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.