Southerners in SoCal

The Hunger Games and Other Things

2012-02-10T13:37:00.000-08:00

This is old news but I finally read The Hunger Games (like two weeks ago). Like everyone else, I couldn't put it down and I finished it in a day and a half. Obviously, I really liked it and found it to be very exciting/enthralling/thrilling/etc. Also, I'm such a name freak, my favorite thing about the book were all the awesome names of the characters. Rue, Prim, Thresh, loved them all! My only problem with it is that, while every chapter ended with a cliffhanger and basically made it impossible to not go on to the next chapter, the book itself ended rather un-climactically in comparison. Unlike the end of all the previous chapters, the end of the book did not make me have to rush out and buy the second book to find out what was going to happen next. (Especially since the second book is only in hardback, which I hate.)

Do you get what I'm saying? I didn't finish the book feeling like the characters were in imminent danger and just wanting to find out if Katniss and Peeta end up together isn't motivation enough for me to hurry on to Catching Fire. So, there's my two cents about the cultural phenomenon that is The Hunger Games. I did really really enjoy it and I'm sure I'll read the second book eventually and I am looking forward to it but, unless someone physically puts it in my hands or I can download it to iBooks on my phone, it's going to be a while.

I have other things to worry about right now, like teaching a certain someone how to properly use a spoon...

Besides one weird rainy day this week, the weather here has been gorgeous! Wilder and I have really been enjoying being outside as much as possible. On Wednesday we went to the zoo with Rachel and Lexi. We hadn't been there since before Wilder's birthday back in November so I was anxious to take him back and see how he would like it now that he's a few months older and walking. I took his trike for him to ride on and he had the best time ever. He was so interested in all the animals and being able to ride his trike from one exhibit to the next was the icing on the cake for him. Half the time he still had his helmet on when I took him off the trike and he looked so funny walking around with it on.

He really enjoyed the petting zoo, especially now that he knows what a sheep and a goat are. He kept saying Baa at them and loved petting them and watching them eat.

The otters were the hit of the day. The last few times we went to the zoo the otters were nowhere in sight but this time they were totally showing off and Wilder and Lexi loved watching all their shenanigans.

They also were pretty fascinated by the flamingos and ducks. Wilder almost went hoarse making his bird sound at them. By the way, I have to get his bird sound on video -- it's ear-piercingly hilarious. He really gets into it and will literally do it at anything that even remotely looks like a bird. Paul drew a dog with a beak the other day just to see if he would squawk at it and sure enough he did. He even squawked at a number 2 the other day because the point on the front of the 2 looked like a beak. It totally cracks me up.

Wilder is loving being able to (semi) keep up with Lexi these days. They ran all over the place and it was so cute to see him copying some of the things she did. Usually he just observes other little kids but he was actually trying to do what she was doing as if to prove that he's as big as she is. I think he may have a little baby crush :)

I've had several people ask me lately for feeding suggestions for babies/toddlers. I'm by far no expert on child nutrition but I guess it's pretty obvious that Wilder's a good eater. I think it mostly has to do with luck/his genes but there are some things I've done that I believe have contributed to his good eating habits. Although every baby's different and all kids go through picky phases, you might find some of my tips, recipes, etc. helpful so look for a post coming soon on the well-fed baby.

We're headed to the Wild Animal Park tomorrow with some friends and I'm pretty excited about it! Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

Spin Moves

2012-02-06T17:44:00.000-08:00

Our first baby, Rider, turned six years old today! She drives me so crazy most days but I do love her. And I'm pretty sure she's saved our lives on many occasions and we just don't know it. She is the patrolman of our house -- always ready with a menacing bark to ward off dangers, real or imagined. She's also Wilder's best buddy and tolerates all his poking, pulling, and climbing. Happy Birthday to a very good dog :)

Paul was invited to a Super Bowl party at the home of some friends from school yesterday. Being a college-type party, it was sure to be not so baby-friendly so Wilder and I stayed home and had our own little party. He loves watching "buh-ball" and was happy to show off his new spin moves... (And no, he does not run into the door at the end, although that's what it looks like -- he went up and kicked it for some reason.)

Oh, and I found these pictures from the park the other day. I love these hand-me-down overalls from cousin Henry but I'm afraid this is the first and last time Wilder will wear them. They are 18-month size but are already too small. Every time he bent over I could hear the snaps at the crotch pop open, haha :)

He loves throwing the ball for

himself and then chasing it...

Afternoon Nap for Wilder = Blogpost for You Guys

2012-02-02T16:06:00.000-08:00

For the past week Wilder has been fighting his afternoon naps, hence the lack of blogposts. It has been wearing me out to not get a break in the afternoon. I refuse to believe that he is ready to go to one nap a day though. I mean, by 5:00 he's cranky and tired (and so am I) so I think/hope it's just a phase. Today I changed up our routine between naps a little. Instead of playing at home and then eating lunch and trying to put him down for a nap, I packed up our lunch and strolled him to the park down the street for a picnic.

It was a little hard to get him to concentrate on eating but we finally finished the meal and then played on the playground for about half an hour before coming home, crossing my fingers, and trying for a nap. And... success! He went right down! Hopefully we'll be back on the right track after this.

Since we've had hours and hours in the afternoons to fill we've been busier than ever the past few days. The dogs have enjoyed being taken to the dog park quite a bit. Wilder loves it there too.

We also had a playdate with our friends, Lien and Dean, at the park.

Some other kids started playing with one of his trucks and he was so absorbed with watching them that he didn't even play with the one he had. He is such an observer and loves to study people wherever we go.

Both boys are so active that during our playdates Lien and I are constantly running in opposite directions chasing our respective children. As you can imagine it's a little hard to carry on a conversation that way but that day we both brought trikes and strolling the boys on them around the park gave us a rare chance to visit.

On Saturday Paul had to go to the school and work for a while so I met up with Holly, Jacob, and Reagan at Mission Beach. It was a little chilly but we had fun nonetheless. Wilder absolutely loves the beach!

He was fascinated watching some guys throwing around a football. He really wanted to join them and thought he was big stuff when they waved at him.

Playing with Reagan's sand toys

Sunday was my cousin Amber's baby shower in La Habra so Paul and Wilder drove up with me and Paul took Wilder back to the children's museum while I enjoyed getting to spend time with the ladies. It was an owl-themed shower and everything was just so cute!

Me, Amber, and baby Tempe on the way!

On Tuesday we had a fun playdate with Rachel and Lexi at the children's museum here in San Diego. We hadn't been before and it was soooo nice! There were three stories of activities. A lot of them were for older children but we definitely found plenty to get into.

We took our lunches and ate there together.

Wilder and Lexi were so funny eating next

to each other and kept trading food items.

Checking out the elevator shaft

Wilder always finds the books

Peekaboo!

I don't know how it's possible but Wilder gets more and more fun by the day. He has so many funny quirks that totally crack Paul and me up. He loves throwing and kicking balls around the house and can entertain himself for half an hour doing this. Rider loves it too because it often ends up in a little fetch game between them. When he dances it looks like he's running in place. When we ask him where his belly is, every single time, he pats his stomach and then points to us and wants us to pat ours too. He thinks it's absolutely hilarious when we ask him where his booty is. He won't show us where it is, he just dies out laughing. He also loves to pull up our shirts and look at our bellybuttons. I can see this potentially becoming a problem. And when he gets excited he's started throwing his arms back behind his back like he's propelling himself forward. It kind of reminds me of a skier's stance during a long jump. I'm sure no one else will think this is interesting but I want to put it down so I can always remember it. These funny little quirks never last long.

He's also becoming more helpful. It's so nice to be able to tell him to bring something to me or help me pick stuff up. He will put all of his books back on the shelf when we're cleaning his room up before dinner and you can tell he's so proud of himself. Of course, his messes still far outweigh his willingness to help clean up but, still, when you've been the one to clean up those messes for a year, any help you can get is noted and appreciated.

He's also started to mimic us more and more -- little things that sometimes we don't even notice we do and now words too. The other day I was filming him because he was acting silly and he stopped and pointed to the fish magnet on the refrigerator. I said, What? The fish? and just about fell on the floor when he said (his version of) Fish! Fish! I'm so used to him saying his usual six or seven words over and over that I was so excited to hear him say something new.

We just love this little boy and can't get enough of him. :)

Lucky

2012-02-01T22:57:00.000-08:00

Paul took Wilder for a ride around our neighborhood on his trike this afternoon. As they were approaching Starbucks he could see a homeless man sitting at one of the tables on their patio. The man watched them the whole time coming down the sidewalk with a grin on his face and as they passed him he said to Paul: You are so lucky.

Even though the man had only the clothes on his back and what was in his bag to claim as his earthly possessions, he wasn't envious of anything Paul might own. He considered Paul lucky because of the things he saw Paul had that couldn't be bought: love and family. No matter what stresses or sadnesses we face in our lives, we are so lucky because we have each other and we have this most amazing little person to love, teach, and enjoy every day. That is priceless and really nothing else matters.

Wilder's First Beach Experience

2012-01-28T13:55:00.000-08:00

Thursday it was in the 80's here so I was determined to take Wilder to the beach for the first time. I know, I know, you're thinking Um, he's 14 months old and you live in San Diego... Why is he just now going to the beach?? Well, when summer came around this past year Wilder was in the belly-crawling phase, which would not be conducive to beach-going, plus Paul is not a big fan of the beach so if I met friends there, I would have to lug all the equipment, etc. out there by myself, plus Wilder is so fair-skinned I was totally paranoid about him burning.

So, now that Wilder's walking and it's easier for me to handle him and all his accoutrements by myself and I've gotten over a little of the sunburn paranoia (don't get me wrong, I still slather him with sunscreen, put a swim shirt with SPF in it on him, and make him wear a hat) I decided it was high time for this California dude to be introduced to the wonders of the beach. Unfortunately, Paul's opinion of the beach hasn't changed (and it was a school day) so I knew I was going to have to do it by myself. It was too last minute to call anyone to go with us so I took him to a really low-key beach that I had driven by numerous times but never been to. Not having to fight crowds and schlep beach supplies for miles made the trip more doable. No one else was there except a couple with a dog down the beach. It was the perfect place to get Wilder used to the sand and waves.

He loved the sand of course...

But walking in it took some getting used to.

He wasn't sure what to think about the waves and at first seemed downright apprehensive about them.

But I helped him walk into them and he was fine after that. He loved to stomp his feet in the water and put his hands down in it.

There was also so much to look at and point to -- boats, seagulls, the dog down the beach.

And then, all of a sudden, I hear someone yelling my name. ?? At first I thought they were calling for some other Emily but then I heard it again and looked up to the top of the hill and there was my friend, Rachel! She and her husband had brought Lexi and their dog, Millie, to that exact vacant beach out of all the beaches in San Diego at the exact same time we were there. It was totally bizarre and I still cannot get over how random it was to see each other there. But it was fun to have a little impromptu play date.

Wilder and I both had such a good time and I can't wait to take him back a lot over the next few months.

Have Trike, Will Travel

2012-01-25T15:35:00.000-08:00

I said I was going to do better about blogging but have I? No. No I haven't. In my defense, I've been trying to write this post for like four days now but we've had a pretty busy week and I've also been trying to check things off a to-do list that grows by the day, oh and also there's that thing about me having a one-year-old who likes to do things like this...

Toilet paper? I don't know

nothing about no toilet paper.

...so obviously I haven't had very much uninterrupted time to devote to blogging. Or reading either -- The Hunger Games has been sitting on my bedside table for days and I haven't read the first word! I'm dying to get into it. I did, however, make mini pecan pies the other night from some yummy Tennessee pecans my mom had sent me. The hubby sure appreciated that :)

On Friday Wilder and I drove up to La Habra and went to the Children's Museum there with Amber and Henry. Oh my word, Wilder was in heaven! He loved being able to get into, investigate, touch and/or climb on every single thing in the building and not be told No once.

The first exhibit was a car and we were in danger of never being able to move on to the second exhibit but I was finally able to pry him out of it and, come to find out, there were plenty of other things with wheels to check out.

I took SO MANY cute pictures that day but when I ran out of camera space on my phone yesterday I deleted them because I thought I had already uploaded them to the computer! I'm just sick over it but at least I still have a few. Wilder pretty much totally loved every single activity they offered, from grocery shopping to carousel rides to train tours to gong-ringing to stuffed wild animal petting. He was all about it.

Then Saturday it rained so Wilder and I went to Target because that's our rainy-day-late-afternoon-go-to-time-waster. That trip to Target would change Wilder's life forever. He went into the store a baby; he came out a baby on a bike. Well, a trike to be exact. Paul and I had been talking for a while about getting one of those trikes that we can push and steer from behind until he's able to pedal it himself and Wilder was giving us hints all over the place that that's exactly what he wanted most in life...

Well, a cute little bright red Radio Flyer one just happened to be on sale that day so I took it as a sign and we brought one home. Wilder had the best time helping Paul put it together but he was so excited it was almost torturous for him to wait for it to be assembled.

The inaugural ride around the living room

We took him for his first real ride on it on Sunday around our neighborhood. That thing is worth every penny because he looks so ridiculously cute on it. And you can tell he thinks he's big stuff on it too. He stares down passersby and waves or dings his bell at them as he sees fit.

We stopped for lunch at a cafe down the street. Wilder sat on the trike the whole time we were eating on the patio and watched the people and cars going by.

Paul took off from school work for most of the day on Sunday so, in the afternoon, we took Wilder over to ride his trike at Balboa Park. He seriously acts like a little celebrity on that thing. 98% of the people we pass when he's riding it either get a smile on their face or give him a thumbs up or want to talk to him or take his picture. I'm not joking, one lady actually asked to take a picture of him, haha! He totally owns that trike. It's perfect for him. :)

Sunday night we got a babysitter, a girl Paul goes to school with, and went to dinner with a couple of friends that we also know through school. They have a scooter too and we had fun having a mini scooter gang for the night. It was so nice to be around other adults for a change and have actual conversations! When we got home Wilder was awake and she said he had been for about 20 minutes. She hadn't been able to get him back to sleep and I guess she didn't call us because she knew we would be home soon anyway. When we came into the house she was holding him and he had his head on her shoulder perfectly content. When I took him from her, I think he suddenly realized that I hadn't been holding him the whole time and he scowled at her so hard like, Wait, so who are you then??! She and Paul stood there and talked about school for a few minutes and he stared at her with the worst stink-eye I've ever seen until she left, haha :)

Monday was another rainy day and by the afternoon Wilder and I were both stir crazy so I took him over to the Mission Valley mall to, what else, ride his trike. It's an outdoor mall but luckily there are wide covered walkways that run along in front of the stores.

Unfortunately it's not a huge mall so after about 30 minutes we had made a couple of laps and I was getting bored. I didn't want to go home yet though because I still had an hour or two before bedtime and I had no clue what I was going to do with him at home. I'm not used to having to plan rainy day activities here but I think I should put "cabin fever prevention kit" on my list of things to do. Anyway, about that time, I went into the food court to get something to drink and waste some more time and saw my saving grace. They had four little mechanical cars and trucks, which, of course, Wilder immediately spotted and started pointing at emphatically. Score! Another 45 minutes of entertainment. Wilder absolutely loved it and, for the most part, had them all to himself so I got some cute pictures.

Tuesday afternoon we went to play and go to a story time at the library with Rachel and Lexi. The one near Rachel's house has a great play area and the weather was nice so we all enjoyed being outside.

Wilder found a book that was bigger than he is and was totally fascinated by it.

He tried to "help" that kid build a block tower but, I'm guessing by the look the kid's giving him, he didn't appreciate the kind of help Wilder offered.

At previous story times Wilder has usually just observed or explored the room instead of participating but he was totally into it that day for some reason. He clapped along and even did this little dance he does that looks sort of like he's running in place. He was totally cracking me up. :)

Wilder and Lexi.

They're getting so big!

The tomfoolery continued even after we got home. He was being a total clown while we were playing before dinner.

I'mma getchu, Mama!

He kept kissing Posey, whether

she wanted it or not.

I'mma getchu, Posey!

Peeking over Posey at me :)

I told him to kiss Posey and

this is what he did. Lovely.

Today it's finally so so gorgeous outside and in the 70's so Rachel and I took the babies and their trikes over to the park to stroll. They were so cute on them together and kept staring at each other and checking out each other's rides. Wilder refused to take his morning nap this morning, which I don't think has ever happened, but when we got home from the park I fed him lunch and put him down and he's been asleep now for two hours and counting, hence the blog post finally!

By the way, look at Wilder mad-dogging

me in this picture! C'mon, Mom, what's

the holdup?! Pretty sure the no-nap

thing had something to do with that.

Alright dudes, I hope you all have a fantastic rest of the week and I promise to start updating more often again.

Busy Busy

2012-01-18T16:41:00.000-08:00

I've been making an effort to get us out of the house more this week. We've always set up a couple of play dates each week but still had a couple of days too where we wouldn't even leave the house. That was all well and good before Mr. Man turned the big ONE but now we both start going a little crazy in the afternoons if we don't have somewhere to go. I've said before that Wilder is like a little sponge but it would be more accurate to describe him as more like a vacuum. He doesn't wait for knowledge and experiences to drop onto him like water onto a sponge -- he seeks them out and sucks them in forcefully like a vacuum cleaner. Everywhere new that we go he must explore every inch of it, stare at all the people, and touch everything. He absolutely loves experiencing new things and I love watching him do so.

We went to a birthday party for the daughter of some friends of ours on Saturday. They did a carnival theme for the party and everything was sooo cute and colorful! They had all kinds of little carnival games and activities and most of the kids brought their bikes and trikes so Wilder was in heaven checking them all out.

Watching football with

Dada after the party

On Sunday it was pretty chilly outside but we still wanted to get out of the house so Paul and I walked Wilder to the playground down the street and let him run around. He had fun playing and going down the slide but what he really wanted to do was inspect a couple of bikes some kids had left over to the side of the playground. It's impossible to tell him that people don't always want you touching their stuff so when we see bikes, motorcycles, and other wheeled vehicles and Wilder is loose it's always a problem. He absolutely insists on going over and touching them. Not sure what to do about this issue. I know he's not going to hurt the bikes, etc., he just wants to check them out, but like I said not everyone is OK with that and I want to teach him to respect other people's property. That day, as usual, every chance he got he would start making his way over toward the bikes and we would have to steer him away or distract him with something else. But finally the kids finally rode off and Wilder moved on to exploring other areas of the playground. It's so fun to watch him waddling around :)

Yesterday we went with Rachel and Lexi to a signing storytime at the Mission Valley Library. Even though I don't do much signing with Wilder, he still enjoyed the stories. The lady reading them was so animated and he was fascinated by all of her hand motions. He sat in my lap the entire storytime, which never happens. He did get down and move closer when she brought out the bubbles though. I mean, who doesn't love being in the middle of a bubble shower?

This afternoon after lunch I walked Wilder down to the North Park Library. We hadn't been before and it isn't nearly as nice as some of the other ones. But, who cares? It had books and strangers to stare at and that's all that matters to Wilder. :) Plus, he got to bring some books home and he thought that was totally awesome. He carried the car book he picked out all the way home and didn't even want to let go of it to take a nap. I see a lot more time spent in the library in our future now that he appears to have reigned in his overwhelming desire to pull every single book off the shelves like a madman.

Voom-Vooms are Everywhere

2012-01-16T14:26:00.000-08:00

We got this brochure from our electric company, something about how to save energy and whatnot. I never would have given it a second glance before throwing it away but it is now, and will be for the foreseeable future, a treasured addition to our household. Know why? You just won't believe the wonder of it. Get ready for it..... It has (drumroll please).... kids riding bikes on the cover!!! Wilder thinks it's like the best thing ever.

When he first saw it sitting on the kitchen table from his high chair he started insistently pointing and voom-voom'ing. For a few minutes I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out what he wanted. I kept handing him thing after thing (because yes our kitchen table is always littered with various things) until finally I noticed that piece of mail with the bikes on it. I gave it to him and you'd have thought he won the Powerball. Now he has to have it at every meal and, at other times, if I need him to just sit still for a minute I give him the brochure and he's good. I've never seen someone so obsessed with something as Wilder is with anything with wheels.

(Please excuse Posey whining in the background.

They were waiting not so patiently for me to

let them come clean up the food he dropped.)

Wilder at 13.5 Months

2012-01-12T22:54:00.000-08:00

... because that's a logical time for an update, right?

After doing my Life of Wilder posts every week for a year, I feel like I never really talk about what he's up to anymore development-wise. I'm going to try to do better at that because, if I thought he changed a lot in his first year, just the first month and a half of his second year has seen exponential growth and development. So here's a little about our precious/precocious boy at 13.5 months...

No idea what he weighs because there's no time to sit around and weigh ourselves, people, come on!
In other words, he never stops moving. I just try to keep up from one activity to the next and, at night when I ~~sit down~~ collapse and think about all we've done that day, I mostly can't remember specific things. My memory of the day looks like if you took a video of a normal person's week and sped it up to fit into 12 hours. He literally goes from one thing to the next to the next to the next all. day. long. only pausing, and not always voluntarily, for meals. He even takes his snacks on the go while I chase him around the house spooning applesauce and shoving cheese into his mouth. The boy is B-U-S-Y.

He amazes us daily with how smart he is and how quickly he picks up on things. We show him something once or twice and he's got it. He loves to mimic things we do and sounds we make.
He's finally catching onto "no" since we implemented a one-minute time-out in the pack-n-play as a punishment. Most of the time the time-out works after one stint. I've noticed him going back to look at what we told him "no" about afterwards but then remembering and steering clear of it, which is very validating as a parent. But just because he knows he isn't supposed to do something definitely doesn't mean he never does it. For the past week, he's started shaking his head before doing something he knows he's not supposed to, haha! It's like he's giving us a warning -- "Y'all, I know I shouldn't hit Rider...Uh-uh, no I shouldn't... But I just can't resist... I'm going to do it"... Smack!
He loves to point to things in books and make the sounds they make (Voom-voom, Woof-woof, Quack, etc.). If he sees something in a book that he has in his room he loves to point back and forth between them, like a dog in a book and the dogs in his room. I used to encourage this, but now he just does it on his own. Today he found an alligator in a book that I had never seen before and he sat there and stared at it and then pointed at the big stuffed alligator in his room. I was so impressed that, all by himself, he would connect the illustration to the real (stuffed) thing.
He absolutely loves books and this makes me so happy. Our new favorite game, whereas before he would point to something and I would say the name for it, now we'll open to a page and I'll say "Where's the ball? Where's the baby? Where's the flower?" etc. and he'll point to each thing. I love testing his knowledge and helping him expand it. I thought being a mom to an infant was rewarding but being a mom to a toddler is even more rewarding. It's so amazing to be able to teach him things and have him retain them. (Sorry, the video is like 3 min. long but I had to take advantage of him cooperating since he usually doesn't when I'm videoing.)

I try to treat each day like it's his own personal preschool. That's not to say I have the whole day structured and planned out but I do try to throw some purposeful activities into his whirlwind of free play and I love seeing the results of that. He is such a little sponge.
He is still obsessed with anything with wheels, especially motorcycles. He does his sound effect for any kind of wheeled vehicle, which can get a little embarrassing when it's somebody in a wheelchair and he's pointing at them and saying voom-voom.
He loves his dogs SO MUCH. He loves to hug on them, "gentle pet" (and sometimes not-so-gentle pet) them, throw the ball for them, share his snacks with them, and woof-woof at them.

He has also become much more affectionate with us and will randomly come up and hug us. He will give us a kiss if we ask and sometimes even when we don't ask, which is the best and melts my heart every time. He likes to mess with us by pretending he's handing us something and then pulling his hand back when we reach for it. He really gets a kick out of that. He also likes to "get" us or have us "get" him. He and Paul were playing on the floor the other night though and he tried to come up and tackle Paul but fell and hit his mouth on Paul's elbow and his bottom teeth cut his lip. It looked so awful and bled for what seemed like forever, but he cried for all of two seconds and then after that didn't seem to know what the big deal was. He's definitely rough and tumble, which is a good thing since learning to walk requires falling flat on your face about a dozen times a day.

Paul wanted me to put down a list of Wilder's words so here are all the ones I can think of that he's saying right now. They aren't all fully formed but you can definitely understand what he's talking about. Probably because he says each of them over and over about 50 times a day: bye, dog, Dada, duck, boon (balloon), quack, ball, woof-woof, voom-voom, moo (sort of), book, bug... but, nope, still not Mama! (Except for a brief British phase a few months ago when he called me Mum.) I like to think it's because I'm with him all the time and he never needs to call for me? That's what I'm telling myself at least. He'll say it soon enough and it will be a glorious, joyful day when he does ;)

There's so much more, so many little things that Paul and I love about him and laugh about every night. We just love this little boy and everything about him. We feel so incredibly lucky to be his parents and try every day to give our best to him.

Underwater Voom-Vooms

2012-01-08T17:16:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we took Wilder to the Birch Aquarium at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography in La Jolla. Paul and I went on a date there when we first moved out here to celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary and we've been dying to go back because we knew Wilder would just love it. We couldn't have been more right. From the first display in the lobby of a school of fish zooming around in a circular tank, he was hooked (Get it? Hooked?). I don't know what he thought they were but he went with his go-to sound effect, which is, what else? Voom-voom!

Wilder was totally fascinated by all the beautiful fish and other underwater creatures and his pointer finger got quite a workout during our visit.

Seeing things that you've seen hundreds of times before through the eyes of your child makes them amazing all over again. I loved watching him take it all in.

The aquarium has an outdoor area where you can touch some of the sea creatures so Wilder got to touch a starfish and a sea cucumber. You can't explain the "only touch with one finger" rule to a one-year-old though so he pretty much abused the poor creatures but it was fun anyway and I was proud of him for not being afraid of them.

There were also a couple of little play

areas, which he thoroughly enjoyed.

He's seen himself in a mirror hundreds

of times but for some reason was really

taken with himself that day. I will

admit, he did look pretty spiffy. ;)

He kept trying to look around himself.

And trying to step into the mirror world.

We had such a fun afternoon together.

I love my little family!

Hello. I Am Alive. Barely.

2012-01-05T20:07:00.000-08:00

Y'all, I don't even know where to begin. I guess I could start by saying that 2012 so far has been, in a word, exhausting.

I have been sick one time since we moved here almost three years ago and, besides a runny nose on our last Tennessee trip, Wilder has never been sick but he and I have both had colds for the last week. When you're not used to feeling bad, it hits you even harder when you do. Although, except for a runny nose and a yucky cough, Wilder really hasn't let his cold slow him down much, therefore, as all you moms know, I haven't been able to slow down either. I'm hoping we're both on the tail end of it now. It's been pretty miserable.

Then there was what will go down in history as "The Most Horrendous Travel Day Ever." On Tuesday we left my mom's house and headed for Nashville at 9 AM. At 8:35 AM we actually considered moving our flight to Wednesday because we hadn't gotten any sleep the night before and Wilder and I were both feeling cruddy but we couldn't justify spending $500 to push the flight back one day. Looking back now, I'd say what we went through justified it but that's hindsight and we had no way of knowing. Things actually started out OK. Wilder slept the whole way to Nashville and then got to play at the airport's indoor play area before our flight so we had high hopes for a breezy day of travel.

We couldn't have been more wrong. We thought after burning off some energy at the airport Wilder might nap on the flight. We scored the front row and settled in, but Wilder had other ideas. He did not want to go to sleep. He did not want to sit in our laps. He did not want to be on the floor. He did not want to sit in my seat while I sat on the floor. Obviously that didn't leave us with many options. He was sooo tired and didn't feel good -- we could see it in his eyes. But you know sometimes you get too tired to sleep? Yeah, unfortunately, that was him. So we did our best to entertain him and not upset him for the two hour flight.

That flight's kind of a blur actually. All I remember is sitting on the floor with him while he unloaded each toy from the toy bag and put it under Paul's seat and then put each one back in the toy bag over and over and over. Also, I may or may not have let him eat Cheerios off the floor. I mean, they were his Cheerios that he had spilled but I'm still a little traumatized by it. I just didn't want to make him fuss any more than he had to. Paul and I were in survival mode at that point, people. And the guy next to us was too as evidenced by the multiple whiskey drinks he ordered. Finally we actually got Wilder to sleep and then immediately, of course, we began our descent into Houston.

We had about an hour layover in Houston during which we tried to decompress and help Wilder burn off some more energy by doing this...

And then we boarded the flight from hell. When we got on the plane we chose an open row and put Wilder in the middle seat in an attempt to make people think we had bought a seat for him. But, alas, the flight was completely full so we got stuck sitting next to some total creeper. He kept trying to give us baby advice and said he was in the military. He kept talking about how his wife (who he was apparently in the process of divorcing) went to Brazil with her Brazilian boyfriend for Christmas. He mentioned this way too many times for me to believe it was true. Also, he listened in on everything we said and when Paul would make a joke to me the guy would laugh or throw in his two cents even when we didn't think he could possibly hear us. It was totally creepy.

Also, Wilder was a nightmare to put it kindly. He was deliriously sleepy and fussy. He wasn't entertained by anything and was so tired of sitting in our laps that he got downright mad. Paul was a saint and actually held him most of the time, and by "held" I don't mean "cradled" I mean "restrained". Finally when Paul's patience was wearing thin I got up and walked Wilder up and down the aisle of the plane several times. Except he tried to grab every person's head that we passed so that didn't last long.

Finally we looked at the clock and we had less than an hour until we were supposed to land. We were in the home stretch! We could see a light at the end of the tunnel! But wait, no, apparently that light was the brake system light coming on in the cockpit. The pilot got on the intercom and told us that something was going on with the brakes and San Diego's runway was too short for us to safely land on so they were diverting us to Las Vegas. It would take us an hour and a half to get there after which we would have to unload, reload onto another plane, and fly another hour to San Diego. At that point, it was all Paul and I could do to not simultaneously throw up. Neither of us would let the other go to the bathroom though because we knew whoever went wasn't coming back until we landed. I honestly don't know how we survived that last 90 minutes. I have blocked it from my memory. But somehow we did and we finally landed in Las Vegas.

The deboarding and reboarding of planes went smoothly and took less than 15 minutes. (And, discreetly or not, we didn't care, we chose seats away from the creeper guy.) Then we sat there and watched while ONE guy loaded ALL of the luggage onto the new plane, which as you can imagine did not take less than 15 minutes. Then the pilot comes back on the intercom and informs us that we have too much fuel and now have to unfuel some of it, which is not even a word but we had to do it nonetheless. This also did not take less than 15 minutes.

Luckily Wilder loves watching people working so he was thoroughly entertained by the bag loader and the unfuel-er guys. He even sat there waving at the guys unfueling and they waved back, which is one of the cutest things I've ever seen so that was one tiny bright spot on the day. So, we finally got unfueled enough to take off but then the door to the plane wouldn't close! AAARRRGGHHHH!!! At this point we were all so tired the lady next to us started laughing deliriously, which didn't help the situation. Finally over an hour after we landed in Las Vegas we took off on our last leg of the day and thankfully Wilder slept the whole way. The creeper guy from the previous flight sat across the aisle and back one row from us and we could hear him telling the person next to him that he studied Architecture, which is obviously what Paul had told him he did. Can we say sociopath?

Anyway, after almost 14 hours of traveling we finally made it to San Diego, wrangled up our four suitcases, stroller, and carseat and took a taxi home, with Wilder still sleeping and halfway afraid the creeper guy was following us. I have never been so glad to get home from a trip in all my life. Let me just say, I still love Southwest. But it's kind of like when you go on vacation with your best friend. You spend so much time together that, by the end of the week, you're sick of each other and bickering. So yeah, all that's to say that we won't be flying again until it's on a one-way flight back to Tennessee after Paul graduates this summer. You're all welcome to come see us in the meantime though! :)

We've spent the last few days recuperating except for a massive, necessary trip to Target because we had no food in the house. Wilder has been enjoying using his newly honed walking skills to, well, walk all over the house and get into more mischief than usual. A toilet lid lock has since been put in place. We've unpacked two out of four suitcases and we picked up the dogs from the boarding facility, where they thoroughly enjoyed their Christmas vacation...

We finally had enough energy and felt well enough to take Wilder to the park today. The fresh air and 80 degree weather felt so good! Now that Wilder is walking all over the place the playground is so much more fun. He climbed up the stairs and went down the slide all by himself (with me right behind him, of course, ready to assist if needed).

(Please excuse the car alarm in the background...)

We've been trying to savor every minute with Paul before he starts back to school and gets super busy. We put Wilder's helmet on him that we got him for Christmas and took him out to sit on the "voom-voom" this afternoon. He thought that was totally awesome.

Wilder had his first bubble bath the other night. I don't know how it's possible that he's gone 13 months without having a bubble bath but that's neither here nor there. He loved it and kept staring at his bubbly hands like they were foreign objects. Unfortunately he's in a phase where he likes to drink the bath water from the cups in the tub so that might have to be his last bubble bath for a while. I don't need him burping up bubbles, thank you.

He's also been waving and saying "Bye bye" so clearly for the last week or two. It is so freaking cute! I just love his little voice and can't wait for him to start talking more and more. Even though he'll always be my little California boy, he just can't escape having a Southern accent. :)

Also, I totally left out the last few days of our Tennessee trip but don't have the energy to recap them so here are some pictures and that will have to suffice...

Playing Cranium with the fam

on New Year's Eve. SO fun!

We went to Covington for my

grandmother's 80th birthday party

Wilder with some of his cousins

Wilder and Grana

Us with the birthday girl. (Paul has

recently been accused of looking

unhappy -- don't ask -- and this picture

doesn't really do much to disprove that

so I feel the need to point out that

we were indeed all happy to be there.

We were just super tired.)

Wilder with cousin Katie

We also went to a birthday dinner

for Paul's grandfather

And we helped Uncle William

work on the jeep some more, which

he finally got started the day before

we left! That was so exciting... and

I may have cried a little. I know my

dad was "whoo-hoo"ing in heaven

when he heard that engine purr. :)

We also took Wilder to see our good friends,

Russell and Rachel, who he hadn't met yet.
He loved exploring their house and
finding all their breakable items.

Flash!

So. Overall, we had a great trip to Tennessee and the nightmarish trip back was totally worth all the good memories we made there. Hopefully I can get back into the blogging routine and start posting more regularly soon.

Christmas Recap

2011-12-31T20:20:00.000-08:00

In case you haven't noticed I have been putting off my Christmas post but now that it's New Year's Eve and all I figured I should quit being lazy and just do it.

On Christmas Eve, as is the tradition, we went to Covington to my mom's mom's house and had Christmas with her. We've done that ever since I can remember so it was special to take Wilder there this year.

My grandmother lives on a farm and Wilder loved seeing all the peacocks, donkeys, and cows. My Uncle Charles took him for a tractor ride and the boy was in heaven. He was touching all the gears and knobs and trying to steer.

He also had fun exploring my grandmother's house and being the center of attention.

My beautiful cousin Katie had gotten engaged the day before so I was glad we got to see her too. Congrats Katie and Matt!

On Christmas morning we woke up and did Christmas in our pajamas with my mom, my brother, and sister-in-law. We missed my dad but had fun watching each other open presents and just being together. It's true that Christmas is so much more fun when you have a kid. Even though we had already done our Christmas in San Diego, Paul and I couldn't resist shopping for Wilder all over again when we got to Tennessee. Paul was determined we were going to get Wilder a toy motorcycle and drove all over town until he found one. We were so excited for him to open it Christmas morning -- maybe even more excited than he was to get it -- but he absolutely loves that thing. What a fun morning :)

Wilder loved the helmet that his little

friend got at the birthday party we went

to last week so we had to get him one

too. I think he thinks it's a motorcycle

helmet because he says Voom voom

every time he wears it :)

Wilder and I gave Paul a remote

controlled helicopter so the boys had

fun with that in the freezing cold

For lunch we went over to Paul's grandparents' house. Paul's dad is one of five siblings and Paul is the oldest of 14 grandchildren so they had quite a full house and Wilder loved the chaos.

Wilder also loved being passed

around between all of his cousins

and aunts

Us with Paul's dad and sister

After a huge feast and presents at the Taylors' we went to my dad's mother's house for another lunch. Christmas there was much more subdued since not all of the family was there but we had a good time visiting with everyone and eating more delicious food.

On Monday we went over to my best friend Jinny's house for a visit. Wilder had a blast playing with her kids and all of their new Christmas toys, especially her son's Lightning McQueen car which was just his size and which he looked so cute driving.

After our playdate at Jinny's we had to come home and tell my brother and his wife goodbye before they left to go back to Mississippi. Wilder absolutely adores them... can you tell? :)

Flying the helicopter again. Wilder

was making bird noises at it.

My dad got this old Willys jeep for

Christmas as a kid. He tracked it down

in the last few years and bought it back

from whoever owned it at the time. He was

in the process of rebuilding it when he

passed away so my brother is working

on finishing it the way he wanted it. It's

going to be something really special to have.

Tuesday night we went to Steak-n-Shake for my grandmother's birthday. Wilder loved his hat and kept putting it on and taking it off until finally he poked his head all the way through the top of it. He was thoroughly entertaining the whole table. My grandmother totally cracked us up too. She hates being the center of attention so when we started singing Happy Birthday to her, without missing a beat, she turned to my mom and started singing along so the people around us would think it was my mom's birthday. We could hardly finish the song for laughing!

Wednesday night Paul and I went to Memphis with Paul's dad and his girlfriend to go to a Grizzlies basketball game. It was a really good game, we had great seats, and we had such a good time visiting with Paul's dad and his girlfriend.

And guess who we ran into? Paul and I

happened to glance up at the jumbotron

before the game started and there was

my cousin Katie and her fiance so I texted

her and we met up at halftime.

Yesterday our Mississippi State Bulldogs were playing in the Music City Bowl so Paul and I went to Nashville to root them on. It was my first night to ever spend away from Wilder but I survived and we had a great time. We had lunch with Paul's sister and her boyfriend and got to hang out with them for a while and check out some neighborhoods for when we hopefully move there after Paul graduates. Then we checked into our hotel and headed downtown to meet up with some friends. Our friend Russell had some extra tickets to his dad's company's box so we got to watch the game in style. We had so much fun getting to hang out with old friends and cheer the Dawgs on to victory. Thanks for the tickets, Russell!

Whew! OK, I think I'm all caught up now. We're spending New Year's Eve drinking champagne and playing Cranium with my mom, brother, and sister-in-law. Thanks to all my readers for your love and support this year! We've had a year of ups and downs but it's been one of the best of my life. I can't wait to see what 2012 has in store for my little family. I hope everyone has a safe and happy New Year!

Pre-Christmas Shenanigans

2011-12-23T22:44:00.000-08:00

We made it to Tennessee on Tuesday by the skin of our teeth. Christmas travel is definitely not for the faint of heart... so I don't think we'll be doing it anymore ;) What's so funny is that, even though we were traveling with a baby, he wasn't even the reason the whole day was so stressful. It was just one thing after another, from long waits on the tarmac to almost missing our connecting flight to a lost carseat (and a "loaner" carseat from the airline that smelled like the last kid that sat in it wasn't wearing a diaper -- that was lovely on our two-hour drive to Jackson). It was a LONG day but I'm so grateful that a fussy, uncooperative baby was not on our list of problems. And we made it here safe and sound so that's really all that matters.

We've been so enjoying spending time with family and old friends this week and eating so much good food already. Wilder is fascinated by my mom's Christmas tree and the fact that we've had to move all ornaments to the top half of it confirms for me that I did the right thing by not attempting to put up our own tree this year.

On Wednesday we went to a first birthday party for the son of some friends. Even though the husband and Paul went to high school together and we all went to Mississippi State at the same time, his wife and I never really knew each other until we crossed paths in the blogosphere and ended up being due with our babies around the same time. Their son was born exactly a week after Wilder and Lindsay and I have spent the last year comparing notes and encouraging each other through our blogs. When we found out we were going to be in Tennessee at the same time for Christmas we were excited to be able to get together in real life. The boys were so funny together and the birthday party was crazy and a blast.

This is the best picture we were able

to get of all of us haha. The boys

were obviously not feeling it :)

Yesterday we went over to Paul's grandparents' house for a visit and a few of Paul's many younger cousins happened to be there too. Wilder had such a good time being the center of attention and playing with the "big" kids. We can't wait to take him over there on Christmas -- he's going to love being around the dozen or so other kids who will be there.

Paul and I have been taking advantage of having a built-in babysitter in my mom and have gone out with friends a couple of nights this week. Last night we ran into a friend of ours from high school who is apparently a fan of the blog. I love finding out who reads all this stuff I write and it's so cool to hear someone who hasn't met Wilder talking about him and knowing what he's up to. So a big shout-out to our good buddy, Chase! :)

And after many attempts I have finally gotten a decent video of Wilder walking. It seemed like every time I tried to record it he would fall down and every time I wouldn't have my camera ready he would take off across the room but at last the stars aligned and I got the cutest 8-second video of his little monkey walk. I can't deny it anymore -- my tiny newborn infant son is truly a toddler now...

Sorry for the sort of random post but I wanted to get all of this down on the blog before the big Christmas weekend because I know I'll have a lot to say and tons of pictures from that. We're so excited to be in Tennessee this Christmas for the first time in three years and even more excited to share it with Wilder and the rest of our family. I hope all of you have a very blessed and merry Christmas this weekend!

A Very Christmas-y Weekend

2011-12-19T21:34:00.000-08:00

Warning: Cute picture overload.

I may be a Scrooge but we sure had Christmas all weekend around here. Even though it's going to be a pretty sad holiday this year, all these pre-Christmases we've had are getting me excited for the actual Christmas. Wilder loves helping to open his presents and it's so fun to watch him exploring new toys and games.

We gave him his Anywhere Chair last week and he has been enjoying it so much! I moved it by his front window so he can look out at the yard since, for the most part, it's been too chilly to get out much or have the front door open for him to look out. He loves watching and pointing at the birds at the bird feeder. The other day I was sitting in there with him and he kept pointing and saying Bur- Bur- off to the side of the window and when I looked out he was pointing to a Bird of Paradise flower in the flower bed. I didn't know what to say but I had to give it to him, they do look just like birds, so I just nodded and smiled.

He still loves climbing in and out of his chair but instead of climbing out like a normal person/baby, he basically dives out of it headfirst. He thinks it's so funny (and it is) but I hope he starts catching on soon to the concept of feetfirst. I also love the chair because it makes him sit still long enough to get some decent pictures.

I think he may be getting some curls?

Every time I ask him where his nose

is lately he shows me his tongue.

He knows head, ear, and feet but

where am I going wrong with nose?

Mid-bur

On Saturday we had our little family Christmas. Even though we didn't have a tree to do it in front of it was still much more fun than last year when he was four weeks old and I opened his gifts in front of him in the bouncer seat and he couldn't have cared less. This year, fresh from the experience of opening presents at his birthday, he was very helpful and excited to open his presents.

That snack cup is pretty much a

permanent extension of his hand.

Playing with his hound dog

guitar from Aunt Jinny

Checking out some of his loot

Sunday evening we went over to Rachel and Lexi's house for dinner and to exchange gifts with the babies. We had such a great time and Wilder was totally pumped about having a new house and new toys to explore. He never stopped moving and worked up quite a sweat. He and Lexi are both so busy. It's really fun to watch.

We love these ladies! :)

This isn't the real Santa.

Get him away from me!

Seriously, guys, what are you

trying to pull here?

Lexi, go into deer-in-the-headlights mode

and maybe they'll stop taking pictures!

In other news, Wilder is walking more and more steps every day. He can walk all the way across his room and does it even without prompting. I can see his preferred mode of transportation slowly beginning to switch over from crawling to walking. He looks SO cute waddling around. I haven't gotten a good video of him doing it but that's my mission tomorrow.

We're looking forward to continuing our Christmas festivities this week in Tennessee with our families! I think some good Southern food and quality time with our loved ones is just what we need.

Christmas Card

2011-12-19T15:04:00.000-08:00

Goodbye BF'ing

2011-12-17T20:36:00.000-08:00

Warning: If you are a man reading this, you're probably going to want to stop here. If you are future Wilder who is now in his teens, you should definitely stop here. If you choose to continue reading and get weirded out? Well, don't say I didn't warn you.

Y'all, we are officially done with breastfeeding. As of yesterday, one of the things I've put the most time and effort into for the last year and one of the things I've been most fulfilled and rewarded by is over. At the risk of sounding strange, I'm terribly sad to know that I will never again have that connection with Wilder. And at the risk of sounding cliche, it's just another sign that he's growing up so fast.

I feel weird that I feel sad about it but I've read that's normal. Some won't understand it but, to me, it's a big loss. And I knew it would be so, and this is really going to sound weird but, I was trying to wait to wean him until after the first of the year. It's already going to be a not-so-merry holiday with my dad gone and I didn't want to be dealing with the emotions of this loss too.

That's what I feel like the theme of the last three months of my life has been: loss. First and foremost, my dad. Then, and this doesn't compare in any way to losing my dad but it was still a pretty big blow, the loss of my laptop and all its stored pictures and information. And now the loss of this important way of bonding with my son. Can I just go into hibernation until January 1st?

But, if there was a secondary theme to the last quarter of the year, it would have to be focusing on the positive. So here goes. I'm thankful that the weaning was able to happen naturally and didn't have to end abruptly for some reason. I'm also thankful that I was able to do it for 12 1/2 months. It's one of the best things I've ever done and I'm very proud of it. And, even though I'm sad it's over, I also felt like it was time. And now I can have a margarita at lunch if I want to!

So there are a few good things about the end of breastfeeding and thinking about them does make me feel a little better. If I can just keep this positive attitude through the next two weeks. Luckily, I have a funny, chubby reminder walking circles around me at all times. It's a little harder to be down when you're watching your first child learn to walk and get better at it every day. It's funny how such joy and such sadness can coexist in each day. That's life though, right?

(Early) Early Christmas

2011-12-16T00:54:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Wilder was trying to climb up into the chair in his room so I took the cushion off so he could get his little booty up in there and he, um, LOVED it. He sat up there and read the books I handed to him for the longest time and kept climbing in and out of it.

After that there was no question we had to give him his big Christmas present early. We were going to do our little family Christmas on Saturday but I couldn't even wait until then. I wanted him to be able to enjoy it for as long as possible before we left for Tennessee so Paul and I both got up with him early this morning and surprised him with his Anywhere Chair (actually got it on Amazon for a little cheaper than at Pottery Barn). Can I just say, he was totally freaking stoked.

Checking out the chair sitch

Then he discovered he could use it to reach

into his toy basket and proceeded to throw

out every toy he could grab

Possibly the most excited I've ever seen him

He seriously loves this thing. Every so often during the day today he would go over to it and throw himself facedown into it like he was hugging it. Needless to say I highly recommend this chair as the perfect Christmas gift for the toddler in your life :)

Trying to eat a snack in his chair

while still super excited

Note to self: ~~Iron~~ Get Paul to iron chair slipcover, for goodness' sake!

Yesterday Wilder and I went to the mall to return something. Wilder is so much fun to shop with because he just loves seeing people and grins hugely at everyone we pass whether they're looking at him or not. He's also constantly pointing at things. Yesterday we saw two different kids at the mall with balloons and he insistently pointed and said Boon! Boon! and then got upset when we passed them and he found himself to be still balloon-less. He did the same thing at the grocery store tonight. I foresee this becoming a problem.

Aaanyway, point of the story is that we like totally got him some new sneaks at the mall, dudes! He is so proud of them :) And he looks like such a big boy!

Also, we are sooo excited that Paul's fall quarter ended today and we have him to ourselves for three whole weeks! He worked so hard this quarter and now, with only 6 months to go, we're about to enjoy his last Christmas break ever (probably) (hopefully). Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Wilder's Flying Magazine

2011-12-14T01:25:00.000-08:00

I'm finally getting a chance to snag the magazine we made for Wilder's birthday party off of Paul's computer...

After my dad passed away we found the November 2010 issue of Flying magazine in with some of his things. Two things are significant about this issue. 1) It was from the month and year that Wilder was born and 2) There is a Learjet on the cover and my dad flew a Learjet (except a slightly different model). Since we did an airplane theme as a way to honor my dad and include him in the party, the small connection between Wilder and my dad in the form of this magazine nicely rounded the party out for me and the fact that my dad saved this particular issue also makes it special.

I knew I wanted to display all 52 of Wilder's weekly pictures so I decided to customize the magazine as a way to incorporate into the party the weekly photos and a small percentage of the literally thousands of pictures I have of Wilder's first year. I'm all about taking pictures if you didn't know. It's kind of a compulsion.

Anyway, I did the cover and picked out pictures (it was so hard to narrow it down and I still ended up with over 200!) and Paul laid out and designed the pages and printed it for me -- thank you, Paul! -- since he does that kind of stuff, ya know? I loved the way it turned out and was excited to add that little personal touch to the party. Plus, it will be fun for us to look at for many years -- a sort of baby book in pictures.

Libraries are for Learning

2011-12-13T00:09:00.000-08:00

Lessons learned on our trip to the library today:

1) If your one-year-old's favorite activity at home is pulling books off of shelves and generally displacing everything that is where it rightfully should be, do not take him to the library.

2) If, in your anxiety to wrangle up your maniacal one-year-old, you cannot remember to use your inside voice, you should not go to the library either.

3) If your one-year-old has perfected the limp-body, arched-back, arms-in-the-air protest to anything he does not want to do, do not take him to the library! You will look like you are kidnapping a child when you forcibly remove him from said library.

As you may have guessed, Wilder and I went to the library today with our friends, Rachel and Lexi, for a song and story time. Wilder, however, was interested in everything but the song and story time. The group wasn't super structured so there were kids all over the room but most of them paid at least a little attention to the purpose for being in the room. Wilder, on the other hand, totally tuned every song and story out and went into explore mode. He was so fascinated by that new place he'd never been and made sure to investigate all the major points of interest.

Hmm, good quality tile they've got

here. Looks to be locally-made.

Chair appears to be in working order.

Now what do we have here?

The lights! Look at the lights!

And then explore mode carried over into the children's section of library books. I swear, Wilder had a mini heart attack when he saw all those books. He knew exactly what to do and immediately began pulling them off the shelf two at a time, inspecting them, discarding them, and pulling off two more while I went behind him and put them all back. This is where I may or may not have lost my inside voice. And may or may not have been shushed over the intercom. I'd like to think that shush was meant for someone else but, let's be honest, it wasn't.

Moving right along...

Those are the only photos I have of our time in the book aisles because after that it got exponentially less fun.

I did get a few other cute photos though...

Wilder pushing the car and

saying Voom-voom!

Cutie pies

Inspecting their shoes

Too busy for pictures

Needless to say, Wilder had a fantastic time at the library today and had to be physically pried away from the premises. Although I was totally worn out by the time we left, I had fun watching him explore and absorb it all. We'll definitely be going back but next time I'll be more prepared for what to expect (i.e. controlled mayhem).

Just Call Me Scrooge

2011-12-12T00:14:00.000-08:00

Last year around this time I read a blog post by my friend, Kelly, talking about how she wasn't putting up a Christmas tree because of the havoc her almost-one-year-old would surely wreak on it. At the time, I was a new mother with an immobile one-month-old and stars in my eyes. I balked at the idea of this and condemned her as a Scrooge in my head. But Christmas is for children! How can she deprive her child of the magic of a Christmas tree? (I know, I know, the truth comes out. Sorry, Kelly!)

Well, guess who's the Scrooge this year? This Christmas, as the realistic mother of a ~~crazy~~ curious one-year-old I now totally understand Kelly's reasoning. That's not to say I don't beat myself up a little about it but I'd sooner deal with a little guilt than have to tell Wilder 15,693 times a day to stop touching, pulling, eating, shaking, and/or climbing the Christmas tree. Plus, we're not even going to be in town for Christmas so that sealed the deal for me. Call me Scrooge if you must, but Christmas 2011 will go in the books as "the one where we didn't have a Christmas tree." I did put lights and some wooden snowflakes around the window where the tree would be in an attempt to simulate a merry glow (and dangit if those lights aren't hard enough to keep Wilder away from, further validating my tree-free decision).

"Festive" or "Tacky"? You decide.

I'll also accept "Festively Tacky."

Speaking of Scrooge, I am happy to report that whatever demon got a hold of Wilder yesterday vacated the premises by this morning. Although no day is complete without a couple of tantrums lately, they thankfully did not occur at ten minute intervals like yesterday.

Happy

Silly

And sweet :)

Oh, and I made chicken and dumplings for dinner and it was so delicious (and easy)! I'll post the recipe in the next few days. Hope all of you had a good start to your week!

The Terrible... Ones??

2011-12-11T21:42:00.001-08:00

Y'all. It has been a day. Wilder was in a funk from the moment he woke up this morning. Ever since he turned one he is much more sensitive and dramatic. But today was the day of all days. On this day he made it his mission to perfect the fine art of the fake cry and the temper tantrum. Anytime I set him on the floor -- meltdown. Anytime I took more than two or three steps away from him -- meltdown. Anytime I told him no -- meltdown. Anytime the dogs brushed up against him -- meltdown. I could go on but I really don't want to relive it all again. Suffice it to say that it was a long day.

Everyone always talks about the "Terrible Two's" and I've heard from those who would know that it's actually more like the "Terrible Three's" but is it possible that the phase could be more accurately termed the "Terrible Ones through Three's"? Someone say no. Someone assure me that today's willfulness and limit-testing was just a bad mood. I should have another year before I have to deal with temper tantrums, right?

Is that crickets I hear?

Well, I'm going to choose to believe that today was a fluke and hope that tomorrow my sweet, easy-going baby will be back. I mean, yesterday he was as sweet as could be...

Don't get me wrong, he was a little sweet today too (he's naturally sweet as sugar so he just can't help it, you know), but he was pretty salty for the most part. Like "the cap fell off the salt shaker mid-shake" salty. For the record, I have a new respect for parents of two- and three-year-olds. I may or may not have driven us around "looking at Christmas lights" for an hour tonight just to give myself a break from walking on eggshells. Wilder's one redeeming quality: He's just so darn cute...

Doing some work on the scooter

At the zoo's Christmas festivities last night

An elf trampoline show

Amazed

Dog park

It's Nice to be Nice

2011-12-09T00:12:00.000-08:00

Dear Security Guard at the Bank,

Thank you. Thank you for making my baby boy's day today. As we walked into the bank this afternoon you smiled and waved at him and noticed him pointing emphatically at the two balloons tied to the deposit slip counter. As we sat at the desk of the lady who was helping us, you sweet man you, you brought that beautiful, shiny blue balloon over to my son and slipped the string around his wrist. I know you saw his face light up because yours lit up right back.

It was the end of the day on a Friday. I'm sure you were tired and just ready to go home but you brought my son a balloon and made him the happiest baby for the rest of the afternoon. And you made me a happy mama because I got to listen to him laugh and say boon, boon for hours. And you made the dozens of strangers that he smiled at and showed off his boon to during our Target trip afterwards a little happier too. You didn't have to do what you did but your simple act started a ripple that brightened the day of who knows how many people. So thank you for choosing to do something nice and unexpected. You are what this holiday season is all about.

Sincerely,

Happy Mama

Wilder Dreams of the Open Road

2011-12-08T21:30:00.001-08:00

We are going to Tennessee for Christmas in less than two weeks and, y'all, I am not prepared for this...

A twenty degree temperature difference?! A low of SEVENTEEN?! Geez! All I have to say is that it better snow if it's going to be that cold.

Wilder and I went to the park yesterday and met a friend from Tennessee who lives in L.A. and was in town for the day. It was so nice to see a familiar face and get a chance to catch up with an old friend. Wilder had a blast too. For the first little while he had the whole playground to himself so he explored all over. Then some other little kids showed up with a ball, which he promptly commandeered, so he really just had a big time. It's getting so much more fun to take him to the playground now that he can actually play on it.

This might be my all-time favorite

picture of him

I do what I want!

Wilder's motorcycle obsession is getting a little out of control, people. No less than 357 times a day, he points to the window that looks out on the empty driveway where Paul parks his scooter at night and says Voomvoom. And, any time I'm holding him and we pass within 10 feet of said window, he lunges toward it and points emphatically until I take him over there to look out and see the space where the scooter should be. Then he just stares at the empty spot on the driveway and, I guess, waits for the scooter to materialize. Occasionally, while we're standing there, he'll even bounce on my hip once or twice and say Voomvoom like he's fantasizing about being out on the open road. Our neighbor also has a motorcycle and Wilder has to gesture and make sound effects at it every time we go outside. Most of the time there's a car blocking it from view but he still knows it's there and has to point it out. The other night Paul said he wondered what Wilder dreams about and I said, Um, duh, a road trip on a Harley.

Oh and I have to get this on the blog so I can always remember it. Wilder is such a little jokester as I've told you. He loves to laugh and make us laugh. The other day I was feeding him lunch and trying to get him to drink a little milk (we've just recently started him on cow's milk and he is not digging it at all... any suggestions for getting a baby to like milk?). Sometimes when I give him new foods that he's not sure about, if I pretend to take a bite and tell him Yummy!, it gets him to try a bite. So I took a few fake gulps from the sippy cup of milk without putting my mouth on it. I didn't think he could tell but when I handed it to him he mimicked exactly what I had just done -- fake gulp sounds, no mouth contact, and all -- and then laughed because he had caught onto my game. I just about died laughing myself. He's going to give us a run for our money but I love that little boy :)

Poor guy got his first of, I'm sure, many boo-boo's yesterday when dumb Posey got all excited because she thought we were going to the park and sprinted towards the front door. He crawled around the side of the couch just as she was barreling around it going the other way and she jumped over him but I think her bony foot caught him right above the eye. It's not quite a black eye today but it's a nice little bruise. :( His mouth is full of cantaloupe in this picture because, apparently, fruit makes everything better.

This child has some of the

craziest morning hair

Getting in the Christmas spirit

He's been trying since he could stand to

reach one of those balls over his bed and

finally this is the triumphant scene

I walk into after his nap the other day

Sharing his Cheerios with the dogs

Flat Tad's California Adventure

2011-12-07T23:07:00.001-08:00

My little 6-year-old cousin Tad's class at school read a book about a boy who (somehow - not sure of the logistics of it) got flattened and apparently mailed himself around the country on adventures (?). Anyway, the point is that, inspired by this book, Tad's class made flat versions of themselves and mailed them to family and friends who live in other states. The family and friends were asked to send a brochure or other information, pictures, etc. back to the class as a fun way for the kids to learn about different states.

The letter that came with "Flat Tad" also mentioned that in the past some people have even sent a picture of the flat student in front of a famous landmark, etc. in their state. I thought that sounded like fun so the other day Wilder and I took "Flat Tad" to visit the zoo, Balboa Park, and the Embarcadero and took pictures of him in front of various items of interest. And then real Tad lucked out because I'm obsessed with my new computer and all it's programs that are new to me so I made this to send to his class:

OK, I may have gotten a little carried away but I had fun doing it. When my mom found out I had actually taken the picture of Tad to all those places she was like Oh, I thought you had just Photoshopped him onto pictures you already had. Then I felt kind of silly because I guess I could have done that and nobody would have known the difference. But, oh well, Wilder and I had a good time playing tourists for a couple of hours. :)

Hope everyone is having a great week!

All Boy

2011-12-06T23:29:00.001-08:00

December Nights and Speed-Crawling

2011-12-05T22:30:00.001-08:00

Last weekend we went to Balboa Park's December Nights event. The park was all lit up with Christmas lights and there were vendors and live music. It was pretty cold but the crowd of 150,000 people provided some much-needed body heat. That's right, it was CROWDED. And Paul and I are sooo not crowd people but I knew this might be our last Christmas in San Diego so I wanted us to take Wilder. We got some delicious kettle corn and walked around as best we could through the throngs of people and strollers. It really was beautiful and it was nice just to do something we wouldn't normally do together. Wilder loved looking at all the people and the Christmas lights and we got a precious picture of him with Santa Claus so that made braving the crowds worth it.

Wilder has been walking more and more the past few days. I can get him to walk four or five steps to me from whatever he's pulled up on and I've seen him several times let go of what he's holding onto and start to take a step away from it before he realizes what he's doing and sits down. I absolutely love being able to watch him learning and practicing this new ability. It makes me so proud. I think by the time we go to Tennessee for Christmas he'll be all over the place. That's going to make for an interesting trip, especially the flights. Glad Paul will be with me for both flights this time.

I'm also amazed at how much Wilder's comprehension has developed just in the last few weeks. When I'm talking to him I really feel like, most of the time, he understands what I'm saying. He follows commands and attempts to respond when I ask him something. He totally blew me away the other night. I was feeding him dinner and one of his hats was sitting on the kitchen table next to him. He kept pointing to it and a couple of times I said, Yeah, that's your hat. Then on a whim I said, Wilder, where does your hat go? and he put both hands on his head. I had never told him that or asked him that question before but he knew what I was saying. I almost fell on the floor.

He amazes me and makes me smile so many times a day. He loves to peek around stuff at us or jump out at us or come up and "get us". He thinks he is so funny too. Several times I've heard him babbling, then stop to laugh, and then continue babbling like he told himself a joke. He can spot a motorcycle from across a parking lot and even when we hear one from inside our house he has to say Voomvoom! The boy is obsessed. He's also quite mischievous. If I say Let's go eat lunch or Time for a nap and he's not ready to do it he speed-crawls away from me laughing. It totally cracks me up.

Helping Rider look for a ball

that went under the couch

At the zoo with Lexi

Quacking at the ducks and flamingos

I walked in to find him throwing all

of his toys out of the basket and he

thought it was hilarious that I'd caught him

Two Dumb Ways to Lose a Laptop

2011-12-04T21:47:00.001-08:00

Apparently the people want to know how I lost my laptop. I have purposely not divulged this information because, frankly, I'm so freaking embarrassed. But, if the people demand to know, I'll tell you I'm pretty sure I lost it in one of two incredibly idiotic ways. And I'm also pretty sure that you're going to think less of me or at least be a little concerned about me when I tell you about it.

The other evening Wilder and I went over to my friend's house to pick up the CD of photos from the birthday party. I took my computer with me to make sure the disk worked in it -- I didn't want to get home all the way across town and not be able to see the pictures. Let me preface the rest of this by saying that a) I never take my computer anywhere so I'm not used to having it with me, b) I didn't take it in a case (kicking myself) so I had my hands full between a 25-lb baby and a clunky old Mac, and c) I'm short so, from the driver's seat, I can't see onto the hood of the SUV (this will be important in a second).

When I got back to my car parked on the street after a little visit with Sissy and her precious 7-month-old Evy (she and Wilder were so funny together), it had gotten dark and the street was busy with people coming home from work. I set my laptop on the hood of the car and went to unlock it and wrestle Wilder into his carseat. Then I got in and drove off into the night simultaneously reaching behind me to hand Mr. Fusspot pieces of a broken MumMum and calling my mom excitedly to tell her that I had gotten the party pictures. I got home, fed Wilder, put him to bed, and cleaned like a maniac and two hours later finally had a chance to look for my computer so I could look at the pictures. It wasn't in the house so I got my keys and went out to the car to get it and... Oh sh*t, OMG, where is my laptop?! OMG, did I leave it on the hood???? Nonononononononononono... and so on and so forth.

I called Sissy in a panic and asked her to look out on the street. Her husband also looked on his way home from work. Paul was at school but I insisted he come home to stay with Wilder while I drove back across town in the dark to scour my path through a neighborhood, a couple of busy intersections, and the on-ramp to the 805 where I was pretty sure I had ~~flung it off the hood of my vehicle going approximately 45 mph~~ lost it. No luck. I decided it was too dark so I went home and came back the next morning with "Lost" signs and a little less hope of finding it. Again, no luck. I posted a "Missing" ad on Craigslist and got a couple of responses but no luck there either.

I started to wonder if maybe I did bring it in from the car when I got home and, in my cleaning frenzy later, stuck it somewhere random, as I am wont to do when in the organizing zone I was in. Therefore, in addition to a two mile stretch of road in Point Loma, I have now also searched literally high and low throughout our house in such preposterous places as in the freezer, under the bed, in our clothing drawers, and in bathroom cabinets. I mean, I found my cellphone in the recycling bin when I was suffering from "pregnancy brain" so losing my laptop in such a way now that I have "mommy brain" wouldn't be too much of a stretch. Anyway, I don't know which hypothesis is more ridiculous -- that I drove off with it on my hood or that I basically hid it from myself in my own house -- but I do know that both are so ridiculously dumb and I couldn't be more embarrassed. As my mom says, "Sometimes I miss my mind."

Although I didn't see anyone close by, I propose that it's also possible that in the dark street someone walked past and swiped it while I was busy strapping Wilder into the backseat. The idiot level isn't quite as high in that hypothesis so that's what I'm going with if anyone else asks. That's what I told the Craiglist guy I bought my lovely new laptop from this morning. And just for the record (Paul!) I did not lose my other laptop on purpose just to get a new one and I fully understand that this is my Christmas, Mother's Day, and birthday present for the next year. I'm still totally bummed about losing my old one, but I was able to reclaim many of my pictures thanks to this little blog and I'm thoroughly enjoying my sleek new computer thanks to my sweet hubby so I guess my idiot self came out on top in this case.

Wilder's Airplane Birthday Party

2011-12-03T01:32:00.001-08:00

I had so much fun planning and putting together Wilder's airplane-themed first birthday party. Although a fair amount of stress went into it, it was exciting and rewarding to see my plans and preparations realized and to see everyone enjoying themselves that day. Once we got everything set up, I was able to relax and enjoy the moment (thanks in part to my insistence on hiring a friend to photograph the occasion -- she took the huge task of picture-taking off my plate and documented the day so well). The weather could not have been better -- 80 degrees and sunny -- one of the rare days like that in this cold, rainy month.

Wilder in his airplane shirt

I made for him

Wilder loved being the center of attention and it was so special for me to look around that day and see many of the people who have loved and supported us throughout Wilder's first year gathered to celebrate him with us. I missed my dad that day and thought about how much he would have loved being there. There was definitely a hole in the party where he would have been but I felt him there still and I know that he was watching and celebrating his grandson in Heaven. We so enjoyed having my mom, my brother and his wife, Paul's dad and his girlfriend, and Paul's youngest sister there. The fact that they had come from so far away just to be there for our son made the day so special for us. They were a huge help too getting everything to the park and setting up -- thank you guys again so much! I also need to especially thank Paul and my mom for all their help making my hopes for the party become a reality and for putting up with my perfectionism. I couldn't have done it without y'all!

The cupcakes were a chocolate with white

frosting collaborative effort between

my mom, Paul, and myself. We I wanted the

frosting to look like clouds and it took us

much trial and error to get it just right. We

ended up going with store-bought as a last

resort and it was perfect.

Not sure if anyone cares but just so I can

remember it, we served sausage balls with

mustard, corn dip with blue corn chips,

Southwest pretzels, red bell pepper hummus

and pita chips, veggies, and caprese salad bites

(cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, and buffalo

mozzarella drizzled with balsalmic vinegar).

Cupcake toppers were paper airplanes

made from old atlas pages.

We had a spot for "In-Flight Magazines", which included

SkyMall, Southwest airplane safety instructions,

and a custom Flying magazine we made

My dad had saved this Flying magazine from the month

Wilder was born last year so we photoshopped the cover

to include an article about "Wild Blue Airlines"

Inside were all of Wilder's weekly pictures, pictures of

Wilder with his little buddies, and photos from the year

We asked people to leave notes in the airplane piggy

bank for Wilder that he can read later on. A big

thank you to Southwest for the adorable piggy bank,

as well as the Southwest napkins and pretzels they

so graciously sent to us to use for the party.

For favors I made lemon cookies with lemon icing

shaped like airplanes (recipe here). For the

kids we did goody bags with "Wild Blue Airlines

Flight Crew" name tags on the front filled

with a bouncy ball, a punch balloon, a cookie,

and a pilot rubber ducky (most of the kids were

under two so I had to keep that in mind when

choosing goodies). Forgot to get a picture

of the kids' favors unfortunately.

Wilder and Friends

2011-12-02T23:45:00.001-08:00

Well, I've pretty much commandeered Paul's computer for the night so I decided to go ahead and do another picture post. Here are some shots of Wilder and some of the people who love him.

Airplane!

Wilder and sweet Reagan

Wilder and his buddy Lexi

Wilder and Dada

Wilder and Mama

Birthday boy!

Wilder and cousin Henry

Wilder and Auntie Liz

Wilder and Grana

Wilder and Uncle William

Let Him Eat Cake

2011-12-02T22:46:00.001-08:00

I'm all out of whack without my computer but I'm kind of in the habit of posting every day now and I wanted to share at least some of Wilder's birthday party pictures so here are some cake eating pictures.

He didn't know what he was supposed to do with it at first but, after the first taste, he was pretty sure he was meant to try his best to cram it all into his mouth at once. It was a small mountain of sugar but he was not to be defeated. He systematically took out that entire cupcake. Paul and I have never been so proud ;)

Entering sugar coma

A big thank you to Sissy Massie for the beautiful photos! I can't wait to show you guys the rest :)

Aaarrgghhhh!!

2011-12-01T00:27:00.000-08:00

You guys, I lost my laptop tonight. I am totally devastated. It had thousands of pictures on it from the last few years and especially of Wilder's first year. I use my laptop multiple times every day and have so much information on it. I'm hoping somehow it will still turn up but I'm preparing myself anyway for the reality of all that may be lost forever.

And I had party pictures to share with you tonight but those will have to wait I guess. Ugh, I'm just so sick over this.

12-Month Checkup

2011-11-30T20:53:00.001-08:00

Happy End-of-NaBloPoMo to meeeee!!

We went to Wilder's 12-month doctor's appointment this afternoon. It doesn't seem possible that it has been a year since we were there for our first appointment. Wilder weighed 7 lbs. 4 oz. and Paul and I were sleep-deprived and wondering what we'd gotten ourselves into.

Wilder and I got dressed up to mark the occasion :)

Today, my big boy weighs just under 25 lbs. and is 30.5 inches long. Both are 75th percentile. He was so good for our doctor who we love and she was impressed with his words and pointing and showing her where his nose is, which is a new thing and so cute :)

Then came the vaccinations, which were pretty awful this time. They included two shots in each leg and a finger prick. NOT fun :( He fell asleep on the way home and hadn't had a good afternoon nap earlier so I drove around for an hour letting him sleep. Then when we got home he was still pretty fussy and I felt sorry for him so I allowed this to happen...

We leave one cabinet in the kitchen unlatched that he's allowed to dig in and make a mess but it's never to this extent. It sure perked him up though. I guess sometimes taking your anger out on inanimate objects just makes everything better.

I just love my sweet one-year-old :)

Oh, and I also wanted to share a link to Karen's story. I went to high school with her in Jackson and what she is going through is heartbreaking. I can't even imagine such a nightmare and wish there was something I could do to help. Please read her story and share it with others. Here is an article and here is her blog.

Puppy Love to the Extreme

2011-11-29T21:38:00.001-08:00

Why does my child do this??

Wilder goes up to Posey multiple times a day and sticks his face in her face with his mouth wide open wanting her to lick him... in his wide open mouth... which she happily obliges.

Should I be concerned? We have his 12-month doctor appointment tomorrow. I think I'll bring it up when she asks if I have any concerns. I'll bet she's never heard that one before ;)

Wilder's First Birthday

2011-11-28T23:01:00.001-08:00

A friend of mine photographed the party for me so I want to wait until I get her pictures to post any from Sunday (y'all, she worked so hard!), but here are some from Wilder's actual birthday on Saturday. Some of Paul's family arrived Saturday so we did a little family birthday then. Wilder was so sweet and very interested in all the gifts. He kept climbing all over them and was so fascinated once we started opening them. I would have loved to know what he was thinking while we opened present after present. I imagine it was something like Jackpot!

Wilder and Auntie Liz

Our little family

Wilder, Mama, and Grana

Wilder, Dada, and Daddy G

Birthday boy!

Auntie Liz decked him out in pilot gear :)

We walked to URBN Pizza down the street for dinner and had such a good time. So much good pizza too.

Wilder is a lucky baby to have so many people who love him in his life. It meant so much to us for all of you to come so far just for him!

And I just got a sneak peek of some photos from the party from my friend. First of all, how amazing are these shots (Sissy! Thank you!) and secondly, Wilder totally dominated his cupcake, no? ;)

Hello

2011-11-27T22:05:00.001-08:00

I am alive. I have survived. It was good. Will post more when I can think.

All I know is this dude had a very happy birthday!

One Year

2011-11-26T22:33:00.001-08:00

Our Precious Wilder,

Today you are one year old. It has been so amazing to watch you grow and learn over the last 52 weeks and it has been such a privilege for your daddy and me to be able to witness all your little moments. We are so proud to be your parents, Wilder.

You are so easygoing and ready to go along with whatever we're doing. You love to play games with us and imitate our actions. You pick up on things so quickly. You are a bookaholic and, as you sit in your usual pile of books, it often looks like you are cross-referencing as you flip through one, then pick up another, and then check back in the first one. I love that you love to learn -- you are like a little sponge. You are constantly pointing to anything and everything and love when we name what you're pointing to. You laugh easily and often and love to make other people laugh. Your sweet smile is like pure sunshine. You love to give hugs but also love to "get" us. You are such a little character. You are so busy all the time. You love to eat. You love to pet and pull on your doggies. You love your baths. You love balls, motorcycles, and ducks. You love to bang on things and throw things. Your new favorite word is Uh-oh and sometimes I think you drop things just to be able to say it.

It is completely mind-blowing how much you have changed in a year and how much you have changed our lives for the better. Learning how to be parents hasn't been easy but it has been the most rewarding and fun experience of our lives. We have tried to enjoy and savor every minute we have had with you so far because you are so precious to us. The last year has been the best year of our lives because of you. You have added so much meaning, joy, and love to our lives and we truly and absolutely adore you.

Happy First Birthday, Wilder!

Love,

Mama + Daddy

Life of Wilder: Week Fifty-Two

2011-11-25T21:54:00.001-08:00

My beautiful precious Wilder is 52 weeks old today! Hooray!

We have so been enjoying have family here this week and look forward to more family arriving this weekend. Wilder has been eating up all the attention and smiling non-stop. He's gone on countless strolls with Grana and has had lots of playtime with Uncle William and Aunt Lauren. He thinks being told "Goodnight" by five people is so much fun :)

I still have tons to do before his actual birthday tomorrow and his party on Sunday so I'm just going to post some pictures from this week and leave it at that. A more wordy "one-year" post will be coming tomorrow.

Opening his first ever birthday gift --

a riding airplane from Grana

Thanksgiving

My brother and me

Flying laps around the living room

Watching Daddy carve the turkey

Reading with Grana and very serious about it ;)

Punch balloons are a great toy but very counterproductive

when trying to perform a diaper change

Every explorer needs a proper walking stick

Playing ball with Rider

Giving Rider a kiss

I love Wilder's "Mom, that flash is too bright" face

Wilder loves his Aunt Lauren

Entertaining himself with a straw at dinner tonight

Daddy and Uncle William putting Wilder's

slide together so we can give it to him tomorrow

OH! And this happened...

Wilder has been walking a few steps at a time for the last three or four days. They've been halting, precarious, wobbly steps but steps nonetheless. :)

Wow, I can't believe this is my last Life of Wilder post and I really can't believe I've done it for all 52 weeks of his first year. I'll definitely keep posting weekly about our lives but no more weekly pictures and mandatory post every single Friday. I think I deserve a break. Hope you all enjoy your weekend! I know I will :)

Turkey Day

2011-11-24T17:30:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We've had a wonderful day full of delicious food and fun with family. So thankful that we could spend this holiday with my mom, brother, and sister-in-law... and our son who we spent last Thanksgiving in the hospital bringing into the world. :) Hope all of you have had a blessed day!

Extra Parts

2011-11-23T21:38:00.001-08:00

We're about to have a feast up in here tomorrow. I'm in charge of the turkey since I'm so experienced with that and all. As a matter of fact, between the three women in the house this week, I am actually the only one who has ever cooked a whole turkey. And, I have to say, from that one other time I cooked a turkey, I did learn a couple of very important lessons.

The first year we lived in San Diego we weren't going home for Thanksgiving and neither were some of Paul's friends from school so we decided to do a potluck Thanksgiving dinner. I volunteered to make the turkey and dressing for some strange reason even though I'm kind of weird about meat. I once ordered a roasted chicken at a restaurant and when it came out looking like a small whole chicken that they had skinned and cooked (which was exactly what it was of course) I could hardly look at it, much less eat it. In other words, if meat is in the shape of the animal it came from, count me out. I even did the vegetarian thing for a while, which is another whole story.

Anyway, back to this story. I volunteered to cook the turkey, not fully comprehending that I would have to handle a whole, slimy, featherless bird and also stick my hand inside and pull out the extra parts! Ohhh. Emmm. Geeeee. I can barely stand to think of it now. I begged Paul to do it for me, him being the man of the house and all, but even he didn't want to tackle that task. So, reluctantly (reluctantly is a huge understatement here by the way) I donned a rubber glove, closed my eyes, reached in, (swallowed back some vomit), grabbed whatever felt loose and pulled it out. Whew! I'm not going to say it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, because it was, if not worse, but it was over with and I could move onto the less invasive and traumatizing steps of prepping and cooking.

The turkey turned out picture-perfect -- beautiful and golden and smelling so deliciously of my favorite holiday. We drove over to our friend's house and I proudly lugged it inside. It was pretty hefty but I wouldn't let Paul carry it because obviously he had not earned that right. When it came time for the meal we all sat down around the table and proceeded to stuff our faces. The turkey tasted as good as it looked and everyone was enjoying it until... one of our friends cut a little too deep into it and discovered, to my horror, the sack of giblets that I had inadvertently left inside. Gross. Gross. Gross times a million. I totally lost my appetite and I'm sure everyone else did too but they were all nice enough to laugh it off and politely keep eating.

So, lessons learned from first turkey roasting experience:

a) Do not close your eyes while getting intimate with the turkey.

b) There are two separate things you must remove: the neck and the sack of giblets. (Why did no one tell me this?!)

c) If your sister-in-law is a veterinary student who enjoys dissecting mammals large and small and admiring horse intestines, by all means, assign her the duty of pulling out said parts. She will even do it barehanded!

Because of the third lesson there, my turkey cooking experience this year so far has been so much more pleasant and less traumatic. Here's to hoping it roasts up nice and juicy tomorrow and we find nothing that doesn't belong in there.

Happy Thanksgiving to my wonderful readers! I'm certainly thankful for all of you :)

Fat and Happy Vol. 2

2011-11-22T22:44:00.001-08:00

I spent an hour and a half getting my hair cut today and it feels about 5700x better! And I ate this for dinner. With Paul. At a restaurant. Without the baby...

Grease, grease, and more grease. Oh, and powdered sugar.

I love when my mom is here :)

A Lazy List

2011-11-21T20:54:00.001-08:00

I have a confession, y'all. I hate to say it but I'm really struggling with NaBloPoMo. It's so close to the end and I really want to stick it out but I have so much else on my mind and so many other things I need to be doing between the time Wilder goes to bed and when I finally crash that it's really hard to think of something worthwhile to say, stop what I'm doing, and sit down to write every night. So, here's a random list of things...

1. It's Monday.

2. I'm very extremely excited for my mom to get here tomorrow!

3. I'm going to get a hair cut tomorrow while my mom babysits. Another confession: I use being busy with Wilder and other various excuses to not get my hair cut but really I just hate getting my hair cut and avoid doing it until it's really out of control and I just can't stand it any longer.

4. I'm extremely excited for Wilder's birthday weekend! The party is shaping up and the weather is supposed to be great. I'm wrapping his presents tonight, which is so fun. :)

5. I have been to the grocery store no less than 5 times in the last week. And I'm not extremely excited about that.

6. I picked up a copy of Dr. Seuss's Happy Birthday to You! for Wilder's birthday and when I got home realized it's dedicated "To the Children of San Diego County". I'm so glad I found that for his first birthday and possibly the only one that he'll spend in San Diego.

7. I turned my back for two seconds today and this happened...

My more attentive readers will remember that I have said previously that we do not put the toilet paper on the holder for this exact reason. But I didn't want to make our babysitter the other night think we were heathens so I put it on the holder and then forgot about it until it was in a 20 foot long pile on the floor. We're having so much company over the next week but I think they'll just have to think we're heathens because I will not make that mistake again.

8. On that note, people have already started asking me when we're going to have another baby. So let's just get it out there -- it's going to be a while. Barring any surprises, probably at least four years. I completely understand the logic behind having them close in age, but we've just decided that's not what we want to do.

9. Now I'm going to spend the rest of the night wrapping presents while watching a movie with my hubby.

Goodnight!

Thankful Sunday

2011-11-20T19:22:00.001-08:00

Funny how Thankful Sunday always seems to roll around right when I need it...

1) I'm thankful that a friend babysat for us last night so we could go out. It was a great night and so nice to just be able to relax and talk to other adults.

2) I'm thankful that my mom gets here in a couple of days! And more family soon after!

3) I'm thankful for pacifiers. I definitely try to not overuse them, but they sure come in handy every now and then.

4) I'm thankful for the ability to cook our own Thanksgiving meal in our own home and to throw my son a fun first birthday party. I've certainly been feeling stressed about pulling these things off, but, when I think about all the people who will be depending on the charity of others for their Thanksgiving meals and all the kids who grow up never having a birthday party, all I feel is blessed and thankful.

5) I'm thankful for my Wilder, who wears me out but makes me smile a thousand times a day. And I'm thankful for his daddy and for the enormous love he has for his son.

No Time to Chat

2011-11-19T20:10:00.001-08:00

Hello! I'm a little giddy tonight. I'm going out with friends for the first time since Wilder was born. And I really can't stay to chat because I have no idea what to wear! Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Life of Wilder: Week Fifty-One

2011-11-18T21:14:00.001-08:00

My Wilder turns one next weekend. When he was so newly born and tiny and squishy this point seemed so very far away; but this year has just flown by and he is no longer very newly born or tiny, although he is still squishy :) He is the sweetest baby ever and so smart! Paul and I feel so lucky to be his Mama and Dada.

The weather here has been kind of crazy -- cold one day, then warm and sunny the next, and then rainy the next day. It's done a number on Wilder. He has had the worst runny nose all week -- no fever or other cold symptoms but still yuck. He has been extra sweet and cuddly because of it though, which is just what I've needed this week. He gives the best hugs.

It seems like his learning abilities have soared in the last month or two. He catches on to things we show him or say to him so quickly. I've also noticed him working on his language skills, like really concentrating and practicing to get the right sound out. He will point to things in books and around the house when we ask him where something is. He knows Mama, Dada, doggies, cow, airplane, tractor, motorcycle, duck, ball, flower, balloon, car, elephant, sheep, and probably more I can't think of right now.

He has also, finally and to the dogs' great relief I'm sure, learned to gentle pet. He will be tugging on Rider's fur and I'll say Wilder, gentle pet. and he'll start petting her so nicely. It is the sweetest thing! Not that it lasts very long, but still so sweet while it does last.

Paul has taught him to hand stuff to us when we say Can I have it? It's so funny doing it with him because he'll hand whatever it is to us, we'll say a big Thank you!, and then he holds his hand out for it back, and we do it all over again. It always turns into a game with no end. I wish I had videos of him doing these things! Maybe next week.

I do have a video of the new funny thing he's doing though. He started doing this at dinner one night and a few times now he's done it and then pointed at us to do it and we do it and then point back at him and he does it again. I'm telling you, that boy will make a game out of anything! He hates me videoing him though and it was right before bedtime, hence the half-heartedness of the performance and the foot trying to kick the camera out of my hand. He's usually more enthusiastic about it.

He is such a character and loves to laugh and make us laugh. He started out as such a serious baby, never smiling at people in the grocery store and always studying everything, but he has turned into such a little goofball. He still has his serious moments when he looks at you like you're crazy...

But for the most part, he's a total clown...

The other day we were playing in his room and I threw a pair of pants on his head. I thought that was pretty silly until he upped the silliness level by crawling to the other side of the room with them still on his head...

And then, when they fell off...

Putting them back on his own head...

And then crawling back across the room. I'm telling you, this child is silly to the max.

He constantly makes us walk him around now. Anytime I'm standing up and not holding him, he crawls over to me, sticks his hands up for me to pull him up or pulls up on my pants legs and as soon as I grab his hands he takes off pulling me along to his chosen destination or in aimless circles around the house. Today I was trying to get some stuff done in the kitchen and he pulled up on the back of my legs so I just started taking baby steps around the kitchen with him walking holding on behind me. He thought that was pretty funny and I had my hands free to finish what I was doing, win-win. (Also, that's pretty good for a behind the back shot, if I do say so myself.)

He's also showing an interest in climbing lately. I can't wait to give him his baby slide next weekend. He'll probably like climbing up as much as going down it.

He's been having a blast climbing all over and exploring the couch cushion forts/play gyms I've been making him too.

We've been bored with his toys for a few weeks now but we've been saving his new big boy toys to give him for his birthday so, as they say, necessity is the mother of invention. I came up with the pillow forts to climb on and brought out his old bathtub to zoom around his room in. I like to think I'm encouraging his imagination ;) And honestly, I know he would be just as, if not more, excited about a cardboard box, pillows, or an old bathtub as any actual toy, but I can't wait to give him his birthday presents anyway and see him light up.

Speaking of cheap toys, I got these punch balloons to put in the favor bags for the party after Wilder played with one at his friend Lexi's house and loved it. I blew one of the extras up for him tonight and he had the best time chasing it and punching it. It was pretty hilarious to watch...

We were invited over to Rachel and Lexi's house for dinner the other night and had such a great time eating, visiting, and playing with the babies. Wilder was in heaven getting to play with all those different toys. He systematically played with each and every one while basically ignoring Lexi and everyone else around him. He was in serious play mode.

Here Lexi is about to show off her new talent of

giving kisses and Wilder does not even notice. It was

so cute and I wish I could have captured it though!

But I did capture the most adorable bathtub pictures last night. I took 18 pictures and he has a different expression in every one of them. But I'll spare you and only post the 7 cutest ones. I absolutely love these (almost as much as he loves chewing on those foam bathtub letters).

Here are a few more cute pictures from this week...

Feeding the dogs his leftover Cheerios

Reading... what else is new?

Sweet, happy boy

Oh, and also, this happened (that was their bed, don't ask)...

So this happened (finally)...

Cots for the dogs have been a long time coming. They have chewed up I don't even know how many pillow-type beds out of boredom or, as you can see from the picture above, Rider's obsessive and destructive hide-and-seek games with a ball. We're all pretty excited about the cots. Here's to hoping (for their sakes) they don't destroy these too.

Also, one more thing, my friend Lindsay (who is also participating in NaBloPoMo) had a really good post today that I wholeheartedly agree with about all the junk being pumped into kids via TV. Since I'm running low on original ideas for posts that don't involve party planning updates, I'll probably steal this idea and write about my thoughts on it in the next few days too, but you should check out her blog, With a Little Love and Luck. She's a thoughtful, talented writer and mom from New Orleans and I think you'll enjoy her stuff as much as I do.

Alright guys, hope everyone has a good weekend!

Cheater, Cheater, Chicken Noodle Salad Eater

2011-11-17T20:35:00.001-08:00

Y'all, I'm totally cheating my way through this week's NaBloPoMo posts because I'm too brain dead to think of anything original to write about this week and even if I could I'm too busy to do so. Plus I know you're tired of me bombarding you with party planning updates and To Do list checkoffs, so instead I will give you a really good, simple recipe that, when I make it, I eat for every meal until there's none left. In other words, I loooove this Chicken Noodle Salad...

Ingredients

1 5 ounce pkg wide egg noodles

1 1/2 cups diced cooked chicken

1 cup chopped celery

1/2 cup sliced radishes

1/4 cup sliced green onions

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon seasoned salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 tomato, diced

4 slices cooked and crumbled bacon

Directions

Prepare egg noodles according to package directions and drain.
Combine noodles, chicken, celery, radishes and onions.
Blend together mayonnaise, sour cream, salt and pepper.
Toss dressing gently with noodle mixture.
Garnish with tomato and bacon. Cover and chill.

Hint: I use real bacon bits (you know, the good kind, in the package not the jar).

Wednesday Hodgepodge

2011-11-16T21:31:00.001-08:00

Today I'm joining in on Joyce's weekly questions... because it's Day 16 of NaBloPoMo and I'm kind of a little bit sorta regretting vowing to blog for 30 days straight during this, the busiest month of my life. But I have too much pride to stop so here's a post for today.

1. What song reminds you of a specific time in your life and what is it about that song that makes you remember?

There are sooo many songs that remind me of different times in my life but if I had to choose one I would probably say Crazy Love by Van Morrison because it's what Paul and I danced to at our wedding.

2. What's something you've given up on?

Putting the toilet paper roll on the holder (for now) because what's a funner game for a baby than to unroll the entire thing multiple times a day?

3. What's something you'll never give up on?

(Nerd Alert)... I'll never give up on books -- Paul is always saying that books on paper will soon fall by the wayside and everything will go to digital but I will never stop reading printed books. There's just something about turning a page and having a book on a shelf.

4. If you had to cook something from scratch in the next hour what would it be?

Poppyseed Chicken Casserole -- this is an all-time favorite in our house and a go-to recipe

5. Have you started Christmas shopping? Decorating? Listening to Christmas music?

I never Christmas shop this early but this year I do already have my mom's gift and a couple of things for Wilder that I picked up while birthday shopping for him. Definitely have not decorated or started listening to Christmas music. I don't want to rush through the next couple of weeks. I want to savor and enjoy Thanksgiving, Wilder's first birthday, and visits from family. But to be honest, I'm really not much of a seasonal decorator anyway for some reason. We're going to Tennessee for Christmas so I'm even trying to decide if I can get away with not putting up a tree this year.

6. What do you know about your parent's wedding?

They were married at my mom's family's church in Covington, TN. My mom always tells the story that my dad's groomsmen took him out drinking the night before and he was absolutely green at the wedding. They didn't have flower girls or a ring bearer. They were married in November when they were both 22. My mom walked down the aisle to Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Later my mom loaned her wedding gown to a friend and it ended up burning up in a house fire. They were married almost 38 years when my dad passed away last month.

7. I can't believe I ___________________.

Have been blogging for 16 days straight! ;)

8. Insert your own random thought here.
I need to go to bed earlier.

My Favorite Poem...

2011-11-15T20:36:00.001-08:00

because it's been a busy day and just reading its lovely calmness is like coming up for air. I love you, Mary Oliver.

The Summer Day

by Mary Oliver

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean—
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down—
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?