Shopper in training

Grandma took William through Tuesday Morning way before the official 6-8 week date advised by the pediatrician for allowing babies out among groups of people with questionable health. I need a new duvet cover, and ran in to check out the linens, but Grandma decided we needed to look up and down every aisle. She was great at feigning obliviousness and whipping Baby Bear away from admiring and curious stares in order to thwart curious onlookers' attempts to partake of his cuteness. Baby Will gazed in awe at aisle after aisle of discounted, colorful products, and even though Grandma pointed out his apparent proclivity toward shopping, I denied it.

Today I took William to Super Target. In getting out of the house, I forgot my shopping list and purse, but had my wallet and the diaper bag so forged ahead on our first Mommy-Son outing. We made it to the store without too much crying at the stoplights (William likes to GO, not stop), and he was silent in the bumpy transfer between car and shopping cart. Once we hit the store, I peeked into his covered carseat, and he was wide awake and happy. I took this to mean that my shopping minutes were numbered and rushed to find what I could remember from my list and fit it in the bottom of the cart - his carseat took up the entirety of the main basket. Once in line to checkout, I peeked again to see how unhappy he was only to find William the Shopper smiling and cooing from the retail therapy. Looks like Daddy has the shopping buddy he has always wanted!

The ride home was not as smooth as the ride to the store...we stopped ALOT more as every light seemed to turn red as we approached, and Will spent most of the car trip alternately losing his pacifier and crying at the poky pace. Once I pulled into the garage, I rushed to get him free of the car only to find him sacked out peacefully in his seat!

First dog park trip

Grandmama Eva, Grandma, Baby Bear, and Bailey Bear all headed out to the Westpark dog park today. Bailey's been acting a little weird, so we decided to make a trip just for her where she could get out some of her crazies. Plus, the dog park has benches every 10 yards, so Grandmama Eva would be able to do a little walking, resting, and breathing of fresh (OK, maybe a little bit poopy) air. Bailey forgot that she was getting a little long in the tooth, and played with a puppy on the way in, but she quickly composed herself and regained her grumpy composure. We walked to the end of the park, found a forgotten tennis ball, and headed to go swimming in the blue-water pond.

William took the opportunity to find his fingers and suck on them for the first time which is great news for us because this is a great addition to his self soothing toolbox - skills he'll eventually use to help him sleep through the night!


Grandma thought she made it through the whole dog park trip without getting her white shirt and nice shorts dirty, but Bailey jumped up to sniff Will right before we left. Nothing like blue-water mud mixed with poo smeared down your front to make a dog park trip complete!

Pavarotti reincarnated...

and wearing a bear hat.

We can bearly stand it!!

Nanger bought Baby Bear a knit hat from Etsy. When it came in, Grandmama Eva and Grandma got a kick out of him squealing at how cute it looked on William - specifically, Grandmama Eva said, "I've never heard a man squeal like that." We had to immediately take 50 pictures in the backyard during Nang's lunch break. Will was FULL of funny faces...not sure if that means he likes the hat or not!

Hold on!

Week 5 marked William holding onto items. TIGHTLY. He holds onto burp cloths from upstairs to downstairs. He can hold my shirt up while he nurses. He vice grips fingers, necklaces, and hair...anything that he can reach, really. Which brings me to a trip out to eat with Thach and Alisa this week . He and Maddy seemed to be getting along quite well after a tailgate diaper change - Mads was pretending to be a baby that evening, and he really was a baby, so it seemed to be a match made it friendship heaven. Until he spotted her hair...needless to say, not a BFF relationship in the making! Maddy reacted admirably in the midst of the hair pull, but she seemed to look at William and ask, "Why?"

{ lips }

A Nice Hot Lukewarm Bath

Last night was William's first non-screaming bath experience after almost 5 weeks of baths. We had to invite Grandma in to witness the event! Something clicked, and he was completely calmed and then enamored with the water...especially when we poured it from a cup!
Disclaimer: Fig leaf has been added to protect William the Shy's dignity and make this suitable for work

First mail

William received his first piece of personal mail from Great Aunt Cake...of course! I bet she was chomping at the bit to send him something, and Easter was a great excuse to find a cute duckling card. Nang and I got a kick out of seeing something addressed to the new guy. Aunt Cake ALWAYS remembers to send cards on important events, and I appreciate them even more now that I'm older, and bills fill our mailbox more often than hand-addressed cards or letters. I'm trying to get better about remembering to send cards, but will never reach Aunt Cake status...thanks, Nana!