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.

beep beep

will is now almost 23 mos old. although he's not as chatty as some of his girlfriends, he sure figures out ways to get his point across.

with the holiday season upon us...
we read 'twas the night before christmas' every night for about a month leading up to christmas. he would 'read along' by saying 'brrrr' when we got to the part where the children were nestled in bed (under their covers), and he'd "meow" and say "cat" when we got to the page of santa hanging out with the cat eating the cookies...then he'd point out the toys in santa's bag, and then say "football?" wondering where the football was (...as this is what he asked for from santa). my favorite was when he'd get to the page w/ all the reindeer (...on dasher, on prancer, on comet and blitzen...) and admire their horns (aka antlers), cock his head to the side in thought and then belt out 'beep beep' (they are 'horns' after all aren't they).

here are some holiday pics...

bad mom moment #457

i'm still getting over a head cold, which is really no excuse, but heck, i'll use it.
i can honestly say that because of the cold i had no sense of smell (ahh congestion).

will and i had been indoors all day. by around 4, the sun came out and so did we. ready for our dose of vitamin d. we took the stroller to the park, but i decided to leave the diaper bag behind (bad idea). we got there and played for a while. will was headed up the steps with another little girl his size. her mom came over to watch her.

her mom: "pew, someone smells like poop, is it you honey (to her little girl)," as
she did the mom honored, look down the pants move. "huh, no poop?!"

me: (i hope i didn't just pass gas)

me: (wait a minute...what if will is the one who smells like poop...he did make some grunting sounds after lunch (hours ago))

me: (doing the mom (dis) honored, look down the pants move. (CRAP there is dried poop coming up his back, from who knows when?!))

me: (trying to keep my composure) "will honey, let's climb down the stairs so we can go home to change your diaper"

her mom (overhearing me): (bringing me a diaper and ziplock of wipes) "here you go, you can use these"

me: (feeling pressured to stay at the park and change him (bad idea #2) ....realizing, that he had dried poop EVERYWHERE, and here we are in the park with a borrowed diaper and ziplock of 3 DRIED wipes.)

will: (naked in the park, climbing all over me)

me: (trying to dodge the poop and wipe him off with whatever moisture was left)

her mom: (trying not to stare)

me: (wishing she wasn't starring, as i might have spit into the wipes to add a little moisture--- still dodging poop)

me: (not smelling a thing, wondering if his shirt smelled like poop, and wondering how much longer we'd have to stay)

me: (handing the wipes and changing pad back to her mom) "sorry we got a little poop on this"

her mom: "no problem...i hope the wipes were okay, we've had them in our stroller for over a year"

me: (for the love!) "no problem, thanks"

the power of "uh"

being a speech therapist, i really should know better. no wonder i have a kid who's vocabulary (expressively speaking) is limited to maybe 10 words ("hoops", "ball", and "basketball" being 3 of those 10).
i know that really nothing is wrong with his speech nor his language, at least not in my professional opinion (remember i am a speech therapist that doesn't work with kids at all, rather works with adults who suffer concussions and brain injuries). he does however get a lot of language stimulation from his mom the slp. we read, and read and read. i navigate most of what i'm doing with words (aka, i talk to myself all day). we go new places and try new things. he watches youtube clips of my favorite sesame street episodes, and we play games like up/ down, stop/go, quiet/loud. we sing. he sees me read, and helps me write. i talk over his head, and at his level, and most times in between.
he does however get away with a lot of "uh's". being a speech therapist, working with patient's who can't always put what they want to say in words (aka aphasia), i end up filling in the blanks a lot. im used to reading context and helping them know that someone understands. i particularly skilled at tying abstract thoughts together into something cohesive even with my patients who are non-verbal ("how do you know she just told you we got married at the pavilion near city hall??"). so maybe this is to blame, or maybe i'm just a mom, excited by watching her son understand the world. i can see his connections, can see him understand and remember. see him generalize things that i wouldn't even get right away. it's so fun to watch and to see, so fun that i often jump in and translate. then again, why would he talk if his mom fills in all of the juicy details (between the u----and the----h)
so as an example, we were out at a happy hour last week. there was a band playing (bongo drums, guitar, singer, and bass) in the lobby of this high-end hotel. will was obsessed. he kept pointing to each of the musicians, watching in awe and dancing along (that was until the drunk guy cleared him out- so says chad). later on in the night (the band was on break), will saw a guy with dreadlocks sitting at the bar. he was ecstatic. "uh...uh...uh..." pointing to the guy, and then toward the lobby. (the bongo player had had dreadlocks). the guy looked over to me, and will pointing and "uh'huh'ing!!" the words that almost rolled off my tongue were:
"this is my son, and he noticed your dreadlocks and thought you resembled the bongo player. you see the band is on break, and my son really liked the band, and since you look like the drummer, he's requesting that you go back out and play. he'd really like to dance some more."
luckily i hadn't had anything to drink and my filer was on, such that i didn't interpret my son's "uh" to this total stranger, rather i smiled and asked will to give him a high five. will just kept saying "uh...uh!!!"