Will's Vocabulary

Will has really started talking in the past few weeks. The following are words he says and understands the meaning of (he uses them correctly):

up
mama
dada
eat
yum
hi
bye bye
milk (he says mak)
duck
truck (he says guck)
Oma (he says Ah-ma) - his great grandma
down
arm
water (wawa)
banana (nana)
uh-oh
eit (light)

There are also a lot of words he says correctly the majority of the time (light, on, off) but sometimes he needs prompting. He repeats please when asked (he says Bees!) and will sometimes say it on his own if he needs something.

He also knows and will point to most major body parts when asked - we are working on getting video.

He is able to eat apple sauce and yogurt by himself with a spoon and is getting much better at using a fork:

Poor Little Guy

Will has been a bit under the weather the past few days. He's got a cough and doesn't have his usual energy. He's been laying down all over the house.

Art Prize!

We had a great weekend at home. Friday night, we met Sarah, Tim, and Lucy for dinner at Ramona's Table. On Saturday we took Will to his swim class. He did very well. It was a much smaller class then last time so the instructor was able to push them a little more. We did a lot of under water time, which Will didn't mind until the instructor came around and took each kid and dunked them. It took them out of their comfort zone and it definitely scared him a bit. But he recovered and was all smiles by the time class was over. Saturday afternoon we watched the Michigan game (go blue) and had friends over for dinner. Will performed for them - pointing to all his body parts on request and climbing on everything. Sunday morning we went down to Art Prize and spent a few hours walking around. Here are some photos:















Wood carving outside the BOB



















World's Largest Greeting Card - everyone can sign it



















A giant penny made of pennies


























Will loves the fountain outside the museum



















Dogs along the river

Up North

This weekend, we went up north to the Hofmeyer's cottage. We got in Friday night and went out to dinner in Interlochen. After Will went to bed, we were able to build a fire and sit outside for a few hours. Saturday morning we woke up to rain so we spent a few hours playing and reading in the cottage. By 10:30 the rain let up, so we stopped in Interlochen to see their art fair before heading to Traverse City. We did a little shopping and then had lunch where we were able to watch the Michigan game. Will obviously wouldn't sit through the entire game so Kristen and Will wandered Traverse while Phil watch the rest of the game. We went down by the water and Will had a great time chasing after ducks. He also loves sitting at picnic tables (you'll notice a trend in the photos below) and insists that you sit across from him. Saturday night we ordered in pizza because we were all pretty tired from our day out. Sunday we had a campfire and played around the cottage before heading home. It was a great weekend!

All Smiles (Picnic Table #1)













Still Smiling (Picnic Table #2)
































So tired!













Going for an early morning walk



















Enjoying the campfire (Picnic Table #3)













Learning how to build the perfect fire



















Down by the lake

Happy 30th Birthday Hospice of Michigan - w/ Duff

Duff came into town to help celebrate Hospice of Michigan's 30th Birthday. He did a book signing downtown at Schuler's on Tuesday night and did a talk and unveiled the cake on Wednesday at Devos Hall. Kristen, Katie, Mara, Ilze, and William waited in line for quite a while to get their books signed. On Wednesday, Kristen, Ilze, and Katie went to hear Duff talk. Both events had a great turnout!

At the Book Signing














Duff thinks Will is going to be a nose tackle
































At the reception before the talk













Devos Performance Hall
































Unveiling the Cake



















Describing the Cake



















Happy Birthday



















Yum!

Fun Day

We met Sarah & Lucy and Katie, Caroline, Gray, and John at Robinette's this morning. The kids had a great time catching up and eating donuts and the adults had fun catching up.

The Big Apple



















Caroline, John, Lucy, Gray, & Will














Will really likes pretending to be a chef. He fills his two cups in the bath tub and alternates stirring them with his foam letters. He also spent a lot of time playing at the table and chairs in the tree house at the botanical gardens. We gave him a plastic cup and spoon and it kept him occupied for 15+ minutes this morning. It's pretty cute to watch.

Mayhem at the Magurans

1. Will has figured out how to open and close his diaper pail. The germs and smell were bad enough. But then he started putting his lovey in there. Which lead to daily washings. The diaper pail has been relocated to the bathroom linen closet. Not the most convenient, but a lot less disgusting.

2. Will likes taking apart my wallet and especially likes taking out the money. I can only imagine what his teenage years will be like.

3. Will has always enjoyed playing with the silverware in our dishwasher when we had it open. But now he's learned how to open it himself. He's also figured out the glasses on the second shelf are more fun to play with than the spoons and forks...

Hummingbirds

We've had several hummingbirds visit our garden and feeder this summer. Tonight, they put on quite a show hovering outside our kitchen window. I was able to capture a little bit of it.

Go Blue!

At the U of M Game Watch Party

2 Williams, 2 Loveys, 2 Thumbs

While visiting Katie, William Gray realized that he and William Martin had the same first name. And both had giraffe loveys. And both sucked their thumbs. Crazy. He wanted a photo:

U of M Game

A quick photo before the game



















At Dominick's before the game













Skywriter













Rededication of the stadium












Touchdown!

Children's Museum in Cincinnati

The Chase