Touchy, Touchy

We've said it from the start: William's a tactile learner.

OK, he's a tactile PERSON.

Here he is manning the gearshift:

(We were parked at a rest stop. The car is OFF.)

And wielding the slotted spoon like a poor man's sceptre:

Anything to keep the guy happy in confined spaces.

I Found My Thrill

I'm still catching up with posting the latest pictures of Will now that we are past the Month of Sickness. It's really nice to breathe through my nose again, and Will's close to full recovery too.

Here are some shots of a boy and his blueberries:

Making a break for it:

When the Colantoni cousins visited last weekend, they got to see Blueberry Face firsthand.

"He's soooooo messy!" was the common refrain.

Oh, yeah. Welcome to my laundry pile, kiddos.

He Ain't Heavy...

William spent his first nine months aerobicizing in my belly and the next nine steadily growing out of the Bjorn. It wouldn't be such a big deal if Will could be restrained with any other contraption, but he quickly tires of the high chair, the car seat and the jumperoo. He doesn't mind the stroller, but around the house we are harrassed with the "UP!" grunts and sign language unless we lift him up to our level.

I can no longer cart him around in the carrier (have you seen the Boost Mobile commercial in which an older man is carrying a younger and fully-grown man in a Baby Bjorn? That is what it looks like when I try to strap Will to my body. It is ridiculous and not my back's favorite activity), but he still goes for a ride with Dave on occasion:

The Waterboy

From early on, Will has disliked bathing. The little blue baby tub forced him to lie down (despair) while naked (double despair) while getting increasingly wet and shivery (doom, sorrow, woe). We've been pacifying the tyke with sponge baths ever since, waiting for the right moment to retry the real thing.

The bathtimes, they are a-changin'.

Tee Before Sleep

I know you're tired, Will...Mommy just needs a photo

with you in that cute golf outfit from Auntie Lauren

before you outgrow it.

Yes, I understand that it's labeled 18-24 months, but trust me,

you won't be wearing that shirt for long.

Not with those Incredible Hulk shoulders, anyway.

(Stop grabbing for the camera, Will. NOT FOR BABIES!)

Seriously, dude. What's with you fitting into 24-month tops,

but still with the 12-month bottoms?

P.S. If you wear your pants that high, you might as well just get your AARP card now, son.

Trying out your newfound clapping skills,

or lurching for the camera one last time?

We'll never know. (Because he fell asleep two minutes later.)

Nature's Teething Toy

This is Will. Between his seven- and nine-month birthdays, Will cut four teeth.

His first four teeth.

These pictures were taken when Will was eight months old...

because I've been remiss in my posting duties.

While his moods haven't been greatly affected by all this teething,

Will definitely bites on everything in sight.

Sometimes, his jaw clamps down on these conveniently close objects:

-Dave's shoulder

-my leg

-various other things with nerve endings

So instead of offering up our limbs, we encourage him to gnaw on

watermelon, plums, apples (spoons, towels, couches, activity mats...).

He prefers the flavor, and we prefer not to get bitten.

Everybody wins!

(Happy 4th of July, friends and family!)

The Little EnginEER That Could

Half the pictures I take of Will end up looking like the one above. That is because the boy never stops climbing. Not ever.

We noticed a couple of months ago that our child was also strangely eager to check out "how things work." He'd flip over his bottle to inspect its underbelly, or he'd turn his toy drum upside down, ignoring the top (which is apparently SO BORING with its bright, flashing screen and its red numbers and letters and that dull-as-can-be MUSIC) in order to examine--what else?--the battery case.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the case of My Genes v. Dave's Genes. Guess who's dominating the scoreboard?

No, this is not staged. Will actually sat down and methodically flipped over his walker so that he could inspect and spin its wheels. He does this all the time now, with that focused stare locked on his face.