Hankster

William Henry is quite a piece of work these days. I have a bit of a skewed view of this little man. He is so petite and small and is still not walking so in many ways I still feel like he's a little baby. But, the reality is that he just turned 15 months and is every bit of a toddler without the toddling aspect. He may still be wearing infant clothing and is refusing to walk, but he acts along the lines of a 2 year old.

He is one picky eater. We were spoiled with Matthew who will willingly eat almost anything at any time, and I knew that the second time around things would be different. I can count on one hand the number of fruits and vegetables that he eats, and he's also quite particular about his proteins. What kills me is that he won't eat cheese. How could he refuse? Probably the most annoying food habit he has right now is his food throwing. I think he displays his most unbecoming behavior in the high chair. If we had a dog this might not be such a big deal, but here at our house it's just plain frustrating. I still offer him the foods he hates just to see if he'll change his mind, but inevitably they end up on the floor. Once the throwing begins his mealtime is over.

For a good week or so he was refusing any forms of breakfast. Until I made Matt a bowl of oatmeal. He wanted it. So since then he has demanded a bowl of oatmeal first thing upon waking. I can't put the boy down until I have a steaming bowl of it otherwise he screams. So, he sits on my hip as I make the coffee all the while grabbing at whatever he can. Once the bowl emerges from the microwave he can't wait for it to cool down. I add milk to it so it stops steaming, but it's still hot. He's not waiting. Big, huge tears if you delay. Then he's in the high chair and he devours the whole bowl.

I let him try out the sand box for the first time the other day. He loved it. Hopefully this will bode well for the beach in a few weeks!

Will also loves to try and put on clothes. It's hilarious to watch. Yesterday I was going through his closet and putting away clothes that are miraculously too small for him, and he grabbed two onesies and played with them for a good half hour. He tried to put them over his head, he tried to put them on his feet and then he rolled around with them on the floor laughing at himself. So silly. I tried to take them away at one point and he immediately melted into tears. He tries to put just about any object on his feet as a shoe. When he gets the plastic bowls out in the kitchen he holds them over his feet. It's so cute.

Will loves to play in his bed and has taken to throwing his blanket over the rails lately. He doesn't cry for it, thankfully. He hasn't attached to it (yet) like Matt is to his. He gets so excited to feel his little legs walking only if he's pushing something (car, dump truck, bike, laundry basket, chair, or anything at all) or if you hold his hands for few steps. His face just lights up, but yet he won't just bite the bullet and walk. One of his favorite activities is to play on Matthew's bed with him. He buries his head in the pillows and blankets and then rolls over and giggles hysterically. He's still hot on Matthew's trail which is either much to Matt's delight or his frustration depending on the moment. It's fascinating to watch their sibling dynamic develop.

He's a delightful little boy. He's like Matthew in some ways but in many ways is not. He's a whole other adventure that brings me joy everyday. I love that little Will.

Berry Pickin'

Matthew's friend Ava invited him to spend the night on Wednesday. Matthew was more than excited. I asked him if he wanted me to come pick him up on Thursday morning so he could come to Bible study with me and he said, "No thanks Mommy, I want to stay with Ava." Big surprise there. I am told they had a wonderful time and even slept together in Ava's room which may be why they woke up at 6 a.m.

Will & I met up with them after Bible study and we all rode out to Marble Falls to the strawberry farm. Both my kids took a nice little snooze on the way there. The ride was so nice--I enjoyed looking at all the beautiful flowers and scenery around me as we wound through the hill country. We pulled up to the farm and there were probably 6 cars in the parking lot. I couldn't believe it. We've made the trek 3 years now and the place is always packed with bus loads of school kids. I think the threat of rain must have scared people off, but it sure was cool to basically have the place to ourselves. We ate our picnic lunch first while it was very lightly sprinkling.

Then Matt & Ava sprinted over to the goats and fed them lots of grass.

I put Will in the wagon and we headed out to the field to gather our fruit. The berries were huge this year; bigger than I've ever seen them. And so plentiful! Ava & Matt had a good time finding big, red ones. As you can see, Will was diving out of the wagon desperately trying to get his hands on the berries. I freed him from the wagon and he got so very disgustingly filthy. His hands were caked with dirt and he kept trying to suck his thumb but then would fuss that his hands were dirty and didn't taste good. Poor guy. Not the easiest age to deal with in such an environment, but we made it work!

We piled up our box high with delicious strawberries and paid for them so we could then eat them. Aunt Joy bought the kids a yummy cup of strawberry ice cream to eat before we headed back. As I was changing Will's clothes in the trunk of the car it began to rain and continued all the way home.

Now I'm contemplating what to make with all my strawberries. Cupcakes? Pie? Shortcake? Margaritas? So many possibilities.

Fun

We attended a birthday party this weekend that Matthew thoroughly enjoyed. It was a kids' gym type place with actual gymnastics equipment, trampolines, a bounce house, a foam pit and a little zip line. Matt ran all over that place and loved every second of it. I spent the day looking at gymnastics classes in Austin online since he loved it so much. I think he may finally be ready to do something like that. I was impressed that he hung onto the zip line and the rings without falling. I'm glad he had such fun doing it.

He wasn't the only one. William was all over that place too. That kid loves to climb and try to do whatever the big kids are doing. He stared at Matt as he went sailing over his head on the zip line. I bounced him on the trampoline and he giggled and screeched at me to do it again and again. Strangers were photographing him because he was having so much fun and was oh so adorable. There's something about that boy--people are drawn to him. Kid's got charisma!

We went to the Quarries the other day to attempt to catch some fish and to feed the ducks our old bread. Some bread was thrown to the ducks. Most of it went into the mouths of my children. They were fighting over the stale bread. Craziness.

On another note, why do I get more unsolicited parenting advice at the grocery store than anywhere else? Just today I had one lady tell me that my son was going to poke himself with that toothpick (thanks for the free samples, HEB!) and another younger woman reprimanded me for letting my son sit on his knees unbuckled in his bench seat. Oh good grief, people. Can't you just smile at me and tell me my children are cute and just let me be on my way? It's 5:30 on a Sunday afternoon at a packed grocery store...give me a break!

Easter Weekend

We've had a lot to celebrate over the past several days! It was a busy weekend full of fun things to do. We got it all started on Friday when we went to the Rener's for a little Easter crafting and baking fun. The kids made chicks and bunnies out of plastic eggs, we dyed real eggs, read the Easter story via Resurrection eggs, decorated sugar cookies and made resurrection rolls. Caroline & Mary Claire were supposed to join us but poor Caroline came down with strep throat. We really missed them! Ava & Matt made some impressive piles of sprinkles on top of those cookies. They didn't see, but later as I packed them up I shook off the extreme excess of sprinkles on some of them. They had a great time and were chock full of sugar ALL day.

Saturday we attended two birthday parties in the afternoon. The first one had a cool bounce house that Matt disappeared into only to emerge for gulps of juice. He also got to enjoy a cupcake AND a coke float. Yeah. The second party was at the park near our house, and Matt got to enjoy yet another piece of cake. It was a great day.

Sunday morning the boys enjoyed going through their Easter baskets. I think Matt is a little confused as to which one of them got what even though he & Will have separate baskets. He's laying claim to the Curious George jack-in-the-box even though it's really Will's, but that's okay. What's mine is yours, right? At least until Will slobbers on it. We went to church and enjoyed an amazing service. I really, really love our church. Our pastor is on a roll lately, and Sunday after Sunday delivers a dynamic, heart-grabbing, God-breathed sermon that gets me thinking and calls me to action. And the music was incredible. We serve a risen Savior--hallelujah!

After church everyone gathered at our house for one delicious ham-centered lunch. It was all of us Joneses, Bryan & his family, Zach & Joy & family, and Paul & Rachel. It was a house full of fun! I really enjoyed the day with my family and friends. It's so fun to watch all the cousins playing together. Will definitely stirs things up--or destroys things, depending on who you ask. Hope everyone had a blessed Easter!