First Trip to the Beach

Kristen and Will went to the beach today with Grandma and Grandpa. It was Will's first time to Lake Michigan and he had a blast. He loved the sand and splashing in the waves. We drove to the lake after lunch and spent about 2 hours. It was a bit cool when we got there, so we kept his jeans on. We thought we would just be walking on the beach a bit. But the sun was warmer down on the sand compared to up at the cottage and the water was warm. Will's pants were soaked after about 2 minutes but we left his suit up at the cottage. We just let him run around in his onesie for a bit.

Climbing the Dunes














First glimpse of the lake







































Playing with Grandpa



















Check out my fun sun hat!



















So sandy!













Jumping in the waves



















Pretty cool













Resting after a fun afternoon

Bad Hair Day















Diag
































Wave Field


























North Campus

14 Months Old!

Will is 14 months old today. He is getting to be such a big boy! He is very good at communicating what he wants through pointing and grunting. He is starting to repeat words more consistently - he says "up" when he's going up stairs and will repeat "mom." His babbles seem to have more sounds in them so hopefully we'll get a few more words out of him soon. He does imitate noises. For example, "vavavavava" is the noise the garage door makes. He likes to watch it go up and down so he will point at it and say "vavavava" to get us to push the button. He doesn't understand that we can't open other people's garage doors, however which leads to some disappointment on his part.

He seems to understand a lot and will follow simple instructions: go get your shoes, drink your milk, etc. He loves to play outside. We keep his shoes by the door in the kitchen and he will pick them up and bring them to us whenever he wants to go outside. He'll also sit down and stick his feet out for us. He has developed an interest in books. He has his favorites and will pick them out on his book shelf and will run them over to us. Then he'll plop down and help us turn the pages (usually before we've finished reading them).

Will has become a great walker. He can make it all the way around the block by himself. He does get distracted so sometimes we have to point him in the right direction, but physically he can do it. He is also a good helper around the house and on walks. He likes to pick up sticks that are on the deck or the sidewalk and move them to the grass. He will also collect pinecones and put them in a neat pile.

Will has figured out how to color although, he doesn't like to sit still long enough to make any real masterpieces yet. He also will point to our noses when we ask and is getting better at puzzles.

At Gymboree, Will mastered the ladders. But now, he likes to climb up the side of his high chair. He's going to be a trouble maker!

Book Club Baby Shower

I had my book club meeting tonight. One of the girls is due any day now, so we decided to throw her a baby book shower. Here's the cake I made. (FYI - we read "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" which was a really good, quick ready)

Brave Little Boy

We had some major thunderstorms roll through last night. The tornado sirens started going off a little after 1am and there were confirmed funnel clouds in Kent county. We got Will out of bed and took him to the basement. He curled up in my lap and we covered him with a bunch of blankets. He dozed on and off (in surprisingly good spirits) until just after 2 when the warnings were lifted. He woke up a little when we moved him back to his crib but he fell right back to sleep. Such a good little boy!

Happy Father's Day!

We had a very nice Father's Day. Will let us sleep in until close to 8 am. Then we met Kristen's parents for breakfast. Will was a little crabby right when we got there, but he settled down and was a very good boy during the rest of the meal. In the afternoon, we walked (even Will) to Lakeside to play on the playground. Will really likes the bouncy bridges and the teeter-totter. He's not a fan of the swings. After dinner, we went for another walk around the block and then it was off to bed!

Sarah's Shower

On Saturday, I went to my friend Sarah's baby shower. It was a lot of fun and she got a lot of great stuff! She looks great - only 10 weeks to go!

Heather, Katie, Sarah, Emily, and Kristen

Playing with Friends

Our friends invited a bunch of us over for dinner so we could see their new house. They're very brave - between the 5 couples there were 7 kids ranging in age from 4 months to 2 1/2 years. It was a lot of fun to see the kids interact. We had all of them sitting at the table eating pizza at one point but didn't get our cameras out quick enough to capture it! Here are a few highlights:

Mmmm... pizza














Caroline, Will, and Joseph













Caroline and Claire













Will and Lia













Phil helping Caroline

Learning to Use a Spoon

We have been letting Will attempt to feed himself on occaision. He's still a bit young, but he seems interested in the spoon so we didn't want to discourage him. If you load up the spoon, he is really good at putting it in his mouth. During his afternoon snack yesterday, he took the spoon from me and started feeding himself his yogurt. He doesn't quite understand the "scooping" concept, but he dipped the spoon a few times to coat it and then put it right in his mouth. He ate about half the container by himself and got upset when I tried to take the spoon back. We must be getting to the "all by myself" stage. It was all going really well until the very end...

We took this video on our way up north. He had been babbling and singing for about 10 minutes but clammed up when I broke out the video camera. He really likes facing forward. He also really likes his toes.

U of M Alumni Golf Outing

Last night was the U of M Alumni Club golf outing. Phil was there to golf and I went after work to help with check-in and the silent auction. As president, Phil had to welcome everone and thank the out-going president. He did a great job. Both David Brandon and Rich Rodriguez both spoke at the event. Phil won Penn State tickets in the silent auction for their trip to Happy Valley this year. I won a framed photo of Michigan Stadium which we plan to put in our game room in the basement. We want a before and aftershot of the stadium so we're half way there! I was able to get Rich Rodriguez to autograph the picture - dedicated to Will. It was a successful evening!

Mr. President

































Rich Rodriguez



















To Will. Go Blue. Rich Rodriguez.

Another Tooth

Will's 7th tooth just broke the surface. It is on his bottom-left hand side. Now he has 4 on top and 3 on the bottom. We had been stuck at 6 for quite a while so it was nice to even things out a little!

Weekend Up North

We had a really relaxing weekend up north at the Hofmeyer's cottage. We drove up after work on Friday and got into town around dinner time. After unpacking and a quick walk through the woods, we went into Interlochen for dinner. After Will went to sleep, Phil and I started to get things ready for a campfire. But then we heard thunder in the distance so we decided to read inside and listen to the storm. Saturday was cool and overcast, but we didn't have any ran. We went to the Interlochen campus and walked around for a bit. Traverse City was having their high school graduation there so it was pretty crowded. But we were able to walk around for a while. After Will's nap, we went to a restaurant in Interlochen to watch the soccer game. Will and I left Phil there to play on the playground for a bit. Then we went to Traverse City for some shopping and pizza. Saturday night we were able to have a campfire. We woke up to sun this morning so we went back to Interlochen and Will was able to play in the various theaters. We got on the road just before his naptime. Thanks to Aunt Mara and Uncle Ken for letting us use the cottage for the weekend!

Will was a great traveler. He babbled for a good portion of the trip and ate snacks from his snack cup. Then he dozed off and woke up in great spirits. He also slept like a champ in his pack and play - he even let us sleep in until 7:45!

Breakfast at the cottage (he loves his blueberry muffins)














He makes this face when he's being silly



















Helping Dad push the stroller












































































In his debut performance at Interlochen... William Maguran!

Bela Fleck

Last night we went to the Bela Fleck concert at the bontanical gardens with a bunch of our friends. The weather cooperated - there were only a few drops at the very end.

Hilary, Emily, Katie, Kristen, Heather, and Sarah














Matt, Phil, Jeff, Ben, and Tim

Bathroom Remodel

We just had Will's bathroom/our guest bathroom remodeled. We had them rip up the "peel and stick" tile, the old tile that was underneath, the old tile that went up the walls (which was also painted), they took out the toilet, the vanity, and the linen closet doors. Our upgrade included ceramic tiles on the floor, new bifold closet doors, a new dark wood vanity, and brushed nickel faucets in both the shower and on the vanity. This bathroom has had a lot of changes over the past five years. Here's a quick trip down memory lane...

This is what the bathroom looked like when we moved in. There was forest green paint on the walls and a floral border.




















Right after we moved in, we took down the border, repainted a chocolate brown, and added a lot of white and red accents.



















When we did our addition, we lost the window on the far wall. They took down the tile on that wall and just dry walled it. We also repainted a pale blue to lighten things up.



















And finally, our finished product! Here is the new vanity and mirror. You can also see the nice plain wall - minus the awful tile!

































Our new bifold doors that actually close! The floor of the closet was also tiled so we don't have the bare concrete covered by a slab of wood anymore!

Duff's Coming to Grand Rapids!

http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/06/ace_of_cakes_duff_goldman_will.html