Ah, our first Christmas with Will. The day was a little bit of magic - we had some wonderful family time together. We unwrapped gifts first thing in the morning - Santa was VERY good to Will. We're sure each Christmas will get better and better. Here are a few photos from the day...

Um, folks, what's going on? (Little does he know he'll be spending lots of time sitting in the car seat wrapped up in this box!)

Oooooo, I think I might be getting this "getting stuff" concept. (Will in his brand new Bumbo seat checking out a Sassy toy - all new stuff from Christmas!).

Our other "first born", Tuxedo, who wants his picture taken just like Will's. Okay Tux...say cheese.

Mom Cleans The Floors

So Andy can no longer say that I've never cleaned the floors. Will really doesn't like Tummy Time but we're working on it. Here's a little trick I pulled out of the hat today. Check out the glance Will gives his dad near the end of the video - priceless. Let's just hope he doesn't turn us in to the authorities!

Just In Time

Today we finished wrapping Christmas gifts and helped Will with preparations for Santa. Will was worried for a while that Mom wasn't going to get his Christmas stocking done and hung, but no fear, it is finished and hung by the fireplace for St. Nick.

This Christmas stocking was made from a YarnCraft Kit purchased at my local yarn shop - Black Sheep Yarn in Cockeysville, MD. They run $25 a piece and are well worth every penny. The pattern is simple and it comes with all the yarn you need. It looks super cute on the mantle and will for years to come!

Oooooo Baby Einstein

We picked up a set of Baby Einstein videos for Will. We've popped them in a few times just to see what he thinks. At 14 weeks, he's already enjoying them.

Here's a video of Will that daddy took while Will was watching Baby Einstein. He's also having quite a time with his hands right now which you can see.

In The Jumperoo

So about a week ago we decided it was time to give Will a try in the Rainforest Jumperoo. This plaything is all the rage. Moms and dads gush about how much their babies enjoy it and some of our coworkers pitched in and gave it to Will.

At just a little over 3 months old, Will is still a little young to get it, but he's starting to get it.

Here's a video during daddy daycare at home - you can see Will trying really hard to understand his new toy. We know he's going to love it!

First Quarter Results

Will turned three months old today!

The time has flown by and it's been great fun having him in our life. There's no visit to the doctor this month, so no official statistics, but we can see him gaining weight and growing before our very eyes.

Aside from turning three months old, this was a big week in our house. Mom returned to work on Monday. Thank goodness Mimi has been here to watch over Mom, Dad and of course Will. Between now and the New Year, Mom and Dad will alternate days at home to watch Will. After that he's off to Karen's for days filled with fun boy stuff in the neighborhood while Mom and Dad work.

Here's a few shots of Will on his three month birthday.

Ho, Ho, Ho

Santa is in town and Will went to meet him today. Mom and Dad were both off of work and Mimi is in town so we packed up and headed to Towson for a visit with 'Ole Saint Nick this afternoon.


When we turned up, Santa and his elf were on break, so we killed 15 minutes and crossed our fingers that Will would be in a good mood by the time Santa returned.


After just three quick clicks, we ended up with this great souvenir of Will's first visit with Santa Claus. We couldn't imagine a better first picture with Santa - Will was having a blast.


Oh, and he asked for a BMW. We'll see about that.

Rolling Over Practice

Coming up on the development milestones is rolling over. Will hasn't shown much interest in tummy time or rolling over, but that's not stopping mom from practicing!

Here's a practice session - clearly mom is having more fun than Will.

Playing In The Bath

Will really enjoys the bath. We have just started to play with a few toys in the bath. Will isn't quite sure what he thinks of the extra splashing, but we think he'll be soaking us in no time. Maybe we shouldn't be teaching him these tricks?!

Here's a video of him getting splashed by dad.

Gobble, Gobble...

Thanksgiving week has been lots of fun in the Cowx house. Holly Jean is on her last week of maternity leave and Geordie has been off all week. Here are some of the highlights...


Will breaks in his highchair...
We've given the highchair a few brief tries, but it hasn't been Will's cup of tea. This week, we tried it again and Will was all game. He ate dinner with us a few times including Thanksgiving supper (well, Will sat while Mom and Dad ate).

What's that you're eating Dad?

Lincoln and Emma visit...
The Pixlers made a trip up to New Freedom on Wednesday night for a chat and dinner. We had a fun time learning about what is in store for us over the next few years. Lincoln and Emma were a delight and Will was fascinated.

Here are a couple pictures of Will and Emma flirting. It was too cute!

Will turns 12 weeks old...
Our little man is growing up so fast. He turned 12 weeks old today and here's what we all have to say...

Geordie says: Uggg, I just put my hand in his poo
Holly Jean says: Come on little man, you can do it, just keep on sleepin'
Billy the Kid says: uuuuuuhh, aaaaahh

Happy 12 week birthday baby boy!

Will's First Babysitter

November 21st marks a big milestone for Geordie and Holly Jean. Five years ago we started dating (it's also the anniversary for England winning the Rugby World Cup in case you don't recognize the date).

We planned a special day out for just the two of us. Ms. Lynda (our neighbor and friend) helped us make the date happen - she came over to watch Will. Mom and Dad caught the new James Bond movie and grabbed a nice lunch together while Will enjoyed his first every babysitter.

Ms. Lynda and Will had a wonderful time together and so did Mom and Dad - thank you Lynda!!

Here's a picture of Will with Mom ready to go on her date.

Shopping, Again!?

Will and Mom went out on maneuvers today (you can see exactly how thrilled Will was). Top on the list was the knitting shop in Hunt Valley. We wanted to show off Will in his hoodie (he's got it on here in the picture). All the knitting ladies were in the shop and Will got to show off his outfit - they were very impressed.

We also picked up a little kit for a Christmas stocking. Mom and her little brother had personalized knit stockings growing up, so Will gets one too! Mom's gotta get busy knitting to have it ready in time for Santa!

Will Singing The ABCs

Will is just starting to find his voice. He really likes the alphabet song and it usually gets him singing right along. Here's a video of Will at 10 weeks old singing his ABCs with mom!

Two Feet Tall!

Today Will had his two-month check up. He got great marks from Dr. Campbell who says he's a perfect baby boy. Will showed Dr. Campbell how he can smile and hold his head up a little.

We asked for a professional opinion on Will's eye color. Dr. Campbell's bet is on blue or green and certainly not brown. Mom think's they'll be dark blue like his Granda's - you should see the two together!

Will brought the whole posse (Mom, Dad, Nana and Granda) to the visit for protection. Good thing because the little man got three shots and took an oral vaccine. What is that taste?? It's certainly not mom's milk! He was a brave soldier and took his medicine like a champ.

Here are Will's official two-month stats...
Weight: 13 lbs 4.2 oz (75th percentile)
Height: 24 inches (75th percentile)
Head Circumference: 16 inches (50th percentile)

Will didn't feel his usual self this afternoon. He cried and cried and the injection sight got just a little swollen and hot. Mom and Dad learned to love Infant Tylenol and to let Will sleep it off. Next vaccine visit, Will gets to make up the schedule for the day. I think we'll plan a late afternoon visit so the man can just sleep it all off straight away!

Happy Halloween

The 2nd Annual LaHatte Halloween Party was tonight. Costumes are mandatory for all attendees. We thought long and hard about just the right outfits for the five of us (Nana, Granda, Holly Jean, Geordie and Will). After scrapping Harry Potter and the TeleTubbies, we came up with a groovy idea...Austin Powers.

Leading role of Austin Powers is played by Billy Cowx.

He is accompanied by his girlfriend from The Spy That Shagged Me, Felicity Shagwell, aka Irene Cowx.

Mom turned up as Foxxy Cleopatra (Holly pulls off a full afro nearly as well as Beyonce in Goldmember).

And no movie would be complete without a villain, say hello to Dr. Evil - Andy is a spitting image, complete with his own Mini-Me accessory (Will).

Will was the only underage person at the neighborhood get together. The costumes were a hit and the whole family looked great.

Super Baby!

Happy Halloween!!

Tonight was trick-or-treating in New Freedom. Nana, Granda, Holly Jean and Geordie took turns handing out candy to all the little ones from the neighborhood.

Will got dressed up and made the rounds. He looked adorable and all the adults in the house just loved getting Will into his Halloween costume.

1st Halloween Costume: Super Man!
Houses Trick-or-Treated: 4
Loot Scored: 2 MilkyWay bars and a Coors Light

Stay tuned for Will's second Halloween costume tomorrow night!

Boo!

Halloween is just around the corner. Today we carved pumpkins (Will isn't very good with a knife yet). Holly Jean did the designs, Nana did the scraping out (the messy bit) and the finishing details, Geordie handled the carving, Billy supervised and Will just looked cute (as always).

Here are a couple of pics from the day plus a few of his Halloween outfits.

Welcome Nana and Granda

Nana and Granda (Andy's mam and dad) arrived today. Will stayed up to welcome them to America, but was off to bed shortly after his first cuddle. We have two full weeks with Nana and Granda coming up and we'll have lots of fun together. Dad is off work for the week and of course Mom is still hanging around the house off from work!

Lucky Seven

Will turned 7 weeks old today. Dad had the day off from work and spent the day with Mom and Will (well - the boys did let mom escape for a few hours to get her nails and toes done!).

We had a great day together - in fact it's probably been one of our favorite days with Will. He was awake a lot and in a great mode all day and night. Here's a picture of him just before one of his naps - hanging in the office with Dad.

There are a couple others right before dinner time - Will showing off his smile - the first we've caught on camera - what a good boy!

Ladies Man

Liz and Miss Rhian came to visit today for lunch. The girls drove all the way up to Pennsylvania to hang out with Mom and Will. Liz and I had to snap a few photos - we had both the kids awake and in a great mood at the same time! I'm not sure we could have done it if we had planned it - but the picture proves we did it!

Will of course enjoyed the time with Rhian and it was a good time for Mom and Liz to catch up!

Goooooooooal!

NUFC played today instead of on the weekend. Will surprised Dad by getting in his football kit (thank you Uncle Ian).

He looks like a little Alan Shearer! What a cutie pie...I mean tough guy.

Oh, and the outcome of the game - a draw against Man City. Booooooo.

New Faces

Will turned 6 weeks old this week. He's still growing like a weed and doing wonderful.

Mom and Will are working on a schedule - Mom thinks she's in control - but Will knows he's the one in charge.

Some days are better than others, but we're making progress and the nighttime sleep has improved. We're all sleeping in four hour stretches consistently, but we're shooting for longer now!

Other interesting stuff this week...

Will made a trip to downtown Baltimore again this week to meet a few of mom's colleagues at CNE. He met a bunch of folks and was impressed with how the professional dads knew just how to hold and shush him.

Will has also been trying on a few new faces this week including a super sweet smile and a frown that could make you crumble. We haven't caught either on film, but this is a shot of what comes after the frown. Poor Will.

The Little Striped Sweater

I started this sweater for Will before we knew when he'd arrive or if he was going to be a little girl or boy. It was nearly finished when he arrived, but still need a few hours of work. I've finally fit in some time to finalize the sweater and it turned out great. I can't wait for him to be big enough to wear it!

For those knitters out there, the sweater is made with Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo yarn using the Hooded Striped Top (3 month) pattern in the Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino book.

Downtown Boy

Will's week of social visits continues...

Today we hit downtown Baltimore - a first for Will. Our first stop was the Pixler home where we had lunch, a nap and a little play time with Emily, Clay, Emma and Lincoln.

Will didn't have much to Emma (he's kinda shy with the older ladies), but I'm sure they'll find lots to talk about in the future (heaven knows Emily and mom don't run out of stuff to chat about!). Here's a picture of Emily with Will.

EJ & Will

After saying goodbye to the Pixlers, we stopped by to see Lauren and her new baby girl Elena Grace. Will and Elena slept together (well, you can see that from the picture now can't you!).

Elena Grace & William James

Will slept most of the day - I'm sure we'll pay for that later tonight. We had a good time visiting B-more, I know we'll be back soon!

Passing With Flying Colors

Will had his one month check-up this morning. Dr. Campbell is super and Will likes him a lot. He didn't fuss one bit (granted there were no shots this time). Mom is bringing reinforcement (Nana, Granda and Dad) next time since Will will be getting several immunizations at his two month visit.

Here are the stats...


Weight: 10lbs 12oz (75th percentile)*
Height: 21 3/4 inches (50th percentile)

*Note: previous at-home weigh-ins were way off by like 2 lbs! So, does that mean that mom and dad weigh 20% less too?? I think so!

Dr. Campbell said Will looks just perfect and is super healthy. He also said he could easily go 4 hours between feedings at his age and weight. So that's given mom the courage to step up the scheduling (previously we've done whatever Will wants whenever he wants it). We're shooting for a few 4 hour stretches of sleep at night, maybe even longer - wish us all luck!

Hello Rhian!

Photo to come, stay tuned!

Liz O'Connor and I know each other from work. We've passed some major milestones together in the past few years:

- we got engaged at the same time,
- we were both married a month apart,
- we got pregnant within days of one another,
- and we became first time moms in the same month.

Liz and I always have tons to share and chat about!

This week Will is making social visits. He kicked off the week by meeting Rhian, Liz's two-week old precious little girl. We all had lunch (thank you grandma Denise) and got a tour of the brand new, beautiful O'Connor home. Liz and I swapped stories and shared some of our favorite mommy stuff.

Liz looks great and she and Rhian are all settled in.Will and I had a blast!

One Month Old

Today Will celebrated his one month birthday. Sometimes if feels like we just walked through the door with him for the first time and at other times it's like he's been here for ages.

We took it easy today - Will got another bath and watched the Ravens try to win a football game. He spent the late afternoon with dad catching the Newcastle football game.

Two big milestones today...

First - Will's first smile (he's been trying it on for weeks, but today he gave mom and dad a big grin when we smiled at him this morning).

Second - Mom busted out the baby monitor and let Will take a kip (aka nap) in his nursery - it was short, but it counts and it's a big move for mom and dad.

Home Alone!

Tonight Andy and Will stayed in alone together while mom went out for bunko. It's the first time mom's been away from Will for longer than 30 minutes and the first time dad has had Will all to himself.

They ate, cried, cuddled, slept and in general had a good time. Mom got home just in time for bedtime, but the men were already all over the bedtime routine.

Way to go dad!

Four Weeks Old Today

Will turned four weeks old today. We started the morning off with an unofficial weigh-in of 12.5 lbs. Official weigh in comes next week at the one-month visit with the pediatrician. The boy can eat!

We celebrated the milestone by visiting dad at work and having lunch together. Will met Andy's team and then went to Pizza Hut with mom and dad (it was that or a Lake Trout shop - we opted for the pizza).

The picture is at Pizza Hut - dad feeding Will, yes, on the table.

Are You Ready For Some Football?

Getting out of the house (aka mission control) with Will is still a challenge for mom and dad. On Sunday and Monday, we braved the unknown and headed over to Mark and Terri's for football.

These are a couple of pictures from Sunday. Will with Terri and Mark. Then Mark and Mike goofing around.

Monday's kick-off was late - 8:30pm (heaven help me, I think anything past 8pm is late - what has happened to me?). We went despite the proximity to bedtime and had a great time. Will went over in his infant carrier and slept in Mark and Terri's front room. That meant mom and dad were free to chat and eat - nearly unheard of in the past month!

We left at halftime with the Ravens cleaning up. Unfortunately they lost the game in OT (mom, dad and Will found out the next morning).

Too Big For His Britches

Today Will turned three weeks old - the time has flown by and Will has gotten so big already. We've been watching him grow, get stronger and learn new expressions and noises every day. We were curious just how big he has gotten, so dad jumped on the scales with Will this morning and declared our little boy to be 11 lbs!

No way - 11 lbs, already? He is one heck of an eater, no wonder why mom is nearly down to pre-prego weight!

We celebrated the three week milestone with a bottle (no not a bottle of beer or wine - a bottle of milk!). Will took to the bottle but still needs some practice keeping the milk in his mouth. He also graduated to size 1 diapers (bye-bye newborn diapers!) and mom packed away the outfits which no longer fit!

Flying Solo

Andy has gone back to work and Mimi has gone home. So that means I'm on my own this week with Will. I'm not sure how other first-time moms feel, but I was one scared girl on Monday morning!

Well, it's Friday now and dad is home for the weekend (thank goodness!). We survived the week and Will hasn't fired me yet. We took a walk most days and even ran a few local errands. We also went for a visit at Karen's which Will and mom really enjoyed.

The toughest part of the week was missing Andy and knowing Andy is missing out on the time with Will. Thank goodness for our fabulous neighbors who have made this week so easy for us with lots of yummy food. They've helped make our evenings a breeze so we can enjoy time together before heading off to bed each night.

Turns out I can fly solo with Will - I still need lots of practice, but there is plenty of time for that over the next few months.

Check These Wheels Out

We finished the week with Mimi by heading down to Towson to Picture People. Will was born in Towson two weeks ago, but hasn't been back until today.

We had our first family portrait taken
and some solo pics of Will shot as well. In true unpredictable baby fashion, Will fussed and cried during the entire photo shoot. Once he got some additional grub from mom in the Nordstrom ladies lounge, he was sweet as pie. Too late for the pictures, but the ride home was quiet!

The best part of the trip was breaking in the stroller. Check out the Mountain Buggy Urban! This set up just has Will's infant carrier in the frame. When he gets a little bigger, he'll be sporting a red seat and we'll be sure to show it off on the blog.

Ah Swingin' - Thank You Bunko Aunties

Here's Will stretched out in his swing - one of his favorite places in the house. The ladies in the 'hood picked this swing out for our little one before he was born. They certainly know their stuff - it rocks!

When we aren't cuddling Will, he lounges in the living room in his swing, as you can see, he's quite content. Thank you bunko aunties!

Knitting With Mom

Before Will was born, I started a great little striped sweater in a 3 month size. It is pretty close to being done, but still needs a little finishing work. Will was wonderful today but really hungry. We're both getting the hang of nursing and while confined to mom's chair of choice, I got a few minutes of knitting work in. Will wasn't particularly interested, but he was glad to get some cuddle time in with mom.

Let's see if I can get the sweater finished before Will is too big to wear it!

Splish Splash - Will's First Bathtime!

With Mimi around, Andy and I took advantage of the mom expertise and learned how to give our little man a proper bath. We've done a few sponge baths since Will has been home, but since Will lost his umbilical cord today, we could do a full-on bath!

Dad was a champ at washing up Will. Will enjoyed the bath and the warm up afterwards, but he wasn't too keen on the chilly bit between the bathtub and the towel. Our first of many baby baths to come!

First Crab Feast With Mom, Dad and Mimi

Yummy, crabs! Every Marylander should eat blue crabs and as the only Maryland-born member of the family, Will is taking his birth right seriously. This Sunday, mom, dad and Mimi showed Will how to crack crabs.

Although he still has a lot of practicing to do to get it right, we're sure he'll love our Sunday tradition of steamed crabs followed by ice cream.

Hi Mimi!

Everyday is a big day for Will right now, but today was extra special. Mimi (mom's mom) arrived today for a week's stay. We need all the help we can get right now, especially with Andy headed back to work on Monday. Yeah for grandmas!

Aside from Mimi's arrival, Will also met lots of neighbors today, including Kendall who is just a few weeks older than Will. He also watched his first Newcastle game with dad and neighbor Mike and had a nice long visit with Kristen who thought Will was even cuter in person.

Our little man is quite the social butterfly!