Okay... since there's so much to catch everyone up on, I'm going to go for some bullet points.
1. On Christmas Eve, I met up with a good friend of mine, Tawnya, with her son Truman (... and their baby to be!!).
2. Christmas was a blast with my side of the family. Will got to see his cousin, Aidan, and all of his aunts and uncles.
3. Early January we got to see Shannon and Caleb with their children. I took a lot of photos of Joy, as we hadn't seen her since she was a newborn and thought she looked a lot like Will.
4. Spent a LONG hard month interviewing for internship positions in January. This preemptively began Will's night-time separation anxiety, but we've been fairing better since then.
5. At the end of January we went to Idaho for one of my final interviews, and we saw all our family there! It was such a blessing to see Grandma and Grandpa Bollinger, hang out with Isaac and Amanda, and spend some quality time with all of the rest of the Campbells: Stephanie and Corey and their MUCH older children; Bridget and Chad with their young boys; and of course, Shannon and Caleb and their kids. It would have been wonderful to have Esther and Jody and Chase there, but we felt blessed to see as many family members as we did. Thanks again for your hospitality!!
... oh, and yeah... I think part of the reason I delayed updating my blog was my guilt at forgeting to get out my camera while we were in Idaho... my mind must have been elsewhere.
6. On February 5th, Will turned 1 and his grandparents were here to celebrate, along with Chase and his girlfriend, Shannon.
7. Okay, number seven. In February we waited and waited and found out we got matched to an internship site in Norfolk, NE. :) We'll have lived in Chicago for several years when we move (10 years for me), so it'll be quite the adjustment.
8. VERY EXCITING NEWS!!! and, no, it's not another baby like my mother guessed :)
Will is toddling!! We've got a walker!!
Not much more practical news here. Will has been mimicking things that we've been saying, which is just so adorable. And he's begun enjoying reading books, which is also quite charming. I've mentioned this to some friends alreaady, but it really feels as if we've moved from being simply caretakers of our son to parents. It feels qualitatively different to have a connection with him where I know that he's digesting everything that I'm doing with him. He watches and attempts to copy... perhaps in a very 1st born sort of way, he wants to be very much like his parents. He's also quite happy and cheerful, as long as he's got attention or at least something to sort or put in his mouth. :) But, yes, his personality is very much coming through. Christian jokingly said the other day that he's quite willful. :) He's a risk-taker and an adventure-seeker who wants to be friends with every new person he sees. He, like many toddlers, has a hard time being told, 'no' to something he really wants and he dances any time something remotely musical is on (this includes commercials). Oh, and this dance... it's a total wiggle of the hips, shoulders, and head. :) I'll have to catch this on tape and post it sometime. :)
Looks like my blogger's not letting me add more photos... I'll try another post.
