Back to the beach!

Today was our first official family beach day for 2009! Will was a very good sport during this excursion--he slept for almost 2 hours in the BOB (his SUV-like stroller). Thanks, Will! When he was awake, he really enjoyed being outside and near the water. We didn't swim with him today, as the water is still a bit too cold for him (but not for us!).

Will is sporting his new swim attire, which I bought for him while he was still in the womb!

A genuine smile--he must be a beach baby! Whew! What would we do with a baby who didn't like the beach!?

Justin took Will on a walk down the beach in the Baby Bjorn carrier. He loved that too!

OK, the hat is too small, but it served its purpose today. And I love it and hate to part with it!

Bathtime for two

Will went on his first long road trip Monday and Tuesday this week, when Tracy and I went to visit our good friend Amy. Amy and her family live in Vestal, NY, which is outside of Binghamton. Tracy and I used to work with Amy, and we miss her dearly! Will loved being with another baby! Ella is 6 months older than Will, and I think her excellent mobility--walking, running, jumping, climbing, etc.--inspired Will to move more. He started working harder than ever to crawl as soon as we got home. Go, Will, go!

Anyway, I digress...I did a TERRIBLE job of documenting this trip (oops!!!), but we did capture bathtime. This was Will's first non-solo bath! He liked it, for the most part, but he isn't quite as comfortable with splashing and yells of excitement as Ella is! :-)

Ella and Will. Will had to taste Ella's bath toys to make sure they were legit. :-)

So serious!

Will loves having things on his head and then trying to make them fall off. He likes it even better when I put something on my head and make it fall!

Will borrowed Ella's towel. He looks good in pink!

Bouncing around!

While Justin went kayaking for two days, Will and I had some quality time. He loves his "Johnny Jump Up" these days, so he spent some time in it while I folded laundry. Peso is not one to be left out of the fun, so he hung out with us too.

Something smells suspicious... (and I don't even think Will knew Peso was doing this!)

I had to put a hat on Will because he kept bouncing into the bright sunlight!

Just hangin'. Peso was dangerously close...and oddly not worried about it at all!

Eating Cheerios and bouncing. What could be better?!

Our sunset picnic

Last week we went down to our neighborhood's common land to celebrate the start of our summer break! Will was in his PJs, but we let him stay up a little bit later just this one time! ;-)

The view from our blanket.

The scene.

Cuddles with my baby!

So amused by Daddy!

More from the picnic...

I love capturing Will's many expressions! Enjoy!

Interested and amused!

Will gets a kick out of just about anything--including chewing on the lid of a tennis ball container!

Smiling for the camera--messy face and all!

He KNOWS he's cute!

Will and the chicks

We hatched chicks in my first grade classroom, so it's been an exciting week. I also want to enter Will into a baby photo contest for a clothing company (Zutano). I just have to post a picture on their Facebook page of Will in a Zutano outfit. He's wearing part of the outfit here (minus the hat and booties on this 90 degree day!). I thought it would be perfect to pose him with a couple of our chicks, since it's a farm print outfit. A guaranteed winner, right? Not so much. He had a strange grimace on his face the whole time, as you'll see... but the pics are still kinda cute! I WILL try again. I'm determined to get some free baby clothes! :-) Might have to bring a chick home...

A visit with Grandma and Grandpa...

My parents were in town from Friday until today. We had lots of fun times...but Grandma was the official photographer. She got so many great pictures of Will! So, Mom, could you forward those to me and I'll post them on the blog? In the meantime, I have a few from my camera. Sorry it's been so long, loyal blog fans! I haven't been taking pictures and I am not sure why! It's Spring! Time to take outdoor photos! I promise I'll catch up on that soon...

These silly plastic Easter eggs are still a favorite with Will. He is easily entertained by them. Especially when he finds the eggs with rice in them--they make noise!!!

Hmm...green or blue? Thanks for playing with me, Grandma!

I choose blue. Now do you want it? (His fine motor skills are quite good lately! Now if he'd just crawl, already!)

Mmm...feeding time. Grandma fed Will often and gave him lots of long baths. He loved it!

Gorgeous

I love watching Will sleep. I think he is just so beautiful. I know I'm his mom, but just LOOK at him! It reminds me of his newborn days. These pictures were taken after a day trip to Montpelier. He was exhausted!

Will's first trip to the bar

OK, it wasn't really Will's first trip to a bar! I think we took care of that in the first few days of his life. ;-) Bar/restaurants of course! We went out for lunch at McGillicuddy's Irish Pub in Montpelier. Fitting for the Maloney clan, don't you think?!

My handsome boys.

The Maloney girls (plus one boy).

Will loves to play with people's faces. Sounds weird, but it's quite cute!

Maybe he gets his obsession with people's faces from our obsession with his! He's just so darn kissable!

More with G&G

Grandpa couldn't get enough peeks of Will!

The Vermont State House in Montpelier.

A happy Vermont family.

Oops! Grandpa cut Will out of the pic!

Will's Triple Play

Will had an exciting week--three visits to the doctor! The first was on his 9-month birthday, April 28, for his regular check-up. It was also Justin's birthday, but for this story that's neither here nor there. The doc said he was indeed quite congested (one of my concerns) and that it sounded like a sinus infection. Poor guy! After much discussion--yes, I'm a high-maintenance parent--she prescribed antibiotics. Two days later, he was really fussy, pulling at his ears, and feverish. I picked him up early at daycare and took him to the doc again--double ear infection! It was his first. Yuck. Today: Justin picks him up from daycare and his cheeks are red. Gets home, puts him the stroller for a walk, and notices during the walk that Will's red and bumpy all over. Calls the pediatrician and they say to bring him in. So Justin walks right over (we live 1/2 mile from the office!) and it seems Will was having an allergic reaction to Amoxicillan. So now he's taking an antihistamine and is off the antibiotic!

So, I hope that's it with doctor visits for a while! By the way, his ears are better now--they checked them today at the visit for the allergic reaction.

Even though Will is a small guy for his age--18-1/2 pounds, 28 inches long--he does love to eat and has a healthy appetite! He LOVES to feed himself and doesn't mind getting messy, as documented in the photos below...

He now enjoys smiling for the camera. Our little Leo baby loves attention!

Look, his first fake smile! C'mon, Mom, I'm eating!!! Leave me alone!

Oh, OK. I am pretty darned cute, aren't I? He's eating avocado and banana. Messy!

Now back to the business of trying to get at least a few pieces into his mouth!