he's got his daddy's figure.

one year ago

my boy and i looked like this.



and here we are now.



we've come a long way, baby. er, toddler.

legend of the red triangle

While many children rely on a blankie or stuffed animal as a transitional object, Will has become particularly attached to his red plastic triangle. And so the legend of red triangle began.

Before Will was born, Mommy and Daddy traveled thousands of miles, through the thickest forests and over the highest mountains, and battled hundreds of beasts, until they finally arrived at Toys'R'Us. There, a mysterious force led them to red triangle, and when they saw it they immediately knew it belonged to their son. So, they paid one million dollars for the shape sorter/walker thingy that red triangle came in, and went on their way, satisfied that they had found the world's perfect toy.


Isn't she beautiful?


Will often leaves red triangle on Busy Town overnight, leaving us searching for her frantically the next morning. We're on to him.


It's fun to bang red triangle against the coffee table.


And read Wiggle Room with red triangle by your side.


Finally, while wonderful things like the stairs may be childproofed away, red triangle will always be there ready to play.

Thank you, red triangle. You were worth every penny - all one hundred million of them.

today, at the grafton

which is quickly becoming our favorite Lincoln Square weekend lunch destination.

this is where it all happens.

Since my home is also my office, and, more importantly, the backdrop of Will's babyhood, I've put a lot of effort into making it a beautiful and peaceful place. Lately I've been loving our little condo in Lincoln Square more than ever. Here are some photos of our first home so that I never forget where it all began.












Yes, Will is feeding Bean a yogurt melt in the last photo. Yes, Bean likes yogurt melts.

(barely) controlled chaos

A scene from yesterday's Wiggleworms.

monkeying around

A few belated images from baby's first Halloween.

a day in the life, ten month edition

wake up at four in the morning. yell. remind mommy that she works for me.

nurse, snuggle, sleep.

wake up at seven. yell.

daddy comes in to get me and changes my diaper and i yell some more.

go into mommy and daddy's room and nurse and say hello to bean. ah, dee! pull bean's leg, pull bean's tail, pull the piece of skin that sags under bean's lip, pull bean's lip.

sit on the play mat and make a beeline for bean's food dish. mommy picks it up just in time.

wave hello to matt and al on the tv.

meander down the hall to where daddy is getting ready. hang out. kiss daddy good bye.

eat breakfast in high chair: yogurt and pruney cheerios.

exit high chair. climb up on mommy and walk around the condo, ultimately ending up in the bathroom. play with the toothbrush. the toothbrush! oh how i love the toothbrush.

read books: the carrot seed, put me in the zoo, brown bear, are you my mother?, the dog book, ten little fingers and ten little toes, peek-a-boo i love you.

nurse, snuggle, sleep (hi blankie! i love you, blankie!).

wake up. yell. remind mommy that she works for me. say hi to bean. ah, dee!

sit on the play mat. make a beeline for bean's food dish. mommy picks it up just in time.

walk to wiggleworms at the old town school of folk music. shake my sillies out, tango, clap clap clap. bubbles.

walk home and eat lunch: steamed carrots, deli chicken, slippery peaches, and american cheese. american cheese!

change offending diaper, which i find very offensive. yell.

nurse, snuggle, sleep (hi blankie! i love you, blankie!).

wake up. yell. remind mommy she works for me. say hi to bean. ah, dee!

sit on the play mat. make a beeline for bean's food dish. mommy picks it up just in time.

walk to the park. swing on the swing. toddle around the playground holding mommy's hand. say hi to babies. slide down the slide, ding the dinger, spin the tick-tac-toer.

come home, grab bean. ah, dee! walk her around the block. hold the leash.

daddy comes home. he says, give me you! and i give him me, and we snuggle.

eat dinner: baked sweet potato cubes, avocado slices, macaroni and cheese. or, on a really good night, lasagna. feed bean. yell.

practice walking in between mommy and daddy. yell.

take a bath with daddy. play with bath toys. drink bath water.

read books with daddy: the carrot seed, put me in the zoo, brown bear, are you my mother?, the dog book, ten little fingers and ten little toes, peek-a-boo i love you.

say good night to daddy and wave. nurse. snuggle and get silly. play kissy baby. say good night to bean, say good night to mommy. remind mommy that she works for me.

oh blankie, i love you blankie!

omg.

walking man

You heard right - Will walks! He can take about twenty steps before tumbling over. At ten months old, he's a bit on the early side for walking. While I'd like to think this is due to his innate genius, the reality is it probably has a lot more to do with his temperament. The kid is fearless and stubborn as can be.

Or, as the doctor put it yesterday when she tried to look in his ear, "He does have a temper, doesn't he?"

Um, yeah.

Photos are from Saturday evening at Welles Park in Lincoln Square.









Will's Wiggleworms class gave him a round of applause today when he walked across the room to Miss Julie and her guitar. We kind of felt like rockstars.

Walking today, skiing tomorrow. Watch out world!

hodge podge

I've been trying to come up with a clever idea for a blog post, but given how very sleep-deprived I am it's been tough. After our trip to New Hampshire, Will came down with a cold and an ear infection, and our nights have never been the same. Basically, he sleeps like a newborn. As a result, I feel totally fried. But that hasn't stopped us from having fun.

At Wiggleworms, another baby brought a ukulele to class, which Will promptly stole. I post this picture not so much because Will has a musical talent (which I believe he does), but because he looks like such a little boy.



In other news, I'm pretty sure Will thinks he's a Boston terrier. His world revolves around Bean. When he's not going after Bean's food, he's going after one of her toys, and if he's not doing that, he's just going after Bean.




Also, Will has taken to walking Bean himself. The following picture, however, is deceiving. Will prefers to be held horizontally in Colin's arms while holding the leash while his parents sing the Hokey Pokey (really). It's quite a sight.



Finally, here is a video of Will taking a dip in the baby pool at my parent's house in Lake Forest. We've been savoring these unusually warm October days as we brace ourselves for what they're predicting to be another horrible Chicago winter.

It's wild to think that a year ago I was sitting on the couch on bed rest, browsing incredibly overpriced baby stuff and watching TLC baby shows over and over again, waiting to meet my little boy. Now he's a moving, grunting, amazing ten-month-old who is showing me the world all over again through his eyes. Life is good. Very, very good.

the love of a mother

There is an enduring tenderness in the love of a mother to a son, that transcends all other affections of the heart. It is neither to be chilled by selfishness, nor daunted by danger, nor weakened by worthlessness, nor stifled by ingratitude. She will sacrifice every comfort to his convenience; she will surrender every pleasure to his enjoyment; she will glory in his fame, and exalt in his prosperity; and if adversity overtake him, he will be the dearer to her by misfortune; and if disgrace settle upon his name, she will still love and cherish him; and if all the world beside cast him off, she will be all the world to him.

Washington Irving

It's true, little buddy.

new hampshire love

Will had a lot of special moments with Daddy in New Hampshire.



They sat on the granite rock overlooking Lake Winnisquam near Grammy and Grampy's house together.



They went on a hike in the woods together.



They rode the boat together.



They relaxed at the Wentworth by the Sea together.



And they ordered room service (at 6:00 a.m.), together.

They also braved Irene together, as well as two disastrous flights between Chicago and Manchester. A weird lady called Mommy followed them around with a camera.

Post-New Hampshire, we endured a crazy sleep schedule, a cold, and our first ear infection. A small price to pay for memories that will last a lifetime.

katie&matt

Will has had an exceptionally eventful August. We returned from a nine day trip to New Hampshire a couple of days ago, and before that we spent a lot of quality time with Aunt Katie and Uncle Matt, who were in town from Boston. We spent an awesome day (actually, about an hour between naps) at Lake Forest beach. Will entertained us by farting in between grunts as we fed him puffs on a picnic table. That's my boy.







Pictures (tons of them) from New Hampshire coming soon.

boy meets girl

Will's been spending an awful lot of time with an older woman. Reagan is a 19 month old beauty. First the lovebirds took a trip to the zoo, and then upped the ante by spending a night camping in the wilderness.

Here they are exploring Brookfield Zoo in style.



After riding the wagon, they decided to get a better view of the animals from their daddies' shoulders.



Will and Reagan began their camping trip by snacking on some puffs in the middle of lovely Jellystone Park. We watched in awe as the Yogi Bear road around the camp grounds on a golf cart.

Reagan soon realized that perhaps Will wasn't the man she thought he was when she saw his aggressive puff-eating behavior. After this photo was taken, she wisely scooted away from Will and ate her puffs in peace, while Will picked the leftover pieces off his outfit.



After snack time we headed out for a late afternoon swim at Jellystone's water park, which tired everyone out.





But not for long!



Will and Daddy had quite a night together, driving around the campgrounds for two hours. When Will finally went back to sleep in the tent at 4:30 in the morning, he slept for an hour and a half until a thunder storm abruptly ended our idyllic time in Jellystone.

But not to worry. This love story has just begun!

just because...

... he's so darn cute after he wakes up from his nap.

note to self

These are the things I want to remember about right now:

Everywhere we go, without fail, someone compliment's Will's amazing eyes. Someone else uses the word "chunky" to describe his thighs.

Sitting up has been a wonderful shift for the little guy - he feels much happier interacting with the world this way. I get it.

Will's had a mysterious, dry, throaty cough lately. He coughs only in our presence, never alone, and usually when we're busy doing something else. When we mimic the cough back to him, he laughs hysterically. Not sure I'm going to call the pediatrician quite yet.

He likes to feed himself. Puffs, Baby Mum Mums, and Happy Melts are our new best friends.

Bean is his favorite thing in the world. She's the first thing he looks for after waking up from a nap, and my first trick to stop an episode of crying. Bean and a sip of water from a cup. Works every time.

Will thinks tickles are the greatest. So great, he's been known to go by "Ticky Boy." Which is short for "Ticky Ticky Little Ricky," of course.

Mommy and Daddy woke up at 5 a.m. to call and sign Will up for the next session of Aquababies. We waited on hold for an hour, each of us repeatedly dialing in on our cell phones, until Colin finally made it through. Aquababies joins Wiggleworms and Gymboree on Will's resume. We're not going to mention Baby & Me Pilates.

He likes yogurt and avocado best.

We read books daily, and he loves it. The current favorite is "Are you my mother?" Our favorite line is, "You are not my mother. You are a scary snort!"

Bath time with Daddy is special, and so are evening walks through the park. It's been the perfect summer, with our perfect boy.

lake forest, july 17

to see a world in a grain of sand
and a heaven in a wild flower
hold infinity in the palm of your hand
and eternity in an hour

william blake, auguries of innocence

anyone need some prunes?

Yesterday, at the grocery store, Will had the pooxplosion to end all pooxplosions. It was such a dramatic experience that I feel a need to document it.

Will was in the Baby Bjorn (of course), and I had just swiped my credit card at the register when I felt a suspicious drip, drip, drip on my feet. Will has been very constipated since starting solids, and had already had a big poop earlier in the day, so I was pretty sure we were in the clear for our late afternoon outing (sorry to give away all your secrets, little buddy).

At first I was confused about the yellow substance all over my shorts, legs, and shoes, but I soon grasped the enormity of the situation. Normally loaded with an infinite amount of wipes, yesterday I had three. This poop required about three hundred. I stuttered to the cashier something about my baby pooping and she kindly offered to help me clean up the mess until she actually saw it. That's when she got on the loud speaker and called a clean up crew over.

I profusely apologized to the line of people behind us for the pile of poop they were about to wade through while the rest of our groceries were rung up. It is very important to mention that those groceries consisted of ten jars of prunes, which happened to be on sale and are (were) a current staple in the little man's diet.

Here's the quick version of the rest of the story. Will and I run out of the store, I attempt to change him in the back seat of the car, his legs and chest are covered in poop, he takes his first car ride in only a diaper, and, ultimately, ends up in the bath tub. Only later do I address the issues of his clothes, my car, my clothes, my shoes, the Baby Bjorn, and, finally, the groceries.

And so, I'll repeat the question. Anyone need some prunes?

o holy day

On Sunday, May 22, Will was baptized at St. Matthias Church here in Lincoln Square. The Moynihan clan flew out for the occasion (Grammy and Grampy, Auntie Erin, Uncle Andy, and cousin Danny), as well as Will's godparents, my sister Katie and our good friend Bob. Will's baptismal gown was sewn from the fabric of my mother's wedding dress, which, needless to say, was a very special touch. We felt so blessed to be surrounded by such loving family and friends to celebrate the beginning of our little boy's spiritual journey. My uncle Keith was the photographer of the day, and the following are some of his best shots.