First Tooth

Will has his first tooth!  Or first teeth, depending on who you ask.  Ethan swears he has two while I think he just has one big one.  Time will tell.  But, along with his first tooth came his first ear infection:(  Despite these two fairly uncomfortable things, however, he has been doing great.  All smiles.  Most of the time. 

He's also started scooting to where he wants to be and this morning I found him kneeling in his crib, holding on to the rails.  We've been trying to "babyproof" the house and thought we had done a pretty good job until he scooted over to the fireplace tonight and opened one of the doors.  Looks like we have some work to do!  He doesn't have the crawling thing down yet... although a month ago we thought it was going to be any day.  But he is pushing himself backwards.  He just needs to figure out how to reverse directions. 

Will has also started eating dinner and he's definitely a meat and potatoes man.  The first night we gave him Turkey he gobbled down the whole jar.  Not typical for him.  The next night we tried beef and the same thing.  Chicken- ditto.  I think it's his favorite meal of the day right now. 

We're looking forward to winter and seeing how he reacts to the snow.  Should be interesting!

First Cheerios!  He's been able to get a few in his mouth so far... see next picture.  

Will loves playing with his wooden spoon.  I think he probably likes it more than the cheerios!

Horsing around with dad after dinner.

Day 1 of staying home from school with his ear infection.  We think he was faking so he could play with mom and dad all day... he doesn't look sick to me!

Haha!  I fooled you!

Relaxing with dad and chewing on his blankie before bedtime.

All bundled up for the warm weather.  I can't believe it's going to get even colder.

Playing with mom.

 

Sleepy baby:)

Boston, Aunt Meg, Halloween, Oh my!

With everything that's been going on lately, it's been hard to find time for an update and it's now long overdue.  Will has been growing, growing, growing and is now weighing in at close to 18 lbs.  He's also been doing a lot of new things (surprise, surprise).  He's sitting like a pro, handling car trips with ease, trying still more new foods, reaching for everything he wants and even lunging/throwing himself at toys, people, and whatever he wants to get his hands on.  He's not crawling yet but we feel like it's going to be any day so we've started baby-proofing the house.  (So far that only consists of buying a baby-gate and putting plugs in the outlets.  We have a ways to go.)  Also no teeth yet and that has meant lots of good sleep for mom and dad.  He's started giving great hugs and is super laughy all the time.  He's ticklish now and has moved on from making his own fake coughs to thinking our fake sneezes are absolutely hilarious.  We're thinking 6 months is the perfect age and we'll just stick with this phase for a while! 

The following pictures may be out of order but will show you what we've been up to!

Will picking out his first pumpkin.  He fell asleep on the way to the pumpkin patch but we went ahead and made the executive parenting decision to get him out of the car, take him out in the cold, windy (although sunny) day, sit him on the cold ground, and try to get him to smile for a picture.  This was all the smile he could muster under the circumstances.  

Wearing an adorable bedtime ensemble.  He almost grew out of this one before we found it buried among his PJs so we had to snap a quick shot.  I think the "shoes" make the outfit.

First playgoup at our house.  Babies ranging from 4 - 10 months.  They mainly sat next to each other on the floor but the moms had fun!

Reading some bedtime stories.

Cuddling with mom before bedtime.

Halloween!  We couldn't take a picture quick enough to capture Will before he discovered the wings of the bee next to him. He chewed on Cassandra's costume for a good 2 minutes!

Cutest darn dragon ever.

Family photo before trick-or-treating.

Posing with dad under the tree and more interested in the beautiful leaves.  Its hard to get him to look at the camera these days because he's so interested in everything else!

Skyping with Grandma and Grandpa.  Will actually managed to open a word document and get on the internet in his first computer session.

Playing with David the cow at his first Halloween party.

We went all the way to Boston to find some grass to play in... very fun.

On the USS Constitution in Boston.  Will was grabbing onto every rope he saw and I'm pretty sure this one went in his mouth about 2 seconds after I took this picture.

Posing in front of the skyline at the end of a long day on the Freedom Trail.

At the Boston Aquarium.  Will loved looking at the fish and here was trying to get a closer view of the seals while dad reigned him in.

Having fun playing in the pillow fort we made on the hotel bed. 

Getting a picture taken at Harvard in front of the John Harvard statue.  I have a picture here around the same age and we just had to get one of Will too.  The line, however, was extremely long and we didn't really care that much about the picture so we just jumped in with another woman!  She wasn't too happy and came back for another pic later.  You are supposed to rub his left shoe for good luck but apparently the Harvard kids pee on it all the time so we refrained.

Aunt Meg came for a weekend visit and babysat while we went to a wedding.  Right before she left we realized we hadn't taken a picture so we grabbed one on the front porch before she jumped in the car for the airport.  I think Will is shocked by the cold air!  Again, stellar parenting decisions for the sake of pictures:)

Fall in Kentucky

Will recently took his second trip home to Kentucky, this time with dad too.  And new this time was a trip to Eastern Kentucky to see the Reynolds/Blackburn side of the family.  It was a great trip full of a lot of new faces and lots of attention.  Will got to meet Jake the dog and had fun putting his hands all over Jake's face.  Jake was a little jealous that Will was getting some of his attention but they got along really well.  Luckily for us, Will did great on the car ride both there and back which we were a little worried about.  He didn't do so well with the plane trip back to Vermont but I guess we'll cut him some slack. 

Just before we left he also had his first art show at school.  No prizes were awarded but I'm pretty sure that if they were, his cutting edge designs, insightful color choices, and expert craftsmanship would have won him first place in something.  I mean, really, it's not just anyone who can glue birdseed to a chicken, right? 

Will's first art show.  He's the proud designer of a cut out chicken with birdseed glued to it and a piece of construction paper with footprints on it.  Better than I could have done!  His profile says that he likes to roll around on the ground.  I bet you can't find that written about many artists.

 Family portrait.  One of these days we'll get Aunt Meg and Uncle Adam in there too.  

Loving his reflection in the mirror.  This was especially great on our recent trip to Boston since most of the elevators were lined with mirrors.  Great place to entertain a baby for a while if you ever need to.

Hanging out with Grandma Dot.

Spending some outside time with Gma.

Meeting Aunt Addie and Uncle Don for the first time!

More outside time with Grammie.  I think at this point Jake is probably trying to find him.

Meeting Maw-Maw at his first (and my first) Blackburn family reunion.

Four generations of Blackburns. What a good looking crew.

Meeting Aunt Carol.

Getting hugs from Aunt Lita-Kim.

All smiles for Oliver and Marcheta.

Blackburn boys.

Neil, letting Will be adventurous and meet a new friend.  Will and Jake actually got along great and I'm sure pretty soon Will is going to be the one chasing Jake around all the time.

Laughing it up with Aunt Addie!

Movin' and Groovin'

We've had a lot of excitement here lately.  Will has progressed from rolling over to sitting up and is looking like he might crawl any day now.  He's started food... rice cereal first and now apples, mangoes, bananas, peaches, carrots, sweet potatoes and peas.  He's not loving the veggies but he can't get enough of the fruit!  He's over 17 pounds and getting really heavy.  We had some great visits with family and friends lately, first when Grammie Jody came to visit for a week and next when we went home to Louisville and Paintsville for a visit.  Here are a few pictures of our recent adventures... more to come!

Loving his Jumparoo!

First football game.  Ethan works at high school football games as the team doctor a couple of times a year and Will went to watch daddy in action.

Getting ready to go out for a walk... it's getting cold here so we have to bundle up.

It's been a while...

Well, I've had a few requests recently for an update.  Sorry it's been so long!  Going back to work has been crazy and I haven't had much time for extra activities.  We're getting into a routine though and Will's getting to bed a little earlier so that leaves me a little time at night for things like this.  So, since I've last updated there has been a lot of activity!  First, Grandma and Grandpa came to visit for a week.  It just so happened to be the hottest week in recent VT history.  And we don't have air conditioning!  I don't think they're coming back in July ever again.  But, we had a great time celebrating Ethan's birthday and Fourth of July, taking hikes, and walking in the air conditioned mall.  It was even hot enough to take Will to the pool for the first time.  He loved it.  We tried a return trip a few weeks later but the water had already cooled off too much.  Maybe next year.  As it is with anyone who has never been alive before, Will continues to have lots of firsts.  He recently visited Lake Champlain and dipped his feet in the water twice, met his first dog, took a trip to Shelbourne Farm to meet the animals, enjoyed the Burlington Farmers market, and ate his first food (rice cereal- yum).  He's rolling over (back to front mostly and front to back once) and is sleeping on his tummy about 1/2 the time because he rolls over as soon as we put him in bed.  He's getting pretty close to sitting and is pretty consistently sleeping through the night.  He just had a doctor's appointment and he's 15 pounds- that's 75 %ile for weight and he's 93 %ile for length.  All in all a great baby!  We can't wait to see what he does next.   

Visits from Grandma and Grandpa mean baths outside... lots of fresh air and easy cleanup!

Will's first trip up Mount Philo.  Glad there were three of us to take turns carrying him up since he didn't like the stroller.

First trip to the swimming pool... he doesn't look like he likes it now but he was splashing it up later.

Somebody must've said something funny.

First time dipping his toes in Lake Champlain.  The dog in the background liked licking Will's toes and I think I was scared he was gonna come lick his face.  Baby + large body of water + dog = worried Momma!

Will is now rolling over and likes to roll over in bed and sleep on his tummy.  We love it because it means no more flat head!

His new favorite activity is being held up in the air.  Guaranteed smiles.

Tummy time at the farmers market downtown.

First bite of food.  Not sure how much he likes it yet.  We're starting fruit next weekend which I'm sure he'll love.

Hanging out with his friend Raelynn.

This is when we know it's time for a nap:)

More to come soon!