Update...

Uh, so... it has been a while. We've gotten really busy with William's recovery, work, Jerry traveling all over Florida for boat shows and more work! Now we're in the process of relocating... phew. As for William's recovery, he has recovered perfectly. We just had the three month check-up and you would never even know he had surgery. There isn't even a scar. It is amazing what modern medicine can do! A huge thank you to Dr. Flack and his team.

As for other news, William is now a professional walker. He also has a big case of, what I call, the "whiny ones". Others call it separation anxiety. I think it is a lot more than separation anxiety, I think it is communication anxiety. He knows what he wants but can't necessarily say or do it... which leads to frustration. I was not warned about this stage. I thought I was going to have a pleasant smiley boy until about 18 months when the word "no" is learned, understood, and uttered at will. It's not that bad, Jerry and I have actually taken some amusement from it. It is our goal to not give in to crying or make a big deal out of it. We hope this will eliminate future tantrums. *fingers crossed*

For all of my friends who think William is the cutest thing ever, he is. But here's a small glimpse of what can happen if I put him down and he doesn't want "down". There are absolutely no tears, so don't feel too bad for him. Also notice how fast the crying stops when he hears his daddy... the little booger!

Is it wrong that I think this is the funniest video I have!? I'll be playing this video at his graduation party in 2017. =)

A Standing Motivation

About a week and a half ago, William had surgery. He was born with a very minor form of a birth defect called hypospadias. In fact, it was so mild we only knew we had this issue when he peed on his doctor at birth. I guess even embarrassing moments have benefits. Anyway, I had been pretty much pushing the issue to the back of my mind as much as I could because I couldn't bear to think of my little guy going under the knife and anesthesia. We had to wait until William was at least six months before the urologist would even consider surgery which was, unfortunately for us, right around the holidays. We scheduled to have the surgery the first week of January, but as luck would have it, we caught a nasty cold between New York and Florida and had to reschedule. So, finally, we're all fixed! Literally. 

Cutest baby in a hospital gown EVER.

I think the surgery was actually worse on Mommy than on William. He did SO wonderful. He was even bouncing around a little bit in the hospital before we left. He did sleep most of the day when we got home, but it was to be expected. He didn't even cry. Not even once. The only issue we had was changing the diaper. We had to be quick and clever and gentle all at the same time. With a squirmy baby, it was not fun, especially since we had to make sure it was changed every two to three hours. So not fun.

Charlie making sure William is okay.

There were a few tears the day after when the pain medication wore off. Not to mention the difficulty crawling. He was a professional crawler before the surgery, then he had to find alternate means of transportation because he was too sore. When he would try to crawl he looked like a drunken spider. It hurt me a bit to see him sore, but on the plus side, he had the motivation he needed to start gaining confidence walking. I think it was much less painful for him to stand and scoot around than to crawl. As a result, I think we'll be walking a bit sooner than expected. I'm not so sure that's a good thing for Charlie and anything we have yet to baby proof!

Bilingual Baby

For those who don't know, English is not Jerry's first language. It's not even his second language... it is his third. Jerry grew up in Venezuela within a German  family and community making Spanish his first language and German a very close second. Jerry's family moved to the United States in the early 80's which led to the privilege and necessity of learning English quickly (but not the privilege of learning it in the public school system, which is the root of many quality discussions about our South Florida, ESL loving, modern public school system that allots two years). With determination and private tutoring, Jerry was fluent in English within six months without the slightest hint of an accent. (I'm so proud!)

We could attempt to raise William trilingual, but unfortunately, there are very few German-speaking people that reside in South Florida (however, I am surprised every time Jerry finds someone) which has lead to Jerry losing some of his fluency and familiarity with the language. On the other hand... there are PLENTY of Spanish speaking people that reside in South Florida, including Jerry's parents who babysit William every so often. This is exciting for me because even though I took Spanish all through high school and was even allowed to skip a year for my "superior knowledge" of the language, I am not very comfortable with my current fluency. This fits masterfully into my plan to raise a bilingual baby because Jerry's parents speak to William in Spanish which allows him to hear conversations and interactions in Spanish correctly and fluently. My work is done for me! If only that were true...

Currently, Jerry and I speak English to each other around William so he can pick up the grammar, vocabulary and language through our interactions and conversations. While I am at work, Jerry speaks to William in Spanish. We also try to say and do things in both languages, for example, when I leave the room I'll say "Bye, bye! Adios!". I do know some simple words  and phrases and I try to label as  much as I can in both languages. I'm sure we are confusing him immensely. 

I consider myself very lucky that my child has the opportunity to be raised bilingual. Being a teacher, I know the many benefits of knowing two languages, especially Spanish and English. Did you know that learning two languages greatly increases the gray matter in your brain? There are also some challenges that we will come across as far as Will's language development in the upcoming years, but I know we have made the right decision.