Barnyard Fun

Last weekend we took a quick trip to a local garden center to pick up a few bushes to replace the ones that died in our flowerbed along the house. Walking around a bunch of expensive, prickly and wet plants is not an ideal place to let Willa roam. However, this is very family friendly garden center. They have goats, chickens, geese, ducks and swans!!! The ladies encouraged us to go feed the goats and handed us a bag of animal crackers (ironically enough). Had I known about the photographic opportunities I would have done three things differently -

1. The pictures were taken using Daren's cell phone. The pictures are good but I wish we had our nice camera.
2. I would have dressed Willa in a cuter outfit or at least pants that aren't two inches too short.
3. I would have showered and worn my contacts.

Willa's initial reaction to the goats is just precious. Interestingly, the goats did not hold her attention for long. She wanted to chase the geese. Are geese friendly?

Expressing Her Opinions

Shoulder ride to get her back in the house

Willa is just shy of 17 months old but she seems to be full of opinions well beyond her age. A food Willa previously loved suddenly gets batted across the kitchen. I'm constantly sitting in the wrong spot on the floor while leaning against the couch. It seems I'm always sitting in the exact spot that Willa needs to be. Daren's suggestion of things to mention includes: hats, shoes and teeth brushing.

We jest, but most of the neighborhood has witnessed Willa's opinion of when someone tries to interrupt her pacing walking up and down the sidewalks. Heaven forbid someone try to turn her around to face her away from the road...BHJEHWJWAAAAAAA.

Willa is the happiest when she is outside. So many cars to wave at and blow kisses to. Also, we have lots of dogs in the neighborhood. When the young boys are playing basketball or hockey is when she has the toughest time containing her excitement while shouting ball.

Have we mentioned that Willa has a posse?? Actually, all the toddlers and babies in the neighborhood are subject to fangirling. The upper elementary and middle school kids are so good with the young ones. Daren and I have been able to get work done inside and outside the house for the past two weekends because the girls in the neighborhood came over to watch Willa. There is no way we could have hung a ceiling fan with Willa wreaking havoc around our ankles. Fingers crossed our fabulous weather returns and we can all be outside again this weekend.

Walking and Talking

Here is just a glimpse of Willa's decision to become a full fledged walking toddler. Actually, this video is outdated because she has started to run! I think we owe all of the credit for the running to baby Connor from daycare. Thanks buddy!

Grandma Green Visit Recap

Grandma Green came down south to watch Willa for a week while our daycare provider went on vacation to Florida. Nothing real exciting was planned for the visit. Unfortunately, mom visited at a time when there wasn't a home men's basketball game for UNC. Maybe next year she can make the visit be when UNC plays Duke. I think she would enjoy that contest. 

It wasn't Iowa cold but it was a bit chilly for North Carolina. I was hoping that the 60 degree temps from the day of mom's arrival would last for the week. Oh well, Willa and mom got to spend a little bit of time strolling the neighborhood looking for doggies. 

I think Willa's language flourished during mom's visit. Her animal sounds increased from a doggie saying woof, and a cat sorta saying meow to knowing: cat, cow, lion, and duck. My mom tried to get Willa to wiggle her nose for a bunny but somehow that became Willa shrugging her shoulders. Thankfully, that bunny impersonation has been forgotten by Willa. It was a nice try mom. 

Willa also went from being a 80% knee walker/15% crawler/5% walker to 75% walker/15% knee walker/10% crawler. The switch flipped on Friday and it caught us all by surprise. Suddenly Willa was  pacing back and forth from the living room to the kitchen. Willa is much sneakier when walking versus the clomping the happens from the knee walking. 

We didn't take a lot of pictures and I don't think the camera came out until the morning of my mom's return flight. I am happy I managed to catch the goodbye kiss and hug.  Come back soon Grandma Green!

Ole!

I promise that this weekend I will sit down and post photos and videos from when my mom was here taking care of Willa. Pinky swear. Finding time to blog when Willa is awake is impossible because I can't be on the computer without Willa begging to be on my lap.

However, this isn't just some boring blog post about some future writings...instead if is a super cute video of Willa looking at one of Daren's old birthday cards. We found it while cleaning out the office. Enjoy!

What Does Willa Eat?

Grandma Green is here for the week to be our daycare person since our lady is on vacation in Orlando. I decided to make a list for my mom of things that Willa eats. Some of the items on this list are always a winner and others have become a dislike. Willa is getting better about self feeding. Right now she puts about two bites in her mouth to about three bits of food down next to her butt in the seat.

Hummus
Ritz Crackers - broken into pieces or she becomes King Kong doing the smash
Vanilla Wafers - takes tiny lady like bites from the wafer
White American Cheese - this used to be  a staple but not it just gets chucked on the floor
Toast & Cheese - same answer as above
Mac-n-Cheese
Pancake
Banana
Diced peaches
Guacamole
Whipped Cream Cheese

I'm sure I'm forgetting a few things but we also try and work at least one of those items into a meal or snack time. Willa is also getting much better with a sippy cup and has started to yell "wa wa' when she sees one of the brightly colored containers.

We did see our surgeon last week and he is very happy with Willa and life post-omphalocele. Her own little growth curve continues to go up slowly.

I love hummus!!!!!!!

Snowpocalypse Pax

North Carolina and snow do not mix. This area was a mess on Wednesday. Thankfully, Daren and I had the good sense to leave work early before the traffic headaches began. Friends and coworkers spent hours in the car not moving and others even had to abandon their vehicles. Our neighbor walked home from UNC hospital and made better time on foot. He finished the 15 mile trek in three hours while the kind soul who offered him a ride (less than a mile from home) said she left two hours earlier than he did. Snowpocalypse!!!!

Oh, and the UNC v Duke basketball game is postponed until next week Thursday. I guess the bus couldn't make it to Duke's campus to pick up the team. Sounds sheisty to me. Maybe Duke was scared at the possibility of the stands being comprised of rowdy college kids since no one else would have been able to make it to the game. Willa's UNC outfit didn't last the day at daycare. Apparently she "spit up" at lunch and needed to be changed.

UNC classes and offices were closed on Thursday and Daren worked from home. We had some quality family time inside and outside. Also, we got our workout shoveling snow. Not sure Daren wore approved attire while shoveling. I snapped a picture of him out in the morning on Thursday wearing his pajama pants and a t-shirt. Willa and I took a few spins in the sled. Maybe the four layers of clothing was impeding Willa's ability to smile.

UNC was closed again on Friday which was a big shock. I took advantage of getting some cleaning done by bringing Willa to daycare. I think Willa's books stayed neatly on the bookcase for the first five minutes after we brought her home. This child is a hurricane.

We know snow won't last long because the seven day weather forecast is calling for temps in the 60's - 70's. Is that you spring?