William By Numbers, the last edition

The day has finally come.  Our little pepito has taken 12 photos in white onesies.  He is officially a kid now.  No more baby.  And as exciting as that is, I am just a little sad that the baby-ness is gone.  He was such a precious baby.  By far the most beautiful child I have ever seen, and I KNOW I'm biased, but still - he was gorgeous right from the beginning.  And I can't even believe how much more handsome he has gotten every single month.  Such a pretty baby kid.  But, of course, you expect the momma to feel this way - so I will move on.

I am amazed at how much he has learned and been able to accomplish in just one year.  You read the milestones before you give birth, and as the months go along, but it never occurs to you, or atleast it didn't to me, that they have to LEARN how to do it all and watching the wheels turn as they figure everything out is just AWESOME, in every sense of the word.  I could watch him all day if I had the time.

I find myself appreciating it so much more when he WANTS me to hold and cuddle him (he's been having a serious Daddy phase of late) and letting him sleep on me five minutes longer before I put him down for a nap.  There is going to be a time when, much too soon I'm afraid, when he doesn't want anything to do with cuddles and I'm trying to make the most of it while it lasts.

All in all - it's been a wonderful year.  At times I thought I'd never survive and being a mommy is definitely the hardest thing I've ever done, but certainly the most rewarding.  His smiles and giggles really do make moments stand still and we are so blessed.

Enough sappy mommy time;  Here are the last month's highlights:

*Pepito learned to walk on July 16.  He took very few tester steps and it seemed that overnight he decided that he could walk clear across rooms/houses and he has not slowed down since.  It is exhausting keeping up with him and it's only been 2 weeks of trying.

*Eats all kinds of finger foods.  Eggs are a favorite, as are spinach and cheese tortellini.

*Could still survive on puffs if we let him.  By the handful.  Atleast he will eat them off the floor after he drops 5 of the 6 he picks up.  It's hilarious though - we say "you want some puffs?" and he walks himself straight to the corner of the coffee table where we always put them out.  Pavlov's dog kid at its best!

*Can say Ball, Mama, Daddee, UhOh, Bye

*Waves Bye Bye with his entire arm

*Claps every time you say "Yay William!"  Thankyou Mimi for teaching him that one!  So cute!

*Follows social cues well - if he senses that he made us laugh - he will laugh too - but it's his forced laugh/cackle not his completely tickled with himself laugh

*Loves to bang his hands on tables, faces, anything really

*Knocks on glass doors to get people's attention

*Has been completely and successfully weened off formula and is now drinking whole milk like a pro - from a sippy cup - that he is giving himself

*Loves Apple Juice with water - or as we call it "Baby Crack"  Our pediatrician isn't wild about juice and actually told us not to give him any but - yeah - we did.  We also gave him real milk before he was actually a year old - we're "hood" like that...haha

*Does NOT like sand.  AT ALL.  Don't even try to put his feet in it.  Seriously.  He DOES like the ocean though.

*LOVES LOVES LOVES the pool.  He flat chills out in his float - all leaned back and relaxed

*Finally came to terms with wearing a hat.  Which is good, because that kid is still basically bald.

*But what hair he does have - is red and curls in the back.  Adorable.

*He gets very antsy if he has to sit in a shopping cart for too long.  Only problem with that is that when you put him down to let him walk he doesn't follow direction yet and I end up chasing him all over creation.  But if I left him in the cart he would be screaming bloody murder, so I guess I'm happy to be exhausted...

*Likes his kid size plastic cups in the bathtub and pool - much better play things than actual bath toys.

*Prefers his Daddy over all others, and prefers men over women in general.  I'm not sure what to make of this.  Though, if he falls down and hurts himself - he wants his mommy.  Atleast I have that.

*Looks just like his Daddy.  I guess that I'm also willing to give this point up, but it hurts me a little. ;)

*Was called a "tank" by another dad at the beach - Sam has never been prouder.  And we're thinking that will probably be his football nickname. ha.

*Loves to watch traffic.

*When he gets really wound up he literally runs in circles.  Literally.

*Has the same bedtime routine as when he was itty bitty.  Swaddle, Fox News, Milk, Rocking, Sleepy Blanket, Bed.

*Loves Burnie the cat.  And if asked "What sound does Burnie make?" "Meow?" he will give you a high pitched short squeal - so cute.

*Is definitely going to be a climber.  God help us.

*Does not like to have his face washed or his ears cleaned.  This makes me crazy - I have a thing about ear wax...

*Is an absolute tornado.  Good thing I've given up on having a clean house.

*Is still wearing 12 month clothes, unless it's a romper - then the 12 months are getting a little too short... but he is FINALLY in 12 month pants!!  (not sure how he got called a tank...)

*I think he weighs somewhere around 21-22 pounds - we go to the one year well check on the 12th...

*Loves to share popsicles and icecream with mommy

*His most favorite play toy ever? Empty water bottles that he digs out of the trash can.  I still don't know why we buy him real toys.

*He picked out his own toy for the first time at Target this past weekend - his choice? A glittery orange ball.

*Tries to have (loud) conversations with other babies/kids.  From across the room at a restaurant or across the grocery store.  Some times they talk back.  All times I get strange looks from people without children.

*Still only has two teeth. But he uses them to their full potential.

*Loves graham crackers.  And Ritz crackers.  All crackers in general really.

*Broke his first pretty thing of Mommy & Daddy's.  One of our blue chevron stripe vases.  I wanted to cry.  He did.  But only because I locked him in the living room while I cleaned it up.

*Plays peek-a-boo with his sleepy blanket or newspaper.  And loves it.

*He has learned the word No.  And while he doesn't necessarily always obey it - he WILL say it back to you if he disagrees.  If it wasn't so cute it'd be frustrating.

*Still razzes like his life depends on it.

*Learned how to stick his tongue out at us.

*Likes to put his hands into the baby food and then run them through his hair.  I think he knows that it will earn him a one way ticket to the bath and he'll get to play with the plastic cups.

*Hams it up for an audience.  He pulls out all the stops and all the "tricks" he knows.  Get him alone with just us - he screams and cries.  Rotten spoiled child.  ;)

*Discovered that kitchen doors and drawers can be opened and that there are fun things inside at the beach house with their "modern easy open doors."  This gave him a lightbulb moment and now he can open our "retro" kitchen cabinets.  We are installing child proof lock immediately.  Boo.

*Is absolutely obsessed with clothing price tags.  He locks on and HAS to have them.  We did a little outlet shopping at the beach and while I was perusing Clearance, Sam said that he kept "visiting" one specific tag that hung on his level.  Hilarious.  If he finds them on the floor - he'll carry them around for ever.

That's all we can think of.  Like it was a short list - ha!  I'll be surprised if anyone made it through all of it - sorry for the super long post.  But I figured that since this was the last monthly update I'm going to do - I better get it all in there.

Loves!

The Beach

Lord - I don't even know where to begin.  Every year Sam's family goes to the beach, the past several years it has been to Seagrove (which is RIGHT next to Seaside).  We missed the trip the past two years - so it's an understatement to say that we excited to take a vacation.  We did, however, make the mistake of expecting this vacation to be relaxing.  Somehow it didn't occur to us that traveling with a small child that was sleeping in the room with us would not be chill and quiet.  But it is what it is and we survived.  Though, by the end of the week every single one of us was sleep deprived and the youngest of the us was in a foul mood and pretending to be sick with an ear infection/manic teething/etc.  Oh well.  We weren't at home and Sam wasn't at work and that was good enough.

playing in the pool with his plastic cups  :  modeling his new XXS t-shirt

I'm not going to even attempt a day by day recap.  Too much.  It should suffice to say that William does not like the sand, therefore, going to the beach lost its allure.  We did manage to load up atleast once every single day but our motivation was definitely lacking each subsequent time.  He loved the pool at the house though, and it was screened and shaded, so we spent a lot of time playing with him there.

happy while sitting with mommy  :  not happy with feet in the sand

All the sun and activity did produce wonderfully long naps though.  Which we would have appreciated a lot more if we hadn't been "grounded" during them.  We spent A LOT of time waiting for him to wake up so we could go do something.  Didn't anticipate that either.

making funny faces for no reason  :  love those red curls

The good thing about going with the family is that since William is such a ham he performed for everyone almost all the time, which meant he was at the very least pretending to be happy often.

sweet baby boy playing in the pack n play  :  walking at Seaside early morning style

We went on hour long bike rides almost every morning after breakfast.  We were up at 6am every morning, so we got to take advantage of the less than brutally hot and humid weather and that was fun.  And occasionally pepito would fall asleep in the bike trailer.

working his ab muscles so he doesn't have to touch the wet grass  :  one of the few times he had fun in the sand was with his Bebe - don't even get me started on how much my feelings are hurt

He's a cute kid.  It was a fun vacation even if it wasn't relaxing and we are definitely hoping that he likes the sand by next year.  I want to have a reason to build sand castles again!

walking in the sand for 5 seconds  :  loved playing on a towel at the beach though

Grandaddy R, Daddy, & Baby - just outside Seaside with the pine trees and dunes in the background

UggaMugga with Mommy

Happy Family

You might see this one again on a Christmas card!  Best Family Picture Ever!

Could William & Sam look MORE alike?!

Loves.

Make Lemonade?

Pepito is too cute.

This was Saturday, July 17 - He'd been walking for about 24 hours at this point and already a pro.  "Eating" a lemon, talking and walking all at the same time.  Love him.

Loves!

A new era

Just like we thought pepito came home from my parent's house walking!!!  He decided he was good at it Friday afternoon - so we didn't miss too much and Daddy promises that he has video that documents the first steps.  Poor guy - Daddy set him down at Grandmother's house to show us and we both squealed so loudly that it scared William and he went grabbing for anyone who wasn't squealing (the only person was his Grandaddy K...)  It might be the cutest thing I've ever seen!  I could've never imagined that feeling - pure joy and oh so proud of our little boy.  We swear that he changed significantly over the week he was gone - he left a baby and came home resembling an actual child - it's just wild.

 

And William must know his destiny - he's already learned how to shuffle sideways in preparation for football as a teenager.  Ha!  Over the past couple days he's really taken to walking more but is still convinced that crawling is faster, which actually - it is right now, when he really wants to get somewhere.  We've also noticed an increase in booboos from his toddling around.  He tripped over something, a towel I think, and fell into his frog ottoman this evening.  I know that the upholsterer added padding to it, but I guess not as much as I thought, because he had a pretty red spot on his cheek.  It'll be gone tomorrow though...no worries.

In other news - I think he's mad at me for "abandoning" him.  Seriously.  He doesn't want me.  He only wants his Daddy.  Seriously.  He pushes my head away when I ask for sugar.  I tried to tell him that come Monday I was his primary caregiver again and he should be nice to me but he didn't want to listen.  And screamed pitifully when Sam left for work.  And then again when he went to play with Auntie Hads and Robbie during my interview this afternoon.  Though, it's kinda sweet, because he does want to cuddle and let me rock him on the floor when he's being pitiful even though he's mad at me - I don't understand but I'm not arguing.  Sam just keeps saying that it's just a phase, and to remember the time when all he wanted was his Mommy.  I'm pretending it's not hurting my feelings.  I don't think I'm pretending very well....

No candid pictures because we just got the part to fix our camera, and no video because I'm too lazy and tired to relearn how to load a video onto the computer, but I will leave you with some of the cutest professional pictures I've ever seen.  Hadley has outdone herself and we've got birthday cake (or a Publix cupcake) smashing pictures on Thursday before we leave for the beach.  I just cannot believe he is almost one.  Insane.  Absolutely insane.

Loves.

Into the Wild Blue Yonder...

Pepito is headed up to Cleveland tomorrow to spend a glorious week with Mima & Grandaddy!!  I am so excited!!!  There is going to be lots of sleeping going on in this house - I can't remember the last time that Sam and I got to sleep 8 hours uninterrupted.  I won't even be THAT bored during the day because on Tuesday, in addition to a couple appointments, I HAVE AN INTERVIEW!!  Yep, you read that right, I could be employed very soon, so everyone cross your fingers and think lovely thoughts at 1pm on Tuesday!!

I think we might miss this cute face though. And he might even come back walking... I'd hate to think we missed that by trying to regain our sanity but he's standing all by himself REALLY good and occasionally takes the clumsy step forward.  We'll see.  Daddy has a video camera - so I hope he thinks to break it out if walking does happen!!

Loves.

The Fourth and a little More

I'm always behind in posting about holidays.  Such pressure to get the pics up in a timely fashion and I'm always failing miserably.  I was talking to Hads this morning while doing chores during naptime, and it occurred to us - it's not that we're bad housewives, it's just that we're tired and busy with the kidlets.  So, I'm officially cutting us some slack.  Though, that's easier to do now that the kitchen is finally clean and some of the house has been vacuumed.  

Our Fourth of July started on Saturday night with a cookout at Will & April's house.  Will has a shiny red smoker and had tending the ribs all day and THEY. WERE. DELICIOUS.  Seriously, we all stuffed ourselves silly.  So. Good.  Sam and I left plotting how to afford a new smoker.  Not going to happen, but we did go look at them on Sunday.  Just saying.  All three boys, April's Liam - Hadley's Robbie - and William, had a big time playing together and got filthy just like little boys are supposed to.  And we might've done the Hocutt's a huge disservice by teaching the toddlers how to climb in and out using the dog door....  Sorry!!  But they were super cute doing it.  William wanted nothing to do with it though and just explored the entire house and stole toys all evening.  

I swear two seconds before, pepito was sitting happily with Liam...

William must've played himself out because he slept really late on Sunday, we didn't make it to early church he slept in so late.  Then I cut the grass and I'm assuming we did something...oh - pepito went to B&B's to play and we went and oogled over smokers.  That's right.  Then around 3:00 - we went swimming at Green Island.  It seems poor William has always missed a nap when it's time to go swimming - so he was a bit fussy again....  He does love the water though...especially with his Daddy.

Followed swimming with sandwiches at B&B's, which was supposed to followed by joining in the festivities downtown complete with fireworks, but since pepito refused to nap - that plan was foiled.  We had to go home and put him to bed.  Boo.  I was hoping he would wake up at 9:00 and we could just head down there anyway but no such luck. We heard the whole neighborhood trying to light their houses on fire though.

his favorite place...

All in all - it was totally low key and good.  And even better than Sam still got Monday off.  No idea how we spent that day, I barely remember breakfast this morning, but I assume it was nice.  We might've cleaned the house..who knows.

In other news - pepito's tush is all clear and we are done with antibiotics.  Thank goodness.  He really hates having to take medicine, not even the grape flavor would make up for having a syringe stuck in his mouth twice a day.  He's back to his happy self though for the most part.  We had some kind of weird afternoon yesterday - all he wanted to do was scream and be held, but then he would crawl out of my lap just to scream some more and try to climb back in.  He couldn't figure out what he wanted, but I'm thinking it was his Daddy, because when Sam got home he put his happy face back on and was an absolute joy.  Just wish he would do that for me more often!

He has starting lunging/propelling himself forward if he decides to crawl.  It's hilarious.  And he can kneel on one leg - so I'm sure walking isn't too far away.  God help us.  I can't keep up with his mess as it is!  And he has so much hair now!  Not a full head by any means, but enough to mess up on top and it gets so curly in the back after sitting in the carseat/bathtime.  I love it all messy - but Sam keeps insisting that he brushes it down.

I'm counting down the days until we can start weaning to milk and not have to buy any more formula!!!  Yay!!!  I guess he'll just have to have milk in a bottle though, because he still hasn't quite mastered feeding himself.  Oh well.  He has starting picking up empty bottles and putting them to his mouth, so we'll see.  All in good time I am sure.  He REALLY didn't want to eat his mixed veggies the other day for lunch so I made him a scrambled egg - and that went over OK.  I can't decide if it wasn't a huge success because he was being a fussy butt or because he didn't like them.  Guess we'll try them again soon just to see.  We are going to stop giving him a biscuit at Saturday breakfasts at Chickfila because on Monday he literally choked on a whole mouthful of compacted biscuit.  He's too good at chipmunking food until no more will fit and the biscuits are so mushy that he can't swallow them.  So - that's why the eggs.  We'll see if they'll make us a side order and let him eat that until he gets more teeth.

He figured out how to knock on doors to get your attention.  He does it when we're on the screened porch but he also did at B&B's house to get Bill to stop reading the paper and come play.  It tickled the grandparents to see him knock with a closed fist.  He's too cute and is really starting to figure things out.  Of course, he knows "no", but Sam asked him to hand him something he wasn't supposed to be eating last night and William put it in his hand.  It's so much fun watching him learn things.  I seriously can't believe that's he's almost ONE!!

Loves.

William by Numbers

I can't believe how fast the past 11 months have gone by - Here are the highlights of the past month:

*Cruises like a pro but pretty much prefers to crawl.  It's much faster
*Will let go and stand on his own for a couple seconds - I think I might've seen him try to make a step out but it was promptly followed by falling so who knows what came first - falling or stepping
*Will eat pretty much anything put in front of him.  Especially homemade mac and cheese - "your baby smells like chedda"
*Really enjoys watching the big kids and trying to play with them.  Though that usually prompts a lesson in sharing for one, if not all, of the kids involved.
*Discovered the painful perils of a tushie abcess.  Not fun for anyone involved and results in a black and blue bottom.  Also, it made him terrified of any hands going in that general direction.
*He has TWO bottom teeth now!
*Remembers how to sleep through the night most nights now.  Thank goodness.
*Has some awesome war wound calluses on his knees and feet due to being unafraid of crawling on hard surfaces.
*Prefers fruit flavored puffs to cheerios - but who can blame him?!
*Says mama, dada, and ball - plus a whole lot of indistinguishable words/sounds
*Loves to scream and "scare" us - it's hilarious
*Really enjoys swimming but doesn't like to when he's tired
*Still wants a bedtime of 6-6:30
*Can throw a ball back to us when we play instead of just holding it waiting for us to take it from him
*Razzing is still his number one favorite activity
*Recently figured out how to snort and he truly believes that it makes his crying more pitiful
*Has found his tongue and shows it to us frequently now - too cute!
*Still refusing to feed himself a bottle.  He's definitely going to be THAT kid.  I have no idea how to get him to do it, he knows how, but would prefer to sit in my lap and let me hold it.
*Finally broke into the twenties - he's around 21 lbs - but still such a squirt
*Loves to give sugars and will almost do it on command
*Magnets are the coolest things ever and he really likes to put them in his mouth and then crawl around.  Thank goodness the alphabet magnets are not small enough to be a choking hazard!
*Likes to go exploring in the trash much to his mommy's displeasure.  Empty coke cases are the best (and one of the few that he is allowed to pull from the trash)
*Really likes to toddle around with his walking car thing but doesn't like that our house is small and he continually gets stopped by running into furniture and walls.
*Can put himself to sleep for naptime and bedtime - no rocking required - unless he is sick and then you better not even think about putting him in the crib for naptime - he only wants to be held.  Which is so sweet, so I was happy to indulge him for a couple days.

I can't think of anything else.  I know there is plenty of adorable things that he has accomplished but my brain has shut down...so there you go.  He just gets cuter and sweeter each day  - we are having the best time!

Loves.