eat chocolate

it has been 11 days since i've posted and i have very little to show for it... at least when it comes to pictures. what have we been doing in this blogless-abyss anyway? what accomplishments have we achieved? what setbacks are we rebounding from? what revelations have we come to? what sleep have we had?

well, i can answer the latter question easily: more than usual. yes, it's true... william has officially been sleeping longer stretches somewhat consistently. for example... the sun was coming up before he first awoke in days 1 and 2. then... in day 3, his mom was out of bed, sitting on the couch (completely confused as to how to spend my childless time after a full-night's sleep), waiting for him to wake up, which he did, finally, a little before 7. day four: one of those setbacks needing a rebound: he was up at 1 and etc. but day 5, if memory serves, was closer again to dawn. (these days do not correspond in number to days 1-11. when i say 'day 1' i really mean day 6 or so in the whole 'it's been 11 days' theme.)

there are a couple of conclusions which can be drawn from this turned corner. the first: that it actually is a turned corner... that william is finally learning or deciding that a full-night's sleep is nice. so nice, after a lifetime of wakefulness. it's possible. but i did leave out some information: one... he had (and still has) a cold which started on day 1. coincidence? or explanation? the only other time he ever slept an entire night without waking, he was sick. second... our schedules have been so non-routinized (now i don't know if that is a real phrase, but you can understand what i mean), that there have been a couple of days where he has only gotten one nap... a couple of nights where he wasn't in bed until 9... plus the teething... plus the cold... that he may just be extra tired. maybe when he catches up on all of his sleep, he'll be back to his old tricks.

i don't know... if that's what it seems to be, do we push him to be a one-nap kind of baby? what do you think? i tend to think no. i don't want to push him into being something he's not naturally inclined to be (at this point in his life anyway), just to give myself some extra sleep when a) i'm not making any major snafus because of it and b) i can't seem to fall asleep before 11 anyway, no matter how much sleep i seem to be lacking... so it's not like i'm doing myself any favors, meaning i shouldn't start demanding some from him.

anywho... that is sleep. i am optimistic, but waiting to see if all of the chickens have hatched.

speaking of animals... having a 1 year old really requires a parent to get good at making animal sounds. me? i am horrible at them. it took me weeks to perfect my "moo." that was months ago, but even to this day it occasionally comes out sounding like a male cow going through puberty. try it yourself. are you a natural mooer? greg is very good at making the elephant sound. try that one out! william is working hard on both of these noises. he'll also sometimes say the word "cheese."

what else? we went to illinois last weekend for a wedding. it was the first time anyone else has ever put william down to sleep. (that was one of the days he slept till dawn.) so, in that sense, it was a momentous "first." it was also great fun to spend time with my two best friends from high school... such a rare occurrence these days... and of course, to see my college friend get married. here are some photos from the weekend:

a catholic wedding--



the friends--

the parents--



and the way home. what turned out to be a minor accident involving one teenage boy and probably his parent's car, some loud music, fast food, and a cell phone, in the single express lane, had many of us blocked in and parked for about a half an hour.

well, it's nearly 11. i should end now as my bedtime is approaching. it probably doesn't help, as far as sleep goes, that greg made me a delicious chocolate fondueish sauce to assist me in finishing off today's batch of strawberries from the garden... and it was so good, and my willpower was so absent, that i drank it straight from the bowl after all of the strawberries were gone. you know... sometimes i do ridiculous things. i'm going to go brush my teeth.