See, Eric?

A picture of the little man "reading" a baby calendar before bed, and a couple more to prove how much he actually needs a haircut.

One of Those Years...

Sometimes you just have one of those days with your kid, you know? Eh, who am I kidding, sometimes we have one of those WEEKS, or even MONTHS. And there was that time that whole YEAR was one of THOSE.

I like to read "mommy blogs", and it never ceases to amaze me when I read a statement like this, "Johnny is such a happy boy, he sleeps so well and is always smiling. Taking care of him is almost effortless." Ummm...WHAT??? How nice for you. Times like this I console myself with the superficial fact that MY KID IS PROBABLY CUTER THAN YOURS. When not throwing a rediculous tantrum over the fact that we took away his sharp, shiny object.

I don't think during my adolescence when my mom threatened me with words of, "Someday I hope you have a child just like you," that this is what she meant. I was a LOVELY baby and toddler. It was just later that it somehow went terribly, horribly wrong. So, dear Wyatt, I guess if your plan is retribution on Grandmommy's behalf you can get it all out now, and then let's move on, shall we? That would be greatly appreciated. ;)

Which one looks more like us??

So we tried putting Wyatt down to sleep at our friend's house again the other night, and no such luck this time. :( He really wanted to hang with us, and was great once he was with us. I think he knew that if he started acting out, he would have to go to bed again...haha! We ended up getting home a little after 10pm, and he went to bed at 10:30. That was the latest he has ever gone down...intentionally anyway. I was really hoping he would sleep in, but no such luck. He did however take a THREE HOUR NAP the next day. During which I had to compulsively check on him 67 times to ensure he was still breathing.

These are a couple pictures I took this morning. (Note the chin scar in the first pic. I am constantly rubbing it with vitamin E in hopes it will eventually vanish into obscurity...;)P

The second picture was supposed to be of Wyatt hugging the dog, but he moved so fast, I basically just got the dog. And yes, his eyes are really like that. No, suprisingly he doesn't run into walls. Much.

Never mind that it was only repeated...;)

Tonight I was rocking Wyatt before bedtime. He was snuggling into my shoulder and as I rubbed his back I said, "I love you, Wyatt." And Wyatt? He responded, "I wuv YOU." It was the sweetest thing EVER.

ME

This evening as Eric lifts up Wyatt to put him into the car, they catch a glimpse of themselves in the reflection on the glass. "Who is that?" Eric asks Wyatt, pointing to himself. "Daddy!" Wyatt responds with delight. "And who is THAT?" he asks, pointing to Wyatt's reflection. Without hesitation, Wyatt proudly points to his own reflection and declares, "Me!"

Happy Thanksgiving

Love,
Wyatt

He'll be reading in no time...

So I'm sitting here snuggling with Wyatt this morning and he is on my lap facing me, reciting random letters. At least I think they are random. Until I realize he is looking out my shirt. I start to pay attention as he points out each letter:

"C...O...N...V...E...R...S...E"

Quite the little speller! I wish I had a recording of it. Maybe I'll have to catch him later...

Late Night...

Last night was a late one and we woke up really tired. But it was the good kind of tired you experience after hanging out with really good friends into the wee hours of the morning. The best part was that we were able to put Wyatt to sleep ON THE BEDROOM FLOOR at THEIR HOUSE, and he slept there until we left close to 1:00am. We had been anticipating we might have to leave around 7:00pm, but we figured why not see if he would go to bed there (har har har!!!!) When IT WORKED...we were so delighted that we thoroughly enjoyed the time and had no idea what time it was...ah...brings back memories!

It was a total breakthrough. Wyatt has NEVER been flexible about sleeping anywhere new, and having him actually sleep somewhere else, not in a crib, and without me staying there for an hour until he actually fell asleep was so wonderful I can not adequately descibe it. I hope things continue to progress this way. I never thought this day would come. :)

A Day in the Life...

We won't get into how yesterday STARTED (if only because I don't have a photo of Wyatt covered in ALL THAT INK)...

But somehow became this:


And then morphed into this:


And ended like this:

Trip to the ER...

So just before bedtime this evening Wyatt took a hard tumble (suprise, surprise) and split his chin open (on the carpet of all things!) It was bleeding a lot and we thought his teeth had gone through his lower lip until they checked at the emergency room. Its kind of between his lower lip and chin. We put pressure on it with cold paper towels and got him in the car immediately.

The local hospital ER waiting room was ridiculous and they couldn't give us any indication of wait time, although it looked like hours. So we ended up driving to the one where he was born and the total time we were there was 1.5 hours. They were great. He ended up getting three stitches which they have to remove in about 5 days. :( It was SO hard to watch. He was such a good boy though, and they gave him a little Bob the Builder backpack ;). (I'm fairly certain he will never enjoy Bob quite the same again, though.)

When they were holding him down to put the stitches in he kept sobbing "See mommy, See mommy", and it was breaking my heart!! Poor little guy!!! I'm sure this won't be the last time, but it was scary and so sad. He's sleeping soundly in bed right now and I feel like I finally breathed a sigh of relief for the first time in four hours...I will update later with pictures. Someone needs to tell him that just because his nickname as a baby was "Little Bruiser", it doesn't mean he has to live up to it.

Fun at Starbucks

Our little man enjoying himself this morning at Starbucks after church. Don't worry, we only gave he decaf. KIDDING. :)

Hank the Tank

So I have been lazy lately and haven't written much...but the little man has been keeping me busy! It seems he has totally gotten the hang of running; the only drawback being our house is less than spacious. He runs into things quite often in his excitement. He is probably the klutziest (sp?) kid I have ever seen, and this can only be explained by his maternal ancestry. So, I am not really concerned. Except when he is having an especially fussy day (seems more often than not lately) and his usual "Boom!" (followed by laughter when he charges into something and falls down) is replaced by whining, crying, and demanding to be held if he so much as trips over a pillow.

He really has no concept of the fact that he is built like a small tank, and other children don't find it quite so amusing as he when he plows them over. The other day we tried out a new indoor gym for kids, and Wyatt LOVED it. I was worried that it might be a waste of time and money ($5 admission) since he usually clings to me at the playground, but he took right to it. Probably partially due to the fact that there were little hanging boxing bags that you were *supposed* to crash into. Explaining to him that although he could tackle those, he could not tackle the other kids was somewhat of a challenge, however. But all in all, I give the indoor gym five stars, in no small part because Wyatt took a TWO HOUR nap after all his running around. Definitely worth the $5. ;)

Oh, and expect to see even more pictures in the future, thanks to my new Canon Powershot SD1100, officially the best birthday gift ever. Thank you Mom, Brian, Stef, Mark, and Marci!! You guys rock! :)

Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Patch Pics

Little Cutie

Miraculously, Wyatt's face is almost back to perfect a little over a week after his nasty spill. Vitamin E and olive oil works wonders! ;) Here are some pictures of the little man showing off.

Fire Pictures

These were all taken from our backyard on Oct 13th...

Fire Season

Not really Wyatt-related, but we are on top of a hill right now watching a HUGE fire burn on Camp Pendleton. This is the 2nd major fire there in a few days. Santa Ana conditions are just perfect. The first one we watched from about midnight on from our bedroom window. Thankfully no one was hurt, but it was quite a show. Post pictures when I get a chance.

Happier Times...aka Earlier in the Day... ;)

Poor Little Boy...

Wyatt's little girlfriend has a brand new brother! I am always in awe and amazed when someone decides to give it another go. I think maybe they had a different experience then me, because geez, I only have one, and half the time I can't tell you what time zone I live in OR where my keys are. You know in the movie "Juno" where she says, "I'm ill-equiped." Well, yeah, that about sums it up right there. Of course, I know I would be happy to have another if it so happens, but the thought of actually MAKING THAT DECISION MYSELF? That thought strikes me with something akin to PANIC and TERROR. Those people who have twins? And oh my heavens, triplets? Well, they ought to be canonized.

But I digress...Something happened today that I had no control over, but nevertheless made me briefly question my mothering abilities, as all paranoid freaks are prone to do. I was outside playing with Wyatt on the porch, when all of the sudden he lurched forward. I think he tripped, but it happened so fast, I couldn't be sure. Anyhow, the short of it is that he fell down two stairs, and landed face-first on the pavement of the driveway. He immediately started crying and I scooped him up, noticing the angry red gash on his forehead and below his nose. I was very concerned that he may have broken it, but after he had calmed down a bit, he let me clean it off in the bath. After he was all bathed and lotioned up, I rubbed it with vitamin E oil. I felt terrible for him, but he soon forgot and was his goofy self.

I know its irrational, but when we were out later in the day, I felt like I needed to explain to people what had happened in order to ward off any concerned calls to CPS. Poor kid looked a little worse for the wear. We did mention it to a few people who looked our way. I have no idea what onlookers were thinking, but I do know that we tried extra hard to seem like doting parents (that we OF COURSE are...hehe ;). And it totally helped that Wyatt was being really silly, all but oblivious to his poor face.

The below pictures were taken with my camera phone, so they are kinda blurry. They make me sad. :(

My Silly Boy

Wyatt has taken to calling my mom "Grandmommy". It is ADORABLE. Lately, he has been wanting to take soft toys and books to bed with him, and the other morning when I went to get him, he had a soft book with pictures of family in it. As I was lifting him out of the crib, he bent back towards it, pointing at the book. It was turned to the page of my mom. He wouldn't let me take him out of the room until he was holding the book. He pointed frantically, saying, "Grandmommy, Grandmommy". So sweet.

The other day we were playing with his "girlfriend" and her mom and I were talking when we noticed they had run off. We found them in the laundry room, face to face, staring at each other. And then they wrapped their arms around each other and hugged.

What a little character we have. ;)

"Ma Gramma"

The other day we decided to test Wyatt's memory by showing him pictures of his Grandmas and Grandpa. (When we were last back east, he referred to his Grandpa as "Pa" and he couldn't say "Grandma" or anything close.) When we pointed to a picture of his Grandpa and asked him who it was, he said, "Gran Pa", despite the fact that is has been two months since our visit, and we had not shown him a picture since. Also, when asked, he referred to BOTH his grandmas as "Gramma", or more specifically, "Ma Gramma". It was after nine east coast time, but I just HAD to call my mom and put him on speaker phone. ;)

While we were talking, the little man spontaneously came up to me and gave me a great big hug and proceded to pat me on the back with his hands while hugging me. This lasted for a few minutes. Sweetest. Thing. EVER.

Then Eric comes along and tells me he does that to HIM all the time. Well, excuse me, hot stuff. ;)P

Nauseating Bragfest 2008

So far “time-out” has been working better then I had hoped. That’s pretty much all I’m going to say about that, in hopes of not jinxing it. ;) Except for one drawback; it only really works effectively at home. If Wyatt starts to disobey or lose it in a STORE, I can take him out to sit in the car for a minute, but this really only works if leaving the store was not what he WANTED in the first place. Ah well, you live and learn.

On a totally warm and fuzzy note, Wyatt has been starting to give *real* hugs (*using his arms, and not just nuzzling with his head). He has probably been doing this for a bit, but what really brought it to my attention was the other day when we were leaving his friend’s house. I told him to give her a hug, and in addition to leaning his head into her he wrapped his arms around her in a complete embrace. She did the same. It was adorable to see two 18 months olds hugging it out.

The other day we went to the park and that was the first day I really noticed Wyatt participating in reciprocal play; not just “parallel” or “trying to steal each other’s toys” play. He has never taken much interest in climbing around on the equipment by himself, but underneath the play structure there was a sort of plastic window. A little girl who looked about his age came over and they started passing (and throwing) wood chips back and forth to each other through the window. This went on for a good ten minutes and both of them were laughing hysterically, having such a great time. (There are pictures on my girlfriend’s camera, which I hope to get and post soon.)

Another recent development; when Wyatt first sees Eric emerging from our room in the morning, he runs up to him and shouts, “Hi, Daddy!” while throwing his arms around Eric’s legs. It is undoubtedly one of the sweetest things I have ever seen. As dead-set as I am against it, I somehow immediately turn into one of those really annoying piles of mush who is always gushing about motherhood. ;)

Time to Try Some New Tactics

We are all finally feeling better and this morning we went and hung out with some of Wyatt's little friends. It was great to get out of the house. What made it even BETTER was that of all the kids, Wyatt was the only one who did not succumb to a major meltdown. It was a triumphant day indeed. And after yesterday, we sure needed this one.

Yesterday, well it was one gigantic tantrum from sun-up to sun-down. And not just the usual whining, intermittent screaming which is the soundtrack to our lives. This gigantic tantrum involved a beet-red colonel waving his arms, stomping his feet, and repeatedly defying orders from the general. So we started employing "time-out", as nothing thus far has seemed to work.

The colonel is either a slow learner, or VERY persistent, and I think I know which one of THOSE it is. For instance; he seems to take some sort of twisted glee in double fisting the dog food. When there is no more room for it in his mouth. I only had to use 15 1-minute time outs for him to decide that I was serious. As I was hanging clothes up to dry, I spied him AGAIN eyeing the dog food. He looked at me, very s-l-o-w-l-y picked up a piece off the ground and put it BACK in the bowl. He preceded to clean up the rest of the scattered particles, and did not touch the dog food for the rest of the day.

That I know of. ;)

Happy 18 Months!

Our little man is 18 months today. Too bad he is celebrating with a cold (which I seem to be catching). Wyatt has hardly ever been sick, I can honestly say this is only the third or fourth time that he has had a runny nose. I was somewhat expecting it though, after our trip to the bookstore on Sunday to play with the trains.

Wyatt was having a great time at the train table and had been playing for almost THREE HOURS straight, when a little girl came over to play. Hacking up a lung. Now, I understand if you need to go the the store or something and can't leave your child home, but how irresponsible and plain RUDE to take them to a place to interact and play with other non-sick kids. If your child has a nasty case of whooping cough, please leave them home. (Am I the only one who has a problem with this? Sometimes it sure seems that way.) Anyhow, Eric and I exchanged a meaningful glance and grabbed Wyatt, but not before the girl thoroughly sprayed his face with mucus chunks. NICE.

Last night he was waking up often and crying. I knew he was having trouble breathing, so I brought him into our bed and rubbed his back when he awoke. After a few times of this, he sat up all the way, looked around, and let out a soft but maniacal chuckle that he was no longer in his crib. Soon after, he returned to the crib, and the rest of the night went better.

I found a box of tissues and Wyatt is now walking around with them, "blowing" his nose.

Terrible Twos

Hey dude, we need to have a little chat. Whoever said that the terrible twos start around 18 months was right on. While you have always been a somewhat *ahem* "tempermental" child, I have definitely noticed differences in the way you throw your tantrums with the past few weeks. Since you will be 18 months later this week, I can only assume you've been getting a head start.

For instance; your tantrums are more likely to be in response to me asking you to do something, or letting you know in no uncertain terms that you CANNOT do something. They are also more likely to include vigorous shaking of the head and clinging to my legs as if begging me NOT to throw you out the window. I thought I was being clever by substituting the word "Stop" for "No" when I needed to get your attention, so that "No" would not become your favorite word. I should have known better than to assume you wouldn't improvise.

You have been especially clingy lately, and I can only assume it is due to your teeth. You are currently experiencing the arrival of your LAST one year molar, yes, the same ones which have taken a grand total of FOUR MONTHS to arrive. But I have to admit, all this increased clinginess coupled with a new sense of desired independence has got me a little confused. Please clue me in.

The other day, your Daddy took off after work for a meeting. You proceeded to point with glee and say, "Mo-grrrrr", which is your word for motorcycle. You laughed and waved "bye-bye". Then I made the grave mistake of telling you to say "Bye-bye to Daddy". Well, that did it. Something changed. Your little face absolutely crumpled with realization as you frantically shouted, "Daddy go bye-bye? Daddy bye-bye??" You ran down the driveway after him shreiking hysterically, when you suddenly tripped and went down. Hard. I saw it as if in slow-motion. Your head hit the pavement while your little body simultaneously flipped in the air. I held my breath as I ran to you, in the eternal moment before you begain to wail. I picked you up, and you finally begain crying. I breathed a sigh of relief. It took me a bit longer to comfort you than usual, but you are tough. After a bit, you remembered what you had been doing and forgot all about the pain. "Daddy bye-bye?" your cried, "Daddy bye-bye!!" I could feel my heart break. I took you inside for a snuggle and some books, and eventually you forgot your sadness, amidst pointing out "Fi trucks! (fire trucks)" and "Piece cars! (police cars)".

On a separate note, you can now count from one to ten BY YOURSELF, and I often enter the room to find you doing just that. I have no idea where you got your affinity for numbers, but it certainly wasn't from me.

Yesterday when we picked you up from the church nursery, I fully expected to hear that you had been crying and throwing tantrums. It turns out you were great, and they couldn't believe you were not yet 18 months. Apparently you chattered the whole time, pointing out everything in the room.

Like father, like son. ;)

Photos from our Sailing Expedition

Smarty Pants

Wyatt has been starting to call us "Mommy" and "Daddy", instead of "Mama" and "Dada". In the last few weeks, he has also been starting to put a few words together, mostly adjectives, like "BIG truck", "RED car", and "MORE milk." He recognizes a few letters on signs and books, and even some shapes, especially triangle ("TRI"). Sometimes it takes me a minute to figure out what he means, but I am constantly amazed when I do.

This evening we were driving home and Eric was telling me about his hard day. "Oh baby...," he said with a sigh. From the back seat we hear this little voice say, "OH, BAY-BEE." Haha!!!

Does it make us bad parents...

that we gave Wyatt his 1st box of raisins, and bending down to pick it up the ONE he had dropped on the ground, he spilled the entire box and started having a meltdown and we thought the whole thing was hysterical?

Just wondering. ;)

Sail Away...

While I was in Maryland, Eric went to a boat show where he met a couple who work at a boat dealership and have lived on their boat for the past few years. They exchanged information and offered to take us sailing sometime. So yesterday, Eric left work early and we went went sailing for almost four hours.

I have been on boats before, but never a sailboat in particular and neither had Wyatt (obviously). It was just like I imagined it would be: very relaxing with only the wind and the water as a soundtrack. We had a great time and Wyatt loved it, especially when we sailed up close to a floating bouy (sp?) covered in seals. The ironic thing was that he seemed to have more trouble staying upright after we had docked and the boat was still than when we were actually sailing.

The whole time I kept thinking how great the rolling motion would be for a baby with colic, and how we should have met them a lot sooner. ;)

That's My Boy!

Tonight Wyatt participated in his first act of juvenile vandalism. I guess he is getting an early start.

I was outside talking on the phone and keeping one eye on Wyatt as he gathered lots of little rocks off the ground, when I noticed his hands were black. I went to retrieve him, and of course, thinking it was a game, he went in the opposite direction. Until he came to the back of Eric's motorcycle. Where he stuck one hand in each of the tailpipes. Great. So that's where all that grease came from.

Sensing a reprimand, he gave me a devious smirk and started taking off. Which is when I noticed the lemons. One in each tailpipe.

I was so proud.

Right up until the part where I had to stick my own hand in and actually REMOVE them.

All The Little Things...

My Wyatt is a sweet kid, but anything (and I do mean ANYTHING) that is bothering him in the least usually brings on fussing, whining, and/or screaming. Also, what language he has is usually expressed in one word. So, imagine my surprise and delight at the following scenario.

(Oceanside Harbor, 7:00pm. Eric and Amanda are walking around the water, while Wyatt is alternately running around and demanding to be picked up. The weather is a bit chilly and overcast. As we enter the scene, Amanda is carrying Wyatt on her hip.)

Wyatt (tapping Amanda on the shoulder): "Mama...? Mama, I cold."

AWESOME. ;)

Grandma Would Be So Proud

Our little man has started saying some two syllable words in their entirety. His favorite?
"Tat-too". ;)

A Few of My Favorite Vacation Photos of Wyatt...

Wyatt was 16 months old when these picture were taken. I LOVE all his little expressions. SUCH a stinker. ;)

The WAKEFUL Baby...

Is totally NOT taking a nap. We went to the park this a.m. and wore him out. I was happy to see he was VERY tired when we got home, so I put him down. When all was quiet, I did a 30 minute elliptical workout, thinking he must be asleep because I didn't hear him the whole time. Well, when I removed my HEADPHONES, I heard him talking. Hmmm... Now he is fussing, but I think I'll leave him in there for a little, because I know he didn't already nap.

Here it comes. Yay. The joys of parenthood. ;)

UPDATE: When he starts screaming "Mama, Mama!" and "Door, door, door!" hysterically to get out, that's when I know I have been defeated. He's now enjoying some "pa" (pasta), "ga" (grapes), and "tat" (sweet potatoes), and is pleased as pie. I'm such a sucker. :)P

One, Two, Thee, Fa

Eric has been teaching Wyatt his numbers by holding up his fingers. He usually gets one, two, and three, and sometimes four and five. He can repeat one through ten when prompted. Also in our quest to have him reading by two, har har, he can say all of his letters (although some are clearer than others). He really just repeats them after us, but it is rather cute, and he gets so proud of himself. ;)

Recently he has become obsessed with bringing me my shoes, and I mean EVERY SHOE I OWN. As I type, he is piling them all up next to me on the table. Sometimes he brings me (in his own enthusiastic words) PANTS!!!!!! and maybe even a SHIRT!!!!!, and perhaps a SOCK!!!!! or two. Quite the little helper.

Yesterday we took him to a nearby park and he actually went down the slide himself once. This is a huge deal, because he is EXTREMELY CAUTIOUS, and when he finally climbs the steps to the platform, this is usually followed by hands in the air saying, "Up, please!" Which sounds more like, "Uh peas!", but is way better then the previous whining to be picked up. We have been encouraging him to say, "Please" whenever he wants something, although I am entirely sure that when he realizes that we've tricked him into being polite, all mention of the word will cease.

He is also really getting into making towers with his Lego blocks. Although, they are the "Little People" version and come apart much easier. Eric keeps saying we need to get him the actual "Legos" so they stay together better. In some ways though, I think destroying what he has just built is the most fun at this point (judging from the maniacal laughter that follows).

Yesterday Eric got out of work early so we could go down to Del Mar to see the horse races. He had some free tickets and I thought Wyatt would love the horses, although I wasn't sure how long we would be able to stay. Turns out it didn't matter. Halfway down, Eric realized he forgot the tickets so we turned around and drove home. It was almost rush hour at this point, and neither of us really felt like getting stuck in traffic and wasting more gas, so we went to the aforementioned park, where Eric manage to coerce Wyatt into having a good time. After that, we went to our usual car show, and Wyatt had a blast dancing and stomping to a 50's band.

Today Eric is sailing. I would have loved to go, but I don't have enough money to bribe someone to watch our little monster for FOUR hours, so I am being driven nuts at home. With NO car. I'm predicting an appearance from "Bob the Builder" soon...;)

Crazy Kid...

It's been brought to my attention that I haven't blogged enough about bodily functions, so here goes.

You know that scene in the movie "Big Daddy" where Adam Sandler's character is teaching the little boy how to pee on a wall? Well, that was the scene in my house tonight. Sort of. Except for the fact that Adam Sandler was not present, the little boy was Wyatt, and the wall was an antique piano that has been here long before we were. Oops.

All day long it was so hot that after we came home from our playdate Wyatt was only wearing a diaper around the house. Most of the time. Until he took it off. Only those eight times though. Usually I caught him, but the last time I glanced over from what I was doing to find him peeing against the back of the piano, which for all I know came from midieval times (no, not the restaurant, although I have no proof).

I scolded Wyatt, cleaned the piano, and dressed him in PANTS which were impossible to take off. Sometimes it is hard to keep a straight face when your kid does something they shouldn't, but I managed to pull it off.

Until he wasn't looking.

Because it WAS kind of hilarious.

Trip Diary

After a mostly satisfactory weekend involving too much driving, too much sun, and not enough sleep, our little boy decided to take a two hour nap this morning. So, Mama did too. Yeah, baby, life is good.

He's down for the second now, so I decided to get back to the business of blogging. Something about my trip. Except many of the details escape me at this point.

Well, here's what I can tell ya. The flights out were way too long. The first leg, from San Diego to Denver, was almost an hour late leaving, though they assured me I would make my connecting flight no problem. I sat next to this nice man who let me watch some pirated copy of "The Love Guru" (definitely a renter) on his computer. (As much of it as I could, while trying to entertain Wyatt after what was to be his ONLY (20 minute) nap of the day.) Thankfully, this man also helped me carry the car seat off. (It's quite heavy and awkward with the little man in it. And I have the bruises to prove it.)

When we arrived in Denver, I was happy to see that my gate was the next one to the left, so I hurried to use the restroom and change Wyatt. I was in there for maybe two minutes. When I got out, there were still people sitting down at the gate, and no one was standing. I only had about 20 minutes, so I thought this was odd. As I approached the gate, the attendant looked at me and said just about the most appalling thing I could imagine at that moment.

"You're not trying to get on the flight to Baltimore, are you?"

"Yes, I am. My connecting flight just arrived. Why?" (I'm fairly certain that by then the blood was draining from my face.)

"The flight is full."

"Well, I have two seats paid for on that flight. My other flight was late arriving. I need to be on that plane."

After staff consultations, they politely asked if someone would mind changing seats so Wyatt and I could sit together. Finally someone did, although I had no help lugging him halfway to the back of the plane. They had actually been planning on taking off EARLY. Geeesh.

As luck would have it, we were seated next to a business man who claimed he had kids, but then asked me if I had any Benadryl for mine. (I didn't). I guess I can't blame him, he said he had been up since 4:00am, and the flight would not arrive till after 11:00pm. Still, I was a bit tense trying to thwart off Wyatt's tantrums. He did as well as he could, but he was teething and had been strapped in the seat ALL DAY. As luck would also have it, there was no nap to be had on this longer flight. I was SO happy to step off that plane. And tired. We had to wait an extra hour for them to unload our bags, and we didn't get home and into bed until after 1:00am. But we had arrived. FINALLY.

The next day was spent sleeping in (well, I did anyway, while my mom got up with Wyatt. All the extra help was much appreciated. I have to admit I milked it, given that there is no family to help out here in California). Thursday we drove up to NJ to stay with my sister-in-law, brother-in-law, and my 19 month old niece and 2 month old nephew (who I had never met.) My nephew fell asleep in my arms, just laying there, and I had never had a baby do that before. I was in love. ;) We had a great time, although it was MUCH to short. The previous day, my other sister-in-law had had her second, a boy, so we were able to visit them in the hospital. (Which was awesome, considering that same sister-in-law, brother-in-law, and my niece were here in CA when I had Wyatt and visited US in the hospital.) My brand-new nephew ALSO fell asleep peacefully in my arms, and so I was fairly convinced that Wyatt was the wild card, not me. ;) It had me thinking...;)P

Anyhow, we stayed with Eric's parents on Friday night and went to the beach on Long Beach Island on Saturday. We had a really nice visit with them, and I think Eric's dad really bonded with Wyatt. Which is great, because he is Wyatt's only living grandpa. Wyatt couldn't say "Grandpa", so he called him "Pa", which I think Eric's dad really got a kick out of.

We arrived back in MD late Saturday night. We went to church with my mom the next morning, and spent the afternoon with my grandparents, who just LOVED their great-grandson. That week was filled with relatives coming in and out. My brothers and sisters-in-law (well, one of them is not YET), aunts, uncles and cousins. It all culminated in a big family reunion which my Grandma had planned for the next Saturday. There were people in the house all week, and I loved it. (So did Wyatt; he was loving all the attention and showing off. As well as loving Grandma's HUGE yard, where he could run around every day.) It was great to see everybody, but Wyatt was certainly the star of the show ;). Even my mom's cat (who she was convinced would care less) loved him. The cat allowed, and even invited himself to be hugged, pulled, smothered, etc. It was hilarious.

It was definitely hard to go when it was time to leave, but I was more than ready to see Eric again. Paranoid from the last flight, I had broken down and done something I said I would NEVER do; give my kid baby Benadryl. Well, turns out, it wouldn't have made much difference if I didn't, because IT DIDN'T WORK. NOTHING. He never took a nap, until 3 hours later, when we were in the terminal in Chicago waiting for the second flight. It was then he decided to take a 20 minute nap on me, until a lady came and sat down next to us, talking obnoxiously loud on her cell phone. So, that was the end of that. No more naps to be had, and to think, it was wasted in the terminal. Sigh ;)

We finally made our awkward way onto the plane and the first thing I did after strapping in Wyatt's carseat was to spill water out of my water bottle all over my seat. Only I didn't notice. Until I sat down. So I spent the rest of the flight in soaking wet pants. (No one ever told me I should bring extra pants for ME in the diaper bag.)

Well, Wyatt decided he didn't want to be left out, so he peed right through his diaper, soaking his pants and car seat as well. I put a plastic bag down on the carseat, and took him to the bathroom to change him. It was then that I heard my mother's words in my head, reminding me to pack extra clothes for Wyatt. Which I happened to ignore. Oops. The shirt was soaked as well, since we also had a bit of sippy cup leakage. Arghh. Ok, well at least I had a DIAPER. That was about it though. I asked an attendant for a blanket, but other than that I had a naked baby in a diaper. It was near the beginning of the flight.

Thankfully, about 10 minutes later a girl a few rows ahead came back and offered me an extra onsie she had with her. It was 18 months. Lifesaver. It seems our sons were the same age. And there was another reason I was happy they were on the plane that day. See, whenever Wyatt wasn't screaming or fussing, her son picked up the slack. It was great to not be alone. ;) And it was WONDERFUL to arrive back in sunny San Diego at last. :)

LONG Day...

Wyatt has been refusing to nap all day. Well, that's not entirely true...he finally took an hour nap in the morning, but this afternoon, we've had no such luck. It is after 5:00, and seeing as he's been up straight since 11:00am, I would have thought he'd have gone down before now. I got so tired of waiting, trying to put him back down, and then getting him up again after agonizing screaming (feels like the 1st year of his life all over again), that finally I just put him in his crib with some toys and books and left the light on and the door open, for a little "break" if you will. You're probably wondering why I've never tried this before, but my kid is not an idiot and he strongly resents being "tricked". Such was the case today ;). I did manage to sneak out while his back was turned, and I went outside to spray for weeds (after 2 weeks away our driveway is sprouting like a jungle) while the protests ensued. Back inside, he still doesn't seem all that happy, but the fussing is interspered with "play chatter". Hmmm. And cries of "Mamama". Ok, kid, if you still want to get out when I am done typing, I suppose we can work something out. But, man, you drive a hard bargain.

I had planned on blogging about my trip (as much as I can remember), starting with an almost missed flight and ending with a partially naked plane ride, but I can see that will have to wait. The protests are getting MUCH more insistent. At this rate, I wonder how much I'll still remember...

Home Again, Home Again

Ahhh...it's good to be home. Even though I had a wonderful time with family and thoroughly enjoyed the "Grandma Break", its nice to have my day once again filled with things that need to be done. This is not a sentiment I usually feel, so who knows how long it will last, but I'm just gonna go with it.

We got in about 6:45 our time last night and it was great to see Eric again. He was so excited to see Wyatt, and vice versa. As soon as Wyatt saw him, he said, "Dada, dada!" and held up his hands to be picked up. It was so adorable.

For the most part, Wyatt did extremely well on this trip, what with the time change, being shuffled around, and getting molars all at once. I think he really enjoyed all the extra attention and Grandma's huge yard, which he would run around several times a day. I was a little sad to take him away from all of it.

Although Wyatt did pretty well on vacation, the plane rides were another story. Let's just say we both spent the last flight home yesterday soaked, and one of us spent part of it naked. (No, thankfully, it wasn't me.) That is a story for another post. I will fill you in later, but right now I hear my little man arising from his nap. ;)

Last Day in Cali...

Today I am attempting to pack for my trip back east. Tomorrow Wyatt and I are flying to MD for two weeks to stay with my mom, and we'll also visit Eric's family in NJ while we are there. That should be exciting, because I will (hopefully) have two new nephews to meet while I am there! ;)

I know Eric is going to miss us like crazy. And Wyatt will probably miss his daddy. He has been becoming more of a daddy's boy lately. I think it is because Eric has been putting him to bed and getting him out of the crib in the morning more. Usually utter despair is directed towards me, but the other day when Eric went into the bathroom and shut the door, Wyatt started crying as if he had been abandoned. Normally this happens when I leave his sight, and he has never really done it much with his daddy. I picked him up to comfort him and he just wailed inconsolably. Finally I put him down and he just stood outside the bathroom door crying, "Dada, dada...." Fortunately, when Daddy emerged, all was right with the world again. It was so funny to watch it, because usually it plays out the opposite...haha.

Yesterday was pretty hot out, so after church we didn't do much until the late afternoon, when we turned to each other and said, "Let's get outta here." We have no air conditioning, only a measly ceiling fan, and that can only do so much. I think we were both feeling trapped indoors, and that was only made worse by a fussy, teething baby.

So we went to the harbor (again) and walked around. It was really nice, and we all (including Wyatt) needed badly to get out of the house. Finally we worked up an appetite and decided to go to one of our favorite pizza joints, the Pizza Port.

While there, Wyatt preceded to flirt nonstop with a cute blonde girl who was paying him attention. (Men, they are so easy...hehe). He was smiling and shaking his head and acting goofy, and when she would smile back, he would duck his head down and look at her coyly. This continued throughout the dinner. He is SUCH a ladies man. He does the same thing with this cute girl at the video store, and she LOVES him. She is the first person he willingly went to besides us, and he always goes straight up to her with his arms up when we go in. He sure LOVES the ladies. It is hilarious.

As I sit here typing, Wyatt is enjoying his lunch of cheese casadilla, broccoli, and "ball" as he refers to watermelon. It appears that he has taken it upon himself to rub "ball" all over his head. It must be bath time. ;)

Public Service Announcement

To the little old man who likes to sing loudly in Spanish while watering the plants outside our windows at 5:00am:

No es bueno. Por favor, vuelva mañana por la tarde. Gracias.

*Yes, I realize this SEEMINGLY has nothing to do with the wakeful baby. But you see it does. Because the baby who never sleeps was actually sleeping THEN. And I really would have liked to have been too.*

Random Saturday

Sushi is a good way to end the day. ;) We decided to make some for dinner, so we got some Ahi tuna from the market. Well, actually Eric made it mostly, but I, erhm...STIRRED THE RICE. He couldn't have done it without me. Really.

This morning we went for the Saturday morning prerequisite of coffee and bagels and then we took a nice little walk on the pier. The breeze felt wonderful and I was so glad Eric indulged me, as I am always wanting to go. Afterward we went to the bookstore, just for him. ;) Wyatt had a lot of fun playing with the "tains" again, and running off in random directions while we chased him down. (He was so occupied that tonight we searched for a train table on Craigslist. We found one for FREE that had JUST been listed. Of course, it was already claimed. Oh well, not like we have much room for it anyway.)

After the bookstore (or maybe before? I can't remember...) we went to some sporting goods stores and looked at kayaks. Just for kicks. Which progressed into the boat thing. So we indulged our fantasy of living on a boat in the Caribbean all day, and even went down to the harbor to look at various types of boats. I think as much as we hate to say it, we are both getting bored here, in the MOST BEAUTIFUL area of the country. Yeah. (But its crowded and expensive too, and I am looking into getting a job, which I really, really don't want to do. I know how lucky and blessed I am to still be home with Wyatt, and even though he drives me nuts at times, I must confess, I like being blessed...haha.) Anyhow, we used to have the best times just traveling together, seeing new territory, and now we sometimes dream about it to get us through the right now. We were both born with a serious case of wanderlust...

"Monster" indulged us pretty well for most of the day, even taking a bit of a nap in the car, but as that was his only one of the day, he started getting pretty fussy at about 4:00pm. When we got home I tried putting him down for another nap, but he was having none of it. I can tell his teeth have really been hurting him. Poor little man. With much protest, he finally went down around 7:30, and we commenced our dining experience. Yum. I feel mellow and happy, like after Thanksgiving dinner. And don't tell anybody, but yeah, I did just unbutton my pants. Shhhh.

Houdini

As I went to get Wyatt after his afternoon nap, I simultaneously asked myself three things.

1) Why do I seem to be standing in some sort of puddle?
2) Why is my baby naked?
3) What is that smell?

And that's when I noticed the poop. IN THE CRIB. Now, I have no idea if he pooped and then removed his diaper, or the other way around, but irrelevant. POOP IN THE CRIB. I also then realized that the puddle I was standing in was a nice big puddle of pee, from where he stood against the bars and peed outside the crib. FOR THE THIRD TIME THIS WEEK. Now, you would think I would learn, and put him down for a nap with pants on, or at least a snapping diaper, but I kept thinking it was a fluke that his diaper ended up OFF. Not so, I guess he has officially learned to remove it. Yay. (He did that once during naptime as a 5 month old, but I really do think THAT was a fluke...) I usually put a fleece diaper cover over top at night, so that prevents him from doing it then. (And I thought they were just to prevent leaking...who knew?) It has been too hot lately to put him down in anything but a diaper, so now I can see the wisdom in side-snapping diapers for older babies (more annoying to put on, but A LOT less likely to be pried off).

Guess I better do some laundry...

Organic Alarm Clock

Wyatt finally slept in for the first time today. On the day that our power had gone out overnight, shutting off the alarm to wake Eric up for work. How ironic.

I can't say I blame him for sleeping in, and I will say I am much appreciative, considering he awoke screaming bloody murder around 1:00am and I sat up with him until 3:00. On the plus side, I finally felt one of those molars poking through, but I just hope they hurry up, as we're due to visit my mom in a week.

I'm not sure why the power went out, although it must have happened twice. I noticed the clock flashing the first time as I came back to bed after 3:00, and I was quick to reset it. So when Eric and I woke up and looked at each other, I reassured him that the alarm was set for 7:30, not knowing it was after 9:00 already...oops ;). Today the weather is pretty gloomy and overcast out, only making it harder to determine the actual time of day. When we heard Wyatt we assumed it was obviously before 7:30, but then we noticed the blinking clock. Frantically, Eric ran to look at the analog clock in the laundry room which said 9:30. We double checked our phones. Confirmed. Yikes. Eric had a bunch of text messages from work asking if he was ok. Its a good thing we have this organic alarm clock, even if he did malfunction just a bit. ;)

What does the cow say?

My little monster was a fussy one today. I suspect he is the future recipient of some brand new molars but, *sigh* I have been wrong before...

It was good we had a play date for today so we could get out of the house for a few hours and mama could commiserate. We have gotten together with three other moms and their babies maybe once a month since the beginning of the year. Two of them have babies within weeks of Wyatt's age and the other has a five year old and a seven month old. But the seven month old is almost as big as the rest of them, even my little tough guy, who was 25lbs and 32in as of his 15 month appt.

Anyway, I really enjoy spending time with these friendly, laid-back moms. I have since dropped out of that playgroup, but we still keep in touch. (Yes, I am a playgroup drop-out, but definitely not the only one. Junior high sucked the first time around and I believe that no one should have to endure it more than once a lifetime.)

After our trip to the fair and the petting zoo the other day, Wyatt has wanted to read nothing but animal books. Now he will answer, "Ba", "Moo", and "Ruff" appropriately when asked what sound a sheep, cow, and dog make. So adorable...LOVE. :-D

Monday Morning Post

Overall, we had a great weekend. As expected, Wyatt loved the fireworks even more this year, and was cracking everyone up with his constant chuckling. Apparently they were very amusing. Yesterday we used our free tickets (thanks to Eric's coworker) and headed down the the San Diego (aka Del Mar) fair. We told Wyatt in the morning that we were going to the fair, and all morning long he kept repeating, "Fai, fai?"

When we finally got down I was skeptical of how Wyatt might do, considering our arrival time coincided nicely with nap time. Thankfully, there was so much to see and do that he was great, and we spent the better part of four hours wandering around checking out all the sights. Of course Wyatt's favorite was the animal tent, with cows, sheep, goats, ducks, and pigs. They even had a little petting zoo and he was so excited. It was free to go in, but $1 for food to feed them. We didn't think Wyatt would be quite into that yet, so we just went in. But then he noticed all the other kids feeding the sheep and goats, and not to be left out, started picking up wood chips and "feeding" them to a sheep. The sheep, ever polite, pretended to actually enjoy the chips, and Wyatt was so pleased with himself. He kept picking up more and giving it to the sheep. All I could think was, "Poor sheep is going to be so constipated..." Then a little girl came over and shared some of her feed with Wyatt and he laughed so hard when a goat nuzzled it out of his hand. He went around and gave hugs to all the sheep and goats sticking their heads out of the fence. He really has no fear of animals at all, although I'm not sure that's such a good thing! It sure is cute to see how much he loves them though. ;)

Oh, one of his new words is, "Boo-bee". Yeah, great... He kept poking me in the chest as I was carrying him at the fair and I made the mistake of saying, "That's Mama's boobie..." So of course, randomly over the next hour he took great delight in poking me and saying, "Boo-bee!" Or more like yelling. And then giggling like it was the funniest thing in the world. And usually only around a crowd of people in a quiet space, like the fine arts display area. That's my boy...;)

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th! The day has actually been pretty good so far. We woke up this morning at the deliciously late hour of 7:30am, by OURSELVES, not to the usual bloodcurdling screams. After rolling over and realizing we were both awake, and it was LIGHT outside, Eric asked me if Wyatt had already woken up and gone back down for a nap. To which I responded with a puzzled, "No..." I was not about to look a gift horse in the mouth, but, out of character, Eric was the one who was immediately worried and thought he should go check on him, lest he was kidnapped during the night by a band of gypsies.

When he opened the door Wyatt was standing there in his crib smiling. SMILING. Now, for a lot of people this may not seem unusual, and all I have to say is I HATE those people. I can pretty much count the number of times my son has woken up cheerful on one...WAIT. I don't need any hands to count it, because it has NEVER HAPPENED. Needless to say, my heart was soaring.

Until about an hour later...when I emerged from a brief trip to the "loo" (I just love that word, don't know why...) to find what looked like black sand strewn all over. Oh no. It could only be one thing. Coffee. I found Wyatt playing in his room and panicked. His face was smeared with black coffee grinds and he looked not unlike pictures I had seen of myself eating dirt at age two. Eric thought it was quite hilarious, and I did too, after I thankfully realized it was DECAF. (No, the Wakeful Baby does NOT need any more stimulation.) The only part that was not funny was trying to clean the grounds out of the cloth covered glider chair...:(P

After cleaning up our little monster, we went out and got coffee and bagels. Wyatt seemed so good-natured this morning that I even acquiesed to Eric's usual request to go to the book store. I did have to spend most of the time in the kiddie section, while Wyatt pushed his stroller around like a madman, but they had a train table, and when he finally saw it I couldn't pry him away. "Tain, TAIN!" he shouted, and out of character boldly walked over and started playing with two 3 years olds. He still hasn't quite grasped that trains go, "Choo choo", and not "brrrrrrrmmmmm" as you push them around like a car, but it was so cute watching him play. It made me realize that he fusses a lot at home because he is so stinking bored with all those silly baby toys, and darn it, mama, he needs some big boy toys. Also at the book store he found a stuffed Boston Terrier which looked a lot like our dog Buster and was quite pleased to give it a hug and show it to Daddy.

He finally took a nap at 12:30 when we got home, and being that he skipped the morning nap for the 1st time, I am wondering if he will be growing out of it soon. Part of me hopes not, but the other part of me realizes how much more convenient it would be to only have one nap to worry about. He only slept for about an hour though, so it wasn't any longer than usual. (Maybe the coffee wasn't decaf after all...) I am hoping I can get him back down for another one later, because we're having some friends over for a bar-b-que and then fireworks are at 9pm. We can't miss those - Wyatt loved them last year! :)

Um...yeah, hi.

Well, hello there. Being that I have not updated this blog since SEPTEMBER 2007, I think it may be due for an update. I was really looking forward to napping when the little man went down, but alas, I consumed a nice hunk of decadent dark chocolate before laying down. It seems this keeps me awake better than coffee. Who knew?

Anyhow, it is funny to read through this blog and see how everything has changed. I laughed when reading the last post about taking away Wyatt's pacifier...of course that didn't last...totally gave in THAT NIGHT. ;) But we did manage to do away with it for good around 13 months, around the same time we got rid of the bottle, and by some miracle it seemed much easier then. And I'm sure a lot more has happened since, things I would love to remember and those I would love to forget. But I'll leave all that for another post on another day. If I FEEL LIKE IT. Because this is MY BLOG. Neener neener neener.

Anyhow, now Wyatt is 15 1/2 months old. He has been walking for about two months and started talking roughly around then. Just a few words repeated here and there, until he was about 14 months, and his language really started to explode. He seemed to be picking up about 5 new words a day for a while, and while he only uses about 10-15 on a regular basis, I would estimate he has said maybe 50 or more. His favorites include "car" (pronounced with a Boston accent like "ca"), "clock" (he can't say the "l", which is interesting), "fan" ("fa"), "water" ("wawa"), "bird" ("bir"), "moon" ("moo"), "chair" ("tzair"), "train" ("tain"), "bus" ("bu"), "ball" ("ba"), "dog" ("daw"), "bread" ("bed") and of course, "mama" and "dada". "Dada" is usually said with delight, while "mama" is called out in distress. Of course ;). Oh, and I can't forget his new favorite, "Bob" (pronounced "Ba"). He has a Bob the Builder video which he found the other day and followed me around the house with, repeating "Ba, Ba, Ba" until like a good pushover, I gave in. Well, now it seems he wants to watch it at every opportunity and while it does come in handy for the occasional shower, I'm a little concerned about my kid being an addict this early on...haha. Whenever I put in a CD, he gets excited and yells, "Ba, Ba!!!" Everything that goes into the DVD player or looks remotely like a DVD is, apparently, "Bob".

Another thing he has been doing lately is bringing me a diaper. Now, I'm of the opinion that this is just totally random, and he would be bringing me anything he found in his room, but dear husband is of the opinion that since our son is an obvious genius, of course he knows what he is doing. And indeed, on the last few occasions when I thought there was no way he would need one yet, I was greeted with a nice surprise upon changing him. Hmm...I know it is the skeptic in me, but hubby thinks its noteworthy so I suppose its worth a mention. Anyhow, wouldn't it be nice if he was on his way to early potting training..har har. ;)

On the subject of diapering, I have started cloth diapering Wyatt, and we have been doing it exclusively since he was just over a year. It took some getting used to and experimenting to see what would work best for my little super-soaker, especially overnight, but I quickly got the hang of it and I really enjoy it. Just a few extra loads a week, and no more buying diapers...plus they are super cute and way more comfy then the plastic disposables which never decompose in the landfills. (Don't I sound like a public service announcement? Thought so.) After experimenting I've found that I like bumGenius Deluxe 2.0 All-in-Ones the best. They are very trim and I have never had a leak. I use them over night with a doubler and a fleece cover over top and never have to change in the middle of the night...which I was ALWAYS doing with disposables. And no more nasty diaper pail stinking up the place. Since Wyatt is older and on solid foods, the number twos just roll right off and get flushed down the toilet. Then I put the diaper in a zip up wetbag and throw the whole thing in the wash when I am ready, so I never really have to touch it. I'm sure it would be different with newborn/ exclusively breastfed poop, but I don't have to think about that now, and its been working great.

Anyhow, little man is still quite strong-minded. Take yesterday for example. We were in Target and I decided to get him one of those big bouncy balls for like $2.99. So I was having a bit of trouble getting it out of the cage and had to bat it up to get it over and out. It went flying down the aisle, crashing into an endcap. Wyatt thought it was hilarious and was doubled over in laughter. It WAS pretty funny.

But, I digress. As we are making our way to the front, of course he wants to hold it, but the first thing he does when I give it to him is throw it out of the cart to watch it bounce. Naturally. Well, obviously I'm not going to go chasing this ball all over the store, so I just put it in the back of the cart. Mind you, this entire time Wyatt is shouting, "Ba, Ba!" (ball), and it is only escalating until shortly he is in hysterics at the checkout counter. Now, I should definitely be used to this, as stopping to checkout when he was colicky would produce murderous screams and horrified stares from shoppers. But I was checking out and grabbing bags, and I didn't have an extra set of hands to pick him up at that point. Not that it would have mattered much. He was screaming his head off, while trying to leap from the cart, necessitating me to hold his arm to keep him from jumping out. As we were surely the center of attention at this point, it looked as if I was squeezing his arm causing him to scream. I love those dirty looks. Hahahaha..I was so NOT happy with him at that point and after the requisite hysterics in the car had started to wane, I calmly told him that it was not acceptable to throw tantrums like that in public. Right, like my 15 month old got that and was all contrite. Haha. As a friend of mine so eloquently puts it, "Sometimes I feel like hitting myself over the head with a frying pan".

Anyhow, when we finally got home, aforementioned ball was a great hit, with both Wyatt and the dog. They hit it back and forth and chased each other around, Wyatt in hysterics of the BEST kind. It's funny how something small like a ball (or a baby) can totally make or break your day.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go put in "Bob the Builder" so I can take a shower.