yesterday will said: "did you know that I can make up songs while i chew cookies?"

Today Max crawled across the room. He had been moving around before now, but this was an official hands and knees crawl. We were all very excited. Except now this means Will has to watch out for his toys because Max is coming for them. Max also has the 4 top front teeth coming in all at once. He doesn't mess around.

in the past few weeks:
Max has recovered from a double ear infection and has settled in at daycare. he is rocking back and forth on his hands and knees, poised to crawl any day now...but all the kid wants to do when he isnt eating or sleeping is stand up. Will continues to play with his trucks, cars and airplanes; paint with mom; attend saturday morning soccer practice; and test his parents. today he told mom that she was acting like a baby. he has put on his underwear, pants, shirt, shoes and sox for the first time all by himself. He is also getting better at making his brother laugh. he best technique is to fall down on the floor--gets Max every time.

Today Will read Dr. Seuss's The Eye Book out loud all by himself. OK, so maybe he knows it from memory, but that combined with the 25 viewings of The Letter Factory has made him really really smart.

this morning we had to dig ourselves out of a massive 1 1/2" of new snow. needless to say Seattle schools were canceled and thus Will and Max's daycare. mom went to work in the morning, dad in the afternoon. after suggestions, begging, incentives, and threats, Will agreed to go outside in the snow under the condition that he be able to keep his PJ's on under his snow pants. he used some of dad's socks as shoes (boots don't fit over PJ's--convenient) and let dad pull him around the neighborhood on his blue sled. of course once outside being towed fast around bends and over bumps, he loved it; and of course Max didn't complain at all about anything. when our Madrona tour was complete the three of us took a ride down the south side of our backyard--around dirt mounds and boulders--a modest but thrilling course.

Today Will and Max had their doctor appts together and both are looking really healthy.

Max's ear infection is gone and his ears are almost clear of fluid as well. His cough isn't too bad and really isn't interfering with his sleep at all. He is 17 lbs 3 oz (40%) and 28 in long (90%). All else is looking good with him. He'll go back in 2 weeks for a final ear check and vaccinations. His top two teeth are popping through as we speak.

Will had his first big boy appointment. This involved the following items: peeing in a cup, an eye exam, a hearing test, standing on the big boy scale, sitting on the table and answering the doctor's questions himself. He did great on everything. He is long and lean and is still 95% in height (34 lbs, 40 in). We were a little concerned about his eyesight as some of you may know, but he passed the eye test with flying colors. The rubbing of eyes may be due to allergies so he got some eye drops to try for a week to see if that helps. If not, then the doctors thinks it may be just something he does. There doesn't appear to be any concern about his eyesight or the condition of his eyes since they aren't red or irritated at all.

So both guys are really healthy. And as the doctor was leaving the room, Will yelled 'bye doctor!'

today Will's dad told him: "remember that baby in aunt jody's tummy? well, it's going to be a boy and you are going to have a boy cousin just like Thomas, and Stellabella is going to have a little brother just like you have a little brother." Will replied: "yeah, and Maxie is going to eat him!!!"

Will and Max took advantage of dad's time off and went to Pittsburgh for christmas a week earlier than normal. their day's in steeltown were spent shuttling around between granparents houses: at grandad and grandma grace's Will threw rocks in the creek, drove (and attempted to fix) grandad's tractor, and fed the birds; at grandma and grandpa's house Will ran around with his cousin thomas and played with grandpa's 50 year old train; at nana and papa's house the boys hung out with their great aunts and cute cousin stella. in addition: Will saw train exhibits all over town; dad, uncle jon and grandad lost at heinz field; Max met the Chief; Max and Will sat on santa's lap (mr. claus showed up 4 times in all).

this morning Will said: "do you know why i love Maxie? because he's my brother."