holy. crap.
Check it out. Any of those photos look familiar? Feel free to vote for…ME this time!!!
hail storm
This afternoon we had another epic plains hailstorm. Hail an inch and a half across. Hail that destroys plants.
The minute it started, I thought of poor Nic and all the hard work he’s put into the garden. So, remembering something someone said, I began running around the house like a crazy person grabbing blankets and towels, and then dashing outside and throwing them on the plants.
Will watched me dash in the house and out, throwing towels and blankets and tablecloths and whatever else I could find over our plants. I was getting nailed by the hail. I had welts on my back that are now turning into bruises. It hurt so badly.
I was out in the backyard, throwing Nic’s favorite blanket over Nic’s favorite lambs ear plants, when over the sound of the hail, I heard a scream behind me. It was Will. He was holding the floormat from the backdoor and trying to scramble back inside.
The poor guy took a HUGE piece of hail to the back of the head (from the look of the wet spot in his hair and his frantic “pain” signing). He had seen me running around throwing fabric on plants, so he grabbed the floor mat and came out to help me. It was so sweet I almost cried…I took a tiny break from my frantic dashing around to bring Will around to the front porch where he could help me put the mat over my lavendar bush…while staying out of danger!
I’m not even sure if covering everything up was the right thing to do, but it felt good to be doing something. Trying to beat Colorado weather at its own game. Even if my baby and I got a little beat up in the process.
Will at 18 months
I meant to write this yesterday, but oh well.
Spirit: Oh my goodness this child has spirit. He’s an independent guy, who is not above unlocking the sliding glass door and going outside by himself into the backyard while his mother is upstairs. He throws at least one tantrum every day. He is always on the go and looking for adventure
Loves: William loves The Wiggles. He asks to watch them all the time, and it’s so sad to have to say no. He loves his neighbors Tori and Jameson. He has a special dinosaur squeal that he does when he sees her or wants to refer to her. He is always running to either Tori or Jameson’s front door, and if I let him, he’ll knock, expecting them to come out and play. He loves dogs. He loves dogs SO MUCH. If he’s throwing a tantrum you can say “hey Will–is there a dog over there?” and he’ll immediately stop crying/shouting to look for a dog. Just remembering that there are dogs in this world is enough to calm him down. Starting this weekend, he’s adoring his swing again. He could swing and swing and swing for hours. He loves his playset and is always up to new and more dangerous activities on it.
Books: Will loves his books. We’re doing bedtime stories now (a few months ago we weren’t, because books got him worked up as opposed to calmed down). He loves Jamberry and Chugga Chugga Choo Choo the best. He says “choo choo?” when he wants to read it (or play with his trains).
Baths: Will still loves his bath. We got him some bath crayons, so that’s added even more fun. He insists on a trickle of water running from the faucet for the entire bath, and he loves to put his belly under it and then laugh as we both sign “cold.”
Sleep: He is still waking up 1-2 times a night. It had gotten better, but then we went to Seattle and it got worse again. He takes one nap a day most of the time (he’ll take a second nap if we happen to be in the car around 3 or 4). It’s about an hour and a half in length.
Size: He’s still tall. Everyone still thinks he’s much older than he really is.
Language: He has about a dozen words, but at least 30 signs, and probably more. His sign language has just exploded in the last month or two. Here is a rundown of his words and signs (I’ll try to add to these as I remember ones I’ve forgotten):
WORDS: choo choo, zoom zoom, da, mom, dits (ferrets), hi, dum (food – I finally figured out that he’s calling it “dum” because I always say “yum”), dat (that), dites (lights), shoes, Nan-nan-nan (Heather), I-eee-yah (I see you), cheese (cause he loves it so), “durse” (nurse), blubs (bubbles), blalls (balls), dis (this)
SIGNS: rabbit, elephant, gorilla, bird, cat, dog, owl, cow, more, no, all done, nurse, food, hot, cold, water, milk, light, car, hairbrush, hair, rain, hat, chicken, poop, goat, “where did it go?”, thank you, airplane, flowers, ferrets, swing,
Cuddles: Will is one of the most lovey babies I’ve ever seen. He loves to give hugs, kisses, and pats. (even to strangers–especially other kids he sees) He is so affectionate and I love that part of him to pieces!
Food: He is still a very good eater. He’ll eat anything, but his favorites are salmon, yogurt, blueberries, zucchini, green beans, turkey, and jelly bellies to name a few. And he still loves nursing. He loves to be in charge of his own spoon/fork, then gets frustrated and just wants THE FOOD IN HIS MOUTH. We love taking him out to eat because it’s so amazing how far we’ve come in the last year…we can set him up with his own food and he’s good to go–we get to actually enjoy our meals! I just order his stuff as soon as they take our drink order, and then he’s almost always happy as a clam until it’s time to go.
Funny: Will loves to laugh. He has a fake laugh that is particularly amusing, and he loves to do things for a laugh. His latest trick is putting on my sunglasses. We were out shopping for wedding photog clothes the other day and when I wheeled him into the changing room I set him up in front of the mirror with my sunglasses, and he amused himself while I changed.
Will things: He swings his arms back and forth when he walks around in a happy/content/bored way. He sticks out his tongue when he’s concentrating (he gets this from Nic). He likes to climb up on big people chairs and sit there for a minute, thinking about how grown up he is. He loves to help unload the dishes from the dishwasher. He still wants to always play in the trash. He loves opening and closing doors so that he’s on the other side than you are. Strangers still tell us how adorable he is. He’s finally wearing mostly age appropriate clothing–18-24 month stuff and a just few 2T items.
There’s more to say, but I have to get back to work…
how did I forget to mention…
That Will also knows the sign for “poop.”
He uses it properly…although he has often been known to abuse it at bedtime as a stalling technique. “Oh look at me! You can’t go–you have to change my poopy diaper.”
Little liar. 
PS–Will is officially 18 months old tomorrow. I’m gonna make him cupcakes and then get his little footprint–just like I used to do!
Willie
In the past week or two, Will has learned:
– to jump (this, if I am not mistaken, is pretty amazing for his age). He loves it. He does it all the time. He loves to hold onto the railing of his crib or our bed and jump–but the truly amazing thing is that he can jump without holding onto anything, either. Sometimes he over does it and falls on his butt
– even more animal signs – elephant and rabbit are two of the ones to be added to dog, bird, gorilla, owl, and kitty. he also made up a sign for nursing that is much more polite than sticking his hand down my shirt–he puts his fist up to his cheek. Nic was the one to figure out what it meant.
– yesterday he did a somersault. all by himself. I’d never even shown him how!
– the word “cheese” as in the delicious dairy snack
– he is really into his trainset right now. It’s the first thing we play with him the morning. He takes me over to it saying “choo choo” and then we play. He loves to push the button to collapse the bridge, and he’s getting pretty good at pushing the trains around. Mostly he likes to watch me do it, though…but he loves to provide the sound effects!
first sentence
Yesterday Nic and Will were playing in the bathtub and Nic was saying “I see you!”
And Will started saying it, too: “I eee ya!”
This, for the record Uncle Erik, is a complete sentence. ;P
awesome news!
I am going to be assisting an incredibly talented wedding photographer starting in TWO WEEKS!!!!!
This is a HUGE opportunity and I am so excited it’s ridiculous. I emailed her last week asking if she might be interested in having me assist her at weddings. I didn’t realize that she gets about three emails a WEEK from people asking that very thing. But she called me back, told me that she liked my stuff (a huge compliment) and that she’d like to get together with me and chat!
I drove up to Denver to meet with her tonight (I was so nervous) and I’ll start working with her on the 31st of this month! It’s better than I’d even hoped–she wants me to assist her with all of her weddings!
The experience is going to be invaluable and I can’t wait to learn a ton! This is big for our family and I am in full celebratory mood…only it’s 9pm and pretty much only the ferrets will dance around the room with me at this hour!
let today go down in history
as the day William was finally tall/coordinated/strong enough to open doors.
His first act? To barge in on me in the bathroom.
His second? Pull down the gate outside the ferret’s room then open the door. The ferrets say “thank you for our freedom, ferret king. we are proud of you.” Then the whisper to each other “what the heck took him so long?!”
ps
If you’re not in the habit of checking out my photog blog, I have mucho exciting news. The website I bought while in Seattle went live today. I love it. Very funky and fun. Check it out at by following the old link to some Colorado Springs portrait photography goodness.
holy crap
Will wants these. I’m going to try hard not to order him one. But I’ll probably give in tomorrow and get him the earth one. They remind me of the little boy that lived two doors down from us in England who was seldom without a cape. Or hat. Or crazy shoes. Or all of the above.
feeling guilty
I feel like in the blur of the last month or so I’ve completely lost tons of great Will things–never to be remembered or recorded. The photography business (and illness this last week) has made things more than a little crazy around here. I’m always behind, the house is always a mess, and Will has been watching entirely too much tv.
Here are a few things about Will this week:
– Tonight he pooped on a pile of my clean clothes. And then stepped in it because Nic and I were laughing too hard to prevent him from stepping in it. And then he cried and cried and cried and kept trying to cling onto me even as I was trying to dump him into the bathtub.
– He makes up signs all the time and it’s our job to keep up. So far there’s rain and telephone and nursing and others I’ve already forgotten. Nic is much better at catching their meaning than I am.
– He is still obsessed with the photo of the extended Turchin clan. The day after my last post, he grabbed the photo off the wall, hugged it to his body, and then walked around with it the whole day, giving the picture kisses and bringing it to me so I’d tell him all about what he did with each person. Today, he wanted to talk about Manu a lot.
– We got locked out of the house today because the garage keypad stopped working sometime between the time I used it to close the garage door and the time I returned home from the grocery store. We went next door to play with the neighbors and discovered that Will (who will be 18 months in about two weeks) is significantly taller and bigger than the two year old next door.
– He is the master of stalling at bedtime (walking in the footsteps of his Aunt Kelly). He discovered that if he’s cute, it’s much harder for Nic to walk away. For a few days Will would just keep handing Nic books…and if Nic walked away, Will would stand at the corner of the crib and wave a book at him. Nic couldn’t resist. And then came the hugs. He would just stand and hug you for the longest time without wiggling. He realized that the longer the hug lasted, the longer he could delay us leaving. And then the most pathetic of all–the kiss pucker. Shortly after getting home from Seattle, Will started making the puckering noise of air kisses to say that he wanted a kiss. He would make that little noise and we would come give him another kiss. Well…he brought that into bedtime. And the first night it was so cute that he got three or four rounds of kisses. Now it’s just pathetic–he’ll stand at the corner of the crib and scream at us and pucker up. And the only thing that keeps us from feeling totally guilty is the fact that if you actually go back in to give him a kiss, he refuses to let you kiss him.
– One nap. In Seattle, Will was sleep deprived enough to be back to two naps a day. Here, he’s a one nap jack. It sucks, because he gets really tired around 4:00. So now I take him to the grocery store every day around that time and he zones out in the stroller and I peruse the magazine aisle.
– A 7am baby. It seems that our Seattle trip may have cured Will from his “it’s 5am and I’m ready to go” ways. He is reliably up between 6:30 and 7:00 now. He’s not back to sleeping through the night, but the cold really set us all back, so I’m praying that with diligence on Nic and my part, he’ll be sleeping well by the end of the month.
– Will is all about pulling the toy wagon that Koko got for him. He loves to pull it around the yard. Yesterday I caught him trying to take it up the ladder with him. And I’m pretty sure he would have done it–he was halfway up when I took the handle from his hand!
– We found a pacifier or two while cleaning out the kitchen cupboards, and Will, who never liked pacifiers as a baby, has discovered a fondness for them. He likes to put it in his mouth for a minute or two, climb up onto the end table, throw the pacifier down on the sofa, jump down after it, pop it in his mouth as a prize, and the cycle begins again. Since it’s acting as a toy rather than a pacifier, I figure it’s harmless. (this will be fun to read in the future when he has a full-blown pacifier addiction and I’m trying to figure out how that possibly could have started)
– Berries. He ate a TON of blueberries at Joan’s house–both from the bush and from a carton. You know what his favorite book is now? Jamberry. A book full of tons and tons of pictures of blueberries. I felt so guilty, because on one of our first nights home, Nic was reading it to Will at bedtime and Will started signing “food” and wouldn’t stop. He wanted blueberries, and I didn’t have any for him!
– He’s doing some really cute lounging in the bathtub lately. He likes to lie on his back and have the water come all the way up on the sides of his face. As long as he can breathe, he’s a happy camper.
– He loves to smell smelly candles. A few months ago I taught him about smelling the lids of candles while we were at a Yankee Candle store, and he hasn’t stopped since.
– He can do two Wiggles songs now. I bought one of their cds on iTunes so that he can have The Wiggles whenever he asks–even if not on tv. We do the dances in the kitchen and put on our own wiggles show. He’s very good at “Rock-a-bye Your Bear” (he loves the “shh-shh-shh” and rocking from side to side parts the most) and “quack-quack-quack-quack-quack cocka-doodle-do.” Of course, I’m better at them, but it’s not a competition or anything.
– He understands SO much. I’m always amazed when I’ll say something to him in the mindless narrative of our day that I’ve gotten used to providing in his year and a half of life…and he’ll respond appropriately. Just this week I realized that I can no longer ask the up-until-now rhetorical questions about what we’re going to do next that I have for the last 18 months. I can no longer say “do you want to go upstairs?” because he’ll shake his head no. And “how about a diaper change?” is out…because he shakes his head AS HE RUNS AWAY.
a seattle recap
We’re home!
Will and I spent two weeks in Seattle, and Nic joined us for the second week. So many fun memories. Some of the highlights:
– Will playing in the lake almost every day. Joan set up the slide that goes from the pier into the water, and he loved to go down it. He was forever inventing new ways of doing so! Belly first, head first, arms and legs flailing…
– Seeing family and friends at Kelly’s wedding reception. It was very cool to see people I hadn’t seen in five or more years!
– Dinner at The Purple Cafe. Joan gave us the treat of a gift certificate (and most importantly, babysitting) the night after Nic flew in. We went to the downtown restaurant (each has a different menu) so that we could order from their tasting menu–little snacks and desserts paired with wines. It was incredible food and a beautifully romantic evening. At the end of the evening we even got to stop by Heather and Erik’s (partly just to confirm that they were still alive after the bachelor/bachelorette parties).
– Will as ring bearer. He was so. stinking. cute. At the rehearsal, he FLEW down the aisle so fast he frequently dropped whatever we had given him to act as a ring pillow, and then there was one time when he cried and refused to go down the aisle…so we weren’t quite sure what would happen. Heather and I had faith that whatever did happen would be adorable…and Will of course delivered. We didn’t trust him with the rings, so Nic and I tied our own wedding bands onto the pillow as decoys. Nic and I moved to the center of the alter when it was Will’s turn to walk down, and Will was told to “go see Mommy and Daddy.” He actually walked (instead of running) at first, which shocked me…then he broke into a run, the rings jangling on the pillow…and then he stopped short about three feet from the alter. Unsure what to do next, he went for the money move: he through the pillow the rest of the way down the aisle. Everyone laughed and cheered and applauded for him, Nic scooped him up and gave him the pillow…and then he threw it again. It was way cute.
– Having Koko at the wedding! My Koko saved the day by being our nanny. She arrived to watch Will during the photo shoot before the wedding, then took him from Nic after Will walked down the aisle and pushed him around outside in his stroller during the ceremony. She helped us keep him semi-happy at the beginning of the reception, and then babysat him at Heather and Erik’s condo so Nic and I could enjoy the second half of the reception and then the after party! A thousand thanks to you, Koko–you made the day so much more enjoyable, not only for me and Nic, but for Heather, Erik, and Joan as well! And I don’t know what I would have done without you when Will POOPED ten minutes before we needed to walk down the aisle! Great timing, Will!
– Heather and Erik’s unofficial first dance. Months ago, when I posted the videos of Will dancing to “Suddenly I See” and explained that it is his favorite song, Heather made a request to the DJ that he have it ready to go at the reception so that Will could dance. Will needed to go home before the dancing began, though, so we made a special request that it play early, and Will and Heather got to dance. As cranky and tired after the long day as he was, he perked up immediately, and seeing him dance with Heather and Erik was so special. Arguably one of the sweetest moments of the night was when the dance ended, he looked up at Heather and signed “more.”
– The after party. As one of the designated drivers, I got to enjoy it from a particularly privileged point of view. Not only was I treated to dancing in “a Webb sandwich” (when I protested that maybe it wasn’t entirely appropriate for a married woman to dance in between twins, Nic shrugged his shoulders and pushed me onto the dance floor as Heather pulled), but I got to see Nic demand high fives from a gang of men in the street, and then got to see Heather run after them outraged and shouting “You’re not going to high-five THE BRIDE?!!!!” I also got to see what onlookers called “the coolest f-ing thing they’ve ever seen.” I saw Erik’s brother JUMP OVER a guy. Not a short guy, either–he’s got to be six feet tall himself. Not sort of jump over him by kicking a leg up over his head, not guy-who-is-getting-jumped-over-kneels down (though I will admit that he did bow his head slightly)…but JUMPED OVER as in crotched-cleared-his-head. The bars had just closed, there were plenty of people watching…and if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I never would have believed it. There’s a video out there of it…so when it gets online I’ll share the link. It was awesome. Ridiculously immature and dangerous, but totally awesome none the less.
– The flight home. In direct comparison to the flight to Seattle, it was heavenly. On the flight to Seattle I was on my own. We took off at 7pm–Will’s bedtime…and yet he didn’t fall asleep on the first flight. Or the second flight. One hour layover, two two hour flights…and the whole time he SQUIRMED while I tried to keep him contained in my seat. Everyone around us would stand up at the end of the flight and say how good he was, so the fact that I was completely and totally exhausted by the end of it was okay…since at least we’d kept his craziness to the guy next to us and the person immediately in front of us (who probably got kicked in the back a couple of times). But the whole time I consoled myself with the fact that at least he would be awake when we got to Seattle–awake and perky to see his aunt, uncle, and grandpa. Except AS WE FLEW OVER DOWNTOWN SEATTLE (I’m serious–downtown was in my window) less than three minutes away from landing, he suddenly and unexpectedly put his head on my elbow, stopped wiggling, and fell into what can only be described as a coma. Little butt.
– New signs. When we returned home, Will suddenly started using two signs that we’ve been teaching him for months and months and months. “Eating”–what was actually the very first sign we attempted to teach him, and one he never used until now (a year later) and “pain.” While on the trip, he started says “mom” again regularly (previously I could go a week without hearing it)–he says it “mom-mom-mom” and it is precious.
– The bachlorette party and related pampering. I loved the bridal party. The bridesmaids were wonderful, Heather’s friend are awesome, and luckily we had several opportunities to bond and hang out. From the bachlorette party (we spent most of the evening at a gay bar) to Go-Kart racing, to having pedicures and manicures the day before the wedding, to the after party. It was a lot of fun without any babies. I got to go out and have fun without Will, and as much as I love him, I sure did enjoy having fun without him! 
– Will missing Nic. A week is a long time to go without seeing your “Da!” and every morning Will would wake up and point to the picture of Nic that was on top of our nightstand. He would wave and say “Da!” It broke my heart.
– Getting home. Will was visibly happy to be home. The first morning (we snuck him home while he slept) he woke up and excitedly ran around the living room, touching everything, opening up his toy chest, shouting about all of his favorite toys. He was so excited to be home–I hadn’t expected that. But then later I found him staring at the photo of the extended Turchin clan–the people he’d seen every day for the last two weeks (Joan, Chris, Manu, Heather, and Erik). I picked him up so he could look at it more closely and he pointed at it and then waved to everyone. Like “hey! I know who those people are!” As excited as he is to be home, I can tell he misses you guys!
