Pictures

I have gotten out of the habit of posting pictures, but thought I'd share a link of some recent ones. Enjoy!
(click here)

porn drawings

will loves to draw, but even more so he loves when he tells us what to draw and we execute. the other day he was asking me to draw...

Will: "draw grammy...and grandpa trautman...and nitetime stars...and a football...and will...and my penis...where's my penis?...draw it bigger..."
Will: "(with a smile) that will (pointing to the picture)...i'm nudey"

Then at dinner, i was asking will to sit down and mentioned to him that he should sit on his bum...he corrected me "no i sit on my penis"...

it's easier that way

for those of you who haven't tried it...you must! the neti pot is a fabulous cure for allergies, chronic sinus infections, dry nose, and just plain boogers. chad was using it the other morning as will watched from the counter asking him what he was doing and in his 2-year-old style "why?"...
chad explained (mostly about the booger part), and will thought about it for a while. he then leaned in and, in a whisper, said "i just pick mine...it's easier that way"

My favorite words that Will says, that I can’t seem to correct (even though I'm a speech therapist)

sourert …”this lemon is really sourert”
more elses … “can I have more elses please”
far aways… “look at me I’m far aways”
kini...(green vegtable, that is only consumed by will when shredded and inserted into gluten and dairy free muffins or bread)
licious..."ummm, that kini bread [is] licious"
chest..."i want to play chest" (chad has a chess board will loves to play with)

Plastic Dad (on a surfboard)

Will and I were laying in bed this morning. Some of my favorite mornings start like this. We were talking and he asked:
Will: “Where daddy go?”
Me: “he’s at work”
Will: “we make daddy?”
Me: “what are you going to make daddy out of?”
Will: “plastic”
Me: “huh. what if we draw a picture of daddy”
Will: “I use surf board stickers and draw daddy on surf board. (haha) that funny.”

night time

will has regressed a little at night time (or in his eyes, maybe he's progressed). he's become a master at stalling bedtime, and drawing out each step along the way. he insists on using his pj's to practice his dunk shot, he runs in circles until he's so dizzy he falls down, and he insists on "brushing his teeth" himself (not a quick or thourough project).

now that he's talking more, he engages in conversation to delay things as well.

routine: pj's, brush teeth, read books, sing night night song to everyone important (tonite he sang to animal crackers or "cookie animals" - which he's only had twice in his whole life, but they left an astonding impression i guess).

in bed...

will: "no mommy leave:
me: will buddy, it's time for bed, close your eyes
will: ...will get sad"
me: you're okay buddy, you have your blankie and your bear, now nite nite
(pause)
will: "mommmmmmmy....bear is a toy?"
me: hey buddy, it's time for nite nite, bear is your animal to hold when you go to bed.
(pause)
will: "mommmy....(entrance)....will feel better now"
me: oh good, now go nite nite
(pause)
will: "mommmmy...you sleeping on the couch?"
me: no buddy, i'm in my room
(pause)
will: "mommmmy...you sleeping in your bed?"
me: (from downstairs) nite nite buddy...
(silence...for now...)

outsmarted

will's 2 1/2 and started his new preschool last week. he's been doing great there. no tears (amazing!) and engaged (from what we hear). he does still have his binkie and blankie, and it's still his main stress reliver. then again at his last preschool he figured out how to milk the system and somehow hold on to these prized items most of the day. this time, i was sure to ask ms suzi to limit it. she has the great little wooden hour-glass timers, and thus will can pick his timer and sit in his 'quite' spot for a minute or two. on day #2, ms. suzi, looked over at will, holding his timer at an angle (so as to conspicuously buy himself a little more time!). he initially gave her a sweet, eye-batting look, and once she gave him an 'i caught you' smile...he started giggling as well and turned the timer back up on the table.

chickens

chad and i definately have an affinity for chickens. we had a few of our own when we lived in carrboro. we raised them from chics. we built them a coop. we let them free range during the day...that is until carter (our cat) got out. jed (our bird dog) was pointing at carter as he mounted the chicken and rode around. another hen came to defend her sibling, and carter took the defense as and opportunity, and then mounted her. all the while, jed held his point. what a bird dog he is.

anyway...we do love chickens; however, will has not taken to that same affinity. when he was 18 mos or so, we took him to a farm in MN. as we were gathering eggs, the hen started squaking and flying around the hen house. will started screaming, dropped his eggs and ran as fast as he could (with only 3 mos of walking experience under his belt) out the door of the hen house. he hasn't yet forgotten this. today we went to sunflower farm, and for the 3 hrs we were there, will was occupied with the location of each and every chicken..."no chickens hurt will!"

we kept talking and talking about chickens not wanting to hurt people. just as we were leaving, we were watching a hen dig a hole in the ground for roosting. she looked at us and got startled by will and ran away.
me: "look will that hen got scared by you"
will: "yeah?"
me: "and you are the one scared of her"

will: .............."that funny"..........
and then he went back to his "no chickens hurt will!" chant.

language development

will: "that fun"
us: "do you want SOMETHING ELSE?"
will: "yes please"
...
will: "that good"
us: do you want to try SOMETHING ELSE?
will: "yes!"
...
will: "will want more"
us: "you want SOMETHING ELSE?"
will: yeah!
...
will: "moreelses"
chad: "huh?"
...
will: "MORE ELSES please"
chad: "huh?"
juli: "he wants more of our something else options, thus MORE ELSES please"

lifes changes

life always feels busy, but it's been a particularly busy 6 mos. chad on the job market...50 applications (phew) yeilded 6 interviews (phew!), and 4 job offers (PHEW!). we visited laramie, wy, amherst, ma, minn,mn, and denver, co. we looked at 50+ houses, i meet with 1 or 2 job potentials in each place, we visited daycares and preschools, we went for runs on trails, and short hikes around town and the outskirts...all trying to figure out what felt like 'home.' it's hard to figure out what feels like home when we like our current 'home.' we went back and forth, and back again. finally we (aka chad) created a spread sheet. i developed a point system 1-2-3 based on good, better, best, and then chad went through and ranked each variable (aka, the size of mosquitos were certainly worse in minn, but the quality of schools should perhaps have a little more value). finally we narrowed it down to denver vs. minneapolis, and were just plain stuck. hence, we debated each variable, reweighted and then crunched the numbers.
Minn, MN =104.5; Denver, CO =104.5 "NO FREAKIN' WAY"...no wonder the choice was so hard. Thus we asked Will.
Us: "Where do you want to move Minneapolis or Denver"
Will: "Denver."
Us: "Denver or Minneapolis" (just in case the order had any factor)
Will: "Denver."

...hence, we are moving to Denver. ...and we all feel happy about that.

...now will someone come and buy our house, so we can actually make the move...

Seattle and more

we had a lovely vacation in seattle and on the coast of wa. will grew a few inches, and his verbal skills seemed like the doubled. it's amazing how much kids change when they are on a trip...or maybe it's just that we were paying more attention.
we talked a lot about the trip and what we'd do. he was most excited to see the "fish throw over guys arms" (the fish mongers at pike market, who throw fish). on the way to bainbridge island, on the ferry, will kept looking in the water...asking about the "fish?"...kept looking...kept looking...
finally he cocked his head and asked "fish throw over guys arms?" and i realized, he was looking for the fish throwing show to be out in the ocean. :)

luckily he wasn't too disappointed when we actually got to pike market.




some highlights:
will loved playing the drums at the EMP museum...and used the whole 10 min allotment in the sound proof room.

he loved the tide pools, but did NOT like the tide coming up ("NO WAVES, NO WAVES, NO WAVES"--while chad's heart broke). he loved watching the clam holes, until he somehow thought they would crawl up and get him ("no hurt will") and then decided not to walk near the clam holes (which were every about 5-6" apart along the entire beach- "hold me, hold me, up please"). he loved getting buried in the sand, and having a bonfire every nite (aka marshmellows). his favorite part was the ladder in our cabin, and when asked if he wanted to go to the beach, hike in olympic nat'l park or go for a bike ride...will would respond "climb a ladder." thus, we stopped asking his opinion. we cooked great food, and will loved making 'rice balls.' will fell in love with our friend becca...though he's got his dad's knack for not recalling names and he'd keep saying "this guys name?" (at least his dad gets gender right). one day at the beach,
will: "ball please"
me: "bummer, we didn't bring a ball with us"
will: "BALL PLEASE"
me: "honey, we don't have one"
will: walks over to me, points on the ground, and pretends to pick up a ball. "bat there" (pointing for me to pick up the pretend bat)...
...chad and i slowly caught on that will was orchestrating a pretend baseball game, since we didn't bring the real gear. moments later, chad was running after will's home run, as he rounded the bases through the sand, and i stood at the pichers mound, stuneed by our 2 1/2 year old, that doesn't seem to be my little baby any more....but sure is fun to play with, and always brings just the right toys.

here are some pics from the trip...

the tape measurer

we discovered how exciting the small retractable tape measurer was for a 2 year old. it was, perhaps, a perfect travel toy, and bought us about 25 min of intrigue...at a restaurant or in traffic, etc. well last month, chad's mom decided she'd knit will a sweater for christmas (oh how we love hand made goods), and asked for some measurements. i thought i'd be no problem to get out the tape measurer and measure away....however, for some reason the 'stranger danger' fear enveloped the tape measurer.
Me: Lets measure your arms and waist...
Will: "NO DO THAT...NO DO THAT"
Me: This is such a fun tape measurer...
Will: "NO LIKE THAT!!! NO LIKE THAT!!!"
Me: But Will...this will be quick and easy...
Will: NO THANK YOU!!!
Me: humph.
No I resort to sleep moments for not only trimming finger and toe nails, but now any use of the tape measure as well.

singing and playing

will cracks us up with his instant love of guitar. he can turn most things into an instrument, and his one of choice is the 5 string. he bee lined for a guitar at the rec center's annual garage sale, and even though it's more suited for a 7 year old, he plays it like a champ, tunes it in between songs, and taps his foot all the while. when grammy was in town in may, they went to pearl street, and he loved watching all the street musicians with their wears...when he got home, he decided that he needed a bowl in front of him when he played music, and that we needed to empty any and all change into it while he played. an entrepreneur at hear. he also loves stages. in may we went to see martha scanlin (of reel time travelers) at gold hill inn. he liked seeing her play, but he may have enjoyed singing and playing with sena on stage almost as much.

will's two

Happy 2nd Birthday!
We thought we’d start a tradition of writing you a letter as part of your birthday celebration each year to remind you what an amazing part of our life you are(thanks soulmama for the idea, from her book the creative family). Some of my favorite memories of the last year have included our camping trips in the mountains of Colorado and then our trip to Canyon lands, Utah (you were such a snuggler in Omi and Grandpa’s tent trailer. You love to hike (“all by yourself”---or sometimes in the back pack). You still love the ergo carrier best, because it allows you to be held right close to your mama. You sure love to cuddle and still like to be held (even though you’re “2” and like to do a lot of things by yourself too). Your favorite word is “up-please” which is typically 2 words, but not in your case. In the last two months, your language has really exploded (your speech therapist mama loves this) and you have such wonderful ways of communicating. You still speak wonders with your gestures and are able to communicate most everything, including your favorite Christmas story which you tell over and over…about how you saw Santa “ho ho ho” on the fire truck “up up up” and he lost his “hat”…but found it on the ground (gesture)…and how you wanted to ask Santa for a “football” (you got nervous and bailed, but then we sent him lots of mental messages and you got one after all)
You are an observer, and think deeply about most anything, even at such a young age. You are creative and love to draw and do art (aka “ark”). You especially love to draw a “football” and a “bat.” You make up new games, and have a very particular way of playing. For example, you’ll have me stand still, throw me the football, and then you take off running…when I chase after you, you go “under” my legs and squeal in delight….
Books are another favorite of yours. You like to “rock” and read your books. Some of your favorites include: Hug, Have you Seen My Cat, Gossie, The Peace Book, Everyone Poops and The Feelings Book. You play basketball like a champ and have spent many hours perfecting your jump shot. You love hanging out with your Omi and Grandpa (aka “Krakow”), and love to build “Frosty” whenever it snows (whenever you say “Frosty” you hum the song that goes along). Your also quite silly and love to tell jokes (about not wanting apples…”nooo”…), and you love to be tickled. “Didi” and blankie make you feel better, and you pass along a blankie rub (under the nose) to those you love (including Carter the cat).
There are so many wonderful things about you. You’ve added such depth and simplicity to my life. My heart is so full of love for you it sometimes takes my breath away. I’m so glad you’re in my life. You make me a better person because I want to be the best mama to you.