Cold Spaghetti

Will is finally playing with Legos (well, he takes them in and out of the bin and wrecks any lego creations… but that counts!) This is a very exciting development because it means *I* get to play with Legos, too!

Will smiles holding asparagus. A wonderful care package arrived from Grampa George and Nana Nancy with lots of plastic fruits and veggies for his kitchen, a summer outfit, and rain galooshes!

Our local bookstore, Octavia Books, where we bring Will to see the Coi Fish and enjoy air conditioning during our walks, and where we have pre-ordered Book 7 for it’s July 16th release date, made CNN. Fun!

What: Go Fourth on the River. Music, food, boats, fireworks, and fun.

Where: Downtown, Riverfront, Quarter, Riverwalk.

What we did: Got seperated. Paul contacted Police, I borrowed a cell phone, called my Mom, who called Paul.

All was right with the world: When we enjoyed our Will’s FIRST firework display. A super-great fireworks show with music and “dual barges” sending off syncronized lights and explosions. Fun!

It sucked when: It took us 45 minutes to get out of the parking lot (now we know why so few people parked there.)

What we learned: Parking is no big deal on the Fourth, but consider how to leave when it’s over; crowds aren’t bad at all. And for heaven’s sake, pick a meeting spot before going out for beignets or bathroom breaks.

Will was dancing with his Tigger doll (“Let’s bounce even fasterer!”) and fell in the classic toddler way. His head, with the help of a nearby rocking chair, cushioned the fall.

He cried for a few minutes, fought off the ice we tried to put on it (“ow, ow”, he said) and then went about his happy day. This picture is about 10 minutes after the fall, to document the humongous gray and red egg growing on his forehead. (After some panicked moments, I quickly became an expert in child head injury symptoms and decided to call off the National Guard.)

In honor of his new body art, my father dubbed him: “Chief Egg-on-Noggin”.

His hair does a good job hiding the Egg-on-Noggin. But it’s time for a haircut. (We want him to look spiffy for his debut as Ring Bearer Master Will at Emily and Skip’s wedding on Sunday.) Do we cut the hair and expose the egg, or leave it wild and free? The dilemmas parents face!

PapPap and Egg-on-Noggin play around for me in their matching Michigan shirts.

At 19 months, Will can do and say so many things. I am surprised by him everday. Here are some recent examples:

– There’s no more cherries on his plate. Will looks up and says, “All gone.”
– We’re in the garage. He sees his beach toys up on a shelf. He quietly walks over, and silently points to the big bucket of beach toys. We say, “Will, do you want to play with your beach toys?” Will slowly gets a big grin and says “Si!”
– Skip and Emily’s cat, Sebsastian, quickly runs and hides after letting Will pet him. Will is surprised by this and with wide eyes, looks at us with his hands outstrenched and palms up. He shrugs and says “Where’s Gato?”
– Will jumps out of my arms and runs over to Skip and Emily’s room very early in the morning while they are still asleep. He screams out “MOMM-MEE!” to make sure I’m right behind him and then turns to me, puts his finger to his lips and says “Shhhh!”
– While standing in the shallow areas of the pool, he bends at his knees to blow bubbles in the water. Sometimes he’ll get water in his mouth and then pretend to come in close to your cheek to kiss you. Just as you think you’re about to feel a kiss, he squirts the water on your cheek.
– Jumps into my arms, pats my back in a big bear hug, and says “Mom-mee.”

Last night, we had a surprise, somewhat spontaneous, shower for Emily (and Skip!)

It was very important to me that my brother and future sister have a shower! We had planned to have it Sunday while Paul was here, but had to move it back to last night. It was fun — presents, a few games, strawberry shortcake, pictures, and video. And we made the rehearsal bouquet! Afterwards, Emily, Skip, and I played “Settlers of Catan” and talked until the wee hours.