Here Comes Peter Cottontail...

We had a great Easter this year! It turned out to be a weekend full of fun. Will had many new experiences: he rode his first pony, took his first train ride, and of course hunted for eggs. It was great. On Saturday we went to the Eggstravaganza at the Chesapeake City Park. There we found the ponies, a petting zoo, the real Easter bunny (not some costumed kid!), a miniature train, and an Easter egg hunt that wasn't too prosperous for us. In fact, the egg hunt was so poorly organzied that Aunt Jill and I had to run ahead and grab candy before the older kids could get to it. Then we had our own private hunt after the others had scattered. It worked out well in the end. A toddler definitely doesn't need much sugar; Will was pretty wired after his one piece of sugary goodness. Will wasn't a huge fan of his bunny ears (thanks Aunt Jill) but we managed to get them on him for a few pictures. He made a cute little bunny.


Petting the real Easter bunny, actually a bunny from a local rabbit rescue. We didn't want to wait in line to sit on the costumed bunny's lap so this had to suffice!


On Sunday we had an Easter egg hunt in our front yard. This one was significantly more low key than the day before! Will found all 15 eggs, with the help of our neighbor girl Aria. Unfortunately the Easter bunny didn't think Will needed any more candy so his eggs were filled with Nilla wafers, Craisins, and cereal instead. Luckily Will is too young to know the difference and enjoyed his treats just the same!




This is what happens when you have too much Easter candy. You get a little loopy!

William's World

Will is so busy that I often miss his funny faces and best moments on camera. I'm just not fast enough to get it all in. But one day last week he was just in a funny mood; for some reason lunch was hilarious and he could not stop laughing. These are some shots from that day. The many faces of William. He really reminds me of my dad in these pictures...those blue eyes came from Grandpa Don and it shows in this light. There are some Hicks genes in there afterall!

New swing set

Spring is finally arriving in Virginia so we celebrated with a new swing set for Will. Actually, used from Craigslist but luckily Will's too young to know the difference! Keith set it up during nap time so when we finally took Will outside (or "side" as he says), he didn't know what to think. It took him a minute and then he took off running (as you can see above). Needless to say, the swing set is a hit. He loves swinging in the Clifford swing and hiding in the fort. For some reason, just opening and closing the tiny door to the fort provides endless entertainment for a toddler. Who knew?! He's a little too small and uncoordinated to climb up to the slide all by himself yet but I'm sure that independence is not far behind. We've been enjoying many days in the yard (well, when it is not raining here...so not many days afterall). Now when Will asks to go "side", we have a destination. I realized that I'm not much of an action photographer. It is hard to catch a toddler on the run. But here are some of my better attempts.










This past Thursday, Will had his first friend spend the night. One of his girlfriends, Anne, spent the night while her mom and dad went to the hospital to have her baby sister. Anne did pretty well; Will only had a few moments of possessiveness with his toys and mommy! Overall, a good 24 hours!

Spoiled only child!

It hasn't been a particularly long or cold winter in Virginia but Will is over it all the same. He's tired of being stuck in the house and is continually asking for "side? side?" (ie: outside) We've enjoyed a few nice days in the past weeks and this spring teaser is getting us all ready for warmer weather. This weekend we went to the beach and played on the junglegym in the sand. This was Will's first time playing there and he loved it. He only made a break for the water once or twice. We also purchased some new toys recently, as much for my sanity as for Will's entertainment. We've developed a new fascination with all things transportation. Cars, trucks, airplanes, trains, etc. So we got a Thomas the Train starter set with 3 trains and some track. Wow...I was surprised at the cost of this Thomas stuff. Highway robbery! But since Will is an only child and he rarely gets new toys (birthday is a long way off!) I gave in (with minimal arm twisting). Now I hear a lot of "Choo Choo!" coming from the train station. Will also picked out an Elmo Giggle Driver, essentially a super annoying toy featuring the Sesame Street gang. Really just a steering wheel, shifter, radio setup that belts out random phrases and music. Elmo is Will's BFF so he can't get enough. He's still asking for Elmo? Elmo? every time we turn on the TV. Luckily his new "Elmo car" (as he says it) keeps his Elmo cravings in check.



Even though potty training is a long way off, we got a potty to have around the house. Will thinks it is another great new toy. He takes the seat off and carries it around the house. I'm sure it will end up as a hat soon enough. He does sit on the potty too but only with a diaper on. I don't look forward to that process at all.

Pilot in training

Will decided to try on Daddy's helmet tonight. Actually, Keith brought it in the house because he wanted Will to try it on. The poor kid will grow up to hate airplanes after all the pressure! Keith stuck the helmet on Will's head and he almost fell over. It is quite heavy, especially on a 20 lb person. But he managed to stand up for a few shaky pictures. Then he just wanted Keith to put it on so he could maneuver the mic and the visor. Pretty cool stuff for kids of all ages!








We also celebrated Keith's 30th birthday (Feb 18th) this weekend with a small dinner party at our house. We had a great time. Our friend Christy was nice enough to make the cake, since I don't bake and no one wanted store-bought cookies anyway! I didn't put 30 candles on his cake but did spell out Happy Birthday. He blew them right out. Good boy! I did manage to decorate his car with window paint tonight, although he won't see that until he gets up in the morning! Happy Birthday!!!

Play all day

Will hit the 18 month mark yesterday and is as full of.....um.....we'll say energy. He's as crazy as any toddler I know! His antics are frustrating, hilarious, and exhausting all at the same time. His new favorites are cars and trucks. He shouted "truck" every time we saw a truck-like vehicle on the road today, even if it was not a truck at all. He is also interested in numbers and has started to learn to count. The other night, he actually counted from 1-10 all by himself and only skipped 8. But he usually needs more prompting than that. He doesn't seem to be a big fan of the number 1 either. Personally, I find 1 and 8 to be overrated. His love of everything Elmo continues, much to my chagrin. He'll ask for Elmo any time we turn on the TV. I guess my idea to spoil him by letting him watch Elmo when he was sick has backfired. Oh well! At least he doesn't want to watch South Park like his father! We're having a lot of fun learning new words as well. He can now say "love you" and shouts "bye" and "see ya" anytime someone leaves the house. He has quite a personality. Grandma Gigi and Papa Rick are coming to visit in May and we're very excited about that. They'll be in for a big surprise at all the changes in the little man!

We got out to enjoy the gorgeous weather this weekend. Will took a liking to this giant sea turtle at the park.


Future couch potato in the making! He's probably watching Elmo...


Spaghetti has become one of his favorite meals. He insists on adding his own parmesan cheese though, which can get quite messy!

Laughing up a storm

It has been a pretty uneventful January for us so far, thus we have few pictures to share. Keith left for San Diego on January 3rd. He's been flying out there all month; we're hoping he'll make it home next week. Was supposed to be Saturday but as usual it is now next week. Will actually had pneumonia over New Year's so we stayed home and took it easy. After Keith left, Will and I had the stomach flu so we didn't feel like sharing pictures of that either! :) We did finally make it up to DC to see Aunt Jill and attend Barack Obama's inauguration, with two million of our closest friends. It was awesome. Pictures to follow, as soon as I get them from a friend. In the meantime, I did get some good shots of Will giggling away. The funniest things set him off on a laughing fit these days. Blowing bubbles in the bathtub, tickling his tummy or under his chin, chasing the cats. He does have a lot of smiles and for that I am thankful. I'm sure he'll have even more when Daddy is finally home at the end of the month!!!