Will has fallen for hats. Taking advantage of last week's spring break, we (Mom and I) took him to the Babies-R-Us store to check out potential dressy outfits and find him a hat. We were checking out denim ball caps and khaki mop-hats and didn't notice that Will had already chosen his own and was having a ball with it. His choice: the "Pooh" hat -- a denim cap with half of Pooh's face from the nose up on the front and Pooh's ears sticking out on either side of the top.
He had to have it.
I spent the better part of a half hour following Will around with his hat. His favorite style? Pulled down in front of his eyes, so that he can't see anything. To Will, wearing the hat this way makes running at top speed more fun... who knows what you'll bump into?!? And just you try to pull that cap up above his eyes! That pout face comes out and those little blue eyes glare. He KNOWS how he wants to wear his hat, thank-you-very-much.
So. The good news: we got Will wearing a hat so he'll have more protection from the sun. The bad news: pedestrians and shoppers, beware!!
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
A Man of Many Hats
Monday, March 28, 2005
The Latest Heartbreakingly Cute Activity
Margarita has been teaching Will to blow kisses. So when she leaves, she says to him: "Willito, dame un besito!" (Or, "little Will, give me a little kiss!")
Will puts his hand up to his mouth and smacks his lips (making a perfect little "smooch" sound) and throws his hand back up into air dramatically. Then he laughs his wonderful, full and hearty chuckle.
It is TOO PRECIOUS.
Sunday, March 27, 2005
PapPap and Will
PapPap and Will -- standing on "Will's Street" in front of our house. Easter Afternoon. (We're not sure what Will is pointing at...?) 
Zydeco Brunch at Ye Olde College Inn! College Inn has been a local New Orleans favorite since it opened in 1933. On Sundays, they serve up "Zyde-Cajun" brunch -- complete with live Zydeco! This band was loved by all the kids (Will included) and had a bag filled with instruments (from washboards to spoons) for the kids to play as they danced along.
Easter
Paul, Will and I with Will's FIRST EASTER BASKET from Granna and PapPap. Granna beautifully decorated it and filled it with goodies: a "fuzzy ducky" book and matching chick, plastic eggs (with chocolate eggs inside), wooden easter toys (including a rattle and other percussion-style instruments), bubbles (Will LOVES blowing bubbles) and jelly beans!
Me and Will and his Easter basket!! His basket is the same one that I had growing up AND the same one my Mother had growing up.
Post-golfing activity: reading "are you ticklish?" Will brings books and asks to be read. He particularly likes books with shiny pages and tactile things to touch.
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Walkin' Talkin' Little Man!
In the last few days, Will has turned into an incredibly adorable (heartbreakingly adorable) chatterbox. He babbles and babbles and babbles... pointing, gesturing, making faces, throwing his hands in the air, babbling in sentence intonation back and forth with you... it is absolutely hysterical.
Words....
Much more detail and precision with old standbys: Ah-cha ("Good" in Hindi), Wow!, Uh-ho!, El-mo, Ahh-pull, nah-nuh (for "banana"), Ma-Ma, Da-Da, Pap-Pap, Ga-doh (for "gato"), Bye-bye, Hi!, Weee!, Ah-gua, Moo!, Baa!, Ank-U (for "thank you")
New Additions: Gan-nah (for "Granna"), Doh! (think of Homer Simpson), Moh (as in "more" to ask for more milk or food when he's hungry), Ahh-gie (for "doggie"), "Mum" (usually said "ma-mum" for me), Sgettio! (as in "Uh-ho, spaghetti-oh!"), Udding! (for "pudding"), Boo! (as in "your hat is soooo booootiful!")
Animal sounds: Caa-do-do!! (for "cockle-doddle-do!"), Cuck-cuck (for "cluck cluck"), Mee-owww, Ahff! Ahff! (for "ruff-ruff")
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Wal-Mart's new coupon lady!
Monday night. I was sitting on the couch in the Coraopolis La Quinta, eyes glazed over at mindless tv, nursing my kid, waiting for him to drop off to sleep. Suddenly I hear a familiar voice --- telling me about savings at WalMart. Could it be?! YES -- one of my Harrold Street college roomies, a buddy from TA-UT at VT, with whom I shared Riva San Vitale, trips through Italy, and weeks of commedia and cold showers. My favorite "white meat" -- the Booduh herself -- Allison Latta! Wal-Mart's new coupon lady!!!
Will and Aunt Francis
Will and Aunt Francis Kolakowski! Aunt Fran made dinner for us on Sunday (including a special veggie lasagna for me!) Will loved playing with her dishwasher (great buttons), exercise ball, and getting lots of attention from everyone!
Will and the handbag??
Running out with Granna's purse!! Will put one a great show each night at the La Quinta (mom's home of choice in Coraopolis). He danced, babbled, and ran around us laughing in circles... one of his favorite games was to steal Granna's purse and run for the door. Although he could open the doors between the rooms (we had a suite which made bedtime for Will SO much easier and took a huge weight off of us) Thankfully, he could not open the door to the hallway! But hanging the purse from his head, running to the door and trying to run out was a fun part of his night!
Visiting Grandma (and Great Grandma!) Betty in Beaver Falls, PA! Mom, Will and I spent 5 days in Pennsylvania this past weekend seeing family and spending time with Grandma. Here we are re-creating an old beloved picture that shows four generations of DiMarzio women (from my Great-Grandma Ann Batistone DiMarzio to me) that was taken when I was under a year old in my PapPap DiMarzio's living room (now my Uncle Gus's living room). The original picture is on my piano and I can't wait to have this one beside it.
Friday, March 18, 2005
Sleep
Our latest parenting effort has been to create a firm bedtime for Will. I am NOT supportive of the "cry it out methods" (Ferber, etc.), particularly when the baby is under a year old. So, we've worked to establish a bedtime routine for Will (dinner--bathtime--stories--nursing--sleep) that allows him to naturally fall asleep and then put him in his crib. Before, when for whatever reason, this routine didn't make him nod off, we continued the routine until he was finally asleep. Now, we're transitioning him to his crib so that the bedtime is firm.
We started last week. The first night, he was angry. He threw a temper tantrum (complete with emptying his crib of toys, taking off and tossing his pants, and crying for about 10-15 minutes.) Paul braved this one and it was by far the worst. I think what is important is that he is old enough to not physically need us for comfort (I feel this is a really big deal) and has slept in his crib long enough for that to be a safe place. Since that first night, he has taken to the crib relatively easily, with maybe a few seconds of protest and then lying down and going to sleep. The trick is that we give him kisses, say goodnight, and put him in the crib -- but we stay in the room, seated or lying on the floor, without making eye contact and without saying a word. He gets the hint very quickly and goes to sleep. It is really working great. Bedtime for Will is between 8-8:30... and boy, do we love it!
What we are still working out is what to do during the night. He still joins us in bed and that is okay for now. I've been thinking a lot about this and we've tried some different methods but ultimately believe that it is natural and physiologically appropriate. We have adjusted to this and while it isn't as convenient as forcing him to remain in his crib all night, we make it work because we really feel it is the best thing to do.
Some sources that I find useful:
Commentary by Katherine Dettwyler (very well respected medical anthropologist, whose work I greatly admire and recommend widely.)
Dr. Sears' FAQ
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Playing with Daddy! (The game is to "catch" Will between the legs and "toss" him back to a pile of pillows on the floor.)
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Monday, March 14, 2005
Sportin' his sneakers at the zoo!
Trip to the Zoo with Dad! Here Will is in one of his favorite sections of the Zoo... Australia! Is it because of the kangaroos, rhinos, and assorted birds??? NO -- it is because there are lots of shaded benches to climb on!!
Paul took will to the Zoo on Sunday and had a great time chasing Will, who was sporting his NEW SNEAKERS! (I was nesting in the computer lab downtown with other students struggling through some regression modeling... serious dedication on such a beautiful day!)
Sunday, March 13, 2005
Will gets his first sneakers!
With the trip to cold Pennsylvania coming fast (my spring break is week after next and Will and I are going with Granna to PA to see Grandma Betty, Uncle Gus, Aunt Fran, and lots of great relatives!) The weather is looking rough (especially since it was 82 and gorgeous here yesterday) and with Will walking everywhere, we figured it was time to get some hard-soled shoes to better insulate his little tootsies from the cold.
Parenting FYI: barefoot is best. Hard sole shoes cause kids to develop flat-feet and other foot/walking problems. Stay with soft shoes like robeez: (http://www.robeez.com)
So, off we went to buy shoes -- taking advantage of Stride Rite's current spring sale (buy one, get one half off).
Lessons learned:
- Forget trying to get shoes at Babies'R'Us or Toys'R'Us. No selection, just as expensive, and no service.
- If it's busy at Stride Rite, you sign in. (Watch for mischevious kids who will cross your name of the list to be helped sooner!)
- Stride Rite employees are AWESOME!!!
- Velcro is much easier for parents (ie: in my book, it is then the only option for things that will be worn often.)
- Kids shoes are bought one half-size larger and last approximately 4-5 months.
- Stride rite shoes are all about $40 each. Ouch!
Will is a size 4 1/2, which means we bought size 5 -- and he takes them in the wide size. We bought him a pair of sneakers (we wanted blue, but all they had left was white) and a pair of sandals (in brown).
Watching him walk for the first time with sneakers in the store was sort of like putting tin foil on a cat's paws and watching it walk... in other words, it was hysterical. Lots of pounding his feet, shaking his legs, and doing little tumble-walks. Who knew we would need the video camera?!?
Saturday, March 12, 2005
Health Sciences Research Days Poster
Poster: Herbal therapies for pregnancy and childbirth used by parteras in rural Honduras
In addition to presenting the poster, I found out on Monday that my abstract had been chosen for discussion. So, I presented this qualitative research study to a group of residents, biochemists, and assorted MDs.
Friday, March 11, 2005
IHD Student wins Health Sciences Research Award
Email from Penny Jessop, Clinical Faculty, Tulane University SPH&TM, to Department of International Health and Development student, faculty, and staff:
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Dear All:
One of our students, Holly S -- doctoral student, won one of the awards yesterday at the Health Sciences Research Day poster session. She received the Award for Excellence in Women's Health Research for her paper on:"Herbal Therapies in Pregnancy and Childbirth used by Parteras in Rural Honduras". Join me in congratuating Holly!
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Unfortunately, I missed the awards ceremony yesterday (didn't check my email which had a message saying that I should attend, *hint*hint*). So, this was a great surprise this morning. Especially because, in addition to the certificate (and recognition!) there was a cash award!
Monday, March 07, 2005
Another first!
Tonight, Will used a spoon at dinner -- all by himself! We got out the video camera and everything.
We don't anticipate this being a nightly event (gravity is still something Will is getting used to during the food-to-mouth process) but it was very exciting to watch him put food on his spoon and then eat the food off the spoon. We cheered, "hooray!!" and Will got very excited after every bite and cheered with us. Hooray!
Will copies Mommy's Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-facing dog) pose. It's a little harder to do it while holding a golf club...
Happy Man! Margarita had a family emergency this morning (her son called us at 7 to let us know we'd be without her today) so... I had an unexpected family day. It was a perfect morning for it... well into the 70s, light breeze, clear sky -- gorgeous!! Will and I went on a long walk through the neighborhood, stopped in on an interview of a local celebrity socialite, and stepped into Whole Foods for milk and a drink of water. Then we came home and played until nap time. Will is holding his beloved golf club in this picture.
Paul's most current project: The Networking Closet! NOTE: this closet is ABOVE the full sized closet in Will's room... about 8' up. Paul re-inforced the closet floor, built special shelving, installed outlets, ran wires, added the circuits and is now installing the equipment. In addition to this, Paul has installed another recessed light in the hallway and put up an inter-connected smoke detector system that runs through the attic and into each room. As Will would say, "WOW!"