Crunch!

Will really enjoys his baby cheetos! It's amazing what you can do with two little front teeth.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! We had a busy Christmas day. We opened gifts as a family first thing in the morning. Will really enjoyed playing with the wrapped packages and played with the tissue paper in some of the gift boxes. He also liked sitting by the tree (the ornaments finally grabbed his attention) and playing with his new toys. It is so fun to watch him sit and play on his own. Grandma and Grandpa came over around 1:30pm and we opened more gifts with them. Will was pretty content to play with a bookmark. After Grandma and Grandpa left, we packed up the car to drive to Detroit for the weekend.

Waking up in Christmas PJs










Checking out the gifts





















All smiles - as usual!









Playing with his toy train

Christmas Eve!

We had a really nice Christmas Eve with Kristen's family. Everyone came over to our house for appetizers, gifts, and holiday trivia. Will was on his best behavior and enjoyed playing with some of his new toys.

Look at all those gifts!












Taking in the festivities












Hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa









Playing with his new puzzle









A nice family photo

ESPN.com

Phil was recently interviewed for an article about Rich Rodriguez/Michigan football for ESPN.com. One of his quotes made the article:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/commentary/news/story?page=granderson/091210

Head on a Swivel

So proud he can get up the stair



















Hey... I want to play in the ball pit!

Will has mastered "keep your eye on the ball"

Will's New Trick

Good little crawler!

Will is getting to be a really good crawler. He does not like to sit still anymore. Even his favorite toy, the exersaucer, doesn't entertain him the way it used to. (Fortunately, it will convert to a standing play station when he starts walking so we'll still get more use out of it!) Its fun to watch him crawl across the room to find a toy that catches his eye.

Happy Hanukkah!

This weekend, Grann came up from Detroit for the first weekend of Hanukkah. We had a really nice visit: presents, lunch at Ramona's Table, a wonderful dinner, and lots of crawling and playing.

Will opening his first present












Wearing his new hat from Aunt Maran and Uncle Josh












Playing with a gift bag












Enjoying his new armchair from Mom and Dad

Will loved the bright tissue paper

We took a field trip with Grann to go see some reindeer

Playing in his new ball pit

Taking a break

First Little Steps

Apparantly, we've been enticing Will to crawl the wrong way. We've tried books, toys, and funny noises but none of them worked. We should have known: he's a boy. He'll go after the TV remote. For some reason, he loves our cable remote. Fortunately, we have a spare so we took the batteries out and let him play with it. He was on his hands and knees and I put it about 4 feet away from him and he crawled his way to it. He repeated the process one more time (which I got on video below - its very short, we'll get more footage later). Then we took a break because I didn't want to wear him out before Phil got home. He did show off for his dad. He's not graceful yet, but we're very proud! Our electrical outlets are already baby proofed and we'll probably do the kitchen/bathroom cabinets soon. The baby gate for the stairs is ready and waiting in the basement.

Will has also fallen in love with Cheerios. It's pretty funny to watch him "chew" them. (He does have 2 teeth now, but all food is still gummed at this point.)

Decorating the Tree

We finally had time to decorate our Christmas tree on Sunday. We waited until Will was up from his afternoon nap and it was starting to get dark outside. We set him up on his blanket with a bunch of toys but he was pretty content to just watch us. He really likes the lights on the tree and the colorful ornaments. I also posted two videos below. One is of his new favorite pastime and the other is a sample of the new noises he learned to make.

Will discovered our candy drawer










Getting ready to decorate









Putting on the first ornament
(a gift from Grandpa - a snowman that says "William")









Hanging up the ornament









Taking a break to bounce!












Phil and Will with the decorated tree













Will's current favorite activity is to jump. When we stand him up he goes crazy! We are not helping - it's all him!

Mamamamamam and Raspberries

Oh, Christmas Tree!

Today was our annual trip to Rockford to chop down our Christmas tree. We made our usual stop at the Corner Bar for hot dogs (Will tasted his first little bite of french fry) and then went to Hart's Tree Farm. It was very cold and snowy, but Will seemed to have a decent time. He rode around in his sled (everyone thought he was adorable) and helped us pick out the perfect tree. He didn't seem to mind the sled and enjoyed sitting in the snow. We are going to decorate the tree tomorrow since we had Phil's work holiday party this evening.

7 Month Photo









Helping Decorate Oma's Tree












Checking out the first snowfall












First trip to the Corner Bar for hotdogs









Looking for the perfect tree at Hart's Tree Farm

We found one!

Weekend in the D

We went to Detroit this weekend because Aunt Maran and Uncle Josh were in town for the holiday. We had a really nice visit. William was on his best behavior - although, he didn't start crawling despite the $20 bribe from Grann.

Check out my fun new bathtub!






















Three generations

EGR Tree Lighting

Today was a really fun day. Phil went into work for a little bit in the morning and William and I stayed home to play and start our holiday baking. Phil got home around lunch time so we ran out for a bite to eat and some shopping. We avoided the mall so the crowds weren't too bad. Then this evening, we went to the EGR tree lighting ceremony in the middle of Gas Light Village. Will was bundled up in his new snowsuit and stayed toasty warm. We ran into several friends while we were there. We stayed until Santa arrived and they lit the tree. They had horse drawn hay rides, kids could sit on Santa's lap, and there was a reindeer petting zoo. We saw the reindeer but headed home pretty early. Will needed dinner and we are heading to Detroit in the morning.

All bundled up!










Checking out the reindeer









Waiting for Santa









As we headed for home

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with Kristen's family. William was on his best behavior (despite taking a long nap at home which almost caused us to miss dinner!) and enjoyed his first bites of mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce. He was great entertainment at dinner!

First taste of mashed potatoes



















Playing with Auntie Kate












Spending time with Aunt Mara












A nice family photo









Sporting his fancy pea coat

A few more Aruba Pictures...

30 Weeks Old (tomorrow)!

Here are a few cute photos from the past week. Will has been busy sitting and playing. He is getting so close to crawling - he can take one "step" but hasn't been able to put together a string of them yet. We took Will to Ramona's Table Friday night and he sat in a restaurant high chair for the first time. He did very well. He loved looking at the lights and playing with our straws. He ate his dinner there as well but got a little fussy when he was out of food.

If you look closely, you can see my tooth!










Mmmmm.... sock monkey!












Similar Pose









I love my aquarium!












So curious












First time sitting/eating in a high chair at a restaurant









I don't think his mouth could get any bigger










Rocking! (It's hard work... sometimes he gets frustrated and sometimes he gets tired)