The next time I blog I will have a ONE YEAR OLD! Eleven months has come so fast, and it simply does not feel like it's been nearly a year since this darling boy came into our lives. Wesley's addition to our family has been beyond a joy, and our love for him is insurmountable. I want to soak up these last few weeks of our baby's infancy and cherish every moment before he officially becomes a--gulp--toddler. That pill will be so hard for me to swallow, as I want this boy to be our little baby forever.
Health: On our home scale Wesley still weighs 18.8 pounds, the same as last month. Teething is in full swing, as he's working on his upper molars. We took Simon to the dentist a few weeks ago, and the hygienist kindly added an infant toothbrush for Wesley to Simon's bag of oral care goodies at the end of our visit. Wesley loves using his new Winnie the Pooh toothbrush, I think because he gets to chew on and suck water off of the bristles. Simon absolutely loves that they share the ritual of brushing their teeth together at night before bedtime. Wesley's hair continues to grow and is showing some curl at the ends. Even though it looks pretty wild at times (and appears to reach the bottom of his neck when wet!), I'm going back and forth on whether we should really get it cut. He's got so much more hair than Simon did at this age, so maybe it's just Mommy whom isn't ready yet!
Feeding: I've been working hard to increase my hydration and taking supplements to help with my milk supply when pumping. I'm seeing some results, and I'm trying to fit in pumping time at home when time permits. Wesley wants to drink way more milk than I'm able to pump in a day, but I think we'll be able to manage with the few frozen milk bags I have left until his birthday when he can have almond milk. I'm told that he absolutely loves seeing that bottle when it makes its appearance, and he can hold it on his own--one handed!--and drink independently like a champ. Wesley has now mastered drinking from his sippy cup on its straw mode, which quickly led to him figuring out how to drink successfully from any straw. We learned this when in just one night we observed him grab both Simon's CamelBak bottle and my Hydro Flask with a straw lid and guzzle down a bunch of water like it was no thang. New foods that Wesley is eating and enjoying like crazy are cheese, apple sauce, mango, chicken, and scrambled eggs.
Sleep: Nighttime sleep improved temporarily and then took a turn for the worse. At the beginning of his eleventh month Wesley was waking a little less at night, sometimes only once or twice. With the onset of his upper molars coming in, our poor boy has been uncomfortable and easily stirred. My dad says that Wesley gets some late morning/early afternoon nap time in when they pick up Simon from preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Wesley uses the car seat that Simon first used for daycare in Cho-Cho's car, and I'm happy he's able to sleep comfortably in it while riding.
Milestones: Wesley's pincer grasp is finely tuned with all the practice he's gotten with self-feeding, as we've noticed that he's an ace at picking up the tiniest of particles he finds on the floor. Everything from small leaves, pieces of plastic from tags, and even a single rice grain winds up in those little fingers and sometimes in that little mouth until we carefully fish it out before it's swallowed. Even though he primarily self-feeds, Wesley has also enjoyed being spoon-fed homemade applesauce (made for our recent visit to Apple Hill) and has recently tried handling the spoon to feed himself. I've also noticed that Wesley mostly understands the concept of pointing and will look in the direction of where we are gesturing rather than at our finger. Additionally, he sometimes helps with getting dressed by putting his arms in and taking them out of his shirt sleeves when appropriate.
Likes: While our silly boy will assist in dressing himself, he just loves to pull off his socks! They seem to make perfect play objects for Wesley, as his socks come off while playing at home and practically immediately after being buckled up in the car. Wesley also loves playing with his big brother's toys, and Simon is much obliged to share. Baby will crawl into Simon's room and go for the ball bin, the stuffed animal basket, and the very attractive bag of wooden blocks. While in the playroom together, Wesley likes to sit aside Brother while Simon builds with Lego Duplos, whom will in turn provide a few captivating blocks for Wesley to play with nearby. When we play together in his room Wesley loves to play the stacking game with Mommy, where I count and stack as many of his One Two Squeeze blocks as I can before he excitedly knocks them over. He's also grown to really love Pat-a-Cake even more and enjoys grabbing my hands and making me clap them together.
Dislikes: We may have reverted back to hating baths. Wesley hasn't let us sit him in his baby tub for a while, so we're holding him in the shower again. He's getting too heavy for me to carry for long periods of time, so when it's my turn to take him in the shower I end up sitting on the floor and letting Wesley sit or lie cradled in my lap. He seems to tolerate that just fine, as long as I don't try to get him to sit on the shower floor himself. Wesley's still not a fan of the nighttime diaper changes and is no help to Daddy when needing to get those stubborn feet back into his jammies.
Social: I'm pretty much convinced that Daddy is Wesley's favorite person. This boy lights up in a way that he doesn't with anyone else when Eric comes home from work. I will ask, "Do you want to go see Daddy?" and a huge smile will erupt across Wesley's face accompanied with either looking around for Eric or starting to crawl away from me to find him. The two of them have developed their own little social interaction of lifting their heads, pursing their lips and humming. They do this back and forth several times a day, and watching it is so hilarious! Wesley is signing MORE very clearly and has a more discriminate sign for MILK that I'm starting to see a little more frequently. It sometimes sounds like Wesley is trying to say MORE when he signs it and EAT after I sign it to him. We wonder if he is trying to communicate his hunger to us when he crawls over to his high chair and uses it to pull himself up into a standing position. Once standing, he grunts a lot and loudly taps on the high chair's footrest. When we respond by asking if he wants to eat, he smiles and babbles and happily allows us to buckle him in and waits for us to prepare a snack. Wesley is saying "Mama" and "Dada" a lot more often, but again he says it just to say it instead of calling us by name. He is getting lots of practice with repeating sounds that we make, so I'm sure he'll be talking away before we know it. Peek-a-boo is still Wesley's most favorite game to play with us, and he understands that when I say "Where's Mama?" that means to look for me hiding under the blanket without me needing to model the game first.
Other Updates: With Fall officially in full swing, we spent the last month enjoying many of our favorite regular Fall activities with Wesley for the first time. We joined our big group of friends for a trip up to Apple Hill and had fun playing and visiting in the nice weather. At The Pumpkin Farm we pulled the boys around in our wagon and picked out pumpkins, watched Simon play on the tower slides, found our way through the corn maze, and took Wesley on his first hay ride. For the first time I was able to volunteer at the 2nd annual ASL Harvest Carnival for Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Hearing families learning American Sign Language at William Jessup University. I helped with set up and assisted at the information table, and Eric brought the boys to visit and play the carnival games. A few of Simon's friends from preschool were in attendance with their families, so he had a ball hanging out with them. Wesley spent most of the time just taking in the sights, but it was so special for me to be able to share my time in volunteering in this community with my family. We were also decked out in our Halloween costumes, so it was really exciting being in our first coordinated costume as a family of four!
cutie in a shopping cart
brushing teeth
one handed bottle skills
High Hill Ranch at Apple Hill
The Pumpkin Farm
our pumpkins ready to go
our family costume at the Harvest Carnival
Mommy's littlest minion
