Shoe Hunting

Today we were looking everywhere for one of Will's "big boy shoes" so
he and Whitney could go to the store. We couldn't find it before they
left, but Daddy just did:

One Christmas Post to Rule Them All…

    

The Fowlers had a wonderful holiday this year, including visits to both sets of grandparents an d many, many good times.  It was so great to see you all and we can’t wait to see you again soon – and we missed those of you that we weren’t able to visit this year. Will had so much fun with everyone and we got LOTS of pictures. Enjoy!

First, a family picture:

We first visited Whitney’s family in College Station. We are still working on obtaining some more pictures from this visit and will post more soon. Here is Will with his Grandmommy and his cousin Hudson:

Will with his buddy Granddaddy:

Will sported a lovely holiday bow for all to enjoy:

Will really likes playing in grass, and had a blast walking around Janie’s backyard:

We visited Will’s Great-Granddaddy and Will had fun exploring his house. He went up and down the step into the living room over and over again with a huge grin on his face. He also nabbed Great-Grandfather’s shoehorn and used it as a shovel, throwing piles of plant soil onto the carpet. The best part of the visit was looking at many of Whitney’s late grandmother’s original paintings and picking out a handful of pieces to put up in our house. I am amazed at how talented she was and am touched to have some of them for our own. We’ll have to post some pictures of those paintings soon. Here is a picture of Will and Great-Grandfather:

We got an inadvertent Christmas present from Grandmommy in a “Quinny”, which is a *very* nice stroller for Will. It was actually given to someone else who decided that they didn’t need it, and was offered to us instead! Now THAT’s a hand-me-down! Will absolutely loves the new stroller, probably because it’s nicely padded and props him up so that he can view the world in style. Here’s Will in his new stroller wearing some holiday cheer:

Whitney’s folks got me a great gift for Christmas. It’s a really nice hiking backpack with a place for William to comfortably sit. It’s got a lot of back support and is something that Whitney and I have been talking about getting so that we can go on long family walks around Austin and its many trails. I don’t have a picture of it to post but we’re very excited to use it soon!

We next took an all-too-short trip to Michigan to visit my parents, and although I had a particularly nasty cold the entire time, it was  a wonderful visit. My sister, her husband, and Will’s cousin Jonny were there too – along with Christy’s new baby bump! After being only 2 hours from my sister last year, it’s been hard to be so far away again. Needless to say, seeing her and her family was really special. Here is Will with Aunt Christy:

Will had fun playing with his cousin Jonny. They got matching pajamas from Santa and strutted their stuff for us:

They played with the blocks together:

Jonny even helped build a block fortress in which to imprison his Grandpa (we let him out a few hours later):

         

Will and Grammie quickly showed that they’re kindred spirits. Will would often walk up to her and spread his arms for her to pick him up, and Grammie was more than happy to oblige! We also learned that Will enjoys pazelles, a family favorite. Here’s Will enjoying some pazelles with Grammie, and making a nice mess while doing so:

There was a nice amount of snow on the ground at Grammie and Grandpa’s house:

Their back yard has a nice little hill for sledding, and Will got all bundled up for his first sledding experience (cue the “A Christmas Story” jokes):

Will went sledding a few times and enjoyed every one. When I went down with him he laughed the whole time. Here’s Will sledding with Grandpa:

We also spent one afternoon in Frankenmuth, Michigan, which is a German town known for great food, culture, and Bronner’s, the worlds largest Christmas store (open for 361 days a year, too). Will slept through the entire Bronner’s experience but enjoyed the great chicken, noodles, and time with his Grammie. Here are Will and Jonny with Grammie as we waited for our table:

Outside the restaurant, Will enjoyed looking at one of the horses with Mommy:



Santa was too good to us this year in Michigan. My folks got us an incredibly special gift – they met a painter in California who impressed them and commissioned her to paint a portrait of Will (and one of Jonny as well). The painting turned out beautifully and was based upon an actual photograph we took of Will last year near Lake Erie. Jonny’s picture was also painted from a photograph, which was taken among the bluebonnets on a visit to Texas. We are so excited to put this on our wall and to have it forever as a keepsake. Here is a shot of both of the paintings side by side:

It’s official – my son plays with dolls:

Grammie and Grandpa appeared to have some trouble saying goodbye to Will at the airport. Thank goodness they’ll be back in Texas in a few weeks!

Will was pooped on the flights home. He never even woke up between planes, and slept the whole car ride home:



It was a great holiday this year, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time with you all. Most importantly (and clearly, looking at the pictures), Will did too.

Love,
Johnathan

Lots of Pictures

 

It was so cold and rainy in Austin today!  On most days, Will and I try to get out of the house for a little while, but I didn’t want to get out in the elements today. Luckily, I had plenty of fun activities for us to do! Here are a few examples:

Play-doh!  Will learned the colors pink and blue today! He was able to say the words and point to the colors! I couldn’t believe it!!  A couple of times he tested me by putting some of the play-doh up to his mouth like he was going to eat it. He held it there and then would look at me to see my reaction. As soon as I would say, “Put it on the table.”, he would put it down. It was hilarious!

Time to clean up!!

We also played with colorful pom-poms. I gave him lots of baskets so he could “sort” the balls. We played with these for the first time several weeks ago and Will ate them, so I decided to put them away and try again another time. He did great with them today!

Our crazy weenies!

Reading with Dad

 

Reading with Grandpa

Playing in my grandmother’s backyard with Granddaddy

 

After the mashed potatoes at our Thanksgiving dinner

Crashed out on the couch

Extreme bed-head!

Our Little Dragon

It’s important to start with a healthy dinner before trick-or-treating. Gotta build up that energy!

Will’s cute dragon bottom!

Even though we told people we weren’t trick-or-treating for candy this year, all three houses we went to insisted on handing Will a piece. He held on tight to his mini-Twix all the way home!

Walking!

Will is walking! This video was taken this past weekend and already he has improved so much! Will also loves to push around the dining room chairs. Sometimes I find them at the end of the hallway. It really cracks us up.

We visited the Austin Zoo over the weekend. The Austin Zoo is a "rescue zoo" and is small and intimate-just right for little kids. We were able to get really close to many of the animals. There were peacocks, chickens and roosters roaming free. We even saw baby peacocks following their mommies around! I can't wait to go back.

Will and Mommy

This sad goat had the hugest underbite! We couldn't stop laughing!

The goats were very friendly!

We learned that Mr. Tortoise and his cage-mates are in their mid-thirties!

"What are you lookin' at?"

Recently, we have discovered that Will uses his tent as a little private restroom. I don't think he "takes care of business" anywhere else now! I'm kinda tired of it taking up space in the living room, but how can I put away his special restroom?!

And yes, sometimes I put the dog bed in there.

And finally, Will has discovered that sitting in the dog crate is super fun. Sometimes he will throw a ball in the crate, climb in and grab it and then throw the ball out of the crate. Then he repeats! Many times he will just sit there looking out of the holes.



Will is getting his 1 year pictures taken tomorrow. Wish us luck! :)

Happy First Birthday, William!

We can't believe that our baby Will is one!! He is such a precious, sweet little boy and we love watching him discover new things about his world everyday. He is truly a joy. Occasionally, when I'm rocking him to sleep at night, I get teary-eyed thinking about how much I love him!

Here are just some of the things that Will is doing these days:
1. Will has started saying some words! He has the sweetest little voice. So far, his words are: Mama, Dada, Dog, and Baby.
2. He only says a couple of words, but he knows many more. For example, we can ask him, "Where is the balloon?" and he'll point to the balloon. He'll also respond to commands like, "Clap your hands." and "Roll 'em Over." (Roll 'em over refers to the nursery rhyme, Patty Cake.)
3. Will can tell us the sounds that cows and chickens make. He really loves to eat his chicken and when I bring out chicken or turkey, he says, "Bock, bock". So hilarious.
4. Will is not walking yet, but can get around super fast by crawling and "cruising" around the furniture. We have been thinking he's about to walk for the past several months!
5. He loves books. Will is content to sit for a long time by himself looking at his books, turning the pages and pointing to the pictures. Of course, he loves to sit in our laps and listen to the story too!

Will also likes sitting and reading in the dog bed!

6. Will makes lots of friends wherever we go. He waves at most people and many times they will walk up to us and talk to Will. Sometimes Will is okay with this, sometimes he acts really shy.
7. Will loves music and dances every time he hears it.
8. He loves his dogs and most of the time, they love him. He shows his love by throwing the ball to them, "petting" (more like hitting!) them and yanking on their collars.
9. He is starting to enjoy playing little "games" with Mommy and Daddy, and is initiating them more lately too. He likes to crawl over to a ball, turn around and grin at Daddy, and then throw it, hoping to start a game of catch. He knows how to play the "gonna get you" game and the "thank you" game. They each are silly but fun.


We celebrated Will's birthday twice this week. On his actual birthday, we had a birthday breakfast at The Original Pancake House. Grammie and Grandpa Fowler flew in from Michigan and Grandmommy Roop was able to drive in from College Station. Here are a few pictures of Will opening a present and enjoying his cake:

Our party on Saturday was a big hit. We had a nice family gathering at our house and served Austin's Pizza (yum!) and delicious cake. Will had his own cake made from applesauce and carrots. He was a little timid at first with so many people watching and talking to him, but before long, he had icing in his hair!

Big Birthday Cake

I'll stop bragging about my little sweetie now, but I want to leave you with one more story. We took Will to our new pediatrician for his 1 year-old well visit yesterday. After taking his height and weight measurements, the doc said that Will was "a little guy" coming in at the 10th percentile for height. I commented that this was strange because he has always been in the 45th to 50th percentile. After looking at our charts, he confirmed that our pediatrician's nurse back in Ohio had been plotting Will's stats on the little girl's chart and that Will has been around the 10th percentile the whole time!! Crazy, huh? We love our "little guy"! :)

Will 2.0: Interactive Model

Hi friends and family. Sorry again for the long delay.

A few updates: First of all, we're glad to finally know where we're living next year in Austin. Although it took two trips, we found a nice house to rent fairly close to where we lived last year. We're going to miss Ohio for many reasons but we're so excited to be back by our friends and family in Texas. Second, Mr. Will is growing up so quickly. He's mimicking us more, pointing at everything, and constantly finding new ways to make us run over and grab him before he hurts himself. Here are some pictures and videos of his recent escapades.

First, some videos. We still haven't learned to shut up while filming him (sorry). The first two are from dinner tonight and he was really cracking us up:





The next two are from a few weeks ago when he started pushing around his little cart. He usually gets so excited that he almost starts hyperventilating. The first is just of him "walking" and the second is a good example of the elated face he makes when he does it.





And now some pictures:

I love walking behind my scooter/cart/toy thing and showing off my second tooth!


After ten months of getting the cold shoulder, the pacifiers around here are always in use:

Will has fun with his Mommy on the way to the zoo:

All ready to go see the animals!

It was a hot day at the zoo. Will got really bad diaper rash:

Will practices his monkey pose:

Just a nice shot of Will and Mommy:

Will's hair is getting long:

When Daddy feeds Will, this happens:

Penny and Polly have always liked finding the warm sunny spots on the carpet. Will decided that it was pretty great too. In the second picture you might be able to see him grinning under his pacifier:

Our next post will be from Austin. See you soon...