Cold Spaghetti

It was Bud’s Broiler, not Port of Call, that cooked up Paul’s first hamburger in 16 years. Will, who has been asking for nothing but hamburger for 4 days straight, was in heaven. It was in this memorable moment, between dipping his burger bites into his little cup of red-eye, that Will turned to me and clearly asked:

“Mommy, d’you havea pee-nus?”

I blinked and cleared my throat, quickly looking to catch the eyes of fellow diners, glancing over with smiles. Is this a conversation that we want to get into now? Here?

“No, Will. Mommies and little girls do not have them. And remember,” switching to a loud whisper, “we talk about penises at home, right?”

“Okay, Mommy.”

Pause. Another bite of burger goes in.

“Mommy?”

“Yes, Will?”

“Does Granna have a pee-nus?”

Parents make up funny tunes to sing to their kids. Here are some of ours:

Cuddling/playtime song:
Monkey feet and monkey toes!
That’s what little William knows
Monkey feet and monkey toes!
Touching little William’s nose!

To change a diaper:
Did you make a poopie?
Is it soft and goupy?
Smell ‘ll make you loopy?
Should we name it Snoopy?
Poo-pie!

When looking for Will’s pants, or trying to put them one once they’re found:
Pan-ta-lones!
Covers your ca-jones!

While stroking his cheek — to the tune of Brother John:
Will is sleepy, Will is sleepy
Tiny boy! Tiny boy!
Mommy loves him so much.
Daddy loves him so much.
Little man. Little man.

What: 3-4 steps. Full steps, where he did not fall at the end, but sat down. Actual supported steps.

When: yesterday afternoon, approximately 5:30pm.

Who: toward Granna. Then Mom. Then Granna again. Then Mom again.

Where: Granna’s bedroom, in her house in Mobile, AL.

Paul’s answer to the question, “guess who’s walking?” — Paul said, “Skip.”

Paul’s response to finding out that Will is actually the one (almost) walking: “Can we use diving weights to hold him down a bit longer?”

Now that Will is happily eating more diverse foods, the quality of his solid production(s) have changed as well.

Smell, color, shape, size, consistency. And the potential for constipation. Paul is handling it all very well, considering he feared this more than other part of parenting.

Then this afternoon, while having a nice conversation with neighbors on the street, Will begins squirming and finally bears down with an unmistakeable, red-faced grunt.

Can’t wait until potty training time.

Will’s vocabulary, from most used (and articulate) to least:

1. Ma-ma (sometimes said non-stop for several minutes)

2. Uh-oh (also used in sequence over long periods of time)

3. Hi!

4. Da-da

5. Gato (“Ga-doh”) — as in “cat” in spanish.

6. Ah-ah-ah! (like the Count on Sesame Street)

7. Agua (“Ah-ga”) — as in “water” in spanish

8. Thank you (“ank u”) — this one is a stretch, but it’s there

Other fun sounds:

– zerbers

– raspberries

– hah-heh-heh (like heavy breathing, with him mouth wide open — he does this when he gets really happy)

– La-la-la (copying us when we sing – particularly when we sing “William’s Song”, which has many “la” sounds)

Story as told by Granna (Mom handed off Will at 7:30am after 2 hours of wrestling with a squirmy Will and went back to bed.)

Sesame Street came on the television this morning at breakfast. During the opening song of the show (“Sunny days…”) the Count comes past the screen and says “ah-ah-ah!” As if on queue, Will pops out his binky and parrots back, “ah-ah-ah!”

So precious that I almost wish I had been awake for it.

Will celebrated his first birthday again with Granna and PapPap Scheib (and Paul and I) last night here in Mobile. Will was showered in gifts and is enjoying his “incredi-block” — a big cube that plays music and allows for a thousand ways to play with ‘peek-a-blocks’ — he fires up the music and uses the block as support to dance, dance, dance! Other gifts included large wooden puzzle shapes (Will likes to crawl around with the “circle”), a frog puppet that will “ribbet” out Old MacDonald and three other songs (WAY cool) and a little tool chest.

He is having a blast here and is still amazing us with his lasting power in the spa tub. This baby is swimming before he is walking!

First Birthday Cake
Originally uploaded by hollyscheib.

Will enjoying his first birthday cake — reaching for that first candle! (Daddy blew it out for him!)

Last night, Will STOOD on two feet — unsupported, unfettered — simply standing.

Twice.

For a good 30 seconds each time.

After our initial surprise and accolades, the reality of the situation set in. And as Will would say, “Uh-ho!”