Good News

We've had lots of good news this week. First, as many of you know, Will is going to have a baby brother! The little guy was curled up and comfy and refused to budge so we did not get very good pictures. After some prodding, though, he spread 'em and we could all see very clearly that it's a boy. He had his hands up and covering his face most of the time and he would not unfurl so that they could get good pictures of his spine. I'll probably have to go back so we they can get additional pictures. He had the hiccups so we could see him jump a little. We're excited to have another boy and we think Will will appreciate a little brother too (eventually).

Another piece of good news this week is that Will's skin is about 95% healed! His pediatrician prescribed betamethasone, which is a steroid cream that is a little stronger than hydrocortisone. We started it earlier this week and it worked wonders in just a couple of days! Will's skin is nearly completely clear and he scratches a lot less. Hallelujah!! I'm trying to be fairly conservative with it and it still seems to be very effective. We supplement it with his usual moistruizing routine and he is almost back to normal. I got out the camera this evening to show everyone how good his skin looked. I didn't notice that he had ketchup on his face until I uploaded the pictures! Ignore the ketchup and marvel at how great his skin looks compared to just a week ago! We couldn't be happier that we seem to have found something that works. Hopefully we can keep him clear and comfortable.

I also think it helps that we've been out in the sun a lot this week. The weather has been very nice- sunny and 70s most days. So we've been to the park almost every day. Friday Will and I even went to the base and walked around to look at all of the airplanes on display. He can say "airplane" and was interested in them for a while, then he became distracted by other things. We walked around for about an hour and I finally had to carry him back to the car. Around the neighborhood, Will loves to point out things that he knows the name of. As we walk to the park, he'll point and say "house," "tree," "dog," "car," etc. The park is only about a two minute walk from our house but it usually takes us about 10 minutes to get there. Will can be fast when he gets going but more often he stops to inspect every bug, leaf and rock on the way. He used to just observe ants and other bugs we'd see but lately he's started to stomp on them when he's done checking them out. That's probably a normal kid thing but I can't help but be a little worried about my little serial ant killer. I doubt he understands that he stepping on a living thing.

Today at the park, Will was much more interested in the people playing basketball on the court next to the park than he was in playing on the playground. He even went over to the fence and tried to pick up a basketball through the fence. He just wanted to play ball. We will probably get him a real basketball soon so he can go to the basketball court and play around. Not quite ready for a pickup game yet though.

Earlier this week, the Disney Channel was showing a bunch of the Pixar movies so Will got to see Toy Story and Finding Nemo for the first time. He's much too active to sit and watch a movie but he'd watch in 5-10 minute increments between playtime. He has several Toy Story toys even though he hadn't seen the movie. He started watching and his eyes lit up and he yelled, "Buzz!" when he saw Buzz Lightyear. I've heard him try to say "Woody" but that's a hard one for him. He definitely knows "Buzz" though. He tried to say "Nemo" which came out "mo." More often he'd point and say "fish." Other new words include "horse," "towel," "stroller" and "medicine," which he says when we give him his Zyrtec before bedtime.

During our adventure on the base yesterday we walked past a construction area and we saw a dump truck picking up, moving and dumping dirt. Will was fascinated. I kept saying "cool" and Will would repeat "cool." We passed the same truck a little while later and, without me saying anything, Will started saying "cool." It was pretty funny.

Finally, Will has always loved anything with wheels. He often tries to roll our luggage around but our suitcases are just too big for him to handle- even when they are empty. Yesterday I got him a little Elmo backpack that has wheels and a handle so he can roll it like luggage. He has some cars in there and he has been rolling it all over the house. We're going to let him take his own Elmo luggage when we travel to DC. We'll probably fill it with toys and a Hershey Kiss or two to get us through the flight!