Matthew. Emma. William. Paul

Matthew. Emma. William. Paul

Thursday, December 5, 2013

October

October was the month that our sweet infant turned 2. What the heck!!

Basically this,

has turned into this,

and I think I'm okay with it.

Firstly his stats:

Height 34 1/2"       54th percentile
Weight 28.2 lbs     53rd percentile
Head 18 1/2"         12th percentile


William has turned into a full fledge 2 year old complete with meltdowns over sharing toys and brushing his teeth. I've heard lots about terrible twos and would say that so far they are much better than his mood swings at 18 months. William seems to have learned enough vocabulary to get his points mostly across and that has helped SO MUCH.



When we were at the Dr's office she said, "He's supposed to have a vocabulary of 20-25 words but I think he's said 50 since I've entered the room five minutes ago." This little boy is a talker. He has a voice and wants it to be heard! He is also stringing words together into sentences which is really making me laugh because sometimes they don't entirely make sense or apply to the situation. Others I question his comprehension and attribute it to just having heard it before.



He is very social and waves to say hello/good morning/goodbye  to almost everyone in every store we go to. He's become pretty possessive of toys and will say, "No, won't take it" ALL the time whenever a child so much as looks at what he's playing with. He actually is pretty good at sharing once he establishes the personality of the child he is playing with. A certain level of trust must be established before sharing takes place.



His favourite things are his train set, anything with wheels, and his duplo blocks (larger lego). He's started to create things with his blocks and have an imagination about what they are. I could watch him play with them all day. He most frequently builds a "tall tower" "air plane" "tractor" and "under" (bridge)




He's gotten better at eating different foods but his favourites are butter chicken, curry and chocolate. I didn't know anyone who loved chocolate more than me but I think he just might have me beat. William is also obsessed with shoes. He will try to wear anyones shoes once they have come in and left them by the door. Big, small, high heels, slippers it doesn't seem to matter. I've taken him to the new Nordstrom Rack a few times and when we walk down the isle of shoes he'll squeal with delight, "oooh shoes!" and then want to hold them all. I see many shoe and chocolate shopping trips in our future together. I should note that his shoe of choice in any weather or wardrobe are his batman rain boots.





As his phrases and vocabulary have increased it has become more and more fun playing and interacting with him. It's also been interesting to see the things that he notices. I am always notified when there is a "big truck" "city school bus" or any form of construction equipment. He names each truck individually and correctly. I just take his world for it when he says, "skid steer" because I don't actually know which one that is.

I didn't actually get to throwing a party for William due to Matt's insane schedule but Nanny and Grandad paid a visit the week before.



We went to the pumpkin patch



Fed goats


Checked out tractors 




Ran threw corn mazes


and even rode on a "cow train" with Nanny




Thanks Nanny for being such a good sport... and for being the only one under the weight restriction with William included ahah. 

It was just a quick trip but we sure crammed in a day of fun together.




We miss you!

October is one of my favourite months. I love fall and all it's activities. This October also re-kindled my love of Halloween. It's just so much better with kids. 


carving a pumpkin seemed like too much of a hazard and to be honest neither Matt or I even enjoy it... William LOVED painting his "bunkin" instead and no fingers were cut off. 


He was also a very enthusiastic Spider Man.



We did a few dry runs on the whole trick-or-treat business. He got good at the knocking, picking out the candy and saying thank you but never actually said trick or treat to anyone. 


We went out kinda early to just a few of our friends apartments. William picked out one candy when he got home and ate it. After that we just pored his candy into ours that we handed out. He woke up the next morning and said, "all gone chocolate." Pretty sure it's not going to be that easy next year. 

Last night as a one year old.


Auntie Lindsay went a little crazy and bought William enough train tracks and accessories to cover our entire apartment. 




He was pretty overwhelmed


Breakfast of a 2 year old champion


I wanted to get a picture of the "2" before he started eating but he was so impatient and cried when he couldn't lift it up in perfectly bite sized pieces.


Thankfully most things are forgotten quickly


William and I had a great day filled with all of his favourite food and activities. Matt was busy at school but that weekend we took him to the science factory as a family. 

Even though it was pretty low key I know he had a blast and so did I. I love spending my days with this sweet boy. Happy 2 years, Son. We love you!


October also held Canadian Thanksgiving. It was delicious and we had a party with great friends but I'm too tired writing about October so you'll just have to take my word on it and salivate over the picture of our turkey. 


It was hands down the BEST turkey I've ever had and that is saying something because my mom makes a mean bird! Matthew, I would have married you for your poultry expertise alone. 













































September

September brought us back home to Eugene for Matt's final year of Law School! Let me tell you I am both bummed and excited about this. You see, while Matt has been hard at work, William and I have been busy making wonderful life long friends in one of the most beautiful places ever. I. Love. Eugene!  

What better way to celebrate our return than attending the Eugene Celebration Parade. We have missed this the past two years and so I was thrilled we would be back in time to attend. Never before have I been to a parade with so many political statements. If you're ever in Eugene in September I highly recommend it. Actually, it might have been the very end of August but whatever.



This float was for the local nudest colony. Someone ran up to check if they really were naked. Turns out they weren't. I was surprised to find out that this colony requires a membership fee. Apparently naked volley ball requires some funding.   Matt says it's worth it. 



Political statements, random community groups and strange bicycles took the show. It was all I could have dreamed of and more. 



Here is a cheesy picture of Matt on his last first day of school. Unless he surprises me with a new academic adventure, which wouldn't surprise me in the least.


We quickly got back into our Eugene routine and as usual the summer felt like a strange blur of a dream world. A big thanks to Matt's parents who yet again helped us move. They really are the best and if you need moving help I can give you their information. In helping us alone they could start up a business!

August

I have a lot of catching up to do so I'm going to go quickly. Like ripping off a bandaid.

Lets see. My parents came down in August (that's right, as in 4 months ago and when we were still in Yakima) to watch William while Matt and I took a solo trip to Arizona. This was our first trip without William as well as my first trip to Arizona. Why would anyone visit Arizona in August while pregnant?    
A family wedding of course. Growing up in a "small"/ I thought normal sized family, I've really enjoyed all the social family events Matt's family brings to our calendar. This trip was also the first time we would get to meet the bride-to-be. I already knew I would love her because she is a tall red head which means we are both members in a super elite club. The fact that she was/is awesome was like a fun bonus. 

I've decided that being the wife of the groom's brother is the best title of wedding attendance. You get all the VIP status of close important family with non of the work/stress that comes with being a bridesmaid or bride. 






The celebration was beautiful and the reunion was great fun. I had been trying to hide my pregnancy until after the wedding. Who wants to steal the lime light when a weddings involved? but as you can tell from the pictures it was getting a little harder to do so. Plus I was basically passing out in the heat and was irrationally starving so we let the news slip at the end of our trip. 


Rob and Jessica drove up from California to see us and crash the wedding. We had so much fun with them and I had been super excited about meeting their little boy. I'm sure William would have loved playing with him and I almost felt bad he wasn't there until I thought about the logistical nightmare that is traveling with toddlers and I didn't feel as bad. Plus I knew he was having tons of fun with my parents.


Coming back home was like still being on vacation. My parents had sufficiently spoiled William while we were gone and resumed spoiling us when we got back.





His first happy meal- I hear it went over pretty well. 


Yakima's museum. William was in heaven with all the wheels. 


Pretty sure there was a "don't touch" sign in front of this. 




After the museum we went to lunch at the little diner in the same building.


I asked for some cheese for William and they gave us an entire plate.


He ate the entire plate


because he thought the toothpick provided was pretty awesome.


My parents were visiting over Mom's birthday so we were able to celebrate together and go out for dinner. 


Thanks for being the best babysitters ever!