Cancio

A few months ago, Brian’s mom told me she’d like to take Lauren to American Girl Place and buy her a doll.  A few weeks later, she called and asked me to make reservations for lunch for the weekend of October 4th.  As a dutiful daughter-in-law, I called the American Girl Place and immediately made reservations for three.  Then I got off the phone and began to have doubts about this pending girls day.

First of all, the American Girl Dolls and accessories are extremely expensive.  Secondly, Lauren doesn’t really play with dolls much.  Thirdly, Lauren is five, not particularly responsible enough to take care of such a nice doll.

Brian and I talked about it, then I brought my concerns to my MIL, who didn’t seem overly bothered and decided we should still do it.  Hey, her money, right?

Yesterday was the day.  We were up early and off to pick up Lola and Lolo.  The guys decided to drive us into the city, then spend the morning at Milenium Park.

Lauren had to bring her Bitty Baby and stroller to the store, despite my pleads to the contrary.  Here she is shortly after we arrived, looking around the store.

Here, Lola helps Lauren pick out her American Girl Doll.  These are the Just Like You dolls.  The dolls have different skin tones, eye, and hair color.

After choosing her doll, we shopped around a little more.  There are all kinds of accessories, including furniture, and even matching outfits for dolls and girls.  Lauren wanted pretty much everything she saw.  I had to talk to Lola and find out exactly what kind of money she wanted to spend, so I could put a cap on Lauren’s gimme gimme gimme attitude.

After picking out and paying for all of her stuff, Lauren decided she needed to take her doll to the Doll Hair Salon, where her doll, which she named, Lauryn (spelling changed for my sanity), got a style and her ears pierced.

Then we took a few pictures with Lauren and Lauryn before looking around the store a little more, so Lauren could make a mental Christmas list.

This extremely poor quality photo was included because it makes me giggle when Lauren starts posing.

Then we checked in for our lunch reservation and the Laurens posed for more pics.

The lunch was pretty good and Lauren enjoyed getting to sit with her doll and enjoy some hot chocolate.  Oh, and a meal, too.

Lauryn enjoys her meal, too.  (Is it just me, or are dolls a little creepy?)

They even have matching cups.  Cute, huh?

This is Coconut, Lauryn’s new puppy.  Here, he’s enjoying a celery stick.

Just us girls.

I loved these little dessert plates.  (My BSM photo.)  The flowerpot is filled with chocolate mousse and Oreo cookie crumbles.  MMMmmmm….

My other BSM…. I couldn’t resist this pose.

All in all, the day was a success.  Lauren had a blast and spent the rest of the day playing with Lauryn.

A friendship is born.

For more BSM photos, stop by Tracey’s.

….for this awesome birthday present.

Last Saturday was the big two year birthday bash.  My brother dubbed it, “Willapolooza.”

Surprisingly, I didn’t take hundreds of pictures.  I did, however, get just enough to show just how fun the day was.

Brian and our neighbor, John, setting up the food tent.

My parents got Will this little motorized four wheeler.  He absolutely loves it.  “Go ouside?  Ride Mo-ocyca?”

Will blowing out his candles.  He did a great job, he blew out both of the candles in one breath even from that distance.  My boy’s got lungs!

My MIL payed for this bounce house.  The kids loved it.  When the band plugged in, we blew a fuse and the bounce house started to deflate.  It freaked Will out and he didn’t want to have much to do with it after that.  The rest of the kids loved it.  There were kids in it right up to 10:00.

Here, Will enjoys a bbq pork kabob.  A yummy Philippino dish, my MIL usually brings to family gatherings.  Will loves them.  He ate two.

The band played for a couple of hours.  (Until the cops came and shut us down around 9:00)  Seriously, one of the houses nearby must have called the cops around 8:30.  When they showed up a few minutes before nine, they told us to play a few more songs and shut it down.  Lovely neighbors, huh?

The men played Rock Band until midnight, then some of the neighbors went next door for some late night poker.

Overall, the party was fun.  I think most people enjoyed themselves.

Here’s a photo I couldn’t resist.  Will got this Bob the Builder tool set from one of our neighbors.  He opened it the day after the party and couldn’t wait to put it on.

So, for those of you who have been wondering where we’ve been lately………  We’ve been planning, prepping and cleaning for Willapolooza.

Maybe now things will calm down and I’ll get back to regular blogging?

….since Will’s last haircut.

I know I should have done this before Will’s big birthday party, but it’s hard to find someone who’ll give Will a good cut.  The last one was more of a trim and it wasn’t long before he was ready for another.

Will and I are down by my parents’ house this week for a few Pampered Chef parties, so today, I took Will to my grandpa’s barbershop for a good cut.  Tom, who had worked for my grandpa until he died and has continued to run the shop until it closes at the end of the month, cut Will’s hair.  He did a pretty good job, despite all of Will’s cries of protest.

My baby looks like a boy again, thanks, Tom!

We had a full and very long day, but I think Will had a pretty good birthday.  I made sure to take my camera everywhere we went today, so I’ve got loads of pictures to share.  Sit back, relax, and enjoy the photos.

The kids were both up a little early today.  Well, early for me.  Will actually slept until 6:45, for which I was thankful.  The real shocker was Lauren creeping into bed with us not long after.  Usually, I have to drag her out of bed in the morning.  I took advantage of the kids being up and got everyone dressed and ready for the day, then used my extra time to make some special birthday chocolate chip pancakes, which Lauren devoured and Will barely touched.

After dropping the kids (Lauren and our neighbor’s son) off at school, we drove to the park district for Will’s gymnastics class, where he climbed and rolled and crawled and hung and jumped….

At one point Will had to stop what he was doing and go find this little girl so he could bring her to the jumping mat.  Then he had to help her up onto it by reaching down and pulling her up.  It was too cute, but I missed the shot.

Will showing off for the ladies.

After class, we came home for a short time, then rode our bikes (our neighbor’s little girl spent the day with us) to the park.

This first shot is one of my favorites of the day.

This shirt that Will is wearing is a special birthday shirt I made for him.  For those of you out there who are not Chicago Cubs fans, the blue W on the front (besides being his initial) is the W from the Cubs win flag that is flown at Wrigley field on winning days.

After our trip to the park, we came home for lunch, then it was nap time - for Will.  Then we went to get the kids from school.  Brian came home early and arrived shortly after we made it home.  We had a short hour to get Lauren ready for her birthday party.  After she left, Brian, Will, and I headed out the door to Will’s restaurant of choice, Red Robin.

Lauren taught him this trick, fitting a whole apple slice in his mouth.

Will just cracks himself up!

Part of the reason we decided to go out for dinner was we knew Will would enjoy being sung to.  Check out that face when they put his ice cream sunday in front of him.

Chocolate kisses for Mom.  Yum!

After dinner, we went to Toys R Us so Will could pick out a toy with some of his birthday money and his Toys R Us Birthday Club gift certificate.  He picked out a very loud vehicle which I forsee will soon become an outside toy.

We picked Lauren up from her party, then it was back home for some cupcakes and a few small birthday presents.

Will blew out his candles like a pro.

He didn’t like the feel of the icing on his fingers, so Will decided to eat his cupcake no handed.

“Ohhh, Mo-cyca!”

Will ended his big day, hanging out with Daddy, playing with his new cars.

I’d say it was a pretty good birthday.

(BTW…  all photos posted hear are SOOC - I didn’t want to take the time for editing so many photos.  I’ll probably kick myself later for posting so many pics without at least lightening them, but…..  Oh well)

It’s amazing to me that we are already celebrating his 2nd birthday.

Will can be so exasperating at times, but he is the happiest, funniest, most active little guy.  No matter what he’s getting in trouble for today, he manages to make me laugh in spite of my frustration.

This little guy is talking up a storm.  On average, he’ll rattle off a three word sentence, but he’s been known to throw out four or five words from time to time.  As we walk to pick Lauren up from school in the afternoons, he chatters non-stop all the way there (about a 15 minute walk.)  I comment on his observations for the first half of the walk, then the rest of the time, I just walk and listen, amazed at what he’s picked up in a few short years.  My most treasured phrase at this phase of my baby’s life is, “Good morning, Mama!”  Though it sounds more like, “Goomoanin’, Mama!”  Even when he says it at 3:00 in the morning, it brings a (brief) smile to my face.  Then I march him right back to bed and remind him he’s not to be out of it.

Today, we rode my bike to the park and while he was on the swings, he said, “Uh Dug.”
“You’re stuck?”
“No, Uh Dug.”
“A Duck?”
“NO, UH DUG!”
A few seconds of processing……..  “Underdog?”
“Yeah, Uh Dug.”

I gave him an underdog for the first time last week and he remembered.  The kid’s got a way better memory than me.  He impresses me daily with the new vocabulary he’s picking up - which usually takes a conversation similar to the one above for me to decipher his speech.

Will is starting to display a great sense of humor.  He’s always been a happy baby and he laughs so easily, but recently he’s started doing things to make others laugh.  This is great most of time, except for his attempts to make Lauren laugh at the dinner table.  He usually gets in trouble for that.  (Since it involves things like wearing his napkin on his head or throwing a utensil of bit or food at her.)  Today he discovered that he can blow raspberries on Mommy’s tummy, which makes me laugh.  He did it over and over, exclaiming, “I funny!”

My big boy is doing pretty well without a front rail on his crib.  We still have to put him back in bed a few times each night and at nap time, but we’re getting there.  Some days are better than others.

He is so interested in using the potty.  I borrowed a little potty from my brother and sister-in-law, but he would have none of it.  He has to sit on the big potty.  Then he’ll squeeze out a drop or two just so he can flush and wash his hands.

Most days, I have my hands full just keeping The Boy out of trouble (and I’ve the messy house to prove it), but I wouldn’t have it any other way.  Will is smart and spirited.  And I’m treasuring each second of his babyhood, which seems to be slipping away at a too-rapid pace.

Yesterday I was trying to get just-the-right-shot in anticipation for this post.  Will kept trying to reach up and close my flash (which kept popping up because we were in the shade.)

Out of all of the pictures I took (ok, so there were only about 20 of them….. way fewer than I usually take), this is the one I like best, but it’s a bit out of focus…  Oh well….. just gives me a goal for another day.

Seriously, I can’t get him to take even one step back for a pic.  I was having to lean back, just to get the camera to auto focus.  Silly baby.

We have a big day planned.  We’re going to the Park District for a gym class, then it’s home for some play time with Lauren’s little friend from down the street.  When Lauren gets home from a birthday party she was invited to after school, we’ll have cupcakes and a few small presents.  (The big bash isn’t for another week.)

Happy Birthday, Little Dude.  I hope you have a fantastic day!
Love you!
~Mommy

This is a little craft project I had nothing to do with.  (Other then searching the crawl space for pipe cleaners.)  Brian and Lauren made these wonderful bug eyes together after Lauren saw them in a craft book.  They made some for Will, too, but his didn’t last long enough for a picture.

Here’s Lauren’s best bug face.

Unfortunately, Lauren’s bug eyes didn’t last very long either.  The morning after she made them, Will found them and broke them.  Poor Lauren.  That’s what happens when you’ve got a little brother, especially one known as Destructo.

Creep over to Carrie’s to see if anyone’s up to more lasting craftiness.

This little grasshopper lives in our flower bed out back.  We see him almost every time we go outside.  Of course, there’s no guarantee it’s the same little guy.  We’ve only seen one at a time, so I just assume he’s the same one.

Will loves watching the grasshopper.  He’ll stand there and watch him for many many minutes.  Sometimes we put him in the bug house, so we can look at him or so Lauren can see him after school.  But we always let him loose into the flower bed so we can visit him another day.

“Yook a gat-hoppa, Mama!”

“Oooh, eh moowin”  (he’s moving)

“where go’on gat-hoppa?”

And my best shot of the week…..

I love this shot, but am amazed that our grasshopper friend lets Will observe at such a close distance.  Isn’t he such a boy?

Check out more BSM photos at Mother May I.

I had uploaded a few pictures awhile back.  I didn’t really have a post to put them in, so I thought I’d just throw them into the same, random post.

Will loves “Gampa’s mo-cyca.”  He talks about taking a ride on Grandpa’s motorcycle at least three times a day.  Every time he sees a motorcycle, it’s “Gampa’s mo-cyca.”  Just today, he said, “Gampa’s mo-cyca say mooooom moooom.”

I’m pretty sure I took this shot of my mom the same time I was getting the picture above.

This shot was from last spring or maybe early summer.  I’m not sure what it is that I like so much about this photo.  The neighbor helping Will drive his car?  Lauren chasing them?