On Your Mark .Get Set. GO!!!

Last Saturday, Will ran his first race all by himself! A local organization hosted a race for kids only at a nearby park. Will ran with the 0-3 year olds for about 30 yards. He loved it!

They also had lots of fun little games & prizes. It was a great way to spend a Saturday morning & a fun memory as he crossed the finish line in his first race!

The 0-3's that Will ran with (Will is standing up high on the left side with his hat turned backwards)

proudly showing off his medal

crossing the finish line with a proud daddy watching from behind

Taking the curve & focused

He's off & running!

In the middle of the pack

Cousins

Why toss the rings when you can gently place them on the pole?

My son, master of efficiency

A litte help from Daddy on the football toss

My boys off for a short bike ride

(And, for the record, Will does have to wear a bike helmet (aka his batter's helmet). We haven't been bike riding all summer because it was too hot for him in the trailer so we thought we'd gently reintroduce it to him on Sunday with a ride around our street & the little park by our house. Normally, his helmet pulls his head down & he hasn't always been able to pull his head back up to ride comfortably. We thought we'd "remind" him how much fun bike riding is with a gentle reintroduction & then next time he'll wear his helmet... fyi)

We are big proponets of helmets due to the fact that my little brother spent a great deal of his childhood in the er for bike accidents!)

Will went out Sunday morning & got the paper with daddy. He wasn't so good at getting it all in in one piece.

R let Will help him beat the eggs & fry the bacon

On Saturday, we took Will to see a junior college baseball scrimmage. It wasn't very crowded so Will got to really practice his swing & his pitch. A family friend, Burch, is a pitcher for Howard College & recently received a full scholarship to OU (most scholarship $ ever given to a baseball player there!) When Burch was pitching, Will would practice his pitch & at one point informed us that he was a "good pitcher like Burch." He's got good self-esteem!

I am certain that never in my life have I been to a scrimmage of any sort - except that one football one the year I was a cheerleader. Anyway, fueling one's child's passions does something to you & drives one to do things they would never have imagined doing - such as going to a jr college baseball scrimmage on a Saturday evening!

My Mr. Baseball - enraptured with the game

My mom came for a brief visit at the end of last week. It was great as I ended up having 3 tooth appointments (you know- from that swimming class last April when Will damaged my tooth ... I'm still wearing a prosthetic but the dentist predicts I'll get a real tooth in 3 weeks! YAHOOO!!!) Anyway, I did not expect so many appointments with him last week so I was so thankful to have childcare! I was also able to get my haircut & to look at 2 more preschools. Plus, I enjoyed spending time with someone else who thinks almost everything Will does is adorable. :) Above, we had a picnic lunch one day & Will insisted that our "pirate pumpkin" sit with us.

Will & Ruby (our golden retriever) really are best of friends. I love watching them play together. By the time I grabbed my camera to film the above clip, Will was pretty worn out from chasing Ruby so it took a bit of encouragement to get him going but I just love the laughter & his Flip at the end is priceless! Sorry, it's rather long but the flip is really fun! :)

(Remember, scroll to the bottom of the blog & hit pause on the music playlist!)

Since turning 2, Will has begun several fun new things. He speaks in full sentences (for the most part); he can give me directions to familiar places in the car; and he shares emotions with me. For instance, for about a week, he was waking up nightly screaming and then would talk about polar bears "scaring Will" throughout the following day. We finally realized he was apparently having nightmares about polar bears. I have no idea why - it's not like they live out here in the Frontier! Anyway, one night he asked if Mommy & Daddy were scared of polar bears. I told him that polar bears are scared of Daddy & then Daddy came in with his special "polar bear detector"/big black maglite flashlight, & he did a search of Will's room. This is now part of our nightly routine but so far, no more nightmares! Anyway, it's amazing to me how he can now express abstract things like fear with his words.
He is also making up lots of new games. Recently, he created one with a friend involving a pretend apple & chase. He loves pretending to be various animals and also to pretend to be a baby - crawling, crying, & saying "mama." I love his creative imagination! For probably 6 months, he has had a game he created for meal time called, "Will Do." He does an action & then instructs someone else to copy him. He will often try to trick the other player with very subtle actions - such as wiggling one of his little fingers. His facial expressions crack me up - he takes the game very seriously & keeps his eye on his opponent to make sure they are accurately copying him. Now that's he is 2, he has added expressions & sounds to "Will Do." I finally filmed it the other night as he played a game of, "Will Do, Lovie Do" with my mom. The game ended with Will winning when he raised his shirt to rub his belly & Lovie refused to mimic.;)