Dylan's First Steps - 10/26/2009

Dylan waited to walk until the day before he turned 13 months. He was about 2 weeks behind Zach's first steps. I was a little concerned, but not too worried. I could tell he had it together he just wasn't "ready" to walk. The biggest difference between the two boys was their style of preparation. Zach would hold on to your hands and walk for a really long distance. He would want to do it for so long that you would literally have to lean him back to force him to sit down. Otherwise, he would just hold on and never let go. Dylan, on the other hand, rarely wanted to walk while you held his hands. He preferred to walk behind a push toy or step stool and scoot his way around. He also started just standing up in the middle of the room by himself and not need any support, but also not take any steps. I kept saying, Dylan is just going to stand up on his own and walk. Right before I did this video, Craig and I were trying to get him to take some steps between the two of us. He refused, buckled his knees and crawled. The minute we turned away and stopped paying attention to him, he started trying to stand and take steps. I ran and got the video camera because I could tell he was close. Sure enough, he just started walking. This video is literally 5 mins after his first steps. He went from 1 step to 5 steps in a matter of minutes. Zach took his first steps and then we didn't see him walk again for another week. Dylan wasn't ready to unveil his skill until he knew he was ready! :)
Another proud moment for the parents of Dylan Ward!

Stats from his last Dr's appt:
(will get measurements soon, but these are percentiles for now)
25th percentile for height (better than 5th)
25th percentile for weight
75th percentile for head circumference (my, I have big headed boys!)

Fun little notes about Dylan at 13 months:

• His favorite word is "ba" for ball. Halloween was challenging, every pumpkin was "ba. ba. ba." Our trip to Hobby Lobby down the pumpkin decoration aisle was hysterical. Ba. Dylan, that's a pumpkin. Ba. Ba. Leaning out of the cart trying to throw the ba's.

• He says Uh oh really cute. It's uh...pause. ooh....pause. Very clearly and very separate. Still trying to get it on tape. He uses it in the right context too.

• He loves wrestling with his big brother and Dad. Although, I get a lot of love in the form of pushing me over on the floor too.
  

• He gives great hugs and his learning to give kisses too. He hugs all of us and even his stuffed animals.

• Dylan loves being outside and cries every time we come in from the car and go through the garage without riding his little push toy bike.

• I hear he is really good with the other babies in his daycare class. They always tell me he is such a good and happy baby.
  

• He also loves animals. Our cat, Kitty or Buster (whichever you'd like to call him/her), Craig's parents dog, Sugar and any other dog we pass on the street...he even was calling to the squirrels in the backyard today.
  

Pumpkin Carving Party - 10/17/2009

We hosted the First Annual Ward Pumpkin Carving Party. I hope to make this an annual tradition. We had lots of families come join us to carve their pumpkins and enjoy some chili, hot dogs and cider. Some of the kids painted pumpkins but many went the traditional carving route. My brother was able to come up from Tulsa for the party and bring his kids (Jen had to work.) My mom came in town to help out. Thank goodness she did since I ended up getting a migraine about an hour into the party and spent the rest of the afternoon in our bedroom. (I was bummed to say the least.) But my mom and Chris kept the hostessing duties going and got everyone to take goody bags and all.
We had a great time and like I said, I hope to make this an annual event. Everyone is welcomed to travel and see us next year. I promise not to wait to take my migraine medicine next year! :)
I put a lot of my mom's pictures on Snapfish and put a link on a previous posting. Here are some of my pictures from before people arrived. I took some of the decorations and set up for the carving (maybe I'll remember next year, so I don't have to reinvent the wheel!).

Aren't the propane heaters nice?!?!
It was a little chilly and Brian let us borrow them from his bar, McCarthy's.

Easiest decoration ever, candy corn in glass votive - going to reuse with peppermints for Xmas

Goody bags, want better bags for next year, but these worked in a pinch

Our front porch with pumpkins and mums...I love fall!

Pumpkin Carving (101 photos), by Jill Ward

Here are pictures from the Pumpkin Carving party. I'll write a post later, but here are pics my mom took - 101 of them, so you will want to skim through! :)

Willkie 8 Reunion # 10 (?)

Willkie 8 Does Bell Buckle, TN
10th Annual Reunion

So here's a post about me for once, not about the kids!
Despite the fact that we have all lived all across the country, my girlfriends from college have been getting together for a reunion almost every year for 10 years. We refer to ourselves and now our husbands (aren't they lucky) as Willkie 8 or W8 for short. We all lived on the same floor in the Willkie dorm at Indiana University. Bet you can guess which floor - 8. Hence the name and yes, the dog came after the dorm. My dog Willkie was named in honor of my friends and our fabulous first year of college together.
The first couple of years of reunions were easier because, well, we had no children and it seemed somebody was getting married every year for awhile so that took care of 4 years. The last 3 years have been more difficult with the addition of 4 kids and everyone is married so no wedding to have as an excuse. I'm going to try and remember the years and locations of our reunions so we won't forget. Willkie girls, email me if I missed one or get the year wrong, I know I'll need help.
1998 - Graduated - some in May and others, ahem, me in December.
1999 - Okay, maybe we didn't physically see each other in 1999 - Liz may have come to Denver and visited Jamey and me.
2000 - Steph's Wedding in Washington, DC - Bethesda
2001 - Belton, TX (out on the town in Austin, TX) Steph was living there while her husband Chuck was stationed there with the Army.
2002 - Columbus, IN - My wedding
2003 - Liz's wedding in December at a beautiful inn in Illinois - Liz, remind me of the name - Lake something - cute little town
2004 - Did we miss this year? - I'm drawing a blank, although I remember Steph coming to Aspen and Jamey and I meeting her at the Ritz??? but Liz didn't make that one. ? Is that the right year?
2005 - Chicago, IL - stayed at the Kelsch's and then at Jamey and Mark's - Cubbies game
2006 - Jamey's wedding in Memphis, TN - Steph didn't make it due to hospital bedrest for the birth of her two beautiful little twin girls. She was missed and included in pictures regardless.
2007 - Chagrin Falls, OH - Location provided by my parents - their house. Everyone drove except Craig, Zach and me.
2008- Ocean City, MD - Stayed at Steph's cousin's beach house

That brings us to 2009 in Bell Buckle, TN - Our first girls only trip and we had a blast.

So here's my little posting about this year's trip. We all met in Nashville, TN. It seemed to be the cheapest flying option and Jamey could actually drive there. We rented a cute little cabin although they called it a Chalet. The Liberty Gap Chalet. It was very secluded but really quite pretty. Everyone brought something (except me so I became the photographer). Liz brought the Trader Joe's wine (courtesy of her husband, Vince's job at Trader Joe's). Jamey brought the beer (courtesy of her husband, Mark's job at Sweetwater Brewery) plus she made my favorite tortilla roll-ups, Chex Mix, did all the grocery shopping and had the place ready to go when we arrived! Steph made her now famous, 6 layer cookies and chocolate chip cookie bars and of course, her banana bread. Yummy! To sum up the weekend, we ate, drank, and talked our way through Friday and Saturday. It was a great time. I learned how to play Apples to Apples and even learned the rules of Ping Pong. It took me awhile but eventually I caught on! :) Saturday we toured downtown Bell Buckle and saw the little antique and gift shops. We could have eaten our weight in Moon Pies, but none of us were really fans. I almost forgot our "hike" around the Chalet's land. Liz was her usual trooper and braved the woods for the rest of us. The trail was pretty overgrown and I believe we saw the largest spider I ever need to see in my life. We declared it was time to turn around and say we got some exercise. We ate Saturday night at Miller's Grocery. It seemed to be "the" restaurant in town and served excellent Southern food. Yum! Fried Green Tomatoes and some yummy Snickers dessert. Everything was fried or creamed, I love the South! :)

The mural in downtown Bell Buckle

The rooster/chicken? running free with his friends around the houses near our Chalet.
Gotta love TN!

Let the Apples to Apples game begin.
It was a fight for the bedrooms. Winner takes the suite.
Jill and Liz
Jill and Jamey - The Original Roommates

Liz and Steph - proof we used the ping pong table

The Ladies posing in downtown Bell Buckle
The donkey and pony? literally outside our back door.
They spent most of the weekend just like this.

I always love seeing these ladies. We can talk openly about everything and don't have to fill each other in on our history because we know it all. We just have to catch up on the year that has just past. I know we will continue to make our get-togethers a priority. Eventually, I see us taking just our husbands and doing a cruise or something more exotic. For right now, we are having fun making due with crazy schedules and limited budgets!
Here's to Willkie 8! Cheers!