The Joys of Raising a Boy

When I got pregnant, Jerry wanted a boy.  I didn't really care either way, so since Jerry wanted a boy, I hoped for one too.  Little did I know what I was hoping for, because he is 110% boy!!

Will loves to wrestle around in the floor.  One of his favorite things has always been the "hugging, kissing, or tickle machine" game where I "trap" him in one of the aforementioned "machines" while he tries to escape.  Well leave it up to my typical boy to invent his own type of machine!  At first Will had me happily trapped in the hugging machine, then he switched it to a kissing machine.  A minute later he pauses, looks at me with his eyes full of a smile bigger than the one on his lips, sticks out his pointer finger at me, and comes slowly closer saying "Now....you're....in.....the..........NOSE PICKING MACHINE!!!"  Despite any aversion to nose picking I may have ever had I couldn't contain my laughter! 

Will has also been working at copying all the tricks the older kids in the neighborhood can do on the scooter.   

Will's Vacation

Will had such a fun time during his vacation week.  Craig took off Tuesday to be with him and he spent Monday and Tuesday nights with Jenny, Craig, and Brittney.  Mom and Kristen took off Wednesday through Friday to keep him. 

Jenny and Brittney took him to the park Tuesday evening and Craig took his motorcycle for a ride then stopped by the park.  As Craig was leaving Will asked Jenny where he was going.  Jenny told him Craig was going home and Will asked where he lived.  Jenny told him Craig lives at her house, of course!  Will thought about if for a second then said "Well, doesn't he have a job he goes to or something?"  : )

Jenny has a fear of running out of toilet paper so she keeps a basket of it sitting beside the toilet.  While Will was using the bathroom he yelled out and asked Jenny "Nenny, do you collect toilet paper?"  : )  Craig and Brittney got a good laugh from that one, especially since they also find her "collection" excessive!

Then Brittney sat down with Will to write his name.  As she was writing, Will told her she was doing it wrong.  Apparently she was writing William rather than Will because he said she was using too many letters!  He said his mommy doesn't use that many letters! 

On Wednesday morning Craig was back to work (yes, he DOES have a job he goes to) and Jenny was getting ready to leave for work too.  Will realized that he was going to be there by himself with Brittney.  Apparently that worried him because he stood up on the chair, put his hand on his hip and asked Jenny "What am I supposed to do with Brittney here all day?  She doesn't even have a car!"  : )

While we were with mom on Saturday we went to the Street Scene car show.  Will saw a little racing car and wanted to buy it.  I explained to him that it was a raffle drawing - you gave them $2 and then if you were lucky you might win the car, or someone else might win it.  Then all the money everyone paid went to sick children in the hospital. (He opted to save his $2).  The next day at the fair Grandad was playing the Fat Albert game.  You place your quarter on the color hole that you think the white rat will run into when he is released.  Grandad was giving Will some quarters to play with, but neither of them were winning.  After each round the game operator collected the quarters that everyone was betting.  Will watched as his and Grandad's quarters were collected and they were getting nothing in return.  He then asked if those quarters were going to sick children in the hospital and I told him no that the game operators kept them.  After that, he asked Grandad if he could just keep his quarter instead!  Smart boy!

Craig and Brittney took Will to McDonald's while he was with them
on Tuesday.

Will enjoying some Pop Rocks.  (I had to laugh because Jenny's text
that accompanied this picture pointed out that Will arrived at her house with the
Pop Rocks and that she did NOT buy them for him!) 

Mom and Kristen took Will to the West Virginia State Fair and found
sand to play in (you never know what you'll find at the fair!!).

Will was so excited at Amazement Square that mom couldn't get a
picture that wasn't a blur!

Kristen and Will building a car on pajama day.

Mom had lots of pictures of the fun things they did all week, but forgot to save them on her camera phone!  Pajama day, camp out, flashlight tag, Amazement Square in Lynchburg, Lake Moomaw beach, digging in the dirt, and playing a board game Kristen invented out of Uno Spin were just some of the things I remember they did.  Pictures would have been fun to have but what really counts are the memories Will will always have!  He can't wait to do it again (hint, hint)!  : )

In reality I think it would be really hard for me to leave him and go again.  I hadn't told him that Jerry and I were taking a trip because I was afraid he might get upset about us leaving him.  As I was reviewing the slide show I created of the trip Will climbed up beside me to watch too (because he heard the music playing).  He saw a picture of Jerry and I and he asked where he was.  I told him he was at Grandma's house when we took that picture.  Through the next several slides he kept asking "Did you and Daddy go there too?"  Then he commented that he liked the foggy beach and asked why he didn't go with us.  Thankfully he was happy with the explanation that he was on his vacation at Grandma's house but it broke my heart that he realized we had gone without him.  I never imagined that at his age he would look at those pictures and piece it together that we had taken a trip without him!  : (

Our Trip to Maine

Jerry and I had a wonderful trip to Maine and Will had a great time staying with Grandma and Jenny.  We missed him sooo much but it was great to have some time to ourselves too. 

Mom and Kristen did such a great job keeping Will busy that I don't think he ever even missed me!  Aside from the one meltdown which resulted from being overly tired.  At that point mom suggested that it might not be a good idea to touch the TV screen and it went downhill fast from there!  Thankfully there was a "gooey geyser" (a big water fountain) in front of Amazement Square in Lynchburg when they arrived there and that snapped him out of his bad mood (yes - he stubbornly insisted through the whole 2-hour trip there that he wasn't getting out of the car!) 

Despite the fact that Will wasn't ready to come home, I missed him so badly that we decided to cut our trip short and come home a day early.  Mom and Aunt Andrea brought Will back home Saturday and spent a couple days visiting.

We saw a Porcupine

We were driving home from the grocery store today and saw a baby porcupine at the entrance to our neighborhood!  He was sooo cute!  We see dead ones along the road in Pennsylvania (which is unusual to us since we never saw any in Virginia) but this was the first time we've seen a live one!  He was eating in a grassy area and when we pulled up he slowly started working his way back to the bushes but he never really got in a big hurry at all.  He was adorable!

Vacation at Grandma's House

Will and I spent the weekend in Covington before we started our respective vacations this week.  We had a fun weekend with visiting the Street Scene car show on Saturday and going to the West Virginia State Fair on Sunday.  On the way home from the fair Will was suddenly able to snap his fingers and actually make a noise!

Will chose to spend his money at the fair on a toy instead of a ride (smart choice - I was proud).  He picked out a beach ball on a stick that he called a punching ball.  The quote of the day resulted when he wanted the ball hung up so he could hit it.  He suggested that mom could use tape to hang it up and mom told him that was a good idea and that she had some duct tape.  Will was quiet briefly then asked "How will we use duck take to tape down a duck?"

Will enjoyed checking out all the cars at Street Scene on Saturday.

Mom's neighbor won this little race car in a raffle at Street Scene.  He came
over and took Will for a ride in it, which Will absolutely loved. 

Today Will went to spend the night with Jenny, Craig, and Brittney, and I left to drive back to PA.  Jerry and I are taking a road trip to Maine and through some of the New England states while Will visits with Jenny tomorrow then mom and Kristen the rest of the week.  I am so excited to have some time alone with Jerry, but it was so incredibly hard to leave Will today!  Even though I know we are all going to have a great time this week, I just miss him so much already!!! 

When I called Jenny to check on Will this evening she told me I left out a key part of Will's care instructions when I sent my email earlier.  (Yes, I have turned into the paranoid mother who sent a VERY long email to mom and Jenny detailing Will's schedule!)  Apparently however, I neglected to mention the very specific way Will likes his peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  (One piece of bread with just peanut butter, folded in half and one piece with just jelly, folded in half.)  A huge meltdown resulted when Jenny served him a normal peanut butter and jelly sandwich!  Thankfully Will's "Nenny" knew just how to fix the problem and she promptly got out the peanut butter, jelly, and bread and told him to show her how to make one the "right" way.  Of course the fun of spreading the gooey PB&J immediately ended the meltdown!  Score one for Jenny!!

Playing in the Rain

We didn't do much this morning since it had rained and was wet outside.  When it started raining again after lunch we took advantage of the chance to go play in the downpour.  It really rained hard so water was flowing quickly in the road.  Will had fun splashing in the "streams."  The rain stopped after about 10 minutes or so but Will was still having fun playing in the puddles (he found the only puddle in the road with dirt in it, of course!)  Strangely, after the rain ended we heard a loud clap of thunder so we came inside.  It must have been an isolated incident because I didn't hear anymore thunder afterwards and no rain followed.  It was just enough to put an end to our fun! 

Huntingdon County Fair

We went to the Huntingdon County fair this evening.  Jerry and Will went to the demolition derby while we were there.  I chose to sit and watch people and spend my $10 ticket price on more greasy fair food!!  : )

Will was excited to sit with his friend Caleb during the derby.  He took a dumdum lollipop to share with him but that didn't compare to the cotton candy that Monica, Caleb's mom, shared.  Between Will and Caleb they ate almost the whole bag!  Will could barely contain himself at all.  It's a good thing the fair only comes once a year!

Monica sent me this picture of the boys "sword fighting" with
their lollipop sticks!

MWV Picnic at DelGrosso's

Today MWV hosted a company picnic at DelGrosso's.  Unfortunately it was pouring rain.  We had lunch and got to ride a couple rides before the rain started.  We were in line with Lindsay, Natalee, and Brady to ride the scrambler when it started drizzling again.  Just as we were boarding the ride the rain really started.  Natalee opted to skip the ride in favor of shelter, but not Will or Brady of course!  I was so thankful that Lindsay offered to ride with both kids to save at least one of us from getting drenched!  I really can't stand wet clothing so I owe her a big one!!  And they all three were completely soaked by the time the ride ended!  Lindsay commented though that it was the most fun ride she has had on the scrambler since the kids thought the rain was so much fun.  They were catching raindrops on their tongues, squealing, and then purposefully squishing each other. 

We left after that and rode to Altoona briefly.  The weather had improved on our way back through so we stopped back by for a few more rides.  By that time though Will had missed his nap so we couldn't linger long.

Will in the new shirt we had to buy since he was wet and cold in Altoona!
Thank goodness for summer clearance racks!  : )

Jerry's Battle Scar

As Jerry put it - he got into a fight with an elbow and lost on Thursday!

MeadWestvaco hosted a 3 on 3 basketball tournament for employees and Jerry got sucked into playing.  He took a hit to his eye but didn't realize how bad it was until he saw the blood start flowing.  Jerry really didn't want to go to the hospital but at everyone's insistence he gave in.  He called me on the way to have me meet him but mostly to have me find a doctor to see him without going to the Emergency Room.  His wallet was definitely hurting him worse than his head!!  He did manage to avoid the E.R. but couldn't avoid the six stitches he needed!

Will was really concerned about Jerry.  He told me if he had been there he would have put some paper towels IN Jerry's eye.  I kept asking if he meant on his cut and he kept saying no, IN his eye.  Finally I asked him if he thought that would be very nice and he told me that it would keep Jerry from seeing the cut because it always hurts more if you look at it!  Then he told me he was going to give Daddy some of his favorite cereal when we got home and that he could eat the whole box if he wanted to!

This is a perfect illustration of the difference between men and women:
Blood is dripping from an open wound and the first thought
is to capture it on the iPhone!!
(In Mark's defense though he was kind to drive Jerry to the hospital -
after he got a good picture!) 

  

Swimming Lessons

Will took swimming lessons this week at the Huntingdon pool.  It wasn't a great week for swimming since Wednesday through Friday it was cloudy and the temperature never even reached 80.  Will complained of being cold so he didn't participate very much.  Suspiciously though on the last day they reserved the last 15 minutes for free-play and he never said a word about being cold then!  I think most of his problem stemmed from the fact that I was there rather than from the cold.  He tends to listen better in my absence!

Overall the week wasn't a complete waste.  He did learn how to use his little swim board, which he was very excited about and he made some progress with blowing bubbles and partially submerging his nose.

Will practicing on the swim board.

Will's Gator

I gave in to Will and Jerry and we got Will a John Deere Gator ride-on toy this week.  Will had been saving his money to buy one (he had $8 saved up).  We found a used one on Craigslist (though it was a bit more than $8) and we rode toward Pittsburg to pick it up.  Will was of course incredibly excited to finally get his Gator.  He was less than thrilled however about paying the toll to get there.  Grandma Margie had given him two more dollars toward his Gator before she left and Will had put them in the kitchen drawer to save.  We pulled them out to take with us as we left and ended up using them to pay the tolls in each direction.  Well when Will noticed that we had used those two dollars at the toll he questioned it and said he wanted them back.  Despite our best efforts to explain that we had to spend those dollars to get his Gator, he broke down into a huge crying fit.  He said he hated tolls and that they stole his money and he wanted it back!  I knew he was upset so I didn't let him see me laughing but it really was hilarious.  I've wanted to do the same thing at toll booths before (in particular the time we spent $15 in tolls in New Jersey!)

Fortunately the toll money was forgotten once he got to enjoy riding his Gator.  It was the attraction of the neighborhood when he started riding it (even though Colton across the street has one just like it!)  At one point that evening we had eight kids riding various things around the yard!  It was really fun though a bit scary to watch the near misses!

Even the dogs enjoyed a ride.  Josie didn't stay in long before she
jumped out but Napoleon rode the whole time.  I think he enjoyed
surveying his territory without walking the whole way!

 

Grandma and Grandma Came to Visit

Mom and Grandma Margie came up this weekend.  Mom took the day off on Friday so we had a bit longer visit, which was so nice.  Friday we just relaxed and played with Will in the driveway.  On Saturday we packed a picnic lunch and went to Spring Creek Park.  After the park we did a bit of shopping in State College before we headed back to Paesano's where Grandma treated us to dinner.



Will was "fishing" using a stick to catch
leaves as they floated by.

Grandma proudly shows off Will's big fish.

Will worked for a long time building what he called a "contest."
It resembled a fort of some type.

Each rock had to be in exactly the right sopt.

Grandma Margie helped gather some rocks, but Will always had to
decide precisely where they were placed.

Will gathered a few rocks too but as he
carried this one back he drooped the whole way
and had this feigned pitiful exhausted look on
his face - it was hilarious!

Will joined Grandma for a break on the bench.