5 months

it's hard to believe that i am someone's mother. it's even harder to believe that i was so scared to become a mother, and yet it's come very naturally to me. it's even harder still to believe that my son is 5 months old today. in some ways, time has flown, and, in other ways, i feel like it was yesterday that ryan and i lounged around a hospital room all day waiting for "the moment" to come.


wil is a complete joy. i look back at pictures of that first week and hardly recognize the little baby that he was then. he has become such a personality - a true character with an already defined comedic and mischievous streak. i won't pretend that those two things, especially in combination, don't frighten me a little bit! denise has said for years that her greatest joy with her kids started around the 5th or 6th month. i now understand why. if you are a parent you know...they suddenly come to life and it is a joyful thing to behold.

at his last doctor's appointment wil weighed 18.6 lbs and is 27 inches long. the doctor told me that he thought wil was going to be "really tall" and i wondered if it was his height or his huge hands and feet that gave it away. he continues to be in the 90% for growth and i am worried that he'll be eating us out of house and home before too long. (look for two skinny parents and a hearty, growing boy in the near future!) i am continuing to make all his food and have found it to be fun and educational. he loves fruits, sweet potatoes and chicken and finds all things green to be so-so. as true testament to his loyalty for both ryan and me, he chokes it all down with a smile, even when some things (peas) trigger his gag reflex.


in the last few weeks he's found his feet. faye often asked me if he'd "found his feet yet" and i never truly realized what she meant by it. i am picking up socks left and right these days and am amazed that he can actually get his toes in his mouth! teeth appear to be next and i suppose the sky is the limit beyond that. he can just almost sit up on his own. he makes it for a few seconds and then topples forward but never goes all the way down anymore. he wants to be good at everything on the first try and gets super frustrated when he can't move a bead from here to there, or pick up a ball, as quickly as he'd like. he loves music, especially singing, and is showing a keen interest in books (yea!) - especially putting them in his mouth - which i think means he's going to gobble up books as quickly as his mom.


he absolutely adores our animals, especially stone, who he finds hilarious. she is very patient with him when he pulls her ears so hard that she goes cross eyed; however, she seems hurt by his big belly laugh at the sight of her. (even cats have body image issues these days!) he chatters with her incessantly, more so than to either ryan or me, and we find it charming. maybe he is a cat whisperer of some kind...


all of this is simply to say that we adore our son. he is an amazing gift that gives us more joy, more love and more hope than we ever thought possible. we are grateful for his good health and for the fact that he seems so happy and content. i am thrilled to have him here, cannot believe i was ever scared and cannot imagine my life without him. i am overjoyed to celebrate him today - happy 5 months wil!

for more pictures from april, click here.

world book day

wil puts his nose in a book

today is world book day. i feel strongly about reading and love to share my love of books.

take time today to read a book, read to your child, read a cereal box....just READ! after all, reading is fundamental and can take you places you've never dreamed of going.

a serious reader

field of dreams

last monday was an exciting day for me. one of the reasons we fell in love with our house is because it has an amazing backyard. growing up we had a gorgeous backyard and i enjoyed many peaceful hours there - reading, visiting with friends, enjoying the silence. as a small child i can remember going to bed during the summer months and falling asleep to the muffled sounds of my parents and their friends talking and laughing. it was the perfect way to be lulled to sleep.

mom and dad bought a house with a backyard that was nothing but dirt. over the years they have transformed it into an oasis. dad makes sure there isn't a leaf out of place and mom has an amazing eye for placing plants and flowers. their hard work and passion are immediately apparent. i love it so much that we had our wedding reception there and it was perfect.

needless to say the backyard is an important place for me. i am so grateful to have the opportunity to duplicate the yard of my childhood - a place where people want to gather, to eat, to laugh, to play, to enjoy summer. last week we started on the road to creating our own oasis. our yard was cleaned, the grass reseeded and a (tiny on purpose) plot was designated for my garden. only one week later, if you peek under the hay, you can see the grass has started to grow. i am ecstatic! it's the perfect start!
i am under no impression that this will be easy but i am willing to do the work to make it into a place where wil can experience the same joy i did in the backyard of my youth. thanks mom & dad for the inspiration!

road trip

this past weekend ryan, wil & i took a trip to hillsborough, nc to help my second cousin ed celebrate his 60th birthday and to see my great-aunt faye, who flew up from lamesa.

faye is one of the neatest people i know and i couldn't wait to introduce her to wil. i was fortunate enough to grow up with three grandmothers; edie, grandmama...and faye. unfortunately, edie and grandmama will never meet wil so making the trip to see faye was a must for me. wil & his goo-goo bonded and will be buddies for life.

here are some highlights of our trip which included wil's first boat ride and a live concert!

top 5 ~ special earth day edition

today, in honor of earth day, i am doing a special top 5. the planet is a precious gift and we all have a responsibility to protect, nurture, and preserve it for future generations. i am trying to live a greener life and hope to encourage others to do the same. making one small change each day can make a big impact. here are some easy (and FREE) ways to do your part to honor the planet by doing your part to protect it.

top 5 ways you too can be GREEN

1. use your own bags at the grocery store

even replacing ONE plastic bag with a canvas bag brought from home will make a huge impact on the environment. this is too easy not to try at least once and you can do this regardless of where you live.

2. turn off the water when brushing your teeth

EASY.

3. drive the speed limit

driving fast and breaking frequently use more gas. slow down, save $, save the planet!

4. recycle your cans

almost every town (even towns without a recycling program) has a scrap metal yard. taking your used cans to the scrap yard not only helps the earth but puts green back in your pocket!

5. turn down the thermostat

for every degree you lower your thermostat you'll save 1% to 3% on your heating/cooling bill.

make an effort to do at least one of these things today in honor of mother earth. respect the earth! for more ways to get started...click here or here.

love thursday: spring

welcome back old friend!

we missed you but it's always worth the wait.

r.i.p.

it is with a heavy heart that i report that the two squirrels featured in yesterday's post were found dead next to our mailbox last night. we have no idea what happened to them and can only speculate that they were either malnourished or accidentally ate something poisonous.

it made me very sad to find them and i am lucky to have a husband that not only understands my love for all animals but shares it as well.

ryan buried the siblings this morning and i tried to give them a proper eulogy. farewell little squirrels. we enjoyed our day with you!

lucy's big day

there's been a lot of debate over the past three years as to what kind of dog lucy actually is. we usually answer "mutt" but opinions are like, well, a**holes, and everyone's got one. we've heard dalmatian (huh?), entlebucher, swiss mountain dog, beagle and pitbull. more than likely, she's a combo of the latter two, beagle & pit.

no one denies that her body is shaped more like a pitbull than a beagle. add her shape to her muscles and gait and you'd think that pitbull was more dominant in her than beagle. however, watch her hunt something down (tennis ball, rabbit, squirrel, buried bone) and you quickly notice that her body may be pitbull but her mind is mostly beagle.

which brings us to today.

we have a small family of baby squirrels living in a tree on the side of our house. there are three or four babies and we see them roaming the front yard for food off and on all day. this morning i looked out the window and a huge black crow was trying to carry off one of the babies. i ran outside yelling at the crow who, in turn, flew up to the wires above and squawked at me. as i was walking back up the driveway i realized that the little squirrel hadn't gone far. i came inside, got my camera and took a few pictures. cute little guy!

later in the day as i was unloading groceries from my car lucy was wandering around the driveway. i saw her get a line on one of the baby squirrels and run after it. surprisingly, it didn't run and it faced her without fear. at first i thought it was going to attack her but as events transpired i came to realize that the squirrel was playing with her. they played in our front yard for 10 minutes or so before i made lucy come in because i was definitely afraid that the squirrel would attack me or wil. of course, it didn't seem to mind us because it was focused entirely on lucy. (and lucy on it!)

after lunch, on our way for a walk, lucy again spotted the little guy/gal. she ran over to the tree and it ran up the tree and then down and they began chasing each other around the base of the tree. at one point, the squirrel even rolled on it's back and began playfully batting at lucy. if i hadn't seen it with my own eyes, i would never believe it.

lucy lived a dream today - she got up close and personal with a squirrel and, hey, maybe made a friend for life. judge for yourself!

ps: i will not have my feet held to the fire over the fact that she isn't heeding ONE command i give her. there was a squirrel there for goodness sake!

and now a word about teeth

when i was pregnant it was common knowledge that thinking of the baby growing teeth made me gag. i am not sure why but it did. i was also seriously afraid that i'd give birth to a baby with a full set of choppers. thank god this did not happen.

wil has started the long, painful process of teething. it seems to have actually begun a month ago and now the ordeal is in the full swing. from the looks of it (it's super hard to get a good look inside with his tongue darting every which way) he's getting the top two teeth first. i knew some things about teething but, honestly, shame on all you mothers out there who failed to tell me the most dreadful trait of a teething baby.

facts about teething: painful, sure. exhausting, yes. sleep interrupted, absolutely. mood swings, unfortunately. eating deterred, not really in our case...but happens.

no all of those delightful things i knew. what i didn't know was just how GROSS teething is. the constant drool, the wet clothes (his & mine), the hands that never leave his mouth, and, most of all, the SNOT. this morning i popped a snot bubble coming out of wil's nostril that was the size of his nose. while doing so i thought of each and every one of you that has betrayed me. bad, bad, bad. why me? don't you love me?

so we begin...the long, strange road of breaking teeth. on the bright side, at least he wasn't born with them.

top 5

i love to read. everyone that knows me know this. when it was nap time in our house growing up, mom and lindsey would actually lay down and sleep... i would lay down and read. i get so excited going into a library or a bookstore that i have to visit the bathroom first just to calm down. i am so fond of reading that at times i find it difficult to articulate the reason why. i'll simply say this...

• i will sometimes sit and stare at my books remembering their stories & characters
  

• i have spent (almost) as much money on books for wil as i have spent in diapers

• i can tell you what time of year and at what age i've read most books

• i currently have 11 books in my nightstand and 5 large magazines on the floor next to it
  

reading is my addiction, my passion, my distraction and my friend...and this time, the subject of my top 5.

betsy's favorite books...thus far

1. disgrace ~ j.m. coetzee
2. the thorn birds ~ colleen mccullough
3. bel canto ~ ann patchett
4. youth in revolt ~ c.d. payne
5. clowns of god ~ morris west

this is a difficult task for me. even as i write this i believe the list could look something like this instead:

1. gone with the wind ~ margaret mitchell
2. the executioner's song ~ norman mailer
3. native son ~ richard wright
4. unless ~ carol shields
5. fall on your knees ~ ann-marie macdonald

and i hate that i am leaving out: death comes for the archbishop, lucky, the corrections, white teeth, little women, a heartbreaking work of staggering genuis, a separate peace, the color purple...and on and on and on.

ps: also, a lesson before dying (thanks mom!) which i read long before oprah even had a bookclub. i cried so hard reading the last 10 pages that i could barely see....like i say...it's almost an impossible task.

pss: apparently no one cares that this is an impossible task and everyone has a top 5. here are some that i feel need a mention (this is the last time): lonesome dove & i know this much is true (thanks emily!) and memoirs of a geisha (thanks shara dee!)

so grab a book...or try one of these. maybe it'll make your top 5!

let the sunshine in

last thursday we were lucky enough to get our first real taste of spring. it was a beautiful, sunny 80 degree day - something to celebrate! to mark the occasion wil and i had lunch outside with our friends and neighbors, heather & lily. it was the perfect way to spend a warm spring day. thanks to our hostesses for a great time!

wil takes a ride in the swing

lily's self-portrait

big kid, little kid

heather & lily ~ the perfect pair

for more photos & to see lily's photographic debut, click here!

sock it to me

wil has been slowly developing his laugh for about a month now. there are moments when he'll just burst out with a belly laugh for apparently no reason at all. much to my delight his laugh resembles ryan's and if you know how ryan laughs you'll find it delightful too!

yesterday while i was folding laundry wil began showing an intense interest in the socks. i let him play with a pair while i continued folding. after i was done i began "tossing" the socks to him - basically rolling them up his legs - while he tried to "catch" them. at one point i tossed a little too hard and the socks bounced off his head. what transpired was a moment of complete abandon and utter bliss. i was able to capture it (again and again) in this short video. it was a joyful moment and one of the best i've had as a parent. laughter truly is the best medicine.

love thursday: texas

denise turned me on to the shutter sisters and suggested we encourage each other to participate in love thursdays. it's a fun way to think outside the box about what we love and to share that in a photographic form. i am, by no means, a photographer but as the blog has evolved i have a renewed love for snapping pictures of things i think are cool.

today, thursday, i love my home state of texas. it's been almost 10 years since i left (shocking!) and there isn't a day i don't miss it: the place, the people, my friends, my family and almost everything about the lone star state. it's such a wonderful and different place full of all kinds of characters and legends.

i got this star while living in massachusetts (of all places) and it now hangs proudly on our garage in new jersey. every time i look at it i think of the lone star state and of all the people i love who still call texas home.

many thanks to ryan for allowing the star to hang on our garage even though he is a native new jersey-ian. he's just lucky i am not flying the texas flag...happy love thursday!

are you strong enough to be my man? (Q&A)

so, several questions have been raised after seeing the photos of ryan and what is quickly becoming the infamous wood pile. i will now attempt to answer those questions:

1) did ryan use a splitter?

(question submitted by: steve wilkes, lamesa, tx)

no.

2) did ryan do all of the chopping in one day?

(question submitted by: denise molina, dallas, tx)

no, the chopping was done in two parts. one saturday and a sunday the following week.

3) was the only tool used an ax?
(question submitted by both steve & denise)
yes. the only tool used was an ax. although the logs were turned on end on top of a large stump which i suppose could've "assisted" in the process. so if you want to call the stump a tool then there were two tools. oh, and how could i forget, ryan's guns. so, that's four tools total. and his back...five tools.

any further questions on this subject should be submitted to ryan in writing via email. praise, admiration and awe are also welcome.

sweet charity

last night the folks at american idol (yes, i watch - so do you, don't lie) staged their second annual idol gives back show aimed at raising funds for AIDS work in africa and disenfranchised children across america. throughout the show there were profiles done on a variety of different in-need populations: children orphaned by AIDS, migrant workers in california working for less than $9,000/year, people without health care all across the united states (50 million of them children!) and the still unsettled gulf coast region. ryan and i were moved to donate (we bought 5 malaria nets!) and we had a great discussion after the show about philanthropy.

having worked in the business of giving and philanthropy for most of my professional career i realize how easily one can become cynical about charitable giving. i have seen a lot of people who give to see what they will get from their gift and who do not give, simply, just to give. however, i have also seen people give and want nothing in return and give, just as simply, just to give. we have been involved in donating money to several charities for the past several years and are trying to hone in on one or two to become more involved with. it has been a fantastic experience for both of us. the very nature of giving comes easily to both of us but trying to equate that into action is more difficult. we realize that philanthropy is so much more than a game of dollars and cents. it's also about giving time and energy to something that you feel passionate about and attempting, through your passion, to spread that energy around, creating a better world for all. if you've read my list you'll see that "find a place to volunteer" is right at the top. it's my next step in giving and an important one. not everything is done with a checkbook and, as ryan said last night, if it is, it's easily forgotten after a day or two. it is so important to both of us that we raise a child that is charitable, compassionate, aware and involved. there is an entire world beyond the door of 126 park avenue and my greatest joy will be teaching wil to develop the realization that he cannot only exist in the world, he must participate in it as well. i hope that my actions will encourage him to give his money, donate his time and use his heart and mind to be the change he wants to see in the world. cliche, yes, but appropriate.

speaking of giving...today is ASPCA day. if you are lucky enough to share your life with an animal give them an extra hug, one more treat, or add 10 minutes to their walk today in honor of all those animals that have yet to find a great family. i get so much joy from my four legged friends and am grateful each day for their presence in my life.

(yes, they are wearing shirts - it was st. patrick's day - give me a break!)

think globally, act locally, give of yourself - time, talent and treasure. i am inspired - i hope you are!

red sox

congratulations to the 2007 world champion red sox on winning their home opener 5-0 vs. detroit!

are you strong enough to be my man?

over the past few months we have been getting our backyard ready to embark on the beginnings of what will be a very long makeover. most of the projects have been labor intensive and both ryan and i have found ourselves sore on occasion. this past weekend ryan did some work on his own that left him virtually immobile.

about a month ago we had some tree work done - trees trimmed, trees removed, etc. the largest of the trees was cut and left for us to use for firewood. (reuse, recycle!) ryan, against my advice, wanted to chop the wood himself. no one i tell can believe he chopped it all on his own. the result is truly amazing. i had no idea i'd married paul bunyan.

ryan poses with wil and lucy in front of the pile. at this point, about half of the logs had already been split!

a close-up of the pile...how professional!

in it's entirety....sort of. there are still a few small logs left but we're leaving those alone. ry's back couldn't take it!

oh man...books!

it's no secret that i love a list. more than that, i love MAKING a list and i am not shy about admitting that i am quite good at it. i think back over some of the lists i've made and, honestly, they make me smile. the to-do list that filled a piece of notebook paper (front & back!) of stuff to get done before mom and dad visited our franklin place for the first time, the list of people to invite to the wedding or to send birth announcements to, the list of pros & cons for marrying ryan...just kidding, ry.

anyway, as much as i love my lists i also love lists that other people put together. i have often dreamed about doing everything on a particular list; for example: reading all the pulitzer prize winning novels or watching the AFI 100 greatest movies (erin & i actually tried that one but, whew, some of the movies were BOOOORING). needless to say, none of those things have panned out for me. and now someone's written a book about 100 places to see before you die! yikes! talk about the pressure of a list.

recently while reading up on new fiction, i came across an article about the 2007 winner of the man booker prize. i have read a few booker prize winning novels and wondered what other books had been awarded the prize. i looked it up and found that this year marks the 40th anniversary of the prize. curious, i searched for the past 40 winners. as i was looking at the books i realized something. THIS list seems manageable. THIS list seems like fun. THIS list is going to be the list i try to conquer. i've already read two of the winning novels, amsterdam & disgrace, and have another, midnight's children, waiting for me on my nightstand. disgrace is my favorite book of all time. it was written in 2005 by j.m. coetzee who won the 2003 noble prize in literature. if you are looking for something fantastic to read (although not really upbeat), i highly recommend it. in the meantime, i'll keep you posted...maybe a new list will emerge out of this. one can only hope...

top 5

it's time again for a top 5. i asked ryan for a new list and asked him to pick the category. after only a minute he said...CANDY! everyone likes some kind of candy - some people are chocoholics, some love the sour stuff and some just love it all. for me, there's nothing better than frozen candy - especially peanut butter cups and butterfingers. in fact, i bought 11 LARGE bags of candy for halloween because i was told our neighborhood got "hundreds" of trick-o-treaters. i guess maybe this was an off year because i ended up eating most of the candy myself. maybe that's why wil weighed almost 9 lbs at birth! anyway...candy....SWEET!

ryan's top 5 candy list

1. twizzlers
2. peanut m&ms
3. reese's peanut butter cups
4. reese's pieces
5. twix

shrimp & grits casserole

last friday we hosted our friends heather & alistair for dinner. heather & i share a love for southern food and southern cooking. their 4 year old daughter lily loves shrimp and, in my opinion, EVERYONE loves (or should love!) a casserole. so, we had shrimp and grits casserole featured featured in the december 2007 issue of cooking light. if shrimp, grits and casseroles appeal to you...give it a try! you won't be disappointed.

after dinner, overcome by the good vibe and camaraderie, lucy decided to show heather some love. if you've ever met lucy, you know this was VERY out of character. just ask denise...or mom...or ryan...or anyone really.

smothered chicken

when mom was here for spring break we made smothered chicken. talking with my neighbor heather about smothered pork chops led into a discussion of good southern food. she shared this recipe with me as best she could remember. it came from a friend of hers in virginia and boy am i glad it did. it was fabulous! (we added sauteed mushrooms to ours - yum!) enjoy!

smothered chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 large onions cut into rings
2 qts chicken broth
2 c. flour seasoned with salt, pepper, paprika, set aside
1 egg, beaten and set aside
1 tbls vegetable oil
1 package egg noodles

Dredge chicken breasts in egg & seasoned flour. Saute over medium heat in vegetable oil until brown. Cover browned chicken with onion rings and sprinkle onions with a few tablespoons seasoned flour. Add chicken broth, cover and bring to a simmer for 30 minutes. Serve over egg noodles.

34 things

it's been said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. in that spirit, i have decided to copy denise's fabulous 34 things list. it's a wonderful way to track personal goals and achievements. the list denise created inspired me to think about some of the things i want to do before i turn 35. trouble is...i am only 33 and my 34th birthday is a mere 5.5 months away. i am afraid i'd be setting myself up for failure with a list of 33 things to do before i turn 34 (especially with a new baby!) so my list is also a list of things to do before i turn 35. the list is a bit ambitious in parts but, hey, i do have almost a year and a half to complete it! i hope this is something i continue year after year...the lists will get longer but with any luck life will just get more fun!

34 things to do before i turn 35

1. start a supper club
2. find a place to volunteer
3. take a spontaneous vacation
4. host a girls night out
5. visit a state i have never been to
6. make a new friend
7. find a church to attend
8. take a class of any kind
9. take a swimming class with wil
10. paint something - just once!
11. visit the central park & bronx zoos
12. plant a vegetable garden
13. attend a baseball game (or two!)
14. see anything on broadway
15. take a music class with wil
16. see a performance at the met (denise...let's do this together!)
17. meet the new babies born in my family (cooper & upcoming baby cohorn)
18. spend a day at the modern museum of art
19. buy and give a gift to someone for no reason
20. go camping
21. take a weekend trip with my sister
22. paint the front door and trim
23. complete a photo album of wil's first year
24. have a family picnic on the beach one summer evening
25. fill in wil's baby book
26. see a performance of handel's messiah
27. play the piano again (maybe this will be my class!)
28. have a date with ryan at least every third month
29. read a daily devotional
30. take a yoga class
31. see a outdoor concert
32. attend one performance per season at the two river theatre company
33. start and finish our mudroom/playroom
34. attend 2 newcomer's club events

it's not easy being green

i am a huge fan of al gore. i was deeply saddened when he "lost" the 2000 presidential election; however, i am not sure the climate would be getting the attention it's been getting if al gore had assumed the presidency, so the trade-off is alright with me.

al was profiled on 60 minutes this past sunday. the focus of the piece was upcoming ad campaign to support the climate project, his non-profit organization focused on "the mission of increasing public awareness of the climate crisis at a grassroots level in the United States and abroad." it was a wonderful piece and highlighted, i thought, just how passionate both al and tipper are about the project. they are giving their own time, talents and treasure as stewards for the environment. it is a subject that i am increasingly passionate about and am even considering trying to become one of the presenters of the climate project at some point in the future. the planet is a gift to us all. although we are under no obligation to protect it there is a responsibility that we have to nuture and care for it. i truly feel that the work al gore, and others like him, is doing is important and relevant. i feel it my responsibility to do what i can to reduce my carbon footprint so that wil and future generations can enjoy the plant as i have.

that's not to say that it's easy. kermit the frog said it best, "it's not easy being green" and how right he was. mom said that when she was here to help us after wil was born that the hardest part of the 5 weeks was not the middle of the night feedings or the constant cooking and cleaning but the RECYCLING i made her do. i laughed when she told me that but i know that she meant it! recycling is only one of several things i have attempted to master over the past few months. i have also cut down on my paper towel use (don't you have 100 dishtowels!? i do!), tried to walk more and drive less, bought and exclusively use sigg water bottles, turn-off the lights when they aren't necessary and am using my own bags at the grocery store. we have changed out a lot of our light bulbs for more energy efficient ones and all of our appliances are energy star rated. yet, i agree with mom, it's hard. the recycling takes up a lot of my time and, quite frankly, the light bulbs that you need to use with recessed lights (of which we have many) are just plain ugly. however, doing the right thing is never easy and i am going to strive to continue to do a little each day to help reduce my impact on the planet. i hope that i can inspire even one other person to do the same. the smallest thing can make a huge impact. just think...if you use a dishtowel every time you want to grab a paper towel not only will you reduce the amount of trees being used to make paper but you will save yourself money in the long run! so give it a try. pull out one of those old tote bags that you never use and replace even one paper or plastic bag next time you head to the store. it'll feel good, i promise! for more green ideas click here and to start small click here!

new jersey sky

one day last week we actually got a taste of spring. at 6p it was almost 70 degrees. wil and i joined lucy outside and let the last sun of the day wash over us. i was looking up at the sky and thought of denise's post "texas skies". inspired by gustavo's picture i took this shot. as i looked up i felt connected with friends and family living far away. knowing that we all share the sky made the world feel a little smaller to me on that day. i am so happy that spring is on the way. it always gives me a much needed sense of renewal.

sleeping beauty

last week was a tough sleeping week for wil (and us). he seemed to go through a transition that had him more awake and unsettled at night than peacefully asleep. after talking to our doctor (who told us oh-so-kindly that we were being played) we got some much needed reassurance that things were par for the course. however, he also asked us some questions that prompted us to change some of our nighttime habits and the result has been great. in fact, last night wil went to bed at 8p and he's still asleep as of this writing at 7:15a! hopefully this isn't his version of an april fool's joke. in case of sleep emergency we recommend these products...snuggle, light, sound.

in other wil news: 90 is the new 100. he's growing like a weed and is in the 90th percentile for height and weight. (his head is hovering around 50% making him perfectly proportionate. hilarious.) he grew 2.2 lbs last month and 1 full inch. he now weighs 17.4 lbs and is 26.5 inches long. he is easily wearing his 6-12 month clothes! he is also now eating an array of food including sweet potatoes (loves) and peas (ick). he loves to eat and pops his mouth open the second we put him in his highchair. all-in-all things are great and we are so grateful to be the parents of such a happy and charming baby that, as of this moment, is still sleeping. 7:45a...i'll take it.