Sir Barfsalot

Well...we made it nearly 5 years.  Wm has his first stomach bug.  The last time he threw up he was a baby spitting up formula.  The poor little guy was out of sorts all morning (even asking to leave the Lego Store before he filled his bin!)  Then he started complaining that his stomach hurt.  Thinking some rest would be good, Steve was helping into bed when...splat!  Since Wm has no memory of ever throwing up, he was like, "what just happened?"  We snuggled him up on the cough with some saltines, Mexican Coke (which we had to tell him was "tummy medicine" because I had previously told him Coke has poison chemicals in it - which is TOTALLY TRUE, btw - and he refused to drink it when I said it was Coke), and Star Wars.  I provided for him a "barf bucket," of which he grew very fond and insisted on carrying it around with him all afternoon.  Wm continued to complain that his stomach hurt the rest of the day, but never barfed again.  He did have numerous horrifying trips to the potty that reeked up our entire upstairs, so something is not right in the digestive tract of Sir Wm.  Even though Wm was clearly not feeling well, he still insisted on building with Legos.  He ran around his room gathering pieces and building things, only pausing to run to the potty, ask for a cracker, or complain that his stomach hurt.

Interestingly, Wm also does not seem to be bothered by throwing up.  My memories of childhood barfing include intense sobbing afterwards due to the horror of it all.  Wm threw up and then was like, "that was weird...can I watch Star Wars?"  He then, oddly, seemed to dig the barf bucket and mimed puking into it constantly, laughing all the while.  When I set it next to his bed at nighttime, he said, "hey, look, I can just lean over, yack into it, and then go back sleep!"  Even at 32, I don't handle throwing up as well as Wm does.  He is a trooper.

Now I just have to hope that Steve, who gets a stomach bug if someone looks at him funny, escapes.  I can't handle two sickies.  I also, for the first time, am actually a bit concerned I may fall victim.  I had just lathered Wm's chapped lips up with my chap stick this morning...then immediately used it myself.  GERMS!!!!  I haven't had a stomach bug since I was in elementary school!  I have a record to uphold!!  Wm managed nearly 5 years himself, even in day care...not too shabby.  Definitely not Steve genes there!  Steve has a delicate constitution.

Wm the Builder

Wm has been a VERY busy bee ever since Christmas!!  He has not even played any Xbox - he's been too busy building!!  Every day he comes home from school and scurries up to his room to keep working.  He has completed Emperor Palpatine's Shuttle:

He has nearly completed the Ewok Village and General Grievous's Starfighter.  Steve wants to take an aerial shot of Wm sitting in the middle of all his Christmas Lego Kits once completed.  We are taking a dreaded trip to The Lego Store today for Wm to fill up his Christmas bucket with Legos from The Great Wall of Lego.  He is up in his room developing his game strategy for Lego selection.

Wm also had a GREAT week at school.  The preschool classroom averaged only 8 kids/day last week (all the faculty are off for break).  Wm LOVES it when there aren't that many kids around.  He was THRILLED with school last week and was super well-behaved.  He typically only acts out where the full load of 18 kiddos are there and he starts feeling overwhelmed.

And in super exciting Steve news - the weird owner of Soccer First called Steve in for a double secret meeting and gave him a $1,000 bonus for awesomeness!!!  Taxes shaved off a large chunk, but Steve is still left with quite the windfall!!  I told him he should go buy himself an iPad, but he put it in the bank instead.  Always careful.  That's why I love him.  That...and the fact that he makes awesome pancakes.

Labeling

Since a teacher has already tried to label Wm (at age 3!) with ADHD, this video especially resonates with me.  I'll pull him from school before I let anyone saddle him with some "disorder."  Schools need to change - not our kids! Wm is perfect just as he is.

Christmas, Part II

Well, this will go down in history as the Christmas of Legos.  Wm got 8 lego kits for Christmas.  And 6 of the 8 were big kits - and 5 of those 8 were GIANT kits! So as you can imagine, our house is COVERED in legos.  Example of the living room after PART of ONE kit was opened:

I had originally told Wm that he needed to complete a kit before he opened the next one.  But...that didn't last long.  Now all 8 kits are open and only 1 is complete.  It's nearly 1PM and Wm has not emerged from his room, other than to go out to brunch with Grandma, Papa, and Yaya.  I have a feeling he won't come out until prodded out for dinner.  He is IN HEAVEN.  

We all had a wonderful Christmas!!  It started with a good Cory-cooked Christmas Eve dinner with "Papa with Gray Hair" and Great Papa.  We all had a great time!  Especially Wm, who scored this awesome Bobba Fett helmet from Donna:

Then, Christmas morning, Wm awoke to find Santa had visited his room while he slept and left him The Ewok Village!  Steve and I had a great time watching Wm tear into his presents...and stocking!  The funniest part was when he opened an empty cardboard box that says on there it can be taken to the Lego Store at Easton and filled with whatever Legos he wants.  But Wm opens it, throws it aside and says, "it's empty."  We had to explain he got to fill it up!!  He is already plotting what pieces he needs for his various side projects.

Next, we went over to Mimi and Guy's house where even more Legos awaited Wm!  He has been BEGGING Bobba Fett's ship, the Slave 1, for WEEKS.  This is the only kit Wm has completed:

Grandma, "Papa with Bald Hair," and Yaya came over to Mimi and Guy's house too!  Wm was SO EXCITED to have so many grandparents fawning over him!!  It was a GREAT Christmas!!  We had a delicious dinner, Wm built things, we chatted and visited...it was a blast!!!  Wm fell into bed last night and slept all the way until 8:30 this morning - that may be a new record!  We are hoping that he is so distracted by all his Lego kits that he forgets about the Lego Store for a while and we can wait until the after Christmas crowds die down.

So...The Lego Christmas 2010 is officially over!  And we are stuffed, happy, and overrun with Legos.

And...just cause it's super cute, here's a picture Mimi took of Wm and Steve:

Christmas, Part I

A longer post about Willie the WonderKid's WonderChristmas is coming, but for now...here are a couple teaser pics:

                                                        Christmas Eve with The Papas

                                                       Xmas morning under Wm's tree

                                                          Ewok Village!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
                                                                           

                                                    Gotta see what Santa left in the stocking!

                                                                  Ewok on your head!

Fever

William has a fever - and the only cure is...MORE LEGOS!

Proof of Genius

For four and a half years, I have been telling everyone that Wm is a genius.  And, in one lunch at Graffiti Burger (Wm's favorite place on the planet), Wm proved it thrice over:

1. As mentioned, Wm LOVES Graffiti Burger.  He was stuffing fries in his mouth as fast as he could.  One  didn't go in the right way (he tried to shove it in vertically and it got stuck) and Wm laughs and says, "that one didn't go in at the right angle."  Yeah.  He knows geometry.

2. While we are eating, Wm sees a bird flying by and says, "look, I think that bird is migrating someplace warm."  Wm has an understanding of both climate dynamics AND bird migratory patterns.

3. Wm saw the address of Graffiti Burger, 2700, and says, "that number is twenty-seven hundred."  Mathematical genius.  Kid already knows that adding two zeros to a number makes it a multiple of one hundred. Calculus, here Wm comes.

I rest my case.

Note: this genius confirmation makes sense.  Geniuses are often temperamental (check), hyperactive (check), evil (check), and obsessive (check).

Elf Tracks

Wm and I went out to play in the snow today and discovered ELF TRACKS!  Some small animal must have walked around our house and left little prints, but they didn't look like dog or cat prints (no claws), so I said, "Oh. My. God!  Wm, look!  Elf footprints!"  The look on his face was priceless.  He insisted we follow them - and then, strangely they stopped in the middle of nowhere and Wm whispered, "magic!"  He is SUPER excited for Daddy to get home so he can tell him that he discovered magic elf footprints.  Wm also decided that the prints were left as the elves were watching him to make sure he's good.  I am definitely encouraging that idea!

This morning, Wm was walking upstairs and dropped whatever Lego thing he was working on and it broke into a bunch of pieces.  Wm sighed in a long-suffeirng sort of way and says, "you've got to be kidding me!"

Winter Wonderland

Wm has been having a great time with all the snow we've been getting!  It's been too cold for him to go outside at school (when the temp dips below a certain threshold, they keep the kids inside), so we've had to soak up the hour of daylight left when he gets home from school.  But his teachers emailed me today to say that they finally got to go outside today at school and Wm was THRILLED.  They sent this picture of him with a crazy excited look on his face out on the playground at school:

Wm has developed a new hobby.  Kids (and adults) post how-to videos on YouTube showing how they build all sorts of things sans directions and out of the Legos they currently have - basically, going "off grid."  So Wm spends as much time as he can closeted in his room watching said YouTube videos and building things which have no pre-fab kit.  It made Steve nervous that Wm now has the run of the internet, so he downloaded some parental restriction thing that keeps kids from viewing inappropriate content.  Here's what I thought was weird: not showing bad language and sexy-type stuff was free...but it only blocked violence for an added fee!  So, god forbid kids see a bad word or a boob.  But, hey, it's A-OK for them to watch someone getting his arm ripped off and then beaten to death with it.  Where have we gone wrong?  

I am STUFFED.  I just came from out office holiday party where there was an insane amount of food.  I got really nice gifts from my coworkers.  I also managed to snag a little white chocolate snowman for Wm to have after dinner...AND half a pie for Steve!

Poor Willie

Poor Willie the WonderKid had an awful day!  His [good] teacher emailed me during afternoon nap to tell me that I had an "incident report" to sign at pickup (that means, basically, your kid got hurt at school and they want you to sign off that it's all cool).  Apparently, Wm first got poked in the eye while playing some strange peeking game with his best bud Alex.  Wm insists this was his Big Injury of the day. But, the incident report was for the next injury because blood was involved.  Where there is a blood, there is an incident report.  Whilst waiting in line at the drinking fountain, some other kid pushed Wm and his nose bonked the faucet.  Bloody nose ensued (as well as a complete soaking of his shirt). I decided to leave early and get the poor rugrat - because it sounded like he had had enough for one day.  So I waited until he was up from nap and took off and nabbed him.  He looked so pathetic and sad I took pity on him and decided to give him the night of his life.  I brought him home and we played snow tag until we were wet and partially frozen, then we came inside and had milk and cookies while we watched The Grinch.  I made him a PB sandwich (would have been grilled cheese, but that's what he had for lunch, so I opted for Fav #2) for dinner and used a cookie cutter to make it into a cool shape.  (BIG HIT. He was so into the cool shaped sandwich that I snuck some carrots and an apple into him as well.)  He is currently upstairs watching YouTube videos on how to build Boba Fett's ship and attempting to create said ship from his current Lego collection.  So, as you can see, Wm's day has taken a turn for the better. :)

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Apparently, Wm is Mr. Hyde at school (evil as could be) and Dr. Jekyll (sweet as pie) at home.  We haven't been having any problems or really noticed anything weird, but early this week we got an email from his teacher that Wm is being super evil at school - calling everyone and everything "stupid."  We DO NOT allow him to say "stupid" at home (anyone who knows me probably knows I have no problem with pretty much any word Wm says as long as it's not a "hate word" meant to make someone feel bad) because it's hurtful.  But, I guess, at school, it was a whole different matter.  Friends were stupid, toys were stupid, classroom activities were stupid.  Then, Wm popped a friend in the ear for taking his book.  So Wm had to have a stern talking to.  In fact, I calmly told him that I was very angry and he was going to get a spanking.  He freaked out (as would be expected).  So I told him I was feeling angry, and if I reacted to my anger the same way he reacted to his, I would hit him - hence the spanking.  He was most upset about that.  I asked him how that made him feel when I said I was going to spank him and he said, "scared and sad."  So I told him that I bet Alex felt pretty scared and sad after he hit him.  Lots nodding and tears.  So then I repeated that I was feeling very angry, but told him I was going to respond to that anger the same way he SHOULD have responded to that anger, and hopefully would the next time - by going to a quiet "calm down" place until I felt better.  Lots of sniffling (and grateful head nodding when he realized that he was not really going to be spanked).  

So far, it has worked wonderfully!  Reports from the last couple days at school are glowing and Wm is even more agreeable at home!  We took him on a marathon shopping trip to Costco this morning (usually ends in some sort of evilness) and he was GREAT the whole time.  He is even now happily and agreeably napping upstairs.  He has gone to bed with no fuss, eaten with no whining, and been, basically, a very easy little guy ever since.  I think this may have had something to do with the fact that the elves who bring the legos to his advent calendar did not come the day after the hitting incident.  I told Wm they are invisible and watch him ALL DAY EVERY DAY - even at school.  That put the fear of Santa into him.

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas

All sorts of exciting things have been going on in the life and times of Wm.  The thing he finds most exciting is that every night while he's sleeping, Santa's elves use magic to come into his house and leave 3 Lego pieces in the pocket of his advent calendar.  So every morning when he wakes up, he can add 3 more pieces to his Lego set - and on Christmas morning his Snow Speeder will be complete!

We also got the Christmas tree put up...

Wm has put A LOT of thought into his Christmas list and I told him it is now complete - no more add-ons.  So we went to Target yesterday to get a couple things I need for gifts and Wm started creating his birthday list.  The fun never ends.

Michigan Sucks!

Wm was in the spirit for the OSU-Michigan game today!  GO BUCKS!!!

Gobble, Gobble!

We have arrived home from all the Thanksgiving festivities!  We all had a wonderful time - great food, great company!  Wm was in rare form.  He and his partner in crime, Andrew, were up to all sorts of shenanigans.  First, they stuffed toilet paper into the toilet (twice), then plunged it down, then grabbed handfuls of it out and threw it against the wall spitball-style.  Both were covered in toilet water.  Steve gave Wm a surgical scrub down.  Then, they took all the pillows off Grandma and Grandpa's bed and threw them into the shower.  I'm sure they did a whole lot more evil things that went undiscovered.  But Wm, of course, had the time of his life!  After 2 days, though, he got pretty homesick and wanted to come home and sleep in his own bed.  The whining was so pathetic we relented and left at dinnertime last night instead of this morning, as planned.  We arrived home, stuffed Wm in his own bed, and crashed.  I have to go to the store today and get supplies to make stuff for Thanksgiving, Round 2: Mimi and Guy.  The fun never ends!!

Last weekend was CRAZY nice out - last Sunday it was sunny and in the upper 60's (it may have even hit 70!)  So we took advantage of that to hang Christmas lights.  I took some pics of Willie hangin' away.

Fatty Tumor

Good news on the fatty tumor front - Steve got his biopsy results and he is cancer-free.  No one was really worried about it (based on the doctor's assurances it was almost certainly nothing), but it's good to get confirmation.  And, true to form, Steve's body is healing weirdly and he now has a hideous scar.  So now he wishes he had just kept the fatty tumor.

Wm is the most wonderful son on the planet. Steve was yammering on about something upstairs and I couldn't hear him.  So he yelled down "lame!"  Wm yells, "Mommy is NOT lame, Daddy!!  Mommy is BEAUTIFUL!!"  Best. Son. Ever.

Wm has been freakishly good all day.  I think he is pumped for his trip up North for Thanksgiving.  He even suffered manfully through The Dreaded Haircut.  I gave him the super chop in hopes of postponing the haircut horror for many moons.  But he was actually VERY good this time - limiting his show of unhappiness to sad little moans and continuously asking, "is it over yet?"  There was not even one escape attempt!

We are leaving at the crack of dawn tomorrow in an attempt to beat traffic. I'm sure I will have lots of fun Wm holiday pictures when we get back!

Happy Thanksgiving, Everybody!

Go Bucks!

Wm is getting into the spirit in preparation for the Michigan game this weekend!

Braveheart

Conversation I just overhead upstairs seconds ago....

Act I, Scene I
Wm playing with Lego Star Wars guys, attempting to make Jango Fett with laser blasters. Discussing his latest attempt to beat a level of the Xbox Lego Star Wars game.  Steve getting ready to shower.
Wm: You know, every man dies.
Steve: But not every man truly lives.
Wm: Yeah.
Fin.

Pancakes!

This morning Wm's preschool classroom had a pancake breakfast for families.  So we get all ready to go, I notify everyone that I will be late to work today to go to the Big Pancake Breakfast, Wm is all excited...and away we go.  We get there and Wm immediately runs off with his crony, Tye.  I track him down and ask him if he wants me to make him a plate.  He says no and runs off again.  Meanwhile, a friend of mine who has a daughter in Wm's class arrives.  So I chitchat with her for 10 minutes.  Then I hunt up Wm again and ask if he's ready to come and sit down with me to eat.  He says, "No, I'm not eating until you leave.  You've been here way too long.  Go to work!"  Torn between relief that I can leave The Horror that is any large scale activity in the preschool room and heartbreak that I am so obviously cramping Wm's style, I scuttled out the door and off to work. Without even eating a pancake no less.  It is a slight balm to know that Wm abhors any changes to his routine, was mightily put out about the crowds in "his" classroom, and really wanted every single parent (and probably most kids, other than Tye, Alex, and Preston) to take off as well.

The most wonderful thing has happened.  Jeni's Ice Cream opened a shop in The Ville!  (I suppose this could be bad, as I will likely gain 10 lbs of Jeni's weight now.)  OF COURSE, we had to take Wm there to partake. They did a really cool thing where one whole wall is a giant chalk board.  I snapped a couple shots of Wm drawing away.

Little Picasso 

The weird creature is Two-Face from Batman

He looks extra happy because he just inhaled Jeni's ice cream

Steve has managed to remain relatively healthy all week.  It's a new record.  No trips to the ER, so that's an improvement.  He's been going to PT and whining around that his hip hurts.  I've been whining around that his appointments are at 6AM so he wakes up at the ungodly hour of 5:30AM.  Thus waking me up at 5:30AM (though he does try to be as quiet as possible, it's no use).  

I am DONE, DONE, DONE teaching my class!!!  It ended on a weird note.  My minion was grading their final paper and the last line of a student's essay was "f**k you, I'm drunk."  So that's lovely.  The little darling is 18 so guess who is bringing him up on violating the Code of Student Conduct for underage drinking!  You're probably thinking me...but that's the awesome part of having The Minion.  I'm making her do it.  Moooohahaha!  She can deal with all the horrible paperwork.  

Tonight at dinner Steve and I were jokingly bickering about something or other and Wm (always on my side!) pipes up and says, "Daddy, you better check yourself!"  He's awesome.

Steve the Ill

Steve is barely among the living.  First, a quick rundown of Steve ailments: long-standing hip issues, fatty tumor and fatty tumor removal, then the stomach flu...and now, the newest: concussion.  While he was playing soccer at work, he fell backwards, slammed his head on the ground, blacked out for a minute, then came to with people standing all around him.  He was dizzy and sick to his stomach all day but refused to seek medical attention.  Yesterday (our vacation day of fun, keep in mind) I finally convinced him to call our family doc.  The doctor told him to go to the ER.  So off we went.  Steve was triaged right in, thankfully, and had a CT scan.  He is all clear.  And got the green light to go home and rest.

I did tell him if he doesn't manage to kill himself, I am going to kill him.  He is a lot of trouble.

Wm and I were off on Thursday and he said a MILLION hilarious things.  I definitely don't think I will be able to remember them all, but some highlights include: 

     - After listing to the Violent Femmes song Kiss Off, Wm said, "I don't like that song.  I want to know what 8 was for."  For those of you unfamiliar with that song, grooveshark.com it.

     - Wm was doing the peepee dance while playing Lego Batman, so I told him he had to pause his game and go potty.  He insisted he did not have to go.  I insisted that he had to pause it and pee.  Finally, he yells at me, "I do not have pee!!  My penis just got big and I am trying to adjust it!"

....I should have written them down, because that's all I can remember, but there were a lot more!  Instead, I will just share Wm's pumpkin pictures.  Wm wanted pictures of him holding the pumpkin he grew in our backyard.  It was dry and we never watered it, so it's pretty small this year, but Wm was still proud!!

Beastie Boy

Wm and I are off today for Veteran's Day.  Then Steve and I are off tomorrow for Childfree Fun Day.  Poor Steve needs it.  He had his annual stomach flu a couple nights ago, keeping me up half the night with the sounds of his pathetic moaning.  Then yesterday he had his fatty tumor removed and now he has a bunch of stitches in his side that apparently pull.  So he is just a bundle of fun.  He could use a day to chillax.  It's supposed to be super sunny and 70, so we are puuuuuumped!

Whilst playing Lego Batman, Wm was given his 5 minute warning and his response was: "I did like this, I did it like that, I did it with a whiffle ball bat!"  So, apparently, Wm is a Beastie Boys fan!!

I have finally discovered the perfect deodorant recipe.  And the main ingredient is vodka (kills the odor causing bacteria).  It is awesome!!!!  Works SO MUCH better than any store bought kind!  Bubble and Bee has a spray deodorant that uses, basically, the same recipe, but they charge $10 for 2.5 oz.  I bought 32 oz of vodka for $9.  Suck on that Bubble and Bee!!  But, in any case, I sent Steve to the liquor store with the instructions to get me the highest proof, cheapest vodka he could find.  Apparently he had to ask where that would be located.  I can only imagine what the guy at the liquor store thought.  Steve now has a rep as The Frugal Drunk.

Because I have no Wm pics to share, I am posting a hilarious cartoon below for your enjoyment.  Love it.

Dancing Queen

Wm loves music and dancing. He insists on listening to Sunny95 every night while he falls asleep.  While Steve was bathing him yesterday, Wm burst into "Soul Sister."  So I showed him a clip from Glee with singing and dancing and Wm says, "they've got some good moves."  I thought that was hilarious, so I try to think of some other song and dance that I can show him.  The only thing that comes to mind immediately is the video Bye Bye Bye (by N'Sync).  -- Don't judge me...I'm not into hip hop. --  I go to YouTube and pull up the video. Wm watches it and says, "why are they puppets?  LAME!!!"  So, N'Sync is so lame that a 4 year old recognizes the lameness.  That...is intense.

I See a Fire Truck

Had to share the latest Wm creation.  Over TWO HUNDRED pieces!!!  He's a genius.

Wm says he wants to be a fireman when he grows up

Better shot of the fireman on the ladder!

CURED!

I have cured Wm's eczema!  His little legs are good as new!!  SUCCESS!!!!

His Smoothness is currently building a fire truck from Legos.  He is now at the point where he can nearly build the sets that say 8-12 years with little to no help.  If there are really complicated steps, he often needs a bit of assistance from Daddy, but Wm is pretty self-sufficient.  Because I am completely incapable of doing even the sets that are for 5-6 year olds (despite the fact that I am 32), I am insanely impressed with Wm's mad skeeeells.  

I have cracked and rejoined the gym.  I just can't run outside when it's cold.  My ears can't take it.  I went for the first time today, since it was pretty cold.  I had forgotten how annoying working out next to 20 year olds is.  Makes me feel REAL old.

Captain Weirdhip goes for his PT session Monday.  He is hoping to hear that he has the green light to play soccer again.  He has been taking fish oil and that has really helped.  Then, continuing the Steve Health Saga, he goes to get his creepy fatty tumor cut out on Wednesday.  And we are WICKED looking forward to Friday - as Steve and I are both taking the day off (after Vet's Day) and dumping Cranklebottom at school so we can have a day of childfree awesomeness!!!

Wm has discovered an intense love for kefir.  We call it "go-gurt" and he thinks he's getting a treat (real go-gurt is often full o' sugar and stupidly expensive).  So tricking him into drinking kefir great.  The pic below is a bit grainy, but hopefully you can make out Wm's kefir mustache.

                                                                      Got Kefir?

Hilarious Wm

Before I forget, I have to get down a few funny Will-isms:

1. While playing in his room Friday, Wm says to me, "hang on, we need some tunage," and went and flipped on his radio.
2. Then, just now, Wm turned on his radio and we heard Delilah reading a letter and Wm, recognizing her voice, says, "I listen to Delilah on my radio all the time."
Note: Wm listens to easy listening/soft rock while falling asleep each night - prime Delilah time.
3. Unfortunately, Wm has weirdly spiked a fever so I am staying home with him tomorrow.  Well, yesterday after dinner he started crying and said that he was freezing and his body hurt.  So we allowed him some extra "screen time" and told him he could lay down on the couch and watch TV for a bit and rest.  Wm hasn't watched TV in months, choosing to use his "screen minutes" on Lego Star Wars or Batman on the Xbox instead.  So he watches TV for about 20 minutes and then says, "OK, I've had enough TV - I think my brain is getting rotten."  (This comes from me telling him - ad nauseum - that TV will rot his brain.)

Kid Rock

After getting ready for this weekend's hike, I thought Wm was looking particularly hard core, so I got some awesome shots of him.

My favorite.

Unfortunately, while I seem to have pinpointed the cause of Steve's eczema (still MUCH improved!), Wm's remains a mystery.  And now that winter is coming, it's roaring back to life with a vengeance.  I made up a batch of super special healing eczema lotion with calendula, vitamin E, and tea tree oil, so we'll see if that helps.  If not, I may be forced to dig deeper into my arsenal.  Poor Willie is getting mighty itchy.  And just look how cute he is:

Goin' my way?

In other news, I have decided to get myself in shape to run a 10k.  I have survived Week 1 of the training schedule, so I'm on to Week 2!  I am NOT a runner, so it's not easy for me at all - and 10k sounds like a looooooong way.  But I have a cool app that tells me exactly what to do (it will bing into my headphones while I listen to my audiobook to tell me what I should be doing when) and it makes it easier.  This didn't stop me from almost puking on Day 1.  But I kept it down and persevered!  I'm trying to talk Lord LameHip into joining me!  Wm, as would be expected, shows zero interest.  

Werewolf Bat Mitzvah...Spooky Scary!

TRICK OR TREAT!!!

                                           Fat Man & Little Boy:  Plans were seriously discussed

     

Work began...   

                                                             The BIG NIGHT! Jengo Fett.

                                                            Jango Fett sans helmet

                                             Jano Fett with bear ears that Wm made at school

Wm just got back from trick or treating.  He is now stuffed with candy and in a somewhat glazed and gleeful haze.  He had a GREAT time going from house to house.  With one hiccup: there was one house that had gone all out with strobe light, spooky music, the whole nine.  Well, when the door opened a a huge dude dressed as a demon emerged, Wm's eyes filled with tears and he yelled, "CAN YOU JUST STOP THAT, PLEASE?!?!"  The guy felt horrible and immediately turned off all the effects, but Wm insisted that he wouldn't go to anymore white houses.  This didn't stop him from taking candy from the demon before running off.  That's m'boy.  Our awesome neighbors always make Wm his own giant bag of candy - and this year they included a Lego toy for him to build.  He is laying on the floor going at it right now.  Wm just looked up at me and goes, "is Steve still outside?"  I go, "Uhhh, your dad?  Yeah, he's out there."  Wm says, "OK," and goes back to building.  I guess now that he's survived the Demon House, he feels he is old enough to call us by our given names.

Mountain Man

We just got back from a great hiking trip to Clifton Gorge - Wm had the time of his life!  In fact, he says he wants to hike every weekend.  This was the first time Wm has actually not complained about being tired or wanting to leave; he was a trooper.  We went on our longest hike ever!  Of course, we had to refuel after that, so we went to Clifton Mill for lunch afterwards.  That was the lowpoint of the trip...the years have not been kind to Clifton Mill.  The food was yuck, the staff was rude, and the bathrooms get a "poor" rating. Definitely won't be back there.  But we have already promised Wm another hiking trip next weekend!  There was a dead skunk on the path and Wm was totally enthralled with skunk stories.  Anything stinky or gross is always super entertaining.

Wm has the whole sign in his hands...

Wm and Mommy hiking

Wm and Daddy hiking

Lookout shot

Peachy

I have an awesome video of Wm that I wanted to post, but it keeps giving me errors when I try to upload it to YouTube!  It's a great one - Steve is making some weird humming noise that causes Wm to laugh so hard he practically chokes.  I will continue the YouTube quest!

Wm has started to ask why he and I have "peachy" skin and Daddy has "brown" skin.  He will tell anyone who sits still long enough that "even though me and Mommy are peachy, my Daddy is brown."  I am thinking that people's first thought is, "THAT kid is biracial?"  Wm's blond hair and blue eyes are very Aryan-esque.  Second, Steve is going to surprise a lot of people the first time he meets them.  "Oh!  YOU'RE Wm's dad?  I thought you were...he said you were br-...never mind."  Should be good and awkward for Steve.

Speaking of Steve - good news in Hip Watch 2010!  After being told by 3 doctors that he needed surgery, he met with the surgeon for his pre-surgical consultation this morning only to be told he does NOT need surgery!  The surgeon said that he thinks physical therapy can solve the problem.  And that Steve needs to strengthen his core and improve his posture.  So, diagnosis: Steve is schlumpy and gelatinous.  I have been telling him this for months. Where's my $500? 

Super Genius!

I realize I am biased...but I believe Wm to be a super genius.  Steve works all weekend, so I was thinking of ways Wm and I could entertain ourselves.  I decided to take him to Barnes & Noble to get a book.  He picked out an awesome Star Wars pop-up (Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader pop out of the last page with light sabers that actually LIGHT UP!)  Well, next door to the bookstore is Target.  So I decide to be Awesome Mom and take him over there to browse Lego stuff (my ulterior motive was also that I was being Awesome Wife and getting Steve some much needed fingerless gloves for his freaky eczema hands).  Of course, Wm found a Star Wars Lego set he wanted.  Since it was only $10 I decided it would keep him occupied while I cooked lunch.  Well, we get the thing home, open it up, discover it has 97 pieces, and I flaked.  I looked at the instructions (all picture, no words...it was like Cory Kryptonite) and just said, "sorry, dude, this is going to have to wait until Dad gets home...I have NO idea how to put this together."  Wm asked if he could try to do it himself.  I told him he could try as long as he didn't lose pieces or mix things up - and off I went.  I return to tell Wm that lunch is ready to discover Captain Super Genius is attaching the 97th piece to the Droid Speeder. HE DID IT ALL HIMSELF!!!!!!!  Yes.  That's right.  I have given birth to a Suuuuuuper Geniuuuuuuuus.



Right now, said Super Genius is upstairs trying to make me believe he is napping while I can clearly hear him playing with his droids under his covers.  So, perhaps, he's not as smart as he thinks he is.

Rip Van Winkle

Things are definitely looking up in the Life and Times of William.  He had a "Five Awesome" day at school today (even had a good day yesterday though Alex wasn't at school!)  AND, I think I have solved the nighttime mystery.  As you may, or may not, know Wm is horribly afraid of thunderstorms.  Apparently, he was afraid he thunder at night (it could be a plane overhead, a car door closing outside, etc) and then would freak out and wake up in a panic. So, we told him that we PROMISE if there is a thunderstorm, in that ONE instance, he will be allowed to sleep in our bed.  But if there is no thunderstorm, he has to have good sleeps in his own bed.  This has worked like a charm!  The whole family has had two wonderful nights' sleep in a row!  We show Wm the weather radar before bed so he can verify it is stormless - and then he sleeps perfectly.

Steve works this weekend, so Wm and I will be on our own.  I told Wm that we can do something fun and suggested the zoo or COSI.  Wm immediately screamed "LEGO STORE!"  I told him we were just there and I'm not driving to Easton again.  So he thinks for a minute and then screams, "TARGET LEGO AREA!!!!!"  He is obsessed.

But the nice part of Steve working all weekend is that he was off today and we got to go out and have a super nice lunch together at Cap City.  I'm sure, however, that the lunch will seem very far away (and totally not worth it) while I languish in the Lego isle of Target on Saturday solo.

WonderWeekend

Willie the WonderKid has had a very exciting weekend so far!  A failed bedtime experiment on Friday night led to a very sleepy Wm on Saturday.  But that didn't stop him from having a GREAT visit with Grandma and Papa.  Including a trip to Jeni's for ice cream!!  Wm, once again, was up and down all night last night (leading to a VERY grumpy Mom and Dad), but, again, seemed un-bothered by this.  Mimi and Guy came over to watch Wm while Mommy and Daddy went for a hike at Highbanks.  Unfortunately, Steve had 2 donut holes and a coffee for breakfast, so got all shaky during the hike and had to sit down on a bench for a while to pull it together.  We stopped on the way home and grabbed some food so that Steve wouldn't collapse.  Wm is currently sleeping, but we are already plotting what to do with him when he wakes up to take advantage of the super sunny, warm day!

At dinner Friday night, I explained to Wm what a knock knock joke was and then go, "Hey, Wm, knock knock!"  He answers: "Who's there?"  I say: "Boo."  He says, "Boo who?"  I respond: "Don't cry, it's only Mommy!"  He goes, "No, Mommy, I was saying boo WHO, not crying like boo HOO."  So then I was all, "I know, Wm...see, that's the joke - it's like a play on words, sort of like..."  Wm interrupts: "Hmph.  I wasn't crying. It's stupid."  But Mimi's bunny fart joke was a BIG hit. Note to self: Wm is a fan of fart jokes.

Another successful homemade product!!  This morning I made lip gloss; both tinted (for moi) and untinted (mostly for moi, but also for Steve).  It turned out GREAT and was incredibly easy!!!  I am also holding out hope that I may have perfected a deodorant recipe.  I tested it on the hike and I am stink-free.  Now I just have to keep wearing it for a couple weeks to see if it irritates my skin at all.  If it doesn't, I am declaring victory!!!

A Good Week!

Miracle of miracles!  Wm had an ENTIRE good week at school!!!  Even Meanie McNutt has said that Wm was great at school all week.  Amazing.  Another teacher mentioned that Wm may be "in mourning" for the loss of his friendship with BFF Anthony (who went to kindergarten in August).  She said that adults tend to underestimate the importance of friendships for preschoolers.  I started thinking about when Wm started acting out at school and it seemed to coincide almost exactly with Anthony's departure.  And now that he's had this good week, I have noticed a theme.  Alex.  Wm has made a new BFF at school, Alex, who shares his love of Star Wars and Legos.  When we got to school today, Alex yelled "WILLIAM!" ran over, grabbed Wm's fat little cheeks and planted a kiss on him.  Alex smiled hugely and said, "I have wanted to do that for a long time."  Cutest thing ever.

As a special treat for good behavior Steve and I are suffering through a trip to the Lego store at Easton (worst parental torture ever).

Spooky House

Mimi brought over a candy Halloween spooky house kit (reminiscent of the better known Christmas gingerbread house...but spooky).  Of course, this was a BIG hit with Wm (and with Daddy).  Wm wanted it to look just like the picture on the box and worked hard to make it so.

                   

              The finished product

In other news, I am cautiously optimistic that I have cured Steve's eczema!  After his hands looked like they had been dipped in acid, I decided to undertake an extensive Search for the Cure on The Interwebs. I knew eczema was typically related to allergies, but couldn't figure out what was causing Steve's.  Lo and behold, I happened upon an awesome site that detailed an allergy to "fragrance" (i.e., chemically man-made stuff that smells nice).   Fragrance is in EVERYTHING.  Even "sensitive skin" products: shampoo, conditioner, lotion, soap, laundry detergent, deodorant, etc.  The super duper natural kinds have a super duper price tag to match.  So I have undertaken to making homemade products for Eczema & Son.  Though I do buy Dr. Bronner's baby mild soap because I am scared to work with lye.  The best and easiest product is the lotion I make - recipe found here - though I do sub coconut oil for the olive oil because it's extra healing. The natural lotion I had been buying for Wm and Steve was $15.  To make an equivalent amount of that lotion at home is less than $1.  Yeah.  Boom goes the dynamite.  

After only 3 days on Dr. Cory, Medicine Woman's completely fragrance-free plan, the results are staggering!  Steve's freaky Toxic Avenger hands are nearly 100% healed!!!  He was not pleased about having to take his own little soap in to work or to wash his hair with baking soda...but it's totally worth it.  I have become a Fragrance Nazi.  

Facebook Sucks

Since Facebook has eliminated Wm's account, I am forced back into blogging.  It was so handy to write up a quick howdy do when Wm did something interesting - now I will have to try and remember it all again.  Oh, well, I always thought Facebook was the devil anyway.  So I guess I'm livin' my values now, man.  You can check back here for Wm updates, pictures, and goings on.  Because...seriously...how can anyone live without constant Wm updates?