2009, so far

We have spent a lot of time at home this month. Now that Ryan is in a convertible car seat instead of the infant seat, grocery shopping with the two boys is impossible. I used to put Ryan, infant seat and all, in the big part of the shopping cart while Will rode in the kid-seat part of the cart. True, this left little space for groceries, but we did all right. Now that this arrangement is no longer possible, we do our grocery shopping on the weekends when Matt and I can work together to control Will's awesome need to be wherever in the grocery store we are not. And as a result, the boys and I have basically nowhere to go during the days. "But," people keep saying to me, "what about those shopping carts where two kids can sit together?" Well, behold above. I took this picture at Lowe's earlier this month. I thought it would be so cute to have the two kids riding together in the race car. Will did not. This temper tantrum was one of the approximately fourteen million that have characterized this year so far. It was probably the most public of them, however. The longest one lasted an hour and resulted primarily from my refusal to let him eat peanut butter and jelly without his pants on.

The month has not been all temper tantrums, though. We've watched Kung Fu Panda several times and played doctor on more than a few dozen occasions. We've also had a bunch of very nice tea parties, one inside Will's igloo, a Christmas present from my cousin Lu.



Also, if anyone wondered what Will looks like sleeping, it's like this:



Yes, that is him really sleeping. He almost always sleeps with a pillow on his head. At first I really didn't like that, but he's been doing it for so long now that it doesn't bother me too much.

Will also continues to amaze me with language. These days you can come very close to having an actual conversation with him including a legitimate exchange of information. His memory is excellent and he is extraordinarily observant. He loves to sing songs and ask questions. Yes, he can be quite difficult to live with, but he's a great little person. Yesterday he helped me make Matt's birthday cake and today he helped me mop the floor and clean out the refrigerator.

As for Ryan, he's getting more and more excited about playing, both by himself and with Will. I used to hold him all the time because he seemed to like that better than being in the swing or bouncy seat, but now he often prefers to be on the floor surrounded by toys. And when that doesn't work, I carry him around in a fabric shopping bag.