Will

 William: will, desire for protection, protector!  When Will was born a year and a half ago (CRAZY it has gone so fast) we named him after my dad, honestly we did not know what the name William meant.  Now I do and it is amazing how it fits so well for this child that was given to us 18 months ago!  Within days after Will's birth I knew he was a fighter, a child with a strong will to live, and a child that was protected in so many ways and hopefully will grow up to be a protector (he really already is which I will explain later).  If it isn't obvious yet, this entry is completely about Will and the absolute joy he has brought me every day of these last 18 months!

It seems like so long ago that I sat with my hand on this tiny child's head, praying and yelling at God, my heart aching and breaking.  Even that day, I never dreamed how much joy would come after a few days of utter fear and sorrow.  I should have known on this day that we had a fighter, a "Will" to live!

March 21, 2010

Fight he did, and 1 month later the joy was abounding!  When I found out I was pregnant I was so excited, I thought how awesome it would be but let me tell you, I had no idea!  You can't prepare a first time mother for the love they will have for this child, for the joy the child will bring to them.  Every day of Will's life, he has reminded me of a love no one can explain or attempt to prepare you for!



1 month old!

Over the last 18 months, Will has been the happiest child I have ever known.  He laughs, smiles, talks, dances on a regular basis.  I can count on one hand how many times I have had to "fight" with him to get him to go to bed.  He goes down easily, stays asleep unless he is sick, and at times wakes up in the morning or from his nap with the quietest and sweetest little conversations.  Sometimes I have wondered how long he sits in his crib awake because he is so content I don't hear him but I know he is up.  Of course he has come with all of the things of a normal child, the "no's", refusals, throwing food on the ground, crying when he doesn't get his way, and other things.  But I can honestly say, the majority of the time he is full of joy!

Will didn't walk until 14.5 months, but once he figured it out, he never turned back.  Within weeks he was running, now he can be out of sight in no time (maybe he got the speed I am lacking)!  He does not stop, he is constantly moving, he doesn't like to sit and eat a meal, he would rather be on the go.  I love it, he moves around the house or wherever we are, telling me all about anything and everything with a smile on his face.



In the field at Nonnie and Pops!

I would not consider Will a picky eater, he will eat a piece of green bean or asparagus as fast as peanut butter depending on the day and time.  He is not a good eater though because he doesn't want to be bothered with sitting still and doing so!  But one thing is for sure, he loves his "num nums", so much even that his cousins call him Mr. Num Num.



Enjoying a Num Num on the deck!

I knew when Will smiled at 1 month old that we had a happy child that was full of smiles.  He smiles more than anything else!  At this point it seems that he thoroughly enjoys life and all that it has with it!  He loves the water, he stands at the back door now and points to the hose so he can go play in the water.  He LOVES his bath, and he loves the pool.  Pretty much he loves everything!  At all of his check ups his pediatrician has explained that "stranger anxiety" is a natural thing and a good thing.  He has followed that up with, "but Will doesn't have that so be careful!"  Will has started to protest when I leave him in nursery and he definitely protested at Miss L's for the first few weeks.  But he loves people, he smiles and waves at everyone! 



A glimpse of what you will see when you see Will!



Will is my joy, but as you can see by the next picture, he is his daddy's joy too!  When Will was born, the Ping rep gave Austin a gift, a Ping putter that was 22 inches long with his name, date of birth, weight (8 lbs. 10 oz.) and height (22in.) engraved on the club!  We have had so much fun taking pictures with this club and finally were able to let Will try it out!  His first of many lessons with daddy!  After this picture was taken, he promptly found it more enjoyable to run back to the fairway and move move move! 



First Golf Lesson!



 Will loves to play chase.  He loves to run away from you and laugh until he can't laugh anymore!  His favorite person to play this game with is Pop.  Will frequently mouths and says Pop because he loves Pop so much!  He also loves to climb.  My bad mom admission: I was in the kitchen with him, turned around for a second, and back around to see him up on the kitchen table.  He amazes me.  When Will wants to do something he knows he shouldn't, he looks at me and explains to me why he thinks it is okay.  I tell him to do something else, he does what he wants and when I scold him he explains why it was okay!  At one point he bumped his head and through tears he was pointing and "talking" about what happened!

One of his many climbing excursions!

So basically, if you can't tell yet, I love this child with all of my heart.  Will is the joy of every day.  Sure there are difficult times with him, he is human, I am human, and we are sinners.  But at the end of the day I sit down, take a deep breath and smile. 

Over the last month and a half, Will has in his own way protected me.  Yep, 18 months old protecting my 30 year old self!  I have cried, I have sobbed, I have curled up in a ball and screamed, but each time this happens I think of the child asleep in the crib and know that God is so good, that God protected him and gave him to me so that we may have these wonderful days together!

Will has been sick over the last week but this has not affected his smiles and laughs.  Today I had planned on going on a ride but I chose to cancel the sitter and stay with Will.  He seemed well enough that we went to the canal for a run.  Will sat in the BOB and enjoyed the cool morning, waving and smiling at all we passed.  We ran 5 miles this morning (YEP 5 and no walk breaks!).  What kept me going: the fun intervals of hide and seek that made him laugh that amazing little laugh that I love so much!  He is my joy, he is my everything, he is the child that I prayed for and I can't imagine my life without him. 

Finally, some things he does at 18 months old:

*He talks ALOT, much you cannot understand but he has a lot of intelligible words and he attempts to copy EVERYTHING you say. 

*He has quite a few animal noises that he does

*He runs, climbs, runs some more, and climbs some more

*I have always been amazed with his fine motor skills, he can lock doors (which can be a problem when I am on the other side), complete peg boards, open bottles (Yikes), turn pages......

*He LOVES to skype and has a lot to say

*He still loves to dance, his skills have grown and his dances involve a lot more movement, he still prefers R&B

*He scribbles

*He eats applesauce, yogurt....with a spoon with small amounts of spills.  He likes the fork but still has a hard time "stabbing" everything.

*He loves the BOB and Kelty (his hiking pack carrier)

and Finally: he loves, laughs, lives and brings me so much joy.

I love you Will!