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.

Dad's Day

Because he teaches you how to curl your tongue...

and gives you Eskimo kisses before work...

because he's so much fun, you wait for him to come home from work every day...

I gave him the sweetest gift of all:

HIS VERY OWN CANDY DRAWER!

(What else did Dave want? An hour alone to mount our television on the backboard. He's weird.)

(Also, Dave is very grateful to Whoorl for the gift idea...)

Will as Narcissus

Mirror, mirror, on the wall...

...I like you, double chins and all.

Octobaby

Will is eight months old!

(As of the 28th, I know, but I couldn't upload the pictures in time.)

Here he is "enjoying" his first bite of Cheerios

(actually, Joe's O's from Trader Joe's, if you're looking to split hairs):

Pointing to his favorite page in one of his many pop-up books:

Will has developed a habit of standing up on the book crates in the living room and pulling out the ones he wants read to him. It's all well and good until he spies his forever favorite, The Three Bears. If it appears in his line of sight, Will starts grunting and grabbing for it...and when you're done reading to him, you MUST hide it immediately, on penalty of having to read it nineteen more times.

Posing with Barbara the Bear, gifted to him by Grandmom and Grandpop and named by Dave:

Lurching for the camera:

The one-tooth wonder:

I could eat those green eyes for dinner. With a side of bald head, and some cheek chub for dessert.