busy, causing Will to skip his morning nap and take one longer afternoon nap. Since we've been doing this, he's slept much better at night. A well-rested baby is a happier baby, so we're going with the flow and dropping the morning nap as long as it continues to go well for us.

*More Dada time: Brian's finished with finals, so Will is enjoying lots of extra time with his Dada. He adores his dada, and he lets me know. Last week, I asked Will, "Do you love your Mama?" He immediately smiled and shouted, "Dada" and waved at Brian. It was so cute. I think it made Brian pretty proud!

That's all for now. I must get things done while the prince naps.

Birthday Video

This isn't the "official" birthday video since that's on our camcorder, but here is a quick one of Will eating cake and being his normal sweet self. Enjoy!

Birthday day pictures

Will is officially one! I have so much I could blog about, but honestly, I feel a drained after being under the weather this week and would prefer to hash out my reflections later. The short version of Will's birthday - we had a simple but special day. It began with our normal routine of breakfast and STrollerstrides, then we ran an errand to Target, came home for lunch and Will's nap, and took a very brief wagon ride (weather was blustery today!). Next we had a few visitors while Will ate his favorite supper - his momma's homemade meatloaf & mashed potatoes. When the house was quiet again, Brian and I sang to our little man as he dove into one of the cupcakes I made last night. A nice long bath was in order for Mr. Cakeface, then he acted silly (sugar rush?) and played until bottle and story time with his new books.

Ok, so maybe that wasn't a super-short version, but it's much shorter than writing out the "this has been the best year - I'm in love with being a momma to my sweet little boy" feelings that have been making my eyes tear up lately. Maybe I'll do that soon. The blog will continue, and the pages thus far will be made into a special book for Will. It may be years before he can appreciate it, but I hope one day he'll look back at it and see how much I have loved him since the beginning.

Here's pictures of our day ...

Will's crazy monster hat - goofy but SO precious. He got a lot of attention wearing it at Target, which he loved - the little ham.

Will in the morning, not wanting to leave his Dada to go to Strollerstrides

A little light morning reading

Will on his birthday morn. He likes to play with the remote for awhile after breakfast.

Cupcakes!

He loved his cupcake - dove right in but didn't make as huge of a mess as I thought.

Pics. below are of a quick test ride in Will's new wagon - our birthday gift to Will. It was too cold to stay out long, so we threw on a pullover and the monster hat and took a very fast spin around the cul-de-sac. We're still laughing at how goofy/adorable he looks in that hat. Will usually looks just like Brian, but there is a little something in these pictures that reminds me of myself when I was little - not sure what it is. Maybe my mother or siblings can pinpoint what it is. Will liked the wagon and looks forward to park playdates and parades to take his friends for a ride. Get ready Elias! :-)