On the Doorstep of a New Year

2011 is rushing to greet us! W turns 9 months! Things are going WAY too quickly, in my opinion.
Our holiday season was filled with untold amounts of joy. I don't think there could have been a better Christmas, with all of the family and friends and cooking and laughing. Wyatt wasn't into presents, but he was into ripping paper like a mad man. He was so good - dealing with being passed around and kissed to death. I couldn't have asked for a better boy.


Aunt Kitties and Dub after the family hayride (where he cried the whole time...)

Hanging out with his Birthday Twin!
Christmas Day - again, with the paper!
Laughing it up with Gabby

Spending some quiet time with dad - they're having a raspberry blowing contest

Happy Holidays!

A Leg to Stand On

Have you seen this dear?

This week, Wyatt has been working on some party tricks.

He crawls over to whatever appeals, then figures out a way to pull himself up (mind you, I haven't baby proofed anything yet). He stands up, grins, then usually tips over. This guys has more head bumps than the whole Dallas Stars defense. Geez!




And if the only thing to pull up on is you...well then, he'll make due with that. He especially likes my hair as a rope to hang on to. Nice. Take a look at W using Jas as a rock climbing wall.





Santa, after reading about Heidi Klum's favorite toys, brought W the Leap Frog learning table. This thing is crazy and exhausting with all of it's lights and sounds; he likes to move around and hit all of the bells and whistles.


Today he took his trick on the road and applied standing to his crib. Clearly, it's time to lower the mattress to the last setting.

But look at that little face! He is so proud of himself! Love that.

Ring the Dinner Bell - This Kid Loves to Eat

Little man has been trying lots of new foods, thanks to his new tooth and a consult with cousin Lindsay. I totally know that W is a boy set to destroy because I always present him with a well constructed tray of food, beautifully plated: Meat, Cheese, Vegetable, and Fruit. The first thing he does is drag his hand through the piles, thoroughly smearing everything together. He then crushes it in his fist or works to jam a ridiculous amount in his mouth. I imagine that if I had a little girl, she would daintily be using a spoon by now. Not so with my son.

And lets say that I don't get stuff to him in a timely manner- he makes sure to let me know of his discontent by banging his open palm on his high chair tray several times in a row. Sheesh! Reminds me of someone else I frequently dine with...

This picture makes me shudder...icky!

He hates the sippy cup, but he loves to drink his "milk" from a straw. Or perhaps he just loves drinking the milk, then blowing bubble to create a lovely formula mess. Hard to say.

Regardless, after reading a great deal on the matter, I decided to put my OCD in a box and let him have fun while eating. This week hummus, turkey, chicken, cheese, pear chunks, blueberries, raspberries, and squash were on the menu. He's a good eater, so here are some pics of him enjoying lunch.



Also, the tooth wanted its own picture - such a diva - so here is W at the Jingle Bell Run in Ft. Worth. I made sure to highlight the tooth in all its glory. It has pushed its way up more now, but this was the tooth as of last week. He's been drooling buckets, so I fully expect a tiny toothy friend to emerge any time!

Christmas Hat from Southern Woolies

I love the idea of Etsy and one of my favorite new shops is Southern Woolies.
Aside from being super kind, the shop owner does a fantastic job with creating her product. She is prompt about answering questions and was very patient with my list of "can you do this...".
We received the hat today and immediately ordered another. It is precious, incredibly soft, and well made. I couldn't be happier...and neither could this guy (he wore the hat on our walk this afternoon and was very cozy):

A Tooth, A Tree, and a Jolly Old Soul

Our little crawler

Enjoying a toast

Whew! Big week!

To begin, W spent time with Santa. He didn't exactly dig Santa, he just kind of frostily checked out the old boy...but at least he wasn't crying.



Yesterday morning, I was feeding W breakfast when the little shark bit me. Now usually, he gums my finger while I'm feeding him cheese or whatever we're serving up. Yesterday, though, Wyatt had a tooth in there! Bottom, right side. When I probed around, I could see some tiny white dots where the tooth was just emerging. The rest of the day, the tooth made a splashy appearance - clinking against his drinking glass, trying to snag my finger, chewing on everything. To celebrate, W had steak and potatoes for dinner (still pretty small bites since it's only 1/16 of a tooth at this point). Our boy is getting big!

Yesterday morning - after I discovered the tooth

Enjoying blueberries this morning.

We finally finished the holiday decor. This was actually a big task since Jason has been traveling all week. It's hard to decorate with one hand and an extra 18lbs hanging around. The house looks fun and festive for Wyatt's first Christmas. W even has a few presents under the tree. And Jason will be home this evening, so you know I'm excited for him to meet "the tooth".


Happy Holidays!

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Turkeys - W and his Dad

"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family.

Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one."
-Jane Howard

We celebrated a fabulous Thanksgiving. Dub enjoyed some sweet potatoes, cauliflower-leek puree, ham, mashed potatoes, and several other new dishes.
We celebrated with Jason's family on Thanksgiving Day and with Gabby's family on Friday. Whew! Busy week! Dub has been a trooper, though, letting everyone hold him and kiss him to pieces.

More fun to come. Tomorrow we're decorating the tree. Woot! Then Sunday we have Thanksgiving with the Garrett's. Busy bees~
The on-line Black Friday sales were fantastic. Santa may have picked up a few more things in order to prepare for the most wonderful time of the year.
Happy Thanksgiving.


W with Great-Grandpa Griffiths

W exercising with glee before the Cassadys arrived

W and Uncle John - hey, this guy looks like my dad, but taller.
Not sure what to think here, but I like him.

Gramps & W enjoying the cool weather

The family

W and his cousin, B

W in the hat knit by his great-great Aunt Isobel in Canada.
Perfect for the cold weather out by the fire pit tonight.

What We're Reading

I love it when my boys share books!

This week we were into Llama Llama Holiday Drama by Anna Dewdney. While we love Llama Llama Red Pajama, I think Llama Llama Holiday Drama might be one for checkout from our local library. Little Llama gets so overwhelmed with everything going on at Christmastime that he forgets the reason for the season. Mama Llama brings it all back home in a succinct lesson perfect for little llamas everywhere. Cute, but I would buy Red Pajama if you haven't yet started this adorable series.

I did love If I Built A Car by Chris Van Dusen. There is so much imagination and character in this book - what if you could build your own car and the sky was the limit? This little boy's ideas are out of this world...and the poetic form was pleasing to my ear when read aloud. It definitely made me want to read more of Van Dusen's books.

And finally...
Beautiful Oops by Barney Saltzberg is a MUST PURCHASE. In an effort to look beyond our mistakes, Saltzberg teaches a valuable lesson about how one mistake can lead to an amazing opportunity. That coffee ring on your napkin - what else can be seen in that coffee ring? How far can our imagination take us? Precious book, great lesson, and lots of neat pieces to manipulate. I highly, highly recommend this title!

Reading to this kid is definitely fun! Dub chooses books out of his toy box at least once a day and he even knows (mostly) positioning. My librarian heart is pleased. Now if we can just work on not grabbing the pages. Yikes!

Working Lunch

(What? You have to go back to work? Why? Stay here!)

We are very lucky that Aunt Kitties works close because sometimes she can come by on her lunch break...like today!! Thanks for a nice afternoon, Kitties!

Dub-ilicious

Doesn't he look like a little boy now? He tentatively can sit... for about 2 minutes. But then he sees something he wants and he tips over and goes to get it.

Look at this goofy Gus. We buckle him into his high chair, of course, but he's most comfortable with that little monkey foot up on the tray. Sometimes he gets serious about eating, and then it is all business with legs down. He's getting better at using his little pincher finger-thumb combo, but a lot of his "food" ends up being eaten by the dogs - who must love him to pieces for his frequent contributions.

Today we took pictures in his Christmas get-up - hoping that Gabby would snap one suitable for her Christmas card. This was definitely the winning shot. Merry and bright!

What We're Reading

Peek-A-Who? by Nina Laden is precious. It's a board book with cutouts and every page stages a question: Peek A ...? Through the cut out you get a glimpse of something...can you figure out what's coming? (Peek-a-Moo, Peek-a-Zoo)
It's very cute, well staged, and probably better for kids who can talk and formulate a guess. Wyatt enjoyed chewing on the corner - I got a kick out of the text. If you have older readers, you might also like The Night I Followed The Dog by Laden. Also adorable!!


For you mama's out there, you absolutely must purchase Prudent Advice by Jaime Morrison Curtis. It will melt your heart. Curtis put together this book of advice for her daughter and the format includes quotes, pictures, maps, & love. It makes you want to create something like that for your own babies. Plus, it's just good for your heart to read things like this.


Finally, we're not reading this, but we're certainly playing with it - it's from Tiny Giraffe Shop on Etsy and it's perfect for Christmastime. These cute little blocks can be turned in many different directions to reveal different types of puzzles and faces - all Christmas themed. Here are my two favorites! Highly recommend for the $14 price tag. Even if your tyke can't play with the puzzle (except to eat it), it's cute decor. And the owner of TGS is super nice! Follow her on Twitter to find out about deals.