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.