Beach Bums

Hanging in a beach chair. All he needed was a good book!

We are on our first family vacation this week. We came to stay the week with my Gran in Panama City. So far we have had plenty of sun, fun, good food and time with family. We took Will to the beach on Monday. He loved it! We let him play in the sand for a little while with his sand pail. After he ate half the beach, we took him into the water. He loved it so much that he fussed when we took him out. So we went back in and jumped waves. He just laughed! That night he slept amazing so we took him to the pool on Tuesday. He loved that as well and slept amazing that night. Do I sense a pattern here? Maybe we should take Will to the beach or pool everyday!
Playing at the beach with Daddy.
At the pool. Will was ready to get out at this point. We had a baby float that he loved, but after a few minutes he wanted to play on the concrete around the pool. He would climb out of the pool to sit on the side.

Will and Nessa

Brooke, Will, me and Vanessa
So today, Gran and I went to Crestview, FL to visit my cousin Brooke and her little girl Vanessa, or Nessa as everybody calls her. She is 18 months of energy! She loved Will and called him "baby" every time she saw him. The crazy thing was that they favored each other. They have the same coloring, hair color and eye color. They could pass for siblings! When we got home Mike and I both noticed that Will was trying to stand without holding on to something. He has never done this before. He must have wanted to be like his cousin Nessa!
Don't these two look alike?!

Bumps, bruises and 9 months old

Will on a wagon ride.

Wow! It feels like forever since I have posted. I am now officially out of school and a full time mom. It feels good to be concerned with nap schedules instead of afternoon car duty. Anyways, since I have been gone from the blogging world, Will turned 9 months old. And with that came super mobility. He has been pretty mobile for awhile, but Will has gotten even better at getting around. I don't how this is possible, but Mike and I no longer sit down for long when Will is awake. He can now crawl pretty well and fast. He can climb the stairs and now he loves to stand and stand at all times. Last weekend he figured out how to stand in his crib. Let me tell how much fun that is at 2 am!

Will having fun playing with my pots and pans. One of his favorite things to do!

All of this mobility is where the bumps and bruises come in. We have baby-proofed our house to the best of our ability, but Will still manages to fall and hit something, usually his head, and it always leaves a mark. I guess it just comes with the territory. Yesterday Mike rearranged our guest bedroom. It is so much bigger now and wide open, a perfect playroom for Will. He also installed a locking gate at the top of the stairs. So now Will has the run of the upstairs hall and guest bedroom to play in. He loves it, and there seems to be less for him to get hurt on. I guess its a win-win all around.
In other news, Will went for his 9 month check-up on Friday. He is now 18 pounds and 30 inches long. He is still below average for his weight, but he is above average in height. The doctor seemed pleased, though, and said we should have a long, lean kid. Just like his daddy!
The Fessler boys

Keeping us on our toes...

Two happy guys!

Its been an eventful week in the Fessler house. Will is now pulling up and standing anywhere he can. In the bathtub, on the kitchen chairs, on the chest of drawers in his room, its like he can't help himself. He has this new trick and he has to practice it all the time. So Mike and I are constantly watching him and running quickly when we see him about to fall or bump himself. You can tell he loves this new amount of freedom. He will smile at you and laugh and sometimes even dance. He is starting to learn how to sit as well. Every once in awhile, he will just plop himself down. It almost startles him at first, but then he is proud of himself.
Standing by the dishwasher.
Standing under the kitchen table.

This past weekend was Jake's 1st birthday in Chattanooga. (Jake is my 2nd cousin) Anyways, this was the first birthday party Will has been invited to. I think he had fun! In fact, he dove into Jake's cake. Jake was finished with the cake and we had permission. I promise we aren't that rude! Will seemed to love it. I hope he has that much fun in August!
Will going for the cake.
Hopefully we will be invited back to Jake's 2nd birthday party!
Playing at the birthday party
Will and my cousin Ryan

Happy Mother's Day!

Today was my first official mother's day. It was relaxed and low-key, perfect if you ask me. We had a family picnic at our favorite little park in Hiram.
I was thinking about my new life as a mother today. I have learned so much in the past eight months. Obviously, I have learned the basics of being a care-giver to a baby, but I have also learned a lot about myself. Here are a few of the things I have learned:
1. Baby boys will pee as soon as their diaper is off. You better be ready!
2. Babies will always seem tired, until you are ready to put them to bed. Then they are wide awake.
3. There is nothing better than the sound of your child's laugh.
4. A close second, is having your child fall asleep on your chest.
5. I can have a bad day at school, but as soon as I see Will, all of that goes away.
6. Reading grown-up books is a luxury. I am slowly but surely getting the time to have this little pleasure again.
7. A clean house is overrated. I am more concerned with spending time with Will than with housework.
8. I never knew how much I could love another person, until I had Will. Wow, he is perfect in my eyes and the love I have for him is unexplainable.

Thanks to all the mothers in my life, mom, mother-in-law, grandmother, friends, family. Thank you for the examples that you have set and the love and support you have given to this new mom! I have learned so much from you all. Happy Mother's Day!

Quirkiness

Over the last few weeks, we have watched Will develop some new little quirks. They are funny to us and we have enjoyed each one. Here are just a few that I can think of off the top of my head:
1. He likes to wrinkle his nose up, sometimes its when he laughs, sometimes its random
2. He likes to stand up at his play table, but screams when he gets tired because he can't figure out how to sit
3. He loves to sit under the kitchen table, its like its his new hide out
4. He is fascinated with Gracie's food and water bowls, especially the water, he loves to spill it all over the floor
5. The vacuum cleaner makes him smile-why I don't know-but he loves it!
6. It seems like he has a permasmile-the kid is always smiling
7. He is starting to cry when I leave his line of vision, he doesn't do it always, just when we have been together for awhile
8. He loves Noggin channel, we don't watch it a lot, but he does pay attention when we turn it on
9. He is learning to "dance" to music
10. He likes to be clapped for, and is trying to learn to clap himself
11. It sounds like he can say da-da and yeah, I'm still waiting for ma-ma!

High-fiving daddy! Mike taught him this at dinner tonight.

We're Crawling!

Will in action! Crawling at 8 months.
Last week Will got tired of rolling around to get places, so he decided to start crawling. It started last Tuesday, he actually did a form of the Worm-the 80's break dance move. I was vacuuming downstairs and Will was watching intently as I moved the vacuum all over the living room. When I was finished, Will was on one side of the room and I was on the other. As I started to wrap the cord to put the vacuum up, I looked up and Will was moving towards me and the vacuum. I called for Mike to come see and we just sat and cheered for Will. He seemed very pleased with him self-he now loves to be clapped for! As the week went on, he got more brave and bold and even began to crawl up on his knees. He didn't go to far before he would flop and his belly and "worm", but its a start. As if this wasn't enough, he now is trying to stand on his own by pulling up on something-he saw his cousin Jake do that this weekend. For now though, we will try and master crawling, a good 8 month milestone. We are so proud of him, but this has brought on a phase that we might not have been quite ready for. Gone are the days where we can sit Will down to play in one spot. We now are running after him to keep him out of or away from something!
We have found the Will loves the bookshelf in our bedroom. Now that he can crawl he thinks it is fun to go to the shelf and take off every book.
Will and his toy basket. He took the toys out and decided to play with the basket. I think he enjoyed going into the basket more than the toys that were in the basket!