Eighteen months and still a pill! After all these months, I still love your little baby face and your cute little “joker” grin. You’re so loveable. Huggable. Squeezable!

Some great things you’re into right now:

• Balls. Softballs, soccer balls, basketballs, golf balls, tennis balls. “Ball” is not only one of your favorite words but it’s one of your favorite things to carry around. Yes, you even ask to hold the soccer ball that is in my car while we drive to where ever it is we are going. You love to point out the balls in books, movies, and anything else that happens to have pictures or images of them.
• Clocks. For MONTHS now you have been uttering the word “clock”. It all started when we were downstairs in the basement one day (pre-playroom days) and that brown wall clock that your Grandpa gave us went off on the hour. You were amazed and excited at the dinging of the clock and from then on, after we told you what it was, you have never missed pointing it out anytime we’ve gone downstairs. You also love looking at clocks whenever we are out. You even pointed to my watch I was wearing one day and looked at me to say “clock”. I tried explaining to you that it is a WATCH not a clock. You don’t care….to you it’s a clock. I won’t argue that one for now!
• Daddy. You are SUCH a Daddy’s boy. He’s the only one that can get you to be halfway reasonable during a fit. You’ve made going out to eat nearly impossible, a library trip more trouble than it’s worth sometimes, and even going to church a daunting task that I most of the time have to eat my Wheaties in order to have the energy to get through.
• Books. “Bess” is what you repeat over and over as you bring book after book over to anyone who’ll read to you. Your favorite is a Kindermusik one that talks about a baby and his busy days. You also love Nathan’s books too, though it’s hard to get you to sit through more than a few pages at one sitting since they are usually more wordy.
• Mickey Mouse. I guess you’ve got lingering good vibes from the Disney trip for your first birthday because every time you see that little character (either on your shirt, tv, stuffed toy, dvd cover, etc.) you start in with the “pum, pum, pum, pum, pum, pum, pummmm” jingle from the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme song. You love to point out Mickey any and everywhere.
• Bellybuttons. You LOVE them!! Nathan plays a little game with you where you’ll poke his belly button and he’ll shoot his belly way up in the air and add sound effects. I’ve never seen you two play so cutely together and have so much fun. You don’t care where we are or who’s around…..you’ll lift up my shirt, your Daddy’s shirt, or even your own, just to get a poke at the belly button. That’s only going to be cute for another year or two though, so be warned!
• Eating. I am continually amazed at how much and what a variety of foods you eat! WOW, kid!! You may have an attitude sometimes but you make up for it by being such a great eater! The only problem I’ve run into is that I’ve underestimated how much you’ll want at times and have to endure your screeching till I can get more on your plate. Some of your faves are peas, chicken, carrots, Cheerios, cheese, turkey, ham, pot roast (we had this tonight and you gobbled it up!). And you of course have your fair share of junk faves – Goldfish, fruit snacks, popcorn, chips, pizza, fries, and chicken nuggets. Fruits you like are grapes, melons, bananas, clementines, apples, strawberries, and pretty much anything you can get your hands on. You’re not that into ice cream desserts necessarily, though I’ve never seen you turn down a cookie, so that’s good!
• Playtime. You love pretending to talk on the phone, playing ANYTHING with Nathan, swinging golf clubs around, playing “run-around-the-living-room-and-all-over-the-house-in-general”, and baths (yes, you’ve come a long way….you LOVE baths now!) You love to also go outside and kick the soccer ball around. Climbing on furniture and other things you’re not supposed to is a daily occurence for you as well. You love to build tall towers from blocks then delight in knocking them over yelling “arrwwww!”.
• Big Boy Stuff. You’re such a helper always brining a clean diaper, your changing pad, and wipes over whenever asked so that Mommy or Daddy can change you. You also are constantly looking for any reason to put on your socks and shoes. You love dressing up as a pirate with Nathan’s stuff and flinging the sword around with a mighty, “ARRGHH!” You’re into music, especially anything that gets you to move to the beat, and love some of the same shows that Nathan does. You’re also getting so much better at going to sleep all on your own. Daddy has certainly perfected this art! You also love to point out where your nose, eyes, ears, mouth, and hair is like a big boy. And you love trying to sing along with Twinkle, Twinkle, the ABC song and other music. You’ve gotten very good at saying “Peece” (please) when asking for something and are doing quite well with learning how to take turns, although I know you are far from there yet!

William, you’re just such a happy baby boy that I feel SO blessed to have you in our family. I love you my little Will-Pill!