January 31

Bad guys! Will spent nearly three hours straight playing with Grandpa this morning. Poor Grandpa wasn't allowed to take a rest at all! Will and Grandpa spent some time playing with toys, but they mainly wrestled, rough-housed and acted goofy.

January 30

Marc went to the UW vs. WSU basketball game today, so Will and I took time to head up to my parent's new place. The inherited some chickens and, as you can see, Will was quite excited to gather eggs out of the coop!

January 29

I needed something to photograph late tonight (again, my favorite subject was sleeping). I settled on the fruit on the counter. I still find it hard to take food pictures, but I thought this one was okay. I really like how the red apple is set off against the muted yellows and browns.

January 28

Reading with my boy. Part of our nightly routine is, of course, reading bedtime stories. Will's rules: Mom sits on the part of the couch with the ottoman, Dad sits on the other side. He picks a book for each of us to read, sits in the middle while Dad reads and on my lap when I read. One more thing...I have to 'click' my feet together. Can you tell who runs this house?

I wanted to capture the reading part of our ritual tonight and started by taking pictures of Marc reading to Will. After taking a few, from all different angles, nothing stood out to me. Yes, there were some cute ones, but I've taken similar shots in the past. it was my turn to read and I thought I'd just have to live with the lackluster photos I'd taken. However, as Will hopped up on my lap, I realized that I didn't have any photos of our nightly routine from my own perspective. Plus, 10 years from now I'll want to remember our two feet "clicked" together.

January 27

Tonight Sarah and I went to the mall to run some errands and have dinner. Will was asleep when I got home tonight so there was no cute kid to photograph. I pulled out my new tripod and reverse macro and shot pictures of things that caught my eye. This was the winning shot - the curl of the paper won me over.

January 26

Today was a momentous day - Will wore underwear all day with no accidents! He went to the bathroom no less than eight times at school today. We took Will to DQ to celebrate his accomplishment with a tasty ice cream treat. Our little guy is growing up!

January 25

It's been unseasonably warm here and I spied these little primroses coming up beneath our hydrangea bush. First of all, I was shocked to see anything growing in the garden yet, let alone these little guys since they are supposedly annuals. Nice to see a bit of spring already!

January 24

A Skinny Cow fudge pop was the perfect reward for a day without a diaper. Woody worked for a second day in a row, with Will peeing on the toilet nine times. He had two small mishaps in his underwear, but that's to be expected. I went out and bought a bunch of cheap pants to take to school tomorrow, who knows how successful he'll be with the excitement of 19 other preschoolers around him!

January 23

We've been trying to get Will interested in potty training for a while now, but he keeps saying no. We know he's capable, we know he could if he wanted to. Therein lies the problem; he just hasn't wanted to, saying that he doesn't want to stop wearing diapers. Today, however, I discovered his currency - a little bribe we like to call potty pez. He wore underwear for about 3 hours today and was totally successful! We'll see if potty pez hold their allure tomorrow.

January 22

I made chicken soup tonight and it was pretty darn good! I find photographing food very difficult and think that it always ends up looking gross in my pictures. Too much shine from the flash, maybe? I thought about that while I was taking pictures, but was too lazy to get out the tripod. Oh, well...there are many more days left to practice food photography. Can you see me in this photo? I can!

January 21

There is nothing that Will loves more than his Imaginext guys. Tonight we went to Toys R Us so he could pick out a new toy for napping so well at school. (Nothing says good parenting like bribery!)

January 20

One of my students gave me this insulated cold cup for Christmas and it has seriously fueled my coffee addiction. There is nothing better than an iced americano...yum! On a positive note, I'm also drinking a ton more water due to this little beauty. Best gift from a student in a long time!

January 19

Will loves fruit snacks right now. Each day when he gets home, he picks a package to eat while watching Curious George. He narrates his findings to me as he eats through the bag. It goes something like this:

W: Mom, I got Tiana!
M: Oh, good. (My standard response while I'm cooking dinner and not *completely* paying attention.)
W: Mom, I got a flower.
M: {forgot to respond}
W: Mom, you didn't say, "Oh good!"
M: Oh, good!
W: Mom, I got the flower!
W: Oh, good!

And so it goes. It started out innocently enough, with me pretending to be interested in the fruit snacks. Now, however, I *must* respond to each little fruit snack discovery as it is pulled from the bag. "Oh, good!" is the standard response required for most of the fruit snacks, with the exception of the slipper. For some reason, Will has made it clear that I am not to respond when he tells me he gets this one. Instead, I am to just stay silent. It's a funny little game we play. Strange, really. But ours, and that's what matters.

January 18

The sun was shining today and it caught my eye as it bathed the satsumas sitting near the windowsill. I started by trying to capture what I saw, but they just ended up looking like orange blobs. I then decided to reverse mount my 1.8 and play around with some "macro" shots.

January 17

We intended to head to OMSI this morning, but Will fell asleep before we got there. Thankful that he was getting some sleep, we headed back to town and took him to the Children's Museum instead. He spent most of his time in the construction zone and ship today.

January 16

Today we headed to Portland to spend time with family. Will enjoyed his time at the zoo with Uncle Todd and Aunt Alison, despite the fact that there weren't many animals out given the drizzly weather. Will and Todd had an impromptu jam session on the drums at the zoo. (I love the color of Will's eyes in this photo, even if it does look like this was a senior portrait session!)

January 15

As Will and I drove home tonight we saw a gorgeous sunset. The clouds were gorgeous, lit up by the sun. We raced home to get the camera and headed back down to the bay. By the time we got there, the clouds were gone and I wasn't feeling inspired any longer. As we drove back up the hill to our house, Will pointed out some more pink clouds and told me to take a picture of them. We took this from our driveway - nothing special and the light in the neighbor's window is distracting, but it's the view we see everyday.

January 14

Tonight was wonderful - a happy and giggly boy who listened, ate a good dinner and was so much fun to hang out with. He was even content to snuggle with Daddy for a while (right now he's got a serious Mom complex) and watch a song on YouTube. I love my boys!

January 13

Will and I stopped by Bayview on our way home today. As we walked through the chip aisle, he screamed out, "I want man booty!" He spied a new bag of veggie booty tonight. He got the chips, I got a good chuckle!

January 12

Today was one of six birthdays in Will's room this month and he was very excited to have cake at snack. Even more exciting was the goodie bag that Aubrey provided, as it was filled with four pieces of candy. Of course, Will couldn't wait to eat one so I let him have a Hershey's bar in the car. At one point, he asked if I had a napkin and I turned around to find this chocolate monster staring me in the face!

January 11

Will rarely smiles for me in photos, preferring to just ignore my requests and continue with whatever it was he was doing. Today, however, I tried a new tactic. I told him, "Don't look at the camera! Whatever you do, don't smile. Don't jump up and down and laugh!" Bingo! Let's hope it works again!

January 10

Lately, Will has been wanting constant companionship. Today, however, Marc and I had things we needed to get done around the house. While I felt bad telling Will he needed to play by himself, eventually he stopped asking (and asking and asking and asking). He played with his guys for at least an hour and enjoyed every minute of it. Of course we love to play with him, but he does need to spend time being independent...thank goodness!

January 9

Our faucet in the kitchen started leaking today and it took four trips to Home Depot and Lowe's before we finally had the new one installed. When Marc was out running one of the aforementioned trips, Will decided to try his hand at plumbing.

January 8

Tonight after his bath, Will insisted on tackling Daddy - over and over and over again! I love seeing how much fun they have laughing and playing together. I'm also thankful that Marc tolerates - rather, enjoys - the tackling, as I can only handle a few moments of it. Oh, the differences between guys and gals!

January 7

Will turned 3 today! Upon waking, Will discovered that the Birthday Fairy had decorated the hall outside of his room with streamers, balloons, and confetti. He was a bit confused at first, wondering how she got in our house and asking if she used the chimney like Santa. This is a picture of him a few moments after he woke up, holding one of the streamers in his hand. He loved playing with his decorations and knew it was his special day.

January 6

Grandma and Grandpa Daily sent Will a birthday gift today. He opened it after dinner, took one look and exclaimed, "It's Geotrax!" Marc and I were surprised that he could identify them, since he just got his set at Christmas. He sure had fun driving his trolley around the track!

January 5

Eight years ago this evening Marc proposed! I couldn't ask for a better guy to share my life with. He is a great partner, father, and friend. (Not to mention he designed a stunning ring.) Love you, husband!

January 4

Today was my first day back to school after two weeks off and, boy, was it hard to get up! We also had a staff meeting after school, which meant that we didn't get home until just before 5 o'clock. Tonight's dinner called for something quick and easy and a french toast breakfast fit the bill. At least it is something that Will actually likes!

January 3

Today we spent the day (and I do mean all day) testing out all of Will's new toys. Lately, he is not content to play alone, claiming that he is scared to be by himself and that "noises" might frighten him. So, we play together. Rather, Marc and I listen as Will tells us exactly how to hold, move and interact with each of the toys. He's like a little dictator!

January 2

Though Will's birthday is not for a few more days, we celebrated with friends and family today. Will picked out the "Monkey George" theme himself. Marc and I were two very proud parents today, as Will politely thanked and hugged all of his guests as he opened gifts. He stayed up until 9:00 playing with his new toys.

January 1

Today we spent most of the day getting the house ready for Will's birthday party. Marc and Will did find time to relax and watch the "Monkey George" movie before bedtime.

December 31

We showed Will how to properly celebrate New Year's Eve and he rang in 2010 before 8pm. It was a good thing we celebrated early, as Marc was asleep before 10pm. 2009 was a year of ups and downs for our little family, but our one constant was the joy that this little guy brought us for the last 365 days.