I'm in a band.....

Yesterday William (2 yrs, 3 months) picked up his mandolin, sat on the couch- and banged on some strings. Our conversation went like this:
Wm: Wanna play mandolin. I'm in a band.
Me: What kind of band are you in?
Wm: Mine!
Me: Is it a bluegrass band?
Wm: No. orange
A few minutes later.....
Me: What kind of band are you in William?
Wm: rubber!

Humor

Lately William is really showing his sense of humor, for instance when Josh told him "wave to Mommy" the other evening, he waved to me with his foot and giggled. Some other cute things he has said or done lately:
me: "Hi Spongebob!"
Wm: "Hi Spastrick" (Patrick, the starfish from Spongebob Squarepants)
me: "hi Spongebob"
Wm: "no spunsebob, name's BABY!"

last night when Josh sneezed I said "bless you" and William said "I wanna bless you.... aaaaacho!"

me: "William, if you had a million dollars, what would you buy?"
Wm: "buy milk!"

He is 2yrs plus 3 months now- and can count to 10 --although usually not in the right order. He knows his colors and shapes pretty well, and the names of most animals. If asked: what does *any animal* say?, he says "goes Raaaaarrr"! This is true for people too. Like "William, what does mommy say?", Wm: "goes Raaaarrr".

Learning to Say "Cheese"

William has started smiling for the camera. He squints his eyes when he does this. Then he says "wanna see baby" because then he wants me to turn the camera around so he can look at the picture I just took. Then he says "I see baby!". We still haven't been able to get him to say his own name. When we say "What's your name?" he usually says "baby!". But sometimes he says something else like "Maggie" (the dog's name) or "boogie"... not sure why "boogie"! On the subject of names, we have a friend named Mike and William calls him "Microwave". Today William said "hi sweetie mommy!". I'm so lucky :o)

Under Repair

A few years ago Josh and I were at the Sally Mountain Bluegrass Festival in Queen City, MO. After spending a very hot July day in our tent, my Gibson F9 started coming apart at the neck. Recently our friend and excellent mandolin builder (and musician!), Mark Franzke (check out Flinthills Mandolins) started fixing it. He said the saws and hammer are there for comic effect. I didn't think a thing of it! But glad to know they weren't required. He is also putting on some wider frets and will inlay some fretboard dots! I can't wait!!!

Spring!

Spring is finally here- although it doesn't quite feel like spring today! We are taking advantage of some nice weather on the weekends to put a flowerbed in front of the house. I'm not quite sure what I've planted, but mostly it's blue and lavender flowers. Peony plants line the sidewalk- but it will be a while before they show themselves. I buried some landscaping bricks to create a border- basically level with the ground so as not to get in the way of the lawnmower. Will post some updates as things fill in.

Who is this kid?

Do you recognize the little boy in the picture? Neither do we! William got a real little boy haircut this morning. He sat quietly in the chair while they clipped several inches of blonde curls from his head. I will miss the long hair-- but it'll be back......
oh.. and that red spot under his nose? He fell off his cousin's bike yesterday. Ouch! Now he goes around the house saying "nose... bike"

The Cute Things He Says

Every day William says such cute things. I can't possibly remember all of them. This morning as I was leaving for work-- after the usual "bye byes" he said "bye love.... careful"... it was adorable. Last night I was asking him "William, what's your name?". He used to answer "bean bean" for some reason, now he usually says "baby" but last night he said "Cooper" then "Pooper".. then repeated whatever name I said. It was fun to see how well he could pronounce different names. He was best at saying "Josh". He didn't seem to want to say "William".. but he did whisper something like "Wih-um".