William just turned two! He didn't have a clue that March 20th was his special day because we didn't do anything to celebrate. We have family coming out next month and thought we would wait since he has no concept of when the party should be. But I was grateful to take a day and reflect on the blessing and joy he has been in to our family. I love my children's birthdays because it gives me an extra chance to celebrate the day they joined our family.
William at two weeks old. . .
And William now! This is a pretty typical snapshot of William from the past year. He has a bruise on his face, is sucking his thumb, and cuddling with his favorite stuffed animal.
Something interesting about William: he has a very high pain tolerance. He is always running into walls, resulting in massive goose eggs and bruises. He doesn't cry unless it is a serious injury. Ashley recently ran into a door frame (the same way William does) while being chased by Everett and a friend. She felt the pain so intensely that her cries went silent, her face frozen in grotesque agony, her entire body shaking. I almost cried when I saw how much she was hurting.
William has these kinds of injuries constantly. I am honestly surprised we have not had to take him to the emergency room for stitches. After the episode with Ashley, I realized how tough our little William truly is.
We just bought William some flip-flops to use this summer and after a few days of wearing them I noticed that one was hurting his left foot. His skin had been rubbed raw between his big and second toe and along the side of his foot. I don't know how I didn't notice sooner, but he never complained when I put his shoes back on him, and the discomfort didn't stop him from running around the way he normally does.
We have a lot of fun with William. He laughs the most easily of any of our children and he rarely gets angry. He has been, in many ways, the perfect toddler. He is extremely proficient at figuring out how to get into things he shouldn't, but he is also extremely obedient and eager to please me.
True to his heritage, William loves to tease. He loves the hilarity of taking a favorite toy of Everett's and running with it. He seems to have a sweet love for Ashley because he teases her less often, and always brings her favorite cats or unicorn. Sometimes she is the first person he asks for when he wakes from his nap. He loves playing with Ashley, and will happily participate in tea parties or dance showdowns.
One day he realized that Ashley loved all the purple pieces to a foam number set they were using, so he brought them to her. I haven't taught him any color names and e wouldn't be able to identify purple if you ask him to, but it was sweet that he noticed what Ashley liked and took special care to make her happy.
William doesn't love nursery but he goes reluctantly, usually without complaint, and he knows the other children's names.
He still loves to follow me all over the house and tries to help me with whatever I'm doing. I especially enjoy his attempts to help me when I take out the garbage. He grabs the empty trash can, puts a new garbage bag in it, and places it back in the cupboard before I return. I've never shown him how to do this; he just decided to do it one day and there's been no turning back.
(with a birthday present, which he must love because he sat on it in the rain today for a good twenty minutes as he sucked his thumb and got wetter and wetter.)
William is talking in short sentences and it is very fun. He ends most sentences with ,mommy--as in, "(I) Want chocolate milk, mommy." Often his sentences are half intelligible, and half jabber. He is substituting more real words for jabber every day.
I still make William eat in his high chair most of the time, so he thinks it is a real treat to eat at the table (which is over a carpeted area, hence my reluctance to move him over permanently). One week after our Family Home Evening lesson, we let William stay up to have hot chocolate and whipped cream with us. I gave him a little, and he loved it so much I don't think he stopped for breath until it was gone. When William had finished the last drop, he looked in his cup and erupted in tragically pitiful tears. He wasn't mad at us or throwing a tantrum; he was genuinely broken-hearted that it was all gone.
So I refilled his cup. William was exceptionally happy.
So, Happy Birthday to my special boy, the boy who calls out "night-night Papa!" each day as I lay him down for a nap whether Joel is around or not, the boy who loves to dance and somersault and jump around the room, the boy who loves to yell "Jimmer!" when referring to baby James, and the boy who is my cuddle bear.
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