Early Christmas Present!

Last weekend we all got an early Christmas present in the form of a visit from Anne and Tim, our dear friends who live in St. Louis. We had a great time just hanging out, getting in the Christmas spirit, and even going out for a grown-up dinner! We miss them already, but are looking forward to their return for BGG's baptism as they have graciously agreed to be her godparents. We miss them already. Here are some pictures of our fun weekend! Merry Christmas!

At one point, Will nearly played Tim to death...

We went into Pittsburgh to see the International Santa display, gingerbread houses and model trains. Will pointed to everything that he wanted to see, which was pretty much everything...

Checking out the gingerbread houses. He would have loved getting his little paws into those!

The Guarino's in front of the enormous Christmas tree!

Wonder Will

As promised, here is a little video of Will walking!

Here are some pictures from Thanksgiving!

Looking cute before eating.

Trying some mashed potatoes!

Escaping from getting his clothes changed because mashed potatoes were everywhere!

Trying a bit of dessert!

With Grandmom and Grandpop.

With Aunt Jennifer.

There is also a tradition in my family to go to the Festival of Trees which is a charitable event benefiting local children's services. We were excited to take Will to see the trees and meet Santa. He liked Santa for about 30 seconds and then wanted Mom! By far however, his favorite part were the model trains. He was mesmerized!

Watching the trains with Pap.

Looking at the trees with Dad.

We have WALKING!!

Yes, it is official, Will has taken his first steps. Last week, right around Thanksgiving he was letting go of things (like coffee tables, ottomans, etc.) and would take one step toward whatever he wanted. On Sunday evening, we witnessed about three steps and since then it has been 6 or so steps each time. We're really proud of the little monkey, but fearful of what this means for our home :-) We did manage to capture some of his first strolls on video and I'll work to post that soon.

In other news, Will also got 2 more teeth last week. That makes 6 total now. Joe is insistent he's ready for a steak on the grill! He also had his 9 month check up and is the picture of health. He's 20 lbs. 2 oz (50th percentile) and 29 inches tall (75th percentile). Our pediatrician also gave the green light for him to start exploring more table food. So far he likes mashed potatoes, cottage cheese, cooked carrots that he can pick up and feed himself, and pieces of rolls. He also had a bit of jello and ice cream dessert at Gandmom and Grandpop's for Thanksgiving!

More soon!

A wonderful playdate and some new tricks...

Last Friday was a beautiful fall day and my dear friend Dana and her daughter, my godchild Madeline, came to visit. We all had lunch together and the kiddos enjoyed playing in the yard. It is a good thing we enjoyed the weather while we could, it is cold and snowy here now!

Will has also been perfecting a few new tricks over the last few weeks. He loves drinking his juice from a sippy cup, munching on teething biscuits, Cheerios and bananas, and he likes to wave bye-bye (in this picture while he's trying to help me unload the dishwasher!).

It's a girl!

On Tuesday we went for our 20 week ultrasound and decided to find out whether we are having a boy or a girl. We are thrilled to learn that Baby is a girl~ affectionately dubbed BGG (Baby Girl Guarino by my dear friend Anne). She is perfect! She was very squirmy during the ultrasound, which I expected, since I've been feeling her move around in there for a couple of weeks now. And, if she's anything like her brother she won't sit still for long!

Venturing into video...

Here's a little video of Will playing with Joe. We just love how he scrunches up his shoulders and giggles when the bear comes toward him. He's so cute...

So cute it's spooky!

Will's first Halloween has been a lot of fun! Last night was our neighborhood trick-or-treat. Will had fun in his Scooby Doo costume parading around to all of our neighbors showing off his cuteness! Although we had a really hard time getting him to sit still long enough to take a picture!

Nan and Pap came over to see Will in his costume and to pass out candy while Mom and Dad took Will trick-or-treating.

Nan and Pap also bought Will an extremely appropriate sweatsuit for Halloween. See my horns and tail...

Pumpkin Carving 101

Wednesday evening Will decided he was ready to carve up his first pumpkin. He enjoyed watching Joe carve his pumpkin and was moderately interested in touching the squishy insides! Here are some pics of our fun!

Will and Daddy drawing on the face of the Jack-O-Lantern. Of course it has 4 teeth, two on the top and two on the bottom, just like Will!

Ewwwww... touching the seeds and pumpkin guts! Hiding from the ickiness!

Will proofing...

So while we are really proud that Will is progressing very quickly with moving around (crawling, pulling up, walking with assistance), it also poses a few challenges for "baby proofing" our house so that he is safe. We try to take the stance of teaching him what is his and safe to touch and what is not (with the alternative being pretty much completely undecorating and locking down our home from the ground to about 3 feet up). While we're still sticking to it and seemingly constantly redirecting our little Curious George's behavior, we did recently have to put locks on the cabinets that have cleaning products in them. Here is a picture of Will helping Joe measure for the installation and some of precisely why we had to do it...


We hadn't been home 5 minutes the other evening and he was already in the kitchen opening cabinets and taking things out. Thankfully the cabinets with cleaning products are now safely out of play for Will.

Info...

Did you new mommies and mommies-to-be see this?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27149764/

Fall Fun!

This weekend Joe's parents, his sister and her husband came for a visit. We spent a beautiful Saturday afternoon at the Fall Festival at a local park. Will was seriously skeptical about the animals in the petting zoo, but loved picking out a pumpkin!

Will also got both of his top front teeth this weekend. Now he has all four of his front teeth. A big sigh of relief from all of us both because we're glad he's feeling better and now we're all back to getting some sleep!

Here are some pictures of our fun!

Meeting the goats with Daddy.


Uncle Fred and his friends.


I want this one!


Mommy and two pumpkins!


Yeah, pumpkins!


Checking out my pumpkin with Aunt Jen.


Painting my name on my new pumpkin with Mommy and Grandmom.

Growing up...

Seven and a half months, is this really the same baby? Sometimes it is hard to grasp how quickly he's changed and grown.

Sunday in the Yard

So Sunday was a day for playing outside and enjoying the beautiful fall sunshine. We had a lot of yard work to do and Will was a big help. We made a little time for swinging and exploring the backyard too!

Helping Daddy.



In my swing! Poor Daddy still working in the background. See my two bottom teeth?





We call him our little Magellan. He's such an explorer.



After all that yard work and serious playing, Will was ready for his favorite dinner, peas and yogurt! You can also see his favorite toy in this picture, the plastic kitchen spoon.