William's Blog

My cousin was born today! His name is Tiernan Thomas. His parents are my daddy's sister Dawn and her husband Nathan. They're very proud of their little baby and glad that he's finally here. Tiernan was 7 pounds, 3 ounces and 21 inches long. He was born at home in the water. He's already a swimmer! It was okay going to see him, but all he did was sleep. I had the most fun listening to Auntie Dawn tell the story of his birth and playing with Uncle Nathan! But I know Tiernan and I will have lots of fun when he gets bigger!

Today was my 6 month visit with the doctor. I'm not growing quite as fast anymore. I'm only 21 pounds 6 ounces (95th percentile) and 28 inches (93rd percentile). So I was actually on the chart this time. But I am a big boy because I barely even cried for my shots. Mommy didn't even believe the nurses gave me the first one. The second one got a few tears though.

I got to experience my first Trivia Weekend right before Valentine's Day. It was a fun and busy time. There were lots of noisy people at Grandma and Grandpa Lanz's. I cheered on the team saying "Rrrrrr," the sound a Pull-start Diesel makes. I wished I could've told them all the answers I knew... if only I could talk. Then I know the team would have won! But they had their best year yet, so I guess they'll just have to wait to win until I get bigger.

I also got to visit my friend Holden since the last time I wrote. With me and Mommy being sick, and then our trip to Denver, we didn't get a chance to meet him until he was almost 2 months old! It was fun to see him now, though, because I'm really starting to like babies. I couldn't take my eyes off of him when Mommy was trying to take our picture. I know we are going to be good friends!

It's sure been an exciting month! It started out with a bad cold that came on after Christmas. Mommy and I both got pretty sick so we had to rest a lot.

I've been working on sitting up and now I don't need any help anymore. But it is nice when Mommy and Daddy put a pillow behind me when I'm sitting just in case I forget and fall backward. I don't like to bump my head.

Then all of a sudden Daddy found out he had to go to Denver for work and we were busy getting ready for a family vacation. I got to take my first plane ride. SunCountry is a great airline! The flight attendants are very nice. They bring you around the plane to look at the lights and the people. And they even fed my Mommy a hot sandwich, which was good for me too! Daddy flew Northwest and all he got was a bag of pretzels. Poor Daddy.

It was a lot of fun in Denver. While Daddy worked, Mommy and I walked around outside a lot. It was in the 60s and 70s with record highs while we were there so we spent lots of time on the 6th Street Mall downtown. One day was a little windy so we walked around the art museum. There was a lot of neat stuff to see. But the best part was meeting the Schmidts and the Webers who live there. All the kids were so big, I hope I can be as cool as them someday.

Our last morning in Denver when I woke up from my morning nap I actually rolled over from my front to my back on purpose for the first time! I felt almost as cool as those big kids!

When we got home I got my first taste of cereal. It didn't really taste that great, but it was a lot of fun. Eating is one of the things I like to do best.

I also like making raspberry noises and spitting all day. It keeps me very entertained. I'd love to show you sometime!

Boy am I exhausted! Christmas is great! It's noisy and there are lots of McKeevers, Webers and Lanzs. I especially liked ripping that pretty paper off of the boxes. My cousin Abi helped me! I'm not feeling very well now though. I have a stuffy nose and itchy eyes. Hopefully I'll feel better soon and have lots of good things to report!

Today I went to the doctor for my 4 month visit. I'm very healthy and growing steady. I'm still off the charts for height and weight. I weigh 19 pounds 14 ounces and I'm 27 1/2 inches long. Not quite 20 pounds yet... I tried my best. Oh, and my head circumference is in the 90th percentile at 44 cm. So in case you were wondering, I'm a big boy! Mom and Dad are starting to call me "Shaq" and "Diesel".

The doctor got to peek at that little corner of a tooth that's coming up and really bugging me. And he got to see how strong I am. I'm starting to sit up for longer times on my own. It was nice talking to the doctor. He said my mom could start giving me cereal anytime. I hope she decides to soon because I've been watching Mom and Dad eat and it looks easy. I think I want to try.

The other excitement in my life includes my mom turning 30 (my gift was sleeping through her birthday party) and making sausage with the Jims. I made some nice new friends, Samantha and Alivia, that day. Now I'm looking forward to this Christmas thing that's coming up. It sounds like a good time!

It's sure been busy around here lately! I think something big is coming because we've been going and going and going. Mom's been taking me shopping all the time. We went to the Eden Prairie Mall with Xander again. It was fun but it was a long day. We were baking cookies like crazy for about a week either at our house or at my Great-grandma Weber's. We've been going to lots of concerts. We heard Grandma and Grandpa Lanz sing in the church choir and Mom's cousin Ivy sing at her school. One day this week we went to Little Innovator's Daycare and saw this big guy with a white beard. Mom says his name is "Santa Claus Ho Ho Ho!" He was nice. I sat on his lap and he gave me a toy.

Even though we have been so busy, I've still had some time to learn some new things. I'm practicing sitting up. I can sit up by myself for 15 whole seconds! Mommy counted. And I've been having fun in the Exersaucer that my cousin Faith let me use. But I can't get those darn toys off to put them in my mouth! I love to bite on things, even though I don't have any teeth yet. It feels really good.

I keep hearing how cute I was in my Christmas picture. My puppy is there with me too, looking pretty cute, but she's black so it's hard to see her.

"Hi!" to Great-grandma and grandpa McKeever in Arizona! I hope you're reading this on your WebTV.

I hope you had a happy Thanksgiving! I know I had a great time. I spent Thanksgiving getting passed around and collecting kisses from all of the family up north in Warroad. Some of them got big kisses right back! I also got to watch lots of kids playing. Dad says those kids are my second cousins but I'm not sure what that means. I met my Great-grandpa C for the first time. He liked to call me "Sir William." I think it sounds important.

While we were up north we went to the Polaris museum. I guess my grandpa Ron used to work at Polaris when he and Grandma were first married. But they didn't give him enough of a raise so they moved down to Rice. I'm glad they didn't give him another 5 cents because then my dad met my mom and that was sure good for me!

We had dinner at Great-grandma and grandpa McKeever's house in Warroad. Great-grandma told lots of stories. She's had quite a life! She talks about writing down her stories. I hope she does so I can read them later when I'll remember them better.

On our trip we spent lots of time in the car with Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie Dawn and Uncle Nathan. It wasn't too bad. I slept a lot. When I was awake I played with toys, read books, and practiced my talking with Mommy and Grandma. I'm getting really good at "Mmmm" and even said "Moo" once! It was pretty hard work, though, so I haven't been able to do it again since.

It's nice to be home and sleeping in my own bed again. We went to Grandma and Grandpa Lanz's house to get my puppy, Belle, today. She had a good time playing with Uncle Michael while we were gone but she was happy to be home, too.

It's been a while since I've written, but I had my first cold so I was feeling a little under the weather. I'm not sure what is worse, being stuffed up or having the boogers sucked out! Yuck!

We've also been really busy. Mom brought me to scrapbook at Tonya's house one day - she has a really great bouncy seat! We went to Sharon and Ferdosi's new house where Ferdosi played with me and gave me my pacifier. We met Grandma, Great-grandma and Michael at the Holy Spirit spaghetti supper. We drove to the cities where I met some of Daddy's work friends, visited with Hallie and Seth, and made a new friend at the Eden Prairie Mall! Mom's friend Michelle had a boy named Xander in October and we all had lunch and walked around the mall together. Then yesterday we spent some time with Laura and Josh Honkomp and went to a baby shower for Holden Evenson who will be born at Christmastime. So as you can see, it's been really busy lately!

I'm learning new things every day. One of my new favorite activities is singing. I joined in the song at church today. Mom even gave me my pacifier because I sounded so good, so I kept right on singing! Hopefully I'll get to sing a song for you sometime.

My mom and dad got me all dressed up in that cute bear suit that Tonya lent us and we drove around visiting my grandparents, great-grandma, and our old neighbors Ryan and Michelle in their new house. Everyone said I was so cute! I also got to

On All Saints Day, Mom took me to mass at her old school St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. I had a good time playing with the toys in my carseat. I learned how to bat at them and make them jingle! Then we visited the teachers who always coo and say how cute I am. We need to go there more often.

Speaking of how cute I am... my mom and dad took some pictures of me with pumpins right before Halloween. See the outside ones and the INSIDE ones!

I woke up this morning in my new crib from Grandpa Ron happy and cooing. No more bars to wedge my head against, now I have lots of room to wiggle!

Mommy dressed me in my Halloween costume that Tonya lent us. I sure liked it in that bear suit! Too bad I can't say "trick or treat" and eat candy yet this Halloween.

Speaking of tricks, I learned a new one today! I learned to play with toys! Chiming Charlie has lots of great places to grab... and he doesn't taste bad either! Mommy said she wished she had a video camera for the first time.