A Day Devoted to Puddin...

Here are a few various scenes from today. His cake was so yummy!

Happy Birthday William!

3 Years...

Disclaimer: This is a long winded post, meant to capture Will at this moment to look back on in the future.

Tomorrow, William will turn 3. In some ways it feels like yesterday that we brought him into this world, but in other ways it feels like he has always been here. He is a complicated little man, very similar to both Jason and I in many ways. He is very sensitive and is very emotional when he disappoints, or upsets you. Today he stuck the darn pennies in the car CD player AGAIN and I ranted at him for once again messing it up. He was so sad and cried so pitifully that you can't help but feel bad for him. He just can't remember he isn't supposed to stick those tantalizing little discs of metal into that slot that seems to perfect for them. Each time I also try and remind myself not to leave coins where he can get them. He has a fantastic memory, and will recall things that were literally months ago mentioned once in passing. He memorizes songs very easily and can recite many, many books by heart. He is working hard on all his letter sounds, and will frequently try and match them up to a new word or object. He has totally come out of his shell socially and will talk to just about anyone. He is very frustrated when someone doesn't respond to him, which I can't blame him for. Some people are so unfriendly to little kids! He is 90 percent potty trained, except at night, but I figure that will come with time. He is becoming an increasingly picky eater, but his favorite foods are very sophisticated. He adores pesto with mushrooms and broccoli, loves curry and naan with cucumber yogurt sauce, and favors asiago bagels over cinnamon raisin. Go figure! He loves Thomas the Tank Engine and will spend hours a day playing with his trains. He does different voices for the characters and will retell the stories he has seen on the movies. His favorite places are the library and Target. He will also ask to go to Barnes and Noble, but he really just wants to play with the trains there. He loves his stuffed animals more than any other kid I have ever seen and drags them around acting out scenarios from different books. His current favorite movie is a nature series called Blue Planet from the BBC. He is fascinated by all the sea creatures, and indeed so are we. I can't tell as of yet if he is excited for baby Charlie or not. At times he seems very interested, but other times he seems downright opposed to him. We will see what happens. I am going to miss having William all to myself during the day. He and I have spent many happy hours reading and playing and it will be hard to divide my attention. But, at the same time, he needs a sibling. It will teach him so many lessons that he will need for living life in the future. It will be interesting to see how the next year goes for him. So many changes are coming down the line, but we will face them together.

Braxton and Hicks Were Evil Men...

Not really. They just named something that Mother Nature already had given us. I have been doing too much. I am trying desperately to continue my life as normal despite hauling around this baby. I hate being debilitated. I hate relying on anyone else. I hate feeling lazy. But. When I actually try and do anything that requires lots of physical effort or stamina I fail big time. The contractions come and come on strong. I had them every 4 minutes on Tuesday night for quite a while. I couldn't decide if I should call the midwives or not. They did go away after a while, but it was scary. Charlie is NOT ready to come out yet. I know that. So I have to do my best to let my body have it's way for a while. I just wish I could be one of these women that just breeze through pregnancy and it doesn't seem to slow them down at all. Maybe those women don't really exist and just put on a happy face when we see them out in public. Maybe behind closed doors, they too are making the kids pick stuff up for them and are making grunting noises while getting up off the couch....9 weeks. 9 weeks.

Spring Fever...

Daddy and William spent 5 hours out and about on Sunday, playing at various parks. William is loving being outside again so much and so are we! I can't wait for the weather to make the full leap into spring, I am ready to open up the house and breathe the fresh air again. We grilled last night and stayed on the deck till it got too dark to be out. We spent Saturday evening shopping for books for William to open on his birthday. Jason and I get so tired of reading the same ones over and over, and with all the reading we do, it takes a lot of books to keep the rotation exciting. We got him some very cute ones and a couple of science books, one on nocturnal animals and one on artic animals. He has been into the story of the 3 Billy Goats Gruff, including jumping from one couch to the other so he can eat grass on the opposite hill, and get "nice and fat". Too cute! So, I got him a copy of that. His fear seems to have greatly improved over the last week. He is back to normal, sleeping through the night, in his own bed again, so we are all happy again. As for little Charles, he is moving a lot, growing bigger by the day, and seems to be doing well. We will have a new Ultrasound a week from today to monitor his growth, but I doubt there will be anything wrong. William is 3 this Saturday, and I am still stunned! This year has gone by so fast, and he really seems like a little boy now, no longer a trace of baby about him. Wild!

The Bus Driver...

Fear...

Poor William has developed a SEVERE anxiety towards bedtime, and being alone. I am not sure exactly what triggered it, but it seems there is a certain episode of Thomas the Tank Engine that sent him over the edge. He has been a little weird for a while about being left alone in a room, but now he wants to be next to you all the time. So sad. Last night he came into our room and we let him stay, since he was so upset. I snuggled him up in my arms and he said "Thanks Mom for saving me." SO SAD! Who could send him back to his own bed after that? When you ask him what he is so scared of, he says it's one of two things: A cobra chasing him, or Percy and the ghost (from the Thomas movie). Jason and I are trying to reassure him constantly and we put his teddy and kitty on night watch duties tonight. I am sure they are up for the job. I am certain that this too shall pass, but I just ache for him. You can tell these fears are very real to him, and I remember all too clearly being scared to death to get up at night to go to the bathroom, simply because I was certain something was waiting to grab my ankles the minute my feet hit the ground! Yikes! It isn't easy being little.