School, Honey Trees, and Rocks: 10 Things About Will

1. Last week we went to the baptism of our friend's daughter, then to their house for a party, then to a wedding reception. On our way to the wedding reception Emma was crying (she was tired and hungry) so Will said, "Emma! It's ok! We're going a wedding!" When she proceeded to cry some more he said, clearly exasperated, "Ugh, Emma, stop crying! Daddy drive a wedding!"

2. Will's favorite movies right now are Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Winnie the Pooh. It's adorable. I loved both of these growing up and I am really loving the break from the movie Cars. On top of that, so many of the funny things he does and says are based on these movies. He sings the main song "Chitty bang bang bang, we love you!" and talks about "Cackhrutdaa Potts" (Caractacus is his actual name), "toot sweet", and about the car that flies and floats on the water (and crashes, because all cars crash... loudly... in Will's world).

3. On the Winnie the Pooh side of things... He says, "Halooo!" like Tigger at least ten times a day. He sleeps with Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Pez dispensers. He sings parts of the theme song as he plays with his toys. He pulls the bear-shaped honey containers from the pantry, says, "Honeys bears! (And quoting Pooh in Will language) Only the sticky part's left." When I ask him about Christopher Robin he says, "Tut tut! Looks like rain!" And last but not least, everything is a honey tree. Last week Taylor was helping me by making me a PVC photography backdrop stand that I saw on Pinterest. We bought the pipes and connectors and just needed to put them together so he had Will help him. When they finished, Will pointed up to the top with excitement saying, "We make a honey tree!"

4. Will had his first day of Joy School two weeks ago! To help get him excited we went on a Target date the night before, just me and him, to get school supplies. We got a Spider-Man pencil, a glue stick, a box of crayons, and his own little box to put it all in. He was so proud. As we walked around Target he held onto his box and repeatedly told me, "We put my name! A school!" (I had told him we were going to put his name on the box and bring it to school.) The next day he met his classmates Simon, Janie, and Mikey from the Agoura 2nd ward and he already knew Esme from his Nursery class. Simon's mom Megan was teaching so we walked in, Will sat down in his chair, started to color and show off his new box of school supplies and he didn't even care that I left. The next day he asked if we could go to Target to get more school supplies. They meet once a week and he loves playing with his friends at school.

5. Will's best friend moved away (just to Pasadena, but it's still too far away. We miss them.) He talks about Harrison everyday. He especially likes to use it as an excuse during tantrums or tears. When he reaches the point where he can't remember why he was upset in the first place, he says through the tears something like, "I want my Harrison." Or "I play with Harrison?" How do you respond to that?

6. He doesn't say "her" or "hers".  Instead he says "shis", because if it's "he" and "his" then obviously it's "she" and "shis", as in "That's shis bottle."

7. Another funny language quirk- Will always says "my" instead of "I". For instance, "My go ride bike", or "My want my daddy", or simply "My not!" when he doesn't want to do something.

8. Will loves stories. And he usually asks for specific topics. "Mommy tehw sowee bow (mommy tell a story about) Hisson scooter (Harrison's scooter), winapoo (Winnie the pooh), apumm (airplanes), wassus (horses), daddy truck (daddy's truck), etc." (Can you tell that I speak Will almost fluently? Ok not really, but I understand a lot.) Like every good story, I always start with "Once upon a time" so whenever I ask Will to tell a story, so does he. Then I just nod along until I hear a word that I understand and repeat it excitedly like it's the best story I've ever heard. It's really good bonding time.

9. Every time we leave Will with a babysitter he freaks out--he sobs, screams, bangs the door, and then falls on the floor dramatically after we've left. (It's the same routine Will used to go through everyday when Daddy went to work.) Luckily it only lasts a couple minutes so our babysitters keep coming back. Last time we went on a date, we tried to prepare him better. Before we left, Taylor sat him down, talked to him, and told him that mommy and daddy were going on a date but that we would be back after his bedtime. He seemed fine until we started to leave and he broke down as usual, this time clutching the doorknob for dear life and sobbing, "I go date!" Oh well, we tried.

10. And since we are approaching potty training someday soon (I want to hold off until he's closer to three, but I know that will come sooner than I think!) here's a diaper story from the other day. Will was watching us make dinner in the kitchen and he was clearly working on... something. So Taylor and I chuckled, let him do his thing, and when finished he patted his diaper and said, "I got a rock in there!" Oh, the mind of a toddler boy...