TGIF

Ugh, this week was a no good very bad week in the health department. The boys and I got leveled by a nasty upper respiratory virus. I ended up taking 1.5 days off because I felt so terrible and desperately needed to nap. I napped for 3 hours one day and for 2 hours the other day. Will was also home with us on Thursday and is home again with us today due to low grade fevers at night. He had the start of this virus at his 9m appointment last week and his doctor assured me it was NOT covid due to how it was presenting (very productive cough, lots of mucus). I took Paul to the doctor on Thursday to rule out an ear infection as he was complaining about his ear hurting (no infection thank goodness - the doctor thinks the pain is from the tube that hasn't quite fallen out the). Both boys were up during the night for several days in a row. Zzzzzzz. I will be well rested again some day?

The book I'm reading is Deacon King Kong which is my book club's September selection. I was the one who picked it so will be the host. I decided to read this book very close to the book club meeting, which is next Wednesday, because I wanted it to be very fresh in my mind! I've heard pretty good things about it but have heard there are a ton of characters to keep track of so I am going to try to use my bullet journal to help me make sense of things!

The high of my week was um.... nothing? Is that bad? Some weeks just don't have a high, especially when 3 of us were sick! Phil has avoided it so far, but he had a week+ long horrible case of pink eye earlier this month so hasn't exactly had the healthiest month either.

The low of my week was all the illness. I think I have used at least 2 boxes of kleenexes this week. I am not exaggerating. This is a nasty virus. Paul is not great about wiping his nose so has this lovely rash on his cheek. Poor kid. We've been putting aquaphor on it, but I doubt it will clear up until his nose stops running.

Post-bath brother photo. They have so much fun taking baths together, especially now that Will doesn't have to sit in the infant tub. 

A recipe I made was corn and potato chowder from the Milk Street Kitchen Instant Pot cook book that I've raved about before. It's great to eat it during prime corn season!

A show we are watching is another 9/11 documentary, this time on Hulu. On my own, I'm watching season 2 of Making the Cut on Amazon Prime. I love Tim Gunn so much so will be sad when I finish this season!

For workouts I did nothing. I didn't even go for walks - that's how horrible I felt. I plan to do a long run on Saturday but may cut it short depending on how I feel. The 10 mile race is a week from Sunday and I know I'm ready. I would like to run at least 6-7 miles to give myself some confidence before the race but I will see how I feel.

The best money spent was on lots of things related to getting Paul a big boy bed! I bought a mattress, a pillow, pillow cases, a mattress protector and an extra set of sheets! My cousin handed down some dinosaur bedding to us but I know we will need an extra set of everything (honestly probably need 2 extra sets of sheets (3 sets total) but will see if we can get by with 2). Paul still wears a pull-up at night and even if we have him go to the bathroom before bed, he still will out-pee the pull-up at times. 

I'm a little nervous about this transition but I know it's time. Especially this past week when he was up 2-3 times and did not want to go back to sleep. I was wishing I could lay down with him to calm him down a bit. But that is not possible in his mini-crib! We are going to start off by having the mattress on the floor until he gets used to that and then we'll order a bed frame. The one we wanted at Ikea is back-ordered so we need to go a different direction so I'm going to give ourselves some time to find the right one.

My plans this weekend include nothing besides the training run on Saturday morning. We are all exhausted so I'm hoping for good naps and better nights of sleep (please, God, please!) for all of us.

Bonus Will photos (Paul refuses to get his picture taken most days)!

Working on his standing skills along the ottoman.

Ready to hit the links in his Masters onesie. His Godfather went to the Masters in April and brought back a onesie for him. 

Enjoying full access to all the toys when he was home with mom and dad this week. Paul is loving all the 'baby' toys we've pulled out for Will and is not the best at sharing.

How was your week? Are you staying healthy? I've heard from friends locally that so many people have this nasty cold virus, and have talked to co-workers in other parts of the country who've been hit hard, too. 

TGIF

Happy Friday! This week felt kind of long, probably because I had a lot of doctor appointments - 5 for me, 1 for Will. It was all routine stuff but the appointments all ended up happening this week. Not the best planning on my part, but it's the way it worked out. I took 1.5 days off from work since I was going to be gone for a good block of time for 5 of the appointments but that time off wasn't exactly 'relaxing.' I'm definitely due for some real days off - I need to book them soon. Otherwise they won't happen!

The books I'm reading are The Other Black Girl and The Thursday Murder Club. The Other Black girl is a physical book I'm reading from the library. I heard about it through the Modern Mrs. Darcy summer reading guide and am intrigued so far. I read about The Thursday Murder Club in a magazine that is available at my library called "Book Pages" or something like that? It sounded charming so I checked out the eBook. It's about a group of retirees that get together to solve murders. It's set in England and the writing is pretty full of whit so I am enjoying it. 

The high of my week was a couple of things. First on Sunday morning, I thought Paul was tracing letters in his coloring book (something he enjoys and chooses to do) when he came running over and said, "I wrote I love you, mommy." Here is a picture of what he wrote. (It's LUV U with a P behind it). We didn't even know he knew how to write any of his letters so this was quite the surprise for us! I think it's pretty darn good for a 3.5 year old!

My other highs were going to the Van Gogh experience with a girlfriend on Wednesday. The Van Gogh experience has been going around the US and abroad - they project Van Gogh's art work on the walls (see pics below). It was very cool! That was the original reason for my day off and then I ended up booking 2 doctor appointments since I had the day off. I thought it was a really fun exhibit and am glad we went! We grabbed lunch ahead of time. I also saw the 3 moms in my second time mom group - we met for a late dinner on Wednesday night. It was so great to catch up and talk about what the babies and toddlers are all doing. 

The low of my week was some challenging toddler behavior from Paul. Oof 3.5 is turning out to be very challenging. We ended up buying a course about tantrums and emotional regulation from a podcaster I love (Good Inside with Dr. Becky). It's been helpful to watch it together. 

A recipe I made was picadillo with black beans and rice in the instant pot. This is a meal we have nearly monthly. I've mentioned it before - it's from the Milk Street instant pot cook book. 

A show we are watching is LuLaRich on Amazon prime. It's about the rise and fall of the multi-level marketing company LuLaRoe. On my own, I'm watching "Making the Cut" on Amazon Prime, which is kind of like Project Runway. It's filmed in Paris so is giving me a bit of a France fix. I adore Tim Gunn so love this show! 

For workouts I ran on Tuesday and Thursday. I started a new beachbody program called "Morning Meltdown." There are 100 workouts in it and they are meant to be done daily, but I end up doing about 2-3/week on days when I don't run. It's going to take me quite awhile to get through this program but I will do more workouts/week when my running tapers off which will happen after the 10 mile race/when the weather gets colder. I'm really enjoying the program, though! The workouts are 20-35 minutes long and there is so much variety - intervals, strength training, mixed martial arts, stretching/recovery, etc. Shout-out to Kae for introducing me to this program!

The best money spent was on my sushi lunch and dinner out on Wednesday! Yes, I ate out twice that day - on patios for both meals. We met up at 7:45 on Wednesday night so I had already eaten but ended up getting a small side salad to go with my glass of wine as I love the house salad the restaurant (Red Cow) makes.

My plans this weekend include very little. This is a good thing as this week felt pretty over-scheduled and last weekend was pretty busy. I'll run 8-9 miles on Saturday with my neighbor and that is it for actual plans. It's going to be warm and summerlike so I think we might take the boys to the beach at our local lake on Sunday. Paul is very into using his scooter lately so I am sure we'll spend lots of time on our block scooting!

Bonus Paul and Will photos!

Crazy hair, don't care. I think it's time to get his hair professionally trimmed. I've done it a couple of times but I think it's time for a real haircut!

No interest in crawling but loves to stand along furniture!

Working in his toddler coloring book under the supervision of Oscar the cat.

Paul's crazy post-bath hair!

How was your week? Are you reading or watching anything good these days?

Never Forget

Tomorrow marks the 20-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. It is really hard to wrap your mind around that. How have 20 years passed since that horrifying day? In some ways, it feels like a lifetime ago because my life looks so different from then. But it still doesn't seem possible that 20 years have passed. 

I'll never forget that day. I was a junior in college and was living in our sorority house. I was downstairs getting breakfast when a friend turned on the NBC morning show and exclaimed that a plane had hit one of the towers of the World Trade Center. It was hard to wrap our minds around what was happening. 

I remember being glued to the news coverage that day. I remember the helpless feeling of wanting to do something but not knowing what to do. A good friend and I ended up going to donate blood because it felt like the only thing that we could do to help. The blood bank had told us they were very busy so others clearly had the same idea. 

In the weeks that followed, what I remember was the sense of a unified country. There were yellow ribbons tied around trees on campus. Perhaps due to my youth, I have a naïve interpretation of this time, but it felt like a non-partisan world. We were not democrats or republicans or independents. We were Americans, uniting to console the citizens of a country that was forever changed. 

As we approach the 20-year anniversary, I've felt drawn to consume media related to that day. Phil and I have been watching a 9/11 documentary on Netflix called "Turning Point." I listened to the NPR Politics podcast about Flight 93 called "Sacred Ground." And yesterday I started an Alan Gratz book called "Ground Zero." I don't know if it's masochistic of me to continue to relive that day through different mediums, but it feels like something I need to do to honor those that we lost. 

I had the opportunity to visit the 9/11 memorial 4 years ago. You can read about it in my NYC trip recap here. I think it was incredibly well done and very much worth a visit. I did not go into the museum given the long lines that day - that is something I would like to do in the future, though. 

9/11 will be an event that we'll have to teach our kids about at an age-appropriate time. I remember my parents sharing their "where they were" stories from the day of JFK's assassination. Our kids will grow up, remembering our 'where we were" stories from 9/11. I just hope and pray that there isn't another day in my lifetime that leaves such an indelible mark on my life. 

I have a long run of 8 miles on the calendar for tomorrow and will definitely be thinking of the many victims of 9/11 during my run. 

Where were you on 9/11? Do you feel pulled to read books and articles or watch documentaries about that day? 

Paul at 3.5 years

Paul hit 3.5 years this week! Woo hoo! We have found 3 to be much more challenging than 2 so hooray for being a little closer to 4 when things maybe get a little easier in the behavior department? Don't get me wrong, he's a wonderful, bright, sweet little guy. There is just a lot of mood variability and boundary pushing that is challenging at times! Here's what he's like at 3.5! This is a lengthy post but I know I'll love looking back on it when he's older - and it will be helpful to read through when Will approaches this age!

Growth: He's 28.5 pounds and 39". So he has gained about a pound and grown 2.5" in the last 6 months! He is definitely petite and I wonder when he'll weigh 40 pounds! He mostly wears 18 month bottoms and 2T tops. Some 18 month bottoms fall off of him. He will tell you he has a skinny butt, hence his ability to fit in the bumbo!

Words and phrases: He is a very chatty and talkative little guy. We've noticed that he will definitely pick up phrases we say. We always walk by a blue car on our stroller walks that he has claimed as his car. Last weekend he said, "you can ride in my car, but you have to listen!" Ha! I've started to keep track of funny things he says in an iPhone note. 

His imagination has really started to develop over the last 6 months, too. He told us he has a blue cat named Jax that lives in his red house which is far, far away, but close to a lake (sounds suspiciously like my parents red home on a lake but he says it's further away than their house). He said he can take us there in a helicopter. I've asked him who feeds Jax since he's alone there when Paul isn't at his house and he said, "oh he's on mouse patrol up there." Where does he come up with these ideas? It's so cute! 

I hear him making up conversations between his toys, too. He'll say "don't give up, you can do it!" from one car to the other, for example. 

Likes:

- Being outside! His favorite thing to do is go to the park. I'm glad the temps are cooling off so we can go there more often. It was too hot for a good chunk of the summer to go to the park in the afternoon. We did hit up some wading pools which both boys loved. He has gotten better at hitting a ball off a tee and insists on wearing his baseball cap when playing with his tee-ball set! He doesn't love stroller walks but will tolerate them if the walk includes a stop at the creek to splash around/throw rocks with dad, or a stop at the park.

- He has gotten more and more into board games and puzzles which makes my heart happy! My favorite board game is "My First Orchard Game" which is very short! He also like Chutes and Ladders, Hi-Ho Cherry-O, and The Hungry Caterpillar game. We've also played memory up at my parents and he is very good! He's outgrown wooden puzzles but we have a few puzzles that are at the right level for him. We could probably use more so that will probably be a Christmas gift for him. 

- His favorite shows to watch are Dinosaur Train and Sesame Street through PBS and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and Stinky and Dirty on Amazon Prime. He also loves to watch Paw Patrol videos on our phones as a treat at the end of the day. We don't have cable so don't have access to any Paw Patrol shows. I think I'll let him watch the movie when it's released to the general public (it's in theaters now). His favorite Paw Patrol characters are Chase and Marshall. 

- Reading is still one of his favorite things to do which makes me so happy! He's moved on from board books but will occasionally pick one out for a bedtime book. But boy does he get mad if I read a board book to Will - he'll come right over and ask me to start over. But sometimes he still has a hard time letting me read "his" books to Will. We have read nearly every Mo Willem book. We own several but have gotten a lot from the library. He doesn't come to the library with me yet since he is not great at wearing a mask, but he will ask me to get books from the library so he understands the concept of a library. 

Firsts:

- He went fishing for the first time this summer and really enjoyed it! I did not help at all with this, but Phil said he got better and better and was able to reel in fish. You can catch tons of fish off my parents dock so that made it very fun. I think he would have been less interested if there wasn't constant action!

Dislikes:

- Swimming lessons. Oof he was NOT cooperative. We finished out the session but it was my least favorite 30 minutes of most weeks. He did well at the pools we went to over the summer so I know he can have fun in the water. We are going to take a little break from swimming lessons and try again when he's a bit older - maybe in 6-12 months. We'll see. Swimming is something he absolutely needs to learn. But he is such a tentative kid that I will never have to worry about him jumping off the dock or going into deeper water (plus we watch him very closely when by water). 

- Transitions. This is so typical for kids but wow it can be frustrating at times. Nearly all of his transitions are discussed ahead of time but he still struggles with them. Mornings can be especially painful! 

Eating: is still a challenge. I feel like it's going to be this way until he's older and more, well, rational? There is no talking this kid into eating things. We keep exposing him to new foods and sometimes he will want to eat something off my plate - like when we got Indian food for Phil's birthday. He gets apple sauce and either yogurt or cottage cheese with every meal. So if he doesn't eat the other thing we serve, we figure he gets enough calories between those sides and his milk. I hope and pray that William is a better eater!

School: He started in a new preschool classroom in August and it has gone fairly well so far. Transitions are always hard, as mentioned above. We continue to be so impressed by what he learns at school. I had no idea he knew how to trace numbers and letters until last weekend. He was playing with his bingo dobbers and then decided he wanted to trace numbers and letters. He was very proud of himself! He understands Spanish and will use phrases here and there. He is getting pretty good at figuring out what letter words start with. He's a bright little guy who is very curious and I hope he keeps that sense of curiosity! Why is a frequent question in our house!!

Potty training: We had success with potty training over Easter weekend. Hooray! He still wears a pull-up during nap on the weekends and then a pull-up at night time. I'm so relieved that potty training was behind us. It was way harder than I thought it would be and I swear boys are harder, despite the book I read saying there is no difference between genders.

Big brother adjustment: Overall he is a very sweet and caring big brother. He loves to give William (who he calls Taco) hugs and kisses. If William is crying, he will say "It's ok Taco, mommy is coming." William adores Paul and gives him the biggest smiles! And Paul gets the biggest laughs out of him! I can't wait to watch their relationship grow and develop. There are definitely still times when Paul is a little rough with Will or gets a little too wild but I know that is typical behavior.

Toddler behavior: As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, he can be difficult at times but that is just this stage of life. I follow several child psychologists on instagram and their content has been super helpful and has given me more perspective about what it going on in their little minds. I try to use humor or offer a hug to try to improve things when he's having a tough time. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't. I know this has been a year of big change for him as he's adjusted to being a big brother, though, so we try to be compassionate. But it can be hard in the moment at times!!

Changes ahead: The next big change is ordering a "big boy" bed for his room. He has never tried to crawl out of his crib and doesn't seem to mind it so we haven't felt pressure to make this transition. But it's probably time to get a bed! We will be getting a twin bed for him. I already have dinosaur bedding for him that my cousin handed down to us. I didn't put all that much effort into his nursery so I may try to do a bit more for the big boy transition. At a minimum, I'll get some dinosaur-themed art work and will probably move his current art work into Will's room (which has even less decor!). 

So that's Paul at 3.5! We feel lucky to have such a bright, happy, healthy, sweet kiddo. Yes there are challenging moments but all in all, he's a great kid. 

What We Read in August

Another month, another great set of books! I read 9 books, bringing my 2021 total to 93! I am shocked by this number!! I don't expect to repeat this pace of reading in 2022, but we'll see! I get most of my reading done from 8:30-9:30 at night, and then fit some in during naptime on weekends and when nursing Will, although he is a very fast eater now so that doesn't amount to much anymore.

Mom's books:

This first picture features my favorites. 

Of these 6, my 2 favorites were The Plot and Mother May I, both of which were total page turners that came from the Modern Mrs. Darcy Summer Reading Guide (MMD SRG)! The Plot is about an MFA teacher who hears a (very unlikable) student's idea for a plot. A couple of years later, he realizes the student never published a book and discovers the student is dead. So he writes the book which ends up being a best-seller. Then he starts to receive emails - someone knows he stole the plot. There is a book within a book element to this, too. It got off to a somewhat slow start but quickly picked up. Mother May I is about the kidnapping of an infant. I knew this going into the book but I wrongly assumed it would be resolved early on. Wrong! So as the mother of a baby, this was a stressful read and I did something I never do - I read ahead to find out what happens as I needed to mentally prepare myself. So I would NOT recommend this to a parent of a young child, unless you really think you can handle it. But even with the difficult plot, I flew through this book and really enjoyed it. 

This pictures includes "just ok" to "meh." 

Brood was my least favorite by far - I gave it 2 stars! This book came highly recommended by one of my favorite book podcasters. But it missed the mark for me. I know there was a connection between the protagonist’s devastating miscarriage and caring for her chickens but the connection was a bit elusive for me and I found myself continuing to read to just get to the end - a sure sign I should have abandoned. It was written by a local author so I appreciated all the references to places I knew of. But all in all, not the right book for me. The other 2 books also came from the MMD SRG - so not everything is a fit for me, but more often than not, I love what she recommends. 

The boys' reading:

We ran out of Mo Willem books and I don't know that anything can compete with those books! I have terrible luck with randomly picking books from the kids picture book section so I need to do some more research and find a good author or series for us to check out next. I look forward to a time when Paul is interested in chapter books as I know of so many that I want to read to him but that is still a ways away so I need to improve my picture book selection skills!

Will is interested in whatever Paul is reading! Which is good because most of his reading is "second hand" reading. I change up his bedtime/naptime books every month. This month we are reading "Dinosaur Dance" and he gets the biggest smile on one page with a tyrannosaurus rex stomping. 

We are entering fall/Halloween season so I'm looking forward to pulling out all the fall books today! I'm most excited to read "Room on the Broom." Best fall/Halloween book ever!

What have you been reading lately? Anything you would recommend?

Currently: August

We've hit the point of summer where I'm just kind of over it! It's been an extremely hot and humid summer here. We've had 25 days above 90 - our average is 15. Plus it's been really humid and we've barely had any rain. The creek that we run/walk along is bone dry in many spots. I am really glad I gave up my garden plot this year (I gave it up since it's too hard to get over there with 2 young kids). I would have had to water it nearly daily for much of the summer so I don't think it would have survived! Here is what's currently on my mind!

Reading: Seven Days in June, which is a buzzy romance that I heard about on multiple podcasts. I'm reading that on my kindle. I also started The Plot - I have the physical book from the library. I've found I can read 2 books at the same time when they are in different formats and have very different plots. I always have to have a kindle book going as I like to read on my phone when I nurse Will.

Loving: Will's stage! He is such a happy, smiley guy. His motto must be "always be smiling!" We get a lot of comments about how content and easy-going he is. He rarely cries. He's so content, though, that he doesn't seem to feel the need to move. So he is nowhere near crawling! This makes our life easier but I'm surprised he doesn't want to try to move so he can (try to) keep up with his brother! Sometimes it's hard for me to accept that kids do things on their own schedule. In my mind I'm thinking, "Paul crawled at 8 months so you should have crawled at that point or sooner!" I guess my kids like to teach me that I'm not in control. Oof, you should have seen my internet search history when Paul was between 12 to 16 months. He did not walk until he was 16.5 months because of his giant 90th+ percentile head on his 4th percentile body. His pediatrician told us 16 months was the earlier he would walk because he was such a bobble head but I still researched the heck out of what to do/is this normal/etc. 

Feeling: ready for some cooler fall temps. As I mentioned above, I'm kind of over the heat and humidity. We've had a lot of days when the weather is too hot/humid to have the boys outside. We put up with horrible winters so I expect nicer summers! I am actually glad I was on maternity leave Dec-Apr because it was actually easier to be outside then than it would be now! It helps that we had a very mild winter, though!

Anticipating: my 10 mile race in October! My training is going pretty well. I am pretty slow compared to pre-kids Lisa but I'm just happy to be out there and have enjoyed training with my neighbor. They will be moving to a new house next summer which is a bummer! But I will enjoy having a training partner across the street who runs a similar pace while I have her! I'm trying not to think about the logistics of race morning too much!  I know I'm going to have to pump before I leave so I'll have an extra early morning but I'm sure it will all work out. I'm hoping for cool, crisp fall weather on race morning!

Struggling: with threenager behavior at times. There are fun aspects of Paul being 3 but the big feelings and sudden changes of behavior are HARD. I'm trying to employ techniques I've learned about on various parenting podcasts but it can be hard in the moment!

Grateful: that I was able to get my 3rd dose of Pfizer. I was eligible for a booster shot since I am immune compromised. Delta is really circulating and while things are pretty good here in Minnesota, I don't trust it will stay like this so I am glad I got some extra protection! Similar to the last 2 shots, I had little to no side effects. My arm was more sore this time but that's about it.

Working: on finding a bed for Paul. The bed we were hoping to get is sold out at Ikea so we need to go a different direction. Paul is almost 3.5 and does not seem to mind his crib. He has never tried to crawl out. But he's probably getting to an age where he should move into a bed so we need to find one this fall!

Listening: to my usual podcasts which is a mix of parenting, reading, and other slice of life content. During dinner, we have been listening to songs by Elmo on our Echo as that content is always a hit with Paul. And if Paul is happy then Will is happy! They also get a kick out of mom's dance moves. 

Watching: the new season of Modern Love on Prime. They dramatize Modern Love columns from the NYT. It's the second season and I just love the series so much. It's not Phil's thing so I watch it when he's not around. I also made sure to watch Golden while we had a peacock subscription for the Olympics. It's a documentary about making the gymnastics Olympic team. I LOVE gymnastics so really enjoyed that. Phil and I are between shows but hopefully we find something we both like soon.

Wishing: for a nice, long, mild fall! Fall can be so beautiful here in Minnesota. Or it can snow in October like it did last year! I'm hoping it stays beautiful through Thanksgiving!! We have family photos on October 15th and I'm really hoping we still have leaves on our trees at that point. With how dry it's been, I fear the leaves will drop very early this year. Some of the trees have the saddest, droopy leaves. Paul will now comment on how sad the trees look on walks. 

Bonus Paul and Will Photos:

Visiting Nana Joan

What is in this fishbowl?? This is his favorite toy!

Pablo's first day in his new classroom. He had a weird rash on his face so it's not the best picture of him, but oh well. Gotta love that he wants to be a T. Rex when he grows up! Ha!

What are you anticipating, loving and watching?

Annual August Lake Trip

Last week we went on what has become our annual August lake trip. I think this is the 3rd year in a row that we've gone up to the lake for a long stretch. This trip was Wednesday-Saturday. This trip was extra special because my sister that lives in AZ was there with her husband and baby! I hadn't seen my sister since January 2020 when we all gathered at a resort to celebrate my parents 50th wedding anniversary. A lot happened (hello, 2 babies were born!) since we last saw each other so it was wonderful to spend lots of time with them. 

After our horrendous after-work drive in June, we opted to leave on Wednesday morning. We were in the car by 7:30 thanks to me pushing us along! I wanted to get to the lake ASAP! The drive wasn't too bad. Will barely napped of course but was fairly content except the last hour which he spent mostly screaming. Eeks. We stopped twice which seems to be the least numbers of times you can stop when you have a potty trained toddler and a breastfed baby. Hopefully some day we can do the drive (which is about 3 hours on a good day) with zero stops but I think we are a couple of years from that...

Wednesday was a really nice day! Maddy and Will played on the blanket together and enjoyed getting to know each other. My niece Maddy has the most epic facial expressions. Paul was similar and was so expressive. Will is just pretty much happy all the time which has earned him the nickname, "Chill Will."

Will has pretty much mastered sitting up. It was nice to plop him onto a towel and let him play with toys. 

I mean check out her side eye in this photo!!! Hilarious!

Will and aunt Abby

Will and Nana

Thursday and Friday were cooler, windier days. I went for a 4 mile run on Thursday morning and enjoyed the cooler, less humid morning temps! Will had plenty of people to entertain him in my absence!

Papa and Will

I tried introducing Will to more foods with mixed results. He chewed on a strawberry for a bit before tossing it on the floor. 

Paul really enjoyed the cousin time and asked to hold little Maddy. She is smaller so easier for him to hold compared to Will!

He also soaked up some reading time with aunt Abby!

The cooler weather meant we got some use out of footie pajamas. Will spent an entire day in this outfit as it never warmed up enough for him to need something cooler!

Always be smiling!

On Saturday morning, I went for my long run of 7 miles. I'm slow compared to pre-baby pace but that's ok. I'm happy to be able to run and do something for myself!

My mom's birthday was on Saturday and she requested lunch on the pontoon. Paul REALLY did not want to go. You know what got him on the boat? Hearing chips were on the lunch menu (we had hot dogs, chips and fruit). This kid will do nearly anything for carbs! 

Will tolerated the life jacket better compared to our June trip. It helps that he's gotten longer so the life jacket isn't as bulky on him. 

I only have pictures with my sister and her family, but my older brother and sister and their spouses and kids were all there, too! So 4 out of 5 of us kids were there which made my mom very happy. 

We headed home on Saturday afternoon after the pontoon ride. Will as due for a nap so I was hoping he'd sleep for a good chunk of the trip. He alternated between sleeping and SCREAMING for the 3.5 hour drive home. It was not pleasant. 

We always come back from the lake on Saturday because no matter how short the trip was, we need a day at home to get ready to return to normalcy. Phil grocery shopped on Saturday night and I did laundry and meal prep on Sunday. Our oak tree has started to drop acorns so Phil talked Paul into helping with some acorn clean-up. He enjoyed using his sand toys to help out. 

Will and I supervised! 

This is a big week in our house as Phil turns 40 on Wednesday! I had suggested we have people over but he prefers a quiet celebration so we'll get take-out or grill dinner on Wednesday. My gift to him was arranging 3 rounds of golf with friends and family. I'm an excellent planner and, well, his friends aren't. So he'll be golfing a round with 3 of his best college buddies on Sunday - that was the most difficult to plan! On Friday afternoon he's golfing a round with 3 of his cousins. And then he'll golf one more round with my co-worker who he has become good friends with over the years as I've worked with or for this guy for 10 years! Phil is not at all materialistic and never wants anything so the gift of time doing something he loves and planning it for him was the best gift I could come up with!

How was your weekend? Do you have any annual trips that you take?