William at 31 Months

As of this morning, William now weighs 29 lbs, has a head circumference of 19 3/4" and is 36.5" tall. 


All of a sudden this month, William is suddenly interested in using the phone for its intended purpose: talking to people. For the longest time he was curious about them and loved to play with them, but whenever we tried to hold it up to his ear, he acted at though we were trying to shove a hot coal there instead and would run away shrieking. Just in the past couple of days he will not only ask to speak to a specific person on the phone (usually a grandparent), but he will actually sit there and have a conversation with them. We have started doing face time since we got smart phones, and the funniest part of that is that he will lean into the screen really close when hes talking. So the other person sees a blurry shot of his chin or something. We've tried explaining that he doesn't need to do that, but he doesn't get it yet. Still though its awfully cute to see him acting a bit more grown up in that way!



Now that he knows all of his letters, and understands that letters make words, he has become interested in the idea of reading, though I doubt he will actually be reading any time soon. He has taken to spelling out a word, and then guessing what it says. Sometimes he guesses right and will spell 'H-O-R-S-E' and say "horse!" But other times he will say what he thinks it says, rather than what it actually says. For instance, he will grab a box of markers and spell out C-R-A-Y-O-L-A and say "markers!" I think its cute that he thinks he is reading, and I am certainly trying to encourage his interest in reading, but we still have a while yet before he starts his first chapter book. 

Speaking of books, he can now recite pages out of his books as well as lines from his favorite songs. Gone are the days when I can skip pages to make story time go faster. He has memorized every page and there will be no skipping of pages according to William! I've noticed that when we are reading, he will point out the page numbers and shout them out as we turn pages. That is how I found out that he can now not only count to 30, but recognize the written numbers up to and past 30 as well. I guess I am just glad he is paying attention. This kid sure does love to read. I hope his sister ends up loving it as much as he does!

He has been saying some funny stuff lately. One example happened the other morning when he saw an empty box of cereal on the counter that Michael had left there. He eagerly grabbed the box, tilted it to peer inside, and when he saw that it was empty, proclaimed "oh darn it! Chex gone!" and put the box back on the counter. I had to laugh.

Another example was when Michael offered to take out the trash since I had to put Nora to bed, and I said, "thanks sweetie!" and Will parroted, "thanks sweetie, bye bye!" as Michael went into the garage. Then he walked around calling Michael and I 'sweetie' the rest of the night. Funny kid!

My final example shows how he can be such a little stinker at times. His new thing is to ask me for something, and while I am considering his request, he will pretend to be me and say, "ummm, ok!" as though I just told him 'ok' to whatever he just asked me. Like tonight he asked me if he could have some popcorn. The exchange went something like this:
         Will: Mom, popcorn? 
         Me: Hmmmm . . . .
         Will: Ummm, OK!
         Me: Hey stinker! I didn't say ok, I'm still thinking about it!
         Will: [giggling]
         Me: Ok I guess you can have some popcorn. 
         Will: Yay!  [dancing with glee around the kitchen] 


Two of his two year old molars have finally poked through the skin, and I'm sure the other two are not far behind. Its taken forever for those to come in!  At least with this round of teeth, he hasn't seemed nearly as bothered as when he got the last set of molars a year ago. Like I need any more crying or tantrums around here! 

Will is a sensitive, energetic kid. He loves to run around and race and build stuff. His feelings are very easily hurt and I really have to watch my tone when I talk to him. He requires a gentle, sensitive approach and sometimes when I am overtired, or irritated, or rushing and not paying attention, and snap at him, he gets the most dejected look on his little face, and it just about breaks my heart. I have to always be aware that he responds best to gentle explanation rather than yelling or punishment. In fact, the latter will often make him act out more! So that saying about how you catch more flies with honey than vinegar, really and truly applies to Will. Most of the time, he is an absolute sweetheart and is pretty well behaved most of the time. He delights in giving hugs and kisses to everyone he loves, and is generally the best big brother (sharing is sometimes an issue) to little Nora. He is definitely a mama's boy right now, and because I know that that won't last forever, I am trying to cherish it (though I admit its not easy to always be the preferred one). This is a fun and challenging age. Will puts me through my paces daily, but ultimately makes me a better mother and person because of it. I am so glad to have him! 

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