Will breaking it down

After Will spent 10 days with my Dad he started busting out these new dance moves.  Hummm like grandfather like grandson???

Beach Boy

10 days at the beach!  I think little Will Pope is one lucky boy!!!  We headed back to Kiawah for another beach vacation - thank you mom and dad for renting a house for 6 weeks.  We sure did make use of it.  Will just loves the beach and he got some bonus grandma/grandpa time sans mom and dad when Jason and I left on Sunday for the EMC Club trip in Bahamas.  We had an awesome time but were so glad to come home to our little guy.  Here is a recap of Will's big adventures!

Bike Buggy

New Stroller for his Elmo!

Morning bike ride

Family Photo

Will and his best friend Auntie Lisa

Best Friends - Mommy and Will

Taking a spin in the baby doll stroller

Golfing buds

The one picture we took in the Bahamas!

Scuba bear mommy and daddy brought Will home

Biking buds - Will and Little Lisa

More pictures to come from all of Will's adventures with my mom and dad!
- Trip to the aquarium
- Pizza dinner
- Lunches at the beach
- BEACH BEACH BEACH
- Morning bike rides to the Sanctuary

Thank you mom and dad for letting Will crash your vacation - I dont think he even noticed we were gone :)

Fishy Will

Passport in 26 hours

On Easter Sunday we started to pack for our big South Caroline/Bahamas trip coming up.  As I was organizing in the guest bedroom Jason was getting our passports.  From the other room I hear "Carrie, we have a problem - your passport is expired!!"  Yikes - what a shock that my 10 year passport was expired!!! So I went online and it looked like it was going to be possible to renew but through a 3rd party agency for 400 dollars!!!! YIKES.  I also made an appointment with the Chicago Passport Agency for the next day at 11:30am in hopes that some miracle would happen - but as a backup I could go to the other agency.  Long story short two trips downtown later I got my passport in 26 hours!!!  Although I was pretty stressed it ended up being pretty fun and Will and I had two fun days downtown.  We took the red line and was super easy.  Will is a regular city boy!

Walking up the bridge to the art museum which we did not go to but enjoyed the bridge

Apple while looking at the bean and watching the birds steal peoples food

City Buddies!

Happy Hip Hop Day - Easter 2012

You know you have a 1 year old when before 9am on Easter Sunday you have had a bottle, watched Sesame, ate breakfast, gone to Easter Mass, trip to Starbucks and home for another bottle and nap!!  It was a great day.  I love the mornings so when I heard Will wake up this morning I was so excited to see his reaction to the Easter Bunnys visit to the house!  He was a very lucky boy this year getting new jammies from Grandmommy and new books and a cute new shirt from Grandma/Grandpa!!  I hope he didn't get Easter confused with Christmas.  The sun was shining in Chicago and I couldn't have been luckier to spend a nice quiet day with my two favorite boys.  We walked around the block checking out every tulip, stick, gate, dog, pile of dirt and birdie on the street.  It is so sweet to watch his little mind go non stop just exploring the outdoors!

The Easter Bunny came!!

Went right to his new Chicka Chicka book - That Easter Bunny knows what he is doing!

ELMO!!!

Dad and Buddy - Will trying to get down as quickly as possible of course

Easter 2012 Photo - our neighbors steps!

Cleaning up after a messy dinner

Hoop Dreams...

The day had finally come - Jason bought Will his first basketball hoop.  I think both boys were in love with their new toy!!!  My favorite comment from Jason was, "Will no hanging on the rim."  HAHA I think he was serious too!  To funny.  Will is still a little small for the hoop so he walks over to Jason with the ball, backs himself into Jason's lap to get a good lift towards the basket for a good dunk.  So cute!  After the first pick up game both boys took a good nap after.  I smell a good game of PIG in our near future.

Hey look Dad - we know that lady!  Two Texas Tech Buds  (can you guess who dressed Will :) )

First Dunk!

Coming in from the side

Setting up for a good launch to the hoop

William H. Pope Library

Will has been really into reading lately!  And I don't say that in the "he is so smart, he loves books, he could read for 4 hours at a time, he will probably go to harvard and then solve all the worlds problems" but more he will wander into his room and just flip books for a while in the morning so I can make coffee, clean up breakfast and check facebook!  Its been so nice.  I finally baby proofed everything in his room so he can go and play and I don't have to worry.  He loves to pull all the books down, flip the pages, move them from one side of the room to the other and then carry one into the kitchen as if he is asking for me to read it to him.  Of course the second he hops up on my lap he wants to get down again but the whole process is adorable!  Will I hope you read lots and get super smart because god knows I am not the most avid reader on the block.

Big Boy Dinner

On Friday night Jason, Will and I went out to dinner at Frasca - this new little kid friendly gem that serves excellent pizza, salad and wine!  But this meal out was just a littler different then our normal nights out - Will was such a big boy!!!  Here is why:

1.  Ordered off the kids menu - cheese pizza, water in a big boy cup and a small dish of ice cream (all for $5 dollars which I thought was the deal of the century!)

2.  Used the crayons and paper while we were waiting.  I didn't even break into the emergency food stash to keep him busy while we wait

3.  Drank his water from a big boy cup and stray.  He got a little obsessed with this cup so we had to hide it in between slugs to prevent flooding his system with water.

Fun night out with our little family!!

Opening Day - Just like Daddy and 14 Months Old

I could care less about really any sport - but Jason is a huge sports guy.  For some reason he likes the Red Sox so on a trip back to Boston for a wedding I picked this new shirt up for Will.  Being that today was Red Sox opening season and Daddy had been on the road alot this week, we thought this picture would really make his day!  I think we were successful!

14 Months Old April 5, 2012 - 23ish pounds

Likes:  Hanging in his room reading his books, hugging Elmo and other stuffed animals, walking down the sidewalk NOT holding my hand, pulling on the gates outside every condo on our block, tulips, peanut butter sandwiches, applesauce in the squeeze pouch, taking long naps (so long mommy has to wake him up), pulling his playmat apart, singing songs and dancing (ABC, itsy bitsy spider, wheels on the bus), holding my keys and walking to the door to get the mail with them, pressing buttons on the microwave and coffee pot

Dislikes: Getting picked up from reading his books to go to bed, getting anything taken away from him (phone and keys mostly) and waiting for his bottle when he sees it being made

New words: Up, Down, Open, Close, Baby, Ohhhhh - tons of sounds and conversations.  He will look us right in the eye and babble away like he is really trying to say something.  So cute!  Also using the sign "more" all the time when he wants more watermelon.  Won't use it for anything else - must really love watermelon!!

What channel is the game on?

New seat!  Likes to dangle his toes

Loving Elmo in his Elmo seat!!!

Spring is in the air

The tulips are in full bloom this year and are a highlight on every walk and run that Will and I have been going on.  We point out all the colors, touch each one and then Will always tries to throw himself into the dirt almost crushing the poor flowers.  Each trip I would like to think that Will is catching on to the concept of "gentle" but not to sure on that.  But like any good flower outing - a cute outfit is a must!!

Smells so pretty Grandma - Just like you!

Orange, Red - Pretty Ohhhhhhhhhh

On our flower walks Will has also been able to show off some of his new pieces to the Spring 2012 collection.  Making a debut below is his new hand made sweater from Grandma and his sharp Yellow slicker from Barbie!  Spring has had a great start!!

Bring it on Spring - Ready for anything

Casual walk in my cable sweater