Woznation

She started walking in early July, but I’m finally getting around to sharing some video:

I love those first weeks of walking – where the hands are kind of T-Rex style and there is a SERIOUS ‘toddle’ in the toddler.  If her chest would get too far in front of her she would just get top-heavy and fall over.  Or if she was going too slow her head would take her backwards, but she would somehow always catch herself on her butt.  Serious cat-like reflexes!

Shes finally getting the hang of it here:

Now shes running around everywhere!  Uneven terrain, stairs, chairs, couches. you-name-it.  Shes walking, climbing, jumping (Ok – not jumping, but falling around on pillows):

Shes going to be our trouble maker!!! Love you Eves!

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Yikes – Its hard to think back to July. What did we do?

–Well for starters, we started swim lessons. Wil would get in the pool in Naples, but was very unsure of himself and would hang onto our necks for dear life. We thought introducing him to the water more often would be a good idea. Either Phil or I went every Saturday morning with him. He went from holding on for dear life to us only holding his hands while he wore a floaty and kicked. It was a huge improvement.

–Phil had a birthday – We had a mini party with the kids.  We wrapped presents, blew up balloons and had dangerously delicious pies.  Then I surprised him with a babysitter and we had a nice night out. We went down to the harbor,  rode around on the water taxi (Phil’s first time!!), and had a nice dinner at Waterfront.

–Evie started walking!! Which deserves its own post. But once she started – she never stopped! She is EVERYWHERE. But much happier because of it, unless you try to pick her up, because, duh, she wants to walk.

–Nearly every weekend was free. It was so great. We spent some time in the garden, went to the aquarium, went to the science museum with play group, had a happy hour at the tot lot, saw a patterson park concert series, and went to urban pirate story time. I don’t have nearly enough pictures of all these things, but it was nice that we dictated our own time. In contrast to August, where every weekend was busy with something, it was nice to look back to July and see that we focused on each other and soaked up a lot of summer.

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On July 5^th Wil re-discovered our point and click camera. We gave it to him thinking he wouldn’t be able to do much with it, but he soon figured out how to turn it off and on. And take pictures and watch it pop up in the viewing screen.   He took over 100 pictures, but I narrowed it down to about 40 of the most poignant shots.  I hope to make this an on-going series.

Without further ado, I give you Wil’s view on life, July 5^th 2014:

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We had a great 4^th of July! I altered expectations given last years experience (REF: Last 4th ). We didn’t attempt to keep kids up for fireworks, or change nap times to go to parades, and everyone was much happier. Even though there were hurricane-like winds the night before, the actual 4^th of July turned out to be a beautiful day! We headed over to Fort McHenry after Evies morning nap:

It was so gorgeous! I couldn’t believe we hadn’t made it here before. This is where Francis Scott Key wrote the star-spangled banner and its a huge landmark in Baltimore. They had solider/cannon reenactments:

And tunnels:

ECHOOO:

Funny story – we were watching the re-enactment when Phil and Wilek found the tunnel up above and they went to explore while Evie and I finished watching the show. Well, father and son starting YELLING AND ECHOING in the tunnel – which is great fun – except that it was SO LOUD while these poor high-schoolers were trying to recite their lines to the crowds of people. I had to leave evie amongst the crowd and run down to the tunnel to get them to stop. It was hilarious. I was dying laughing.

We also found a boat!! Wil loved playing around on, but it was quite windy:

We made it home for nap time, gaming and lunch – for whatever reason, I always feel like 4^th of july calls for corn on the cob, green beams, and watermelon (not pictured), and I would have preferred a hot dog – but we had pork chops on hand:

When everyone woke up, we went and explored harbor east for a little while. Phil attempted to find us some sparklers but nowhere reasonable sold them and we weren’t about to drive out to a firework super store. Wil was happy enough with his little flag:

We finished the evening off by listening to battle hymn of the republic, stars and stripes and watching old you-tube videos of fireworks.

I definitely was an old fuddy –duddy this year and was more upset with the young kiddos outside STILL setting off fireworks at 11pm and possibly waking up my children, rather than partaking in the fun. Its kind of sad to be on ‘the other side’ of fun holidays like this. I have no doubt that in a few years we’ll be back to having fun. But for now its easier to try to keep the status quo. We had a nice day with happy, well-rested children, and a new activity. It was great.

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I have taken about a million pictures of our garden – and Im pretty sure most people arent interested in the majority of them.  But I freaking LOVE this garden.  Sure, we’re not doing that great – its sooooo apparent that we are newbies:  I still have tomato cages around my pepper plants, All my herbs look like flower bushes, and our zucchini plant is the size of a mini cooper.  But we’ve come a long way (REF: My first garden post!) and we’re having a lot of fun!  Evie’s nap schedule has changed quite a bit in the last few months, so we no longer get to go tend to the garden while she sleeps.  Sometimes its just a Phil and Wil event. Sometimes I just go and water on my way home from work, or Phil will weed on his own while the kids are napping.  But we have had a lot of fun and learned a lot for years to come!  We’re still waiting on a big harvest of tomatoes – but the zucchini has been plentiful! We have also enjoyed dishes with our herbs, peppers, green beans, and carrots!!  I’m counting this first year of gardening as an epic success!!!

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I swear we are going to throw this kid a proper birthday one of these years!!  But this year it was another intimate event with the family.  Wil is definitely starting to ‘get’ birthdays though and he knew his birthday was approaching.  We talked a lot about special present ‘surprises’ and cookies and balloons – all his favorite things!  So the morning of his birthday Phil and I both made a special effort to start the day off with a present and chocolate chip pancakes!  It was basically the best morning ever in his mind.

Here is a video of the unveiling:  http://youtu.be/BqQYdD6pVOM

The tunnel (which is still called a ‘tun-tun’) was a big hit!  Phil and I both had to head to work for a bit, but we came home early to finish celebrating.  I picked up a big balloon bouquet on the way home and then Wil and I made m&ms cookies with icing together while Evie finished her nap.

We all headed out on a walk around the duck pond where he opened another present.

Then we finished the evening off by opening the rest of the presents and skyping with family.

Even though it wasnt a huge party – I think Wil had a freaking awesome day.

Hes getting more and more words (though we are still working on enunciation) and has been so much fun to hang out with recently!  I seriously love going to the store with him or just walking around the park. He points out everything and asks questions.  His favorite thing to do these days is catch bugs.  My friend Laurel got him a bug net and a bug cage – and we cant leave the house without it!  He gets a little nervous once we actually catch one and have it in the cage – he will look at it for a second – but like to release it immediately.    We are doing swim lessons this summer, which I thought was going to be an epic disaster given other recent attempts in the pool – but he actually doing really well!!  He still wont go under the water – but he starting to enjoy kicking and splashing.  It was supposed to be a Phil/Wil event on saturday mornings, but I had so much fun the first week that I have pushed my way in a  few weeks.  We have 3 other friends with little boys in the class, too.  Its quite a social event.

Wil is 3 feet 2in, and about 32 pounds – about 50% for everything, but pretty darn skinny!  He wears a mix of 2T and 3T items.  And the occasional 18month item!  Which is hilarious given Evie is nearly outgrown 18 month and is moving on to 24 month.  He was in some 3T shorts the other day and they were a bit big and he kept having to tug them up.  Well we were at the park, about a half mile from home, and all of a sudden Wil goes “I’m all done with these pants” and just took them off and started to run around in his underpants! haha.  We went home shortly after.  I’m not sure if Ive mentioned it before but Wil is almost 100% potty trained. I actually have an entire post about it sitting in my email-box, but figured the whole world didnt need to see it.  If any friends/family wants to read 1000 words on our potty training experience, just let me know.

He is starting to climb ladders at the park and hang on the monkey bars but we are still working on his balance bike that he got for his birthday.    Recently he has been really exciting about counting, especially with his fingers.  He knows how to get to 5  – but doesnt quite grasp moving to 6 with the other hand.  We also like making shapes and smiley faces.  If youve gotten a card from us recently, it most likely has a Wil smiley face!  He loves to build things – Hes getting better at building complete train tracks, and he loves building lego things.  And hes really into puzzles!!  He can put together entire (12 – 24 piece) melissa & doug puzzles!  Im totally impressed.  Phil and I have also reached the ‘spelling’ phase of our lives.  Especially words like ‘C-r-a-c-k-e-r-s’ and ‘B-u-b-b-l-e-s’.  If Wil hears certain words he loses his shit until he gets them, so its just easier to spell things.

I think we successfully made it out of the ‘terrible twos’ phase with Wil. His communication and mood is usually pretty stellar.  I LOVE my one-on-one time with him.  I look forward to taking him to the grocery store on the weekends –he helps me pick out apples and ‘find’ the milk.  I love drawing chalk outside while Evie finishes her nap – Along with his signature smiley faces, he loves to trace feet and hands and draw spaceships!  Wil is just so much fun!  I’m really excited for all the fun things to come in the next year.  Happy birthday, bud!  We love you!

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June was fabulous.  Since Liz is done with school for the year, she comes to help out on Tuesdays and I am able to get into the office more.  This has freed up so much time for me on the weekends and evenings.  We are living it up on my days off and spending tons of time as a family.  We celebrated fathers day at the science museum, We went down to D.C. on another weekend,  We have gone to a few of the Patterson Park Concert Series near the gardens.  And of course, we finished June off by celebrating Wil’s birthday!  I’ll do another post on Wil’s 3rd year of life.  But here is a plethora of pictures for you all:

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Evie is 1!

We had a low-key birthday here at home.  Originally we were hoping to meet some friends at the tot-lot for a little get together, but it was overcast and rainy, so we kept it indoors.  Busia and Dzia-dzia were here to celebrate though!  And Evie and Wil still had a great time opening presents, eating cake, and playing with balloons.  Then we all walked down to Bistro for dinner.  It turned out to be a really great evening!

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Somewhere over the past 6-months, it has definitely taken a turn in this house with ‘who is the more difficult child’.  Evie use to just sit back and smile, laugh, watching wil and play by herself, while Wil struggled to communicate and needed constant attention.  But everything has changed!  Evie is into evvvvvverything. And loves to scream, cry and throw tantrums when she doesnt get her way (just like daddy).  Coupled with a bunch of teeth coming in – she is a tough cookie these days!!  Wil, on the other hand, is quite pleasant.  So Phil and I definitely play hand-off with Evie a lot more than Wil these days.  We always joke that everyday Evie is looking for a way to ‘off herself’ and its Phil and my job to stop it.  Its quite a game. (Hilarious, right?).  Shes always trying to climb up on large chairs over the hardwood floors and Phil and I have to catch her before she actually goes through with it. This house is pretty well baby-proofed, making the game that much more fun/difficult.  She’s always looking for something! She still loves the pacifier…though sometimes I think Phil and I love it more than her, because its the only thing that will keep her quiet happy!!

Evie is 23 lbs (still in the top 90% – but under what I thought she would weigh – we were all guessing 27ish).  and 2’6″ tall.  She is starting to lose the baby-fat and is slimming down quite nicely 🙂  I’ll miss her mid-arm and mid-leg rolls, but shes hanging on to those cheeks!  She has 8 teeth all the way in and working on canines and molars.  She is definitely taking steps, but I wouldn’t say ‘walking’ yet.  She is still way ahead of Wil at 1-year   – he wasnt even considering walking yet! Evie will walk from the coffee table to the couch, but wont stand up on her own mid-room or anything.  She loves to walk if you hold her hand, but wont do it on her own yet.  She says mama and dada pretty consistently, and ‘That’ a lot when she wants something.  Not sure if she has a word for ‘Wil’ yet but she knows ‘dog’!  Her most recent and favorite word is ‘uh-oh’ which she proclaims after throwing things from her chair.   I still havent had the nerve to cut her hair — I think it would look better if I gave her some bangs and evened it out, but I just cant do it yet.  I love her long hair! And nearly all can finally fit in a pony-tail.

I know Ive been giving Evie a hard time this post, but overall she is a joy to watch grow and develop.  She is her own independent person in this house.  She loves to dance whenever she hears music and hates when you eat anything in front of her without sharing.  She loooooves the bath  – especially when you give her extra time to splash, kick, and scream.  She has her fathers love of climbing — we try to take her to safe places to climb up on padded things – but she much prefers dining room chairs and floating staircases. My favorite time with her is between 1pm and 2pm.  Wil goes down for his nap and I have one hour to spoil Evie like an only child before her nap time at 2.  She can have whatever toy she wants without fear of Wil stealing it.  And I try to give her all my attention.  This is definitely her happiest hour.

Happy First Birthday Evie.  You’re one of my favorite people. We love you.

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Busia and Dziadzia came to visit!  Which meant LOTS of toys and attention for a whole week straight!  Seriously – Ive never seen these kids so jazzed up.  And honestly, I dont know how Char and Mark had the energy all week – Phil and I are exhausted by the kids, but Busia and Dziadzia were a constant ball of energy!  We packed a lot into one week.  We went to the garden, an Orioles game, the Zoo, the park, soccer practice.  On top of that – Wil got a brand new strider bike, garden toys, a play grocery cart, new Octonaut stuffed animals, lots of chalk and tons of birthday presents for Evie.  Oh – and practically a whole new wardrobe for the both of them!  Our house is overflowing!  We so thankful from grandparents who spoil their grandkids!  Phil and I were able to sneak a few nights out of the house with our free baby-sitters (including seeing the new X-Men movie down in harbor east – we hadnt seen a movie in the theaters since Fast Six when I was pregnant with Evie).  Busia and Dziadzia soaked up every minute with Wil and Evie and vise versa.  Wil loves doing selfies with Busia and made sure Dziadzia was never without his hat.  We were lucky that their stay overlapped with Evie’s 1st birthday – so we had extra hands on deck to sing happy birthday and eat lots of birthday cake!  We all celebrated that night with dinner out at Bistro Rx. Thanks for a great visit!

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Things finally warmed up around here and we have spent as much time as possible outdoors.  Wil’s favorite place to go these days is ‘the rock’.    Its on the north-east corner of the park, which is closest to our house, and it’s probably the biggest rock he has ever seen in his life.  There is a nice shaded area right behind it where we can lay out a blanket and have a nice picnic.  When I get home from work, we like to pack-up some food, the blanket and a ball and head to ‘the rock’.  One day as Phil was driving home, he spotted us there at the traffic light!

Phil and I had a date night at the Os game one night.  It had a rain delay in the 9th inning – but we made it home to watch them win in the bottom of the 9th.  Then the next day we celebrated Mothers Days.  Nothing fancy – another picnic at the rock followed by strawberry shortcakes at home.  Also in May, I got to sneak Btown for a night by myself to celebrate Celia’s Bridal Tea Party.  We had so much fun organizing this and everyone had a great time.  All the bridesmaids were in one place and Celia had lots of guests from near and far.   The next week, Busia and Dziadzia came to stay for a week!  That requires a whole post of its own!

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