William is ONE

New life. How precious. How amazing. What a gift.William, 20-week ultrasound. (June, 2007)

Exclamation point and sigh.
William's newborn stats:
October 19, 2007
9:53 a.m.
7lbs 9 oz
18 "

William's one-year stats:
Height: 31", 85%
Weight: 25 lbs 11 oz, 80%
Head Circumference: 18 3/4 ", 80%

William, 1-week oldDriving the firetruckHe points to things now.
He's pointing at this cookie saying, "ummm, I have an idea, let's eat THIS." And then he grabbed it!

He loves animals!
At the Dairy Farm we visited.

Shaking a calf's cage
He makes a shaking face and is really intense about shaking things!

My deprived, animal-less boys---so excited about this kitten!

William and Grandma Bug
He loves his paci (mostly reserved for nap/bedtimes).

Oma and William
He has Oma's eyes!

A couple of videos:
William taking some steps outside
Driving a tractor on the couch - he makes a tractor/truck "brrrrrr" sound when he plays with them.

William's 1-year milestones:

• He is getting to be quite the talker! Words he says: doggy, daddy, mama, balloon, hi, juice, this (while pointing to something that he wants), book, bush (both sound like "buh"), no.


• He loves balloons, loves them. Good thing for the balloons for sale in the checkout line at the grocery store because usually by the time we've reached that point in our weekly grocery visit he is ready to lose it. I just have to point at one of the high fliers and he is thrilled to smile at it and reach for it while we're checking out (flashing an occasional smile at the checkout person).


• He likes going on walks in his stroller and being outside. He points to every tree, leaf, car, dog, cat, person, place, or thing that we see. He loves bushes and reaches for them from his stroller. When I pull over so he can touch one he grins and then laughs when he touches it.


• He is walking now. He has been taking steps for about a month, but now his preferred mode of movement is walking. He still occasionally falls and then crawls to where he is going, but very occasionally. He walks around the house just to walk - he will carry something in his hand from one side of the room to the other and then will continue to walk back and forth.


• He loves animals. Definitely dogs, but really he loves any animal, even fake ones with eyes. Henry made a bat-o-lantern at school (a gourd painted black with glued on wings and googly eyes) and William loves it. He points to it and laughs.


• He's given up bottles...almost. He still has a bottle in the morning and a bottle before bed. Both are probably more for me; it's hard for me to let go of his baby-hood. Although he does have bottle envy when he sees another baby with a bottle. He drinks whole milk now and doesn't seem phased by the transition from formula to that. The sippy cups that we've had the best luck with are the Nuby brand cups with a soft spout.


• He still naps twice a day - a.m. at 9:00 and p.m. around 1:00. He goes to bed between 6:30 and 7:00 and has been waking up around 6:00 pretty consistently for the past month. Before that he would sleep until 7:00 almost daily. I miss that!


• He is starting to have a fiesty streak! (I had a goldfish in college names Fiesty and Holly had one named Stick--as in Fish Stick, get it?--and we wanted to take the very best care of them so we put them in Evian bottled water and it killed them. A bit of a digression, but I was reminded of dear old Fiesty when I wrote that.) He is very opinionated and shrieks and throws himself backwards when things don't quite go the way he wants. He also is a biter and bitten Henry a few times (leaving a teeth marked bruise) when Henry has pulled him away from something or been rough with him. I do feel very sad for Henry when he has gotten hurt, but also think it has helped him realize that this little baby is going to fight back for himself. William's also a bit mischievous; he will grab a vase on our end table and knock it down all while staring at me and listening to me say "no no". What goes around comes around I suppose. My mom told me that I used to do the same thing. Oh and word is that I was a biter, too.


• He has 8 teeth. 4 on top and 4 on the bottom. I think his 9th, another bottom tooth is on its way.


• He still eats anything I put on his high chair tray. He loves cheese, fruit (grapes are number #1!!), most veggies, meat, and eggs. He doesn't choose carbs first, but will try anything.


• He loves books and turns the pages and "reads" them on his own now. He loves sitting by the book basket in his room and reading.


• He loves the phone and makes lots of phone calls. Most of the time he holds his hand up to his ear, but occasionally he does call someone on my speed dial (my mom!) to say "hello". When my phone rings, he puts his hand up to his ear and says hi.

Dear William,
As I reflect over the last year I'm amazed at how much our family has been impacted by the addition of sweet little you. There are now four of us sitting at the dinner table, four of us cruising around in our minivan (a van that I shamelessly love and a van we wouldn't have needed before you came into this world), four winter coats hanging in the closet, four (plus) pairs of shoes on the rug by the back door, and gazillions of sippy cups and bottles to be held by the four hands of our two children. Your birth made us a family of four and now it seems like we've always been that way.

I love your calm, laid back spirit; one that most certainly comes from your daddy. It's the perfect complement to your no-nonsense willfulness. You're happy to sit and play on your own, but you won't put up with your big brother taking your toys and you're not afraid to let him know it. Admittedly I was nervous about becoming the mother of two, a mother to not just one little boy but to two boys. I worried about how I would juggle the needs of two children and make you both feel equally loved and nurtured. I knew once I held you that loving both of you equally would be no great task. I loved you immediately and equally; everyone told me that God makes a mother's heart expand and I found that cliche as it is, it was true. I did however have to learn to juggle both your needs as a newborn and Henry's needs as a two-year old. As I struggled to find my footing at being a good mother to both of you, life started falling into place. You started sleeping through the night at 6 weeks, and for the first several months of your life took naps that were several hours long. You were content from the start to be toted along on any outing with Henry and even accompanied me on frenzied Christmas shopping sprees last December when you were less than two months old. You are a baby full of life and full of joy. There have been many times throughout the past year when pushing you and Henry in the stroller or sitting at the breakfast table listening to you two babble back and forth that my heart swells with joy and I stop to silently reflect on how very blessed I am to be your mother.

Happy first Birthday, William. I love you!