Bathtime Fun!

Climbing out of the tub...

Hi Mom! I'm not doing anything....


William just can't figure out where all of the water goes. It mystifies him every time.

All gone!

William at 10 Months

Wow, time flies! This was a fast month, probably because I spent it chasing after the little guy! He has one tooth through the gums and three more right behind it. He loves any big people food that we give him and he is really good with the sippy cup. He is a really good little baby, but has quite a temper if thwarted. William's goal in life is to defeat any and all childproofing products and get his little hands on all of the big kid's toys. He has started talking a little, right at 9 months just like his big brother! He says cheese (sounds like "chz"), points and says this and that (sounds like "dis" or "dat"), we have also heard DaDa and Hi. He plays pat-a-cake, So Big, and peek-a-boo and loves to sit nicely and look at books. He is lots of fun, but boy is it exhausting chasing after a baby/toddler again!

(yes, that is a piece of fluff on his nose. I didn't see it there until after the pictures were loaded. Sorry!)

Pizza and New Teeth

We tried giving William pizza for lunch today, do you think he liked it?! Tooth number one is getting bigger every day and there are three right behind it. No wonder he has been cranky the last week.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Love,

Nick, Ellie, and William
xoxo

Uh Oh! He's starting early...

Turn my back for a few moments to let the dog out, and this is what I find...



Lunch was not five minutes prior to this...


"Hi Mom! Don't mind me!"
"Is the box edible too?"

I have another monkey to add to the mix! This week, William just discovered the pleasures of being naughty. He pushes the kitchen chairs across the floor and slams them into the wall/glass sliding door/dog. He has discovered the pantry (obviously) and helps himself to snacks. The fireplace is a HUGE attraction and he is actively trying to figure out how to get through the child proofing. Drawers, cupboards, closets are fun to get into and throw everything out. He would love to play with or eat any cleaning product he could get his hands on. And his favorite activity would be a tie between playing in the toilet or slamming doors. This is challenging as we have two potty trained kids in the house I can't lock the toilets or all of the doors. Grrrr.

Lookout Mountain

It was a beautiful day here in Denver, 58 and sunny. We decided to get out of the house and explore some parts of the Denver area that we haven't seen before. We ended up near Golden and discovered why it is called "Lookout Mountain"...




This is the view of Golden from above: (yep, that's the Coors plant dwarfing the rest of the town)


And here is the city of Denver:
Nick brought his cowboy hat for the trip.

Lookout Mountain is also home to the Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave. The museum was really interesting, the big kids got a huge kick out of all of the cowboy/cowgirl relics from the days of Buffalo Bill's traveling show. William however decided to scream through the entire museum so I didn't see much of it.



Eleanor as the "mean cowgirl". Look out Annie Oakley!


Nick and Ellie dressed up for riding and roping in the kids section of the museum. (Elle is in back hidden by the rope)

William taking a break from a full pitched scream.

Buffalo Bill's grave on the top of Lookout Mountain. We are loving the snow/bright sunshine/warm air combo! Just awesome!

The Little Rascal

Getting his hands on one of his big sister's precious babies...




And then giving it a big, wet, sloppy baby kiss on the lips.


Checking out the dog's ears. Must not be terribly interesting as he moved on quickly. Payton doesn't even awaken from her nap. By the third exploring baby she knows the drill.



Far more exciting are his big brother's Spiderman toys. Try though we might William still manages to get into Nick's toys. I think it's so funny that he seems to know the difference between the "girl" toys and the "boy" toys even at 9 months. He makes a bee line for the boy things, and anything that has buttons (ie. TV remotes, telephones, car key remote, DVD player, etc.) Must be a Y chromosome thing!

The First Tooth!

Sorry about the messy face and baby drool BUT, we had to show off William's first tooth! The corner actually poked through on Monday, but I couldn't get a good photo of it until today. He is still cranky and lots of bumps on the gums so I suspect several more are shortly to follow...

The Little Carpenter

Nick's class had a field trip today to Lowe's to do a project with wood for their science module. He built this tool box all by himself! Nick couldn't be more proud. His teacher said she turned around to give him directions and he had already put all of the pieces together and was pounding in the nails. Piece of cake! Who knew home improvement stores could be so much fun?! Maybe that's why Paul likes to wander around in there.... Even more exciting, Nick has his very own set of kid sized safety goggles and a Lowe's apron. He is ready to help his Dad with any and all projects now.

William's 9 Month Portraits

Whew! This one was difficult. I am longing for the days when I could set William down and he stayed in one place! Here are the best of the 200+ shots I took today. I'm not sure which one of us needs an afternoon nap more!

I'll post some outtakes below. And there were plenty of them...

P.S.- Tammy, thank you again for the Curious George book! As you can see he loves it, and it was the only thing that helped him to sit still!

Silly Boy!

I love these facial expressions, but probably not the best choices for formal portraits! I am not sure what is going on with his tongue today, maybe a new tooth?!

There he goes....

Big bump on his forehead by this last one from trying to scale the backdrop. Now he has matching bruises on both sides of his head. I think a new nickname is in order, "Crash Gordon". Goes nicely with his sibling's toddler nicknames: "Captain Danger Pants" and "Monkey Girl".

Big Kid Foods are Fun!!

Here is our bearded baby after trying his first chocolate chip ice cream today!

He visited the pediatrician for his 9 month check up and has the all clear to basically eat anything that isn't a choking/botulism hazard. So we started with the good stuff! William is developing perfectly for his age and is a very healthy little guy. But still teeny tiny! We need to pump calories into this boy!! He is 15 pounds, 2 ounces and 26.5 inches long. Basically the size of Nick at 5 months and we all know how little he is now! I have six weeks to either fatten him up or at least keep him on the same spot on the growth curve before we scare the poor doctor. For some reason those pediatricians never like to see my kiddos in the -3 percentile?! Thankfully for William he is my third tiny munchkin so we aren't worried about him being little, we just grow them small in this family!

The Strange Sleeping Habits of Young Children

Nick always has as many large animals as possible in bed and at least one Superhero...
While Ellie sleeps with "the girls". Also known as (L-R) Clean Baby, Clean Baby's Cousin, and Dirty Baby (or Typhoid Mary as Paul and I refer to her). We like how the "girls" are all tucked neatly under their own blanket and share the pillow with Ellie.

You Caught Me Mom!

Our turbo crawling monkey decided to slip away from Mom and check out his Christmas present. If he can just get that leg up and over he'll be ready to ride! Obviously he has figured out how to pull himself to a stand. I'll keep you posted on the horseback riding...

Peek-A-Boo!

William learned a new trick a couple of weeks ago, playing peek-a-boo! His blanket is just perfect for hiding from Mommy. And as you can see, he gets a big kick out of this game! Sorry it's so dark, but it is bedtime...

I Love My Bath!

William has discovered the joys of splashing in the tub and throwing his bath toys out for Mom to retrieve.

Miscellaneous January

We took the children to the mall today to play in the kids area. They needed to burn off some steam in a big way. They had a wonderful time playing while William and I did some sale shopping. Paul stayed with the big kids and was thankful to have an excuse not to shop! Nick tired himself out as you can see, unfortunately Ellie did not. And William had a fine time flirting with the sales girls.

Ballerina?!

Ellie is pretty sure she is ready for ballet class in this outfit. Because all ballerinas wear sunglasses and carry princess wands. Classes start in March (must be three and a half) and she can't wait! But I'm guessing the dress code for class will cause some drama.