The start of a new week

Today was a beautiful day. There was lots of sun to be seen and it was relatively warm outside (about 50 degrees). William slept from 9pm to 7am last night in his crib!! I was so proud of him when we all woke up this morning. Unfortunately, he didn't nap well today. He had three naps, each lasting no more than 45 minutes. I'm curious what the relationship between the consecutive number of hours slept at night and the total number of hours slept during nap time will work out to be over the next couple of weeks. I'll have to keep track of this.

After giving up on napping, and William woke up for the 2nd time during his 2nd nap, I let him play in his bouncy seat while I took a shower and we headed off to Target. They were having a sale on hard plastic kids dishes and we found some super bargains. I got William some adorable dishes, bowls and cups for 1.99-2.99 each!! This was much easier to swallow than spending 15-25 dollars at Merry Go Round or Right Start for just one dish set.

William was able to sleep for most of the shopping trip as I walked around with him in his Ergo carrier. That carrier was well worth the money. Not only is William willing to sleep in it, but it doesn't hurt my back like the Bjorn does. In addition, it has a couple of pockets which are super handy to use for carrying a bottle or cell phone!!

Tomorrow should be a busy day. In the morning, we are meeting some of our friends from the PEPS group for coffee and some walking at the outlets. Then, in the evening, my friend, Stacey, and I are driving into Seattle to the Seattle Public Library to meet Jodi Picoult at a book signing. I have bought a few of her books for her to sign and am super excited for this opportunity.

Fun with food

Today was a very productive day. We picked up a Roomba and set it to work on the downstairs, bought a highchair and fed William in it, got the car washed, went to IKEA to look for a toy box and found none suitable for our little munchkin, went to Starbucks, went to the bank, went to the Container Store and found a cute storage bag/box for William's downstairs toys, went to Z Tejas for lunch and a few more things that I'm sure I've forgotten.

The Roomba is Andrew's birthday gift given early. He is amazed by it and reports that it did an awesome job cleaning the downstairs. It is programmed to give the downstairs another go at 3am tonight. He says it devoured a ton of pet hair and dust.


William LOVES to eat. I have included a few photos taken today of William in his new high chair. Today he got to dine on some rice cereal (which he LOVED) and some pureed apple baby food. He enjoyed grabbing the spoon and putting it in his mouth and getting his hands covered in food so that he could practice "feeding himself".


William reached another milestone for the first time today. While we were at Z Tejas, William showed us that he is able to stand on his own with a little support from us. It's incredible that he reaches milestones like this "all of a sudden" seemingly out of nowhere. One day he can't stand, the next he can. He's actually quite good at it and holds himself up straight instead of leaning forward and bending at the waist as he did before.

Growing up so quickly...

Today was a fun day. We (William and I) went to the mall with our friends Autumn and Lucas and did some shopping. I found some good deals at Babystyle and Limited and some nice cards at Fireworks. We enjoyed lunch at the Nordstrom Cafe. I hadn't known about this gem and will definitely be a repeat customer even though my food was really, really late, because that's not what matters when you are a mom to a 6 months old son. What matters is that they ushered us through the line and then found us a suitable table for two mommies with children under 1 year old, and then set us up with high chairs and made everything wonderfully easy.

So here's a funny little story from today about what it is like to spend time with friends when you've got two little guys with you for the ride. As we were driving home from the mall, Lucas was overtired and making some screeching noises which would frighten William so much so that he would start to wail and then Lucas would start to cry in response to William's crying. This whole cycle happened twice within a 6 mile stretch of highway. All Autumn and I could do was try to calm them down and when that didn't work, well, we just had to chuckle. That's what I love about Autumn; her ability to take things in stride. I'm excited to see William and Lucas get to know each other over this spring and summer. Today, during our car rides, I spotted them shamelessly staring at one another as if to say "who is this strange small person in my car"?

Later on, I dropped off Autumn and Lucas and picked up Andrew and we headed into Issaquah and Bellevue. We headed over to Babies R Us and Toys R Us and found some great toys for our little boy. He absolutely adores his crib aquarium. He is sure to love the other items we got for him, including a ball that moves on it's own and encourages him to crawl, his own Fisher Price phone and a few more baseball cards for his collection.

I don't think I've mentioned one of the most adorable developments in Andrew's relationship with William. Andrew has decided that he is going to share his love of baseball with his son. So far this has taken the form of watching baseball games together, considering going to Spring Training next year and even going to a few Mariner's games this season and most importantly; collecting baseball cards for each year of William's life. Andrew has organized these cards and teaches William about the players on the cards as part of their Daddy/William time. I cannot tell you how adorable it is to listen to the two of them as Andrew excitedly reads the back of the cards and William soaks in the attention from Daddy. Here is a photo of William taken a couple of days ago as he was playing his piano for Andrew just before I went out to meet some friends for the evening. I left them hanging out together downstairs, watching a baseball game and knocking out some tunes on the red piano. It was such a cute scene that I had to take this photo.


William really is growing and changing each day. His sitting skills continue to improve and he is ready for a high chair and solid foods. We are going to pick one up tomorrow so that we can continue developing this skill. Today we had dinner at our favorite local restaurant and we fed William parts of the complimentary children's plate. William couldn't get enough bananas and apple sauce and even munched on a teething cookie for a bit. After each bite, William would excitedly wave his arms in anticipation of his next bite. I will have to get some photos and post them soon!

William is also getting his second bottom front tooth. He seems to be weathering this teething rather well these days and uses his fingers to munch on to soothe any discomfort he may feel.


Above is a photo of William and Daddy hanging out before bedtime. The title of this photo is "Kazaam" because William has on his super hero sleeper, striking a super hero pose. Oh yeah, now for the most important and exciting update. Tonight is William's second night of sleeping in his own crib in his own room!! This was something that was much harder on me than on anyone else. Last night, was actually physically painful as I felt like a part of me had been ripped away and was stationed on the opposite side of the house. I watched him for quite a while on the video baby monitor and was pleasantly surprised at how comfortable he seemed. Tonight he went to bed at 8pm and has been sleeping comfortably in his crib for three hours. I'm hoping he sleeps until 7am, but realize it's more likely that he'll wake for some food at 2am. We shall see. I am so happy about this! This was a major hurdle for me, but I knew it had to happen now or else it would be MUCH more difficult as time went on. Here's to a healthy, happy William sleeping through his second night in his comfy crib!

Snowy Friday

It's been another snowy Spring day here. It has come down quite a bit, but nothing has been able to stick because it is too warm.

Today we celebrated with some of our friends and went out for an awesome dinner at Bis on Main in Bellevue. The food was great and the company was even better. Andrew's parents watched William and we rented a limo. We had a great time. This was the first time that I had been able to leave William with someone so that Andrew and I could go to dinner TOGETHER. It was awesome, and a much needed break from the norm.

Tonight William is sleeping in his crib for the first night ever. We have a video monitor and I am afraid to go to sleep. I feel like a part of me has been ripped away with him being so far away from me. I know that this is probably harder on me than on him and that this will be easier now than when he is 9 months old. I'm hoping for a good night's sleep for us all.

C

A surprisingly gorgeous day!

Today the sun came out several times and well, it was wonderful. I ended up having a super fun/busy day. This morning after losing the nap battle with William, I decided to bundle him up and strapped him into his stroller to go for a walk with my friend, Tonia. It was a great walk, nice and brisk and filled with interesting conversation. When we arrive home I resumed the nap battle and was beaten time and time again and by 2pm decided to go for a drive into Issaquah to get another Jodi Picoult book for her book signing next week. So, I called up my friend Stacey and we headed out for some shopping. Then I got to have a tour of her house and meet her au pair and little boy. I was very impressed with the layout (and size) of her house. Nice to know there are houses like that in this neighborhood, if we ever decide to move to a bigger house.

Andrew just got home and is feeding William while I write this. I'm just about to head out for another Mom's Night Out with the other PEPS mommies.

A few updates on little Will:

1. He is very snuggly lately
2. He is very hungry and is eating a lot and often
3. He has found his right ear and has been playing with it lately
4. He holds your hand when he drinks from his bottle
5. He blows bubbles with his saliva
6. He is showing signs of some possible separation anxiety. He doesn't mind being held by someone else as long as he can see his mommy.

Spring snow

Today William did a lot of napping and eating and playing. This afternoon, I discovered that his right, front bottom tooth had broken through the gum and is emerging. He did a lot of chewing on his fingers today, but seemed to be in a great mood.

This evening, I met up with my friends from the SnoValley Moms Meetup for dinner. I met a couple of new people and got to see some others that I've gotten to know over the last couple of months. I made some plans with some new friends and most importantly, got to get out of the house ON MY OWN for a little bit. Thank you Andrew. When I arrived home, I heard William crying and found Andrew leaning over William's crib looking rather weary. After some American Idol and some more finger chewing and a little bit of eating, William fell sound asleep in my arms.

I don't know how to say this, but I'll just try to be honest here. During the first three months of William's life, I was strong and ready to tackle sleepless nights and long episodes of crying. I had prepared myself for that period and was able to convince myself to treasure every moment with William (even those when he was fussing and crying at 3am) because I knew that they wouldn't last and could never be relived. That approach worked for me and I weathered that period rather well in my humble opinion.

Now that William is almost 6 months old and my postpartum depression has been rearing it's ugly head every now and then, I'm finding motherhood to be a bit more difficult than I expected. It's not a sprint through a tough 3 months, it's a marathon for the rest of your life. Now, I knew this when I got pregnant, but the full reality of this awesome responsibility has recently hit me. I'm not saying that I'm not up to the challenge. If you know me at all, I fight challenges head on and with little mercy. I have dedicated myself to giving William the best possible mother that I can be for the rest of my life. I am determined to be all the things I value in moms and dads to the best of my ability. It's just a little overwhelming at times, especially when you are feeling depressed. Does anyone understand what I mean?

Tomorrow will likely be a busy day if William is feeling up to it. I'm meeting a friend in the afternoon for tea and then having another Mom's night out with the PEPS mommies at a local bar and grill. If the weather is nice (and it is looking like it will be rather ugly) I have a walk scheduled for tomorrow morning with my neighbor. It's looking like we'll have to cancel the walk as we are expected to get 5 inches overnight.

C

Tuesday

William is napping!! Ah, the sound of silence! Yesterday turned out to be a fun day. Andrew came home a little bit early from work and we enjoyed a nice long walk around the neighborhood. Here are some photos from our walk:


We did some shopping and stopped by to give Layla one last hug before she goes into the hospital to deliver her baby daughter today. I am so excited to meet her on Friday.

Last night, I had an organizer's meeting for my SnoValley Moms Meetup group. It was a lot of fun and lots of great ideas were suggested. I am excited about what we are going to be able to do with this awesome group of women.

This morning, I took the Highlander in to be treated with the Protection Package (leather, paint) and was incredibly impressed with the service department. It was such a seamless process and everyone was so helpful and professional! Yeah Toyota of Bellevue!

Tonight, I am excited to do some shopping at Costco and Target with Andrew. It is so much easier to go shopping with William when my beloved husband is there.

Easter Weekend

We enjoyed a great Easter weekend in spite of the rainy weather. Saturday was spent driving around in our new Toyota Highlander; enjoying the ride and exploring new places. We also made it over to the mall in Bellevue and had a fun time shopping there as a family. Babystyle was having a sale on baby clothes and toys and we couldn't resist a certain item. This piano is designed for 4 year old children, but William didn't seem to care. He took to the piano from the start and has had fun both pounding and tapping with individual fingers and seeing what kinds of sounds he can make.


Sunday we went to brunch at Mike's Cascade Grill and after about 20 minutes of complaining William fell fast asleep in my arms. It was pretty precious. William is going through a change in sleeping preferences and he seems to like falling asleep in our arms these days. In the afternoon we headed over to Grandma and Papa's house for Easter dinner with Uncle Liam.


William loved cuddling with his Uncle Liam and sitting in Grandma's lap while she was watching her tennis. After these adorable pictures were taken and William played with his toys for a bit, two things happened. First, he scootched around on his hands and knees while reaching for toys during some tummy time (for the very first time!!). Second, he cried inconsolably for almost 2 hours. He was beyond overtired and was not going to nap no matter how exhausted he was. The minute we put him in the car and/or arrived home, he was back to his normal self. It's a puzzle. Andrew and I can't figure out why he refuses to sleep at his Grandparents' house. Andrew thinks it may be that he doesn't want to miss out on any of the excitement? Who knows? I'm hoping he can get over this little hurdle so that visits to Grandma and Papa's house can be more relaxing for us all.

Friday Friday

So far the day is going well, laundry is rolling and I got a shower!! Woohoo! William also got to try some stewed pears baby food this morning. He was willing to taste it, but wasn't all that impressed with the flavor. He was super cute. He would seal his lips shut and make a face like "Okay, enough of that Mom, I've had a taste, which was well okay at best and I'll not be having anymore today, thank you very much". William is currently fast asleep in the midst of his first major AM nap. Phew. It's nice to see him in such a deep sleep for a change.

The last couple of nights have been brutal. The first night was a combination of Rowan waking us up to go outside and then an hour later William waking us up to be fed. William has been sleeping from 10pm to 7am since he was 2 months old, so I'm not quite sure what is going on. Last night he was up several times wanting to eat, babble and play. Then when I'd try to lay him down to sleep, he roll around whining and gringing for what seemed like forever. Hmm. It may have been due to our busy day yesterday...

Yesterday morning, I tried and tried to get William to nap to no avail. Finally, I gave up and took him with me to the last half hour of PEPS and then out to U Village to hang out with Kristie. Granted, he had several cat naps throughout the day (especially in the car), but none of any great duration. It was great to see Kristie and to catch up on things. I finally found William some baby nail scissors and promptly trimmed his claws before he was able to add another scratch to his poor little face. Scissors are sooooo much better than clippers.

Here's hoping for some long naps today so that I can catch up on an hour or so of much needed sleep.

Grumperskins

William was pretty grumpy today for no real apparent reason. He seemed to be teething a bit, so maybe that was the cause. He finally perked up in the evening during bath time. He was all smiles when Daddy joined in the fun. William is sitting up much better with some assistance. He is leaning forward to grab his toes and to pick up toys/objects so that he can put them in his mouth. During bath time he enjoyed picking up his blue hippo with both hands and bringing it to his mouth. It's really fun to watch him grow and change each day.


Today we had a visit from a landscaper. I was impressed by his knowledge about indigenous plants and how to make things lower maintenance and/or lower cost. I have to say I was shocked at his estimates for getting our yard in working order. It's going to cost a lot more than we budgeted for. I can't wait to see his drawings and more detailed estimates. We'll probably have to do it in stages.

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day. We've got PEPS in the morning and then William and I are going into Seattle to meet up with my friend Kristie. It's been a while since I've seen her and it will be great to catch up and chat.

I can't resist gushing a little bit about my Toyota Highlander. I took it to do some errands today and it was oh so wonderful. While pushing a cart, filled with super-sized Costco items and feeding a baby his bottle at the same time, it was rather nice to be able to open the rear liftgate from afar and to be able to place the carseat in the car without accessing the keys. Once I loaded the car, I sat in the back seat with William and finished giving him his bottle and was able to start the ignition with the remote starter so that I could adjust the temperature and music while feeding him. I highly, highly recommend this car to any Momma. It's just awesome! Thank you Roy for steering us away from the Pilot and towards the Highlander.

Hello

Hello.
Today was a pretty good day . It started off with feeding William at about 5am and then again at 8am. Then, I managed to get a shower, which is always nice and often a luxury. William was content to sit in his bouncy chair while I hopped in for a quick rinse. Next William napped for a bit and then my friend Layla came over at noon. While Layla was here visiting, my friend/neighbor Tara came by and cuddled for a few minutes with William. It was really nice to see her since she's been so busy with teaching a bunch of Yoga classes. Then, Layla and Will and I headed out to Got Rice for some yummy Chinese food. I always enjoy spending time with Layla and this time was no exception. I can't believe her little one is going to arrive in a week!!!

After dropping Layla off, I noticed that William was fast asleep in the back seat and decided to drive around for a bit so that he could continue to have a decent afternoon nap. I took my time driving around Lake Sammammish and William got a nice 2 hour nap. This car knocks him out a lot more quickly and solidly than the Element ever did. Unfortunately, William woke up from that nap the minute I stopped the car in our driveway and began to wail inconsolably until he had a bottle in his mouth. Poor Andrew, William and I are both terrible to deal with when we are hungry and can't be reasoned with until after we are fed. jk.

My postpartum depression is a little bit better today. I don't feel as sick to my stomach and full of dread and hopelessness, which is always nice. I feel almost 85% back to my normal, happy self.

Tomorrow, we are having a visit from a second landscape designer to get a second opinion on what can be done with our yard and for what price. After this appraisal, I will make my decision on which company to go with for our "Big Dig". I'm really hoping this second person can do the same thing as the first for much less.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. William is now able to put his toes in his mouth and chew on them. This happened for the first time today during a diaper change.

C

Our new horseless carriage

Just a quick note. Saturday we spent the day buying our Toyota Highlander and having dinner with Andrew's parents and twin and niece. Sunday we got up early and drove all over the Puget Sound area. It was a ton of fun as the Highlander is super comfy and pimped out with cool features.
We are up and out early this morning. I will post more soon. William is doing really well. Did I mention that he has found his feet?

Another Friday

Today was a rainy day. We stayed inside and worked on getting better. My cold is much improved, as is William's as well. He has become a super napper since I've been staying home more lately. He slept for over three hours during his mid-morning nap!! I'm wondering if his longer naps have anything to do with getting better or growing?

Not much to report for today. We did enjoy a fun visit from Layla and Astrid. Astrid is going to be a big sister soon and was very good with William today. I hadn't seen Layla in a couple of weeks, so it was nice to catch up and chat for a bit.

While William napped today, I did extensive research on pricing/features of the various models of the Honda Pilot. I also spoke with a bunch of salesmen from local Honda dealerships. I gathered all of this information up and put it into a five page "cheat sheet" so that we can be sure we are getting the car we want with as little haggling as possible. We may purchase our car this weekend if all goes well. It remains to be seen.

I do know that we are going to visit with Andrew's parents tomorrow. Andrew and his father are going to go TV shopping for the Island House TV and then Grandma Jenny is going to watch William while Andrew, his father and I go out car shopping. Fingers crossed that we are able to get a good deal and that the process is as painless as possible.

Over the last few days I've been struck with a surprising bout of postpartum depression. It's really rather strange. There is no reason for me to be feeling the way that I am and I just can't shake it. Cognitively, I know everything is just fine and I have an awesome life, but emotionally I'm overcome by this sense of impending doom and hopelessness. It seems to have been triggered when I was so very sick with the stomach flu. I started to get panicky about being able to take care of William then and in the future in the likely event that I become really sick again someday. Being that sick and still having an infant to care for really freaked me out. My depression tends to be triggered by anxiety that gets out of control. Working on controlling my anxiety should help keep the depression clouds at bay.

A friend of mine has reassured me that postpartum depression is not uncommon during 4-8 months postpartum. She says hers hit at 6 months. Hmm. Today was a bit better because I kept myself busy with obsessively researching car stuff. It seemed to help keep my mind from wandering. Here's hoping tomorrow is a brighter day. Some sun would really help. There is such a thing as TOO MUCH RAIN and TOO MANY GRAY SKIES.

C

Healing up

Sorry I haven't been very good about posting this week. I've been pretty sick for the past week. First with a stomach flu, then with a terrible cold that I can't seem to beat. I'm fighting it and hope that I start feeling better with each day.

William, on the other hand, is doing much better. He isn't coughing much at all anymore and is starting to have an appetite again. He is having a great time these days with learning new skills. He really enjoys kicking both of his legs up in the air and reaching for his toes. Sometimes he even reaches for the opposite foot. He is also working on arching his back when lying supine. I think this may be a precursor to rolling over from back to front. He has been spending a little bit of time each day in his Jumperoo and really enjoys the cause and effect and the feeling of being upright. He is becoming a super sitter and is developing a super strong back.

Another new skill, that he showed us for the first time yesterday, is his improved hand dexterity. He is getting much better at grabbing objects and then manipulating them with both hands and putting the item in his mouth. I'll have to take a picture of him with his giraffe toy. He getting quite good at munching on the giraffe's face. Hee hee.

This evening, William and I went to Mike's Cascade Grill to meet our friends Autumn and Lucas, while Andrew met up with Autumn's husband, Jason, for a beer or two or three at the local Irish Pub. It was good for us to get out and have some time with friends. It looks like we will be going to Palm Desert, CA after all in April. We will be joining Autumn and Jason and Lucas in renting a house. I'm excited about seeing some sun and getting William into the swimming pool again. I'm not so excited about donning a swimming suit...ugh, post-pregnancy body. Palm Desert is reasonably close to Joshua Tree National Park and I am hoping that we are able to visit the Park while we are down there.

That's all for now. I need to get some rest so I can feel better.
'Till then.

Not feeling well....not at all

This entry will be short. In the middle of the night I was awakened by the same HORRIBLE TERRIBLE AWFUL stomach bug that Andrew suffered from a couple of days ago. I'll spare you the details, but did I mention that this is a REALLY BAD FLU? I hope that this only lasts 24 hours as Andrew's bug did. Andrew is trying to take care of William today and is having a hard time because William's not feeling his best either with teething pain and his bad cough/cold. Hoping for a quick recovery for us...

You are five months old

Dear William,
On March 5th, you turned 5 months old. I wasn't able to post on your blog that day because we were driving down to CT from VT and then flying home to Seattle.

This month we have seen you accomplish many "firsts". Rolling over, pulling yourself up to a sit, working on holding yourself up to sit, swimming, saying "Yeah", laughing more regularly, tasting guacamole and ice cream, meeting important family and friends and flying cross country.


During the last week, I have noticed a few preferences that you have recently adopted. When you are tired, you do not like to have loud voices in the same room with you while you are trying to sleep. You used to be able to sleep in any room no matter how noisy it was. Now you get very upset if you are not placed in a quiet room to sleep.

You still sleep much, much better (actually pretty much instantly) once you are swaddled and you have a Binky in your mouth. Once you are fast asleep, you "pop" the Binky out of your mouth and refuse it.


Another change in preference is that you no longer like to be patted or rocked or bounced once you are asleep. You actually object to it now. It's almost like you are telling us all to stop bothering you and to leave you alone once you are asleep. I think this is the perfect time to transition you to your crib. This weekend we are going shopping for baby monitors so that I can walk around the house while still being able to check on you. You get very upset, very quickly if I don't respond to your fussing once you are awake, so it is important that I hear you when you first start peeping so that we can avoid this response.

You are definitely interested in trying solid foods. That is another thing we are going to work on this month. Tomorrow your father and I are going to go shopping for a high chair and some baby spoons and baby food. Once we have a reasonable set up, we are going to try some rice cereal with formula and then some pureed bananas and avocados. I'm looking forward to sharing this new experience with you. My approach is going to be very laid back and patient. We will just take our time and see how it goes.


I am so proud of how you handled our trip to the East Coast. You were so well behaved during our travel days and showed how very adaptable you are. You are a very easy going baby and I am extremely thankful for this. So much so that I am afraid to have a second child for fear that they won't be as "easy" a baby as you are. Your father and I are so proud of how friendly and social you are. Your smile brightens the day of total strangers on a regular basis. I am often stopped by strangers in a store so that they can tell me that I have "such a smiley baby". You wouldn't believe the number of compliments you got from fellow passengers on each of our flights. They were all surprised by how well you weathered the flights. Good job little man!!

Today your father and I set up our photographic equipment and took photos of you. I have included a few in this post.


I'm looking forward to sharing lots of new experiences with you during your 6th month. I love you little Will, oh so very much. You're an incredible little person!


Love,
Mama

Photos from our trip...

Today was a day of recovery for all three of us here at the Robinson household. All three of us needed to catch up on sleep and quiet time. By the end of the day we were feeling a lot better. Even William's cough seems to have improved a little bit. It felt really good to stay home and rest and to not have to worry about schlepping William's gear all over town!!!

After getting some rest, I edited some of the photos from our trip:

William smiling at Wheatley's boyfriend's house in South Glastonbury, CT. This was Saturday morning after we arrived late Friday night and just before we drove up to VT. William was such a trooper through those long days of travel.

William with his Auntie Wheatley and her dog, Party. This was the first time William and Wheatley had met.

William and Great Auntie Ingrid at The Shed restaurant in Stowe, VT.

William in his shark swimming suit just before going swimming in a real swimming pool for the first time at the Topnotch Spa. William with my best friend, Holly, at my Aunt's house in Vermont. This was Holly's first time meeting William!

William had a lot of firsts during our trip to the East Coast. He had his first four flights, first swim in a real swimming pool. first time meeting Wheatley, Brett, Holly and his Great Uncle Jay. William rolled over from front to back for the first time while Holly was visiting at my Aunt and Uncle's house.

William is getting very good at sitting. He is starting to do little "crunches" to pull himself up to a sitting position from a supine position. Once he is sitting up, he is getting better at keeping himself upright. He is also getting very good at grabbing and holding onto things so that he can put them into his mouth. While we were out to eat at Gracie's Restaurant in Stowe, VT, William showed great interest in my meal. At the end of the meal he had his first taste of vanilla ice cream and was super excited about this new flavor and texture. Once he got a hold of the spoon, he wanted more so he kept jamming it into his mouth. Because of his obvious interest in food, we are going to start solids very soon. I just need to get our kitchen set up for it.

We're back

Well, where should I start?

Andrew picked William and me up from the airport late last night. He was already starting to feel dizzy and having bad chills/sweats. I couldn't see straight after 20 hours of being awake, most of it spent traveling alone with William. We headed home and Andrew continued feeling worse and worse.

This morning he headed out to work and ended up coming home early with a bad stomach bug. By the time he got home I was already done with meeting with our landscape designer and meeting with the PEPS moms at Mike's Cascade Grill.

After PEPS, some of us headed over to a local baby store and I reached my limit of being out alone with William while trying to balance taking care of both of our biological needs at the same time and with great urgency and difficulty/hassle. I called Andrew to find out he was sick at home and begged the poor guy to please come with me to the pediatrician's office. I couldn't deal with being alone anymore. Andrew somehow managed to drive us to the pediatrician's office and ended up getting sick in their bathroom. When he made it back to the room, his eyes were bloodshot and his eyelids were bright red. Poor guy. I feel terrible that I dragged him out of bed to go to the pediatrician's office with me. He has been sleeping since then and has a fever of at least 100.8 degrees Fahrenheit.

I took William to the pediatrician because he vomited up his breakfast two mornings in a row due to the forcefulness of his coughing. Once again I was sent home after being told that he merely had a head cold and there was nothing they could do for him. Ughh. It's awful watching your child cough so hard and so frequently and to not be able to do anything for them.

Keith and Lindsay are staying with us right now as they are working on getting an apartment and finding a job for Lindsay. Keith found a job working as a policeman in Renton.

I have a bunch of stories to tell about my travels with William over the last week. Here is the short version. Friday morning, we flew from Seattle to NYC and then NYC to Hartford, CT. We arrived in the evening and I picked up a rental car (Saturn Vue) and drove to my sister's boyfriend's house. This was my first time meeting her boyfriend and Wheatley's first time meeting William.

The next day I hung out with Wheatley and then drove up to Burlington, VT to meet my Aunt at the airport where I returned the rental car. I'm skipping the story about being stranded in southern VT for 2.5 hours with car trouble and then driving through the blizzard once we got back on the road...I'll tell that story in a later post. Once we arrived in VT, my Aunt drove us up to her house in Stowe. We stayed there until Wednesday and enjoyed two visits from my best friend, Holly. This was her first time meeting William. We also got to go to Topnotch where William got to enjoy his first swim in a pool and I got enjoy a facial while my Aunt Ingrid entertained William with watching the waterfall and fireplace by the pool.

Wednesday morning my Aunt drove me down to the Hartford, CT airport and William and I flew first to Atlanta, GA and made a very, very, very tight connection back to Seattle. Yes, there was running and bouncing of William in the Bjorn and then the consequent spitting up from the bouncing and running and dropping/picking up of various items. We made it and Andrew picked us up late that night.

I'll post photos and go into more detail about our visit soon. We had a great time visiting with friends and family. I don't know if I'll travel alone again anytime soon. It was a great trip, but next time I'd prefer if Andrew joined us.