Foot in the Mouth...

...literally

He's been trying and finally acomplished the mission.

These two just love bathtime together

(for now, at least!)

First Roll

October 12th

He did it - the first roll-over!

"Yeah, see if you can keep me on my belly now!"

William just goes crazy for this Sesame Street musical toy. Its absolutely obnoxious, but you can tell already its going to be his big motivator of a toy.

William turns 5-Months

Another month of big adventures, new skills, great news and one huge backslide for William this month. He's growing like a champ and is officially 19 pounds 13 ounces. He's flying through clothing sizes, especially given his length and two chubby thighs! Now even some of his 6-12 month clothing is getting snug (seriously!). He's in 12-month pajamas and a few 12-18 month clothes.

We got wonderful news from the cardiologist that after reviewing all his tests, William's heart is felt to be fine. His pediatrician will monitor him and consult the cardiology group as necessary in the future. We couldn't have asked for better news!

We're wondering if there's a tooth in our near future. William has officially reached the 'stuffing everything in his mouth' stage and often sucks on his lower lip. He's got drool going like crazy!

William is able to sit up independently for a couple minutes at a time, especially when he is engaged in playing with a toy in front of him. He is constantly on a mission to reach and grab at anything nearby, whether he's sitting on your lap going after your food or in the front carrier grabbing things even before you can get to them. He admires his hands with great intrigue, is rolling from his belly to his back and is ever-so vocal with babbling, making sucking noises and belly laughs.

I can already see William's pure admiration for Nicholas. He watches him and just takes in all his antics. I've even caught him laughing appropriately at things Nicholas does. Those are the moments that I say to myself, "this is just the beginning...life with two boys!"

Will just loves tubby time, especially when his brother is in there with him. He splashes like a maniac and loves to get his foot in his mouth to suck on some toes. Its really cute. William pees every night in the bath - like clockwork. Nicholas starts laughing (calling it a fountain) and then William laughs back - ...yes, another moments I remind myself, this is just the beginning!

Just after his Baptism, we made the big move to his crib. The first night, William slept from 7:40pm to 6am! I thought Daddy's snoring must have been disturbing him all this time and we were finally going to get some good sleep around here. I could not have been more wrong! The next night, William flat out refused to sleep! He was awake nearly all night and generally very cranky. This really started a downward spiral to terrible nights of constant waking and screaming as if he's in pain. Presently, we are exploring the possibility of a milk protein allergy (so Mommy has omitted dairy from her diet for the past week) and will try an acid reducer to see if that improves life in a horizontal plane. We've got one sleep deprived Momma here!

Pun'kin Pickin'

Pumpkin Pickin' 2009 with my 2 lil pun'kins

This was right up Nicholas' alley. He trudged through the patch like a boy on a mission, repeating, "wow, its really bumpy in the pumpkin patch."

He'd see one and squeal, "oh, what a cute pumpkin!"

"This one is my perfect pumpkin!"

Unfortunately, later that night we realized Nicholas' perfect pumpkin's stem gave him a whole bunch of slivers in the palm of his hand. He was one brave boy when Mommy poked his hand for a half hour with tweezers and a pin to get them out. (Thank you Curious George for the distraction)

The pumpkin haulers

Daddy and his boys

Mama's pun'kins

We ventured into the corn maze. Little did we expect the challenge we were met with. Nicholas loved the adventure...

whereas Mommy and Daddy were constantly trading off who was carrying the 20+ pound sack of taters....I mean William.

Winter Ware

William seemed rather comfy in his winter duds -

I just don't know if I'm ready to dress 2 in winter coats, hats, mittens, boots...

can't it just stay fall-like for the next 6 months.

Got Milk?

After attempting the pumpkin patch on Saturday only to find it closed, we checked out B'ville's Octoberfest. Nicholas enjoyed a hot apple dumpling (yes, that became dinner) and the live music...

while poor William was in search of something special for him...

Nice try, buddy.

He looks so bummed and guilty at the same time.

Industrious William

Always on a mission ~ one very perseverant 4 1/2 month old!

Playdate with the Ryan Girls

We always love our playdates with the Ryans girls - and boy do we need a little girliness around here every now and then. The big kiddos enjoyed decorating cookies with some extra frosting from William's Baptism cake.

When Sue was packing up the girls, Nicholas had the most precious moment with baby Erica (who really isn't a baby anymore - she's turning 1 this week!). He rocked her and kept saying in his high pitched squeaky voice, "hello baby Erica...its okay....you're sooooo cute!" She just yummed it up too!

He sure can be a sweetie!

William's First Trip on a Playground Swing

On a nice fall day, we walked to the neighborhood park. Mommy got quite the workout pushing the double stroller fully loaded but boy did the kiddos enjoy the adventure. William was all smiles and belly laugh for his first time on a big playground swing...

My boys are getting so big, so fast!

There was a family at the playground who spoke Polish. For a rare occurrence, Nicholas was speechless and rather taken back as he tried to make sense of their communication. It was so funny to watch him studying these little kids talking a different language.

We had so much fun, before I realized it, it was getting very brisk as the sun was nearly setting. Thankfully, Daddy came by to pick us up on his way home from work. Thanks Daddy!

A Day at the Office

William loves sitting upright in the Bumbo seat. Nicholas gathers him toys to set up an "office" for Will, who just loves swatting at everything and trying to stuff anything in his mouth. Of course, Nicholas often insists on working in the office too.

William's always yapping about something...

Fall Fun

Nicholas is enjoying counting down to "trick-or-treating night happy Halloween."

We made a huge mess of fun when we made paprika playdough.

Of course, Mr. Nosey was constantly smelling it as much as playing with it.

Twins

I never thought I'd be one of those people who dresses same-sex kids in matching clothes, but I have to say, it can be easy to do and is rather cute!

This morning, Nicholas was telling me he wanted to stay home from school so he could play with brother William. He kept showing William his dry cereal, rubbing his belly and talking to him. It was so cute and such an effective means of stalling to get ready for school!

William's Blessing

Sunday October 4th

We celebrated William's Baptism today with family and close friends. Grammy helped wrangle this busy-body into the gown. Its a family heirloom - over 50 years old and even worn by William's godmother.

My cutie!

Shockingly, William wailed through the entire event. Honestly, I could not hear a word uttered throughout, since I was trying everything in my powers to appease him - of course, the slippery, foofy gown did not make this an easy feat. He was just so so so overtired.

Just before the blessing, Godmother Aunt Elaine tried her magic. Poor Dr. Wooten looks like he didn't know what to think of the matter.

It's so funny to look back on these pictures just a couple weeks later. William is such a happy boy (especially considering what a certain someone else put us through at this age). This is very unlike Will's temperament.

A sad attempt at a family picture...

William's godparents are his great Aunt Elaine and Uncle John. They gave him a beautiful Baptismal shell that was used to hold the holy water.

Nicholas lightened the scene with showing off his poses and moves on the alter.

We feel truly blessed to have so many special people join us at the church.

When all was said and done, William finally gave in to some shut-eye. It was the first time he's ever stayed asleep through being fastened in his car seat.

The gang all joined us for lunch back at the house. Dominic and Nicholas were happy as can be with the chips at their level. They were so cute pushing the bowl back and forth to each other.

It's not a party without a cake!

I'm still shocked Nicholas was okay with us not doing the whole candle scene. He was talking about singing Happy Birthday with candles ever since I started telling him of the upcoming party.

When the house was empty at 7pm, it was hard to tell who was more tired, Poppie or William.

~ so precious ~