Weekend on SJI

William is waiting for the float plane to take off.
William is trying out his Papa's new Morgan car while waiting on the the ferry line in Anacortes, WA.
William and Jenny walking back from picking up Andrew after his arrival via float plane in Roche Harbor, WA.
William and his Grandma waiting for the float plane to take off in Roche Harbor.

Three generations of Robinson men on Father's Day.

Dancing with the Dads Contest Entry

William and Andrew Dancing on Sprout

Sprout Online Thomas the Tank Engine Bicycle Contest Entry

Dear Sprout Online,
When I was a kid, my most cherished memories involved biking with my sister and our parents. We got to explore parks where there were sheep, cows and other farm animals. When I visited my family in Germany, we went on fun biking adventures and even rode our bicycles at night!
Now that my son, William, will be 2 in a few months, we are getting excited about going on biking adventures with him. William is a very active and adventurous little boy and we can't wait to share our love of biking with him. As an avid Thomas the Tank Engine fan, William would love to take his Thomas the Tank Engine bike on his adventures with him. Someday, I hope to take William biking in Paris, France at night when all the locals bike around the streets in huge crowds of cyclists!! He'll love to see the sights and sounds of Paris at night from the seat of his bicycle!!
Sincerely,
Chelsea Robinson (Mommy of William Robinson)

A walk with the boys on a summer morning...

This morning, we took a walk with Autumn (who is 39 weeks pregnant) and Lucas to help the boys burn off some of their endless energy.

William likes to do anything Mommy and Daddy do. This includes playing the guitar that Daddy uses in Rock Band and singing into the microphone like Mommy. This morning I was running around doing laundry and other chores and found William having a great time checking out Andrew's guitar.

William and his buddy, Mia.

William is learning to be gentle around Mia. He was very good today and even managed to make her laugh (which isn't hard to do since she's such a happy baby).

Peonies from my garden.

He's such a dream boat. Look at those gorgeous blue eyes!!

Pictures from Sunday at the Zoo and Girls' Night Out

Fun weekend at home.

This weekend, we had a great BBQ with our neighbors on Friday night. Andrew worked at home for part of Saturday and Sunday we spent the day at the Woodland Park Zoo. This was the most fun time we have had as a family at the Zoo. William loved running around all of the exhibits and looking at the penguins, flamingos, gorillas, jaguar and the tropical birds. He ran from exhibit to exhibit sweating, and panting with his little heart thumping away go keep pace with his speed.
This evening, I snuck out for a nice early dinner break with Autumn and Jen. It was great to be together and to be able to talk without have our attention distracted by the activities of our toddlers.
I've been meaning to write about a few cute things that William is doing lately and I can never remember when I am actually sitting in front of the computer. Let's see what I can remember:

He loves carrying around a 6 pound plastic dumbell. He loves to help me water the plants by holding the hose.
He loves fruit and pasta/rice and his dinosaur chicken nuggets are the only way I can get animal protein into him at meal time.
He loves to feed himself yogurt and smoothies.
He loves to play with his cars and trucks best and can entertain himself with one truck for 20 minutes.
He loves television and will turn it on if given half the chance.
Last night we played Rock Band and he "sang" into the microphone to be like Mommy.
He loves dogs and will go up to them to "cuddle" by leaning into towards them.
He loves to go for walks down the street and on the green belt.
He weighed 28 lbs 8 oz at his 19 months old checkup and was 31 1/4 inches tall. (I'm not totally sure on his height).
He grunts to mimic me when I am gardening and he is "helping".
He seems to know how to be gentle with babies and will lean in and "cuddle" them and smile.
He says "Mama" all the time and has seperation anxiety right now. When anyone else picks him up he whines and calls out 'Mama" in a very sad voice.
He will "dance" when prompted and this consists of him stomping his feet and turning around. He can play "Ring around the rosey".
He likes to play a game when we go through tunnels where he ducks his head and says "Oooooooohhhhhh" with increasing volume and pitch until we exit.
He loves to read and be read to and tries to get us to read as many books as possible before bedtime by signing "More please".

William is 20 months old today.

Dear William,
You are 20 months old today. Yay! You are fast asleep in your crib after a busy day with playdates and dinner with our neighbors. There is so much to update. You are starting to test the limits a lot lately. For example, tonight at the BBQ you got mad when Grace sat on my lap because you were jealous and you tried to push her out of my lap. You are starting to do naughty things like pushing, hitting, biting, throwing things and throwing fits. It's very challenging to help you through this time. I am trying to set limits for you while keeping you and your friends safe. It's difficult because our ability to communicate with one another is limited. You seem to know some of what I am telling you and I am trying to keep my explanations simple. You are trying to communicate with me and will nod/shake your head yes/no depending on the question I ask you. This works with some things and helps avoid confusion sometimes. We have been trying to nip the behaviors I described above in the bud as much as we can. This week you learned how to kiss and we are trying to use kissing to replace biting and it is working so far. Throwing is anotber thing that I am not allowing anymore. I am sure you are somewhat confused right now because Daddy taught you how to catch and throw balls. When you pick up a rock I am currently taking the rock from you (I'd like you to give it to me willingly, but this isn't happening yet) and putting it with the others and saying goodbye to the rock and then trying to distract you with another activity. This tends to work pretty well. The hitting and pushing tends to happen when you are tired, cranky or overwhelmed. I am trying to notice you cues so that I can remove you from these situations before you hit/push. Another thing that I am trying to do (thanks Tara) is getting down on your level and having you look me in the eye when I am talking to you. This seems to be working better. I think things will greatly improve once your language skills mature. You have a bunch of words and are getting good at gesturing to get what you want, but we still have a ways to go before we can both understand one another. You are starting to come out with phrases that I can't yet decifer, but I am hopeful that these will soon morph into more advanced communication.
I love you William. Cranky, happy, naughty, cuddly, sweet, messy, smelly, freshly bathed. I love you no matter what and always will. Thank you for being patient with me right now. I am really trying to do a good job with teaching you manners, respect and good behaviors. We are both learning a lot each day and I know we will get the hang of this toddler/Terrible Two stuff. We'll make it through together.
I have been doing a lot of gardening lately. The plants in the backyard flower bed are doing great. Hydrangeas, peonies, pansies and others are blooming right now. Daddy and I spent an entire weekend, rototilling and fixing up the lower yard so that we could grow grass for you to play on and we've been watering it like crazy lately. The grass is finally growing, yay!!
You are getting good at feeding yourself and especially like feeding yourself with a spoon. Tonight you enjoyed feeding yourself strawberry ice cream at the BBQ!
I love you my little caveman.
xoxo,
Mama