One Year Milestones

Now that Wesley is officially one we get to start all the big changes that mark turning into a toddler.

1. Got milk? Wesley does! He had his first whole milk this morning and he sure didn't seem to mind the switch. Although I'm really glad not to have to mix up formula anymore, we got such a good deal on it that we are actually going to be paying MORE to buy milk. Wild, huh? The convenience will trump that though.
2. About face! Wesley weighs 21 pounds, so we can turn his car seat around. We probably won't get around to doing this until the weekend, but I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. It HAS to be easier to get him in the seat when it is facing forward. It will also make our trip to the beach easier since we got him some travel distractions that strap onto the front seat.
3. Bye-Bye Bottle! Dr. Matt said to start weaning Wesley off his bottle. I don't think this will be a problem since he does just fine with a sippy cup and loves to drink out of our glasses too. Just thinking of the counter space will gain when we bottle rack and sterilizer go "bye-bye" gives me goosebumps!
4. Something to sink his teeth into! We've already been giving Wesley lots of "people" food rather than baby food because he seems to have lost interest in the stuff that comes out of the little jar, but now we have the official go ahead from the doctor. I loved buying those little containers at first, but I'm craving the space they took up on the shelves and fridge. Wesley isn't even close to being a picky eater, so I'm not the least bit worried about this one. And I love to have him try new things!
5. New reading for Mommy. I have already witnessed some "toddlner" behavior from Wesley - strong preferences, frustration when he can't get his message across, stuff like that. Being the librarian I am, I automatically reserved "The Girlfriend's Guide to Toddlers." Guess I'll be doing research on vacation.

Happy Birthday Wesley

Today marks Wesley's official first birthday. While the rest of the country watched Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, our family anxiously awaited the arrival of our sweet little boy. I caught myself several times today thinking things like "Time for induction," "Got the epidural about now," "Here he is!" It's kind of surreal to think Duane and I have been parents for whole year!!

We celebrated with a little mini-party tonight. Duane's mom was unable to attend the big party over the weekend, so she joined us and Grandma and Grandpa H. for dinner. Grandma made meatloaf and mashed potatoes, thinking that Wesley would be able to eat it. He didn't eat, so much as inhale the meatloaf. It was in his mouth as quickly as I could cut it up. He didn't do too bad on the mashed potatoes or cottage cheese either. Wesley's new thing is to reject his sippy cup if he sees you drinking out of a glass, so he took many sips of my water.

Grandma H. also got Wesley another little birthday cake so Grandma W. could see him dive into it. He was slightly more enthusiastic this time and really put a hurting on the icing. Speaking of cake - the leftovers are calling my name. I think I'd better go!

Party On Dude!

Today we celebrated Wesley's first birthday by having a rather big family party. I have to be honest and say I have been stressing about this for weeks. In fact, I woke up at 6:00 this morning and couldn't sleep any more. Everything went off without a hitch and Wesley had a birthday party that rivaled Christmas!

We chowed on tons of City Barbeque! Wesley is a big fan of their turkey and their corn pudding. He did a great job feeding himself and Grandpa P. and Great Aunt Carol. Kate and Colin were there to celebrate with us. Watching Colin made me so excited about everything Wesley is going to learn this year. He'll learn to talk, he'll develop his sense of humor more. Colin even fed me watermelon off Kate's fork - sorry Kate.


Colin and cousin Kierstin helped Wesley open his gifts. I am almost embarrassed by how generous everyone was! Definitely a spoiled child. At least Aunt Paula didn't make good on that drum set! Wesley was particularly taken with the blankie Aunt Susan made him and the pink and white poodle from "Uncle" Rick and "Aunt" Sasha. I think Rick was a little embarrassed about it, but Wesley LOVES it! He immediately showered it with kisses. We have dubbed her Fifi and think she'll be a great companion to Frank. It's super cute to watch Wesley carry one under each arm.

Wesley was pretty clean about the whole cake thing too. I was expecting major icing everywhere, but he was much more conservative and preferred to pick the colored sprinkles off. Cute and I'm certainly not going to complain that he didn't make a total mess.

Duane and I are pretty much exhausted now. Wesley is tired too, but he's too keyed up about today to pay much attention to it. Hopefully we'll be able to stay awake as long as he does.

TP30

Wesley discovered the toilet paper roll today. I got out of the shower to find a big pile of toilet paper on the floor and a bunch in Wesley's mouth! That's OK, I also caught him trying to put the remote in the toilet while I was doing my makeup. I'm telling you - that kid's going to keep me on my toes!

We went to COSI with our friend Ray today to see the Star Wars exhibit. Wesley slept through most of it, which allowed me to indulge my inner geek. He did wake up for the millennium Falcon simulator though. Wesley even let Ray hold him at one point, which is pretty impressive when you consider that the little guy screamed bloody murder when Ray walked in.

After seeing the Star Wars stuff we headed to the Little Kids Space so Wesley could run around for a bit. A little girl came up to him, smiled and promptly lifted up her shirt to show Wesley her tummy. I guess Wesley doesn't like forward girls though because he toddled away from her and walked over to a 3 year old girl who was busily building a tower. She was not very friendly and kept telling me to take Wesley away. I was glad to do so, because that little girl was MEAN!!! We went and played with some other toys instead and had a great time. Ray kept rolling balls over to Wesley and he'd chase them around. Very cute!


The End

Game Time

It's not quite 9:30 in the morning and Wesley and I have already played a whole bunch of new games.

We've played:

1. Baby Hot Foot - This is when I blow dry my hair and (with the dryer on warm - not hot) blow the air on Wesley's feet whenever he comes close enough. He giggles madly, toddles off and then comes back for more!
2. I'm Hungry NOW - This is when Wesley helps me move the highchair from the kitchen to the living room because he is ready to eat (and was ready 5 minutes ago). I was actually pretty impressed that he could walk backwards while pulling on the highchair.
3. Feed Mommy - All those Cheerio lessons last week must have paid off because it was great fun to feed Mommy bites of cereal bar this morning.
4. Mooch - This has been Wesley's favorite game for months now. After he had breakfast, I grabbed a bowl of cereal. Even though he had just eaten all he wanted, he had to sample my breakfast too. He mooched bites until it was gone.
5. Baby Blogger- This is when I try to type my blog with Wesley sitting on my lap, throwing the mousepad on the floor, grabbing the mouse, typing on the keyboard and playing with the lights on the tower. Much fun for him, but not so fun for me!

I think we're going to go play Sort the Laundry next. It's a very educational game!

Wesley's Can "Dew" Attitude

Wesley still loves the idea Mountain Dew. He's never tasted it, but he LOVES to investigate the cans and bottles. I don't even want to imagine him on that much sugar and caffeine!

Sunday Dinner

Wesley was something else at church today. We attend our casual contemporary service, which is held in the Fellowship Hall. Pretty much everyone is used to Wesley playing with his toys and babbling during the service. However, today we had a visiting pastor and Wesley was not interested in anything except walking. At first Wesley just walked up and down our aisle, but during the sermon he took off for the front of the room. The visiting pastor was so nice about it and even worked it into the sermon.

After the service I told the pastor I really appreciated his patience and humor with Wesley. He told me he completely understood. Once when he was preaching his son toddled up to him and wanted to be held, so he held him while continuing with the service. "Some people look on worship as fine dining," he said. "I consider it a family picnic." He was fantastic! Maybe we'll have to check out his regular church sometime.

Read and Repeat

Wesley has a new favorite book he likes me to read to him. As a librarian I should be completely thrilled by this, right? He'll listen to it over and over and over and over and...well, you get the point. The problem is that it is a book I cannot stand!! I am convinced that the well known author who wrote it just wanted to see how much he could get by on his name and put no effort into this title. Even worse - it's a series!

Makes no difference to Wesley though. He handed me the book last night and I read it to him. When I finished the book and set it down, he'd pick it back up and place it in my hands. Which meant I ended up reading it about six times in a row. When Wesley went to bed I put in on his bookshelf, relieved that I was done with it.

This morning I was sitting on the couch. Wesley toddled over to his book shelf, retrieved the book and plopped it on my head. I took that as a subtle hint that he wanted it read to him again. So we've had three more readings of it this morning. I think I might have to hide it for awhile.

Cheerio!

Wesley flat refused to eat his oatmeal or his fruit this morning, so Grandma H. gave him some Cheerios to munch. I had a few minutes spare before I had to take off for my conference today, so I stayed while Wesley ate. He did a really good job on his Cheerios. Just for kicks, I thought I'd see if I could get him to feed me a Cheerio, after all, he gives me a block when I ask if Mommy may have one.

"May Mommy have a Cheerio?" I asked, opening my mouth very very wide.

Wesley looked at me, smiled, and popped a Cheerio in his own mouth. After we repeated this little scenario several times, Grandma fed me a Cheerio to see if he'd get the idea. He did - sort of. He'd put a Cheerio in my mouth, but he wouldn't actually release it. After holding it there for a moment, it would go into his own mouth.

I was beginning to lose hope of ever getting a Cheerio when Wesley finally held one up to my lips. When I opened my mouth he actually gave me the piece of cereal. This must have been a pretty good game, because on my way out the door I leaned in for a kiss and he gave me a puff. At least I didn't go to my conference hungry!

Bouncing Baby Boy

Wesley discovered the fun of bouncing balls today. Not that he is bouncing them himself, but whenever I bounce one he giggles and grins! If I stop, he'll pick up the ball and hand it to me - which is very impressive with the purple oversized ball we have at home. He'll also bounce along with it. Too cute!

Fair, Fun and Family

Once again Wesley had a busier weekend than any 11 month old should really have to endure. On Saturday Duane's company had a family picnic at the fair. Wesley was not real interested in being social with all the HVAC guys, but he did surprisingly well as we walked around the fair. Or at least, surprisingly well as long as Daddy was holding him. I'm shocked that Duane's arms didn't give out completely! Wesley slept in his stroller long enough for us to go through some of the commercial buildings, but we saved the animals for when he was awake. He was pretty interested in the sheep building and really liked the "petting zoo" tent.

Of course, like most fairgoers, Wesley's favorite thing was the food. In order to do the fair up right, we let him sample whatever we were eating. He munched some BBQ, brat and potato salad at the company picnic. He sampled some corn dog and elephant ear and slammed the cinnamon mini doughnuts I had to have. And to no one's surprise he loved the strawberry ice cream we all shared while sitting on a patch of grass. Even just drinking a sippy cup of water seemed extra special outside with all the people around.

After the fair we all crashed at home for a couple hours before heading out to Wesley's first cocktail party. One of my coworkers hosted a "welcome home from Africa" party combined with a "we'll miss you when you move back to Turkey" party. It was wonderful! The food and company were great and Wesley managed to be on his best behavior. He tried to share some of his toys with the hostess' cat and impressed everyone by enjoying a fair amount of bread with goat cheese. He even curled up on the floor at one point and let his librarian girlfriend Wendy rub his back. I was sad when we had to leave to put him to bed.

On Sunday we drove to Mansfield to attend a family reunion. It was the family of my great great grandmother so I didn't really know anyone. In fact, I joked to Duane that we were so distantly related to these people that Wesley could marry one and it would be perfectly legal. It was a small gathering, but the food was FANTASTIC! Can you tell I totally blew my diet this week? We went to my aunts new place for awhile after the reunion. She has a ceramic dog that looks fairly real. Wesley did not know what to do with it. He was fascinated because it was a dog, but he didn't like the way it felt. After a few minutes of investigating it, he gave it a wide berth whenever he toddled by.

Which brings us to today's news. Wesley's third tooth has officially broken through! It's one of the top center ones which ought to make him look like a jack-o-lantern in another week or two. In other disturbing news, Grandma and Grandpa P. informed me that Wesley was totally enthralled by Michael Bolton singing Frank Sinatra songs on Good Morning America today. Could it be that we've found a replacement for Moose and Zee? Nah!

I Did It My Way

Remember when I said that I could almost hear Wesley saying "Me do it!"? Well, he still can't talk, but he's saying it loud and clear. Yesterday I had him in his room while I put away some of his laundry. He was walking around and yammering away. When I finished I told him it was time to go downstairs and I scooped him up. He immediately started screeching and pushing away from me with his hands and feet. "OK. He wants to walk," I thought. So I put him down and took his hand to lead him out into the hallway. He immediately started pulling his hand away from me and screeching. At this point I understood exactly what he was saying, but I also understood that I am the Mommy and we were going downstairs.

Wesley got to show off what a big boy he is at the library today. He figured out how to push the button to make the crickets chirp - which is a very big deal at my library. He had to stand on his tippy toes and stretch his fingers as far as they could go, but he did it!

He's now sitting on the floor looking at an animal book with Daddy. Whenever he gets to the page with the picture of the dalmation puppies, his kisses it. Could that be any cuter!?

Return to the Land of the Living

Sorry I've been so out of touch on the blog this week. I think I caught whatever it was that Wesley came down with last Thursday. I felt strange all day Monday and Monday night it hit me like a ton of bricks! The good news is that I went to the doctor today and I'm now on some antibiotics that should kick the sore throat I have right in the tonsils! Here's hoping the little guy doesn't pick anything up from me.

No super cute baby stories since I've been trying to keep some distance from him while I've been sick. However, I do have a super cute picture from Monday morning before it all hit. I call it "Farmer Wesley!" Nectarines are his new favorite fruit and he kept taking them out of the bowl.

Puppies and Uncle and Aunt - Oh My!

Uncle Kirk and Aunt Susan came for a visit today. It's been awhile since they have seen Wesley and Aunt Susan was jonesing for a nephew fix - especially since she got her camera back. Too bad Wesley wasn't the most cooperative of subjects. He's still a little bit cranky from being sick. He did show off his walking skills though.

After dinner, we went to a nearby park for a walk and some time on the swings for Wesley. It's not the nicest park in town, but it has two very important things for Wesley - swings and dogs. You are guaranteed to see at least a dozen or more dogs there and most of them are very friendly. We walked near a couple of dog owners and one of the dogs just budded right up to Wesley, which Wesley LOVED!!! The owner was mortified that her dog was showering some baby she didn't know with kisses, but I assured her that we didn't mind one bit. Wesley was even happier when 2-3 dogs came over at once and kissed him, sniffed him, let him pet them. It was dog heaven! He did end up with a couple of scratches on his leg from one very exuberant puppy, but Wesley didn't seem to mind and if he doesn't care, we don't care. Small price to pay for all the attention! I am very glad tonight was bath night!

Longest Day EVER!

I can't even say when today began! I decided to sleep on the couch with the sicky last night because it's considerably cooler. Of course, our couch is less and comfortable and how much sleep can one really get when your child is burning up with fever? I didn't even try to go to sleep until after 11:00 (drat that World Series of Pop Culture!). I know I saw 1:30, 2:30, 3:30 - which is when Wesley drank a bottle - threw up all over. I woke Duane up around 4:00 to give me a hand. He took the 4-6 AM shift before he went to work.

Wesley's doing quite a bit better today. At 3:30 I was ready to take him to the hospital, but when I took his temperature, it had actually gone down. He sat up this morning and even got a couple of toys out. Grandpa P. came down this morning so I could catch a shower and a nap. By the time he left early this afternoon, Wesley was doing MUCH better. The little guy even managed some lunch.

We spent this afternoon playing with toys, blowing bubbles and not napping. Wesley finally crashed around 5:00 - right before Duane got home. Duane went to the grocery store and I got dinner in the oven before Wesley woke up in tears. He ate, but he's been crying pretty steadily since then. No fever, but definitely not Mr. Charming. He's finally running out of tears as he lays on his Daddy's chest and clutches Lambie (Frank still hasn't recovered from yesterday). I can't believe it's not even 8:00 yet! It feels like it's been today for ages.

Mommy versus Librarian

First of all, let me say that I love my job. I work at a great library and work with an incredible group of colleagues. But sometimes I hate being a working mom. Take today. I dropped Wesley off at my sister-in-laws around 12:00. He was fine. At 2:40 I got an email from Duane saying that Melissa had called him because Wesley threw up every bit of his lunch and felt warm to the touch. From that moment on I was useless. All I could think was that my baby was sick and that he should be with his mommy. The logical/professional part of me said that I had a meeting at 3:00, tons of work to do, and that Duane would be picking Wesley up in 2 hours. The mommy part kept telling the logical/professional part to shut up.

I went to my meeting, but even my boss could tell my heart wasn't really in it. After an hour she and the library manager told me to go home. I raced to pick up Wesley to find him really warm to the touch and just kind of moaning. Apparently he had made quite the mess because Aunt Melissa said she'd just wash his clothes. She also said that Frank (Wesley's stuffed wolf/dog) would probably never be the same. She did a fantastic job cleaning Frank up. I guess we'll just have to see how he dries. In the meantime, Wesley has Lambie to snuggle.

We've been on the couch since 5:30. He's had a popsicle and a bottle and has mostly slept. I hate to have him out of my arms for a minute when he's like this. I guess "Mommy" won!

New Nickname

Wesley got a new nickname last night. Because of the way he walks and how cranky he gets in the evening, he has been dubbed "Crankenstein"

All Boy

Looking for further proof that Wesley is all boy? How's this for evidence?

1. Eats dirt off the kitchen floor (yucky on so many levels!)
2. Squirms away during a diaper change, crawls three feet away, pees on the floor and laughs! Guess potty humor starts very early!
3. Scratches his tushy whenever his diaper is off
4. Discovered that if you purse your lips you can force food through the opening and then suck it back in. Super gross to us, super entertaining to him.
5. Believes yogurt is a finger food or beverage.