Will-ism's

Will's language has really exploded over the last few months. He know communicates in full sentences and seems to be learning new words every day. Last week, I listened to him counting to ten in Spanish as he climbed up the stairs. Thanks Montessori! Or Dora the Explorer, I'm not sure which. You can practically see the wheels turning in his little brain as he masters some new phrase or command. Last weekend, we heard over and over "I don't have to go to school tomorrow - I get to stay home with my MOMMA (or Daddy)!" I started to think that it must have been a rough week at school because we also heard the following over and over again: "Bubbles are for the bathtub!" "We bite our food and not our friends!" and "We don't shoot guns!" We've tried to explain the nuances of not shooting guns at school but it being okay to shoot guns at home as long as you don't aim it anyone blah blah blah. So yes, we don't shoot guns.

His obsession with firetrucks has reached a fever pitch. As I'm typing this, he brought me his extra firehat to wear because apparently we need to be prepared at all times. At night he sleeps with his red plastic firehat, a fire ax, and a small plastic extinguisher. But guess what he doesn't sleep with? His pacifier! Yeah!! We adios'd it over the weekend and other than a few conversations about big boys not needing a pacifier, pacifiers are for baby sister because she can't play with big toys like firetrucks and cars, etc., he seems to be doing okay.

Our big boy is getting ready to move up to the preschool class at Montessori. They had an open house last night and we got to hear about his progress and meet his new teachers. I feel like he's growing up in leaps and bounds and I'm going to turn around and he'll be asking to borrow the car. I wish I could slow things down a little bit, but then I think about doing laundry for the 90th time this week because yet another pair of pants is wet and I think that things are moving along just the way they are supposed to.

Still no pictures but I plan on hijacking Glenn's camera this week. Oh, and Reina continues to be the cutest, smartest 8-month old in all of Wyoming.

NYC

Last weekend, Reina and I traveled to NYC with her Aunt Vicky and our Aunt Mary. We had a really nice time. It was a quick trip but we got to see the Metropolitan Museum of Art and one of my favorite paintings, spent most of another day walking around New Haven and got up early one morning and jogged here. Vicky and I even got to see this while Aunt Mary bravely had some one-on-one time with Reina. We also ate some great food, bought a few souvenirs and talked and talked and talked and talked. Reina was a great little traveler. She had a few meltdowns and chatted too loudly in the museum once or twice, but for the most part, she was a lovely little travel companion.

So where are the pictures of our trip, you might ask? Well, in a related story, my camera decided that it preferred to live in NYC instead of Wyoming and I can only imagine her (him?) gleefully driving around the city, stopping at all of the sights, eating a hot dog and just generally adapting to life in the big city. Yes, I lost my camera. In the taxi on the way to the airport. At least it wasn't the baby, right?

Toddler Logic

Last Sunday, Will was finishing up lunch and was a little whiny. He told me that his stomach hurt (something that he tells me about 90 times a day - if he really does have stomach trouble, I'm going to feel SUPER guilty for typing that sentence) and I asked him if a cookie would make it feel better. He said yes and I handed him a cookie. When I looked back, he had lifted up his shirt and was rubbing the cookie all over his bare stomach. Makes sense to me!

Look - more proof that they do like each other! We also really like firetrucks and anything firefighter. On a related note, can you guess what Will is going to be for Halloween?

Opposable Thumbs Baby

Reina loves to sit up and hold stuff in her hands. Usually her favorite object is whatever her brother doesn't want her to hold i.e., his shark, his tractor, his firetruck, etc. Sometimes she's happy just holding her chupee (pacifier) and a block to bang it against. If it's something new, she'll turn it around and around in her hands and you can almost see the little wheels whirring as she tries to figure out what it is and what she can do with it. Watching her I feel like I'm looking at a monkey figuring out how to use tools or early man banging two rocks together to make a fire. She's more inquisitive than I remember Will being at this age. Will would roll all over the living room but Reina's more content to sit there and holler until someone hands her something interesting to hold. Here's Reina dressed in her football-watching finest. Those Bronco pants ended up being good luck charms! Here's a picture of Will at the same age as Reina. I like to pull these out once in a while and compare their little faces. Look at those forearms! I loved his little rolls! I haven't written about our daily activities for the last few weeks. On September 20, I ran my first half-marathon with Aunt Vicky and a few of her friends. I'm happy I finished but that last mile was not only the longest mile of my life but also the most painful. I've been jogging all summer but I still wasn't prepared for how badly 13 miles can hurt. But, I'm proud of my accomplishment and look forward to trying another one in October.

It's officially hunting season in the Pauley household. Glenn went antelope hunting last weekend and was successful and we now have a freezer full of antelope steaks again. Glenn shot a pretty big buck - if you are interested in all of the gory details (literally) email us. He's planning on deer hunting this weekend and elk in November. I love months that end in 'ber'!

Will's language has really taken off lately. He is now capable of stringing together pretty complex sentences. Most are in the form of commands or complaints, but I do have to say that it's nice to know what he's thinking. Tonight I was feeding his sister and he was playing with a plastic dinosaur nearby. He brought the T-Rex over to me and informed me that his dinosaur wanted to nurse. Yeah, I didn't really know how to respond to that. I told him that the dinosaur was too big and didn't need "baby milk." Besides the eating habits of dinosaurs, Will remains obsessed with all things firetruck, (the movie) Cars and Thomas the Train. Looks like Christmas is going to be easy this year.

Here's our helpful toddler feeding Reina cheerios.

The Outtakes

"Mom, I'm sitting topless in a giant bowl of cereal. What exactly am I supposed to be doing here?"

"Quick, eat as many fruit loops as you can before mom makes us stop."

"This is a smile!"

"Hmmmm.... I think the exit is that way"

Feel free to add your own captions!

Football, potty training update, ear infections and much much more

First things first, Reina is totally sitting up by herself. She's pretty content to sit there as long as she has lots of things to look at. At this age, Will was rolling around but Reina is more interested in sitting there and analyzing something. Tonight she was sitting on Pop-pops lap pulling out his neck hair. Fun for everyone!

Labor Day weekend was spent enjoying football and a little bit of nature. We went to a bbq hosted by one of Glenn's college friends. The bbq took place along the Laramie River and Will had a grand time throwing rocks and splashing around.

Earlier that day, we took the kids to the UW v. Weber State football game. We only made it until halftime but everyone did pretty well. Will was pretty interested in all of the sights and sounds, and the public restrooms.

Reina was pretty content to sit on laps or snooze in her carseat. She wasn't very bothered by the crowd noise which is another example of 'what they hear in the womb doesn't bother them outside of the womb.' Look - it's a picture of the Elusive Mommy who Doesn't Like Her Picture Taken!

Reina and Dad enjoying the game. She had to wear the pink hat because everyone kept asking us if this was "his" first football game. Here's the complete outfit after the game. Both the shirt and shorts were worn by Will to his first football game. Reina's nose was running in this picture and manifested itself the next day as a double ear infection.

Will loves to play with a doll from my childhood named Jenny. He will routinely put her in the baby swing or sit her on the sofa. Lately, he'll set her in the bouncy seat. One night I came downstairs after the kids had gone to bed and the sight of a little infant in the bouncy seat scared the bebops out of me. For one brief second I thought that I had left Reina sitting there in the dark. I need more sleep.
For those of you interested, Will's potty training is progressing pretty well. Yesterday he just had one accident all day. Today, he made it all the way through school but then peed on the floor of his sister's room because he was having too much fun playing with stuff. We are going to have to steam clean our house when this whole project is done. On the bright side, he really seems to be getting it and I'm hopeful that in a few weeks we'll be in the clear.

One final note, Will has taken to calling me "Lucy" lately. He thinks its hysterical.

Prepare to be overwhelmed by cuteness

A few weeks ago the kids and I headed over to Val Rothwell's house for a photo shoot. In honor of Reina's first six-months, I wanted some professional photos to mark the occasion. I picked up the pictures today and they turned out great! CAUTION: the cuteness factor in the following pictures is through the roof so be prepared....

Well, the angelic-ness couldn't last forever. The photo shoot ended quickly after this shot. Because when you've had enough, you've had enough.