Got teeth?

Isn't this cute?

Last week, Ken and I celebrated our three year anniversary and went out to dinner just the two of us. Wedded bliss can make time fly by when you least expect it. Three years...wow.

As we reached a milestone Wyatt soon followed. Turning 9 months old on Saturday...I could tell he wanted to have something for everyone to talk about...so we are proud to report that Wyatt is now experimenting with sign language. He is smart like his Dad! So far we have taught him two signs: milk and more. He understands the milk sign with enthusiasm and might have attempted it a few times to me, but it could have been wishful thinking on my part. Recently, he began signing "more" in his highchair and once for me while we were getting ready yesterday morning. We are not sure if he is mimicking us or if he truly understands the meaning. Either way he can do it in his own way which is very exciting. He is also clapping which with the signs we are teaching him is all very familiar so we shall see how he can hone in on his skills in the future. (Many thanks and love to Grandma for helping him with his Patty-Cake skills!)

Wyatt is also in the midst of getting both of his front teeth on top which will go nicely with the two he is sporting on the bottom. Tuesday, we went to the doctor for his nine month check-up so start figuring how tall you think he may be or if you have held him recently if he will surpass his two-year old cousin on the scales. No crawling yet, but that may be on the horizon any day now as well.

Nine months old!

Can you see the teeth coming in?

Do you have your guess ready?

Wyatt is now 22 pounds and 7 ounces and 30 1/8 inches long!

Hope you all are having a wonderful week!

3 for 1! Yes...Three Blogs in One!

Frameable!

Too cute! Four teeth? Sorry, no it is just the flash.



Steppin' Out!

Sorry for my delay in bloggin'. A crazy week is behind me and I am blessed. I have to talk about what I did with Wyatt last weekend...on Grandparent's Day. Last Sunday, it was beautiful and Ken went to play 9 holes of golf with his Dad and I decided that Wyatt and I were not going to spend the day in the condo. We were going to take a walk and enjoy the day. So, about 11:30 a.m. I got him in the stroller, packed a bottle and away we went to take a nice long walk. Now, I was going to wait till the end of the blog to say how far I went, but I think you all need some "WOW" factor to continue to read. We walked a total of 7.5 Miles! Yes, you read that right. Believe me around 6 miles I was ready to be done and was definitely thinking why did I decide to walk this far.

Wyatt and I walked to downtown Hinsdale and I must say it is just one of the cutest little towns near us and on Sunday it is quiet, but certain spots bustle with a weekday mentality. We sat on one of the middle school benches across from a church and Wyatt enjoyed a drink while watching all the cars and listening to the chimes of the church. It was quite sunny and this bench was under a large maple tree and not only provided ample shade, but a perfect breeze as well. We just had the best time. I am thinking that we need to get in a few picnics before the weather gets too cold. I had not brought anything for myself, but in the future I will pack "Ma-Ma" a treat too.

My main concern was diaper changing...what if he needed one? I had the supplies, but where would I do it? On someone's lawn? That is really all we passed until we got to the downtown area. Luckily, my son loves to walk and this was not an issue...this time. We got home around 3 p.m. Yes, again you read that right.

Does Wyatt get antsy has been a popular question. Believe it or not...not at all! When he is tired he dozes off for an hour and wakes up to new sights. He just loved it. Ken couldn't believe how long we were gone and how far we went...well a Mom just needs to get out of the house. ha. ha. So, I think we will do it again.

I am also proud to report that we have given the Grandparents a new photo of Wyatt to grace their 5 x 7 frames. Ken's sister gave Wyatt this adorable short outfit and he looks so adorable in it...I just knew he would be photogenic in it. The 2nd photo above is not the one that made the "frame cut", but if the flash had not bounced off his tongue to look like he had buck teeth it would have been "the one." The 1st photo is the "chosen one." I was the photographer and so excited that he sat so sweetly for it. Don't get me wrong...I definitely worked to get this photo. Hard to believe that in just a few days he will be 9 months old. Wow. Time really is flying. "Ma- Ma" is at daily frequency now and I am loving it!

Loving the high chair!

You read that right. Wyatt has graduated to his high chair. Yes, Wyatt has sat in a high chair before...at GiGi and Papa's house. We got out his new chair...a big thank you to all my co-workers who bought it for him. HE LOVES IT! It is hard to believe that we are days away from Wyatt being 9 months old. Thinking that he is almost as old as I was pregnant with him...wow...that timing is different. He is such an incredible joy and I can't believe that soon I will be cutting up food and dumping cheerios on his tray for him to eat by himself. This weekend, I decided I needed to actively get him to hold his bottle and tonight he did it pretty much by himself. Sometimes it is too heavy, but I knew he could do it.

Wow...what will this week bring in milestones?

Green Thumb?

I am not a green thumb in any definition of the term, but this year we have flowers! Ken and I decided that we wanted flowers to enjoy when we are on the deck. The black dirt was just not that exciting. Although, having a baby changes your priorities and your "want" to spend your "free time" digging in the dirt. Okay, I was lazy, wanted flowers and was willing to take a chance to get them. So, we tried out the Roll n' Grow! Have you heard of this? If you are a gardener...my apologies because you will not like this blog. At the beginning (first two to three weeks after the "unroll," I was not impressed...granted we were late in planting it...okay laying it in the dirt.) I had seriously thought I had wasted our money. Ken deserves all the credit to the amazing flowers because he was committed to watering it and we have flowers today. Oh and maybe to my adding Miracle Grow flower food on the rare occassion may have helped a little. This is what it looks like today...

Impressive for rolling out a blanket of seeds and just watering them, right!

This past week has been good and not-so-good, but it has been a great reminder to me what is important in life. I am truly blessed and loved and that is an amazing feeling when you realize it and concentrate on it.

I hope you have a great week!

Ma-Ma!

Aren't holiday weekends fabulous? Many would consider our long weekend as uneventful, but to me it was ABSOLUTE HEAVEN. Am I getting old and boring? Maybe, but I am loving it. We went on long walks, saw family, my handsome husband cooked and we relaxed a LOT! I slept in....thanks to Ken. The weekend was really nice. Working from home the day after is also priceless. You know you are blessed when you work in shorts and a t-shirt and can get up from your desk and see your baby boy sound asleep in his crib.

So the title of this blog piece is Ma-Ma. I am not afraid to say that I am anxious to hear Wyatt call me "Ma-Ma" and not something "close to it." "Na-Na" is not my dream name coming from him. I think it is so adorable to hear Wyatt saying "Da-Da" over and over every morning in different pitches. Not to mention the bazillion times he says it during the day. So, like I did for "Da-Da" I am campaigning hard for Wyatt's next word to be "Ma-Ma." He gives me a wide smile every time I say it to him...making me think he is truly loving my efforts and a bit humored by them...knowing he is in control. Today...it happened. September 9, 2009 around 7:30ish p.m. He said it twice tonight right to me and I can't hear it enough. Does he say it like he knows it is my name...don't think so, but I am not picky at all. He will.

He is also tilting his head and doing this face or rather a "sniffing" thing with Ken that is too funny...the photos above document it. I need to get it on video, but his fascination with the camera is keeping him from doing it "on film.". It all started when I was trying to clear his nose one night and said to him it would just be easier if you just could blow it out and I demonstrated it for him. Well, you would have thought it was the most funny thing he has ever seen...he laughed hysterically every time we did it. Hoping it was the new thing to make him laugh Ken continued to do the sniffing and he exaggerated wrinkling up his nose to get him to do it and well the little guy just mimicked him. They love to do it to one another...it is like their secret language.

I knew I was making an impression on Wyatt when I went in to see him sleeping surrounded nightly by his stuffed animals and how much he LOVES to play with them. I loved stuffed animals as a child...who am I kidding I still do! So, no doubt his love for his furry friends comes from me including them in our play time. Brutus his stuffed dog is one of his favorites alongside his monkeys (Dangles and Maynard) and his Bears. I caught Wyatt and Brutus in such a cute pose I had to share it with you all.

Have a wonderful week!

Smile...

I had this dream or expectation for myself as a new Mom that I would get Wyatt's picture taken at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months to document his first year of growth. So at 3+ months we headed to Sears and came away with two adorable shots of him smiling! Gave them out to Grandparents and family with the plan that we would update this photo in the future every 3 months. So along comes the 6 month milestone. Hmm...and there it went...and the calendar shows 8 months coming up fast. I tell myself that I need to wait till Ken is home from Japan to get the photos because it is more fun if both of us are sweating it, right? Da-Da is Wyatt's own personal rock star anyway so I thought we couldn't go wrong if he was there. Plus, we should get a family shot as well. Are you laughing yet in anticipation?

The 22nd of August would be the day! All of us dressed casual and in corresponding colors yet not matching. I didn't want the most adorable family photo to be too "awhhhhhhhhh" if you know what I mean. So, we get there on time and wait for our studio to be ready. We start off with the family shot. I realized that it is difficult to get your 7 month old to smile at the young photographer when he is sitting on your lap. Trying all the tricks I can think of and then be composed to look normal myself. What is "normal" anyway? We finish the family shots thinking we have some great photos.

Now it is time for Wyatt's solo shoot. I had brought the squeaky wrench that gets him to smile everytime and had already given it to the young girl taking the photos. So, I position Wyatt as instructed and he sits stoic for every shot as the young girl clicks away. Hello...I want a smiling photo. I am artistic and can understand that those can be great photos, but trust me this boy can smile and I love it when he does! It doesn't help that I want the perfect shot and having a digital camera...I delete a LOT! So, if you can picture me literally sweating to get Wyatt to crack a smile...which he won't. He rather lay on the backdrop with his head down...I think he wanted to sample the texture of the fabric with his tongue. All the while the young photographer is clicking away like these are the best photos. No matter what Ken and I tried he just wasn't feeling it. So...we are done (literally) and I know I don't have one shot of him smiling, but have hope for the family photo. Now we wait as she adds borders and text to different shots so we can buy those as well. As a graphic designer those are not my favorite. Wyatt and I take a few dozen laps around the baby department as we await the viewing. Ken waves us over and I say to Wyatt..."this shall be fun...I bet you didn't smile in any, right?" I hate it when my Mom's intuition is right. The family photo is kinda okay. So we got it. We got one shot of Wyatt, but I don't even know why we did...I won't be giving it out.

That brings us to my dilemma...do we go back at 9 months and try again. I shouldn't give up, right? One bad time shouldn't taint how I feel about going back. The lady photographer we had the first time was awesome so maybe we could get lucky and get someone like her again. I think I will take my own photo shoots as well as a back-up. I may do one outside this weekend to make-up for the "lost shots" and the bad ones which are ready for pick-up! Yea.

Maybe Wyatt felt the pressure because I told him he needed to smile for all the photos because future girlfriends and his wife will be viewing these photos so they needed to be cute. Whoops...too much pressure. The photo at the beginning of this long story is days after the photo shoot and if you look closely you will see he is sporting his two adorable bottom teeth.

Have a wonderful long weekend! Happy Labor Day to all.