Our caterpillar

We found a caterpillar crawling around in our front yard on Sunday, and Will didn't kill it accidentally, which was something of a surprise. He found a nice spot for it in a clear container, and we put mulch and leaves in there. We're hoping to see it turn into a butterfly. I think Will's hoping it turns into his first pet.

Brothers

Everyone keeps asking how Will is getting along with Charlie. Just fine, thank you.

Behind the lens at last

After being the subject of approximately 30,000 photos, Will has started taking a crack at taking pictures of us. Here is his first attempt with our Canon Digital Rebel with the SLR lens. I think he did a really nice job, considering you have to tap the shutter button once to activate the auto focus. Of course, it's hard not to get a good shot of me ... and Charlie.

Splish splash

Charlie was taking a bath recently, and I was able to snap some shots. Don't you love that hair? Where does he get that from?

Raising Thuliens

A brief departure from the Charlie and Will show ...

Our good friend Karen lives up the street from us, and Will has long looked up to her two oldest children, Megan and Jared (reading to Will below), who have been great to him. Will, in turn, has been great looking after Ryan at day care, and loves having his friends over to our house.

They stopped by after a T-Bird baseball game last week, and Ryan had a ball knocking over a tower of blocks we built from him over and and over again. It's so much fun having multiple kids in our house, which is why we're so excited about having Charlie around!

No farting dogs allowed

Last weekend Will asked if he could stay at my folks' lake house with Grandma, Grandpa and Auntie Sara. Sure, we said, and they had a great time.

Sara's dog Dayne was also there, and he laid down in bed with Will for a good night's sleep. Apparently, the scene was very cute ... until Dayne cut the cheese.

"I don't want to sleep with a farting dog!" Will demanded, and that was the end of that.

Pass him a bottle

Great new - Charlie just ate from a bottle for the first time! We were at Grandma's and he slammed four ounces like he's been doing it for ages.

We're at the park now, where Grandma is teaching Will how to spell his name using sign language. Good morning!

The smoke has cleared ...

... on Will's fourth birthday. There wasn't one big celebration like the past few years, but a series of smaller ones. The little bugger still hasn't told us what he wished for here - good for him!

Grandma

Will didn't exactly cooperate for a picture with Grandma on one of her recent visits, but Charlie's a pretty good sport about such things.

Hiding spot

Believe it or not, this is Will's go-to spot for hiding when we play hide-and-seek nowadays.