Visiting with Family

Oh... after Christmas meant that there were lots of new toys to play with. Some that make noise too (over and over and over). Will was fascinated with this toy for placing on a tray, so much so that he didn't get let a few hiccups bother him.

After Christmas we got to spend a few days with Michael's Aunt Vicki, Uncle Mike and cousin Jeff. Will enjoyed having even more people to entertain (or more people to entertain him). Will was a very good sport, letting us go out to dinner and not fussing much at all.

Christmas morning

Christmas morning came and it was wonderful to have Will's Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle David with us. The stockings were filled and there were plenty of gifts for Will to open under the tree.

Will liked ripping the paper, although he didn't really get the concept of moving on to more gifts. He liked holding on to the wrapping paper or whatever gift he had.

One of Will's favorite gifts from his stocking was his new raspberry teething pacifier. It must have felt good on his gums since his teeth are coming in, even if Will used it unconventionally. We were hoping he would get his two front teeth for Christmas, but they hadn't come in quite yet.

Catherine and Will got a new BOB stroller for Christmas. It has suspension and everything, so it should make for a nice smooth ride on those walks and and can even be converted into a running stroller with the turn of rod.

While we got our breakfast between opening some gifts, Will took the chance to continue to much on his new pacifier. Properly, this time.

Will helped for a while, until it was his nap time. Of course he did fall into to the classic story of the box being more interesting than the present on a few of his gifts.

Will got some good gifts for everybody too. Grandma got a new sign that says "Grandma's Garden" to put up by her garden.

And Grandpa got a mug that spells out "Grampa" using the amino acid structures.

All together it was a great Christmas time spent together. Michael's attempt at duck turned out pretty good, although it was a learning experience. We got the chance to play several games during the day as well. Looking forward to spending the rest of Christmas break together.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was a very relaxing day hanging out with family, enjoying some snacks until mass. We took a few family pictures in front of the tree with Will after getting home.

Then it was time for Will to open his first present. It's a Schowe tradition to open up pajamas the night before Christmas (in part so there are new PJs for when the pictures are taken Christmas morning). Will did a fine job ripping the paper. Of course after he got it in his hand, he was content with the paper.

Will looked good in his new pajamas.

After putting Will to bed, we had out dinner of Cioppino (and cheese pizza for David), along with some nice Washington wine. Time to hang the stockings then and wait for Santa to come.

Jump Around!!!

As we were getting ready for Christmas with Will's Grandma & Grandpa, Will demostrated some impressive jumping skills on his exersaucer.

He's even doing a much better job of sitting up on his own. He like to reach for his toes or other objects on the floor, which sometimes causes him to lose his balance, but he's getting better.

Rolling over on video

Although Will has been rolling around for a while, we finally got a video of him doing it.

Putting up the Christmas Tree

Today we decided to get a live tree to decorate for Christmas. The local boy scout troop sells trees a few blocks from our house, so we took a walk on this gorgeous day. Will was in his Ergo while we looked. In the end we got a Fraser Fir and a wreath. We were careful about the size (given our history of getting much larger trees than we think) and were able to walk it the short distance home.



Will found the tree selecting to be very tiring. Just wait until we take him to a Pick-Ur-Own tree farm...

We set the tree in the stand and Catherine put the lights up. Will got the honor of hanging the first ornament (at least helping).

He even got to help with topping the tree with the angel.

Our friend Lara was over to help with the tree and play with Will. She got this great picture of the whole family in front of the tree.

The tree looks great, even if Will is puzzled a little with what it is doing in the living room.

After the excitement of putting up the tree, Will could go back to playing with his new favorite toy: a spatula from the kitchen.