First snow of the Season

Dec 2nd 2011, and we just got our first snow! When I looked out the window this morning I just thought it was another really bad pollution day - (actually it still is...the Air Quality Index is currently reading at 359 on a scale of 0 to 500, with a description of "DANGEROUS - Health warnings of emergency conditions; the entire population is more likely to be affected."  Yikes, I prefer the days when it's only bad enough to impact the demographic that doesn't include us:) - but it also appears we have snow in those soupy skies. Yay for first-of-the-year winter-time whites. This will be William's first contact with snow - though I'm sure he won't think much of it till next year. Still it's exciting for us, I guess Winter really is here, which means Christmas is just around the corner.

Goodness, this year has flown by, I still feel like we just got back from Summer! But now I have a delightful 7 month old who is intent on exploring everything he can get his hands on - which fortunately for now isn't too much, as he hasn't learned to crawl...yet :)

I'm thankful for all the milestones and development he's making, but I am mindful not to want to rush things or wish this time away. I love this stage of life, and I appreciate all the sweet baby hugs and snuggles he gives me. I hope I never take them for granted, for soon, I am sure, he will be off and independent and I won't have these tender moments when all he wants is to lay his head on my shoulder while I sing him a goodnight song.

After weeks of hand sucking/chomping, plus a week or two of major tongue sucking/air-testing - so much so that Andrew gave him the X-Men villain-sounding name "Lizardo" (which he insisted on pronouncing in his best Jeremy Irons accent) - finally his third tooth broke through the other day. I discovered it as he threw his head back while nursing to smile at my friend Carrie, exposing both me and his new tooth as he flirted away. He is a cheeky one, but how can you not love that cute face? The crusty nose, on the other hand, is perhaps something only a mother can love :)

William is such a wonderful blessing. He is a happy boy, and always has a smile for his Mama, which warms my heart no end. I love his little personality, his grunts and ga's, his cute tongue poking out all the time, the way he flaps his arms when he wants to be picked up, the way he loves (practically inhales) applesauce, pumpkins, sweet potato and he's getting the hang of chewing those little baby food puffs which is really adorable.

He loves to rumble and be tickled, be thrown in the air, touch your face (especially your eyes, nose and mouth), and smother your neck (or face) with slobbery open-mouthed kisses. He continues to love to bang on things, preferably if they make a noise, though his guitar skills still need some work. He's getting really good at hair pulling, reaching for anything you have in your hands (especially phones or remote controls), has started to reach for books he likes (he has three current favourites), and has figured out how to tell me the direction he wants to go or when he sees something he's after by contorting or throwing his body (all 20lbs of it) forward.

When meeting someone new, he likes to study them a bit first, figure them out and then see if they are worthy of a smile. Most people are. He is definitely more of a morning person, and miraculously I am becoming more so too, when you are faced with his cute face looking up at you in the morning, who wouldn't be? That's not to say we don't have our moments of challenge (aka: tiredness - mostly me in the mornings and him in the afternoons). But overall I would say things are going really great. I love having this little guy in my life.