Baby Rage

I was telling my coworkers about how I probably irreparably damaged Wm because when he was a weensy baby and would have weird anger fits (usually brought on by the fun of "tummy time"), I thought it was HILARIOUS and would laugh and snap "adorable" pictures of his tiny evil face and tiny fists of fury. To show them how cute/evil he was, I hunted up this picture:

Seriously, can you even stand it?? ADORBS, right?

So instead of a mom who would cuddle him and sooth him, he had one who laughed at him and was like, "KEEP DOING THAT WHILE I GET THE CAMERA! DON'T MOVE! This is great stuff. GOLD! More anger! YES! Perfect!!!"

While I was rooting around in old pictures, I found this gem and couldn't resist.

Fat sack of goo! Look at the arm rolls!! LOVE. IT. I miss rolly polly Wm!

Wm goes to the doctor today for his 9 year well child check up. He hasn't been to the doctor since his appointment last year. Wm had perfect school attendance last year! He was pretty peeved because he did have one tardy - for going to the dentist for a checkup. He wanted a pristine attendance record. I never had perfect attendance, ever. So he's already beaten me!! I told him he doesn't need any shots this year and he goes, "I don't even care about shots. They don't even hurt." Braveheart, over here. He must have taken all his baby rage and saved it up for shot time. Because he stubbed his toe his on his bed this morning and acted like he had a compound fracture. Then he came downstairs all grumpy…

Wm: [grump face]

Me: What's wrong with you?

Wm: I stubbed my toe! HARD. And my sock had a hole in it. So I put on a new one. But IT had a hole. Then, when I made my bed, the stupid cat destroyed it. THREE times!!

Me: Oh, yeah, he loves nothing more than to destroy a freshly made bed.

Wm: WHY???

Me: No idea. Did he then attack the crap out of you when you tried to remove him from your bed?

Wm: YES! He is crazy! So I had to make my bed THREE times!!

Me: It's a hard knock life, Wm.

Wm: My toe hurts.

Me: Well,  it's a good thing you're going to the doctor today with your major toe trauma.

Wm: UGH! AND, I have to go to the doctor!

Me: Not until after your field trip, though. 

Wm: I don't even LIKE the Art Museum.

Me: You're just a ray of sunshine this morning.

Wm: Your breakfast bar has a bigger chocolate chip than mine!!!

Me: Here, you can have it. We'll trade.

Wm: [big smile] Thank you.

Chocolate fixes everything. 

Reading Buddies

We finally had good weather on Sunday! So Wm and I got to go out and play some tennis in the morning. Wm had a GREAT time and he said he loves tennis. He goes, "it's literally impossible to be bored!" Then, when Steve got home from work, we went to the pool. Wm was a little weird at first and I was kind of nervous that we'd have the same thing as last year. And I also realized I had been overly optimistic about how quickly everything would go down. But I am still hopeful that the kid will be able to fall in water and not die by the end of summer. For our first trip, we managed to get Wm to bob his whole head under water for a nanosecond (A FIRST!) After a loooooong negotiation and many failed attempts. But - HE DID IT. I came home with an ear full of water and a sunburn, but we are making baby step progress toward conquering Wm's strange water phobia! We have agreed that he will try and go under again this weekend, but stay under for the count of 3. Fingers crossed!

Wm was reading and Schroeder was very annoyed about being ignored. So he laid on the cuteness thick and captured Wm's attention. 

IGNORED.

Hey, Wm…check out how cute I am! Look at me!

Buddies. SUCCESS.

While at the pool….

Wm: Your stomach is wrinkly. 

Me: What?

Wm: You have a lot of wrinkles on your stomach.

Me: Oh, these? 

Wm: Yeah. 

Me: Those aren't wrinkles, Mr. Poophead.

Wm: They look like wrinkles.

Me: They are called stretch marks. You get them when your skin is forced to stretch quickly. Guess what would have happened to my stomach that it grew and stretched so rapidly I got these marks?

Wm: Sigh. I know. Me.

Me: BINGO! Thanks for that.

Wm: They look like wrinkles.

Me: Battle scars. 

Wm: Hmmm…

Me: Your fault. 

Wm: Wrinkles. 

Tipsy

Wm has been working all week on a coaster for Steve at Clubhouse. It's hilarious. He drew various alcoholic bottles on it and wrote "TIPSY" in the bottom right corner. Steve has a glass of wine at dinner occasionally, and one or two beers if we are going to a pub, but that's it. So we are all confused about how TIPSY represents Steve. Of course, Steve has to act like it's the best thing he has ever seen in his entire life, but he's mostly just confused. (Also, we can't even figure out where Wm heard the term "tipsy" - which is hilarious). The Cluhouse teachers must think Steve is an alcoholic. 

Tipsy Steve

Steve has to work tomorrow morning, so we celebrated Father's Day with him today. We had planned to go to the pool and lay around, maybe play a little tennis, go for a walk, hit up the farmer's market. Except we woke up and a biblical rain was falling. Steve joked he would start gathering animals in twos. We saw our neighbor lugging bucket after bucket of water out of his house and dumping them into the street. Luckily, our basement remains fairly dry. The sump pump has been working overtime! Because of the rain, we went to the Clay Cafe and painted cool things (inside!)

Wm hard at work

Pondering color schemes

Having a great time!!

Finished cup! Ready to be fired and glazed!

I didn't take any pictures of Steve because, sadly, he was not pleased with his work. He grumbled the whole time about how the reality of his paintings was not as awesome as his vision. (It was, honestly, pretty bad. heehee.) I'm hoping after firing and glazing it will be better so Steve will feel good about it!!

Afterwards, we went to the Fish Market for dinner and stopped off on the way home so Steve could get a fancy dessert of his choosing. Even with all the rain, it was a pretty fun day!!

WORD.

Sporting

Me: Your baseball game is canceled today because of the rain.
Wm: YAY!
Me: You don't like baseball anymore?
Wm: No.
Me: Why not?
Wm: It's BORING.
Me: It is a really slow game and you have the attention span of a gnat. Maybe you should try something with more constant action when this season is over.
Steve: LIKE SOCCER.
Wm: Hmm.
Me: Would you play soccer?
Wm: [silence]
Me: You need to do SOMETHING active, man. Just one thing. Anything you want. Karate? Basketball? Baseball? Tennis? Something? I'd even accept music lessons as an "active" thing. I'm desperate here.
Wm: No. None of that stuff.
Me: So...will you play soccer if none of the other stuff sounds good?
Wm: Sigh. Sure.
Steve: [Happiest most joyous face you could ever possibly imagine] REALLY? HIGH FIVE! YESSSSSS!!!!

Within 10 minutes, Steve had him signed up online to start with the next cycle. Steve also offered to coach. After he clicked it, he goes, "Omg...that means I have to interact with other parents. My stomach hurts...."

I didn't know how badly Steve wanted Wm to play soccer until Wm agreed to play. Steve rarely displays that sort of excitement. It's usually reserved for getting new sneakers.

O-H-I-O! 

Weekend Fun

It's been a super fun weekend for everyone! Wm's baseball game on Saturday morning had all sorts of timing/weather issues, so he didn't go. But we got to hang out with Mimi and get treats from her travels instead (which was way better)! Wm is wearing his shirt from Helsinki today! He did have a game last Wednesday. Wm's poor team is not very good. But, Wm got one of the only hits of the game (for his team - the other team was cranking them out)!

Batter up!

On Saturday afternoon, Wm headed over to a friend's house. He didn't get home until about dinner time. Then he and I organized his room and folded all this little clothes into vertical packet-like things. Wm was really into it!! I have a tiny organizer buddy! While we folded, we talked about swimming - and I am real hopeful Wm will conqueror his fear this summer!! (He went into the lazy river at the pool with Clubhouse!) 

Steve and Wm headed up to NE Ohio to visit with Grandma and Grandpa today. I had a TREAT YO'SELF day with Suzanne! I am hoping to make it a regular thing!! First thing this morning, Schroeder and I hung out:

Spoiled.

Tough morning.

Cat laughs!

Then I went for a long walk, continued my Campaign of Organization, finished my book, and baked an almond cake. After that, Suzanne and I went and got fancy pedicures and out for apps and 'sserts (Parks & Rec FTW!) BEST DAY EVER!

Fancy pedis

Wheel of Snacks

Wm did not have a great time at the zoo, sadly. He said all the animals were sleeping and he forgot his lunch. So when I picked him up, he hadn't eaten since breakfast. His explanation for why he just didn't eat the lunch he packed when they got back from the zoo was full of holes and I decided not to even bother pursuing it (it was like watching Memento). Instead, I made him a Wheel of Snacks. And because I feel like I need to redeem myself after the hotdog octopus:

SNACKWHEEL: banana, carrots, strawberries, blueberries, PB stuffed pretzels

Wm said it was "the best snack ever."

Cool Carrot

Today is the only day of the week where they take no field trips at Clubhouse. Tomorrow they go to the library and Friday to the pool. Next week, they hit up another Metro Park and they go to Glow Putt, which Wm LOVES. Summer is the best!!

Dinner Party

We were invited to a friend's house for dinner last night - and since both she and her husband are teachers, they wanted Wm to come along. Wm was AWESOME for his first grown up dinner party! They had an adorable pug named Boris with googly eyes and a snorty nose. Wm was very taken with Boris and let him give him kisses and sat on the couch and petted him. The only time he wasn't 100% sure was when Wm was given a cookie and Boris reeeeeally wanted some of that cookie. Wm stood across the room from Boris stuffing his cookie in as fast and he could and giving the dog the side-eye while Boris sat on the couch, staring longingly at the cookie and snorting away. My friend's husband is from Manchester, England, so Wm was excited to hear his accent. And, they were all very impressed with Wm's English accent!!

They are also vegans and were nice enough to make a special peanut butter sandwich for Wm. The food was remarkably good!! Steve, who was very nervous about it, even admitted it was very good! However, it did not cover him and the minute we got in the car, he goes, "I AM STARVING." Ha!

Wm was on his super best behavior and they kept commenting on how cute and smart and funny he was. Proud mama!! They also loved his Sherman glasses. Of course. EVERYONE does. Because they are awesome. Even Wm has come around!! He says they are more comfortable. WINNING.

Wm is at the zoo with Summer Clubhouse today. He is SO excited!! They went to a MetroPark yesterday and Wm had a tick on him! EEEK!!! But today should be the perfect day for the zoo - abundant sunshine and a high of 80. Wm did a persuasive paper for school on why zoos are bad, but he said he is OK with going because "they also do some good things like breeding endangered animals." But, he said that the "animals know they are in captivity and do not act the way they would in the wild…even if they are born there." He said he will keep his zoo-pionions to himself today and just have fun with his amigos!

Bunbury Experienced

We got back from the Bunbury music festival in Cincinnati yesterday. It was...an experience. We hit crazy traffic getting out of Columbus and then into Cincinnati, got lost going to the hotel, the concert venue had lines on lines on lines and we spent half our time there standing in one or another trying get food or water, it poured rain, we never saw an actual band except for on a giant screen, and then our hotel room was insanely loud and I got 5 minutes of sleep. But, amidst all the horrors, there was some fun to be had!

Lifting a car with Suz (and Walk the Moon)!

Decided to remain married despite Steve dragging me to Bunbury...for now

Having fun with The Black Keys!

The Face of Bunbury

My super fun times were on the way out of Cincy. We stopped at IKEA and got a (nearly!) free breakfast:

HAPPY TIMES!

We got to buy all sorts of fun IKEA things. The 2 big things we went for didn't pan out, but IKEA is never a bust!!

We missed Wm like crazy and were happy to get home and give him big hugs!! He had so much fun with Grandma and Grandpa, I'm not sure he noticed we were gone! They had a blast! Wm got to go on all sorts of adventures. And they super nicely took him to baseball practice - and picture day! 

When we got home and I started the laundry, I noticed the little latch thing on a pair of shorts was coming off. I can't sew to save my life, but luckily Steve is a Renaissance Man:

Badass Sewing Man

AND, I'm actually super excited because Suzanne liked one of my favorite bands that Steve and I didn't get to see at Bunbury - they are coming to Columbus (presented by NPR because they're awesome)...and we get to go see them!!! YAAAY! It should be a really low-key concert and Wm actually likes them too, so he's going to come with!! I am trying to talk him into wearing tiny suspenders, but, so far, he's not going for it. The best news is that the concert is right during our planned staycation! DESTINY! Here is my favorite song they sing:

Bunbury…and Cows

We found another picture of Wm and the cows in his backpack. Here is he getting ready to bottle feed a calf!

Farmer Will!

Wm is really sticking to this no beef thing. He has forgone a number of his favorite meals. In fact, he chose to pack his own lunch to take to Summer Clubhouse on the day they were serving meatballs (Wm LOVES meatballs). He made himself a little sandwich all by himself and took it in to eat so he wouldn't have to eat cow. 

Wm has had a good start to Summer Clubhouse! They go to the zoo next week, so he is all excited about that! Today is his last day there this week - he will be staying home with Steve and I in the morning and then Grandma and Grandpa are coming to stay with him. Because Steve is forcing me to go to Bunbury Music Festival in Cincinnati against my will. We head up late afternoon on Friday and then spend the night there - BUT - then, we GET TO GO TO IKEA on the way home!!!! I will tolerate the concert if it means I can buy cheap (but quality!) household goods at IKEA. (Coming to Columbus in 2017!)