36 Weeks

Such a big week for Will!  I had to write everything down to try to keep track of what happened this week.  After 12 days away from home, we were happy to arrive back in West Virginia last night!  He was a trooper though, and did better than I expected with sleeping in new places.  The car rides, however, were not as pleasant.  But, how can you blame him, being strapped into a seat for hours on end?

In the car, it's tough for him to fall asleep, because at home, he almost always nurses to sleep.  And we never really got the hang of the pacifier.  So he tosses and turns his head in frustration, while I pet his head and try to "shhh" him to sleep.  Once he's asleep, he'll go for a while.  The way up to DC from NC was NO BUENO though.  With traffic starting from 30 miles out, pouring rain, and Will refusing to eat for more than 6 hours, everyone was miserable.  I think I sang Wheels on the Bus for close to 2 hours.  Billy momentarily cancelled the rest of our summer travel plans.  I think they're still on though ;)  Next time, we might try to drive at night.

Back to big things for Baby Will...we have a crawler!  My mom and I spent the majority of the week trying to get him to crawl, and finally, the morning that we were leaving, he did it!  And now, of course, he's into everything.  His favorite is electrical cords.  So this morning, I have done some baby-proofing in his room, and will have to inspect the rest of the house later.

He also can pull himself all the way up now.  So time to lower the crib mattress again too!  He's not too stable, so I have to watch him on the harder surfaces.  Thankfully, the basement is fully carpeted, so we'll hang out mostly down there during playtime.

We're on the 7th tooth and they're coming in like rapid fire now!  He is looking so much more grown up with a mouth full of teeth!

While we were in DC, we were able to attend Georgia's baby shower, which was clearly exhausting for him.  When he took naps at Billy's aunt's house, I figured out how to leave him upstairs(her house is 5 floors) since I didn't have my baby monitor with me.  I used facetime between my iPhone and iPad and just left the iPad with him, and carried my phone around the house.  Good travel tip!  Another quick one is, if you're checking a car seat at the airport, you can stuff smaller items in the car seat bag, that won't fit in your luggage or carry-on.  I believe the car seat checks for free with most airlines!

And we also got to celebrate Billy's grandfather's 78th birthday.  It was nice to have a smaller group of people, rather than the huge family gatherings that they usually have.  We'll be back to DC in 2 weeks for one of those!

I'm hoping over the next few days, we'll get back to our schedule and maybe start introducing solid food breakfast to Will.  I don't think we'll go to the fireworks, because it's so late, but Happy 4th of July to everyone!