The Difference A Day Makes

First of all, for any of you who also read Kate's blog - I did not mysteriously give Wesley's virus to Colin through the phone! :-) If I had that kind of power, I'd be rich. I mean, just think of how many folks would pay for their ex, soon to be ex, or nemesis to suddenly become ill just from talking to me. Bwah ha ha (evil laugh) - THE POWER!!!!!

Wesley is doing so much better today. Yes, I know I said that Wednesday too, but he really is acting like himself today. The whole family ended up sleeping in the living room last night. I took first shift on the couch with Wesley while Duane slept on the floor. The plan was to switch off during the night, but Wesley really wanted his mommy and ended up on the floor with me for a good part of the night. Boy, I thought I moved a lot in my sleep! Wesley wasn't still for a moment. Several times I woke up to find his head pressed up against my tummy - almost like being pregnant again (NOT!). The good news is that his fever broke around 12:30 and even though he was a sweaty mess, I knew the worst was over.

We spent the day hanging out at home again since we didn't want to take any chances with the little dude. I did dash out long enough to go to the grocery store, but that was mostly because I needed a break from being so needed. Grandma H. and Aunt Susan came to visit this evening. Aunt Susan brought Wesley his own baby "MP3" player that plays 14 songs. He is a happy boy now!

I'll tell you what, Duane and I are going to start making plans every weekend again. Just look at what happens when we don't

You Give Me Fever

Duane and I were so excited that we had no plans whatsoever this weekend. We were really looking forward to doing a whole lot of nothing. Funny how fast things change. Wesley woke up crying at 5:45. Curious. We fed him and put him back to bed, but he woke up again at 6:30. Curiouser. I put him in our bed and he proceeded to crank for 15 minutes before the three of us got up and went downstairs. Wesley seemed pretty cranky, but he fell asleep on the floor and we didn't think too much of it. But when he cried and cried instead of eating his breakfast we knew something was wrong. We broke out the thermometer and discovered the little guy had a fever of 102.2! The doctor wasn't overly concerned and told us to give him medicine and make sure he didn't get dehydrated.

We have spent the entire rest of the day in the living room. One of will hold Wesley while he sleeps, and when he wakes up we give him a bottle and some meds. He has slept nearly the entire day and when we last took his temperature, it was down to 100.5. I thought my heart was going to break a couple of times when Wesley would wake up, but just lay there listlessly and whimper. He's doing quite a bit better now. He still has a fever, but he's been "talking" to us and playing with some of his toys.

ARGH!!! Murphy's Law of Motherhood. No sooner had I typed that last sentence when I smelled something....strong. Wesley had a diaper that EXPLODED!!!! Guess the little guy is getting a bath tonight!

Let's Hear it for the Boys

Three cheers are in order tonight!

1. For Grandpa P. who met me at the library before 8:00 this morning! Doing the baby swap in the library parking lot not only ensured that I'd be able to attend the department meeting, but it meant I didn't have to leave my house at 6:30. HUZZAH!
2. For Duane, the most incredible, thoughtful and amazing husband in the entire world! When I mentioned in an email yesterday that I wanted to make cookies for Grandpa P., Duane went to the store, bought the ingredients and made the cookies before I got home from work last night! HUZZAH!
3. For Wesley who sleeps through the night almost every night, took a 2 hour nap for grandpa, and brings smiles to the faces of everyone who sees him. HUZZAH!

I'm telling you, I am one lucky lady!

All Better

Wesley is definitely feeling better! He's been cruising along the couch today while making his happy hissing spitting noise (yes, I know my child is weird) Yesterday he went to Grandma H.'s and accompanied her to aerobics and to Daddy's softball game. I'm so glad it was just a little touch of something. I prefer a happy healthy Wesley.

Unexpected Day Off

Warning! Not for the weak stomach!!!

So is it a perk or curse that having children forces you to take sick days? I was having a great morning. I managed to get completely ready for work(including packing breakfast for the Cafe Hyundai) before Wesley woke up. I got him dressed, gave him a bottle and put him in the exersaucer while I loaded up the car. Then 7:45 hit. At 7:45 Wesley, who was sitting on the floor, projectile vomited. "OK, not a problem" I thought. "I'll just clean him up and we'll go along our merry way." So I cleaned up and went to throw the rag in the laundry. Wesley crawled into the kitchen after me and promptly vomited again, soaking his outfit. Now believe it or not, I still wasn't sure if I should be worried at this point. Despite the fact that he had just gotten sick twice, he was still smiling and acting alright. I called Duane and my mom and was debating whether or not I should go to work when he vomited twice more. Decision made. Mommy took a sick day.

After doing the new parent freak out (taking his temperature and calling the doctor) we had a cuddly day at home. The triage nurse said not to worry unless it continues for several days or is accompanied by another type of grossness we won't go into here. So we read every book that was downstairs - twice. Except for Made By God which Wesley wanted to hear five times in a row. We watched Blues Clues and Sesame Street. We napped. We played. Basically he spent the entire day acting just fine. Then Daddy came home. Wesley was so excited to see Duane that he crawled and cooed and smiled and projectile vomited. Nothing says love like partially digested formula, right? Why do I get the feeling it may be a very long night?

Baby Mail

Wesley received a package in the mail today. I have to admit, I was a little jealous since I LOVE getting surprises in the mail, but this was so cute. It was from his cousin Geoff in Seattle. Geoff was born about a week after Wesley and if they lived in the same state would probably be partners in crime. Inside the package was a super cute monkey bib and a note from Geoff. The note explained that monkeys are Geoff's favorite animal and that his mommy, daddy and brother all do a monkey dance when Geoff plays with his monkey toys. Apparently my stepsister bought Geoff a bib and he talked her into buying one for Wesley too. :-) Wesley immediately sampled the bib, gave it his spit of approval and posed for a picture.

Bottle Baby

Maybe I read too many parenting magazines. Thanks to a suggestion in one of the magazines I read, I am somewhat obsessed with the whole idea of a sippy cup. "Seven months is the perfect time to start introducing a sippy cup" the article said. "Great!" I thought. "He got one of those new adjustable ones as a gift." For those of you who may not have seen these check out http://www.gerber.com/bf/products/transcup/index.html I LOVE the idea of the cup, Wesley hates it. He wants nothing to do with the sippy. He doesn't want to hold it and he certainly doesn't want to try drinking out of it.

I'd probably worry about all this a bit more (because I love to worry) but there does seem to be some hope. Wesley loves the cup we use to rinse him off in his bath. He holds it and lifts it with both hands to try and drink from it. Maybe I just need to fill his sippy cup with soapy water (I'M KIDDING!!!!)

Baby Lord of the Rings

My Precious........

Mr. Independent

All of a sudden Wesley has become little Mr. Independent. You name it, he thinks he can do it. He thinks that just because he can chew on his spoon, he can also feed himself. He can, however, feed himself the fruit or veggie puffs (baby crack.) Stand up? Of course! Now that he has managed to pull himself up a couple of times, he thinks he can do it all the time. He's getting pretty close to it. Tonight he pulled himself up from his knees for the first time. And what did he do? Let go with one hand! He holds his bottle, turns the pages in his book and will even walk a bit if you hold his hands. What a big boy he's suddenly becoming!

Happy Easter

I can't believe that last year at this time Wesley wasn't with us. I remember sitting at my dad's last year and being the after dinner entertainment. Dad did some sort of old wives tale test to see if I was having a boy or a girl - the test came out saying "boy." Go figure. I was just starting to show and that night was the very first time I felt him move. It felt like popcorn popping and I wasn't even sure what I was feeling. Amazing the change a year brings.

We had a busy Easter, but a good one. Wesley actually made it through church today. I didn't think that would happen after the disaster last week. But Wesley was back to his old charming self. He flirted with the ladies behind us and schmoozed the ushers. He even slept for awhile so I got a chance to enjoy the service. About the only thing I didn't like about church today was the little girl who told me the Easter Bunny probably didn't bring me an Easter basket because I'm too old. Talk about a blow to the ol' ego.

After church we stopped at Grandma and Grandpa H.'s. Turns out that the Easter Bunny didn't think I was too old, he just left my basket at Grandma and Grandpa's. Clever rabbit! He left Wesley a pretty impressive basket too. He had plastic eggs filled with banana puffs (which make his eyes get really big), a Little Quack duck and bath book, a frog that plays Jesus Loves Me, a Buckeye onsie, and some cool stacking cups that can go in the bathtub.

We had brunch at Grandma and Grandpa P.'s. Wesley was a little cranky because he was worn out from his big day yesterday and today's early church service, but he did alright. Of course, it helps that he love love loves his Aunt Paula, Aunt Susan, Uncle Stacey and Uncle Kirk. Basically he loves everyone who is an official member of the Wesley Fan Club or will feed him puffs. Lucky little dude had another basket from the Easter Bunny at Grandma and Grandpa P.'s. This time the furry one hooked him up with sweet potato puffs, a singing bunny and chick (which was a HUGE hit), a stuffed duck, a stuffed cat, some socks, some bibs, a book, and a froggy bath scrubby. Now I know that Santa and the Easter Bunny are friends and all, but I didn't expect Santa to tag along in April! Guess Wesley has been extra spoiled - I mean good!

I think the funniest part of our time at Grandma and Grandpa P.'s was Wesley's personal Easter egg hunt. Cousin Aaron has been the baby of the family for the last 16 years and I think he's gotten a little sick of it. He wanted to pass down the tradition of the Easter egg hunt to Wesley. Unfortunately seven and a half months is a little young to be hunting eggs (even though Wesley is very advanced *wink*) but we opened up a package of plastic eggs anyhow. One of them fell to the floor and Wesley spent several minutes chasing it. He'd catch it and then it would pop right out of his hands like it had been greased. Very cute!

We headed back to Grandma and Grandpa H.'s this evening for dinner with them, Great Aunt Carol, cousin Al (A.C.) Kirk and Susan. Wesley had an Easter dinner too. I found baby food that almost matched what the big folks ate - ham with apples, peas, and pineapple. He loved it all! I'm so glad he's a good eater. I just pray it will continue. We spent the rest of the evening playing with toys, posing for picture and just having an overall good time.

So we've now passed the first Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, Valentines Day, St. Patrick's Day and Easter. What a busy kid! And just think, we still have first "official" Mother's Day, Father's Day, Fourth of July and birthday in the months ahead. One thing is for sure, having a child makes the holidays even more of a special occasion.

The Boys Are Back in Town

YO YO YO! Live from...ah...well...my living room, "Blog-Master D" in da hiz-ouse!!! Okay, that's enough of that. Today, Wesley and I embarked on a most excellent journey. Our mission: to visit Grandma W in the thriving metropolis of Sunbury (population---17), and Great-Grandma S out in the country just beyond. We went to Grandma W's house first. Grandma met us outside, and Wesley kicked it into hyper-charm. Grandma was smothering him with love before they even got to the door, but hey...I got to carry the diaper bag, so I didn't feel left out or anything.

Grandma sat on the couch and Wesley sat on her lap, sometimes playing with his toys and sometimes laughing and giggling at Grandma. When she finally went to put him down, he wouldn't have any part of it. The fact that he wanted to stay on Grandma's lap just broke her heart, too, I tell ya. She didn't really want to put him down anyway. Eventually Wesley and I showed her our trick. I sit behind him and read him a book. He looks at the pages after I have read them, and then I say "Okay Wesley, turn the page" and he does. Every time. Grandma was properly impressed, and promptly enrolled him at Harvard because he was obviously extremely smart.

After a few hours, a bottle, and a diaper change (he is a baby after all), we decided to go out for lunch. So Wesley, Grandma, Uncle Doug, and I all piled into the car and headed out. Wesley fell asleep just as we were pulling in. I managed to get him out without awakening him, and he slept in the crook of my arm for most of lunch. When he did wake up, I kept him busy with the paper placemat and several veggie puffs. Then I shared my banana cream pie with him. That is to say I ate the good part, and he got chunks of banana. It's okay, though. Bananas are his favorite food in the world anyway, with veggie puffs being the only possible exception.

After that, we dropped off uncle Doug and headed out to Great Grandma's house. He stayed awake for that ride. When we walked in, we handed him to Great-Grandma, and he hugged her and snuggled his head into her shoulder. I told you...Hyper-charm. And as if that wasn't enough, when my Aunt Charlotte stopped by, he flashed her his patented "Melt your heart, you will adore me now smile", and she was done. Boy, let the cooing begin. Between the three of them, I wasn't needed at all, except for the whole food and diaper thing. Once again, he showed off his "page-turning on demand" ability, and his ability to stand for long stretches of time as long as he has something to lean on.

Evenually, Grandma, Wesley and I went for a little nature walk in the woods behind her house, and Wesley gave Grandma a freshly picked flower. I picked it and put it in his hand, but he gave it to her. He held it out to her, and when she reached for it, he let go. More cooing. Then I picked some flowers for Heather's mom, Grandma H, (Brownie points for me!) and we were ready to go. We dropped off Grandma W, then we dropped of Grandma H's flowers, and then we headed home. Mom showed up around 6:30, an once again I was no longer needed. That's okay, though. I got the privilege of spending the whole day with him. Combine all of that with a bath, some fun splash time, and a bottle, and he was out. Mission accomplished. Peace out! ...Sorry, it just slipped out. It won't happen again.

Mommy's Boy

Duane is usually the preferred parent in our house. I guess that's because he's the "fun" parent. He does the bathtime, rolls around with the boy, makes funny faces and tosses Wesley up in the air. I get Wesley dressed and drop him off with whoever is watching him that day. Wesley LOVES to be with his daddy. Even if they are just watching TV, Wesley has to be touching Duane. You know it's love when someone holds tight to your foot.

Last night it was my turn to be the preferred parent (I was going to abbreviate that PP, but decided that might be misinterpreted with an infant in the house.) Anyhow, Duane and I went to get Wesley ready for bed last night. I was sitting in the rocker while Duane put jammies on the little dude and Wesley could not keep his eyes off me. Wesley would play with my hair as I fed him a bottle. When he was done I did not want to put him in his crib, so I just held his hand for a little bit as he stared into my eyes. Every now and then I give his hand a little kiss and he'd giggle. It was so cute!

It was stormy at our house last night and Wesley had a hard time falling asleep. After one particularly loud clap of thunder, Duane and I heard him start howling. We both hurried up the stairs and Duane scooped Wesley up in his arms to comfort him. Wesley didn't want Duane though, and reached his little arms out to me. Now you know you are a parent when you'll set aside your own fear of storms to sit in the dark and rock your baby to sleep so he'll feel safe. Easily my favorite night as a parent so far.

Bouncing (?) Baby Boy

I was really worried that Wesley was going to look like he'd gone a couple of rounds in the boxing ring when he woke up this morning. Poor little guy has had a rough couple of days. Remember I wrote that he cracked his head on the changing table the other day? Apparently that was only the begining. Yesterday he had a small bump on his left cheek when I picked him up from Grandma & Grandpa P. Wesley had crawled right into the computer desk! "No problem," I thought. "He's a little boy. Won't be the first and won't be the last." Little did I know.

By the time we got home we had a little less than two hours before Wesley's bedtime. Wesley spent most of those two hours standing at the coffee table. Yes, I know that just sounds like a bad idea, but he wants to stand so badly and he crawls directly for the table any time we put him down. He was standing at the table, lost his balance and cracked his head on the table. The result was another bump, this one on his left eye and accompanied by a small cut. He howled for about 10 seconds until he saw a piece of paper on the floor. Suddenly his head didn't hurt anymore. Go figure. However, this family just can't leave well enough alone. Less than 30 mintues later we repeated the same drill - stand at the coffee table, fall, get big bruise on right cheek. At this point, Duane and I realize we have two options. We can either completely cover the coffee table in bubble wrap for the next couple of months, or we can move it into the garage or basement for awhile. Needless to say, our living room will look much more spacious today.

Head Games

WOW! What a weekend! Wesley managed to pull himself up to standing three different times this weekend. I knew the crawling thing wouldn't last. All he wants to do is stand. At church today he wanted to stand in the pew and look backwards at everyone. When that became dull he would stand on Duane's lap and lean forward until he was grabbing the pew in front of him. He finally got so worked up that I had to take him down to the nursery for a few minutes!

We spent yesterday getting Wesley's first professional pictures done. They aren't bad, but the little stinker wouldn't smile. I can't believe that! He smiles all the time at home, but put him in front of a photographer that I'm paying money for - Hello, Mr. Stone Face. Oh well, that's life.

Let's see, what else happened this weekend? We (and by we I mean me) kept Wesley up about half an hour past his bedtime last night. He and I were just having so much fun crawling around and screeching and laughing. I didn't want it to end. I learned my lesson the hard way though. When we did put him to bed he was over tired and wound up. He pitched himself backwards on his changing table and conked his head HARD! He had a little bump rise up almost immediately. No more staying up past bed time.

Tonight we had Kirk & Susan and Grandma & Grandpa H. over to celebrate the grandparents birthdays. Wesley put on quite a show by mooching for puffs (and any other kind of food he could see) and by standing and pounding on the coffee table. As long as he is the center of attention he's happy. The best part of the night though, was when Grandpa H. got the laser pointer out to play with Gus (one of the cats.) Wesley started watching it, and eventually crawled after it too. Then we had Gus and Wesley chasing it together. Everyone was laughing so hard we were all in tears! Maybe he bonked his head harder than I thought last night!

The Power of the Puffs

Gerber sure knew what they were doing when they created Veggie Puffs. Apparently they contain a secret ingredient that makes them addictive to infants and toddlers. Wesley simply cannot get enough of them. He knows what the container looks and sounds like. He knows which little containers in his diaper bag have puffs in them. It's a little scary.

Wesley didn't eat a very big bottle when he woke up this morning, so I knew he'd be hungry by the time we got to Grandma & Grandpa H.'s house. Once we arrived I put him on the counter and got a container of puffs out for him. As soon as he saw the container he started screeching in delight! Grandpa absolutely doubled over in laughter! I don't know that I've ever seen Wesley that excited before. He had his mouth wide open and waiting before I even got the lid off! The funny thing is, I've tried them and while they aren't bad, they certainly aren't that good! I suppose I just don't have the sophisticated palate of a 7 month old (who is currently gumming his mommy's arm!)

By the way, please forgive the half naked picture of the little dude. We had a particularly disgusting diaper this evening and it was easier to leave his clothes off than to dress him for the one hour before bath time.

Bad Report Card

I went to the doctor yesterday for my first appointment since my initial post partum exam. I saw the nurse practitioner and left feeling like a kid with a bad report card.

Do you know your cholesterol? No.
Do you take a multivitamin? No.
Do you take calcium supplements? No.
Do you drink? Yes.
Do you drink caffeine? Yes.
Do you exercise? No.

At least I could say I don't smoke! So the nurse told me that, although my weight isn't "too bad," I'm still carrying baby weight and could lose a little, that I should get a vitamin and calcium supplement into my day, and that I NEED to exercise.

I know I sound like I'm making excuses, but when am I supposed to find time to exercise? I already get up @ 6:00 every day, work full time and if I'm lucky get a couple hours of time in with Wesley before he goes to bed. I've decided that some of the things I do on a daily basis must count as exercise. Let's see, I lift a 17 pound baby - often! I do repeated 12 ounce curls (I have to get that caffeine somehow). I run lots of errands -yeah, they're in my car, but it's still running. I play soccer with Wesley. Well, we really just roll the stuffed soccer ball around on the floor. Once Wesley starts crawling more than a couple of feet at a time, I can count the time I spend chasing him as exercise.

OK, I guess maybe I do need a bit of exercise. Duane and I are going to try and go walking at a park a couple times a week, and one of my friends at work suggested we walk around the building during part of our dinner hour. Guess that's the only way I'll squeeze it in for now. Someone send me some motivation!!!

Remote Reward

Wesley is still working on his crawling. The remote is still the coolest thing in the universe for him because he'll consistently crawl for it. But look how happy he is when he succeeds! We tempted him back and forth across the living room floor for a good half an hour tonight. No wonder the little guy is pooped by 8:00!

Not Fair

I can't believe how hard it is to find cute little boy Easter outfits. Everywhere you look there are tons of frilly, poofy little girl Easter dresses, but the boys are sadly under-represented. Grandma H. and I were on a quest this weekend. We checked Target yesterday and found something kind of cute, but they didn't have Wesley's size. Today we went to Babies R Us and once again couldn't find anything in his size that wasn't a shorts outfit. Don't folks know that Easter around here can mean snow? Shorts are just impractical. We decided to try Kohl's after that. We've had great luck finding him stuff there, but today there were no boy Easter outfits at all! Burlington was next and we had the same problem. We FINALLY found a cute little outfit with long pants there - but I think it was the only one.

I'm hoping to get Wesley in somewhere for professional pictures (in his Easter outfit) next weekend. My friend Sarah said I'd better do it before he becomes too mobile. Sounds like good advice to me!

Doesn't Anyone Feed This Kid?

I said yesterday that Wesley is becoming a mooch, but I didn't realize how bad it really is. Grandma H. and I had lunch out and not only did Wesley eat two large jars of baby food, he tried to mooch off of us AND gnawed on the table. It only got worse when Duane and I took him to a birthday party this afternoon. He had a full bottle, a bunch of veggie puffs (baby finger food) and was still trying to con people out of their hot dogs, burgers, potato salad, whatever. It was almost embarrassing!

On a more positive note, he sat up by himself today. Wesley had been crawling when Duane and I both noticed he was sitting up. "Did you sit Wesley up?" I asked. "No," answered Duane, "Did you?" "No." Good thing he's got such observant parents, huh?