Catch Up....

We're all better in the Martin household; got thru a domino effect of the cold and we're up and running again. Will as always is very into exploring and definitely into everything. I haven't given a run down of what he's doing now, so thought I'd update today.

He's very talkative these days, using works like "Bye-Bye", "ball", "book", "shoe", "dada", "mama" and then a lot of jibber jabber! He loves to tear the plants apart in the flower beds, that's a good time all around!

OH, BUSTED!!!!! Facial expression...well...they are hilarious, that's all I can say. So animated in his response to anything. His new thing is the shield; when he doesn't know you or wakes up from a nap or sees someone he might know but hasn't seen a few days, his instant response is putting his arm over his face to shield his eyes. It's so funny, like a super hero. And he loves to say "WOW" especially to Christmas lights!

"No Mom, look over there" He points at everything, it's a great communication tool....I guess...of course everything he points at and is determined to get, he can't have, so that's a little bit of an obstacle right now. As in, he's learning how to throw a temper tantrum.

And he's very nearly ready to take his first fishing trip. Actually he likes to use the fishing pole to touch things out of his reach; like the top of the garage door. (don't worry, no hooks on there) And I guess being my child, he's a bit of a clean freak. Loves to broom and scoop up stuff w/ the dust pan. He is getting sooo tall, his last appointment he was 32" tall and weighed 27lbs. Growing has definitely slowed down, thank heaven (couldn't afford to keep him clothed)! He moved into the "Toddler Room" at his school on Monday which tore me up, I don't transistion as well as he does. Of course his first day in and he looks at me and says "Bye Bye" and went to play. Talk about ripping a Mom's heart right out!

He's absolutely fascinated with anything Dad does, including wathcing Dad manhandle the tree out of the attic. YOUCH, that was a doozie!

To go with his Bear name, he had to get Bear shoes, but of course those are NOT his favorite! I think the bear faces freak him out! Silly boy. We read books A LOT and over and over again! Our family room is covered in books all the time. I worried that he wasn't going to like reading because he never would sit still for us to read, but was I ever so wrong! His favorite books are the peek a boo books you flip (tear) the flaps over (off) to see who's behind them. Most of the flaps haven't survived, so we just pretend they're there.

We are looking forward to the Thanksgiving Holiday, long weekend ahead and my 29th (NOT 30TH...Michael) Birthday, which is tomorrow. Big week ahead and lots of pictures coming up. We hope everyone has a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving and remember to measure the oil properly before you drop that turkey in the fryer, that wouldn't be good! Happy Thanksgiving!!!

We've yet again had another week of being sick in our house. Started with Michael, then Will and I got the tail end so I'm still recovering. So that being said, I don't have a lot of new stuff to show off, it's been hard enough to get off the couch.

Here are a couple of fun pictures from last weekend. Will love his rocking Harley, he's getting really good at getting off and on by himself then rocking like a crazy man....which is what he's doing above.

And this is his newest ride. New to him anyway, his pal Seth who has outgrown this fancy ride gave it to Will Halloween weekend. He loves pushing himself backwards in circles, hasn't quite conquered the forward motion yet. We keep this at Grammy and Grandpa's house because our driveway is a downward slope and though that will probably be a ton of fun later, a 1 year old out of control doesn't seem to be a good idea!

Halloween Weekend

Halloween weekend started out friday morning with Octomom & Bear posing for the cameras! Aunt Traci had to come over before work to show us her costume which was clearly alittle freaky as you can see from Will pose! (great work Aunt Trac)

Then it was off to school for the Parade of Costumes with Will's friends. While the kids were in costumes, this was as far as Will would get from his dad, he wasn't having it!

This is Will's pal Kellen, a very adorable monkey!

There was a Fairy and Godzilla to name a few more. All the costumes were precious, but again, Will didn't like his friends dressed this way.

But once they were out of the costumes, they were friends again; well they'd stand next to each other anyway.

Then Friday night it was off to Storybook Forest with Grandpa Mike & Nana. Here he is, Nana in tow ready to explore.

Will loved this forest, after the first couple of stops on the trail, he really got the hang of taking candy from the characters; he even attempted to take the entire bucket a few times.

We had several crashes along the way; walking thru the forest is tough, so his Bear costume was covered in leaves & mulch by the end of the trail. It added alittle something I think, Bears hybernate, so he was preparing for winter!

Will even modeled for the camera while we posed w/ Humpty Dumpty.

THEN, as if Friday nights candy stash wasn't enough, we spent Saturday evening in Grammy & Grandpa's neighborhood.

Grammy had to guide him to the door....

But once he was there, he totally got the hang of it.

And to end our fun weekend, I have to tell this story; our last stop on the trail was at Mr. & Mrs. Walton's house. Everyone was playing inside so we hung out for a bit which meant costume off...it was hot! Anyway, Mrs. Walton tried to give Will a glow stick necklace as you can see in the picture....

And this face was his response! It's a new one that I've never seen him make, but had us all cracking up because he continued to make that face until the glow necklace was out of his presence. So instead, we settled for a giant pixy stick that we use as a sword! Halloween was a lot of fun this year, we look forward to Baby Grace being older and Baby D being here for next years Halloween adventures.

Evenings with Will

I've stated many times how my son is an outside kind of boy. I thought I'd give you a glimpse of our evenings, because this has become our routine. Everyday we get home from school, it's out of the carseat and on the ground. Does mommy get to put her purse inside....NO....does mommy get to go turn the alarm off inside....NO!!!! Now if you want to see how loud this kid can scream...of course I could take him inside, but what's the point in hearing loss when the nights of playing outside are so limted???

Will got all new yard tools; lawn mower, leaf & stiff rake, shovel & broom, but of course he wants to push the big broom...why...because mommy said no!

This is what happens when mommy says no! Yes, I made him mad! It happens a lot lately; I'm starting to think because it's Halloween, some demon has possessed my precious baby boy and turned him into this temper tantrum screaming little monster. And it happens every night around 5:30 (right on time in the picture above!) All I can say is "Monster give me my sweet baby boy back"

Then after a little tantrum, what better to do than play some golf with Dad's clubs.

"Now how is it dad held this again????"

"Yeah, Yeah, something like this, where's a ball??" (Is it noticeable to everyone or just me that he's aiming directly for my car?) FORRRREEEE!!! Now, I'm not a golfer, but live in a pretty big golfing family and I'd have to say, that golf stance looks pretty natural to me.

"Oh and what's that you wanted to read mom?" Heaven for bid I have a moment to myself to look at the new One Step Ahead magazine. Yup, he shreaded it!

Then it was back to more yard work. Dad showed Will this perfect little box of dirt to dig, then got upset because he JUST powerwashed the sidewalk and Will got dirt all over it. DUHHH Dad! (love you honey!) We usually stay outside until Dad gets home, then I go in, put my stuff away & get comfy, then Michael does that same, all the while Will is still at it outside.

Then once we finally coax Will in the house, no doubt screaming all the way, we tried on his costume because school is having a Costume Parade friday and Will needed to be ready for the festivities.

So here's a sneak peak of what the Bear is for Halloween. Yup...original, a Bear!

ANDDDD, we'll be doing this all over again starting around 4:30 this afternoon. Only downfall tonight is Dad won't be home until later so I'm not quite sure how we'll get in the house tonight??? Bet our neighbors love us ; )

Farm Land Heaven

For the second part of our fun packed Sunday afternoon, we took Will out to a family friends farm land. In a year of Will's life, I've never seen him as happy as he was yesterday. All day he got to roam, run & play outside and there is nothing that makes him happier than being outside.

Will made a new friend; Sadie. Sadie is a Germam Wirehair and she's 1 years old too. They played all afternoon which surprised me, Will always freaks when a dog gets near him, but he loved this dog. This tub was the object of major fun for the two of them, Will would get it, then Sadie would take it and so on, very entertaining.

Here Sadie's giving Will a friendly nudge to climb right in.

Then the 2 of them were off.

Will is yelling at us saying "I don't ever want to leave" it really sounds like "BA BA BA BA" (him yelling) but I knew what he meant. With 8 acres of land, Will could go all day and we let him.

Then we hopped up on this huge wagon full of hay and pumpkins for some pictures.

Will's excitement over receiving a pumpkin.

Then he firmly let us know, "you don't take my pumpkin"

So to coax him down, we had to get the pumpkin down too. Then he and Sadie were off again. For a spur of the moment adventure, we had a wonderful day. You give Will a piece of land and permission to roam and he's on cloud nine! Add a friendly dog into the mix and we almost had to leave him there.

Pumpkin Farm

Sunday Will had such a fun packed afternoon that it's going to take 2 post to detail it all!

After nap time we headed out to Chester's Party Farm to check out pumpkins & pet some animals.

Will loved trying to move the pumpkins. Although he'd need a break from time to time, he would lift them up and toss them somewhere else.

Lift with your legs! Lift with your legs!

He loved it out here, he got to roam the land and watch all kinds of kids and animals.

Will tried to break the little pony free, but couldn't shake that gate open.

He pretend road a horsey;

Then really rode a horsey or pony in this case.

Then after an impromptu meltdown after mom took a shovel away that will kept trying to put in his mouth; one that fed all the animals, Grammy bought Will a wind spinny thing to replace the shovel. He was in heaven. Ever notice when your kids go into a screaming tantrum how all eyes dart your direction giving you looks like you're standing there abusing your child? Kind of embarrassing!

Afternoon adventures to be continued...

NEWS, NEWS, NEWS

A BABY IS COMING......
A BABY IS COMING!

This little Bear is getting another cousin! Aunt Traci & Uncle Jason are expecting their first baby in June 2010. Aunt Traci is my younger sister for those who don't know; she's been such a huge part of Will's life and we are beyond excited that they are going to be parents. Congrats Aunt Traci & Uncle Jason, you will be amazing parents!!!

Lawn Mower

It dawned on me last week, that I'm actually dreading the day Will learns the word "outside" because it's already a war....everyday, to get from his car seat into the house. And by war I'm not kidding; screaming with limp body trying to get to the ground...war! The awful rainy weather isn't helping because clear skies means fun times in the garage, but rainy days we're inside and he's not happy!

That being said, over the weekend we got Will's new lawn mower out that his pal Allison got him for his birthday so he'd have more age appropriate toys to play with in his new found favorite space....the garage! All he wants to play with are dad's "toys"; rakes, shovels, lawn mower, you name it, he's interested.

Case in point; Will loves this rake...this metal & wood childs rake (who does that!?! Makes a childs rake wood and metal???) Well, truth be told that rake was mine from college. Yes, I got a childs rake to maintain the ever flowing weed infested flower bed in front of my condo, but now it's become this childs favorite toy. We hide it...he finds it. We don't let him within a foot out of our reach while he plays with this, but it's still dangerous. (Anyone know where to find plastic yard toys, let me know...please, I've googled it, but no success)

Anyway, back to the new (along w/ rake) favorite toy. Will loves this mower, he mowed the driveway, garage & sidewalk.

I thought we'd wait until Spring to bring this fun little toy out, but no sir, we'll be mowing snow in the coming months, this thing rocks!