Toddler Will

I love this stage Will is in. He's constantly in trouble, but constantly making my heart burst with his adorableness, his personality, and his little boy kisses!

He's half way through his 21st month now. He's obsessed with trains - seeing them, hearing them, playing with them, watching shows about them...he loves it all. Half of the day you can find him picking out a bunch of trains, carefully connecting them in the order he desires, then crawling around the floor as he pulls them along and says "choo choo!" He's also really great at building his own track. He goes through the whole box, carefully picks out which wooden pieces he wants, and then connects them and makes long tracks. I love watching him set up each piece to his own satisfaction, and then when he deems it completed, he grabs his trains and plays on it so happily.

He also loves the construction trucks he has. Especially the dump truck, which he puts his cup and his train inside of before "room room!"-ing it around.

For his birthday last year, he got him a Fisher Price car that he can sit in and pretend he's driving. He loves that thing! I call it his getaway car, because every time he gets in trouble, he runs to his car, shuts the door, and starts driving like crazy! I can't even be mad when he does it because it's so cute!

It's rare to find him without his lion ears on. Last year after Halloween, I found a 50 cent lion costume that had a ears/short mane headband in it. He wears the headband all the time, roars at everyone, and giggles. Katie sometimes lets him chase her, and she pretend yells in fear. It ends up with both of them giggling and exhausted.

Just like Katie since she was a year old, Will loves his leapfrog plush. Katie had Violet and for years wouldn't be parted with it (even now, she has Violet by her side most of the day). Will can not be without Scout. He naps with him (and his lullabies), he plays with him, he pretend cooks him in his pretend oven, and he dances and sings with him. When he leaves him somewhere and forgets, you can hear Will running around the room calling "Scout! Scout!" and then soon after, "mommy help! Mommy, help Scout, mommy."

His sentences are improving by the day. I love all the things he can say now! I sort of miss when he used to call me "mine", and has since moved on to calling EVERYTHING else "mine." I'm now Mommy again, but that's just as sweet. Most of his sentences start out with "Mommy?" and continues with some sort of help request, or food request, or for cuddles.

Will lives for naughtiness though! He thinks three steps ahead as well - he knows what naughtiness he's currently doing, what he's doing next, and a back up plan for naughtiness after that. He literally can go from one bad thing to another without hesitation. He is constantly busy, constantly on the move, constantly climbing something, and constantly getting into what he knows he shouldn't. It's what makes life a bit interesting though! He also hates when I do dishes, and tries to physically shove me away from the sink to go play. Loves when I do laundry though, as he climbs into the fresh clean laundry to throw it on the floor and play.

He's also a sweet little boy that truly adores his mommy. Katie was very attached to me, but she was always willing to trade me in for her Daddy anytime - and still does! Will is firmly in the mommy camp. He may leave to go play with Daddy or give him cuddles, but Mommy ultimately is the one he's after and wants. He loves mommy cuddles and kisses and falling asleep in mommy's arms. If he's hurt, no one better get in the way of him running to mommy! Little boy love is like no other, and I totally love it.

It's so much fun experiencing the difference between little girls and little boys. Katie is seriously everything I've ever wanted in my little girl. She's my pride and joy, my perfect princess, everything I looked forward to when I was younger. I couldn't be more happy with who she is! And then there's Will, my little perfect boy who loves trucks and trains and being tough, but totally melts for his mommy and loves me like no other. He looks up to his Daddy and wants to do everything his Daddy does, but when he's done, he needs his mommy and nobody else in the whole world will do!

There's nothing else I'd rather spend my days doing than raising these two and getting to soak in every moment with them. It still feels like not enough time!