Reading is cool. At home or at school.

The findings of a recent study suggest that reading to and verbally interacting with your baby may yield results in the form of word recognition even as early as 6-9 months.

Well, yay for us, we are at least doing something right as parents. We incorporated book-reading into Will's bedtime routine when he was only 10 weeks old. Yes, this was probably more for us than for him, but c'mon, let's not focus on that.

Now that he is 5 months, he really seems to enjoy reading. Whatever the subject may be.

He's usually interested in looking at the pictures and trying to turn the pages

Unless, of course, something more interesting is going on...like that ever-present snapping shutter!

Reading is something that is highly valued in our home. I can't wait until little Will is old enough to sit at our feet while we read and he rocks excitedly on his heels in eager anticipation to find out what will happen to Edmund and the Queen, or how Peter Pan will return from Neverland, or who will destroy the One Ring. Reading is something that we will enjoy vicariously through our son as we revisit all the great extant children's literature. After all, according to CS Lewis, an author and theologian who is adored in our household, "No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally -- and often far more -- worth reading at the age of fifty and beyond." And so...we will continue to read to our son.

Reading imparts culture. William is being cultured in other ways as well.

Yup, this is what happens when he has an older female cousin paired with a Grammy who always wanted a daughter...
He certainly seems to enjoy himself a cup of tea.

Perhaps William should move to Britian so that he really fits in.

At any rate, I know CS Lewis would have approved of both of our child's culture-building activities. When speaking about the subjects, he said, "You can't get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me."

Another "first" holiday for our family

We had a lovely Easter with our family.
Baby Will was awake for most of the church service, which is unusual for him. While we were singing he laid on the pew with both of his fists in his mouth and flirted with the little girl behind us, who seemed to be very entertained by it all. After church we headed to my family's house in the city for a great feast (can't believe I didn't take a picture, the food was to-die-for!)
Here's a lovely cake my sister made

And some photos from Mr. Will's first Easter.

And these last two of our little family

I don't think I need to point out the drool or the double chin...but I will, because they make me smile.

Today

So thankful for today and what it signifies to us...

Happy Easter

Another day, another month...

At five months...

He is starting to like bath-time more and his kicking and splashing sends the cats scampering

He has finally discovered his toes...

But he still prefers his fingers

His head has grown...

He is kinda-sorta sitting up  (ok, yes, he fell over two seconds after the shutter snapped)

He still loves to stand, and now he is starting to balance himself against furniture for short periods of time.

He's getting stronger on his tummy

He still has not figured out that one does not have to open one's mouth as hugely as possible with every smile

He still loves his owl friends...

...and oh yes, he is still drooling :)

Bums and britches...

 My little Levi-man hangin' in his Levi's

 Few things are as cute as a denim-clad baby bum

Or any baby-bum for that matter...

A daring traveling experience...

My little boy turned 4 months a couple weeks ago, and to celebrate, I and my sisters took him on a trip to Orlando.

Ha ha, just kidding, we're not that type of people. But it did just so happen that he turned 4 months while we were on a short vacation down there. So I apologize in advance: this is going to be a lengthy blog entry, rife with shots of my overly-photographed baby (c'mon, just had to capture each and every different face he makes, and how could we not document the way he looked wearing a sun hat for the first time, or the way his chubby little belly spilled over his swim trunks?) combined with those artsy-fartsy abstract shots I couldn't resist taking, you know, the ones that you kinda-sortof appreciate when you are looking through someone's photoshoot pictures but in your head you are thinking "I would never frame that one").

So sit back and relax as you browse through my pictures. I learned a couple things along the way, this being my first vacation with a baby. Good thing two aunties were there to help out!!

The trip started with the dreaded air plane ride. I don't think the boy really enjoyed his first flight.

We call that one the 'stink face'. Luckily, he went to sleep after this brief protestation.

Here we had just arrived at our hotel...

... and yes, that is my baby wearing a plastic grocery bag as overalls, because that is what happens when you travel light and decide to leave the cloth diapers at home, hence opening yourself up to the risky mess that comes with disposables and their poor leak protection. Don't even get me started on how terrible these Huggies were. It made me really appreciate how well his cloth diapers work to keep in that mess. More on that later. Anyways...

The condo we rented was on a lovely little Orlando lake, and we had some nice walks along the boardwalk...

...and some lovely sunrises...

 (yes, I was the only one who was awake to see them thanks to my handy-dany built-in human alarm clock...you can always trust that the power won't go out on this baby!)

It was a great vacation, filled with a lot of hot-tubbing and pool-side congregating

We discoverd that baby Will enjoys hot-tubbing as much as his momma and aunts

We discovered that this little portable crib/tent comes in VERY handy when you are on vacation (thanks Amanda for that little tip!)

We discovered that he looks cute and completely different in a baseball cap.

Found that the Ergobaby came quite in handy many times

His adoring aunts faught over him the whole trip and helped immensely as we navigated Downtown Disney and toured many of the Disney resorts.

Riding a ferry in Downtown Disney








"Why am I standing on a trash can Mom??!"

Enjoying an evening sunset at the Boardwalk Hotel



Inside the Polynesian Resort



Enjoying the live band performing inside the Grand Floridian Resort

One of those artsy-fartsy shots you probably wouldn't frame

Looking down the hallway of the Beach and Yacht Club

After spending his first four months cooped up inside and covered head to toe, I think he enjoyed his time outside

I know I certainly enjoyed being able to see his chunky little legs and chubby feet

And now, in closing, and now, since it is almost time to take some 5-month shots, I will leave you with the many faces of Will at 4 months...

Happy...

Happier...

Enjoying his favorite friend Joshua Giraffe (yes, we are those people, the kind of people who would adopt a pet from a shelter and give it a new and different name)

And the ever-present hand-in-the-mouth.