11 Months Old

How are we only a month away from Will's 1st birthday?! Planning is underway already, and we're also busy making the most of the beautiful weather and all that summer has to offer. Will seems to be developing at a break-neck pace now with a verbal explosion as well as tremendous physical development this past month. A dad in our music class, who'd just met Will for the first time that day, said "I've never seen an infant so agile and with such great motor skills. You have an athlete on your hands, no doubt." Just like his daddy!

A few hightlights from the past month:

**Will saw his cousins, Kyle and Cameron, play in a little league game. Go Orioles!**

**We had friends over for a BBQ and the house was filled with tiny friends for Will to hang out with that day. His buddy, Ben, brought over a wagon walker that Will fell in love with- of course we bought him one to help him practice his walking. He's a natural! Check out the video.**

**In addition to walking (and running) with his wagon walker, Will has perfected cruising along the coffee table- not without a few minor injuries- and will stand on his own for a couple seconds at a time. He climbs up onto low pieces of furniture and can get himself back down slowly.**

**I'm amazed at Will's hand-eye coordination, which seems quite advanced for a baby his age. He loves to give a high five, can manipulate tiny things like light switches (he helps by turning lights on and off, and knows the difference), guitar strings, curtain cords, remote controls and cell phones (we've given him old ones to play with), choosing specific foods off his tray and bringing them to his mouth without dropping anything, He even pulls single hairs from a brush! He likes to play with my combs and brushes, and brings them to his own head to comb his fine hair.**

**On June 16th, at 10.5 months, Will said his first word: "hot" (nearly a whisper, emphasis on the "t")! Coincidentally, this was the first word I said and also at 10.5 months--mommy's little guy! The following week, Will added "up", "ball", and "kuh" to his vocabulary. The latter is his command to get Lucy to "come" (we think).**

**With only two bottom teeth for about 4 months now, I think Will is about to start cutting his top teeth. His gums are very swollen and he's extra drooly.**

**Will still loves being read to, but he's taking more initiative with his books and trying to turn the pages on his own, "reads" on his own, and is especially fond of touch and feel books.**

**We're lucky that we have a good sleeper. For about a month, Will was getting up at 5AM for the day, then we started putting him to bed earlier (7PM) which actually makes him sleep later. He still likes to have a paci in his mouth and another in his hand when falling asleep. He typically sleeps 10.5-11 hours at night and 2.5-3 hours during the day.**

**The little guy seems to have his Dad's appetite, and some of his current favorites are string cheese, grapes, turkey meatballs, tofu, honeydew, watermelon, and yogurt.**

Summer in the City

Have I mentioned how much I love living in the city? As a Chicago baby myself, I'm thrilled to be raising a Chicago baby, too, and exposing him to all the great things our city has to offer. While summer technically begins on June 21st, so much of what makes the season great really begins as soon as the temperatures go up (can you blame Chicagoans after our incredibly long winters?!).

Will and I have been out in our BOB stroller walking with Lucy, checking out all the trees as they fill with leaves and the flowers as they bloom, jogging for race training, visiting parks in our neighborhood, and meeting up with friends.

Two weeks ago we took a Mom & Baby Stroller Fitness class with my friend Becky and her adorable 6 wk old son, Sumner. I got to sweat a little, and Will got to take in the sights. The park we worked out in seems to have a great family pool, so we'll have to plan a day there.

Last week we planned to go to the zoo, but since it was nearly 100 degrees we hit the Shedd Aquarium instead. Eight of my mommy friends and their little ones were there, too, and Will loved watching the penguins swim, the dolphins zip around, and the jellyfish special exhibit.

Just yesterday we introduced Will to his first streetfest, one of Mom & Dad's favorite things in a Chicago summer. Ribfest in North Center didn't have too much on the menu that was Will-friendly, but while he nibbled on snacks from the diaper bag we enjoyed some ribs, pulled pork, and beer. A fine summer day indeed!

10 Months Old

Happy 10 months, baby boy! It was quite a challenge to get Will to sit still for any photos this month, so I can only imagine what 11 and 12 months will be like for us. He's too interested in everything around him to be stationary for very long! We've just begun planning his 1st birthday party and have already been enjoying a fun-filled summer.

Will crawled immediately over to the bookcase, where he promptly pulled himself up, when I first tried to put him in his little chair. He just loves this bookcase, as well as the one in his bedroom. I hope that he grows up loving books as much as his parents and grandparents do.

He was really done with pictures at this point.

A few highlights from the month:

**Will starts each day with greeting the birdies in their house . He loves to listen to us whistle for the birds, and will watch them through the clear plastic side, pull them out of the hole in the top, and put them back inside.**

**I've been working on teaching Will some functional sign language for a few months now, and he's just becoming more responsive to signs for eat and drink. As always, banging on his high chair tray is his preferred method to communicate "more". **

**Also on the communication front, I'm beginning to suspect that he has said his first word! Will says "baba" and moves his mouth as though drinking from his bottle when he gets up in the morning and occasionally when he sees his bottle.**

**We've been working on the concept of opposites: up and down, on and off, hot and cold, inside and outside. His favorite is on and off since he gets to flip the bathroom light switch over and over again. **

**Will's little friend, Vita Mia, just turned 1 and has been struggling with Cystic Fibrosis since birth. Vita's family and friends, including Mommy and Will, participated in fundraising for research and walking a 5 mile course in late May. **

**Uncle Pat babysat for Will while Mom & Dad went out to celebrate Andrew's 37th birthday at GT Fish & Oyster.**

**Aunt Traci invited us to join the Knudson's for a childrens' play "Dot and Ziggy" at Victory Gardens Theater. Will seemed to really enjoy it, as did all of his cousins! See Will stealing a kiss from Katie below- I think we'll have our hands full with our little ladies' man. **

**The biggest event in Will's 10th month was Mom & Dad's first vacation alone. Actually, this was the first time I'd been away from Will for more than a few hours. We spent a long weekend in Napa and San Francisco, visiting wineries, catching up with friends, and missing Will. The little guy spent 4 fun-filled days with Grama, Grampa, Auntie Colleen, and his cousins, Kyle and Cameron. They went to the park, Aquababies, for walks, and from what I'm told, Will was a good boy for his loving family. I couldn't wait to get home and see my little boy. Even though I knew my mom was taking wonderful care of him, and I wasn't worried at all, I missed his sweet smiles and giggles and tucking him in at night.**

9 Months Old

A few highlights from the past month:

**We've learned some new "party tricks"! Will now waves hello and goodbye, very enthusiastically, and will often say "iiiiii" while doing so. His first attempt at "hi!", which is so exciting.**

** He's consistently pulling himself up to a standing position while holding onto furniture, toys, or his parents, and he's quite steady on his feet.**


**First visit to Shedd Aquarium! The colorful fishies and coral reef captured his attention, so we took him out of his stroller for a better view. As the fish swam past him, Will would turn and look at me as if to say "did you see that?!" - I think as soon as he's old enough he'll be Daddy's diving buddy.**

**Will's first Easter! The family kicked off the Easter Holiday with egg coloring at Aunt Traci's house. Will's big boy cousin's were old pros, but Will and June seemed to have fun watching their mommies color for them!**

**Easter Dinner was at Grammy and Dzia Dzia's house, and the afternoon included an egg hunt in the backyard.**



**We attempted a family trip to the Cubs game on Aunt Emily's birthday, but the game was rained out. Will was a big hit with the crowds at Bernie's and Murphy's, though! I guess these days it's ok to have a baby in a bar. **


**As expected at this age, Will has begun testing boundaries. While he understands what "no" means, he doesn't always choose to listen. Outlets, cords, and anything electronic mesmerize him. It's a good thing we babyproofed the house already!**

**The family celebrated Grama's 60th Birthday with dinner at Wildfire. Will sat at the head of the table and kept his adoring family members entertained.**

The Other Serafins

While Will is a pretty amazing kid, he's not raising himself, and there are actually two other Serafins living in this house! You know, the ones who feed him, dress him, kiss him a few hundred times a day, tickle his feet, read him stories, sing him songs, etc.

I'm not sure if anyone is interested in what "The Others" are up to, or if the Will-centric blog is preferred, but I thought you might want to know what Andrew and I have been doing lately. Since I plan to print the blog to add onto Will's baby book, it seems like it might be a nice addition for him to have one day, too. From time to time, I'll update you on what the big people around here are doing.

With summer on the horizon, Andrew is getting ready for race season. He plans on running a half marathon with a large group of friends just a few days after his 37th birthday (a few short weeks from now), and will compete in at least 3 triathlons. I'm making my return to triathlon this summer, too. It's been a few years, so I'm not sure I'll be in the race shape I was in way back when, but I'm excited to have a reason to train. I'll be doing a tri in June, and then possibly another in August. I've also registered for the Chicago Half Marathon in September. It will be my first, and I hope only to finish without completely embarrassing myself...how's that for a goal?

Our social lives are certainly a lot more limited than pre-Will, but we still get out a fair share. Andrew has been going to a lot of Bulls games (we had partial season tickets this year, and they are going to the playoffs!), and now that baseball season has started, we'll be heading to Wrigley for games as often as possible.

Work is, well, work. Andrew puts in long days here and there, and I have the greatest job I can imagine- spending my days with Will! There are times I miss the adult interaction of working outside the home, as well as sitting at a desk instead of on the floor, eating a real lunch instead of shoveling something into my mouth quickly, and seeing the end result of my hard work. Still, I'd rather be here with my 17 pound work in progress. He pays me in gummy kisses, sleepy hugs, unsolicited smiles, and belly laughs. It's the biggest paycheck I've ever earned.

8 Months Old

March has been a month of milestones for Will! I'm simultaneously bursting with pride and feeling a little sad over how quickly he's progressing through infancy. He's an amazing little guy (every parent says this, right?), and I love seeing how he changes literally every day now.

A few highlights from the past month:

**We started teaching Will needs-based sign language. So far it's limited to "more", "eat", and "water". He hasn't started signing back yet, but he seems to understand "more" now- hopefully he'll begin signing instead of aggressively smacking his high chair tray :) **

**Will figured out how to get to a sitting position from his tummy, can sit unassisted, pulls himself up to standing, and can crawl around quite capably on both carpet and hardwood! There's no stopping him now!**

**We had Will's first real injury...bleeding and lots of crying. While trying to master all of his new moves, he had some slips. I guess it comes with the territory of gaining mobility and being a little boy, but I doubt I'll ever get used to hearing his the sound of his "hurt-cry". I think he recovered before I did.**

**Will has both of his bottom front teeth now. They've broken through and are still making their way out, so you have to wait for a big laugh from Will to get a real look at the chompers.**

**Eating is still the highlight of Will's day, and he's on all fruits and veggies now, as well as finger foods (diced banana, mango, pear, fruit puffs, blueberries, wheat toast, rice cakes). He mastered the pincer grasp this month and can get pretty much anything on his high chair tray into his mouth- including a sippy cup with water.**

**I've been waiting for Will to shift from screeches and giggles into consonant sounds, and it happened this past month. He very consistently says "nanana" and "mamama", and less often "bababababa". The latter usually is a result of mimicking me.**

"I need a break. I think I'm gonna step down."

"Almost there..."

"Hi, Mom. Oh, am I supposed to be in the chair?"

"Uh, I can stand, but climbing back in isn't really in my skill set yet."

"My legs might be skinny, but they sure are strong!"

Chomperwatch 2011

We were convinced that Will would be one of those babies to pop out a tooth quite early. He was showing all the signs: excessive drooling, putting everything in sight right into his mouth. I even checked my baby book to find out when I popped out my first tooth (6.5 months, for the record, and I got a second two weeks later). We have the pediatrician check his gums each time we're there. Nada.

Until today!!

Sitting in his high chair this morning, screaming at me for more tiny chunks of banana to jam in his mouth, I spotted it! A little white speck poking out of his bottom gum. I started screaming ("YAY!" "BIG BOY!") and he stopped screaming to stare at me like I'm a complete loon. He let me get a good look and feel, and sure enough, the bottom right tooth is starting to break through, and from the looks of his gums the bottom left is coming right behind it.

It may be hard to believe, but I'm pretty certain he'll be even cuter with two little teeth in that gummy smile :)

On The Move!

Will rarely wants to be in his jumper these days; I think it's too confining for our little man on the move. A few days ago, I snapped this pic of him happily chewing one of the toys on the jumper.

More often than not, he's on the floor moving from one toy to another. The only thing that slows him down is the fact that we have hardwood floors, and they are pretty slippery for him. With bare legs or bare feet, he can get a bit better traction. Time to get the baby gates up on the stairs!

7 Months Old

We spent the better part of the last month in hibernation mode! At that start of February, Chicago faced a tremendous blizzard that had everyone snowed in for days. Of course, the day after the blizzard, Will was running a fever and clearly sick. As soon as we could get out, we headed out to see his Dr. who confirmed it was a bad cold. I didn't fare as well and ended up with a sinus infection that turned into an ear infection, then another sinus infection, and finally a double ear infection. 4 weeks later, and I'm on my last day of antibiotics. Thank goodness Will didn't get sick from me over and over again. We're both itching to get out of the house now!

A few highlights from Will's 7th month:

**Will's culinary adventures continued with sweet potatoes (he likes them now!), butternut squash, apples, and mango. As we get into his 7th month, I can start preparing more interesting foods for him, which is exciting.**

**We had the biggest blizzard in Chicago in decades! Unfortunately, it was too cold to take Will out for photos (and he was sick), but we snapped a couple from the front door. **

**We hosted GeeGee's 83rd birthday party at our house, and Will got to hang out with his 2 yr old second cousin, Matthew.**

**Will has been going to the day care center at our health club, and he's such a big boy when I drop him off... no tears, ready to play. They give out pagers so that parents can be alerted if their child is crying or needs a change, but Will has been fine each time I've left him for about 45 minutes.**

**Houston: we have a crawler! The little guy can get around pretty quickly now, and he's easily pushing himself into a sitting position. He also gets pretty ambitious pushing himself up on his toes. It looks like he might just stand right up! Usually, this results in him falling and then crying though. He'll get the hang of it soon.**

A Glimpse of Spring

It hit 57 degrees yesterday. In February! Only a couple weeks after over two feet of snow fell all over the city. Crazy, right?!

It was wonderful to get outside without having to bundle up and just enjoy the fresh air. We pulled out the stroller, ditched our mittens, and hit the road.

Yeah, that's not us. But I wish it was.

This is more like it. While I can't wait to get Will out in the jogging stroller, neither of us are quite ready for it yet.

Our Little Herbivore

It has been about a month now since Will started on "solid" food, and as we suspected, he loves trying new foods! More often than not, he's kicking his legs in his high chair, waiting for his next bite and grabbing for the spoon.

We started at 5 1/2 months (Jan 14) with rice cereal, which he stayed on for a week until we moved onto fruits and veggies.

Following rice cereal, we tried avocado, figuring he could use the extra fat in his diet. And WOW- he goes nuts for it! At this point we were convinced he'd eat anything we put on a spoon and in his face. You know, like his Dad. But we were wrong. As usual, Will changes things up at the last minute to keep us on our toes.

Sweet potatoes were a huge failure, as were bananas. He loves carrots and pears as much as avocado, and lately peas (though he prefers his peas mixed with oat cereal).

I've been having a lot of fun making his meals for him, and during a couple of his nap times each week I'm steaming, pureeing and freezing organic veggies for his upcoming meals. It's so nice to have the time to prepare his food myself! Not only does it make me feel better to know exactly what's going into his body, and the quality of the food, but it's also a huge savings over jarred organic food.

6 Months Old

Will seems to be changing every day now, and I'm sure the next 6 months will be as action packed as the first 6. I look forward to each day with him, watching him learn and experience new things. The cold weather has kept us inside much of the last few weeks, which has been a great time to play new games and work on some new milestones.

A few highlights from Will's 6th month:

**Will LOVES to eat! He was ready to start solids at about 5 months, but we waited until our return from vacation. Cereal, avocado, pears, and peas were all a hit from the moment the spoon hit his lips. Sweet potatoes and bananas, not so much. But we'll try again on those. He looks so tiny and adorable in his big highchair! I'll post videos soon.**

**I've never seen a baby quite as active at 6 months as Will. He moves all over his crib within moments of being placed inside, when left on his activity mat he rolls across the room in mere seconds, his arms and legs are going, going, going! He was this way as an inside baby, too. **

**Will still loves being read to and I find myself buying new books often just to keep up variety for myself! We easily read 10 books a day, and a new favorite is Chugga Chugga Choo Choo- he's fond of my cool train noises.**

**He's getting so close to crawling! On the carpet he can go backwards, and gets up on all fours to rock back and forth, but he can't quite make himself go forward yet. On the hardwood, the best he can do is a pretty impressive Army crawl.**

**Will loves Peek A Boo these days. I think Grama was the first to get some smiles from his with this game, but it's now a favorite...especially on his changing table.**

**Will is pretty close to sitting on his own. Right now, he'll still topple over if left for more than about a minute, but he's getting stronger. We practice sitting during playtime each day, and he loves to sit with his little laptop in front of him. He is fascinated with so many of his toys now and can play on his own nicely.**

**Bath time is still his favorite time of day and splashes up a storm! We've had to move him from the countertop to the tub to keep the room from getting soaked...so instead, Mom and Dad are getting soaked.**

**Will is finally on a regular nap schedule, with a long nap in the morning and another in the late afternoon. He's in much better spirits when he gets the sleep he needs, and it gives me a chance to clean up, make dinner, and regroup.**

**Have a mentioned that the kid is pretty flexible? And reeeeally into his toes?**

A Few of His Favorite Things

Music remains one of Will's favorite things. He absolutely loves the "band in a box" we gave him for Christmas and bangs on his tambourine and shakes his maracas with great enthusiasm! We still sing to him all the time, and "Old McDonald" is a current hit as he's quite entertained by animal noises. His Wiggleworms Lullaby class is probably the highlight of his week. If I knew how to play a guitar, I think I could keep his attention all day long. Grama came with us to class this week and got to see how much he loves the singing and dancing.

Will also loves to watch sports! We try not to let him watch too much, but since there's almost always a basketball or football game on TV over the weekend, his eyes go right to it. I'm not sure I've seen him stay so completely focused on anything else! He likes to sit on Daddy's lap and watch for a few minutes, but I got this quick shot of him alone.

Happy Half Birthday!

I can't believe that Will is already 6 months old. Where did the time go?! In some ways the last 6 months feel like a blur of nursing, crying, rocking, diaper changing, sleepless nights, and mountains of tiny pieces of laundry in a constant stream in and out of his drawers.

But that's just on the surface.

When I look past it, I see the mornings when he was so tiny that he could sleep on my chest while we watched Daddy get ready for work. His first bath and how much he loved it. The day I noticed that he had a dimple and how I thought one day a girl would fall in love with that sweet little dimple on his handsome face. The first time he smiled. The first time he smiled just for me, on purpose, because I'm his Mommy. Discovering where he's ticklish. Hearing his laughter. The happiness on his face each morning when we greet him in his crib. Watching him develop a friendship with Lucy. Taking him to his first Cubs game.

....and the 6 months feels like forever. I hardly remember what life was like before Will, and I can't wait to see what more life has to hold with him here.

It's amazing that I still get choked up just looking at his sweet face as we sing songs or snuggle. When I watch him play and see how much he's grown, sitting up like a big boy, babbling to himself, chewing on one toy and reaching for another, it stops me dead in my tracks. And I just stare, and I try to take it all in so that I never forget. Sometimes we skip reading books, and instead I tell him the story of how much Mommy and Daddy wanted to have him, how happy we were to find out that our dreams were coming true, and how the day we met him was the best of our lives. It's my favorite story and one that reminds me never to take my little boy for granted and how truly lucky I am to have him in my arms.

Happy Half Birthday, Will. We love you so very much.

Bonjour Sint Maarten!

We spent Jan 2-9 on our first family vacation with the Serafin and Knudson clan in St. Martin, on the French side of the island. While we had some concerns about how Will might do on the flights, adjusting to a new time zone, and being away from home, we ended up being pleasantly surprised by how well he did with everything.

This kid knows how to take a vacation!

After being plucked from his crib at 3am for our 6am flight, Will took the morning in stride, sleeping and nursing for most of the 2 flights there. Nestled in Mommy's lap, he was happy as a clam. We were all excited to meet up with Grammy, Dzia Dzia, Aunt Traci, Uncle Brian, and the cousins.

We arrived in the late afternoon and settled in with a very French late lunch of meats, cheeses, baguette. Mmmm. I have to say, we ate and drank well (perhaps too well) for the entire week!

Most of out time was spent at the gorgeous villa the family rented for the week, with a few trips out for meals, time at the beach, and a boat trip from Phillipsburg (capital of the Dutch side of the island).

Will's first time in a pool!

Day at Baie Rouge with the whole family. Will tested out the sparkling blue waters with both Mommy and Daddy, and once he got past the shock of the temperature (and then the taste of salt water) he was just fine! There was a pretty strong undercurrent, so we didn't keep him in for long, and he chilled out in his carseat with Dzia Dzia and baby June.


We had a lovely dinner at a French restaurant right on the shore in Grand Case, on the French side of the island.





Watching the sun rise over Baie Plum, a quick walk from our villa. This is one of two beaches we visited on the trip,both in Terre Basse.

Will had lots of fun playing with his cousin June, who shared all of her fun toys!